May 31 – the wrap up day to another month – 5/12s of 2010 already gone. It is that time of year when there is not really that much going on to comment on. Game two of the finals is on tonight but after having got tangled up in some office work over the weekend, I think I may try to catch up on some deck quality time – provided it is not too hot.

Sunday AM I did work from the deck – thank goodness for wifi, but by the afternoon it was just too hot and for obvious reasons I am not a sun worshipper. However, I find from about 7 – 9 in the evening, if there is a little breeze, it is nice to sit out for a while with a good book, a cold beer and some tunes.

I am also getting antsy to give my new camera a workout. Both boys are in a ball tournament this weekend so that may give me a chance for some action shots. The good thing will be that I can likely use a relatively slow shutter speed without blurring based on what I understand about the pace of their game. That comment will likely land me in hot water and banned from the event.

Regulating Hockey Schools – Good Idea or Cash Grab. It seems the whole issue of summer hockey, hockey schools/camps, outlaw leagues etc., have now attracted more of the interest of Hockey Canada. One consideration is to provide some type of licensing service for camps or schools where if they meet certain as yet undetermined criteria and pay an as yet undetermined fee ($500 seems to be a popular throw out number) they can advertise and promote using the Hockey Canada logo. Among the serious school guys there seems to be some cautious support for the idea as one thought is it will get rid of the riff raff who simply rent some ice – sign up kids and zesto presto a hockey school / camp to teach what?

As one of the riff raff who actually did this – I take exception to calling us out as bad as it depends what you are purporting to offer and why you are doing it. In my case (a number of years ago, it was set up as 10 weeks, 1 hour a week, I think 20+ kids and a couple of goalies just to give a bunch of kids a chance to get on their skates prior to the fall, try to teach a few things – like proper body contact and have fun. Nothing more or less was promised or expected and with one exception I believe everyone had a good time and progressed. The one exception was a young man (and primarily father) who presumed that being involved meant they would be drafted Red and to my Team. When that did not happen – for a number of valid reasons, I ended up as the recipient of a verbal lashing and that father has never spoken to me again to this day.

As far as regulating schools / camps go, I think the jury is still out until more of any plans surface. To me it is a lot like NCCP certification. Just about anyone can get through an NCCP program. The card does not mean he can coach.

At the Hockey Canada AGM in Montreal, there was a:

Recommendation that Hockey Canada move forward with the development of a spring and summer skills development licensing program and a development coach licensing program

Recommendation that Hockey Canada form a work group to review the National Coaching Certification Program

We will watch and see where this leads.

As an aside, they also approved a 2 referee 1 linesman system if any branches want to use it- cynically, pay more for the bands and hope the linesman can skate.

Blame Google – A U.S. woman is suing Google and a bunch of other folks because it gave her directions to walk alongside a busy street that did not have sidewalks. In going around a barrier she got smacked by a car and now it is Google’s fault. Even though Google says the instructions included a warning. Oh the joys of our litigious society. I am surprised she is only going after $100,000.

Balls – another reason I don’t like soccer (other than it is boring) is the whining and complaining of the prima donnas. Apparently now there is controversy over the quality of the Adidas ball to be used for the world cup. One would think after all these years that they would have figured out how to make a soccer ball – Adidas think they have – a point of view disputed by a number of players. I wonder if they are just starting their excuses early – the ball made me do it!

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May 30 – Today is a multi-tasking day as I sit on the back deck, coffee in hand and enjoy the day before it gets too hot. I have some downtown system access to dealt with and while it is great to have the capability to do from this from home (maybe a mixed blessing), running AS400 queries and reports from a wireless connection is not lightning speed so I can do some “blogging” in the background – it may be even more incoherent than usual.

Doc - Congrats to Doc on tossing a perfect game yesterday, the 20^th in major league history and the second in about three weeks. Looks like he needed to be perfect as the Phillies only won 1 – 0! Must be tough for the Jays brain trust to see their franchise player wander of to Philly and pull of the ultimate feat – something never accomplished in Toronto. An interesting note that in his second major league start (as a Jay), Doc got to 2 out in the ninth with a no hitter before it went away.

With 11 starts, 7 wins, 5 complete games and a 1.98 ERA plus a perfect game since joining Philly, I would say he has done OK.

Walk – Walks / Runs etc. are out of control. I think that according to the news there are somewhere between 4 and 6 separate “events” going on in Toronto today, all of which apparently require closing of different streets at different times. All of this during normal summer construction closures, Toronto Open Doors and prep for the G20 spend fest. Out of control. Maybe I need to host a fund raising or awareness walk for some topic – perhaps the “state of minor hockey / sports in Ontario.

