Apr 29 - Too many jobs - not enough hours.

Spent tonight at a SportOakville session and while a good productive session, it does not need much time or energy for the Blog as it is already late and I have an 8:00 AM meeting tomorrow to do at least some prep for.

Montreal - despite the hour, It would not be fair to skip commenting on Montreal and their "shocking" elimination of the Caps. Endless hockey pools around the world are taking a beating. I thought Detroit did a good job in revitalizing themselves to win Game 7 on the road but that pales in comparison to the Habs "huge" upset of the President's trophy winners. That trophy is like the Coach of the Year award in that it is jinxed - it almost seems like if you win it you are going down.

Montreal was swarmed in both games 6 and 7 but seemed to have mastered the Ali "Rope-a-Dope" style of play to sit back, take a beating and sneak out a win over a tired, confused and demoralized opponent, The Plexiglas behind Halat did not hurt either. My only comment is that I had not realized how "delicate" goalies have become to have Washington's goal called back for interference. If they took that level of care to the rest of the game no one would need equipment.

One third - that is how muck of 2010 is gone after tomorrow - enough said!

Memories - for those who did not grow up with it it means either nothing or probably registers as something "bad" but the Vietnam "War" ended 35 years ago today with the fall of Saigon. While not technically a war for the US as Congress never declared it, tell that to any of the veterans who came back. As some of you know I spent the "Summer of '69" in Los Angeles and there was no middle ground. Vets were either heroes or "baby killers" in the minds of Americans and unfortunately there were too many of the later thinkers who took it out on young men (boys) who had just visited hell and were lucky to return in one piece.

The Star printed some classic shots today - most of which I remember from their inception. Canadians are concerned, and rightly so about our losses in Afghanistan. Check the casualty stats on MIA, KIA and wounded both in body and mind from Vietnam. I hung around with a few of these returnees back then and under the "right" conditions was privy to some "incredible" stories that "normal" people under "normal" circumstances just could not understand. These young men who were vilified, spit upon and ridiculed in their own neighbourhoods were "kids" who were drafted to, and flung into a horrible situation where the only options were prison or draft dodging - yet they paid the price. It was a summer, an environment and people I will never forget.

Late - tired - depressed after above - done!

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Apr 28 – Still recovering from a long day yesterday and today was no picnic either. There is a game 7 with the Habs tonight and I have a SportsOakville meeting tomorrow night to prep for – soooo – this will be short.

I also don’t have any new material to foist on folks and I am not ready to unveil expense #4 on my Hockey $$ chronicles yet.

Halat – if buddy has another night tonight like game 6 then the Habs deserve to win. However, I can’t see it happening. That was a “career” game and not apt to be repeated – at least not back to back. I suggested a strategy to beat him to some folks at the office today but it was not well receiver – Run Him! Send Bozo Bill in, take the two or five and move on. It is game 7 you have to win! I could never promote or endorse this in minor hockey BUT this is big business, played for big dollars and they play by a whole different set of rules (controversial enough for you yet?)

AGMs – Speaking of minor hockey – this is the season of AGMs, board nominations, officer elections, self recriminations, tirades, plots, petitions,  etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Usually MOHA’s is held the last Thursday in May with the call to arms well in advance. This year marks the first electoral anniversary (two year term) of the palace coup that dethroned yours truly and things are suspiciously quiet – not to mention late! I guess they are just waiting for a poke from me to wake them up. The stories I hear!

Looking for Blood – following on from the above, I just got my regular call from the blood donor folks. The boon or curse of being O+ is they are after you all the time. I don’t mind as it really is a worthwhile practice so once again I will try to head down and let someone stab me – literally, not figuratively and I would encourage all of you to do the same. You never know when you or yours could be waiting desperately on the receiving end.

Sorry but I have to – insert a minor gloat as my Wings “crushed” the hapless Coyotes and I don’t have to hear that blanket blank Howler any more this season! Now, if San Jose can rediscover their choke chain and collar we will be in good shape for round two. I hope the Wings play in Game 7 was a taste of things to come as they were full value for the win- typical of the NHL specialty teams rule – Power Play – 3 for 6 helps. Problem is I can’t do the late night thing anymore so they should move all the games to the East Coast.

Concern - #1 son is currently gainfully employed by HP (and doing well). However, I have to question the HP brain trust as they announced plans to “snap up” Palm for a paltry $1.2 Billion (that is a 1 with NINE zeros. Let’s see, Rim “owns” the bus world with the Blackberry and is announcing all kinds of new goodies to go after Apple. Apple owns the “in crowd” – i.e., non-bus with the IPhone and is going after Rim. There are a bunch of other players – e.g., Samsung just waiting and scratching at the door and buried in the throw away obsolete boxes are a whack of Palm Pilots! Sounds like HP is paying big bucks to bring a knife to a gunfight. Mark this file to look back later.

Love the quote:

 “We’re thrilled by HP’s vote of confidence in Palm’s technological leadership, which delivered Palm webOS and iconic products such as the Palm Pre,” said Jon Rubinstein, chairman and chief executive officer at Palm.

I would be too if you just handed me $1,200,000,000 for an Edsel.

I wonder who did the PowerPoint deck on that one?

On that note – duty calls.

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Apr 27 – As was likely obvious from the grammatical errors and typos that I did not catch, I have setup and am retraining my voice – to – speech software. When I lost my “drive” (no comments please), and moved to Windows 7, I had to get an upgrade to deal with a C++ issue. Since I had to reinstall anyway it was no big deal other than having to do the retraining – WRONG! What I found was jabbering away through my headset, the software was having difficulty setting the microphone volume levels and detecting appropriate sound quality. It was not until I realized that it was ignoring my headset and picking up the sound from my webcam that it got things rolling by “talking” to the webcam. Given that it normally sits on its lofty perch on my monitor, this is not a practical option. I can hold it in my hand like a regular mic, but this defeats the whole headset purpose. Never a dull moment.

Goalies – how many times have I mentioned that goaltending is critical / wins playoff match-ups / steals games / insert platitude here? Aka Montreal last night. Halat was super human – Montreal is unbelievably still alive. Miller was only ordinary – buffalo goes golfing. Washington has to feel snake bit as their first 51 shots hit the wall and they only got one by him. Game 7 – in Washington – the Caps have got to be stressed and montreal can go in loose. No one even dreamt they would be there. My Detroiters have had the same issue with Mr. B in Phoenix. Game 7 of that goes tonight so all fingers and toes are crossed.

The Power of PowerPoint – guilty as charged. As one who unfortunately has earned the rep as a PPT maven I found the linked article in today’s Star – sad – but true (and humourous). At the moment being embroiled in multiple iterations of a board deck, I was intrigued by the apparent pervasive use of PPT in the military – especially in field / combat areas. The “sample” slide tagged to the article is an incredible example of misuse and I love the comment:

 

“When we understand that slide, we’ll have won the war,” General McChrystal dryly remarked, one of his advisers recalled, as the room erupted in laughter.

