Dec 31
– it's all a blur. My last post was
December 16 over two weeks ago. The
week before Christmas went by in a
flash with a lot of year end work
around the office, the normal
festivities, and some seasonal prep
work -- mostly around rolling my
eyes about the amount of decoration
going on at Chez Moorehead. A small
component shown below as I don't
want to scare you with ALL of the
stuff
And I mean ALL of the stuff -
location by location, room by room!
I worked a half day on the 23rd and
ended up using Friday night to get
ready for Saturday morning which was
when Shaun Becky and Ben were coming
over to open gifts with us. That was
also popcorn night as I made four
buckets - two double batches of my
secret caramel toffee popcorn. A
requirement for every Xmas, New
Year's and assorted other special
occasions.
Clearly the star of the show
Saturday was young Mr. Benjamin who
made out like a bandit. Notice him
playing "King of the World" standing
on the hassock with his pile of
gifts. And this was just at our
house and some gifts.
Grandpa still has it! The hit of the
day, as it should be, was the
stereotypical big yellow Tonka dump
truck -- followed closely by
Andrew's tractor. Only the dump
truck will be featured here as that
was one of the items that grandpa
put under the tree. It was in the
big box above and shown below with
Ben checking it out. Off course I
had to get him the front end loader
to go with it - but - he loved the
truck!
The same picture makes a nice screen
background on my computer.
Later that day, it was off to
Dietrich's to pick up the 28 pound
turkey -- fresh only -- as we have
scaled back from the 38 pound
monster that we cooked last year.
This one actually fit in the roast
pan without the legs sticking out
and getting burnt to a crisp. Then
it was back home and get everything
ready for the herd (known as
Jane's family) to descend on us on
Christmas Day.
Saturday night, I also caught on to
the online Boxing Day sales that
started early. Rather than get up at
the crack of dawn on the 26th to get
in line with hundreds of deal
seekers and yahoos and risk getting
trampled, frozen and, or shut out,
it was much easier to simply go
online Saturday night on the 24th,
order the same items, for the same
price, with free delivery. I managed
to play Santa Claus for myself -- a
little out of control I might add --
and get a new video camera, a
second projector (Andrew stole the
one I bought without getting
trampled last year for his basement
man cave and Sunday NFL football
with the posse), and a new external
hard drive as coincidentally one of
my existing ones decided to go
"platters up" the day before. So
much for having to even consider
Boxing Day sales -- they are now off
my list, hopefully forever
Sunday, Christmas Day was the big
"Powell side" family event at our
place with most of Jane's family
able to attend. I think I spent more
time in the kitchen on Sunday then I
had all year before that. I found
out we had a dishwasher (I did two
full loads and was not done) and
everything.
Monday was round two, as we were off
to beautiful downtown Toronto for
the Moorehead clan's annual Boxing
Day Christmas dinner, hosted this
year at Colleen's house. Part of the
festivities this year was a secret
Santa gift exchange where everyone
received a number and when it was
your turn you could either take a
gift from under the tree or steal
someone else's. Not exactly in the
spirit of Christmas and all and good
old Lucky me managed to pull number
one as my ticket. As the first one
to draw a gift, I had it stolen
almost immediately and then also
lost my second and third gifts as it
seemed like I was the designated
target. Anyway, all was in good fun
and a great time was had by all. As
part of the festivities, Colleen had
put together a Moorehead cookbook
with family recipes and pictures
which was a wonderful gift
especially as the lead recipe
features my secret caramel toffee
popcorn recipe -- I guess it's not
so secret anymore - but it is good
and always in demand. Other than
that, my photo "sucked" but I can
live with that.
I did have to feel sorry for my
brother Scott who ended up with a
Justin Beiber talking teddy bear as
his gift. It made my Nerf football
and stuff look good. He does live in
Stratford so I guess it was
appropriate!
