Aprill 2009

April 30 - Today wraps up April which simply means we are already a third of the way through 2009. Wasn't New Year's just last week?

Minor Glitch - through some misadventures I did not get yesterday's post posted yesterday so I have posted yesterday today along with today! That also means I can get away with less today to encourage you to read yesterday's. It has my picks as represented above for Round II. The list gets shorter.

Blue Jays - Someone must have told them they were in first place and that that is unacceptable for a Toronto team. They quickly went out and got blown out in two of their last three games and in doing so have snapped their consecutive series winning streak. If the bats go to sleep, the pitching is suspect. Don't pin your hopes too high. However, if you like baseball, just watch it anyway for the fun of it.

I MIGHT get lucky - It seems that on top of my already interesting schedule, I may have to toddle off to Pittsburgh for a couple of days next week. While I have not compared schedules yet - Sid's and mine, I suspect it is too much to expect that we will both be in town the same night. I also expect that even if we are, my having picked the Caps will rule out free ducats. I wonder what the ticket broker rate will be? Anyone got some spares?

Tamils - looks like someone got the message. GET OFF THE STREET. A couple of newscasts had interviews with residents and or workers in the area who had had enough and they weren't going to take it anymore! Then I heard the Ugandans are up to something. Sheeesh!

Tiiiiilllllt - saw the picture of the new art deco rink in the Beaver. not a pretty picture. Hold the press. Apparently all work has come to a halt (how can you tell) until "the investigation" is complete. Guess that may put a few schedules and plans at risk. CYA will be in full swing to demonstrate this was an "Act of God", hopefully covered under someone's insurance policy - watch those fingers point.

It reminds me of a comment from I think a US astronaut preparing to blast off - "It is comforting to know that all of this equipment was sourced from the lowest bidder".

Chapter 11 for Chryco - This is looking to be some complicated process with everyone wanting a piece of the action and sustainability. Good luck Canuck governments get a HUGE 2% equity share and are coughing up 3.8 billion in loan support. While I know it is a stupid calculation that suggests you could have had the whole out of step, bankrupt mess for a paltry $190 billion - Think I'll pass, but if they want I will take the one board seat Canada gets to fill. I bet they have comfy chairs.

April 29 - Home late - did not post - too much on the go (and it is still April)!

That’s why they play – Both games last night had a story. The Caps should not have won but did and ditto for the Canes. I watched the Rangers – Caps and figured it was simply a matter of time before the Rangers popped in a few and put it away. They were all over the Caps for almost the entire game. The Caps got a fluky goal to tie it in the first and then my Detroit Defector smokes one in late in the third to win it all. The Crazy 8 did not look at all impressive and if anything, his extended shifts and apparently aimless forays screwed up the Caps lines.

The Canes on the other hand, I figured were yesterdays news, down a goal late in the third and Marty between the pipes. I did not even bother watching it as I went for some rack time to catch up on some exciting business stuff – light bedtime reading as it puts you to sleep. Two goals in 49 seconds, late in the third to win it against the devils and Brodeur! Who’d a thunk it? The timing of the goals set a number of seventh game records for latest come from behind win and latest winning goal. Should have watched it.

16 becomes 8 – The pickings get thinner and tougher. I’ll claim six of eight in the first round (remember, I was rooting for the Jackets to support a hometown boy but my heart – and wallet – was in hockeytown).

Swine flu – has escalated from a news item to a major news event, bordering on (whatever the next category is?). One report claims about 9,000,000 Canadians will contract some version of it. That is just about 1 in 3. Look around your house – who’s IT? The pork producers have also jumped on the rename it bandwagon claiming Swine Flu gives pigs a bad rap. Who cares, I grew up on a farm with some porcine friends and they deserve all the bad rap you can dish out. When does the first flurry of “useless” masks start appearing in our public areas adorning “commoner” faces. Soon you won’t know if it is a “stick-up” or health concern! Leave your weapons and starter pistols at home.

April 28 – With two game sevens tonight I need a quick hit and run. With everything around me flying by at a blistering pace it is tough to pick up on content - at least content that I can comment on! Anyone want to sent me their opinion on the Sunoco - Petr-Canada Merger so I can pass it on to the Competition Bureau?

The "Flu" - It seems I am not alone in feeling that “swine flu” is not the right type of label for the influenza coming out of Mexico. I thought it did not have the same pizzazz as the SARS label Toronto claimed. Now it seems that an Israeli health official wants it renamed “Mexican Influenza” as swine flu has a poor connotation for anyone of the Judaist or Muslim faiths that consider pigs / swine “unclean”. Heaven forbid you get a disease whose name you don’t like from an animal you consider unclean! BBQ pork chops anyone or how about some bacon on that cheeseburger?. I wonder how the Mexican people would feel about having the flu named after them?

Continued Silly – There is now a movement afoot to replace starter pistols as the signal device in school track and field events. Apparently the “pistol” is deemed inappropriate in view of its symbolism. While I know political correctness is a wonderful think, give me a break. What is the plan to replace it – have someone yell – 1, 2, 3, GO! Maybe we should use tax dollars to replace in place pistols that fire 10 cent (?) blanks with thousands of $$$ worth of electronic starting equipment (per school).

While I am not going to waste a lot of time even thinking about this, there will be a number of logical next steps to banish symbols or war instruments:

The list could go on and on. . . but I get bored easily and nobody cares anyway - what a stupid idea.

Oh - for those of you who really want to get your own replica .45 calibre, nichel plated pistol go to www.starterpistol.com and review your weaponry choices. You will be the envy of all your fellow starters at your next track meet. Now you have to figure which post of this post is facetious.

Playoffs – After tonight the first round will be over and as per usual there are surprises. Probably the biggest is the Ducks beaching the Sharks. Even the nicknames imply an upset. The Sharks outshot the Ducks in every game but that meant nothing as the Ducks, out stopped, out scored and won the series. Clearly they were not awed by the President’s Cup winners and now move on to take on Detroit who they upset in the first round a few years ago. It looks like bringing in the old guys did not work for the Sharks as long term NHLers Blake and Roenick and recent unretiree Lemieux are all likely off to collect pension cheques. An interesting stat here is that the ducks are now 9 – 0 in chances to close out a series at home. Don’t want to push your luck on that streak.

At least they got rained on – At what point do you just drag people off to jail or check their paperwork and call immigration. Remember I’m not a bigot – I hate everyone equally. However, the last thing we need under current economic conditions is more disruptive influence. If the Tamils are that unhappy with the U.S and want to make a statement, then go to the U.S. and make it and see what happens. Don’t disrupt one of the main traffic arteries in Toronto. They seem to have the time to do it if they can sit on University Ave for a couple of days. (I am going to pass on a number of “employment” comments I could make here as I would likely get shut down for it).

Shame on the City of Toronto and law enforcement for ignoring acts of civil disobedience. Did anyone notice this is an emergency route for vehicles to and from a number of hospitals. Guess that is less important. Story.

April 27 – The weather us gorgeous so it must be Monday, Saturday was nice until someone hit the flush button leading to Sunday which seemed a bit cool in my one foray outdoors but then again I was still in shorts mode. While I seem to say it every week, this week could get spotty on the blog front as my real job may intrude. Lots on the go.

Swine Flu – I sure we all have memories of the good old SARS days. When Toronto was under the gun, with our own personal pandemic, we got a nifty name / acronym – SARS. Poor old Mexico on the other hand gets tagged with “Swine flu”. Not a lot of glamour there. My most vivid SARS memory was that towards the tail end I had to go to Chicago on business to meet with (never mind). Anyway, when I got to their office, it was like I was the harbinger of the bubonic plague. The folks seemed quite standoffish (literally), and this was even before they were exposed to my abrasive personality. We toddled off to a meeting room and there the table in front of everyone were bottles of hand sanitizer and boxes of tissues. Not your normal boardroom accessories but these folks were concerned. Everyone was looking at me as if I had “broke wind” in church. I was tempted to hack and cough just to see the reaction but wisely thought better of it. I gave them credit for meeting with me anyway and to relax everyone, we chatted about the situation and things eased up.

The shoe drops -- it had to happen. The NHL has Donald Brashear for six games for the blind side hit he laid on the Rangers player Blair Betts. Betts was headed back to the Ranger bench when Brashear clocked him. With the amount of cheap shots that have been going on in the series it was only a matter of time until someone got hurt and someone else got suspended. Betts ended up with a cracked orbital bone and Brashear gets six games. There will likely be a few people who suggest it should have been more than six. Funny how Brashear seems to have been involved in a number of these incidents. In any event, the Capitals will now have to play game seven without him. Should they win, they would likely miss him for most of the next series as well, presuming it goes more than four games. Regardless, I would still like to see the Capitals come back and win in seven games.

