Armchair GMs get their game on

As the playoff hopes of the Tornoto Maple Leafs swirl evermore quickly
around the drain of the NHL, it's always facscinating to listen in on their
fans.
For the next couple of weeks — heck, even in the weeks since the resumption
of play after the Olympics — fans will beat up their team, general manager,
coach, players, stick boys on the phone-in talk shows and letters to the
sports editor pages. Fire (fill in the blank) yesterday, they chatter, one
picking up from the other. Hire (fill in the blank) immediately. Or words to
that effect.
Sounds familiar? Of course it does.
The armchair GMs concocting and able to rubber stamp any deal they can think
of — "um, yeah, Nik Antropov and Tie Domi to Dallas for Marty Turco and ... yeah, Joe Thornton, that sounds like it'll work. But not unless we get a draft pick, too."
And in the end, after an August and September spent critiquing the trades
made by whomever is calling the shots, October will arrive and Leafs fans
will start picking out their vantage point for the Stanley Cup parade nine
months down the road.
It is fun to watch them behave, no? They die hard, they dream hard, too.