BP – If this was a game, the score would be Oil Spill 6, BP 0. Like a true “contenda” BP is coming back with a new game plan to beat the champ – remote control submersibles that are going to cut off a section of pipe and install a shut-off valve. Not laying any claims to being an expert, this one smacks of Jules Verne and desperation to me. We are now 6 weeks plus into an uncontrolled and technically unmeasured spill that has finally been generally acknowledged as passing the Exxon Valdez as the worst US incident. Who knows what the real numbers are? Oh and by the way, we are entering Hurricane Season (the first storm – Agatha has already been named). I think we are all aware of the havoc that Hurricane can wreak in the Gulf.

Over the last few days, some experts have been citing BP stock as a good buy! I think I’ll pass on this one.

Cabal – I guess my make-up is different from the average bear. A member of the Cabal approached us yesterday when we were out doing some of those Saturday things, all happy, smiley and chatty. I did not express my opinion (which I believe showed admirable restraint and maturity – but I think my manner passed the message), But, in case some have not figured it out yet - let me be clear – I have no interest in being social, friendly, chatty, understanding or forgiving with any of the cadre. How they can act as they did, treat people like they have and then think those same people are going to forgive and forget, let alone be at all inclined to have anything to do with them amuses me. It only reinforces with me the bubble of self-interest they inhabit.

The Cup - Sort of watched some of the game last night, but did not pay a lot of attention. The weather is too nice and there are other things to do. Besides, it is tough to watch the TV through the patio doors from the back deck. I try to get all the deck time I can – like this morning because I don’t get nearly enough of it. Anyway, it was a surprising “he who shoots last wins” type of game with five lead changes – more like fire wagon hockey than I think most suspected. The right team ended up winning (even if it was a missed call that lead to the winning goal).

Menard – has to think that someone is out to get him – or he represents another instance of the Canadian military not making the correct personnel assessments. No sooner does he get back in action after getting slapped with about a $4,000 record fine for essentially careless discharge of a weapon, then he gets relieved and recalled over allegations of inappropriate conduct – aka an inappropriate personal relationship. We may or may not find out what that really means but essentially it probably indicates that his career is kaput. How often do flag officers (and we have so many!) get dumped. Usually when you pick up a star, it should mean you are the cream of the crop, after having passed all the tests and paid your dues. Something else to watch.

Curfew - it’s after 1:00 PM, my morning is shot, the sun is creeping into the gazebo shade area and I have had enough AS400 for today – hopefully. Time to sign off, post and enjoy the rest of the day – despite the heat alerts that have been issued.

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May 28 – I warned you things would get spotty – likely worse to come.

AGM – today was the last day to sign up to run for a VP or reduced count Director role with MOHA (deep dark secret there – check the bylaw). Now that the requirement of serving as a HL division convenor has been dropped and replaced with the nebulous “equivalent role” for new directors, I am sure thousands of repressed volunteers held back by the onerous burden of actually doing something to learn about minor hockey and help the kids will now step forward for election and their opportunity to contribute in these “equivalent roles” – which would be what?.

I did not sign up just in case anyone wondered. I can hardly wait to see the new Who’s Who in the Zoo and if there are any new critters.

Internet – This is an insidious service. We were Cogeco Captives with the High Speed Pro package that used to be basically unlimited. Then the revenue opportunity of bandwidth units raised its ugly head and users of this program had 60 Gigs available to them monthly – if you went over that you paid like $1.5 per Gig over the 60 limit. Should not be a problem – right! Wrong. Turns out with on-line gaming, video streaming and downloads that the Moorehead household was routinely exceeding the limit and getting dinged for it. 60 Gigs! My monthly internet traffic was probably less that 1. So go nuts and call it 5. Web updates, blogging, occasional picture or MP3 download – no biggie. Where were the other 55 or more going? Apparently that is an internal conspiracy like the Watergate tapes and to some extent after assorted threats and challenges I sort of gave up.

Then when I was AWOL for a couple days I think the local addicts scoped out a Cogeco fibre optic service up grade that is available in certain areas only – ours of course and upgraded me to the High Speed Internet Ultimate 30 service. 30 Mbps download and now my cash register inflection point is set at 125 Gigs! Does anyone really understand what 125 Gigs a month of data really is and why we would need it?

