June 2010

Jun 28 – We interrupt our regular blogging to bring you this important news bulletin.

At 11:06 AM this morning, Benjamin Andrew Moorehead was selected as a first round draft pick and first overall to join the Moorehead team. Clocking in at a hefty 9 lb 3 oz and stretching the tape to 23+ inches, Benjamin is destined to be the franchise player in the fledgling Moorehead Hockey Dynasty.

Proud ~~Agents~~ parents Shaun and Becky are already looking forward to Benjamin’s career and I understand have already got an email setup for him (why am I not surprised!) to entertain competitive offers.

If you have not figured it out yet, this makes Jane and I very proud grandparents which is a concept that I not sure yours truly has really adjusted to. Aren’t grandparents those crotchety old grumps – Hmmmmmmm. . .

Anyway, a page turns to start another chapter in our lives – lots of fun and excitement ahead.

Presenting an 8 hour old Mr. Benjamin Andrew Moorehead the First.

More mundane leftovers:

G8/G20 - At least the G8/G20 is now over and Toronto can now get back to business as usual. I tried not to pay any attention to the “stuff” going on over the week-end as I found the, politely termed, “unrest” absolutely disgraceful and disgusting. I am not refereeing to the early “peaceful” protests parades which while somewhat pointless were a demonstration of an individual’s right to freedom of expression. No big deal. It is the other riff raff, variously referred to as ruffians, protest terrorists, idiots, vandals, hooligans, criminals, delinquents, etc… All of which and more I agree with.

Coming out of this fiasco I hope:

Folks cut the law enforcement personnel some slack as my impression is that they showed admirable restraint under very difficult circumstances – how would you like a bag of urine tossed in your face!
That they throw the book at the “individuals” identified and charged with various actions as it is clear that most of these were pre-planned, wilful acts of senseless destruction. A criminal record is just what these clowns need if they don’t already have one.
That the video footage that is available in large quantities is used to help identify and bring charges against folks that have so far dodged detection.
That the so called “innocent bystanders” who managed to get themselves arrested get at least fined some amount for being “stupid”. These protests were not staged as a means of entertaining folks over the week-end, especially after the police appealed to people to “stay away”.
That all identified offenders are fined an amount commensurate with the damage that they caused and related expenses and that these funds are used to reimburse the homeowners, merchants, and businesses that were trashed since apparently even though the government is willing to spend over a billion dollars to host they don’t have dime 1 for these guys.
As a corollary, either deny bail or set bail high enough to cover “fines” should they choose to disappear. People want the rule of law – enjoy it!

On the Road Again – out until July 1 – a holiday? Not for some this year so you may hear from me on Facebook before then but not here!

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Jun 25 – G8/G20s are wonderful. We should have them every day! The enforcement agencies, governing bodies and media did a wonderful job of scaring people so badly that no one went to work downtown. My regular 7:03 Sardine Express was more like a Luxury Cruise this morning. Pick a seat, any seat – window / aisle, forward / backward, up / down whatever you want instead of the usual mad scramble to hopefully find one vacant squeezed into the wall seat squinting at the sun or being left with standing room only. Got to Union on time, strolled off the train and through the concourse without any risk of being trampled or accosted and then off to the subway. Very civilized! On the trip home I caught the 5:34 Express – at the “stair exit” car and had a quad to myself with other ones completely empty. Unbelievable! Unfortunately Monday will be back to “the Norm.”

Graduations – seem to be the rage these days. I picked up on a talk show this morning where the hugely impactful “Grade 6” graduation was being discussed with the girls all “gussied” up and the boys overwhelmed etc. Grade 6, Grade 8, kindergarten, Grade 9, High School – junior - senior . . . I must confess that I think most of these are ridiculous and a waste of money, time and effort. Part of that is my old fashioned mind-set. I went to a two room (but we only used one) public school from grades one to eight – one teacher. Forget kindergarten – it was a one day warm-up to prep for grade 1, and grade 8 graduation was a “get me out of here I’m off to high school”. That was a 9 – 13 visit with a senior prom (no such thing as a junior one and that made sense to me). All of these “other” events are just an excuse for parents, often more than the kids, to showboat. Enough already.

I did do the senior prom thing, but must admit that even when in University earning my bus degree I did not even bother going to the convocation after year three to pick up the psych degree that I got in my spare time – I did go to my bus one (and had a very nice party – I think).

IPhone 4 – A wonderful phone – but maybe not. Interesting comments / complaints coming through on the IPhones alleged tendency to drop signal strength or the call entirely if held certain ways. To me the “less than customer friendly” response of hold it differently or buy a case is not what I would hope for from a customer centric organization.

MOHA – guess I will have to do it again since it seems nothing gets addressed or fixed until I comment on it. So! You (MOHA) might want to update your board of directors so that people a) know who is there other than reading congrats, b) know how to contact then and c) know who is no longer a director so that they don’t bother them or create any awkward situations. I know it has only been a couple weeks or would you rather I posted it for you. Don’t get all prissy and not do it just to try and make a point, that would be childish.

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Jun 24 – Made it back in reasonable time from the second half of my road at a reasonable hour. Discovered no damage to home base from the earthquake. Found out I am still not a grandfather – although I suspect it is imminent and caught the Star column by Sports Columnist Chris Zelkovich describing the mayhem hitting the FAN590 line-up.

This shake-up had been predicted earlier, likely precipitated by the Almighty Ratings book and will lead to an ~~entirely~~ almost entirely new line-up at 590. Almost because good old Bob McCown continues to grow and prosper. This of course will do nothing to alleviate Bob’s opinion of himself and his omniscience! Here are the high level changes cited at this point. “According to sources, the departed include morning co-hosts Don Landry and Gord Stellick, mid-morning host Mike Hogan and news announcer Rick Ralph. In addition, Jack Armstrong’s mid-afternoon show has been killed, though Armstrong and co-host Eric Smith may remain on staff”

I thought Landry and Stellick were a pretty good combination although I must agmit I have not listened to them in a while as my MP3 player only has an FM radio in it and I have been listening to Q107. Maybe that is part of the problem but as these guys has been on together for about 6 years, maybe they were stale with their audience and it was time for a change. Question is – to what?

Facebook – slowly adding “friends” and to me it has become a bit of an interesting proposition. There is a mix of relatives, friends and organizations being “friendly”. Each group seems to and likely has a different agenda, set of interests and they are likely not aligned. Will that turn everyone “off” if I don’t “specialize” or will these groups co-exist. It is also clear that some folks spend an inordinate amount of time on Facebook while others do not – seemingly using it more as a way to possibly track down “long lost” friends or relatives. We will have to see how this works out.

Non-Checking – looks like Hockey PEI is moving to focus on non-contact hockey. It is reported that at tonight’s AGM, Hockey PEI will table the rules for their 20 member associations that provide for each organization to have only 1 checking team at each age level from peewee through midget.

Here is the link to Hockey PEI if you want to follow-up on their AGM information.

Dino – congrats to one of my other favourite Red Wings. Ciccarelli scored over 600 goals – almost 1 for every 2 games he played by being a major pest in the oppositions crease area. While he took a beating for continually sticking his butt in the opposing goaltenders face, Dino was one of the scrappiest guys to ever play the game and his induction to the Hall of Fame is well deserved. Interesting that he made it and this year in his first year of eligibility Super Mario did not. I think some of that may be a message from the media.

$$$ – comparison

Chatham - “The Chatham Minor Hockey Association will begin registration for the 2010-11 season on July 1. The cost is $415 for the first player in a family and $380 for each additional player. A late fee of $50 applies after Aug. 15.”

Marlies –“ To play today with the Marlies the basic registration fee is $1,700.00 which includes two jerseys (get to keep one), a helmet, gloves, pants, socks, track suit, 3 hours of ice weekly, banquet, all tournaments and any bus costs to travel to these events. Any ice costs above this, the parents are on their own and remember ice costs in Toronto are about $300.00 per hour.”

Free Agency – Here is the link to the GTHL article written by Lois Kalchman (Special to the Star). The interesting aspect of it, besides the obvious, is the indicated support by Bob Nicholson of Hockey Canada. Both the GTHL and OMHA are partners within the Ontario Hockey Federation – a member of Hockey Canada. The OMHA has always been a staunch advocate of residency rules that limit player mobility as a means of safeguarding “hometown” hockey and local participation. While the GTHL is a club system with entirely different structural “rules” than the OMHA, it will be interesting to watch if this so called enhanced player freedom in the GTHL, lauded by Hockey Canada puts more pressure on the OMHA to relax its own rules.

