Pat Quinn's put in his time, of that there can be no question. He's played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He's been their coach, and their general manager. He is the modern face of Toronto hockey, and you may discuss among yourselves what that means.

	Pat Quinn may be giving up his GM duties to concentrate on coaching, but he's not likely to give up his job security.

Of course, your discussions won't matter a whit, because Quinn is playing with the casino's money here. He has decided, apparently, that being the general manager and coach is too difficult a balancing act for him at this stage of his life, so he has decided just to coach the Leafs.

As it should be. At this stage, a man should be able to pick his poison.

But what makes this especially delicious is that Quinn is going to pick his general manager. In other words, he is going to select his new boss.

Man, life doesn't get much easier than this.

Now, we know what you're thinking, and frankly, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves. But back to the Quinn thing. We know what you're saying -- "Hey, we all pick our bosses ... the day we get married."

There is some truth to that, of course. In fact, there's a great deal of truth to that. Only the day you pick your boss, you lose all your leverage ... kids, work, community property laws.

Only with Quinn's deal, he's still the boss. If anyone has to go in this deal, it's not going to be Quinn. In short, he is hiring a superior and an underling at the same time.

Man, life doesn't get ANY easier than this.

Quinn could hire an old crony from the zany days of the '70s. He could hire some young Theo Epstein-model whippersnapper who can whirl his way through numbers but takes pointed suggestions as the orders they are. He could hire the stick boy, he could hire the president of CBC sports, he could hire a monkey.

Now don't you want to be Pat Quinn?

Now, it is highly unlikely that Quinn would hire below the species line, because whatever else you want to say about him, he wants to win a Stanley Cup, and soon. He's has seen too many cold winters and colder springs, as the Leafs have extended their Cup-less streak to 36 years. Only the Chicago Blackhawks, who last won in 1961, and the Montreal Maroons, who folded right around World War II, have waited longer.

So he's going to green-light only a bright, devoted, hard-working fellow who knows his way around all the ramifications of the upcoming labor negotiations. He is going to hire someone who knows the game, knows the players, knows the agents, and knows how to get them all to fall in love with the idea of the Leafs.

That is, unless he's a fool, and Pat Quinn didn't reach the position he is in today by being a fool.

He knows, after all, that all you need to do in Toronto to become a demi-god is to win a Cup -- and not lose it two days later in some idiotic tavern bet.

Thus, he doesn't need a puppet. He needs someone who can enhance the Leafs' chances, not just enhance Quinn's position, especially since Quinn's position is already painted at center ice next to the team logo -- this huge squinty-eyed head with the map of Donegal where his other facial features should be.

No, the only thing Quinn doesn't need in a general manager is one who could fire him.

This is important because hockey coaches get taken out like trout in an overstocked lake. Lose three in a row, and you're fired. Get the team's highest-paid player mad at you, and you're fired. Sneeze into your napkin at a decent restaurant, get fired.

No sport has a greater gift for carnage -- not even Spanish soccer, where even winning championships can work against you.

Thus, by getting to pick his hammer, Pat Quinn is minimizing his chances of being fired before he can quit to almost zero, and there isn't a coach or manager on the planet who wouldn't take that in a Saskatoon minute.

Why, it comes as close to an ideal marriage as sports can get -- and somebody else has to do the laundry.

Man, life doesn't get any better than this. Ever.

Ray Ratto is a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle and a regular contributor to ESPN.com