We're all conflicted

Just as the Tao traipses about Toronto, taking in the final start of our lord and saviour Roy Halladay, here I sit drowning in a combination of melancholy and back-of-the-fridge beers while contemplating the inevitable. It's a sad state of affairs, friends.

Compounding my infinite sadness (see what I did there?) is the weeks-long tug o' war playing out in my mind - should they, or shouldn't they?

Yes! Jays' brass should be shopping Halladay! He can't be re-signed, so dealing him now will bring back maximum value! Strike while the iron is hot! Nothing lasts forever! All that bullshit. On the other hand.....

No! Hell no! Even contemplating trading Doc is a ridiculous notion! He means too much to the team! To the city! To the country! To me, goddamnit!

If I can take solace in anything, it's that I know I'm not alone in dealing with inner turmoil. The Roy Halladay Depression has completely overwhelmed the blogosphere, with an emerging blood feud playing out right before our eyes.

(As an aside, am I a part of this? Are the teams drawn on blog loyalty, or is this an individual blogger thing......I'm confused.)

But wait - is it possible that the virus has spread beyond the lowly ranks of civilian bloggers? Yes, yes it is possible. As evidence, witness the following from the frequently ill-tempered (I kid, Jeff, I kid!) Jeff Blair:

In some quarters, it’s been suggested that this week’s whole semantics lesson – Halladay either gave the Blue Jays a list of teams he wanted to be traded to or he didn’t give them a list; Ricciardi can’t remember when Halladay told him he was not going to sign an extension, etc. – is an organizational plan to sully Halladay’s reputation and make his exit more palatable.

That’s an odd assertion from the grassy knoll group, since no sports figure in this city has less currency among his teams fan-base. I mean, really: if you want to spread nasty rumours about the most popular kid in the class, you don’t send out the least-popular kid to do it, right?

Couple this with the Tao's epic takedown, and I humbly offer the following advice:

"Just stay down, Griff! For the love of God, stay down!"

Late add

I see the article linked above has been re-written to incorporate Doc's post-game comments - a fantastic recap of which can be found here via the Post's Bruce Arthur. It's a must-read, but I am way too drained of any positive energy to give it a proper analysis.

Suffice to say, Doc loves Toronto (still warms my heart to hear it), didn't say he wanted to test free agency, but did say he wanted to wait until his contract is up to decide (which is, to be fair.....pretty much the same thing, no?).... has spoken with Beeston and feels there is "a plan" in place, but not sure if it's enough of a plan....wants to stay, but wants to win......in short, he is, wait for it - Conflicted.

That's probably about all that I have in common with him.

Late add, take 2

....just because it's a great read.