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Jun 22 – despite the dreary weather, a couple of wins today – not WC Soccer related because remember I don’t care.

Apparently Shawn, Todd and their friend JT have been found alive and well after their wonderful adventure.

As an additional chuckle, is it not fitting that a QB – surname “Lemon” gets the Argo starting job! ArrrGooooooos!

G20 – add to the arsenal – Water Cannons and Police Boats. I have lost track of the toy list the kids have to play with but I am sure some of them with have difficulty resisting the urge to try them out.

I did get a chance to snap a couple of ~~shots~~ (watch the wording as someone was shooting) pics of “Fortress Toronto” this morning on my way to work and had to laugh as I was not the only one out there with their Brownie Instamatic snapping away. As I told one fellow photog – “I had to see first hand what my billion dollars was buying” – he laughed. The scene at Bay and Front (which was as far as I had time to venture) was incredible and all setup to “lockdown”. Nice atmosphere!

Three shots of Front Street from the Bay / Front area. I did not want to hang around long and get busted!

Tough Times – I am a ~~Monarchist~~ in favour of maintaining our link with royalty. I often think I am the secret heir to the throne and like the Prince and the Pauper am just waiting to be rightfully restored to the pomp circumstance (and loot) I so richly deserve. However, this might not be as lucrative any more as even Lizzie has agreed to a two year freeze on her “public support”. I guess you can handle that when you are widely recognized as one of the wealthiest women in the world but it must be tough when you have to support (in the style to which they are accustomed) a whole gaggle of unemployed relatives whose only employment seems to be glad handing at social functions. No wonder Fergie is allegedly flogging access – her allowance just does not do it for her.

Skitters – I think I commented earlier on the over abundance of birds and bugs this year. Normally I could care less but it seems the last few days I have been the main attraction at skitterfest first think in the morning enroute to my trusty GO Train. I don’t recall this having ever been the case before and can only wonder if it linked to our new chemical free green world? If it is, pass the DDT.

Off Air – On the road tomorrow and Thursday, (you can probably guess which road if you read the news) so likely “gone” till at least Friday. BUT – I may be able to comment (is that the right word) on Facebook! You may want to be my friend?

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Jun 21 – the first official day of summer – although we have had a few nice ones already – probably more than all of last year.

BP Update – nothing much new other than Tony has been sent away, probably partially in part due to his less than stellar performance with the press and congress. Besides, he had to go with his son to watch a yacht race. Bet it was not in the Gulf of Mexico – wouldn’t want to get those nice white deck shoes dirty.

And – they did announce that their clean-up spending so far is now over $2,000,000,000. (that is 2 billion)

Mole people – decided to come out of my Union station burrow this morning to see “the fence”. And grab a couple of pics to toss on the blog to make up for weak content. I saw the fence – or should I say fences on Front as the Royal York is ringed – not just by your basic 3 metre fence ( see – I am getting the hang of this metric fad – I could have said just under 10 feet) – no – it also has the inner finer mesh perimeter fence to stop the invaders after they breach the first wall! Unbelievable. I think I will put a bid in to corner the market on used fencing post G20 – depends on how many protestors one has to scrape off.

Oh yes – the pics – bit of a problem there as the little point and click I carry with me was happy to point but was not into clicking. Must be a secret electronic jammer in play as guess what – it was OK when I got to Yonge & Eg. Have to try again. Until then just check out the shots from the real photographers in the media.

You know you are warped when – you read a headline in the paper “Ex-Penguin boss admits to 'flirtatious relationship'” and automatically presume it is a story about the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team and that their leadership = probably Mario has gotten himself into some hot water. Being a hockey guy, you quickly click to read and find out – Nope - this is about a “book” guy formerly with Penguin Canada. Should have known as I do have a number of their books – but, isn’t it wonderful how we all jump to conclusions!

Congratulations – I guess they are not due. The MOHA splash page sees fit to congratulate the VP Town Rep on being elected to another term as well as the “successful” director candidates. One would also think that Ms. Field volunteering for and being acclaimed to a second term as VP House League should also warrant a congratulatory comment. It is not like that role serves 85% of the members and they might want to know as well! Pettiness, real or imagined never ceases to amaze me.

Facebook – most of the relatives I tagged have replied and so far no one has had the heart to reject me. That being the case, I have no plans to actively solicit “friends” but it will be interesting to see what type of network I end up with iv folks have an interest in being “my friend”! Feel free to ask.

Zoo Update - Shawn and Todd (camels for the uninitiated) are apparently still missing as is their "friend" Jason Tiger (JT) for short). The pick-up has been found but the trailer is still missing. Does not bode well for the boys. No one has earned the $20 k reward yet! Maybe this is part of a plan to beat G20 security. If you take the two camels and the "there are none missing" from Cadet police uniforms, they could be trying to blend in as part of the mounted patrol.

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Jun 20 – Yes I know it is Father’s Day and yes the Open is on and it is Sunday, BUT in looking ahead to my schedule for this coming week I ~~think~~ know I will end up at best somewhat erratic.

The boys and I were going to head down to the Concrete Convertible to catch a Jays game but then we discovered it was a “premium” game and I had no interest in folks coughing up $50 for a baseball ticket prior to getting hit for all of the other usurious charges that go along with it. All of that for what turned out (apparently) to be not a good game and in my case likely a good deep fry session in the seats.

So, instead we sat around on the back deck, played some cards, BBQ’d and chatted – a pretty nice way to spend an afternoon.

Social Networking – I am also posting to respond to “another” Oakville blogger in upping the ante by dragging social networking into the mix. Not to be outdone, I would point out that I have had a Facebook page for a couple years, have done absolutely nothing with it, probably had about “3” friends and just left it alone. As everyone around me – family, friends and relatives jabbered about their FB Pages and Walls, I just rolled my eyes and ignored. However, as the stakes have been raised, I have decided that I have no option but to go with the flow. So, this weekend I figured out to find and access it again, laughed at the fact that content was OLD and I had no friends. I posted some Arizona pictures in an album, updated my profile a bit and sent requests for “Friendship” to a few folks.

The good news is that while some are still “pending”, no one has so far declined to be my “friend”.

Having said that, I am a very “open-minded” individual, contrary to what you may have heard, and am happy to see “who” if anyone want to join me friends(is that the term.

Hopefully the link in the margin will get you there and note, I have used a real Facebook icon, unlike some other folks. The challenge is that I have no idea if the link works to send me a request or not since I don’t use it on myself.

Twitter – not happening – I can’t be bothered with that too. Originally, just for the heck of it I registered a Twitter account with what I thought was a cool name but did not use it. Apparently, it was a cool name because a club of European solo sailors contacted me and asked if they could have it. Being the nice guy that I am, I gave it to them, picked another which I have never used and unless I go searching my mail archives have no clue what it is and have no interest in finding out.

Lady Gaga - who I personally have no "interest in" has now demonstrated behaviour that even the jaded New York Yankees have trouble with. Short article expands on the photo.

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Jun 18 – If you ever wondered why it is important for any hockey (or other sports team) to have two unrelated signing authorities for their funds, wonder no more. Read the story of the Hardwicks, and just shake your head. You have to wonder why a) if it had happened before, who and why they were let back into the type of position where they could “repeat” and b) why it took so long for people to realize and, or come forward based on the real level of funds that “appear” to have gone AWOL – the old “parent fear” scenario.

Regardless, this provides some more wonderful PR in support (not) for minor hockey’s image.

Stolen Camels – (plus one Tiger) Figure this one out, or does it fall under the category of criminals are just stupid? Two camels and a tiger have been stolen near Montreal. Now they were in a trailer attached to a pick-up that was stolen from outside of a motel, but you have to figure the “thieves” knew they were there? So Columbo fans – what’s the motive:

Local chapter of Free Willie do-gooders in action?

Secret recipes needing special meat?

A guise to infiltrate the G8/G20?

Transporters actually lost them in a poker game?

Rockton Lion Safari restocking on the cheap

Or just plain Stupid?

I vote "6”.

Let’s hope Shawn and Todd (and their Tiger buddy) get home safely.