The close of the article is also quite humourous and easy to relate to from my own experience:

Senior officers say the program does come in handy when the goal is not imparting information, as in briefings for reporters.

The news media sessions often last 25 minutes, with 5 minutes left at the end for questions from anyone still awake. Those types of PowerPoint presentations, Dr. Hammes said, are known as “hypnotizing chickens.”

Slides anyone – pick a topic, any topic!

No Prez – No Hockey – How would you like this one? The Grey – Bruce, Saugeen Shores Association is in danger of folding if no one is willing to step up as President. Their constitution apparently says – no President – no hockey and they have only a short time frame to fix it. Typical “not my issue” response as only about 25 of 300 families (450 players) even showed up for the AGM. As a variation on SOGDIT, we have SOGWDOT – some one guy will do it. Everyone is very confident someone will but so far no one has stepped up. Article.

Late return - given a late return to base tonight - 10:30 PM as a result of the PPT Board deck mentioned earlier, I just got in in time to catch the tail end of the period to see my Wings survive a two man advantage for the Coyotes and then have Stuart score coming out of the box in the final seconds to go up 4 - 1 when by rights Phoenix should have got at least one goal to close the gap to 3 - 2. While a 3 goal lead does not mean you are home and cooled out - just ask Ottawa - it is a heck of a lot better than 3 - 2 or worse. Go Wings Go!

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Apr 26 - throughout the weekend, most of the first round playoff series came to a conclusion -- or close to it. Unfortunately, the only one that I'm really interested in will be going to a game seven tomorrow night. Detroit never does it the easy way and heading into Phoenix with a three hour time difference, a four hour flight and without home ice advantage qualifies as not being easy. However, the good news is that this series has had a lot of non-home ice wins.

In the other series I did lose a couple of my long shot picks, but the good news is that when you are just picking for fun and trying to stir up some controversy it doesn't really matter what. San Jose should easily have disposed of Colorado -- which they did, and Vancouver really should not have had as much trouble as they did with Los Angeles. Having said that, there have been some great hockey games to watch with some interesting calls on goals that were or were not allowed and penalty calls that were or were not made. They ignored slash with too many men on the ice was my personal favorite.

Montréal should go down tonight, I would like to see Boston finish off Buffalo and clearly I am cheering for Detroit. Of all of those come true we will have to look at the matchups for round two and start making serious predictions.

Boobquake was a bust – pun intended. Too many people with too much time on their hands and too much access to media have beat this one to death. Despite this show of excessive (to some people) cleavage in a number of cities such as Washington and Vancouver, I don't think anyone felt the earth move. Another noted cleric proven wrong. While politically incorrect as a topic, it should be noted that this “event” has been hyped by women, most notably a couple who have seized on it as their 15 minutes of fame.

Weekend report -- while it should be a Monday fixture to report on exciting weekend activities, I don't think my escapades in trying to fix the inner workings of what is referred to as a "water closet" is anything that would be of interest to anyone reading this drivel. I will say, that it astounds me that such a simple mechanism is so difficult to fix with parts that should be standard. Despite several forays to my local Canadian Tire store I still have some issues. I guess American Standard doesn't like it when you mix in no-name parts.

The $$$$$ of Hockey – Round 3 – Officials – Another factor to consider in adding up the cost are the on and off ice officials provided for each game – i.e., referees and timekeepers. The OMHA prescribes the referees rate for all Rep games but does not require that same fee for House League. The OMHA rate is influenced by Age Level and Game Length (not how many As you have). For example, an OMHA rate for a 10/10/10 game (3 ten minute periods) for Peewee is $21 per referee in a two referee system. Given the laws of supply and demand (or so we are led to believe) for referees, and the “bonus” MOHA was paying of $1 per level (e.g., a level 3 referee receives an extra three bucks a game), consider that $21 as a reasonable benchmark cost. Throw in a timekeeper at $10 bucks a game and with 25 games and 32 players that works out to roughly $40.63 per player per season (at the peewee level - more or less for others.

Referees	2	$      21.00	$      42.00
Timekeeper	1	$      10.00	$      10.00
			$      52.00
No. of Games			25
			$ 1,300.00
Players/game	32		$      40.63

Three big costs in - #1 Ice, Officials and OMHA fees. Running total $345. Still $150 bucks shy of the Early bird rate and $250 below the poor (literally) late registrant!

	Line Item	Per Player
1	OMHA Fees	$            43.86
2	Season and playoff ice cost	$          260.47
3	On & Off Ice Officials	$            40.63
4
5
	Developing Total	$          344.96

 Interesting timing that a lead sports story was a slam at "big" Sports charities and fundraisers for the percentage of $$ that actually got to the "grass roots cause". In challenging times, that needs to be true in all organizations at all levels and items that are "added cost" need to truly be "added value".

If you want to check out referee rates for other game lengths and levels the actual rates are in the OMHA’s Manual of Operations on their site.

Stay tuned for round 4 - what shall we price out next?

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Apr 23 – TGIF as it has been a hectic week. Bad news is the next few promise to be even worse so we will play ‘em as we gets ‘em. Through this weekend the NHL should sort out a number of match-ups. While I like calling long shots, there was no way I was picking Philly over the Devils, especially with Philly’s reputation for NOT having stellar goaltending – a must for the playoffs – and going up against Marty. I guess it looks like Brodeur has reached the downhill slide but even so Philly in 5!

I also expected to see Ottawa staring to book golf dates after last night but they were full value for the win against Sid’s boys in a game that should never have gone to overtime. I would suggest that Ottawa was only prolonging the inevitable but at least Eugene gets another playoff gate to fill the coffers. Given that so far I am 0 for 1 in my prognostications, don’t trust a word I write.

Shape of things to come -- coincident with my comments on the cost of minor hockey, there was an article in the Stratford Beacon Herald about Stratford minor hockey, an Alliance member, essentially farming out their house league program to the Rotary hockey program. This is an interesting story and you can read about it here. The underlying reason for this "takeover" was cost -- i.e., the registration cost that kids would have to play under Stratford minor hockey versus Stratford Rotary hockey. The difference -- Stratford Rotary hockey does not require certified coaches for their teams nor do they require certified trainers. They also arranged for their own insurance coverage for participants and are not recognized by or affiliated with Hockey Canada. The Rotary players are therefore playing in an outlaw house league according to Hockey Canada definitions and are not eligible to play or be played by any Hockey Canada recognized team. For instance, no Stratford Rotary house league teams are eligible to play exhibition games or tournaments with any MOHA teams (members of the OMHA).

Formerly, SMHA only had HL for the 15 to 19 year olds and SRH only had the younger age groups. Now SRH will have them all.