After the John Tortorella suspension from game five and now the six games to Brashear, game seven in Washington could be quite entertaining. The Caps are talking about the extra security they are hiring for the event, but even so, I do not think I would like to be around the Ranger bench. I will leave that for Pierre Maguire.

Vezina trophy -- the finalists for the Vezina trophy were announced today and let's all cross our fingers for Steve Mason. Mason, along with Tim Thomas and Nicklas Backstrom were named as finalists today for the award. It would be quite the feat if Steve could pull off the double. Winning both the Calder as the rookie of the year and the Vezina this season. Chances are, Steve will end up winning the Calder but I think the boys will spread the awards around and give the nod to Backstrom.

They’re back -- the rumour mill has reported that the executive positions in the MOHA were acclaimed with the previous incumbents. I.e. no change. It also seems that there has been a surplus of directors nominated for the open positions. That being the case, there will be an election at the AGM. I guess they will eventually get around to posting that information as well as the names of the candidates for office.

Scrambling for headlines -- the Toronto media is always scrambling for headlines either to make the teams look bad or to pretend they're better than they really are. Latest case in point is that they are touting Toronto having two first place teams. Early days for the Jays but they are in first place. The only problem is they have 142 games to go. The soccer club -- I don't even count. However, at least it probably make somebody feel good. Let's wait a week and see what happens.

April 26 --The game is only in the ~~second~~ third, but I'm going to give the Capitals the win which will set up the first game seven for the season which are always fun to watch. Given that they just scored again to go up 5 to 1, it looks like this call is safe. Despite My Earlier Concerns, If the Capitals keep playing like this, they will win in seven.

The game isn't over yet as they are only in the third period, but Mr. Avery is playing, and much as people may not like to see it, has been one of the better, if not the best Ranger player this afternoon.

Cheap penalty call against the Caps - two cheap calls actually to give the Rangers a goal. Not a fan of cheap 5 on 3s.

Good news and bad news -- the good news for Matthew Stafford was that he was selected number one in the NFL draft this weekend. Space the bad news, is that he was selected by Detroit Lions in team that went zero and 16 last season to set an all-time NFL record for futility. As a quarterback who left school a year early, Stafford is not expected to start right away. For his sake, I hope so in fact, if he's lucky he won't get to start for several years until Detroit may end up building somewhat of a team. Starting for that team today would be the equivalent of a death sentence for a rookie quarterback.

The Beaver -- In case any of you have missed it, this week-end’s version of the Oakville Beaver Weekend, contained a multi-page pictorial of a number of Oakville winning teams and athletes this past season. I don't think any of this content is available online, so you need to make sure you round up your paper copy if you want to take a look no pun intended it. Seems like house league teams dominate the photo spreads. As it should be.

Crash the net -- As I was watching a number of the highlights from the games this week, it seems like a lot of goals in these playoffs are coming from players crashing the net. It's not always the goal scorer that is in the heap, but rather there are generally three or four guys in a pile on making life miserable for the goalie. The story goes that if the puck is in the crease and loose it's fair game. Therefore, it is no wonder a lot of players and goalies are getting testy if every goal is coming off of a scrum. A good reminder to all minor hockey coaches is that one of the first things player should be taught is “go to the net”. In the NHL you will typically pay a price for doing that, however, you're not as likely to get racked in minor hockey. Yet, if you watch a lot of minor hockey games, you will find that typically it's an afterthought if someone does go to the net without the park.

Blue Jays -- While I don't typically comment a lot on baseball, this weekend's play from the Jays so far reinforces an old adage. If you're going to dish it out, you better be prepared to take it. Quite the swing in back-to-back games (no pun intended). While pretty ugly on the score sheet, these games can be rather entertaining to watch. A scoreless pitcher’s duel, while it may be a thing of beauty, can be a very boring way to spend an afternoon.

April 25 -- Much as it disgusts me to do so, I did my income taxes today and unfortunately maintained my perfect record of owing the government money. Fortunately, it wasn't as much as I thought it probably would be and Jane is getting a refund. So all in all, not as bad as it could've been. I also went downtown Toronto this afternoon as I needed to get a new keyboard for my home PC. I was tired of working with the old wired Microsoft version. Of course, that put me down town right in the middle of the local typhoon. The weather went from hot and sunny to cool and a flood very quickly.

the good news is that I was successful in getting both a good keyboard/mouse combination as well as a backup headset. for my software Hopefully I can no install the Dragon software on my notebook as well as my desk top so that I can use either PC. The preceding paragraph proves that the software works in FrontPage as well as Microsoft Word as I dictated this directly here.

Playoffs -- Given that I was down town I missed the Pittsburgh Philadelphia game but was glad to see that the Penguins were successful in eliminating the Flyers. Sounds like it was quite the game as the Penguins were down 3-- 0 before coming back to win 5 – 3.

It will be interesting to see how the Rangers make out without John Tortorella on the bench. Will they end up a) playing Avery and b) put out the Capitals. Funny how it works, the Rangers don't play Avery who was supposed to be the loony tune and the coach ends up getting suspended for his behavior. I'm sure that in some way they will be able to blame this on Avery as well.

Courtesy of my taxes, I missed the first part of the Chicago Calgary game this evening but tuned in in time to pick up on a 5 to 1 rout. The latest quirks of modern technology are starting to annoy me however, as I noticed that the stats bar that is put over the screen now even puts up a delayed penalty when they see a call coming. Why can't they just let you watch the game and periodically tell you what the score is. I guess that would be too boring.

Logistics -- the e-mails are flying fast and furious on the proposed Moorehead baseball trip. It seems that arranging something as theoretically simple as this is more along the lines of a state visit. The simple challenge is that with very limited scheduling opportunities from major league baseb I all i.e. finding all three teams at home, the Yankees, the Phillies and the Mets, we then have to match that was available time in everyone's schedules. With six reasonably busy people and summer coming on it's not quite as easy as one might think. The question will become, if there is a conflict, who gets left out? At this point, it looks like the June date is a scrub, and an early July time frame is now under consideration.

Naturally speaking -- I have actually been very impressed with this piece of software. While you have to think more about what you are saying, it's interesting how it seems to learn as you go, in that it starts to build a vocabulary of the names or phrases that you use. As an example, it actually picked up John Tortorella properly in the section above without me having to make any corrections. Working with punctuation and complicated phrasing is a little challenging but we will see how things progress. I also don't think it will pick up on doing things like hyperlinks so that will still have to be done on an annual basis. Some of the time you think you are back dealing with a speech coach at his it is important that you clearly enunciate your words. Otherwise an will become in and end will become and. The trick as always, is to proofread.

April 24 -- The third series ended in a sweep last night with Detroit eliminating Columbus. Not a game that builds your confidence if you're a Detroit fan as it appeared to be one of the “he who shoots last wins”. Osgood's goaltending in this game was more along the lines of what I would've expected ongoing and why I feel that the Wings could have been had in the early rounds.

While it is unfair to blame Steve Mason for the BJs hasty exit, courtesy of a 6 -5 game, he did not really have a good series. However, with the year the he had in Columbus and the finalist role at the moment, for the Calder trophy, he has nothing to hang his head about.

Capitals on the brink -- I really thought that the capitals would be able to get past the New York Rangers. Trailing three games to one they have clearly dug themselves a hole. That game is on tonight and as a matter of fact, the Capitals have just scored a short-handed goal to take the early lead. Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come as I am not a Rangers fan. It also looks like Sean Avery's act is wearing a little thin as he has been parked as a healthy scratch for tonight. If the Rangers lose this one it will be interesting to see what happens for game six.

April 30 approaches -- other than a month end, April 30 is clearly not one of my favorite days. It's tax deadline day. As someone who regularly pays our governments significantly more than I feel they deserve, I make a point of waiting until the very last minute to file. Probably not a good idea, as all it does is give me more time to stew about the whole process. Then I get to write a cheque anyway. It's amazing how in an environment where all the government talks about is tax breaks and incentives, that individuals still find themselves apparently paying more every year.

It's bad enough that you see what they are gouging out of your check each payday, but then they add insult to injury by making you sit down so they can rub it in your face once a year (Big Brother is probably monitoring this blog and I can hear the auditors tuning up now).

Jinxed again -- after bemoaning our fate for the men and women in the world curling championships, I had spotted our strong performance in the mixed doubles championship. Forget that I had never heard of it before, and that a two member team curling event is highly suspect in the first place, at least we were winning. Not any more. It seems our mixed doubles duo has been upended in the semifinals by a Hungarian couple. Hungarians and Curling??? Say it ain't so! By my count, that makes a clean sweep of getting nothing.