U.S Open - occasionally I like to simply lounge and watch some golf. The U.S. Open as one of the majors is one that typically provides some good matchups and this year is being played at Pebble Beach -- one of my all-time favourite golf courses. Not that I've ever played it, but rather just the beauty and challenge some of those holes along the Pacific coast. Yesterday, with Mike Weir posting a minus one round, only one behind the leaders, I thought it might be particularly entertaining -- especially if Mike made a run for the cup. Guess that's not going to happen as so far today after playing 10 holes he is already +7 for the round dropping into a plus six for the tournament and way down the leaderboard. I think he is tied for something like 68th at the moment. As a lefty and a Canadian you have to cheer for him but it sure would be nice to be picked up his game. Ever since his Masters win, he has never played the same. However, I guess once you get a green jacket it doesn't really matter.

Technology and the toys come into play again at this major as the USGA on the open site has a nifty "play tracker" that you can click on and check out individual players, locate the groups on the holes, and get a description of the whole and how it's playing. How did we ever survive without the Internet and all of the fancy interactive features it now provides.

Usual Suspects - suggests that there are a number of shakeups coming to Toronto sports radio programs. Chief among the potential changes is speculation about TheFan 590’s Don Landry / Gord Stellick morning show. The suggestion is that this duo appears to have gone stale and will be replaced with something different. Everyone seems to think that Bob McCown dominates the airwaves during prime drivetime. I wonder how many people really share that opinion. The column is an interesting read. It also suggests that 640s Leafs Lunch is history. I think it's fairly safe to say that the same thing could be said about the team.

Anyway, it's weekend and time to kick back and relax for a while. The next two weeks will

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Jun 17 – Another Politically Incorrect and Insensitive to some people comment today, so don’t read it if you are a tree hugging, do gooder, libertarian.

Blackmail – under most circumstances is a crime – seems reasonable to me. However, there are apparently exceptions if you are a First Nations member and want to get your way. The current HST situation is a classic example. The alleged threat to shut down the country if they were not granted a Point of Sale exemption anywhere in the province appears to have brought the government to its knees to capitulate, rather than maintain what I would argue was the right position, just to avoid potentially “looking bad” in from of the world / G8 / G20 – never mind what is the right, responsible or reasonable course of action.

I am all for fair play and equal rights - but that includes everyone. I would suggest that the “perks” provided to First Nation members provide a double standard and a first among equals opportunity that is inappropriate. It is also a disincentive for developing initiative on their part to “fit in” and prosper in our society which I know is a swear word to the traditionalists who want to keep their culture “pure”. Well wake up and smell the coffee folks. You cannot (nor should we let them) have their cake and eat it too.

Lest I be classed a bigot, I believe this applies to all – native, non native, Canadian born, immigrant, French or English, religious, heathen or whatever – etc., etc., etc. “We” should all not have to change to accommodate “you”. The more we fragment and create special cases and rules – the more it costs all of us. You live in Canada, you are a Canadian and need to live by the Canadian rules that should apply equally to all. If you don’t like it leave. Much as I hate to admit it, our friends south of the 49^th have figured this out and seem to deal with it much better than Canucks.

If you don't know what I am talking about, I am not surprised but it is this type of "stuff" that really annoys me.

There – that ought to get a few people wound up – mind the blood pressure.

MOHA – Elections - Now that word is out on who was or was not elected, my comments won’t start the usual witch hunt (but I did know!! - sorry - couldn't resist). A couple of thoughts. With the exception of the Officer role which I am simply not going to comment on right now, I have or choose not to have any bones to pick up front with any of the candidates – elected or not. As volunteers offering to serve on the board, let’s give everyone the benefit of the doubt and at least pretend their intentions are good – I wish them well and hope they actively and constructively demonstrate that for all to see.

Do I agree with who got elected – No – But that is not the issue as my opinion does not matter and I don’t have a vote. To those - and they should know who they are that did not get elected (but should have) - thanks for being willing to step forward to help - recognize that you were facing a stacked deck - I know the feeling. And you know what - you guys will pitch in and help anyway!

Next question, did all the right people in the mix get elected with the attitudes and skill sets that the organization needs– Again I think – No – and a large part of that traces to what I see as a disturbing swing to a smaller rep dominated board of directors in an organization where 85% (roughly) of the members are house league. The board of directors are supposed to represent the members and I would suggest that this is now no longer anywhere near true.

Of the eight directors elected to the downsized board, three were incumbents which do not impact the mix. Of the five new directors, I would suggest that four of them are predominantly rep focused. That is not a criticism of any of the individuals but rather a comment on the direction the board is taking. To some extent these results were predictable, as the only officer role up for election was on the rep side meaning that there would have been a disproportionate number of rep qualified voters at the AGM to then cast ballots for the directors as well.

Maybe, while folks were busy with a motion to reduce the size of the board, there should also have been in motion to protect proportionality -- not arbitrarily -- but at a reasonable level, potentially 60/40 in favour of house league. How is that for heresy. As a second maybe, if I find myself with time on my hands and people help support with the information perhaps I will publish a board list somewhat along the lines of what I am suggesting below.

What I am suggesting that might be of interest to the members is to have MOHA provide "hockey" bios for all of the directors that simply speaks to their hockey experience / past contributions -- rep and, or house league, their current links (kids, positions. . . ), and the role or roles they will perform for the upcoming season. Where is the time and focus to support 85% of the members versus 15%. One could say that some of that is currently available for "standard" roles, but why not have it for everything?

G20 – to end on a lighter note, G20 delegates (or at least the important ones) can “rest easy”. According to the Toronto Star, specially trained dogs are being used to sniff out the bedbugs in hotel rooms. It must be a huge relief to a number of people. However, I guess that just means everybody else is expected to put up with bedbugs. Not really a comforting thought for me. Fortunately, I don't stay in Toronto hotels much.

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Jun 16 - the G8 and G20 summits are continuing to build something in the eyes of anyone involved. Originally, it seemed that other than the obscene amount of money being spent, people were not thinking a whole lot about the impact this would have on their day-to-day activities. All of that is changing, and not for the better.

The silliness of removing "transparent bus shelters", garbage cans and paper boxes was bad enough, especially in conjunction with the fences going up everywhere and the inconvenience to traffic and/or pedestrians this was causing in the lead up period. However, today's announcement that saplings were being uprooted and removed for fear that they would be used as weapons (I guess either in whole or in part), by demonstrators/protesters strikes me as another "over-the-top" reaction.

My plan to simply take my trusty GO train to Union Station, hop the subway, and go to work also may not be quite as simple as originally envisioned. In somewhat of an oxymoron, GO Transit announced again today that they would be running a regular schedule but people should be prepared for lengthy delays -- bring food and drink? Huh – regular schedule – lengthy delays? Not a comment that builds confidence in the hearts of their users.

On top of that, speaking with a number of individuals working for firms in the downtown core, it sounds like at least half of them plan on simply closing up shop. Residents in downtown condos are basically being told they will be okay as long as they have a photo ID to prove they live there, but that visitors may have a very difficult time. Someone needs to remind me why we are doing this again as apparently I missed the point the first time. As a number of folks have said, would it not be much simpler to bundle these guys off to a remote island somewhere and forget all of this hoopla.

It is so bad, another leading story is that the sex trade workers are planning on relocating their "inventory" to North Toronto hotels as they are concerned that there will be too many prying eyes downtown – Ya Think! With an estimated 25,000 delegates showing up for this event and vying for attention/services, there seems to be a debate as to whether these enterprises will do very well or very poorly? You can guess my opinion?

Soccer -- as I've indicated, I have absolutely no interest in soccer so that for me the World Cup is nothing but a big yawn. That was up until the first day of games, when I tried to run an Internet search from the office and found out that a herd of snails had infiltrated my computer. Whether it was simply Canadian Tire, or a worldwide infection I am not sure, but what I found was response time was so slooooowwww it was completely off the scale. My supposition being the bandwidth that was being used by all of the so-called "working" people who were busily trying to stream video of their favorite team and game killed it. Now I am really annoyed and have moved beyond indifference, given that is now impacting me directly.