Interestingly, Stratford minor hockey has retained their travel or rep teams, similar to the Burlington Eagles, and now have no house league teams in their organization. That has been left up to the Rotary program. If I have identified the correct numbers, they speak for themselves

Stratford Minor Hockey – First Payment $200, Second Payment $225 – Total $425 with a note that it is subject to Hockey Canada ruling (by the way – late fee is $25 not $100.) This form will likely get pulled off their site with the new set-up and again it is interesting that SMHA does not provide a link to SRH on their site. Guess they don’t want to annoy Alliance/OHF/Hockey Canada.

Stratford Rotary Hockey – Age Specific – Examples – Minor Novice through Minor Peewee - $250, Major Peewee through Minor Bantam - $280.

A significant difference $175 cheaper for Stratford Rotary Hockey. Their fees went up $20 to cover the HST versus ??

Let’s remember that Hockey Day in Canada was awarded to a centre/town with an outlaw House League. What does that say??

Shatner for GG – Maybe this joke is serious. Apparently Mr. Spock (an extra terrestrial half human half Vulcan – so no vote) is backing Shatner. Nimoy who is 79 (surprised he is that old but time flies) basically thinks it would give Captain Kirk a sense of worth and something to do. A Facebook site (the poor man’s Gallup poll) already has over 20,000 votes.

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Apr 22 – Bear with me as I think my transition to Windows 7 has created some anomalies in my myriad of security codes and logons. Interestingly I can logon to some of the web sites I have with no difficulty but for some reason I am having stress with www.minorhockeyfan.com .

Go Bruins – A great OT last night with what? – four whistles in the first 20 minutes and great two way hockey. I only saw some of it but wish we got more of this. I thought my long shot Kings had a chance last night to go 3 – 1 but got stifled by the Canucks and only got something like 22 shots at Luongo with 4 going in. Message to Kings – Shoot boys – Shoot! I am counting the Habs as belly-up but if Miller turns into a wall, the Sabres may still have a chance. Ottawa is not worth a mention. They can play 5 on 1 against Sid and still lose. Tonight I need a big win from my Red Wings or they run the risk of becoming the Dead Things. Stay tuned.

TTC – Just when you think you have seen it all, the boneheads rise to the occasion. Heading for the turnstile exit at Yonge & Eg this morning (you know those spinny things with all the spindles sticking out to “poke” you that only turn one way) what to my wondering eye do I see but a crew of TTC workees dismantling one of the turnstiles! Why? Some Moron had tried to take a bicycle through the turnstile and “surprise, surprise” got stuck halfway through. Remember you can’t turn it backwards and he was solidly jammed going ahead. I would have simply grabbed the torch, cut the bike in half and let buddy try to glue it back together. But, oh no, we have a full crew of TTC types (chaching) dismantling the turnstile to bail him out. And we wonder why costs are so high – send him a bill. Did I mention that 10 feet away there is a wheelchair access port that he could have zipped right through! Doh!

Shatner for GG – Apparently that’s who Facebook people want. The only question is which Shatner do they want. The interesting private life Shatner, Captain James Tiberius Kirk – the stickler for rules, the reprobate mad cow disease suffering Denny Crane, Law and Order T.J. Hooker or his current TV host persona. More importantly, which if any of those roles qualifies him for a vice regal appointment. I think Lizzie’s response would be an icy “We are not amused”. Maybe I should send Steve my CV. I mean I just got back from Ottawa and a trip to parliament hill. Therefore I am eminently qualified.

The $$$$$ of Hockey – On April 12 I started this off by outlining the composition of OMHA fees that are part of the cost that must be covered each year by each player in their registration fees to play minor hockey. With the recently posted indication of the 2010/11 MOHA registration fees posted below, I thought that as another ploy to attract users on a regular basis I would start adding estimates of cost items on a serial basis to pique interest. Feel free to challenge my numbers and, or assumptions at any time, however, please use facts to do so.

MOHA 2010/11 registration fees
April 30 - May 31	$          495.00
June 1 - August 3	$          545.00
after August 3 - YIKES	$          595.00

My initial post covered OMHA fees that based on the individual player, volunteers and team registration worked out to about $43.86 per player.

Today I will provide an approximated ice cost for those teams that receive a 50 minute ice hour game once per week as well as a shared ice practice for 50 minutes (an official ice hour) once per week.

I have based my estimate on the Town’s posted facility cost as well as the impact of the infamous Town grant which gives qualifying user groups a 22% “discount” on the cost of their ice (pre tax). See the calculation below that produces a net ice hour cost to the user of $166.70.

This is the prime time ice rate for all facilities ex Joshua’s Creek Arenas posted rate, but I think the groups get the standard rate there as well.

It really is a simple calculation if they have not changed it.

	Base	HST	Total
Regular	$         183.19	$    23.81	$  207.00
Grant %	22%
Grant $	$           40.30
	$         142.89	$    23.81	$  166.70
		Net hourly ice cost	$  166.70

From there just take an average 25 week season (inclusive of play-offs and the per player cost is pretty self evident. Remember, if your league does not get any practices it is a whole other ball game.

For divisions with a 50 Minute Game
and a 50 Minute shared practice each week
Typical Season	25	Weeks
Ice hours per week	2
Shared by:	32	Players
Total Season Hours	50
Hours per player	1.6
Cost per player	$  260.47

I can now drop this “expense” as a second item in my “here’s what it really costs table” and hopefully get folks curious as to what comes next. So far I have “used up” $304.33. Where is the other $190 going? $290 for those poor suckers who decide late, forget, are stretched for cash, or move to Town late. Welcome to the greedy and rip-off friendly and supportive local. Wait til I add more “expenses” – maybe I will be proved wrong.

	Line Item	Per Player
1	OMHA Fees	$            43.86
2	Season and playoff ice cost	$          260.47
3
4
5
	Developing Total	$          304.33

Going forward, I will update this on the top of my blog page.

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Apr 21 – Back from the Nation’s capital (sans any beavertails) and one of the annual industry events. While one can draw conclusions about conference agendas, there is no doubt that they are always a great opportunity to network. I look at these events as “fishing” trips. You are always trying to lure information out of other folks without giving up any yourself – or at least nothing that you expect that they don’t already know or has little competitive value.

On Tuesday afternoon there was a meet and greet set-up in the centre block at Parliament Hill to try to promote the industries’ point of view to any of our members that could be lured out. Do the words stuffed shirts, arrogant, opinionated, self centered ring a bell? The highlight of the day was walking over from the Chateau Laurier where we were staying to the Hill and realizing it was some type of National Marijuana protest day. The lawn in front of the parliament buildings was jammed with a number of free thinkers sampling their “hand rolled cigarettes of choice” with the unmistakable MJ odour thick as a forest fire wafting past the Queen’s Cowboys on duty. When I asked them about their attitude and anticipated actions regarding this blatant and “illegal” behavior, the response was that as long as they stayed on the lawn, no actions would be taken. However, if they were to cross the curb to the driveway they would be arrested. The horde seemed to be quite relaxed and willing to “smoke” on the lawn.

