Dear Coaches Corner

(Chris Hannah) Dear Ron MacLean Dear Coach's Corner I'm writing in order For someone to explain To my niece the distinction Between these mandatory pre-game group rites of submission And the rallies at Nuremberg Specifically the function The ritual serves in conjunction With what everybody knows Is in the end a kid's game I'm just appealing to your sense of fair play When I say she's puzzled by This incessant pressure for her to not defy Collective will [and] yellow-ribboned lapels As the soldiers inexplicably repel Down from the arena rafters If it not so insane They'll be grounds for screaming laughter Dear Ron MacLean I wouldn't bother with these questions If I didn't sense some spiritual connection We may not be the same But it's not like we're from different planets We both love this game so much we can hardly fucking stand it Alberta-born and Prairie-raised Ain't a sheet of ice north of Fargo I ain't played Penhold to the Gatineau Every fond memory of childhood that I know [Is] somehow connected To the culture of This game; I just can't let it go I guess it comes down to What kind of world you want to live in If diversity is disagreement Disagreement is treason Well don't be surprised if we find ourselves reaping A strange and bitter fruit That sad old man beside you Keeps feeding to young minds as virtue It takes a village to raise a child A flag to raze the children Till they're nothing more than ballasts for fulfilling A madman's dream of a paradise Complexity reduced to black and white How do I Protect her from This cult of death?