Vuvuzela - let's just call it the horn. First of all, this is not a unique South African device. These horns have been around for years, and in fact the folks at the Frank Sabatino Memorial tournament have been selling them for the past several years -- despite my dire warnings about what I would do if someone blew the blankety-blank thing in my presence. I also suggested I would be shoving the bell end first just to make it interesting. I can only imagine what it's like sitting in the crowd with thousands of people around you, especially right behind you, blasting this stupid thing in your ears. Oh yes, I forgot, it is not thousands of people because attendance at some of these games has been brutal compared to normal World Cup standards.

Movies -- at the weekend slow pitch tournament, I had taken my pocket video camera as I was having some fun shooting Shaun and Andrew's at-bats. I think at first some of the other team members thought this was kind of funny – crazy dad behaviour but they are a good crew and didn't make an issue of it. However, in the championship game, I filmed our team’s at bats for every inning, for all players, and for the final inning and the two extra innings I also filmed their defensive play -- so in effect, I have a mini movie of their championship win. All of a sudden, I am not the crazy dad anymore, but rather the astute cinematographer who has video footage of their win -- something that because of their ages and experience is unique. Apparently, Andrew is being asked by a number of folks when they can get a copy of this video masterpiece.

Windows 7 provides a very simple audio video applet that allows you to stitch your clips together, add titles or overlays, attach music if you want and apply credits. Without spending a lot of time at it, I threw the clips together, separated the innings with a title slide and compiled it into a Windows movie file (WMV). The compiled movie is just under one gig in size, and will run for just under an hour. A little big to dump on YouTube, but easy to burn on a DVD or dump on a USB key. Fortunately, I only recorded in VGA and not HiDef or I could have a real monster file. Anyway, the only challenge now to figure out my distribution deal and royalty structure so that I can make a whack of dough on this masterpiece -- not!

I hope the team has fun with it -- because it was nice to see the enthusiasm they had when they won the game. For at least one of them, it was the first championship that he/she had ever won in anything.

Anyone wishing a copy, should send three payments of $19.99 to me in used, small domination bills (and coin), in a plain brown envelope. If you send it in before midnight tonight, while our operators are standing by, for no extra charge I will personally autograph it for you. This will be before I submit it to the Academy for Oscar consideration as best documentary.

BP -- I too am holding off on further comments on this one. I am too busy basking in the glory of jumping all over it before the real media that gets paid to keep their eye out for this type of story. The numbers are becoming astronomical -- BP is without a whimper, sticking $20 billion into a payment on which they really won't control. That's a lot of scratch and at the risk of a sick pun, may be only scratching the surface. Certain execs should also take media 101 or keep their mouths shut, as there have been some really brutal PR gaffes made here.

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Jun 15 - Long day at the office.

Sport Oakville Meeting tonight
Post meeting visit to DQ for much needed Blizzard nourishment
Home to catch up on stuff
Prep for the lawyers tomorrow
No time or energy to develop my usual scintillating content - so call it a day!

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Jun 14 – Monday Monday – so good to me – NOT - but I will try to pretend.

Email – is evil. How can we combat this insidious horror from our own space. At the office, we have a limit of how much space we are allowed for our email file. Given the specific number is probably classed as privileged corporate info with disclosure published by death, I won’t tell you what it is but suffice it to say it should be lots. But no – periodically I get threatening notes that I have exceeded my quota and if I don’t clean up my act, unspeakable things will happen. So last week I took out the carving knife, the delete button and the save as option and attacked the 1,643 items that while “read” were still resting in my in box. This does not count my folders.

By Friday afternoon I was bleary-eyed, bored and down to an unbelievable 51, Hallelujah! It is under control – NOT!

I check a couple issues on my crackberry over the weekend, head in to the office this morning and find out I am back up to 185!!! I was not even there and I get 130 emails over the weekend! This is insane and must stop. The worst of it is that these are not Spam – they are actual notes that people are sending me or doing the dreaded cc the world on. There is clearly something wrong with this picture.

Slo-Pitch – spent the weekend roaming Etobicoke watching Shaun and Andrews Co-ed slo-pitch team in a tournament. Clearly we are either dedicated or demented parents to sit out in the rain (no umbrellas or cover) to watch adult sons play slo-pitch. Obviously though we are the team’s good luck charms as they ended up winning the tournament Sunday afternoon in a final game that went two extra innings! “Extra Innings” in Slo Pitch?? After years of playing baseball, I had to laugh as Andrew got his first ever intentional walk in the extra innings so that they could pitch to the young lady after him in the batting order. Of course it back-fired as she reached base on an error that allowed the winning run to score.

I used my trusty mini-cam to shoot some video which I now think everyone wants to celebrate their big win. Video taping at Slo Pitch games! How desperate can I be for entertainment?

Good thing it was rainy and overcast all weekend or I likely would have been deep fried. So of course, Monday starts to shape up with sunshine and warm just to annoy us after a lousy weekend.

The tournament was headquartered at Diamond Beach in Centennial Park. The two parks there are municipal owned and should be maintained to a reasonable standard by Etobicoke. But they are not. The diamond our guys played on has the screen close to the plate leaving little room for the catcher. That’s fine but the bottom of the screen is loose from the horizontal base bar and has curled up and in, so that the sharp ends of the wire mesh are sticking up and in towards the plate and catcher, just waiting to gouge out a leg or trip someone. Apparently it has been this way for a while. Etobicoke Parks & Rec has been advised and does not seem to be in a hurry or inclined to fix it. All they need is some baling wire, a pair of linesman’s pliers and an hour to tie it back down and put dirt back in place. The alternative is risking a messy injury and a justified lawsuit for damages that will cost a heck of a lot more than a bit of wire and an hour’s time.

As a Trainer, if this was a hockey rink with a similar type hazard I would be obliged to and completely support refusing to have my team play under unsafe conditions.

Guess I’ll have to send a Dear John letter myself to the Etobicoke folks and see if that has any impact.

World Cup – If I was sitting beside or in front of the idiots with the horns – I know what I would do with it / them and it would be painful as I know the body was not designed for that. All it is doing is taking away from the atmosphere of the games but – Don’t care – not a soccer fan.

NBA – is it over yet?

Blue Jays – Back in self destruct mode – must not be able to function in those high altitude games.

‘Roids hit home – On one hand as a Laurier Grad, it is good to see the plumbers (U of W) take one on the chin. But silliness aside the steroid mess that has come to light on the Waterloo Warriors football team is a terrible story and a huge black mark for both the university and the CIAU.

Waterloo has announced that they have suspended the football program for one year and put the coach and staff on paid administration leave. They are also investigating and I am sure that this is not the end of the story. It is funny how we seem to think these types of things go on somewhere else but it comes as a big shock when it turns up in out own back yards.

I hope that the “investigators” get to the bottom of this. That the appropriate offenders are identified and punished – including if proven – people in positions of authority (if any and you always think – they had to have known) who knew and, or aided and abetted.

It is also too bad that the “clean” guys will also end up tarred by association and most likely have any aspirations of a football career shot down – not that the CIAU is a hotbed for pro players.

New Leaf Jersey – Stripes are back and a new / old shoulder patch. That’s it. The story goes – “You can put lipstick on a pig – but it is still a pig”. Now that they have sweaters, all they need is a hockey team. Oh yes – they also have a new captain – Mr Phaneuf – as predicted and it did not take long. The picture has four captains – hopefully you can identify them – but besides the big Swede, who els is missing? Was this by schedule, or design?

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Jun 11 – Watching focus groups until 11:30 PM is not a great way to spend your Thursday evening – especially if you want to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for Friday (come to think of it, I never come across that way so I guess it doesn’t matter). However, the alarm did seem to go off awfully early this morning an event greeted with less than enthusiasm.

World Cup – I must confess that this is one disease I have never caught. It is intriguing how many native born (not natives – just born here) Canadians suddenly have this passionate love affair with their “National” team – and it ain’t us. Looking around the office today, there are folks who have stayed home as a holiday to watch “their” team’s game. Others, wiser to the world, or expecting tolerance from their managers (or they have pictures) left for an early lunch and simply disappeared, never to be seen again. So who is the smart one here – me sitting at my desk or them – sitting in a bar, sucking on their beverage of choice watching the big screen and occasionally shouting Ole! (or some other foreign sounding phrase).

AGM – sounds like the universe unfolded as expected along the three monkeys line – see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil – or no speak at all – let alone ask. Apathy and fear are wonderful weapons to have at your disposal.