Update -- the Caps just scored a cheesy goal to go up 2 to zip - 2 shots - 2 goals. I thought this goalie was supposed to be good!. This one will likely make the highlight reels but for all the wrong reasons. Guess what? It's not the stars that are scoring. I wonder if the blue shirts are now wishing they had dressed Avery as their good luck charm.

In the “Who Cares” Department -- the International Ice Hockey Federation championship -- the IIHF -- got underway today with a win for Canada. Canada picked up a 6 - 1 win over Belarus in their opening game. Steven Stamkos and Dany Heatley each got two goals for Canada. Can't see that this has much appeal to anyone with the Stanley Cup playoffs on.

April 23 -- I finally convinced the Family Hockey Pool participants to cough up for their loss. What they finally agreed to was to take advantage of Andrew’s position as a student and buy the “speech to text” conversion software since I am such a lousy typist. Today blog is brought to you by Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 10. One of the things I noticed about the software is that it is a little slower than you anticipate. When you dictate, it seems like the text goes into a holding area while the computer and software analyzes what you're saying. Until you get used to it, it is a little disconcerting. However, it still beats the heck out of typing.

The challenge going forward will be to see if by simply speaking my blog my thought patterns are any better than when I have to pound it out on the keys. It will also be interesting to see how many grammatical errors or punctuation gaps or capitalization issues that I will have to change manually (or miss) because the system doesn't provide for that type of analysis. So far, it seems like the software works fairly well.

The program is clearly a resource hog as even on my desktop computer which is reasonably powerful it has disabled some of the features to try to optimize speed. At this point, that means disabling things like natural commands in Microsoft programs like Word and Excel and PowerPoint. Speaking of PowerPoint, I'm not sure how you dictate a slide. I will have to try that.

Playoffs -- Montréal bites the dust. Not very auspicious way to end a centennial season. It will be interesting to see what changes get made in the off season. Probably a lot. Start with the coach. Look for a goalie. Work your way out. If you hassle them, Hab fans will probably tell you “at least we made the playoffs ".

The old adage about a goalie can steal a series is alive and well with New York. It looks like the Caps are in serious danger of getting turfed again.

NHL dreams -- desperately looking for Toronto content the papers are once again flogging a second NHL team for Toronto. It would be interesting to know how often in the last 20 years this topic has come up. I suspect it will be close to 20 out of 20 times. I would also suggest that Toronto is just about as close now as they would have been 20 years ago – NOT. If ~~Tim the silly~~ Jim Bassillie (not quite recognized in text-to-speech that time -- should have said Mr. Rim) can't land the team then how do you think anyone else will. At least it's filled a few column inches.

Baseball - just got an e-mail from the clan -- the Moorehead clan that is. For a number of reasons we did not do the Spring training baseball trip this year. However, the suggestion has now been put on the table to do the old style boys’ weekend tour. The plan would be to check the schedule for three games in New York and Philadelphia so that we can visit the three new parks. Works for me -- in fact I think this would be a lot of fun. Check the schedules, check the maps, check the day planners, check the bank accounts and off we go. We have done these trips a number of times in the past and I highly recommend them to anyone who has an interest in both going to see the games and spending some family time together. Does anybody have a line on some free tickets? Maybe after all of the support that I've given them, the Beaver will accredit me as a roving reporter so I can hit the press boxes in all three stadiums. Not likely!

1954 -- Hammering Hank hits his first major league baseball homerun. Unfortunately, a lot of people today would say who is hammering Hank AKA Henry Aaron. I think it's safe to say the Henry Aaron didn't use steroids to come up with the all-time numbers that he posted in the homerun derby. I remember watching the game on TV in 1974 when he hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth's all-time record of 714. I also remember that as a black man he took a lot of racial abuse even in 1974. No one was supposed to break the Babe's record.

Time to go -- my Red Wings just got a freebie from the blue jackets to go up one nothing. Hopefully we'll have another series over tonight.

Apr 22 – Well at least one Canadian team will be in the second round of the play-offs, but I would not bet on any more. Vancouver bounced St. Louis in four straight earning a berth in the round of eight. However, tomorrow could be the start of golf season for the Habs. The Flames are a little better off with a win on the board and only down 2 – 1 with the Black Hawks.

I watched most of the Wings game last night and even as a biased Wings supporter (my Blue Jackets pick was sentimental – you know how emotional I am, paranoia also played a part), it was clear that hockey’s equivalent of The Big Red Machine was just too much for the bewildered play-off newbies. I did my local support duty, now I can plug my Wings all the way to Lord Stanley’s Mug.

Mason was announced today as one of the three Calder finalists so I hope he gets the nod there. He earned it with his play throughout the season which is credibly why the blue Jackets even made the play-offs.

DQ Blizzards – My summer weakness. Had to sneak out last night for a pre-season treat. Inflation continues to strike at all good things. Two medium blizzards and Andrew’s weird concoction – Oreo Mint Cookie Brownie Explosion (I think) was over $15. So much for cheap ice cream treats. Oh for the days of five cent ice cream cones and popsicles. A two scooper which was with real scoop cost ten cents and was more than you could handle before it melted all over you. No wonder I am such a cheapskate – I live in the past.

Our thoughts and prayers are extended to Shirley Parrott and her family on the passing of her daughter Stephanie who lost her battle with cancer last Saturday. While I believe Shirley has “retired” from her role as MOHA Bookkeeper, those of you who had any dealings with Shirley over the years know that she was a huge supporter of the association, always going that extra mile without complaint and with a smile for all. Too many times to count, Shirley would go out of her way to get things done, making a special trip in from Burlington with one or more of her grand kids in tow to make sure all the little things got covered. Our best wishes and sympathies go out to Shirley and her family at this difficult time.

Apr 21 - Blogs are an interesting challenge. On a day to day basis, I do not have a clue what I am going to post and often it likely shows. With the bouncing around I do for content, reader must be convinced I have serious personality disorders. I do. I do have my favourites but in the World of Wayne, everything is fair game! Seems like I hit another nerve yesterday as I got a call wondering if there was a large contract out on me! Wonder what today will bring?

Brown Alert - Shades of an amber alert only a different colour. I was alerted this evening to the disappearance of Mr. E Bunny III. Mr. Bunny was new to our household and was last seen on the kitchen table in the company of his relatives DC Bunny and MC Bunny. Neither of them are talking. Foul play is suspected as #2 son is keeping a low profile.

NHL Playoffs - while not necessarily unfolding as they should (i.e., as per my predictions), there are some interesting results and continuing match-ups.

Curling Pride - Our National pride as the World's best curlers took a severe beating this year based on the men's (Martin) and ladies' (Jones) collapse this year BUT thankfully there is still hope for redemption. Our mixed doubles ??? curling team is 5-0 at the World's Mixed Doubles Championship! Mixed Doubles - what the heck is that? Two curlers on a team - who skips - who throws - who sweeps - who goes for the drinks! Stick pins in my eyes if we have sunk to this! What's even worse is it is getting National coverage.

Spotted this - Now I'm as much of a lunatic as the next guy, maybe more, dut when I spotted the picture below in The Globe & Mail it reminded me that these guys are idiots on a whole other level. I actually watched part of one segment of the Red Bull series and just shook my head. Precision flying is one thing. These guys are just crazy.

Snoopy's foe - From WW1, the Red Baron was shot down and killed today in 1918. He had downed 80 Allied aircraft in his brief year and a half career and it is hard to realize he was only 25 when shot down.

Apr 20 – A dreary Monday. However, better this on a Monday than on a weekend and so far the weather gods are talking about decent weather ahead – for the last weekend in April. By this point, we should be getting some decent weather1

Positive suggestion – As I am always sensitive to my critics (NOT) and in view of the comments circulating around what does or does not get published in the local news – a suggestion. Given that the MOHA is supposed to have an active, involved and “working” directorship, perhaps one “role” should be association promotion, call it “communication director” – i.e., an identified MOHA director tasked with collecting news, soliciting news and writing releases so what appears is not just a late and, or dry recitation of facts. Collect pictures, tournament info, team or individual recognition and you know what – if the local rags can’t or won’t publish it then put it on the Web site. This is what the kids and their parents want to see in an interesting and timely fashion. Anything is better than the current dreck. If it is too big a job for one “overworked” director then split it Rep and H.L. Publish the contact names (what a concept) so people know who to submit material to. Maybe you might want to go as far as publishing everyone’s duties so members can see who is or is not doing something other than occasionally keeping a seat warm and promoting their own interests. Lots of associations do this.

At the end of the season the association could have quite a collage of the “successes" for the season. To promote the role, have a communications or promo report as an agenda item for each month’s board meeting – what gets measured gets done!