From Tuesday until today has just
flown by. First, I had to wait for
my new toys to be delivered to see
if the pre-Boxing Day Boxing Day
sale plan worked out-- which it did.
Then I had to do some major office
cleanup to figure out where I was
going to put everything as well as
to figure out how it worked. Then,
as soon as the weather turned cold,
our thermostat decided to die on us,
creating yet another opportunity to
go shopping at Canadian Tire and
then fiddle around to try and get it
installed properly. Of course the
first attempt was unsuccessful as
one of the wires from the old
thermostat broke off when it was
connected to the new one and of
course that was not visible when it
was put together. When it didn't
work, of course the assumption was
that the furnace was now on the
blink which created a whole
different stress level - as the
temperature in the house continued
to drop requiring yet another trip
to Canadian Tire to get another
heater to try to keep the house
bearable until a service rep was
available (not until the next day)..
Fortunately when I took it back
apart in frustration and with faint
hope, and checked everything again,
I found the broken wire and managed
to fix it.
Fit into this spending time getting
material ready for the Frank
Sabatino Memorial tournament and
just general all around other stuff,
with a few work calls, and it has
been a very busy period. no wonder
there was no time for blogging and
the time disappeared. For the first
time ever, since we were involved
with hockey that meant I did not get
out to see any of the Richard Bell
Memorial tournament. Jane got out
briefly, but I missed it as I like
to get out to see some of the
European teams play. Hope it all
went well.
Oh yeah - to my toy list I can add
now also add a Kobo reader - so we
will see how that goes and I also
got and "cracked" my second TouchPad
(a 32 gig this time) so that it is
now a dual boot WebOS and Android
system device. I think that
technically voids my HP warranty but
what the "heck". Hopefully I have an
in there if something goes wrong. I
have to admit that it is nice having
access to all those Android apps but
I still think the WebOS is a cleaner
operating system.
Lots more I could cover - including
my candy making experience (note to
self - make sure you watch the
thermometer closely when it gets
above 260 degrees F as it then can
zoom up very quickly and stuff gets
really burnt at 340. But that's a
story for another day.
As my last good deed (maybe only)
for 2011, I wandered into the local
bloodmobile blood donor clinic this
morning and coughed up a pint. New
Year's eve and giving blood? Wonder
if that will impact my inbibing this
evening?
After tonight, 2011 will just be a
memory as we move on to 2012 and
whatever that brings. Hopefully, it
will be a safe, happy, and
prosperous year for the good guys --
and me.
Dec 16
– Pronger down and out. Another star
lost to “bell ringing” or at least
that is what it used to be called.
Many of us old foggies have had our
bell rung in the past and thought
nothing of it. There was a lot of
"shake it off", "suck it up" and
"get back in their". Probably not
the best advice.
At one point I had suggested that I
would pull together some separate
resources on concussions and post
them as education material for my
swarms of avid readers. Hasn’t
happened yet but I have looked at a
lot of very good material that is
out there. Concussions and
concussion related articles and
resources are a very popular topic.
I hope this is
not telling tales out of school but
the Town is looking at putting
together some type of local
resource.
Sport Oakville
has concussion education and
resources on their radar screen.
The Halton
District School board has a program
and protocol in place and there is
no end to the places it is cropping
up as a topic.
One spot you may
want to check out is a relatively
new – but interesting web site
called the Sport Concussion
Library (http://www.sportconcussionlibrary.com/
). This site started in Canada by
Dr. Paul Echlin has a wealth on info
that is targeted at basically all of
the prime interest groups –
Researchers, Athletes, Parents,
Coaches and First Responders
(Therapists/Trainers), and
Educational Institutions
You can register
for free as a user if you want to
and it seems that it will let you
take the SCAT2 test online – for
free! I have registered and started
into the test, even setting myself
up as a player but I did not go
through the actual test. It did
however save my profile so I can go
back in. Not sure if this test is
the real commercial “fully monty”
version but I will go back and take
it.