Pearson – have I mentioned how much I hate flying out of Toronto Pearson. I swear that I spent almost as long getting through security for a domestic flight as I do in the air (1 hour flight time). AND – people who cannot even speak English delight in treating you like crap and you have NO recourse. The whole scanner ritual is getting out of control. I support security but there needs to be some common sense. I cannot even comprehend how anyone could even conceive that I would be a terrorist or mad unibomber. BUT, I swear I must be on a list somewhere as no matter how hard I try I cannot seem to get through Toronto security without incident. Fortunately, I checked in and printed my boarding pass from home. That probably saved me 20 minutes but for some reason I can’t access the electronic version of the boarding pass. You still have to wait through the scan line delays and seethe as the folks who get there late get the preferential “front of the line” treatment as a reward for being late. I also try to avoid checking bags if at all possible. Regardless I cannot get through the Xrays without incident and it is not because I have a plate in my head (I don’t – I think).

First I need about four buckets to get lined up for the scan – Laptop out of the case in one. Jacket in another, all the loose crap – crackberry, keys, watch, coins, belt, ID badge etc in a third and left-overs in the fourth. Then I still ring the bell even though I have nothing in, on or over me. Apparently my wallet sets off the machine! – Credit cards? Sometimes it is my shoes – a pair of loafers with a metal ornament on the top? Once the wanding is over we typically move on to the “is this your case” line? Yup – open up. Last time, I forgot I had a case cutter in my computer bag and thought they were going to call the SWAT team on it. They got all PO’d when I just laughed and told them to keep it a as souvenir. Then they checked my “fluids” and made me throw out a 150 ml tube of Crest toothpaste and a 125 ml bottle of solution for my contact lenses. Co-operative guy that I am, this time I went out and found “legal” size bottles of contact lens stuff and toothpaste and figured I was good. Wrong! This time it was my carry-on (which I know is .75 inches over the “legal” length but I will never tell). Anyway, when I travel I always toss in one of those little red Tim Hortons first aid kits (I’m a trainer remember) as it often comes in handy for someone for a band-aid if nothing else. I forgot that this kit contains a dangerous concealed weapon – a small pair of blunt, round end blade scissor – try to cut anything with those puppies. This major faux pas on my part once again rang all the bells and led to a tongue lashing and confiscation! Then just to add insult to injury, when Mr. Smart Mouth (aka moi) commented on having made the effort to get the smaller bottles I was told that I did not have to as contact lens solutions were considered as medical items and exempt from the 100 ml limit. WHAT!!!! Who do I believe? Anyway, just to fool them I snuck back a 150 ml microbiotics sample from Ottawa with no problem. It must be just those Pearson clowns.

Hockey – missed a bunch of games but am catching up tonight. Not going to say much about my picks yet but LA Rocks – the Kinks that is. I just hope Vancouver keeps playing Luongo and I could look brilliant! Bruins fought back tonight from 0 – 2 to tie and go to OT! Go Bruins Go!

My Steelers and Big Ben - Get rid of him - he has been behaving like a jerk, is not that good and has become a distraction. Don't need him!

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Apr 18 – Given the fact that I am off to Ottawa for a couple “dark” days and given that I disappointed my vast public last week with a surprise hiatus, I thought I had better stick something on the wall today (not my Facebook Wall – but that too will be a topic sometime).

NHL – I have now realized why we have to tolerate an 82 game regular season of horrible hockey. It is so we appreciate what we get when the playoffs arrive. While still “below” the top end Olympic experience (and justifiably so), these games have been a treat and are really messing with my “free” time. While I have not yet progressed to full-on Couch Potato, I have a 21” (I think) flat screen in my Man Cave by the computer and it is difficult maintaining any type of multi-task focus when the games are on. With my recent PC Meltdown and repair process, I am surprised I have not fried either myself or the innards of my Desktop trying to watch and work.

Today is a prime example with five games on – Detroit at 3:00 PM and then pairs of games early and late evening. I think they should have started at 10:00 AM and ran them all back to back! Wouldn’t that create some domestic stress.

Similar to last year I have my ongoing playoff chart which I will update – when I can – this week being a challenge. Just so folks can harass me I have flagged my original picks – far out as some of them are – simply because I like to play longshots – you should see me at the track. Which is probably why I do not bet anymore!

Results updated up top

 Toronto Sports – This town is a joke. I was glancing through rthe Toronto Sun this morning (a paper copy – not online) which suggests a lot about my day. I got to the sports section and with my bizarre mindset had a big chuckle over today’s stellar sports reporting. Remember now Toronto IS NOT participating in any play-offs – pick a sport. So, here is a browse into today’s Sun’s sports pages.

Pages 1 – 9: NHL play-offs (not one word on the Leafs – and why should there be).

Pages 10 – 11: Steve Simmons Says – in my opinion - two pages of drivel that does have Leaf / raptors / Jays mentions aka gossip but nothing of substance.

Pages 12 – 13: Soccer – with a sidebar on TFC

Pages 14 – 15: NFL and the upcoming NFL draft ?????

Pages 16 – 17: NBA Basketball – Did I mention Toronto is not playing!

Page 18: FINALLY – we hit (no pun intended) the Blue Jays who are the only Toronto Major Sports team actually playing (I don’t count TFC) and they have to wait until Page 18 of the sports section to get any coverage!!

There has been chit chat surfacing about lack of interest / support / fans in baseball in Toronto with people up in arms defending the team and city. What does the above tell you – at least for the Sun Scribes.

This and that:

Taxes – It is not April 30 and I can’t believe I have done my taxes – it was part of the recover and fix my PC. More importantly, I clearly have done something wrong as for the first time in recorded history I am getting a refund! Don’t anyone tell RC.

Black – So when do felons pick mayors? It seems that our buddy Conrad is endorsing a candidate for mayor of Toronto and it is not one of the front runners. Clearly they must have either crossed paths in the past or they were not seen as supportive enough in trying to spring him.

Drug Wars – Watch this one as they major pharmacy chains are squaring off with the big G over drug costs. SDM is one of the prime targets / victims and there is a lot of support against the retailers. Here is one columnist piece. Shorter hours – fewer services – fewer stores ??? watch this fight.

Palin – was in Hamilton. Did anyone care enough to cough up $200 for a rubber chicken dinner or $1,000 to meet her for an autographed book? Not me. Apparently 900 eat the Kool-Aid to hear that Palin has roots in Canada! Fortunately it is only Manitoba so no one will care.

Taxi – I like John Cleese but these guys are nuts. After the Icelandic dust cloud grounded his flight, Cleese paid $4,950 to take a cab from Norway to Brussels so he could catch a train. The cabbie has retired to his villa in the Alps.