On the other hand – You better figure out the MOHA registration process, either walk-in or on-line real quick - don’t be late! If you cough up your $415 per kid right away, you are only facing a modest $15 increase (+3.75%) versus 2008/09. At the risk of generating some additional hate mail that $15 is roughly the cost of on-line registration with merchant, service and on-line fees. Since there still seems to be a walk-in process (albeit limited and let’s presume cash is still a valid tender, that’s your increase. What happened to all the savings?

If you don’t get in before deadline #1 (May 31) you pay $465 – again, a similar $15 increase versus last year.

To check or not to check – body that is. The North York Hockey League is going to vote on whether to ban body checking this coming season. According to the Star the NYHL has 4500 players and operates a number of leagues with select teams that play contact. The thought being – if you are not planning on going anywhere in hockey, then body contact does not need to be / should not be part of the game. This topic has been bandied around a fair amount but at some point if associations get knocked off one at a time, there won’t be any left – meaning no more body contact tournaments for house league – meaning that the fundamental game at the grass roots level will have moved away from what we all grew up playing. I know the arguments, I agree with some of them but as a personal opinion from someone who grew up with hockey and body checking from day one (even at home on the pond), I think it is too bad if the game changes in such a fundamental manner. If or when you take it out, it would be very unlikely to return. Fix problems, not symptoms. I am sure we will get into more on this topic, but for now, here is the Star article.

Laura Secord – HAH – They caved! Chocolate bunnies – milk and dark, now on sale for 50% off! I stocked up and then realised - $10 for a 500 gram bunny is not “such a deal”. Makes you feel really bad for the poor schmucks who popped for retail. Can’t they convince their kids to wait? It is incredible how far you have fallen when you celebrate stuff like this as a victory. But I will.

Apr 19 - Took yesterday off to enjoy being a year older and the weather cooperated. I now have a nice new office chair and deck bin (I had to buy myself the deck bin and BBQ my own dinner). However, it was a nice day.

NHL Playoffs - Sometimes when you go out on a limb to make a prediction, there's a yahoo following right behind with a chainsaw to cut it off. That's sort of the way I feel about picking Columbus over Detroit on a sympathy vote for Mason and the normal paranoia where you figure your team is going down. Nothing in this series to date suggests that the Blue Jackets should even win a game which frankly is not what I expected. I guess there is some truth to the adage that you have to be there before you know how to play there. Chalk this one up to experience.

The real upset is New York sticking it to Washington. The Caps have dug themselves quite the hole. While NY's new coach has helped, contrary to the opinion of my fellow Chez Moorehead residents, I give Avery some of the credit. He can be a decent player and right or wrong he does end up as a distraction for the other guys. If I am Washington, I really wish there was no instigator rule.

If the trend continues, at the end of round one, all you loyalists will have to pin your hopes on the Canucks as they look to be the only Canadian Team that will be left standing.

Who;s first - with what is continuing and I think escalating the question is now - "Who's first" to hit Collie Campbell's suspension list. Will it take an injury, or as the talking heads now seem to be saying "It's time to send a message"!

Baseball - I caught some of the debacle that was the Cleveland destruction of the Yanks yesterday in the House that Ruth did not build. A billion plus bucks and the Yanks looked like (pick a word).

The second inning was a real classic as the Yanks gave up 14 runs and if I recall it took well over half an hour to play half an inning. 22 to 4 - looks good on them

Apr 17 – Mixed emotions on my hockey picks. On one hand I was glad to see my Wings win but I still felt bad for Columbus/Steve Mason. I thought that the Jackets would have put up a better fight based on their season record against the Hockeytown guys. Game 1 may be a precursor to the series – Detroit outshoots Columbus by a significant margin (34 – 21). The extra shots get the goals unless Mason comes up big and with fewer shots how many are really tough chances for Osgood? It also does not help when you deflect one into your own net with a tight game – but, that’s hockey.

I really did not do well as the surprising Ducks stoned the Sharks – remember the year they did this and dumped Detroit in round one. I think Detroit like this season’s sharks were PC winners that year as well. However, one game does not an upset make – it is four out of seven.

Residency – with all the yik yak that goes on at the rink, in the bars and on stupid internet forums about residency rules, you now have a chance to “register” your opinion. Coming from Hockey Canada through the Ontario hockey Federation (the OMHA parent body), the OHF members have been tasked with coming up with a residency model that may or may not make major changes to the hockey world as you know it – the OMHA, GTHL, LOR residency / Imports / Form 1s / Centre restrictions / Releases / PTS forms. . . . etc.

The OMHA is taking a very proactive role on this issue and is holding a Town Hall meeting to solicit info and provide feedback. The meeting is being held May 2, Time: 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm at the Marriott Courtyard Brampton, 90 Biscayne Crescent, Brampton, ON L6W 4S1

Further background info is in the linked .pdf , or on the OMHA site at OMHA Home

Another opportunity to input is through an online questionnaire where the OHMA is looking for member input. Take a few minutes to go there and fill it in. You can also register for the Town Hall meeting at the same time. At the risk of being “crass” this is one of those “put up or shut up” opportunities. Here’s the link.

Snakes on a Plane – When I first saw the headline “Four baby pythons escape on passenger plane” I had visions of reality reflecting entertainment and what was a fairly “skin crawling” movie for anyone not enamoured of reptiles. Then I read the article and it turns out that these four escapees were only 6” long (mature only reach a metre), that it was in Australia and they were never found. Headlines can (and are supposed to be) a tease. Read it here if you want.

GTHL – With violence in hockey commentary, fighting, financial challenges and all the other stuff that goes on, the last thing the GTHL needed was any type of additional bad press. An article posted in today’s online Star “Ex-GTHL manager held on child porn charges” does just that. Read the story here if you want but remember these are charges only not convictions but it is still not the type of thing that any of us want to see or hear. My only comment is if he is guilty, throw the book at him, if it turns out he is not, you can not unring the bell.

Dummies - The NHL has once again found a way to make themselves look bad. First they talk about not letting anything go, then they get some clear and stupid head shots and no one gets a holiday. In my opinion, Cammalleri should have been given a vacation for a direct and premeditated punch to the head. There were suspensions for less in the regular season and a few of these series have the potential to get really ugly if the players think they can get away with it, Contrary to some comments – this is not :just playoff hockey” A punch to the head is free – what does it take?.

Today in History – has been away for a while but in 1970 Apollo 13 made it back to earth safely after one of the most scrutinized space flights in history. A service module explosion on the outward leg cancelled any chance of a lunar landing and left a lot of doubt about the ability of NASA to “bring ‘em back alive”. They did and it was quite an example of snatching an incredible victory from the jaws of defeat. Almost 40 years ago and another of those “you remember it” episodes. Of course, there is the Apollo 13 mother that did a lot of glamourization of what was a desperate situation.

JFK was not quite so lucky in 1961 as today marks the anniversary of the ill-fated bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. What a foul-up.

Apr 16 – There is a lot to be said for being able to come home from work discover it is still light out, fire up the BBQ, rustle up some of your favourite charrin’ grub, grab a couple of cold ones and sit on the in your shirt sleeves deck making it happen. Welcome back summer. For all of you ‘peggers out there, hope the old homestead does not get washed away as they are battling their second highest flood challenge in the last 100 years. Good news for me – my deck, BBQ and Fridge are high and with the exception of the fridge – dry.

Play-offs – only went 2 for 4 last night but they are beat of seven series so stay tuned - don't get too cocky - too early. In my thoughts about what I anticipate as a Beaner / Hab war, I had forgotten about the animosity that would be there in the turnpike series. Pitt and Philly clearly do not like each other and this one could get ~~ugly~~ uglier.

Times Change – As a kid (I know – here he goes again) the challenge was to get Foster Hewitt and one playoff game to come in over the TV antenna with minimal snow in black and white on the “oblong” black and white 15”? screen. Last night son “X” comes to me for advice on how he could hook up two TVs in the room so he could watch both games at once without the inconvenience of switching back and forth – “multi-tasking”. He wanted the “primary” game on our decadent 52” screen and he was going to bring down his hard done by 32” screen to display the “second” game. When I explained how he could do it (idiot that I am) he pondered momentarily and commented derisively that then they both would not be high-def! Aaaaaarrrrgh. What is this world coming to. Can you spell entitlement?

Laura Secord – is still holding out at only 40%. Still lots of bunnies as no one seems to be buying but the domestic pressure is building to cave. I’m still holding out on principle (they still have left over Valentine’s Day dark chocolates at 60% off – I may have to weaken on those even though they should be at 75% off).

Woodstock – On a serious note something is not ringing true on the missing young girl situation in Woodstock. As a parent following what is a “horrendous” situation, something does not make sense. No amber alert was issued, it apparently is not being “treated” as an abduction and it just does not read right?? We can only hope it works out for the little girl.

