Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Hedberg Studying His Moose-Viking Forebears

Oh, the serendipities and ironies of life.

I complain all the time about how bland and unimpressive and just all-around Full of Fail the AJC is, but they pull out a rare Epic Win with this article, which might feature the greatest headline in the newspaper's history:

History and crime engross Thrashers goalie Hedberg

Oh YEAH! Clicking most eagerly and expecting a Dashiell Hammett-esque tale of Moose wrangling with gangsters, crooked cops and femme fatales in search of some lost priceless artifact, possibly a golden sheepherder's staff from tenth century Iceland, I was only slightly let down by the actual article. Only slightly because it turned out to be a reasonably interesting interview with our favorite Moose-Human about what he's been reading lately. As Mike Knobler (R.I.P.) reported long ago, Hedberg is quite the reader, especially on road trips. My favorite part of the interview:

Do the other Thrashers read much?

A few guys are reading, but a lot of guys are playing video games and cards. The reading bunch is a minority right now.

Educate them, Moose! If you can, that is. Some of your colleagues might be past the point of no return. Surely Enstrom is salvageable.

Reading on. I wonder why I find his answer to this question so interesting:

Do you ever read to unwind after a tough game?

Yeah, I do. Sometimes it’s the first thing I do when I get home or back to the hotel.


The idea of Johan Hedberg relaxing in a plush hotel room with a good book is the most comforting thing I can imagine. What does this mean?

One final note: Did you know there was such a thing as the Swedish Mafia? We can all learn something from erudite mooses.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fireside chats with Johan Hedberg?

Laura (aka Hildymac) said...

I can see the velvet robe and slippers now. This article was a bit bland (I mean, the subject: "hockey player reads!" Seriously) but I find this to be yet another reason why I dig Hedberg so much. He's learned.

And the concept of a Swedish Mafia's awesome. "Where's the herring? WHERE. IS. THE. HERRING. You don't fork over my share of the herring I will have to bork your ass." At least that's how I imagine it.