You know those times when you have so much you want to talk about, but only a little bit of time in which to do it?

Welcome to my world this week.

And no, finally, one of those things isn’t football.

So let’s talk Maineiacs. More specifically, let’s talk about the diverse base of people who make up the team, its fan base and its organizational staff.

Let’s start with the “lovers.” I call them lovers because they love the team. Really, it’s that simple.

Maineiacs’ majority owner Mark Just is one of those lovers. He loves this team. He has a passion for the game I have never really ever seen in anyone else. Ever. He cares so much about the team that he honestly believes that the Maineiacs can win every game they play, no questions asked,

When they don’t win, he wants to know why. And he looks for someone to blame. Sometimes he blames his own team. Sometimes he thinks the officiating is poor, and other times he’ll question a coaching move.

But he’s not that way to be a jerk. He is who he is because he’s as passionate as he is. Make sense? Good, let’s move on.

Haters.

I hate them. Does that make me a hater? I suppose, in some circularly logical way, yes, yes it does.

But it’s true.

Some people just don’t understand the game of hockey. That’s OK, of course. You can love the game and love the team but be completely oblivious to the ins and outs of the business. I have no problem with passionate fans.

But I have a problem with people who think they know more than the people put in place to run the team.

“The lines need to be consistent,” they’ll whine. “Why do the lines change so often? Why didn’t we trade Bernier? Why aren’t the players more motivated.”

I could go on, but I’m already about to smack the person next to me, and I don’t think my boss woul;d be happy to catch a knuckle sandwich across the nose right about now.

Maybe after deadline

Anyway, my point here is that there are relatively very few people in the world qualified to run a hockey team, let alone a major junior hockey team in the Canadian Hockey League.

From top to bottom, this organization has a team of those people in place.

Lines need to be juggled. Power play units and penalty-killing units are always different, at every level, even in the NHL, and lines change all the time. My prescious Montreal Canadiens have juggled their lines more often than a circus clown juggles bowling pins this season. They have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Hmmm

Then there are the fighters.

On the ice, I love them. Danick Paquette, Lucas Labelle, Marc Bourgeois (OK, maybe two fights doesn’t quite put him here yet), and anyone else willing to drop the gloves to protect the integrity of the game is OK in my book.

Off the ice, though, I can’t stand it.

After Friday night’s game, Saint John players stopped in the hallway outside their locker room. They had been told to return to their room by the officials, who were still cleaning up the mess on the ice after a near goalie fight at center ice.

Fans, being fans, egged the Sea Dogs on.

That, I have no problem with. Players in this league need to expect that they will be heckled mercilessly during road games. It happens everywhere.

The Sea Dogs, like the Maineiacs, are still kids. They are adrenaline-charged, testosterone-driven young adults who tend to act first and think second. Some of the players responded to the jeering by waving their sticks at the fans.

There, the fans needed to walk away. Period. Put your pride in your back pocket and walk away.

Should the Sea Dogs’ players have provoked the fans? No. Should the fans have fought back? No.

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

On to the bidders, again, before I pick up an assault charge of my own.

This week, the QMJHL’s memorial Cup selection committee visited Portland. I was there when they walked into Merrill Auditorium, and shared their experience as the 5,000-plus pipe organ fired off a rendition of O, Canada that made my hair stand on end.

Simply amazing.

The committee left Portland with an amazing impression of the city, andof the team’s commitment to host the event.

On paper, there is no question in my mind that the Maineiacs and Pirates have presented what will be the best of the five bids.

Now, will paper be all that determines where the tournament goes?

Some say there was a back-room deal worked out with Chicoutimi in 2005, when the city withdrew from consideration late in the game. Moncton earned that bid, for the 2006 tournament.

If Lewiston/Portland is the victim of politics, it would be a disgrace. I hope for the league’s sake the committee has enough integrity, even if there were some secret handshakes, to look beyond that and see each bid for what they could bring to the tournament.