RBMT
– before my rant the “schedule” was
there, then it went away, now it is
back again. Hmmmmm!
I still stand by
my "useful" schedule ststement. Not
likely to print out 36 pages to get
a full listing of the games. User /
Eco friendly - NOT!
What were you
thinkin’
– Under the additional category of
you would think he would know
better, reports are that Mike
Milbury – former NHLer – Coach GM
and now HNIC commentator has been
charged with “assault and battery on
a child, threats to commit a crime
and disorderly conduct” against a 12
year old peewee player.
In a “friendly”
outdoor match near Boston, Assistant
Coach milbury went out on the ice
during a fracas with his son’s team.
As per The Star
article – “Witnesses told police
that Milbury, who is the assistant
coach of his son’s team, charged out
onto the rink and verbally berated,
then grabbed and shook the
12-year-old player”.
As if there
aren’t enough black marks flying
around about the game, we really
don’t need this – and on the ice to
boot! Other than the normal drama,
it will be interesting to see how
this plays with the HNIC brass and
more likely with Grapes and coaches
Corner as I don’t think that Don has
ever been much of a Milbury fan.
Have to check
YouTube and find out what really
happened. There must be a video out
there somewhere.
YouTube -
talking about YouTube and a "black"
eye for hockey, here is a lovely
skirmish between two teams of 10
year olds. AND by the way - it is
with the Europeans who claim they
don't have fighting in their minor
hockey!
Dec 14
– Google can now provide a very
quick and dirty, as they used to
say, measure of a subject or topics
popularity or infamy. Just type a
word or phrase into the Google
search bar and see what the engine
turns up.
Concussion:
0.22 seconds – about 22,500,000
results! This is very impressive
until just for the heck of it you
run a popular three letter word
starting with “S” and ending in “X”
and in 0.15 seconds you get
3,340,000,000 results. Just thought
you might want to no and NO, I did
not review them all or actually any.
Too many people might check my
browser history.
However, the
concussion epidemic is lopping off
heads (bad pun sort of intended) in
the NHL as the Flyers and League’s
leading scorer. Claude Giroux joins
Sid the Kid (dare I say I told you
so) on the sidelines. While Crosby’s
absence is attributed to “concussion
like” symptoms, I think we can
likely drop the “like” from this
description. These are “stars” but
you have to wonder how many of the
:lesser lights” are plagued with the
same problem and are the teams /
players / leagues doing all they can
to lessen the risk or improve the
treatment?
It is not just a
hockey issue although in Canada we
seem to think that is all that
matters. In the U.S., I would
suggest that the concussion poster
child is football with the NFL being
the public visibility channel. In
the NFL, the star quarterback is the
linch pin for any team that wants to
be successful and we are, I think,
starting to see and hear more about
“head injuries” (– read concussion)
in more cases as the defense tries
to do their job – AKA “knock the QB
out of the game”. Head shots are a
very effective way to do that, as
even if the QB stays in, he probably
can’t think straight and loses the
innate talent to read and react to
the D.
As a case in
point, my Steelers James Harrison
has been assessed a one game
suspension for his helmet to face
mask hit on the Brown’s QB Colt
McCoy. You can read about it in the
Globe and see the video.
Harrison, a former NFL defensive
player of the year has apparently
got a reputation as a, shall we say,
“forceful” player and according to
the article / league this is his
fifth illegal QB hit in the past
three seasons. Yet, this is also
apparently the NFL’s first
suspension for this type of contact
hit and it is a total of one game!
Of note, it is being appealed. For
McCoy, he came back several plays
later, threw a game clinching (for
the Steelers) end zone interception
then developed “concussion like”
symptoms after the game leading the
NFL to send reps to Cleveland to
review how the team handled the
incident. Ya Think!
It makes you
wonder where this whole area could
end up and the potential impact on
pro sports and sports in general as
we know them today.