·         High Speed Internet Ultimate 30

Download speeds of up to 30 Mbps.
Data transfer capacity: 125 GB per month, which represents...

·         up to 26,000 songs or

·         up to 250 game demos or

·         up to 512,000 digital photos

Does any sane person need this capacity on a monthly basis – every month.

I think the load of streaming video, movie downloads and, or online gaming is the real killer here and how long will it be before certain people at 1305 Greeniaus figure out how to bust these limits. You have to draw a line in the sand somewhere. Anyone got a stick.

And all this is without an IPad which I have no interest in.

June – is the month. For those not in the know, Jane and I are scheduled to become Grandparents this month. Some of us are not sure we are ready for or have come to grips with this concept yes. However, apparently we have no choice as the countdown is on. Guess I better get practicing with the new camera.

June II – is also the month of the G20. With a security bill around the $1 Billion mark – yhe same neighbourhood as the cost of the Olympics, you got to wonder what is the point. Besides building fences around downtown, closing attractions, buying new toys – acoustic cannons and kicking the Jays out of town you have to wonder what’s the point. This is a minor event and the main attraction seems to be to give the lesser lights a chance for some face time with our friend down south – so buy them a ticket. The graffiti has started – where will it be going from here. As long as they don’t mess with my GO Trains and screw with my schedule, I guess there is not much I can do. But what a waste of your and my tax dollars. Even more challenging for those living close by is that the government has said they will not pay for damages – leave it to the insurance companies instead? What about deductibles?

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May 26 – Working late in the summer (read good weather) is no fun but it looks like I am on the hook for a while. If nothing else it cuts down on the GO Train congestion on the way home and fortunately for many may cut down on blog time as I need to save some time to stay current on “my shows” and not exceed PVR limits. That may not be a problem though as apparently last week was season or series ending week for a number of shows – probably the ones I watch

I know Monday was a wrap for 24 so that one is gone and I plan on finishing Jack off tonight (Bower not Daniels). I have managed to avoid hearing someone blurt out the ending so that is a plus.

Finish it off – For those of you clamouring to get at the tasty KFC Double Down (colossal calorie) sandwich mentioned in my May 20 blog, there is now a way to finish off the meal in style with a Tim Horton’s Cold Stone Creamery’s drinks referred to as the  ‘Worst beverage in America’. The peanut butter and chocolate shake apparently contains over 2,000 calories and 68 grams (read 68 strips of bacon) of saturated fat. Your arteries will harden simply reading about it! The super size is not available in Canada – only the 1,690 version. I actually was in one of the Timmy test stores today (it is just across the street) and had their ice cream – the chocolate with chocolate chips and cookie dough and some other chocolate stuff called the “Chocolate Devotion”. I am sure it was the low cal version but it sure did taste good.

The ice cream makes the DD look like diet food with only 540 calories and 23 grams of fat. Yikes!

BP – Is hoping to get mud in the eye. The eye of the leak that is. I hope it works as this story and the eco damage is getting worse and worse. The US Congress is saber rattling about going back and increasing damage limits retroactively. More and more environmental damage stories are cropping up If you have any BP stock and have not sold it yet you may want to give that some thought and Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobile and Elf are probably sitting back waiting for a rummage sale. Meanwhile this is just plain ugly – and – you heard it here first.

No Hockey – till Saturday – I think I will survive but remember – Go Hawks Go!

Countdown to World Cup – Everyone got their logo embroidered stab vests? No one is going. Violence is over the top and not a tourist in sight. BUST! Speaking of which Former star, now coach Diego Maradona has promised to run the streets of Buenos Aires if his team wins. There’s an incentive. How quickly can Argentine throw their games.

Really – someone said there are NBA play-offs on – So?

Public Safety – We close today with some BBQ tips based on a Star article. Apparently the article was sparked (no pun intended) by a recent BBQ fire. In it the caution is always turn of the gas and let the flame burn out before you turn off the burners. Makes sense but yours truly never went to BBQ school and is either lucky or the advice is a bunch of hooey as for over 30 years of award winning BBQ delights I have always turned off the burners then shut off the valve. Anyway if you see a huge fireball rising over Greeniaus Road, you will know that the odds caught up to me. Other common sense suggestions in the article:

•  Don’t leave your barbeque unattended (find it a date)

 •  Keep children and pets away from the barbeque (on is OK – near is not)

 •  Don’t wear loose clothing that could catch fire on the flames (I’ve stopped with the dresses)

 •  And make sure you don’t have a fence nearby or a roof or overhanging branches or anything combustible near a barbeque that could cause a fire (does that include single malt whiskey)

That’s bad – 24 time.