In the news – If this keeps up I may have to start a whole new database cataloguing daily bankruptcy filing, door closings, lay-offs and a catch all impending doom category. While we could all use some good news you have to scour the rags pretty hard to find any. Today’s biggie is that Abitibi/Bowater has filed for bankruptcy in the US and will apparently do the same in Montreal for Canada tomorrow. They are the world’s largest newsprint producer and have around 22 plants in PQ. While they continue to plan on operating, this is not reassuring news. Put that with CAW / Chrysler comments and today was not a “headline” day.

Apr 15 – We are heading into the time of year when there is not much to report on the local hockey front unless we get some try-out excitement. That means you will have to put up with whatever drivel this scribe chooses to post.

Play-offs – I guess it is sort of de rigeur that people have to make predictions so I have posted mine. In an attempt to destroy any credibility I might have I am suggesting that Detroit can be had by the BJs if a) Steve comes up large and b) my Wings are as gimpy as I think they are. Columbus had a decent season record against the Champs and there is nothing to inspire confidence in the Detroit net.

In the other series I don’t care about much, other than I would like to see Sid the Kid advance because he is a nice guy and deserves it. I would almost like to see Sundin get a Cup just to stick it to the Leafs, and for the sake of our beleaguered green people province I hope Montreal does something in their Centennial year (they won’t). Other than that, game on!

Leafs – I will not call BB a bad name as he is a lawyer, somewhat bombastic, prone to shooting from ~~the hip~~ both hips and someone would probably turn me in BUT. Does he really think he is going to be able to get “pick #1” aka John T? What is he smokin’? If he pulls this off I hope JT is used to playing on his own or with the Marlies behind him as BB would likely have to give up the team and half of Fort Knox. However, no one has ever accused GMs of being Mensa members so who knows what could happen – remember the Lindros deal!

Recession – Not a good day in the recession watch. While some of the financial gurus north and south of the 49^th have been making some happy noise, Toronto / Canada news was not supporting that today.

Conquest Vacations – has been vanquished – check your tickets and vacation plans – they have “ceased operations immediately”.

Theatre anyone? – Despite growing up around Stratford I make no culture claims but the Stratford Shakespearian Festival has put a hold on 30 performances this season due to lack of patrons. Forsoothe, folks will be uncouth

Fine dining – One of TOs premier eateries is no more as the Perigee restaurant in the Distillery District has pulled the plug

Chrysler – could be toast as Mr. Fiat suggests no merger deal unless the Chryco boys accept the same wage level as the Japanese!! Does anyone know how low that is or what the cut would be?

Laura Secord – Personal tripe – ignore if you want. First I must confess that I have a weakness for “good” chocolate – especially dark chocolate. I qualify Laura Secord as good chocolate. However, I am cheap and like to score discounted specialty chocolate novelties AFTER the special day, especially since I no longer am enjoying that lucrative hockey largesse. Easter bunnies are were a personal favourite as the day after Easter they were available for 50% of – so you could make an initial inventory purchase of that $20 rabbit for $10. Then if you were lucky and watched carefully you could get back in the market and score some 75% off stuff. Life was good and the freezer was full of dark chocolate – to heck with the kids.

Times have changed – is it the recession hitting me? First the inventories seem very low. They did not get caught with all that great overstock. Second, it is now well past Easter and they have not even gone to 50% off yet – they have a new twist and are trying to lure me in with only 40%. Do I wait and risk getting shut out or cave and grab the $20 bunnies for $12? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Time to go there are two games on the go that I am trying to watch – Happy Feet are up one to zip over the once Brad Street Bullies and the Caps are in intermission.

By the way - I fixed the link for A Whiter Shade of Pale - I forgot to post the mps! Duh!

Apr 14 - Folks will be off to the rink for the 2009/10 season as try-outs start today. Good luck to one and all. Without being facetious, may you get what your child deserves and may you have the grace to accept that. Based on history, chances are it won't be a clean sweep.

GO Transit - the strategists at GO must lay away nights trying to think of new ways to aggravate their customers. Besides their last and cancelled trains, broken switches, fare hikes and crowded trains, they have come up with a new one. The unannounced last minute track switch. They sprang it on me this morning. The train is in site when the crackled voice comes on with an announcement - "GO apologizes for the late notice but the 7:03 AM Eastbound train will be arriving and departing from the north track.

Given that the station is already under construction with limited access there are limited access and egress points to cross from the south to the north side. So predictably that announcement created a stampede. All we needed we stetsons and chuckwagons.

Brits - Seems I need to give my British friends more credit. There is a list floating around of the top listened to songs in the last 40 years. Surprise, Surprise one of my all time favourites was #1. Who would have guessed "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harem. Perhaps and even bigger surprise was the top Beattles song was only #11.

Mark "The Bird" Fidrych - Probably not a lot of folks remember The Bird that well but as a life long Tigers fan he was for too brief a time one of my guys. In recent times the Tigers have gone through long doldrums with occasional flashes of brilliance. Tthere are a million stories in Tigertown - not all of them good. As a kid my line-up heroes were a 1-2-3 punch of Kaline, Colavito and Cash. Stormin Norman was my favourite - as a lefty I could relate to him and he played a mean first base with that left handed reach advantage and solid power. One of my earliest pro sports memories is taking the CN Excursion train from Stratford to Windsor, busing across the tunnel to go to a Tigers game at Brigg's stadium - amazingly Cash and Colavito went yard - back to back in that game which I think was the first half of a double header - another disappearing event..

But back to The Bird he was a phenom in 1976, signed as a rookie two years out of high school, took Detroit by storm, both because of his pitching and his antics and was tagged as The Bird based on his stature, resemblance to the Sesame street poultry. He roamed the diamond, groomed the mound by hand, talked to the baseballs and refused to use ones he did not like. Year one he won 19 - lost 9. started the All Star game, pitched 24 complete games and was AL rookie of the year. Unfortunately The Bird was injury prone and never really did anything after that first season. By 1980 he was done. He was an entertainer and for a while, one helluva pitcher. Dead at 54.

Lots of other weird stories are baked into the history of the Tigers - Denny MacLean - last 30+ game winner and his "lifestyle". The unlikely Micky Lolich heroics in the 68 Series against Bob Gibson and the powerhouse 'Cards. Detroit with Lolich came back from a 3 - 1 deficit and beat the Cards and Gibson in Game 7. Remember this was the year Denny MacLain won 31 games and it was supposed to be the MacLain - Gibson show - Lolich won 3!

"I guess you could say I'm the redemption of the fat man. A guy will be watching me on TV and see that I don't look in any better shape than he is. 'Hey Maude,' he'll holler, 'Get a load of this guy and he's a twenty-game winner.' " - Mickey Lolich

Summer - is apparently coming and so is a lot of action on the employment front. While I am looking forward to the weather change I'm not so sure of my summer schedule. As someone in the fuel business who wants to sell more, let me draw your attention to the Star article in the Wheels section. Those of you thinking of buying or already owning "micro" cars may want to read this and trade your miserly micro into more of a gas guzzling bigger "safer" model1 article.

Apr 13 - Moral of this story is don't type when you are tired or find someone to proof before you post. I snuck a couple of quick fixes in yesterday - maybe no one noticed.

Curling - The world is in shock, Scotland has stunned disbelief and Chez Moorehead is in mourning. What was he thinking? Even up coming home with the hammer should have been very close to a gimme for these guys. Run the rocks, keep it clean, leave a shot for your last and I could add play like you knew the game but that might be overly harsh. Martin and the team imploded. The most surprised guys in the rink (possibly after the commentators) were the lads from Lockerbie. If you saw it you will get my drift if you did not you won't but a series of questions a) why allow the clutter in the house or leaving the guards to start with. You were not trying to setup for two you were playing for one on ideally an open last shot. b) given that brain cramp, why did you not guard the left side to either prevent or make much more difficult any Scottish attempt for the double raise for shot. Scotland made it look easy. Throwing away a skip stone in the final end of a tied World Championship game - are you nuts? A comment from his team repeated was "he is either a genius or a fool" - vote here. Then having left his right side rock as a potential bail out raise for the win, why go with "judgmentally" more difficult double kill - that he missed. To be sure there was no joy in ~~Mudville~~ Moncton, Mighty Martin has struck out - again. After the "disbelief comments from the Masters and the polite but "what the h e double hockey sticks is he doing" type reporting from curling you have to wonder if there is a conspiracy going on.

Hockey - gone (Yankee women won convincingly), golf "weird", curling gone (beyond weird) - what's a guy to do, take up Ringette.