Graham James
– probably surprising to some I have
not commented on this recently
popular local topic. I have made my
opinion clear here several times and
don’t feel I need to rehash.
Besides, I am not sure whether I am
considered one of the “eye-rollers”
so I have no interest in wandering
into an ambush a no win
commentary. Better to steer clear
and save the ammo for another day.
Love the military metaphors – I
clearly have been watching too many
Sons of Anarchy episodes and
unfortunately am all caught up to
date. Need another “below the radar”
series to OD on.
Richard Bell
Memorial Tournament
– I really would like to get behind
supporting this tournament – because
it is a good tournament and a lot of
people have put a lot of work into
organizing it. However, I get tired
of voicing the same complaint every
year that I think is valid, is easy
to address and I suspect is a pain
in the ass to anyone who is a Non
Team Specific fan and wants to have
an easy way to review the full
schedule, print it off in a
manageable format and then look and
see who, where and when they want to
go see play.
I understand that
the MOHA has invested in their
“wonderful” scheduling thing, but it
is a piece of crap from this
standpoint. In past years I have
taken the time to strip out all the
games, sort and reformat them into
something legible and then posted it
here for anyone who wants it instead
of sending them off on a search and
search and search mission through
the schedule jungle. For those of
you who need some remedial
reminders, here is one
version
of the 2010 RBMT schedule I posted -
not to be repeated - now a
collector's item. Please don't get
confused and think it is this
year's.
Hot Flash – I am
not going to do it this year. I have
better things to do with my time.
The association already has a
version they could post very easily
as they set these more user friendly
schedules up to go in the programs
but apparently it is too much to ask
(or too potentially useful to
people) to post a simple schedule
document to the site for anyone who
wants it.
Dec 10
- Returning after a four day hiatus
and posting on a Saturday AM prior
to the next foray into the world of
YY - Yuletide Yahoos.
The balance we all try to maintain
between work and play gets even
trickier at this time of year as
normal stuff bumps into year-end
requirements that bump into seasonal
"work" events that bump into holiday
prep and planning that bump into
just your normal hectic life. Bah
Humbug!
Anyway, the week that was marked a
number of historic events:
Sid the Kid is temporarily back
on the shelf. Does anyone else
go "OH Oh" when they see this or
is the politically correct and
naive response to go - Oh yes,
it is great that they are being
careful!
Dec 6 marked the 94th
anniversary of a French
munitions ship trying to blow up
all of Halifax in 1917 and doing
a pretty good job with over
1,600 people killed and a good
chunk of the city leveled in
what I think was and still is
the largest single non-nuclear
blast ever! Great distinction
for Canada and it passed almost
unnoticed.
Dec 7 was the 70th anniversary
of the infamous "Day that will
live in infamy" - the Dec 7,
1941 Japanese attack on Pearl
Harbour that finally dragged the
US into WWII - two year late.
While all the stories and movies
castigate the Japanese for their
treacherous act, (winners
get to write the history) few
comments reflect on the fact
that Japan was at war and
arguably in what they considered
a desperate situation. The
aspect of how an attacking fleet
can sneak into limited aircraft
range thousands of miles from
their home port and surprise a
supposedly strong and vigilant
force with all of their
battleship eggs in one basket
does not get much play.
The 8th and 9th saw Pujols sign
the second largest sports
contract of all time for roughly
a quarter of a BILLION" dollars
over 10 years. at roughly 25
million a year that makes all
kinds of logical sense in a
world where the most powerful
man in the free world makes I
think roughly 400 k per year or
less than 2% of what is on the
table for big Al. Somebody is
nuts.
We also see that Rogers and Bell
have joined forces to cough up
over a billion bucks to knock
the school marms out of the
driving seats to pick up
controlling interest in MLSE.
They say politics makes strange
bedfellows. What about sports?
On the local front there have also
been some momentous moments.