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May 25 -the heat is on! Literally. Not the song, but the temperature. The Victoria Day weekend started out in typical fashion with rain Saturday but there cannot be too many complaints about the weather on Sunday and Monday -- let alone what we expect to get the balance of this week. If nothing else, the complaints will likely be now that it is too hot. Even with the gazebo shade it was too hot to sit comfortably on my deck Monday afternoon. The evening was another story as we sat out and played cards until around 930 at night. I don't know if it is just me, but for some reason I seem to think there are a lot more bees around this summer then for the past few years and judging by what they leave behind there are a lot more birds as well. Maybe we should not have planted the backyard trees and flowers.

Habs – The Habs season came to a crashing halt last night courtesy of the Philadelphia Flyers. While everyone talks about their remarkable run, let's remember that this last series was a titanic struggle between the seventh and eighth place teams in the Eastern conference. Somehow, I do not think Philadelphia will be a match for Chicago, or at least I hope not. If Chicago can win the Stanley Cup, it will end their drought from 1961 and leave the hapless Toronto Maple Leafs as the longest suffering NHL team without a Stanley Cup as their winless streak will date back 43 years to 1967. Looks good on them.

Snap snap -- I finally broke down and treated myself this weekend. Among my other vices, of which there are many, I enjoy photography. In 1978, as a graduation gift from WLU I got my first and until Saturday only single lens reflex camera (SLR). Back then, there was a marketing battle with Canon trying to rule the world for those people who couldn't cough up the bucks for the horrendously expensive Nikon, Pentax or other "professional" cameras. I believe Canon's model at the time was the AE-1, and there are probably still thousands of those around today. Ever the radical, I ended up with a Fujica ST705-W. This was a great camera, took pictures from coast to coast, went skiing with me, shot the kids, and fed my entertainment as a darkroom developer for black-and-white film. I ended up with a number of toys for it including an auto winder, a wide-angle and zoom telephoto lens with extender. The camera still works perfectly today almost 32 years later. The problem, is that we've moved to a digital world with all the fun you can have with digital images. Having gone through a couple of "point and shoot" digitals, I got away from using film, which nobody bothers with anymore, but missed the absolute fun that SLR's deliver in terms of image composition and control. Having watched the evolution of digital SLR's from horrendously expensive items with limited features to what is out there today, I finally decided to take the plunge (and convinced Jane that it was a reasonable thing to do). Lo and behold, Canon is still a battler and a major contender in the field with their Rebel line up and their new T. series. However, for some reason I still did not end up in the Canon fold as I guess I still had a secret yearning for a Nikon camera. After trying out both the Canon and Nikon I ended up with a Nikon D5000 which is an awesome camera.

The only problem is the user manual for this beast is thicker than the one for my car and offers more options than I think I will ever figure out. I suspect for the first little while the "auto" feature will get quite a workout. It comes with an 18 -- 55 m lens which is about the equivalent of a 27 -- 75 m on a film SLR. I took some test shots using the extremes from a stationary position and WOW. Great shots – colour saturation, detail, depth of field and all in RAW 12 Meg files. I won’t be posting the originals of these files on the site! How the world has changed. Now all I have to do besides figuring out the camera is figure out all the subtleties of Photoshop, talk Jane into a couple of more lenses and I am good. Anyone need any portrait shots?

Auctions - fortunately I was helping someone with something so I was able to avoid the Victoria Day auctions event. However, Jane went with her sister and husband which meant I did not escape unscathed. I am now the proud owner of a mirror that matches the bench we came home with last time. While I think it bears a striking resemblance to a toilet seat, apparently it is very attractive and I am told will look stunning when hung in our hall (as long as no one sits on it and tries to flush). When I asked Jane how often she bid herself up, she told me she didn't have to since she only bid once. Given that she jumped the previous bid by 50% the end result was not too surprising, but having pulled off the Nikon deal this weekend I just quietly slunk away. Fortunately, I don't think there's another auction for at least a month which should allow me to work on the addiction.

Other than that, a pretty quiet weekend.

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May 21 – Rites of Passage. Appropriately, today marked my first 2010 transit day where I left the house in a short sleeved shirt – comfortable with no jacket or coat. I could probably have pulled it off (literally) yesterday, but held off for Casual Friday. It is also fitting that it leads into the May 24 weekend.