Elections – A dead man has been elected mayor of Tracy City, Tenn. Carl Robin Geary died suddenly a few weeks ago. But he received 268 votes in Tuesday’s election, beating out the incumbent who received 85 votes in the two-candidate race. And I couldn’t even get elected to Oakville Council. Only in America.

See you Wednesday – Lord willin’ and the river don’t rise! (that’s duster talk)

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Normally not a weekend practice but due to my disappearing act and in deference to my 2 loyal readers I thought I had better dispel the rumours of my demise!

Apr 17 – No it is not Apr 13 when I planned my last post but I am back (sort of) now!

Why was I gone??

Travelling? – A bit but NO

Working late – A bit but NO

Evening meetings – One but NO

Traumatized after losing the FHP – A bit but NO

No material – Close but NO

Tired of the whole blog thing – A bit but NO

Watching play-off games – A few but NO

Significantly, April 13, my last planned post day was the anniversary of the Apollo 13 historic – “Houston – we have a problem” story. Apollo 13's LOX tank blowed up!

I got home on the 13^th to find out my good old dependable desktop – with ALL my stuff on it had “blowed up” too. It was in a never ending reboot loop. Reboot – go to Windows XP splash screen – blow up – flip to reboot – go to modified boot startup screen – count down to try a normal windows startup - go to Windows XP splash screen – blow up – flip to reboot – go to modified boot startup screen – count down to try a normal windows startup – REPEAT AD NAUSEUM!

At first I was not too worried as I figured I could just interrupt the sequence, go to a low level safe boot and fix whatever was wrong. Nope! Same story. Well then let’s try the last working config operation – Nope – same story. We were dead in the water.

• By now it is Plan 4 time to dig out the XP Pro master disks and try a repair as opposed to a reload – Nope hung!

• Plan 5 – try the ultility box – Nope – can’t fix.

• Plan 6 – do an overlay install over the existing version which may cost some functionality issues but at least it would get me back – Nope – hung.

Now it is 2 days (evenings) later and I am majorly PO’d, cranky and tired. There was also only one real option left to try, if I wanted to be able to pull data from the drive, and that was to simply go in and do a full Windows install over the current one and hope for the best. I pulled the pin on that one and ended up getting at least a bootable system that did load a very crude version of windows. I have a 22 inch high res monitor which had to display a 16 colour 640 X 480 pixel version of Windows XP that would not allow any better display. This 16 colour 640 X 480 screen is the same as the old CGA screens we had on XTs – UGLY.

At least it let me update my data back-ups (which were fairly current anyway – just as a precaution. I did not have the option of simply upgrading to Windows 7 since Microsoft has rigged the deck such that unless you are running Vista there is no straight upgrade path. You have to do the dreaded reformat which WIPES OUT everything.

Anyway, yesterday I went out and bought a new drive (a 1 TetraByte jobbie) and went the clean drive full Windows 7 install route. What that means is a re-install of all my application software (still in process) and selective restoration of backup data. MS Office 2007 Enterprise, Front Page, and my 2009 Quicktax are up and Mail, Internet and Network services restored. Windows 7 takes a little getting used to but so far I like it and it has been rock solid. It seamlessly picked up my peripherals as I am bringing them back up – printers, external drives, OSB wireless. The only glitch so far is my Nuance Dragon Naturally Speaking that needs a version update 10.0 to 10.1 to deal with 7s 64 bit system.

At the end of the day it looks like I got hit with the combination of some corrupt Windows files possibly due in part to a failing hard disk sector.

Moral of the story is that I was glad to have the back-ups I did, BUT – Computers can be a royal pain in the derriere! It is also maybe not so funny how they become a part of our life and things are just weird when your ingrained habits get so disrupted.

I will not rehash old news so we will look ahead and I can already tell folks I will be dark Monday and Tuesday as I am off to the Nations Capital to . . . .

Stay tuned, I will be back – again. Hopefully it is still Beavertail season on Parliament Hill. - Cinamon - brown sugar - I can taste them already!

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Apr 12 – The season is over – finally – and now the real games begin.

FHP – He who lives by the sword must be prepared to die by the sword. Despite a major surge by my guys on the last day, picking up two points, it was too little too late and Andrew has dethroned me as the Family Hockey Pool Champ. I will likely demand a recount and audit but fair is fair and I got beat. In my defense it was a two horse race and I think Jane and Shaun were throwing points to Andrew just to take me down. Oh well – like the Leaf fans say – there is always nest year. At least my Wings are in the play-offs.

Baseball – Somehow I got tricked into “outfitting” Andrew for his new career in Slo Pitch. These guys are as crazy as hockey players. Saturday we traipsed around every sports store in Mississauga and Oakville looking for just the right equipment. Of course, I have a warehouse full of “hardball” stuff in the Moorehead Sporting Goods garage and basement, but clearly that just will not do for softball. So, we were looking for the essentials, new cleats, pants, a glove, batting gloves (apparently a must have – fashion accessorized to match the cleats – Red?) and a BAT. Now, most of the stuff was in line with my expectations – other than having to comparison shop 47 stores to find one that was “liked”. BUT – the BAT was a whole other story. I thought players / parents were nuts about their spending on hockey sticks! Check out the bats! Just for the record, yours truly WILL NOT spend $400 on a beer league bat. However there are lots of them out there at that price and then depending what you buy (i.e., high end of the specs), the ASA can put it on the “illegal” bat list and you can not even use it. The size, weight, colours, names and graphics on what is out there is amazing. Fortunately, Andrew has a good practical streak in him on this topic and we lucked out (I hope) in finding a pretty snazzy item that was a previous year’s model on sale for $50. Bargain? I am pretty sure it won’t be a make or break for him in the run-up to the batting championship.

The $$$$$ of Hockey – There are always a lot of questions floating around about minor hockey and why it costs what it does. Maybe if I am challenged for content, and there is any interest expressed, I will go more “in-depth” on this topic in my quest for a Pulitzer. If the Washington Post can win four, I should be able to snag at least one.

Anyway, as one “cost” item, the local associations need to pay fees to their governing body (in Oakville’s case the OMHA) to cover the cost of governance as well as provided shared services. The OMHA has their AGM coming up in June and as part of the advance information passed on to their members, overall and for budgeting purposes, they publish their fees. These fees are set-up on a per participant basis and participants include both the players and the volunteers AKA Bench Staff – Coaches – Trainers – Managers.