Mr. Hockey – It was nice to see Geordie (my all time favourite hockey player get a Doctorate from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. However, a second and more interesting (at least to me story showed up in the Gazette. Article Apparently while he was in Saskatoon, Howe was reunited with a long lost plaque from the 1943 Midget provincial championship. As Mr. Hockey says – it is meaningful to him as it was the first championship he ever won. The plaque had been stashed in a geezer’s house but he wanted to make sure it got back to Geordie (after he passed away).

They also run a picture of the team – see below – and if I have to tell you which one is the 15 year old Mr. Howe then you don’t deserve to know. I did not know he used to wear MY number!

Port Credit Arena – Speaking of olden days - another of the old barns that I loved to play in caught my eye. Good old PC Arena - what’s going on? I finally noticed on my GO commutes that there was major construction / destruction?? Going on and was horrified to think it was “Goin’ Down”. I won my last “championship” as a player in that rink (early 80’s?) when the Cooksville Devils (captained / managed / coached) by none other than ME) – won the prestigious Mississauga “Church League” title in front of a live (televised) TV audience – Oh the Glory!

It was also the rink where I had my famous encounter both off and on the ice with Dick Duff (Jane has still never forgiven me for that one as Duff is “her hero”)

Anyway – never fear it is just a major reno (Oakville Arena listen up) and you can see the plan here. I hope the reno keeps the flavour of the old lady as she was a great place to play.

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Jun 10 – MOHA AGM night – all eyes (except mine) will be trained on ~~city~~ Town Hall waiting for that tell tale plume of white smoke to come spiralling out the ~~chimney~~ door announcing that the conclave has elected a new (or the same) ~~pope~~ VP Town Rep. The results for the ~~disciples~~ directors typically takes longer so we will likely have to wait for an unofficial post from you know where, to identify the successful and not so successful nominees and how many were needed.

There have been a number of “questions” submitted to yours truly that people would like to see asked at the AGM (most similar to or an offshoot of the ones already posted) but the prevailing mindset is a reluctance (or I will say fear) of asking them due to a concern about reprisals to their kid(s). Wonderful positive and trusting environment. Common themes are how come things are costing so much more and where is the money going - especially around administration or development.

For you scorekeepers, here is a list of the existing board at dissolution of parliament. From the original 35, you will note that it has been whittled down to the “published” 28. A number of directors either elected to disappear or were apparently “disappeared” over the last year. The move is afoot to trim the board to 30 from 35. Depending how that unpublished motion goes it will impact the Director election.

I have also included a list (I think correct – but it did come from the MOHA site) of who is running.

Time will tell.

Current Board	Comment
Kathy Argyros
Mark Bentley
Geoff Blackwell
Nancy Brooks	Incumbent VP Rep - Seeking reelection
Charles Camilleri
Mary Card	Running for re-election as Director
Tina Field	Incumbent VPHL - Acclaimed
Helen Ford
Richard Garrie
Lisa Garrie
Lou Germano	Running for re-election as Director
Joel Hawkins
John Lee
Chuck MacGregor
Barb MacRae
Ron Millichamp
Reggie Nasu
Louis Ouellette
Nelson Pavao
Robert Planck	Running for re-election as Director
Debbie Sabatino
Brent Scarrow
Kathy See
Claudio Serrao
Marshall Snowball
Rob Stanbury
Tina Taylor
Andy Wigley	Running for VP Rep

New Candidate	Comment
Tom Daley	Running for VP Rep & Director
Adele Arsenault	Former Director running to rejoin board
Paul Barbuto	New Director Candidate
David Bessant	New Director Candidate
Graham Burton	New Director Candidate
David D'Amico	New Director Candidate
Dave Duggan	New Director Candidate
Lisa Forwell	New Director Candidate
Louise Gorgenyi	New Director Candidate
Michael Kennedy	New Director Candidate
Vivian LeBlanc	New Director Candidate
Michael Varanesi	New Director Candidate

Stanley – has been officially awarded – I did not stay up to watch the ceremony as I can’t stand the presentee. I had already managed to accidentally snooze through most of the second and part of the third periods so I thought I had better hit the rack as soon as it was over. That’s the problem with having ye olde couch you can stretch out on too comfortably to watch TV – you don’t watch too much TV!

The non calls of the invisible goal were fun to hear and they had a few on the radio this morning. Other than Kane and a couple team-mates it seemed like no one really saw the goal live – no zebras (quelle surprise), no goal judge, no announcers and I think intentionally no Philly players or fans. It was quite an interesting way to end a championship – overtime and an invisible goal. Talk about picking the top corner – you can go to school on that one.

Just to differ, I would have picked Niemi ahead of Toews for the MVP as I think the farther into the playoffs the Hawks got the more he was a factor and less so for Toews. To the point that there was speculation that Toews was hurt.

BUT – Best of All – the Maple Loafs are now solidly entrenched as #1 on the NHL cupless billboard rankings. For all those wnanbee firsts, it looks like the Loafs have a lock on the #1 spot for years. Will they match the MLB cubbies at 1908 (102 years). Looks like they have a good shot. Add this to the “not in my lifetime” list.

Jays – get waxed 10 – 1 last night (did not watch at all) to pair up with the 9 – 0 pasting they took the night before. Outscored 19 – 1 over two games I may have to take back my comment about doing OK on 6 of 4 key factors and revise that to at best 1 of 4 (defensive fielding) and more likely 0 for 4. A quote - “The bats have been quiet in the last three games,” Gaston said – ya think! Has the summer super slide to oblivion started? Could be.

Online – I am multi-tasking with webcast groups tonight so I better get back to a single minded focus.

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Jun 9 – One of those dreary Wednesdays that make you think the week will never end. Sat down to watch some Jays last night but their progress en-route to a 9 – 0 drubbing got me off that bent in a hurry. Flipping through the TMN options I picked up the Hurt Locker at 9:00 PM and figured I might as well watch it. OK movie but nowhere near Academy Award material. The powers that be must really be PO’d at the King of the World to have picked Hurt Locker over Avatar. Then again, I am probably one of the three people in the civilized world who has not watched Avatar yet. I guess I will have to convince myself to cough up for Blue Ray as I have missed out on the IMAX 3D option.

Blackhawks – hopefully tonight is the night as it would be nice to just get this over with. While I think Chicago would have preferred to win at home, I think they would be happy to forego a game 7 Home opportunity just to seal the deal now. They would also probably get some perverse delight in letting the air out of the Philly Fans balloons. Just end it.

Strasburg done good – 7 innings, 14 strikeouts, four hits, two runs, 98 pitches and throwing heat for the win. A hyped start that he more than lived up to. However, unless there is more than meets the eye, why not let the kid go back out for the 8^th. He had only thrown 98 pitches, had struck out the last seven hitters and was only one strikeout away from tying and two from breaking the all time record for strikeouts in a pitching debut. Obviously you never get a second shot at that record and if he was fine – as seemed to be the case – why not give him a shot. Yeah Yeah – end on a high note, don’t risk injury, first start - Blah, Blah, Blah. Still say give him a shot – ask Nolan Ryan his opinion on using pitch count indicators – he has nixed it in Texas because he hated it as a pitcher.

MOHA – AGM tomorrow night – pretty quiet and low key event. Maybe it will liven up and get down and dirty tomorrow. If things run true to form, look for the results – sometime in August.

Development – Clinics – I guess if I want anyone to see this prior to the AGM I need to post something tonight.

My premise has been, as one of, if not the largest association in the OMHA, the MOHA has or should have an obligation to be a leader in promoting and supporting the learning and development of its key volunteers – the bench staff that guide the learning and development of the young people in their care – i.e., coaches and trainers. Providing a comprehensive clinic program for volunteers is one of the most visible and necessary parts of this development process. In addition to providing a learning opportunity for volunteers within their own community (save time and expense re road trips to attend elsewhere), appropriate certification is a requirement for all bench staff on all rostered teams – be they Rep or House League.

Having a solid clinic program in Oakville also draws volunteers from other centres to Oakville where they can share their best practices with the “locals” which works to everyone’s advantage. As these clinics are run on a cost recovery (and then some) basis – no harm – no foul – other than having to do them!

An active clinic program in Oakville also fosters goodwill with the OMHA and encourages them to give Oakville first crack at new programs and or trying new things which can also be a good thing. In the past “we” benefited from that but running a bare bones, almost a “let’s satisfy Rep needs only” program just does not cut it and in fact sends a very bad message to everyone.