I finished watching Season 4 of
Sons of Anarchy and am desperate
to see what happens. Will Jax
kill Clay - will Bobby rat to
the feds, will the Russians join
up with the drug cartel, will
the feds bust everyone at the
meet - is Tara turning as evil
and scheming as Jenna. And I
laugh at soap operas!
I finished the first four books
of George R. R. Martins Songs of
Ice and Fire and am too cheap to
buy the hardcover version of
book five "A Dance with
Dragons". It is hopefully due to
hit paperback soon and, or the
clearance rack so I can grab a
copy. It better be soon as the
characters and plotlines here
are so complex I will forget
who's who and, or doing what and
why.
I have a second TouchPad in the
works - the deluxe 32 Gig
version. Now I can risk
jailbreaking my 16 to run dual
boot HP's WebOS and Android
(alpha). If this works out, I
can drool at the number of
Android apps available as that
OS is really growing on both
tablets and Smartphones.
More importantly I almost won a
game of Catan cities and
Barbarians or whatever until I
was 1 point away from a sneaky
victory and then my "family"
noticed and they all ganged up
on me and let Shaun win! Foul!
140 - the number of the UFC
event at the ACC tonight. While
people complain about the violence
in sport, how terrible (and
criminal) it is for things like dog
fights, they applaud, champion, and
show up in droves to watch two guys
intentional, no holds bared: try to
"beat the crap" out of each other in
a cage! Explain me dis!
The "cage" under construction at ACC
Respite is at an end. Off on the
Saturday errands run.
Dec 6
– It did not take long for folks to
jump on the discussion wagon for
both of my hockey topics last night
– the Boogaard story and the NHL’s
proposed conference realignment. I
suspect that the issues around the
Boogaard piece will have more legs
than the proposed conference
realignment as there are a lot of
aspects to this story that different
groups can weigh in on. The alleged
abuse of prescription drug sourcing
and controls being one, as an
article in today’s Star talks
about a suit filed against the NFL
by a number of players about the
widespread pre-game use of an
anti-inflammatory drug Toradol) that
could put someone with a head injury
at increased risk
It also seems that most media
outlets have picked up on the
Boogaard story or are generating
their own articles based on the
clinical reports on the assessment
of Boogaard’s brain as well as going
back to prior cases like Reggie
Fleming and Bob Probert.
$$$ of Hockey – Today’s Globe
& Mail also had an interesting
article on Minor Hockey
registration and participation
financials. Essentially the story
line is that Hockey Canada’s minor
hockey enrolment is slipping with
boys down and girls up slightly.
There is a reference in the article
to US hockey which was well behind
Canada in total registrations but is
now catching up. If trends continue
there will soon (maybe even in this
season) be more registered US minor
hockey players than Canadian. Such
heresy! To some extent the G&M
hypothesizes that this is
contributed to by financial burdens,
lack of sponsorship and the
escalating cost of playing minor
hockey. The Globe article suggests
an average cost of $1,500 per player
per season which many families find
too expensive, especially if
multiple kids are involved.. The
suggestion is that Canada needs more
corporate dollars and sponsorship to
keep costs down and suggests that
this is more of the case in the US –
citing the example of the Little
Ceasar’s hockey program.
Not sure what it costs to play
“House League” in Little Cesar’s,
but I suspect it is the cost of all
those “little extras” in many
centres that drive up the cost and
that what may be less than efficient
or cost conscious administrations
drives up the cost. With all due
respect to those folks with a
different view, I can’t justify
condoning incremental to
registration budgets of $9,000 for a
House League team, where this extra
expense, often unplanned for or
unexpected is levied on parents,
also recognizing that this
amount still does not include any
player or parent travel,
accommodation or incidental personal
expense (substantial) to play
additional exhibition games or
particularly out of town
tournaments. We are pricing the game
out of reach for a lot of people and
at the same time making other
alternative pastimes look much more
attractive.
It seems that gone are the days of
"simple" recreational hockey at
other than basic skill levels and
even those represent significant
registration and equipment costs.