The Participant fees for the 2010 / 2011 season are $34.29 per participant (player or team official). A partial breakout of that fee is as follows:

Item	Fee
Insurance Premiums	$17.44
Ontario Minor Hockey Association assessment	$9.25
Ontario Hockey Federation assessment	$3.10
Hockey Canada assessment	$4.50
Total	$34.29

While I am not passing judgment on these fees, they do end up representing a sizable expenditure. Look at them from two angles:

1.       For a large organization like the MOHA (4,000 players and around 800 Bench staff) the cheque to the OMHA for administrative services and the insurance (limited) that they provide is over $165,000 per season

2.       Consider a house league team where one tries to keep costs down and if that team has a coach, assistant coach, trainer and manager, that team “pays” $137.16 ($8.57 per player)to cover the cost of the team’s volunteers on top of the $548.64 for the 16 players (and there is an $16 per team registration fee as well).

A $400 registration now has less than $360 left before you even get into the “real” costs. Bet no one told you this before.

Basketball – Not a roundball fan BUT – How would you describe the Raptors effort it a “must win” game against Chicago. I could smell it from here.

Golf – Way to go Lefty. We Southpaws need to stick together and it was nice to have a “good” story as the story for the Masters no matter how much the talking heads and coverage tried to make it the Tiger show.

Blue Jays – Home opener tonight – on a roll – enjoy it while it lasts until the Mega Bucks payrolls kick in. Draw 50,000 tonight and then won’t draw flies starting tomorrow. Go figure.Aaron Hill already hits 15 day DL.

Axe Time – T Bay drops the hammer on GM and Coach – a twin kill. Post NHL season – that’s the first. Start the scorecard – who’s next – “Calgary”?

NHL Playoffs – Have to think about my picks but here are the match-ups. I put in the whole schedule for round 1 if you want it. Quick Pick winners are Bold Blue

Eastern Conference

No. 1 Washington Capitals vs. No. 8 Montreal Canadiens

Game 1 -- April 15 : Canadiens at Capitals, 7 p.m.
Game 2 -- April 17: Canadiens at Capitals, 7 p.m.
Game 3 -- April 19: Capitals at Canadiens, 7 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 21: Capitals at Canadiens, 7 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 23*: Canadiens at Capitals, 7 p.m.

Game 6 -- April 26*: Capitals at Canadiens, 7 p.m.

Game 7 -- April 28*: Canadiens at Capitals, TBD

 

No. 2 New Jersey Devils vs. No. 7 Philadelphia Flyers

Game 1 -- April 14: Flyers at Devils, 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 -- April 16 : Flyers at Devils, 7:30 p.m.
Game 3 -- April 18: Devils at Flyers, 6 p.m.
Game 4 -- April 20: Devils at Flyers, 7:30 p.m.
Game 5 -- April 22*: Flyers at Devils, 7 p.m.
Game 6 -- April 25*: Devils at Flyers, TBD
Game 7 -- April 27*: Flyers at Devils, 7:30 p.m.
 

No. 3 Buffalo Sabres vs. No. 6 Boston Bruins

Game 1 -- April 15 : Bruins at Sabres, 7 p.m.

Game 2 -- April 17: Bruins at Sabres, 1 p.m.

Game 3 -- April 19: Sabres at Bruins, 7 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 21: Sabres at Bruins, 7 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 23*: Bruins at Sabres, 7 p.m.

Game 6 -- April 26*: Sabres at Bruins, 7 p.m.
Game 7 -- April 28*: Bruins at Sabres, 7 p.m.

 

No. 4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. No. 5 Ottawa Senators

Game 1 -- April 14: Senators at Penguins, 7 p.m.

Game 2 -- April 16 : Senators at Penguins, 7 p.m.

Game 3 -- April 18: Penguins at Senators, 6:30 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 20: Penguins at Senators, 7 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 22*: Senators at Penguins, 7 p.m.

Game 6 -- April 24*: Penguins at Senators, 7 p.m.
Game 7 -- April 27*: Bruins at Sabres, 7 p.m.

 

Western Conference

 

No. 1 San Jose Sharks vs. No. 8 Colorado Avalanche – my personal longshot

Game 1 -- April 14: Avalanche at Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

Game 2 -- April 16 : Avalanche at Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

Game 3 -- April 18: Sharks at Avalanche, 9:30 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 20: Sharks at Avalanche, 10 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 22*: Avalanche at Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

Game 6 -- April 24*: Sharks at Avalanche, TBD
Game 7 -- April 26*: Avalanche at Sharks, TBD

 

No. 2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. No. 7 Nashville Predators

Game 1 -- April 16: Predators at Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.

Game 2 -- April 18 : Predators at Blackhawks, 8:30 p.m.

Game 3 -- April 20: Blackhawks at Predators, 9 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 22: Blackhawks at Predators, 8:30 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 24*: Predators at Blackhawks, 3 p.m.

Game 6 -- April 26*: Blackhawks at Predators, TBD

Game 7 -- April 28*: Predators at Blackhawks, TBD

 

No. 3 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 6 Los Angeles Kings – longshot #2

Game 1 -- April 15 : Kings at Canucks, 10 p.m.

Game 2 -- April 17: Kings at Canucks, 10 p.m..

Game 3 -- April 19: Canucks at Kings, 10 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 21: Canucks at Kings, 10 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 23*: Kings at Canucks, 10 p.m..

Game 6 -- April 25*: Canucks at Kings, TBD

Game 7 -- April 27: Kings at Canucks, TBD

 

No. 4 Phoenix Coyotes vs. No. 5 Detroit Red Wings

Game 1 -- April 14: Red Wings at Coyotes, 10 p.m.

Game 2 -- April 16 : Red Wings at Coyotes, 10 p.m.

Game 3 -- April 18: Coyotes at Red Wings, 3 p.m.

Game 4 -- April 20: Coyotes at Red Wings, 6:30 p.m.

Game 5 -- April 23*: Red Wings at Coyotes, 10 p.m.

Game 6 -- April 25*: Coyotes at Red Wings, 2 p.m.

Game 7 -- April 27*: Red Wings at Coyotes, TBD

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Apr 9 – This week is finally over! As the first week back after basically two off and with some of the activity I alluded to and more it was a looooong week. Bad news is I did not get caught up on all the critical stuff (i.e., three presentations due for next week – 1 1/2 done – weekend work). Therefore tonight will be a hit and run effort and then likely off til next week.

Good news – in one of our CT Silent Auctions I got a 12” Maximum Mitre Saw at a great price (remember #2 son “burnt-up” my cheapie last summer). Bad news is I got to go to our Retail City Warehouse to pick it up tomorrow morning.

New Program – MOHA site says they are offering a Trainer "HTPC" course. Either dyslexia has set in (not surprising) or another boo boo. Still want a $15 premium for non member – still disagree.

Tiger Hype in full bloom – just like the magnolias – don’t care in either case. Come on Watson – hang in there and beat him!

World Cup tickets – 500,000 unsold (one quarter of the total). Guess there are more smart people then I thought. Who wants to run the risk of getting murdered at a soccer game or simply travelling to it. On Q107 this morning one of the quiz questions / answers was that there were something like 40,000 murders there last year. Yikes!

