The Morning Bell for Monday March 12, 2012

Your Honorary Ringer: That hour of sleep I lost over the weekend.

I miss that hour. Haven't felt the same without it. It's only 60 minutes of time but without it I've felt a bit lost, lonely even. My sleep has been affected. My inner clock doesn't tick with the same energetic spring. The enthusiasm to live has waned and life is reduced to collections of insignificant spurts of uneventful attempts at relevance. And how we take that that hour for granted. No more. Not here. You can ring the honorary morning pk'ist bell.

The Leafs lost their most important game of the season last night. A 2-0 loss to the Caps probably ends their drive to stay alive and officially makes this collapse the greatest event in the history of sports. Actually, I'm playing to the masses here. I've always said that if my measure of success is seen through the lens of my enemies failures, I would have to recalibrate the way I see things. I don't want the Leafs to lose, unless they play the Habs or unless their game has an impact on where Montreal lies in the standings. Count me as one of those guys who doesn't cheer against a team when nothing is riding on the game. Unless of course that team is Philadelphia. Those fuckers get under my skin.

The Flames won a big one in Minny last night. Calgary did to the Wild what Washington did to Toronto. They created some healthy breathing room while all but killing their playoff dream.

It will be said around these parts that the Pittsburgh Penguins are the team to beat in the East. If I were a betting man, I would first buy Facebook shares, then I would buy Facebook itself, then I would buy an actual face because I can do without mine, and then I would bet on the Penguins winning the cup. It's amazing what these guys have accomplished without the best damn player in the game.

I love you all.