What happened to those morning to
night, drop in, drop out shinny
games on the pond where the price of
admission was to help shovel. too
bad they're gone.?
Outdoors - as a segue to the
above, the Hamilton Bulldogs have
setup an outdoor league game at Ivor
Wynne stadium against the Toronto
Marlies (not exactly a clash of the
Titans) While I wish them well - I
won't be there as it is January
21st, right in the middle of the
FSMT. Having said that, the Bulldogs
have planned a bunch of activities
around the game including a Toronto
/ Montreal oldtimers game,
entertainment, charity events etc.
They are hoping to draw 21,000+ but
have set the ticket prices from
roughly $30 to $90. A pretty steep
tariff for two clubs having trouble
drawing indoors at lower prices with
better seats. $30 to freeze your
Ahem off in nosebleed seats to watch
two struggling AHL franchises? Good
luck with that.
Dec 5- Don't expect this to be an
overly long post as it is already
after 9 and a long Monday is leading
into a very busy week. Potentially
messy week as I just put the child
seat back in the car for Jane as she
is baby sitting Ben tomorrow and
likes to have the seat in the car
"just in case". Not a bad plan.
Be grateful - today we Canadian Tire
employees received our annual
Christmas basket gift (box actually)
from CTC. That means I have another
die cast replica vehicle to add to
my collection (one a year) with this
year's model being a nice CT Red
1952 Chevy pickup. These are limited
run items specially made for CT for
this Christmas gift and are not
available anywhere else - they are
different from the ones actually
sold in the stores and sell well on
Ebay - look it up. Possible picture
to follow at some point. There is
always a lot of other stuff in the
box, some I find very tasty - like
this year's Swiss chocolate, some
utilitarian - like tortilla chips
and salsa, and some that are
esoteric and for me as value only
for trade bait - like a type of
preserved lemon flavoured log cake?
Anyway, it is a very nice gesture by
the organization yet every year I
hear folks grousing about the box
being smaller and not as good as
last year, the year before that, the
year before that . . . etc. - you
get the drift.
Simple, if you don't like it - don't
take it and quit bitching about it.
There are lots of folks who would be
thankful for it let alone having a
good job with a company that cares
enough about its employees to
maintain this type of tradition.
Punched Out - My thanks to a
loyal reader and correspondent
(seems I have at least one, who
passed on a heads-up on a series of
three articles that ran in the New
York Times from December 3 - 5. The
topic was a look at the life of
Derek Boogaard - NHL enforcer, who
passed away this past May at the age
of 28 from a ruled accidental
prescription drug overdose.
The reporter, John Branch (related
to David?) spent 6 months
researching the story and it paints
a pretty grim picture of the
"enforcer" role and it's ompact -
physical and mental on those
"gladiators who end up with that as
their career.
With the debates around fighting and
violence in hockey, the recent to do
over Grapes comments, and the three
high profile deaths this past year,
this article - three parts is well
written and paints quite a picture.
The opportunity to "play" in the NHL
is the dream of "every" Canadian boy
from the time he laces on his first
pair of skates and grabs that hockey
stick. However, the operative word
here is "play" as I don't think that
is how you would describe Mr.
Boogaard or his fellow enforcers
game or that too many parents would
want career NHL stats like
Boogaard's for their son.
Boogaard went
nearly five years between N.H.L.
goals and scored three times in
277 games. He spent 1,411
minutes on the ice and 589
minutes in the penalty box.
The articles are a very good and
sobering read. The NY Times has
moved away from the free internet
world so you might have some stress
trying to read them online. I
managed to pull them off (don't ask)
and hopefully will not run afoul of
the copyright police as my
intentions are good. Here they are
in pdf form for you to read (and
please do) at your leisure. I don't
think it can help but modify your
perspective about what goes on "at
the top".
What
Happened? - Late news flash on
the posting on
www.nhl.com of the new four new
conferences established in the
realignment for the 2012-13 NHL
season!