Beware - In this era of snipers (hockey, Navy or blogs) fair warning to all associate bloggers that the Beaver is aware of and, or reading the slings and arrows that fortune aka moi and others have hurled in their direction. There may be a series of cancellations sweeping the Town. In at least my defense (as I think I am the one most in need of defense - maybe from a high fallutin $80,000 a year holidaying New Yorker) I did preface my initial salvo with maybe they are not getting any info from the you know who guys (use a mirror AHOM). Now I am getting into all kinds of trouble because I am always negative about those AHOM guys and do not recognize the positive things they have done. An interesting concept - as soon as I can think of one I'll do that.

Remember "positive" is a subjective term. We may not agree on a change being positive (or negative), especially if it supports one interest group over others. Another truism is that change in and of itself is not necessarily positive it is the net result of that change that should be evaluated "impartially" to make any assessment. Gaining a little here and giving up a lot there does not add up.

As I continue to wax philosophical, boring most of you to tears, I must admit I am a big fan of scorecards - especially the thinking behind the Balanced Scorecard approach of Kaplan and Norton (not Gabe Kaplan and Ed Norton - the other guys). While there is tons of "stuff" behind this the general theory is that in order to be successful an organization (I don't care if it is a Fortune 500 company or a hockey club) needs to have specific goals that are aligned throughout all levels of the organization, that have good performance measures linked to them (see below), that focuses all the energy behind these goals and measures their progress and success based on four key "balanced areas" that I will simplify as:

Final Results are in for The FHP - unaccustomed as I am to gloating, I will simply post the final pool results below with a modest comment on behalf of Mr. Omnipotent. I SMOKED EM!!!

Got Dental tried to file a spurious claim for first based on the most points per move! I guess if I was that far behind I would try something too!

Prizing negotiations are underway. It would be a lot easier if they would speak to me.

Just for the heck of it my complete team over the season, including roster adds and cuts is below as an inspiration for you wannabe poolies next season. The points shown are only while on my roster, not necessarily their full season. Enjoy.

Apr 12 - A busy "sports" Easter Sunday - and overall for the entire weekend. I also did not realize "everything" was closed today so it cut into my "to do" plans. Gave me a good excuse to veg in front of the tube.

Masters - I thought the "old" guy was going to do it but twas not to be. To start off with the broadcast was goofy. Because Tiger and Phil were playing together and Phil particularly was red hot on the front nine it looked from the coverage like it was a Tiger and Phil Special with the Masters as the background. I also do not think I have heard the announcers doing so much second guessing of or questioning the club selection or shots. On at least one occasion there was a "What's he doing?" comment with total disbelief in the announcer's voice.

It was too bad to see Perry self destruct as I was really hoping he would pull it off. Besides dropping two shots over the last two holes to allow the play-off, his play in the play-off was brutal.

Unbelievable as it may seem, any decent golfer would have had a chance for the win against those three guys on the first playoff hole. The story of the tournament has to be Cabrera's miraculous survival of the first playoff hole and then his win. After putting his first shot into the bush and banking his second off of the trees for a karoom he was not even playing the other dudes pooched it!

The Leafs - consolidate their position out of the draft lottery by winning a meaningless game to wrap another futile season. As has been said by many people many times - they can't even lose properly. Maybe Wilson is right and 2009/10 is going to be even worse.

The Rock - In true Toronto sports tradition, the Rock have missed the NLL play-offs to ensure a clean playoffless situation for every so called professional team. Surely some statistician somewhere knows if this is a record for futility.

NHL - speaking of play-offs, the NHL season is finally done and the real games begin. I will have to give the matchups a good look, but I do not see too many upsets via position.

I will predict one upset - Columbus will surprise my Wings as local boy Mason will get hot and steal a couple and unfortunately my boys are a little light in the hemp hut department. Besides, I think the Wings are nursing some injuries more serious than they are letting on.

Curling - Johnny Mo' just missed a key shot so the match is life and death. Time to bail so I can focus on the "Roaring Game".

April 11 - I have been chastised. I have been advised that - yes, the MOHA office was "peopled" on Friday until four o'clock and that nominations were closed at 4:00 PM. They will not be extended (so there is no point in me trying to sneak one in). There was no comment as to the results of the nomination process so we will have to wait and see if acclamation and apathy truly triumphed.

I was also advised that my continued comments are losing me supporters, have people laughing at me or speaking ill of me in the community. Guess what - some did that when I was involved. As I've said, everyone (including me) is entitled to an opinion, but it is interesting that no one has said I am wrong about the points I have made. It seems they just don't like me making them.

Tiger - for Master's fans, it does not look like the Tiger is going to be a key figure in any drama, no matter how hard the talking heads are trying to spin it that way. Us old guys need to cheer for Kenny Perry - would like to see him win as apparently at 48 he would be the oldest Masters winner. (Jack was 46 when he won in 1986). Had to do the family Easter dinner thing in a relative's house WITH A BROKEN TV - so I missed all the live coverage of both The Masters and Curling.

Masters - with Gary Player finishing what will likely be his last competitive round at Augusta, it marks what is likely the final transition of the "guys" that got me hooked watching golf. Maybe it is simply that I don't know them as well or there are more of them or any number of things but the personalities and rivalries from the past do not seem to be represented today. Chi Chi with his putter antics, Super Mex Trevino with his flamboyance, Arnie and his army versus the Golden Bear, The Bear versus Watson. An almost constant repetition of the same names battling on the leader board every week - adding Snead, Boros, Weiskopf, Crenshaw, Morgan etc. You "knew" the winner each week. That was also when The Canadian Open was regarded as the fifth major and a tournament that meant something - just ask Nicklaus about the tournament he never won. The "game" now seems more of a cold "business" - or does it just seem that way?

Curling - Until today the Martin Alberta juggernaut had come to a screeching halt with two consecutive losses to Scotland. That's the bad news. The good news is that they hung on to beat the Swiss today and get one more shot at the Scots tomorrow for all the marbles. I have no idea when, if ever, that a team has beaten Martin three games in a row. Hopefully that will not be the case tomorrow and Martin will create a situation where the team that losses a two out of three series wins the championship. If he happens to lose, Martin will embellish the rumblings about his collar getting a little tight in those critical big game (other than the Brier) situations - Worlds - Olympics!

As the other of our National sports, this would not be good, especially since the women came home from Korea with nada.

Don Cherry - Just blasted Wilson and his comments about the Leafs - especially the statement apparently made that the Leafs will be worse next year. I mean they were so great this year - being worse could be a challenge. Of course, it was hard to concentrate on what he was saying with his "Easter Wardrobe" jacket. This one was clearly over the top. So, while I share his Ron Wilson opinion, I hope my taste in clothes is at least marginally better.

Apr 9 – Into the Easter Break we go. Of course, GO has to throw confusion at all of us with their afternoon email about signal problems on the Lakeshore West line – was it too cold? Not sure what to expect, I left early and grabbed the first train as they were all switched to locals – no express runs. The train was full so as I head to the upper deck to see if there were any seats there is one there with “a purse” on it and the lady in the seat beside it staring daggers at anyone looking that way. Not being the shy and retiring type I asked her to please move her purse which she did begrudgingly and I sat down. A couple of stops out from Union, some seats open up and another lady comes up and sits down saying “Oh, there you are”. To which my seat mate replies “Yes, I tried to save you a seat but some people will do anything to sit down. They would kill you for a seat”. I was tempted, but chose to pretend to be deaf. The other woman had the grace to say “Well the trains are crowded so you can’t really save them”. What a self centered, arrogant a__h___. Last time I looked I was paying just as much as anyone else for my ticket.

Beaver – Great news! – the Beaver ran a picture from one Awards Week game and said to look for info in a future special issue. I can hardly wait now that all this excitement is building. What is that saying if you see or hear it – it’s news, if you read it it’s history. What do you call it if you have to “look forward to it”?

Good Friday – I wonder who is going to be working in the MOHA office tomorrow. Nominations and motions need to be in to the MOHA office by 4:00 PM tomorrow – Good Friday, April 10^th. Technically, since Good Friday is a holiday, I think they have to give an extension through the next business day which would be Monday the 13^th. Maybe I should nominate myself for President and turn it in Monday to see what happens? Another confidence building event.

They’re Back – Not the Terminator but they can be terminal – GTHL gate fees. The clubs voted down the $520 per player registration fee (to the GTHL) in favour of bumping the current $5 fee per attendee to $6 per attendee – a “modest” 20% increase.

I have commented on this before but the $6 fee is going to get painful. The above table shows how the bump to $6 changes the break even people/games value from the former $5. You can easily flip it around and do the “what will it cost?” – e.g., a family of two parents going to their son or daughter’s games (say 30 which is light) will end up paying $18 X 30 = $540. I would suggest there will be a lot over this amount.

Take Oakville’s registration in comparison at $400 or whatever it was last year that paid for around 25/26 weeks of games, practice ice, officials, uniforms and admin for House League and the equivalent support for Rep which then supplements through additional team fees and budgets. Do a fully loaded comparison on both sides and folks may begin to appreciate the system that was built here. The question will be – Where is it going?