Ice Edge Holdings – may end up as new Coyotes owners. Apparently they have signed a memorandum of understanding (which means nothing) but a big vote is coming up with Glendale Council next Tuesday. After my visit, I am leaning to hoping they find a financially viable way to keep the team there with other than the tiny perfect commish as owner. The question pending is if the Coyotes win the Cup does buddy present it to himself?

What happened to Curling – I know Howard got snuffed and Koe is King Canada but the Worlds are on right now and no one seems to notice or care and they have not been broadcast. What’s up with that? Koe finished second to Norway in the Round robin and plays them today / tonight ?? in the Page 1 – 2 Game. Theoretically, they could play Norway three games in a row if they win!

Toronto Sports Town!! – Sent a smart a__ reply to one of my office colleagues the other day in response to a Leaf Playoff joke (the free beer for Leaf Playoff games one).

Leafs - OUT

Marlies - OUT

TFC - OUT

Raptors – on the way OUT

Jays – No chance

Argos – Who know / cares?

Rock – Do they still play?

Such is the Big Smoke pro athlete world and the joy of play-offs (NOT) for the fans. Is there another city this bad???

It’s Weekend!

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Apr 8 – Yesterday was one of those days when I had no real interest in spending more time on the computer after a day at the office and anyway I did not really have anything to report. The plan was to just veg out in front of the boob tube and catch up on my 24 episodes while trying to think of some way to rig the FHP o I would win. I am now down to figuring out how much it would cost to bribe the Yahoo poll statistician or if I could reprogram the web site. Not going to happen. Fortunately some old friends showed up to give me an excuse to write off the evening anyway.

Only Fifth! – can’t be! An Ipsos Reid poll says Canada is only fifth in the world at observing parents being either physically or verbally abusive to coaches or sport officials. Come on guys – I am sure we can do better than that. Only 53% of respondents indicated they have observed this type of behaviour. That puts us behind the US (60 – looks good on them), India (59 – cricket?), Italy (55 bocce?) and Argentine (54 soccer?). Let’s demand a retest during playoffs, I am sure we can score much higher.

How to phrase it? – as you know someone is going to do it in prose or a cartoon. Article title – “Camilla, wife of Prince Charles, breaks leg” – What is the humane thing to do. If I have to explain it, you will likely be offended.

The Masters – at some point I came to the realization that this is not a golf tournament. It is an “All World Event”. From the ET Tonight type coverage of the rebirth of Tiger, to the iconic profiling of Nicklaus and Palmer, to the Hollywood Geriatric plot of 60 year old Tom Watson leading in the clubhouse at -5 during round 1, to the pandering to foreign markets by bringing in the kids from Asia, to exploring 3D, to the reverential reporting and a web site that is more high tech, live video, technology enabled than the space shuttle, to the primo Blue Chip sponsors, you have to wonder what this is all about? It is no longer even enough to say that this event is larger than life! It defies description.

Best Wishes – to Pat burns. Apparently |Pat has been hospitalized relative to what is referred to as his terminal lung and colon cancer. Most of you have likely seen the recent photos of him that I will not reproduce here that demonstrate the ravages that the cancer battle have had on him. Several Oakvillians have been instrumental in campaigning to get Pat fast tracked into the HHOF while he is still with us. Their site has already generated over 50,000 supporters.

To show your support, please visit www.patburns.ca.

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Apr 6 – just a quick post as it is late and I have not really had time to look or think about any scintillating content. As the cat is now officially out of the bag via a number of press releases, it is safe to note that I may be somewhat time starved (aka limited stuff) over the next little while as my work life will be intruding on my spare time. We have been announced as the fuel and convenience partner in the “redo” of the 400 series highway service centres with some very tight timeline deliverables. While an exciting “+” it will keep me busy and to the delight of some with less time to ridicule others. Anyway, we will see what happens.

Beware of the Mounties (in Ottawa) – they are giving up their trusty 6 guns (actually 9mm probably Glocks) and getting H&K NP5 submachine guns. Seems they need more accuracy, range and bullets. And, no they are not giving up the 9s – they will have both. I guess when I am off to Ottawa in  two weeks I better behave more than usual. A Red Coat with a submachine gun? It just does not seem Canadian.

Bad Joke – A Barrie truck driver gave “ink stained wretch” a whole new meaning when he dumped his truck with a load of ink on the QEW at Dorval this afternoon and it caught fire. While traffic was snarled, fortunately he was not seriously hurt and all was well by the time I escaped from downtown.

Where’s Ed Norton when you need him. Apparently two guys got arrested Sunday for strolling the sewers. I guess this is against the law without permission and some do gooder citizen pulled the plug blew the whistle on these guys. What’s the harm in a little subterranean stroll as long as you wear your booties. Apparently this mode of city exploration is quite popular although not my cup of tea. Another good idea down the drain but let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water or get in over our heads – groan!

Agree – short opinion piece in today’s Star – “Does it cost too much to ride the TTC?” – At $3 a pop – yup! Transit is a favourite target of mine, partially because for me it is a necessity, and partly because people just don’t get it.

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Apr 5 – back to work I go on Easter Monday. It seemed like a very long day after essentially two weeks off – I thought it would never end, and that was before lunch.

IPads – sold over 300,000 units and downloaded over 1.000,000 applications on day one. Article I am a big reader but not sure that I have any interest in an IPad. Probably the biggest reason is that I am fairly certain I would manage to break the sucker early on and get burned for the bucks.

I have not broken many books lately. Second, Apple is notorious for proprietary process or control which could affect pricing for content a la ITunes. Will “books” be fair value and somehow not having a physical “library” of ones you want to keep seems to diminish the value as well. It is interesting in this case to hear people talking about what the IPad does not have almost, if not more than, what it does. We will wait and watch / see on this one.

Graham James – gets a pardon! Someone should lose their cushy job over this one – no wonder they kept it secret for three years! If you wonder why as a volunteer we moved to the permission form allowing for the vulnerable sector screen then wonder no more. With a pardon, James would NOT show any “convictions” on the high level screen and would have been rubber stamped as OK on the clearance check list as a volunteer. With the deeper search authorized by the VSS, his prior record would show and he would be rejected. Unfortunately not all organizations use this depth of detail and other than his revived notoriety, he could sneak through on paper.

Power Plant – Doug Mackenzie has taken sides with Oakville on the Power Plant Punch-up. An article in today’s Star raises a lot of questions around the location selection, especially around setback and distances from businesses, homes and schools. Good for him as I honestly did not know some of these details.

Basketball – just to confirm that I will be maintaining my perfect record by NOT watching any of the final game from the appropriately titled “March Madness”. Given that it is now April they do not even have that right. As one can not avoid all of the hype around this “event” it was somewhat interesting to hear that they are looking to expand from the 64+1 teams to some larger number – Why? – to make more money! More Money grabbing in a sport where the NCAA is so paranoid about the athletes getting paid anything that they literally (I think) can not have anyone even give a kid any type of expense money outside of controlled scholarship funds even if that means he can’t afford to get to the event.