"The makeup of
the yet-to-be-named four conferences
is as follows:
New Jersey, Philadelphia,
Pittsburgh, New York Rangers, New
York Islanders, Washington and
Carolina
Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa,
Buffalo, Florida and Tampa Bay
Detroit, Columbus, Nashville, St.
Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas
and Winnipeg
Los Angeles, Anaheim, Phoenix, San
Jose, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton,
Colorado"
The move from
Atlanta to Winnipeg was touted as an
opportunity to bring my beloved
Wings to the East (so I could watch
more games) and reduce travel
etcetera, etcetera etcetera. Instead
we get this goofy "central" thing
with lousy rivalries, Florida gets
to come to Montreal and Toronto -
yeah snowbirds and the East coast
Major Market hub guys can almost
drive to all their games. Who was
the driving force behind this
nonsense, the tiny perfect one or a
cabal of the big boys who get their
own way? Have to ponder on this one
and see what the responses are.
Dec 3
- Took a few secs to update to
December as November was a pretty
pathetic effort on the blogging
front. Too early for any New Year's
resolutions yet so we will see how
December goes.
11 months down the drain for 2011
which really at least for me is hard
to believe. In our case at The Tire,
we are on a wandering fiscal using a
4/4/5 system and in the scheme of
things out year end this day is
actually Christmas Day - Dec. 25 -
weird.
TouchPad - not much new to
report here although I am still
having fun with it. As I am typing
this I have a radio app running on
the TP with AM 640 on broadcasting
the Leaf / Bruin game. Third period,
usual result, Leafs losing, game
likely over (4-1) so it times for a
bit of fight night. Dumb. Remember
an earlier post. Leafs were on top -
Bruins on the bottom. The Beaners
have fixed that and are red hot -
the Leafs not.
Quick update on the game - Over -
Leafs lose 4 - 1.
Apparently there is Alpha code
around for the TP that would let me
run a dual book with both HP's WebOS
and Android. A certain relative has
his running on it but I have not
worked up the nerve to try it yet.
If it works as well as they expect
it will, it would open up a whack of
Android apps for the TP. We'll see.
FSMT - Great news on the
Frank Sabatino Tournament front. 16
Atom teams and 32 Peewees in "Red"
and "White" are signed up for my
favourite event. Mark off Friday,
January 20 - Sunday, January 22,
2012 on your calenders and come out
to watch. Still happy to sign up
more sponsors or volunteers so check
out the web site
www.fsmt.ca
.
Head Contact - Anyone looking for
more information on this season's
new rules on Head Contact and
associatec penalties under Hockey
Canada's Rule 6.5 can go check out
the web site that Hockey Canada has
set up specifically for this topic.
Here is a link to the site
HC Head
Contact.
There are a number of videos there
and you can even download the full
Hockey Canada rulebook if you want.
OMHA 2012 AAA Championships -
On Thursday, the OMHA released the
date and locations for the OMHA AAA
Championship Championship Tournament
Weekends.
HOT FLASH to all - If the info is
correct and goes as posted STAY AWAY
from NE Oakville AKA Joshua's Creek
Arenas on the Weekend of March 16 -
18. According to the Schedule, Not
one, not two, but THREE events are
scheduled simultaneously at the Twin
Pad. Someone's schedules will be
messed up!
Can anyone picture the Traffic /
Parking horror show at that
facility? The good news is that it
may be too busy for the "usual"
spate of vehicle vandalism that has
been known to happen there. The next
weekend is slow - only one - the
Novices. Oakville ends up hosting
four of the nine based on last
year's results. Interesting, four of
the youngest five, none of the older
four. I think most of us know part
of the "why" on that.
Dec 1
- I will fix the calendar next time
- too late tonight.
Fortunately
I am a very humble guy so that I
don’t gloat when my predictions come
true – even though it happens so
often. Almost got it perfect on Nov.