As a practical example of what I am saying, consider the following two charts. The first was pulled off the current MOHA web site today. The second is a similar time of year posting (2008) that is typical of what “we” used to run. I believe the message they send is self evident and not positive.

Current MOHA Clinic Schedule

Program	Day	Date	Start	End	MOHA Volunteers	Non-MOHA
Coach Stream (includes Speak Out)	Sat	05-Jun-10	8:30 AM	5:00 PM	$100	$120
NCCP Development 1	Sat & Sun	Aug 14 & 15	8:00 AM	5:30 PM	$120	$140
Trainer Refresher	Wed	18-Aug-10	6:00 PM	10:30 PM	$45	$55
Chip Clinic	Sat	21-Aug-10	8:00 AM	4:00 PM	$60	$75
Coach Refresher	Wed	25-Aug-10	6:00 PM	10:30 PM	$40	$60

Prior Clinic Approach

Spring
	Program	Day(s)	Date(s)	Start	Finish	Fee
HTCP	Trainer Level I	Sat	3-May-08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 75
PRS	Speak Out	Wed	30-Apr-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 15
Fall
	Program	Day(s)	Date(s)	Start	Finish	Fee
NCCP	Developmental I	Sat / Sun	Aug 23 - 24, 08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 125
HTCP	Trainer Level I	Sun	7-Sep-08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 75
PRS	Speak Out	Tue	26-Aug-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 15
NCCP	Refresher II	Thu	28-Aug-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 40
NCCP	CHIP - Initiation	Sat	4-Oct-08	8:00 AM	4:00 PM	$ 60
NCCP	Coach Level	Sun	5-Oct-08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 90
PRS	Speak Out	Thu	2-Oct-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 15
NCCP	Refresher I	Wed	8-Oct-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 40
PRS	Speak Out	Thu	16-Oct-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 15
HTCP	Trainer Level I	Sat	18-Oct-08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 75
PRS	Speak Out	Wed	29-Oct-08	6:00 PM	10:00 PM	$ 15
NCCP	Coach Level	Sat	1-Nov-08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 90
NCCP	CHIP - Initiation	Sun	2-Nov-08	8:00 AM	4:00 PM	$ 60
HTCP	Trainer Level I	Sun	9-Nov-08	8:00 AM	5:00 PM	$ 75

As can easily be noted from the “current” there is no even one “full-fledged” Trainer HTCP Level 1 scheduled, only a single refresher that only applies to Trainers coming due for recertification this year. Nothing is scheduled “later” in the fall when the season is started up and House League teams can better identify their certification needs to satisfy rostering requirements - that allow them to play exhibition and tournament games.

The only “coach” session scheduled (Targeted to House League) is already over (how many attended with this timing), leaving only one Developmental 1 (more rep targeted) or a single CHIP clinic available for the ramp up to 2010/11. What are all the new Timbit IP instructors and, or new Tyke or Novice and up coaches that come forward, or get dragooned, supposed to do to get the training that would help them to be successful in their roles, let alone meeting operating standards “required” by the OMHA. Maybe there is a big line-up of experienced coaches and trainers with all of their certifications in hand just waiting to step up! – I doubt it.

By the way, the “we’ll schedule what we need later” is a crock as the OMHA will have already booked all of the “good”, if not simply all the available instructors. You don’t just add at your convenience.

Who suffers – the kids.

Who notices or cares – apparently nobody.

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Jun 8 – This is one of those days where I had not planned to be blogging as I had turned down one evening invite in lieu of a prior evening commitment, only to find the prior commitment was not a happening thing so I have ended up at home with no event! If you can figure that out you need rest and therapy.

Given the uproar and no thought to content (is there ever any), I will just hit a few high (or low) spots.

Body Checking – to be or not to be – in minor hockey. The Globe & Mail has now entered the fray with an article today on study results relating Peewee hockey players in Alberta (body checking allowed) versus Peewee players in Quebec (body checking not allowed until Bantam).

Sub head (no pun intended) “Pee Wee players almost four times more likely to suffer concussions if checking is allowed”. The results are probably reasonably valid if you accept that the Quebec and Alberta hockey environments are similar (not sure I agree) but I have no doubt that at the end of the day there is more of a chance of getting a concussion in a body checking versus non-body checking league. Moving the age group likely won’t matter as I suspect that in Quebec, there is also probably more chance of a Bantam player getting a concussion in a body checking league than one without. DOH!

I can easily understand and accept that some players (and parents) want a no body checking environment and I also would expect that others do. That is why I think Oakville due to the numbers involved is fortunate to be able to offer both. The unfortunate challenge is that the tiering is on both skill and contact with the default presumption being that the “better” players also want body checking. I wonder what the results would be if players and parents got past the macho BS and could indicate a true preference on their registration form as to which they want and team selection (draft or placement) is done faithfully according to that criteria. What heresy coming from me – an old guard believer in body contact from day 1. However, at least I don’t believe in capping (not mob speak but I have been tempted on occasions) goalies.

In the era of non planning some this and that:

Gary Coleman – apparently someone – allegedly with the concurrence of his devoted EX is shopping photos of Mr. Coleman’s last moments and after death! Disgracefully and despicable does not even start to describe this one.

G20 Security – With all the concern – walls, zones, fences, closures etc., how about we award the private security contract to a firm not even licensed in Ontario! Brilliant – the brain trust on that one ought to have to go jump in their $2 Million lake.

Strasburg – already has more media coverage in his scrapbook than most pros and has not tossed a pitch in anger yet – not until he starts for the Nationals tonight – boom or bust! Hope the kid does well.

NHL – no game tonight as the NHL does their best to stretch out the season and post season as long as possible – mid June for resolution if the flyers win tonight is ridiculous. I know the cup was won at least once on my birthday (that’s mid April) so we are talking almost two months longer than it used to be under the original 6. Yes there were only semis and finals then but it does not take two months to finish two extra rounds – a month a series – Crap!

Phoenix – the headache that won’t go away – What a surprise – “Reinsdorf group pulls out of Coyotes pursuit” – AGAIN. Ice Edge back in the hunt – Again. Winnipeg waiting – Again. Jimmy B ??? What is Jimmy B. up to??? Working on his new ~~IPad~~ slate . The old rising from that ashes thing is really true here.

That’s enough filler – time to fire up the BBQ for some sausage!

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June 7 – Another new and improved IPhone. 4G this, new that, longer this, best that – clearly another opportunity for the early adopter set to burn through some more cash so that their “bleeding” edge IPad has the matching “bleeding” edge phone. Smart Phones are all the rage but don’t forget they are just another excuse for Service Providers to help you suck up airtime minutes and data charges. I think things are out of control when people have to have their phones all gussied up as their personal amusement devices to feed their habit 24/7. I guess that means the info generation is finally passing me by as I think phones should be designed to do the best job of making and receiving phone calls and yes I can accept the email capabilities as a nice plus – but all these “apps” to do anything you can dream of are out of control. Check some of the service bills.

Vindication – on the tech bent, I told you HP was nuts to pay over $1 billion for Palm if it thought the value was in Palm’s SmartPhone business. Apparently they agree as the HP Grand Poobah has created the net impression that HP bought in to get the Palm operating system software which they claim is one of only two designed from the ground up specifically for the web. I suppose that is a good thing, but, that’s a lot of shekels for an OS!

G20 – time to start carrying the “Point & Shoot” (probably bad choice of words) camera on my daily commute to “record what my +$1 Billion is buying for the G20. Apparently the fences are going up, the “see through” terrorist hides known as transit shelters are being dismantled and paper boxes have been impounded. Trash cans are gone, so people now have a legitimate reason to throw trash around and vendors are being chased away from their licensed locations which will limit the street meat specialties for the starving masses.

Maybe if I am really lucky I will get an action shot of the $2 Million “fake lake” that they are building so the media can get that “Muskoka” feeling without having to venture out of the city. I think this is for the G8/G20 spouses as well as they are apparently not welcome in cottage country.

What is this ~~world~~ city coming to. “Supposedly”, my commute will not be affected! Hah! When I hear that security guards are going to be posted at all the GO Train stations, it makes me wonder if they will still let me through after I trample my usual quota of little old ladies in an attempt to get a seat. I can hardly wait. AND, we still have three weeks of this escalating fun.

