Gretzky's Tears

Sports teams can, for better or worse, become symbols of their home cities, their success and losses seeming to match the course of the town and its people. Sometimes it can go even farther than that, with one player represending a team, and that team representing an entire nation. What happens, then, when the business side of that sports team kicks in, and decides it's worthwhile to sell/trade that player to one of their most hated rivals?

Part historical look at the end of the Oilers' dynasty of the 1980s, part philosophical look at the impact of sport on collective psychology, Gretzky's Tears looks back at The Trade, recasting those in it as the cast of Julius Caeser. Only, instead of killing Gretzky/Caesar, the backstabbing antics of Brutus Pocklington send number 99 to a sunny dreamland where he makes millions upon millions of dollars and completely revolutionizes the way they look at hockey in that sunny dreamland.

If you're not convinced of Gretzky's (semi)divinity when you start the book, you're likely not going to be very interested in this. But it's a good read for those with fond memories of the Oilers dynasty.