Harmonized Tax for Ontario will not create harmony. As per above, services and ice costs that typically were only GST liable at 5% will now hit 13%. At a plug value of $150 per hour for ice (pretax) – it will be higher, that is an incremental $12 an hour for each and every hour of ice. You can do the calcs if you want but if it kicks in for the 2010/11 season that is about $15 per player in House League for incremental ice costs alone.

50 Years Ago today – a nice round number and a memorable event as NASA introduced the first US Astronauts (April 9, 1959). They had a number of names and supposedly a wild lifestyle as modern day gladiators – all military test pilots – the strap it on and go guys. They were the Mercury Project team and have been immortalized in books, movies, TV series etc. While you never know the real truth of the matter, what they did and how they did it from Mercury – Freedom 7 to Apollo 11 and “The Eagle has landed” the first manned moon landing, it is an incredible story. From their primitive computer capabilities, through the “personalities” and the “mistakes” that were made I never tire of reading / watching it – From the Earth to the Moon, The Right Stuff, Apollo 13 and on and on and on, to name a few. These guys clearly were a breed apart – if you read about what they were put through in the selection process (read torture as no one had a clue about space) you would have said no one is nuts enough to go through that.

Apr 8 - I have been sprung. I have finally escaped the clutches of CIPMA. Do not ever attend a convention in your home base if you can avoid it. Not only does it make sense to save a few bucks and not stay at the hotel, but you try to fit in meetings, breakfasts cocktails, dinners, lunches etc., with all your contacts from out of town. There are not enough hours in the day. Then, since you are still in town, the office is lurking there waiting for you to catch up on your normal stuff. Makes for a long day and so my 24 hour rule became my 48 hour rule last night. I did not feel like sitting down at the computer ~~last night~~ this morning at 1:00 AM when I had to be back downtown for a 7:30 breakfast and wanted to get some sleep.

So tonjght the bits and fragments are all you get as I think I am basically incoherent by this time.

FHP - reading backwards from three days ago, Team Ramrod "smoked" Duff's Leafers last night for another position change, moving back into second. The pressure is on but I think this last move by Ramrod has settled the issue.

Apr 7 – I have inadvertently applied the 24 hour rule to my April 6 post. Not because I had to be because I left the data key “in my other pants” so to speak, and did not feel like redoing it at 11:00 PM.

FHP – Make sure you read the April 6^th note first so you don’t spoil the surprise. It has happened! Duff’s Leafers have overtaken Team Ramrod in a stunning turn of events. Outpointing Ramrod 10.5 to 9 last night (I had 13.5) Leafers have taken over second spot leading to huge consternation in the Team Ramrod camp. It looks like a bitter battle to the end – for second – you know who has had first locked up from Day 1!

Apr 6 – Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest so that’s what I did – NOT. But I did take it off from blogging. The job jar took precedence as I finally managed to knock one off that had been on the list for about 22 years.

When we moved into the house, the builders had pulled their standard stunt in the basement by installing the $1.99 (probably $0.99 then) pull chain light fixtures – installing switches was clearly more expensive and time consuming so who notices / cares in the basement? I could reach them but certain other people were vertically challenged. The pull chains are also not the most durable or dependable so I think I have replaced these fixtures at least a couple times each. Given that the workshop area has been getting more of a workout lately, I finally got around to (read that as badgered into) wiring the two lights to a switch. A sense of wonder descended around the house as the lights were turned on and off by this simple device. I don’t know if they were more surprised that I did it or that I did not light myself up doing it.

Midget AAA – It had to end sometime and sometime ended up being yesterday in the OHF Championship game against Hamilton Reps. Unfortunately our guys came out on the short end of an 8 – 6 score and with the conclusion of that game the final MOHA game for the 2008/09 season was over. House League Awards Week had finished Saturday so this was it. Regardless of the outcome of this game, the Midget AAAs have had an exceptional season ending up as OMHA Champions and OHF Finalists. Well done and congratulations to tom and all.

Turn-around – While the last 2008/09 game was April 5, don’t despair, that leaves a whopping 9 days turn-around time for the kick-off of the 2009/10 season. Try-outs start April 14. By no accident, MOHA nominations close on April 10^th – prior to try-out start, so that disgruntled individuals can’t choose to run for office as a result of their try-out experience. Wonder if nominations was a topic at the volunteer bash on Sunday night?

Sketchy Week – I am involved in an industry event this week – Mon – Wed so blog activity will likely be either sporadic or non-existent. Cocktails take priority and I don’t think blogging after a few cocktails would be a good idea. I can get into enough trouble when I am stone cold sober.

FHP – I know I mentioned it recently but just as a quick note re the escalating tension at Chez Moorehead, the difference between second and third at the moment at a point level in excess of 3,600 is 0.5! the bitter battle is on with a week to go. (From 1^st to 2^nd is 400+, yawn)

Apr 4 – Today marks the last day of the 2008/09 House League season, as Awards Week wraps up at Joshua’s Creek. It has been an interesting year for a lot of people and teams. One of the “active” squads has been the St. Hilda’s Eagles with their coach Nelson Pavao. With community work, the Fill the Net Drive, the Frank Sabatino Memorial Tournament, the Paint the Ice Pink for Breast Cancer and whatever, this team has been a great ambassador for Oakville and House League. While they did not make the championship game at Awards Week they were league champs and posed with all their hardware. Here are two shots – one of the team and one of the extended team. Congrats on a super year folks. (Contact Nelson if you want the uncropped original high res versions of these shots.

ALEX PACE Community Service Award St.Hilda’s Eagles for the Fill the Net Toy Drive and Paint the Rink Pink

2009/10 – With 08/09 over, it is not that long until next season hits the ice or more importantly when you have to register and pay for it. Things are apparently running a bit late already as it seems plans are to switch to on-line registration. While this may be progress, I would suggest everyone check their registrations carefully to make sure it is processed properly and recorded as “first time” systems can be notorious for glitches. You do not want to find out come September that “there has been a minor technical difficulty”.

Sticking with financials, I though folks might to interested in where some of their $$$ go. Hockey Canada, the OHF (Ontario Hockey Federation) the OMHA and insurance take a bite out of every player’s registration fees irrespective of their level of play, from Timbit through Midget AAA. Here is what you pay. The association also has to pay these fees for each team official as well.

For House League, there is also a per team charge of $18 whereas for Rep it is higher (Novice $83, Minor Atom & Atom $85 and $89 for the older ages).

Midget AAA – I get to congratulate the Midgets again! They more than avenged their round robin loss to the dreaded Eagles by smokin’ them 5 – 0 in their semi-final game rematch. The Rangers now get a chance to do it again tomorrow for all of the marbles in the OHF Gold Medal Championship game at 12:45 PM against the Hamilton Reps. In their round robin meeting, Oakville came out on the wrong end of an 8 – 4 score by that’s history. It is tomorrow that counts. 12:45, Central Recreation Centre – Go Rangers Go!

Leaf Goalie woes – AKA Mike Keenan – Wilson is now into mike Keenan mode – 9 shots 3 goals – get the hook – 3 more – do it again. If Martin Gerber is auditioning for next season as some suggest, he better step up his game quite a bit more than last night.

Apr 3 – Successfully reached another Friday. Things were a little quiet and “light” around the office today. I think a number of folks must have decided to stay home and work on their arks considering the weather and forecast.

NHL – Oakville’s resident scribe will be happy. His Capital based, Red Chamber team has now been officially eliminated from post-season play. Two out of six from the frozen North are gone. Soon to be three as the Oilers drop faster than the price of WTI Crude! Only 50% of the Canadian teams will even make the playoffs – what’s up with that? In fairness, I guess you should exclude the Leafs from that calculation as they are not really an NHL team

Hot News – In a stunning revelation, it was announced (by me) that the Leafs are moving to the NCAA Division 1 level next year as they find the NHL too tough. Hence the real reason behind signing Notre Dame power forward C Hanson and today’s report that they will be signing Tyler Bozak out of Denver. Should they have to stay in the NHL as doormats again next year, will anyone recognize any of the names on the sweaters? Better dust off that old copy of “A Boy at the Leaf Camp”

At least they have mastered something. They have mastered the age old concept of profit optimization – salaries down – prices up.

Midget AAA – Pulled off a big win this morning (7 – 1 versus the Ottawa Valley Titans). A quick schedule check and a review with Funk & Dufus chartered accountants suggests the Rangers have successfully locked up fourth place and have made it to the “play-offs”. Congrats guys – you are now in the All Ontario semis. Looks like a 1^st versus 4^th rematch with the host Burlington Eagles at 12:30 tomorrow. In round robin play Burlington won 5 – 3 so now it is our turn. Hopefully the Eagles are tired after their “meaningless” game tonight.