Relief – Prognosticators and learned scientific guys with the nifty lab coats are predicting that the Gulf oil spill will miss Canada! I hope so. The fun with computer simulations has now reached the public eye with the spill swooping around the Florida Keys, getting caught up in the Gulf stream and heading up the East Coast before turning out into the Atlantic and covering a heck of a lot of water. Just for perspective, from the Wayne Moorehead collection of useless facts:

One gallon of motor oil can contaminate one million gallons of water, and

One quart of motor oil can create an oil slick two acres in size

For perspective and in the context of the “pollution” factors noted above, current estimates are that somewhere between 22 and 44 million gallons of oil have already been released into the Gulf – do the math – fresh water is not really important - right!

Front Row Centre – Press seat in the White house briefing room is up for grabs today after Helen Thomas resigned. Helen made an unfortunate comment on international affairs and packed it in. She made it to 89 before her “mouth” got her in serious doodoo. I don’t think I would last 6 months on local affairs, let alone National or International. It is too bad (and not right) to see someone whose career does back to the JFK era get scorched this way because of one comment. However, it also demonstrates that even at 89, Ms Thomas has the class and ethics to apparently pull herself out of the game. Retiring at 89! Hope that is not me.

~~Freedom~~ of the Press – In a media story (one article) closer to home and potentially more disturbing to local sports fans, Mike Milner of The FAN and part of the Blue Jay coverage, “coincidentally” got an unrequested week-end off after some tense words with Cito about the Jays bullpen. I commented on the pen yesterday (probably ruined my chances as a Blue Jay broadcaster) but the suggestion is “don’t run afoul of the fowl boss or you will get tarred and feathered”. Cito does not have a reputation of being warm and fuzzy with any media hounds who nip at his heels and in this his swan song season is not likely to change.

Nobody apparently wants to fess up on who threw the dust-off at Milner but it had to have been either pressure from the Jays or a FAN management initiated action. Either way – both are Rogers owned and controlled which does not look good in terms of having to play nice with the team and lob in softballs OR ELSE.

I hope the details on this story leak out but everyone is playing their cards pretty close to their chest – shame on somebody.

As the chief local scribe for the writers, Richard Griffen penned a support letter to Beeston (JAYS) and Kollins (FAN) in support of Milner and voicing concerns. Richard better watch out or he will become persona non grata for the Spring Training jaunt.

$$$$ of Hockey - I did aggregate the stuff on a page and stuck it in the web. Reread if you like.

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Jun 6 – A quick post to “help=out”. For some reason I find the MOHA has decided to manage their web site as a bit of a treasure hunt and , or, ensure you get and keep getting reminded of things that are over. Be that as it may, you may wish to know that one of the “treasures” posted is a summary .pdf of the information that candidates for election as VP Rep or as Directors have posted.

Intuitively, if you go to the web site and scroll down to the line that says:

“Nomination forms are available on the MOHA website. Click here for more details.” – the link actually takes you to the .pdf file – imagine that.

So – to make it easy “CLICK HERE”.

Having read the VP “bios” I found them somewhat underwhelming in terms of any convincing story to get my (oops I don’t have one) a vote. When a high point is continuing a relationship with your governing bodies, that does not do much for me, especially when there is no substance in anything else, other than remind me of a Jeffrey Archer Collection – “Twelve Red Herrings”.

Given one advance poll is over, (did anyone know), you better read up on the candidates and make your informed choice – I suggest you do this by asking around.

Meanwhile, it is nice to see that there are some really good Director candidates, and I do not necessarily mean the incumbents. I will not identify who I think they are as among the Cabal Collective, this would be the “kiss of death”.

We will see who or how many make the cut – will there be 8 or more?? Already the “equivalent” to convening is clearly in play. What a sneaky way to be able to low bridge someone and do it so “righteously”.

Anyway, in a week it will be over – at least the voting – so we can watch the fall-out.

Apparently, there does not appear to be any motions to review (which I know is not or should not be the case) as nothing that I can find in the treasure hunt base suggests there are. I guess there is no need to let the members think about them in advance as it is probably more convenient to just drop them on the floor at the AGM as a quick surprise to anyone who goes. Given that the only VP election is for Town Rep, it is likely that attendance and hence available votes will be skewed to that group (roughly 15% of the members). Does “Tail wagging the Dog” come to mind.

$$$$ of Hockey – seems to have hit a chord with a number of folks. I think I will group the comments on one page and post it separately on the site - watch for it!.

Slo-Pitch – Both Moorehead young men (which leaves me out) are playing on a number of Slo-Pitch teams this summer and they were both on a mixed team that was in Milton in a charity tournament this week-end. Jane and I went to watch a number of games including the semi-final they made it through to this morning. Through an interesting series of events, they ended up losing in the bottom of the 7^th but who says competition is dead! The post game show almost came to blows as a “hot-head” on the opposing team did not like a play and the “mouthing-off” almost escalated into a shooting war. I won’t comment on who one of the instigators was on our side – BUT – suffice to say, yours truly was not surprised!

Baseball 2 – despite myself I actually got into listening to / watching some Blue Jay games. Particularly this weekend with the Yankees while I was watching Slo-Pitch – a bit of a contrast. Anyway, it shows where you are at when the Jays can only pull low 30s for a Yankee series. The Jays are not bad on three of four criteria but the fourth is a killer and why they will unfortunately go nowhere. In my opinion (to avoid law suits) the Jays have decent starting pitching that may continue to develop, their hitting is not too shabby at all – when they are not in a funk and they have decent defense. However their bullpen sucks and they have no one even imitating a stopper. That is “death” in the bigs as basically the last two series have highlighted. They should have swept both if they had someone who could shut the door.

Anyway – it is Sunday and I have better things to do.

Go Hawks Go! – starting to look iffy.

One gallon of motor oil can contaminate one million gallons of water, and

One quart of motor oil can create an oil slick two acres in size

I hope the details on this story leak out but everyone is playing their cards pretty close to their chest – shame on somebody.

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June 4 – It did not take long for me to miss a June posting day – so here is some delayed content – and new stuff.

NHL first - although the game is now old news and there is another tonight. I actually watched the whole game – including the overtime. Given what type of game it could have been, it was a pretty good game to watch and like them or not, Philly deserved the win. Did not see, have not heard, if Pronger scooped the puck or if there was a Chicago revenge raid. Maybe the Zebras grabbed it as a souvenir for McCreary doing his record 42 Stanley Cup final game. With the series at 2 – 1 and all one goal games this far, this may play out as a better series than I thought.

I did watch Ron’s “interview” with the tiny perfect Commish and his attitude and what I will call perceived arrogance and belligerence reinforced my less than positive opinion of him. Nero fiddled while Rome burned – check all the ownership issues on the table and convince me things are healthy?

Also if the mantra is now “let’s go back to where we were”, (supposedly that’s better than the potential Southern Ontario Gold mine) then why did we leave Winnipeg and Quebec in the first place! Amazing how time clouds memory and judgement.

After Ron’s latest good deed in using the velvet rope to help the man from drowning in the Delaware River, and what appears to be his opinion of Mr. B. you have to wonder what he would have done with the rope if it had been Mr. B. in the water?

Tigers – Oh the pain of it all – my Tigers no less! Here we have a kid who gets robbed of a perfect game by an experienced umpire who blows a call on the 27^th and final out no less. My Tigers have never had a perfect game of the only 20 recorded. The kid will likely never get another chance – BUT – S&%# happens and that is partially why there are only 20 of these on record. At first glance everyone was quick to jump all over Joyce and say how easy it would be for good old Bud to right the wrong and give the kid a perfect game. Much as I hate to disagree I don’t think that is the right answer and I will bet it won’t happen. Baseball is not set-up to be handled that way and while this case may be seen as easy, does that mean every play in question gets to be reviewed? Do all the Safes & Outs now get second guessed? Do you review all the balls and strikes calls to see if there should have been a walk somewhere or a called strike was not?

Give the kid credit, he among all the parties seems to have figured this out and accepted it. If you don’t get it in the moment, it never happened. Did Brett Hull score a bad goal to win the Cup against Buffalo, Did the Jays have a triple play in the series, Did Franco Harris have the “immaculate Reception”, Did Clay actually hit Liston – there are a ton of anomalies in sport that may be right or wrong and end up great beer discussions.

