John Tortorella is a breath of fresh air and a national treasure. I don’t just like him, I love him. The man speaks his mind, he isn’t worried about hurting people’s feelings, and he brings a certain WWE mentality to the interview room.
That’s how it should be. Professional sports have almost become boring. This is the age of branding, political correctness and packaging, and athletes and coaches rarely say anything interesting or fun. Some have talked politics in recent years, but that’s become a cliche and predictable, too.
That brings us back to Tortorella, the Columbus Blue Jackets coach who on Sunday went on a beautiful profanity-laced tirade to The Athletic about Jim Rutherford and Jack Johnson.