Hockey – on the local scene is basically wrapped up for the 2009/10 season with the 2010/11 try-outs just around the corner. The Midget AAAs managed to hang on against a comeback attempt by the Sault Ste Marie team Sunday, securing the Midget AAA Bronze with a 6 – 5 victory. Congrats to them. Mississauga Reps picked up a well earned Gold with a 7 – 3 victory over the Ottawa Jr. 67s and an 8 – 0 record at the event. I believe that this event “finishes” the MOHA season.

It is good to see that Tom is coming back (at least as per the current info on the MOHA site) to this team next year as that is not what I had originally heard from the Rink Rumour Mill - and an unimpeachable source. Everyone who gets a chance should thank Tom Daley for the great work that he and his staff have done with this team over the last couple of years and hope he has continued success in 2010/11

The way I hear it was handled though leaves much to be desired - MOHA Giveth - MOHA Taketh Away and Giveth to someone else! Why am I not surprised, but apparently it has worked out well for "the other guy" - AAA in the "G"!

Next up - TRY OUTS!

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Apr 4 – Happy Easter everyone to most of you.

 I have now been officially home for 3 days and my suitcase is still not unpacked and my man cave is a mess. There are communication devices, cameras, cables, chargers, batteries memory cards etc., scattered all over waiting to be put away but somehow I have not found the time or energy to do it. Why – Because of an AUCTION!

Someone who shall remain nameless dragged me off to one of those special “Holiday Auctions” held at Royal Windsor and Ford Drives. These are dangerous times and dangerous places. I was asked innocently enough if I needed a new watch and next thing I knew the male stand-in for Vanna White was asking me to pick one off a tray as I had apparently bought 1. Before I could corral and subdue the mad bidder #65, I ended up with two authentic Group of Seven prints, a foyer bench, a sectional and an ottoman in addition to the watch. Then I had to figure out how to get this stuff out of there and home by 6:00 PM.

I was so traumatized, I had to go home and start drinking. I should have stayed in Phoenix – it would have been much cheaper and more relaxing.

Midget AAA – Congrats to the team. They did make it to Saturday’s play-off round and met up with the other Ottawa team the 67s in the semis. Unfortunately they came out on the short end of that game, losing 7 – 5. Ottawa got ahead 4 – 2 in the first and our guys could not catch up. It was 6 – 5 late in the 3^rd with Ottawa clinching it with an empty netter with 34 seconds left. Oakville is playing Saulte Ste Marie today in the Bronze Medal game  The last I checked, Oakville was winning 5 – 2 midway through the second period.

The Mississauga Reps to this point have been the class of the field as they are 7 – 0 going into today’s final against the 67s.

The Pointstreak system is great – especially if like me you like the boxscore or “gamesheet” view of the game. After looking at thousands of these over the years, it is easy to “read” the game story from them. Here is the link to the Ranger semi final game.

FHP – this may be my final report on the FHP to save further self-humiliation. I have taken a bit of a beating (while away and unfocused is my excuse) and am now well back in second, a point and a half behind Andrew with only about five games to go. It does not look good and I must now prepare myself to be stripped of the championship belt and become a target for scorn and ridicule for the next year until I have a chance to redeem myself. I think this time I will have to demand more input into the rules or at least know what they are BEFORE the draft.

From my Live Space – For those of you who did not bother checking my temporary MS live space blog, I am posting this picture of my new BF who I met in Phoenix. He is one big dude, from Canada and a Hall of Famer in Cooperstown. He also seems like a pretty nice guy and does a lot of charity work. I saw him at two parks. Phoenix Municipal Stadium and HoHoKam Park. I bought his most recent book and he autographed it for me. Name that big dude (Not the one on the left – the bigger and I mean bigger you should see his mitts – on the right).

 

Easter Do – Time to head off to Guelph for the obligatory family function. Enjoy your day.

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Apr 1 - Another month rolls around and Q1 of 2010 is history. The NHL regular season is finally winding down (thank goodness) and now the meaningful games with real hockey will pick up.

Travel - I just made it back this morning. I was coming in from Sarnia on the VIA train which was supposed to get in at 11:13 PM which would give me a leisurely 30 minutes to cruise over to catch my GO Train back to Oakville at 11:43.. First, you need to wonder why the VIA train could not be routed through Oakville and save me the aggravation in the first place but NO!

Then, VIA is late. My train rolls into Union Station at 11:34, giving me 9 minutes to grab my stuff, schlep my 800 pound suitcase down off the track level, through the VIA concourse, across through the GO Concourse then up the 400 steps to the GO track - all without dropping from a heart attack! Fortunately I made it and got home shortly after midnight. It was great to crash in my own rack last night but now I have a whack of stuff to catch up on.

Hockey - looks like Awards Partial Week has wrapped up and I will have to see what additional stories I can pick up on this. It is always a great time of year for all participants as long as everyone remembers why they are there and what it is all about. I hope that was the case.

If anyone has pictures or stories they would like posted - send them along. wayne@minorhockeyfan.com

Meltdown - in contrast to the "peace and goodwill on earth" that was hopefully part of the good fun at Awards Partial Week, by now most of you have probably seen the Jim Playfair meltdown. He is the (currently) the head coach of Abbotsford in the AHL and decided to demonstrate his disagreement with the call of referee  The referee of note - Jamie Koharski, is the son of "Have another donut you big fat . . . . "  I am sure this will show up in the "how not to's" for a long time or until we get a more aggressive flip out. I hope the team buys the sticks. Here is the YouTube link.

There are a few of these around. While Playfair demonstrated the "stick break" maneuver, here is an effective demonstration of the "stick throw" alternative.

The Midget AAAs are in Vaughan playing in the Central Region championship trying to earn a playoff spot and hopefully the opportunity to advance in the Telus Cup. Here is a link to the Pointstreak Site with schedule and stats. At this time the Rangers are holding on to fourth place which would make the playoffs.

Quick early evening update. The Rangers beat Ottawa Senators 10 - 5 this afternoon to go 2 - 1 - 2. This win puts them in second after five games with one game left tomorrow against the Saulte (2 - 2 - 1).

Phoenix - I will likely set up a separate section / page or whatever to post some stuff on my trip. You guys likely have close to zero interest bt my relatives may want to check it out.

FHP - Very bad news here. I lost another 1/2 point last night (to shaun of all people) and am now 1.5 points behind Andrew with only a few games to go. The guy I picked up to grab some PP points (Gonchar) went AWOL on me as soon as I picked him up, is listed DTD and has not played at all. It does not look good for "The Champ" as he may be dethroned. Will lead to a long summer.

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