It is over, he did not get it, another batter went to the plate so he pitched one helluva 1 hitter. As far as Joyce goes, he is a good umpire who has now set the all world standard for wrong place, wrong time, wrong call but give him credit for having the guts and principles to step up right away and admit he made the wrong call. How often do you ever see an official do that. I hope people let it rest, but they won’t, Joyce is now a charter member of the Bill Buckner club.

Finally – there have only ever been 20 perfect games, yet we “had” the 21^st as one of three in the last month. As someone hypothesized – the batters are not on steroids anymore sooooo…..

AGM Questions – In no particular order – here’s a few that have come up. Send more if you want

Why have we seen such an increase in fees over the last two years?

What are the added values or extra services we are receiving for these increases?

What has happened to stop the long term registration growth pattern that was in place and is now apparently flat or declining?

How are you going to accommodate the wait listed young people, especially the “capped” goalies to give them a place to play – especially now that “lots” of ice is available?

How do you defend restricting one group of players (goalies), especially after having promoted their development over the last several years with the goalie program?

If you claim to support development, how come you, as probably the OMHA’s largest association have scaled back the clinic program so drastically from what it used to be - including the fact that there is not even one new trainer clinic scheduled for this season?

Where do you expect any new coaches or trainers to get their certification and is it not your responsibility to support that.

Related – just what is really being done to develop the overall ability and potential of coaches and or players in Oakville?

If you think you are doing anything where is your permission to believe it is actually working to make individuals better (and don’t quote “wins”)?

Is it not ethically a conflict of interest, whether stipulated in the Bylaw, or not, to have and Officer, and, or board member as a paid employee of the association?

Stop Whining – we complain about the terrible shape of our roads and the potholes that don’t get fixed. Think about living in Guatemala and having to deal with this little pothole (OK it’s a sinkhole – but that is really what all little potholes aspire to be when they grow up).

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Jun 2 - You know you are tired when you can't even get the right calendar for your update. Since I did not get any emails poking at me it means one of three things

No one noticed
No one is reading the blog to be able to notice
Someone noticed and chose not to poke fun at me.

Regardless - it is now fixed so as long as you have refreshed to pick up today's content you will never know what I did and I ain't tellin'

The $$$$$ of Hockey – Round 8 - 10 - With the MOHA just around the corner and the “potential” actual opportunity for members to ask questions of the Cabal in a public forum, I thought I would top of my topic with three more items for a nice round Bo Derek.

8. Development – was an area that we took pride in and that did not mean just running clinics – although more of that later or in future issues. We invested in shooter pad ice time (and got abuse for stealing it from the commercial guys) as well as instructor fees to help train and improve our house league goalies. It is important to have that extra training when you are sitting on a wait list. We also booked school Gym time for both Rep and House League teams to use to build team dynamics and skills (for free). Cost of this was about $20,000 or $5 per player.

9. Audit & Legal – a comprehensive audit for members is a must for organizations such as MOHA with direction over $2 Million in funds and largely volunteer driven. These do not come cheap and with some provision for legal expense we earmarked around another $20,000 or $5 per player.

10. President’s Fund – Contrary to popular belief everyone in Oakville is not financially secure and a surprising (not) number have run into bumps on the road. To try to soften some blows and ensure that the young man (or lady) did not lose out on an opportunity to play hockey, a budgeted $10,000 or $2.50 per player was set aside to contribute all or part of the registration fees for folks in this unfortunate situation. For the mathematically challenged this represented about 25 registrations at $400 a pop.

Plugging those items into my little chart presented above brings my running total to $407.59.

Assuming everyone pays in time to get the “early” price of $495 (which a significant number do not), that leaves roughly $87 unaccounted for or at 4,000 players about $350,000+ in the black

Now – to be fair, I have not counted for Administration – rent, utilities and wages in my little scenario BUT that number was in the order of $175,000. Let’s see $350,000 - $175,000 = $175,000 still left.

Remember I have accounted for the bulk of the “HST Hit” in my ice calculation, and, also remember that the intent is, or should be to run on a break even basis to not fatten up the surplus any more, and, remember that I have not baked in any of the incremental revenue gouge on the registration side - $595 possibly plus non resident ~~fine~~ fee!!

Then I ask you, is it reasonable, explainable or defendable to imply or pretend that administrative costs or other costs have been uncontrolled or unmanaged enough to have doubled to chew up the incremental $175,000+ or extra $43.75+ per player???

I am not a CA but I can do a budget and, I know the numbers – I used to do them.

As a member (which I no longer am) this might raise some questions to ask at the AGM. But, as a non member I have no standing and would likely be asked to leave anyway so it won’t be me asking but someone may want to.

What to ask – Maybe later this week I will post a bunch of questions folks might want to ask. There are a number floating around and maybe this is a good place to list them.

So – if you have any burning issues you want to see included on the list – drop me a note. If I think they make sense and I can pose them without undue risk of libel, I will post them. Remember this is MY blog so I get to play Editor and Censor – my own personal challenge to freedom of the press.

I also have the development thing to deal with.

As a treat – No BP diatribe today – hope they fix their saw.

Game three – Will Pronger get the puck – Can the Hawks go up three – Will it be and down and out ugly fest – watch tonight and see!

Go Hawks (ex Hossa) Go!

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Jun 1 - This was one of those days where I expected not to post. Yonge & Eglinton is keeping me busy, there is no earth shaking news because some folks can't be bothered to publish it - maybe it is not earth shaking and I figured it was too much of a pain to update my calendar today. However, I got home at a reasonable time, found out I had the joint to myself - Bingo and Baseball respectively and there does not appear to be any worthwhile TV without an "On Demand" hunt.

So, I updated the calendar, archived May and figured I might as well scribble something to "start" the month.

Buy Shrimp - Sell BP - I know you guys are sick and tired of me yakking about this but the whole Gulf fiasco continues to take one ugly turn after another. Without naming who or on what grounds, the US announced they have opened criminal and civil investigations. You know they will be a whole gaggle of necessary sacrificial scapegoats needed for this one so it is no surprise that a number of BPers have been jumping ship.

Some numbers:

DP stock dropped again today by roughly 1/3 of its former trading value
BP has seen $63 Billion in equity disappear in 6 weeks
BP has already spent $990 Million so far in fighting the leak and containment / clean-up (I suggest this is the tip of the iceberg
The leak so far is estimated at 22 - 44 Million gallons - now definitely #1 in US Ecological disasters even surpassing the George W foot in mouth pandemic
197,000 square kilometers of the gulf (1/3 of federal waters) - has been closed to commercial or recreational fishing
An estimate for 2010 costs to BP exceeds $5 Billion

So like I said - Sell BP - Buy Shrimp before the price skyrockets. Have to check that one out as I don't know how much we are dependent on the gulf we are for our seafood.

Pronger - scooping the "game pucks" in Chicago. Not a Philly fan but I love this mind game. Apparently the Hawks are PO'd. I only watched a period and a bit last night but the chatter was impressive.

Chicago - two more wind - Please! and the Leafs are at the front of the back of the line - longest Cup drought - since 1967. Looks good on them and I do not see one coming in my Carnac the Magnificent crystal ball or sealed mayonnaise jar - whatever.

MOHA - maybe if I say they will never step up to help the "wait list" goalies they will do something about it just to spite me. So - The MOHA will never step up to help the wait listed goalies! In a new era of openness and transparency the Cone of Silence is King!

Lidstrum's back - at least for a year and Hudler has returned - Go Wings Go! Cup in 2919/11! Just need to get a goalie unless Howard shapes up.

Trivial Pursuit - one of my favourite games and a classic "Why didn't I think of that" lost one of it's creators ar Chris Haney passed away at 59. Hard to believe it goes back over 30 years to 1979 and the boys were bought out by Hasbro in 2008 for something like $80 Million - plus all the loot they had already raked in. There are stories everywhere about them trying to get colleagues and friends to buy in for $1,000 bucks to get the game launched. Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing - or a curse. You done good guys.

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Send mail to Wayne@minorhockeyfan.com with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2004 Wayne Moorehead Last modified: 08/22/10

Send mail to Wayne@minorhockeyfan.com with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 Wayne Moorehead
Last modified: 08/22/10