Beaver Bash – Round two – At the risk of riling a loyal reader and correspondent, I am going to rip another strip off of the Beaver and, or MOHA.

For consideration, I would suggest that the single largest, most attended, most local participants, most local parents, most Beaver readers, most Beaver advertisers is MOHA’s annual Awards Week “Gala”. Point me to something bigger, better or more exciting!

Seven days, eleven divisions, thirty championship games, 480+ players, etc, etc, etc, - all local. You would think that this magnitude of event would think, merit some type of timely coverage in the local rag. These kids, and truth be told their parents, grandparents, relatives, cats and dogs love to see themselves in print – right!

I just got home, read my email giving me heck for being “hard” on the Beaver, pored through today’s edition for the exciting coverage and found NADA! The event started last Saturday. Has been going on all week and does not even rate an obit notice that says “we will get there”.

There is time for a full page on the Blade’s on their Tuesday night series win (good for them), but no time or space for the House League kids? Sorry MM – I don’t think this is right or “community coverage”. Now my delivery is “cooked” for sure! I won’t comment on some of the items that were there filling space as I have no interest in antagonizing everyone. I am on enough lists as it is.

Oh yeah – before I forget – if the MOHA cabal is not all over the Beaver supplying content – pictures, stories, etc., then shame on them. This is a huge and immensely popular local event for a lot of people. It is ridiculous that the best media posting folks get is on a local blog (not mine). Where’s my Valium?

No lock – just watched Franzen’s goal against St Louis. Move over #8. You got nothing on the goal my Wing’s guy scored. It will be on the highlight reel for a long time – too bad they lost since some bozo got four goals against them..

FHP – As the season winds down there is no drama (or surprise) in the runaway winner of the Family Hockey Pool. A week or so ago I offered to bench my entire team for the balance of the season to at least make it look close! This suggestion received the cold shoulder as have some of my other recent positive suggestions and comments. However, there is a battle for second shaping up as #3 is now only a good night’s differential behind #4. I am rooting for the takeover as it would be poetic justice if the two old fogies smoked the so called sports savvy “kids”. Stay tuned for the final results.

Apr 2 – Time for a take it easy Thursday as I don’t feel overly prolific this evening. Could be spring fever based on the improving weather outside or the fact that I had a nice Mexican lunch and feel more like a nap than typing.

Midget AAA – Our guys dropped today’s game to the Ottawa 67s this morning to go to 2 – 3 and have a temporary and tenuous hold on the fourth and final playoff spot pending tonight’s game between Hamilton and the Ottawa 67s. An Ottawa win would move them ahead of Oakville based on their head to head win. With one game left for the Rangers, they desperately need a win tomorrow against the Ottawa Valley Titans to have any real hope of a playoff spot. I hope their loss this morning does not mean they are not a "morning" team as they play at 10:00 AM tomorrow.

Leafs – It’s now official – four years of early golf + a $500,000 fine from the NHL for breaking the rules, + they lose the fourth round pick they essentially spent another $500,000 for in close out salaries to “injured” players, + Burke comes across all affronted because they did not make the post season and suggests it is reasonable to think they have a chance next year, + he blasts his defense and goaltending. Why does anyone cheer for these bozos?

Harpergate – Oh Mr. PM, where are you? This is the photographer calling. Your other 19 buddies are here and we actually took the official G20 picture before they noticed you were missing. Clearly a key player in the big sandbox. Read more here.

We know Mr. O gave Lizzy a personalized IPod with all their favourite tunes and some cool pictures and videos. We know Lizzie was handing out autographed and framed shots of her and Phil, but what did Mr. H bring to the party. Maybe he was out shopping for it when he missed the picture!

And to think this is the level of statesmanship that is leading the “free” world!

1982 – Today marked the start of the Falkland’s war with Argentina invading the Falkland Islands. Britain responded in the almost who cares conflict but it gave them a chance to play with their expensive toys like the Vulcan long range bomber, Argentina lost their only cruiser and the Brits found out the French made a very effective air to sea missile when the Argentinians used an Exocet to sink the Sheffield. The French were quick to capitalize on this practical demonstration and sales soared. With a population of only 1,800 being “fought" over, the combined KIA combined for both sides was about 1,000. England won – Rule Britannia.

Apr 1 – Did the virus strike? I don’t know about the virus but at Chez Moorehead it seems the Air Can did. As the story goes, some unnamed individual thought they would be a nice person and clean my keyboard for me. Out comes the can of compressed air and a good blasting of roughly 4,000 PSI to clear out all the dust bunnies and dirt mites. Apparently a number of other items got cleared out as well because when I sat down to my optical wonder, blissfully unaware of the spring cleaning bug and started tap, tap tapping, there was no, no, no response. Thinking that the batteries may have expired I calmly replaced them - no joy. They I did the cold boot, and connect button reset to no avail only then finding out via direct query to the culprit what had happened. Maybe “just a coincidence, but I would suggest caution with the air bombs on optical items.

Fortunately a visit to my basement parts warehouse – aka – PC junk shop, turned up a good old MS PS/2 corded keyboard that came to like as soon as it was plugged in. you can’t kill that old stuff even if you beat it with a stick. Time to go toy shopping again – sans any domestic intervention.

Awards Week - just got back from watching two very entertaining Peewee Championship games. I watched the full White and Red and snuck over to watch a bit of the Blue but with the scheduling conflict I couldn't see them all. Congrats to the Peewee White Wranglers - apparently the decided underdogs as they pulled off an overtime 2 - 1 win over a very good Lumberjack squad who just couldn;t get more than one goal.

The Peewee Red game between the unlikely 6th and 7th teams was also a good game. Again, the consensus underdog Wolfpack came out on the good end of a 2 - 0 score with one being an empty netter. Both teams seemed tense and neither could light the lamp until the Wolfpack broke through with five minutes to go,. After that they held off a determined Viking assault until they put it away with a late one.

Congrats to all the Peewee crew on a good season and for me a very entertaining evening. As many know, Peewee is my favourite minor hockey age for a variety of reasons.

Midget AAA – are finding it tough sledding in the OHFs. Going into their 5:30 game tonight they are 1 – 2 having lost to arch rivals Burlington yesterday. Need to make the top four for the play-offs (real ones – not some goofy Page format) so they probably can’t afford any more “L”s. (Just did the old late night check and good news - our guys picked up a win over the Sault Ste Marie North Stars tonight to get back to even at 2 and 2).

The Axe – This is the time of year when the “axe” starts dropping with regularity on NHL teams. With Montreal’s win last night, the Leafs officially got the chop – being “mathematically eliminated”. Often times the “axe” is followed by the “hatchet” – to the coach – GM – bench staff – players. It seems that Wilson is still close to being nominated for sainthood in Toronto (???) and Brian Burke is anointed (???) so it looks like that just leaves other staff and players to create some news for Toronto media mavens. Forgetting the Leafs (which is easy) the next pool should be – who is the first “big name” to go? Guesses welcome.

Ten days – and counting in the “so you want to be President” game. Keep an eye on this one folks. I have already turned down three serious requests to run. Scuttlebutt is that the incumbent appointee will not seek election but that the illustrious VP Rep is looking for a promotion. Aren't acclamation and apathy dangerous weapons? Maybe I should put my name in just to drive them crazy. One of the key reasons I wouldn’t is that the President apparently can’t fire people.

Today’s chuckle – I see the deadline for House League coach applications is April 30. I guess MOHA is now being swamped with applicants to coach. I guess this means if you do not apply by April 30 you won’t get a team!!! Someone may want to ask exactly how many coaches apply by April 30 and which teams will be cut because no one applied for them by the deadline? Funny – the House League on-line app was much more professional than the paper only Rep thing – go figure!

April Fools Day – "poisson d'avril”, has murky and disputed origins but who cares. It also seems that the pranks are falling out of fashion over the last few years. Historically there have been some good ones. For example, in 1985, Sports Illustrated tricked many readers by reporting on a rookie pitcher (Sidd Finch) who could throw a fastball over 168 miles per hour!! Yeah right! In 1998 Burger King advertised a “Left Handed Whopper” and had scores of clueless customers looking for it.

In a prior life I used to send minions to get the Left handed policy stretcher as well as the verbal agreement endorsement form (I was in the insurance world at the time) and off they would go getting bounced around our building by ‘those in the know”. Apparently now it is not PC to “humiliate” people this way.

My compliments to my fellow blogger who apparently smoked one by a lot of folks.

Send mail to Wayne@minorhockeyfan.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2004 Wayne Moorehead Last modified: 09/26/11

Send mail to Wayne@minorhockeyfan.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 Wayne Moorehead
Last modified: 09/26/11