28 when I predicted more coach axing
and recycle of recycles. Just missed
on the team as The Ducks jumped my
queue and whacked Dr. Randy. They
lost no time in announcing Bruce so
you have to wonder. . . .
“You can't fire the players so the
coach goes to the block. Pretty safe
assumption that hatchet time is not
over yet as four teams have fewer
points than the befuddled 'canes
(Flames, Islanders, Ducks and BJs).
I'm thinking Islanders and don't be
surprised if one of the recent
defunctees gets the gig as it seems
the NHL brain trusts have moved away
from new blood and are back in
recycle mode”
Anyway, it is a
good thing they are not Super Disney
Ducks anymore or there would have
been a major acclimatization needed
to “get sensitized” to Mr.
Boudreau’s vocabulary. Now what
about Paul M. Does he get a shot at
the next beheading or does he have
to wait and home he gets a second
shot with the Leafs if they continue
to sag.
In defense of
BYMH –
As many have probably noted but not
commented on, BYMH was ordered to
pay $18,000 to two sisters and their
mother on human rights grounds (see
Star article) which focused
around the young ladies not being
afforded acceptable dressing room
facilities or appropriate inclusion
in “team” activities.
While BYMH and
team officials may not have done as
much as they could have (and this is
not just a Brampton concern), I
would suggest that to some extent
this is a no win situation and that
a double standard does exist here.
For
consideration:
To the best of my
knowledge, young ladies are
officially allowed to play in gender
specific leagues, young men are not.
While not established as a gender
specific league, MOHA has a
preponderance of male athletes but
allows and does not discriminate
against young ladies who wish to
play there. Check the situation with
the Hornets and WOMHA . In that
vein, it is officially OK for a
young lady to register to and play
on two distinct teams but a young
man trying to do so would be
suspended from all play.
Arena facilities
were typically build to maximize the
use of dressing rooms – often just
4. Two for the teams on the ice – 2
for the teams going on next. Once
off – clear out quick for the next
guys. There is often not the
“luxury” of an available “extra”
dressing room to manage this
challenge. Many teams and facilities
try to make attempts to manage
through this challenge but it takes
understanding and cooperation on all
sides. Was that an issue here?
Rules exist to
“protect” gender rights for
participants and these are clearly
laid out by the OMHA and other
organizations. There are times,
especially when players get older
when in my opinion and in the
opinion of the rule setters it is
inappropriate to have both sexes in
the same room. While everyone often
seems concerned about the young
lady, it can also be just as
stressful or embarrassing for a male
player in that context.
As a footnote, in
paying off the $18,000, unless this
amount is covered under the
organization liability insurance,
each Brampton player has just been
fined about 5 bucks on behalf of the
organization.
Isn’t minor
sports, parents and volunteers fun!
FOTP
– Freedom of the Press – interesting
article on the
front page of today’s Star where
John Honderich is going public on
apparently being “shut out” on the
information front by His Worship
Mayor Ford. As per The Star, no
press releases and public
communications are to be released to
The Star, apparently in reprisal for
The Star’s reporting on his football
coaching (over a year ago). Forgive
the waffle words but I am not a
libel lawyer and don’t want to get
dragged into this. The Star also
makes the point that Mr. Ford had a
legal avenue to pursue his
displeasure but after making some
steps it was left to “expire”.
On the surface
this looks like a major boo boo by
Mr. Ford in singling out one media
element to refuse public press
release info and it seems The Star
is launching an official integrity
complaint. This will be fun to watch
(and is a serious issue) as I would
agree with the point of view that
says this is inappropriate conduct
and a misuse of power by a publicly
elected official to a public office.
I don’t see how
The Star can help but win this one
so it will be interesting to see if
Bobby puts up a losing battle or
uncharacteristically finds a way to
quietly concede and make it go away.
Even if he does, what will The Star
do? I suspect there are lots of
people (in lots of countries /
cities) who are aware and watching
this.
