Miracles? Don't Bet on It.

Just when you think the city of Montreal, QC can't get any sillier, the following has surfaced from the Montreal Catholic Church.  Courtesy of Puck Daddy, the Yahoo blog for all things NHL, the Archdiocese of Montreal put down some money for the ad you see above on Thursday.  What does this have to do with the NHL, you ask?  Well, if you've followed your NHL, you know that Montreal is home to the Canadiens hockey club, who are currently as of this writing, 11th in the Eastern Conference, or seven points out of the last playoff spot.  This ad urges the people of Montreal to pray for the Canadiens to just make the playoffs this year.

Obviously, the Montreal Catholic Church spent some money for this ad, and in many respects, it sounds like the worst possible way to spend money, particularly since as a Catholic, I know that God does not have a favorite team, nor does he pick favorites.  After all, there are other sports fans of rival teams who are praying for the exact same thing.  For all of the troubles of the Catholic Church financially and in the public perception, not just in Montreal, but all over the world, throwing down some money just to get people to pray for the local sports team to make the playoffs does nothing to help anyone's perception.  After all, there are other sports fans of rival teams who are praying for the exact same thing.  If the Montreal Catholic Church wanted to get fans to pray for anything Canadien related, the first place to begin would be some sanity amongst the players, coaches, front office people, and the fans.