Nostalgia – (skip if not interested). The May 24 weekend is iconic. Back when I was young and foolish (now just foolish), the May 24 weekend was a mandatory camping trip to The Pinery Provincial Park near Grand Bend with the Dunes side campsites being the locale of choice (riverside was for wimps). This was back in the day when you were not summarily executed and tossed out if you turned a radio on after 9:00 PM or wandered into the dunes with your buds, a Frisbee and an ice cold wobbly pop in hand – not all changes are for the good. The Grand Bend stories will have to wait for another day and an X rated blog.

Anyway, packing for camping trips back then had much simpler priorities and logistics - beer, a cooler a hibachi and tube steaks, almost everything else was optional.

The May 24 weather was almost always abysmal – cold and rainy was the norm, but who cared. Back then I had this humongous army tent (I think it was Polish Army Surplus) that slept a bunch and had a separate front “dining” area. I remember one year friends were heading up early so I sent “the tent” with them to set-up as we would be late – probably after dark getting in. We arrived to find the tent set-up on a lovely campsite in a beautiful little shaded grove. Only minor problem was that it was in a gully! That night (of course) it poured rain – monsoon style - continuing into the next day. I awoke to the screams of a nameless individual, terrified that “our tent was floating away”. Not quite true but under the “dining area” floor – which was now floating, was about a three inch deep lake and rising. If you stepped on the floor it obviously sank to ground level with a nice cushiony squish and if we were so foolish as to approach the entrance – Niagara Falls would pour into the tent and drown us all. Needless to say, the ladies were not happy and an “I told you so” and recriminations to the “friend” who set it up were not going to be well received – but of course I did it anyway.

We waited the rain out a bit, got impatient and risked the flood and ended up moving the tent before getting into the Frisbee games. We were soaked by then anyway so who cared? Just another May 24 episode from back in the day when men were men and real campers used naphtha gas.

Brit Mascots – In a word, UGLY. While the 2012 Olympics are a ways off, the Brits are determined to provide the world with lots of opportunities to trash their arrogant a___, These “Cyclopian” monstrosities are classic meaningless blobs which other than the supposed masculine “blue” have no gender identification. I guess that is now the required PC approach.

 

Habs – showed up to play – Philly didn’t – predictable result – next. However it did provide some entertainment in the post game as grapes has now taken on the Goat & Snail’s James Mirtle on Europeans. James had an article on the Europeans taking over in net. Grapes deflected that into how great our goal scorers are and now Mirtle is essentially calling him on it. Could lead to a nice harangue on the nest Cherry media scrum or coaches corner. Watch the video – Grapes has to win on wardrobe points alone – never mind any facts.

Just too funny – A while back, Peter Cheney of the Goat & Snail wrote a nice piece about his last trip as a hockey dad after 14 years of “travel” with his son Will. Just recently Will gave Dad Peter another column opportunity by trashing a $180,000 Porsche that his dad was test driving for review. Seems that there was a little turn on key incident in the garage where the Porsche tried to leap through the garage door. A bit of a humourous read for all of us parents of young men who have had their own “episodes”.

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May 20 – disappointment. For KFC the “Double Down” probably more appropriately labelled as a “Heart Attack” sandwich  has been so wildly popular in the US test that it is staying on the menu. The bad (or good) news is that there are no plans to bring it to Canada yet.

“Constructed out of two fried chicken breasts, sauce, bacon and two kinds of cheese, the DD packs in 540 calories, 1,380 milligrams of sodium and 23 grams of fat” – in one tasty sandwich without the benefit or need for any bread – the Chicken Breasts serve that construction function.

Launched April 12 for a six week trial, the DD will have sold over 10,000,000 units by the end of the month.

G20 – Who wants it. Blue Jays run out of town for their premiere series, security up the waxoo and now they are going to close the CN Tower – I presume someone is providing a whack of compensation for that in busy tourist time. Do you know how to spell Tax Dollars? Apparently there are also “suggestions” floating around as to what you should or should not wear while transiting the hot zones. Does that mean my cammo shorts, Madeira Beach PD T-Shirt and Aussie bush hat are out? I almost dread the thought of what this will do to us lowly commuters traipsing through Union Station? “Duck & Cover”.

IIHF – The worse thing than an ill-informed association is an ill informed gutless one. If you are going to make incautious, inflammatory statements, at least have the cojonnes to stand behind what you say (longer than 24 hours). The IIHF has already bailed on their “Won’t play for their Country” article comments. Probably because a) they were stupid in the first place and b)almost  everyone universally lined up behind Sid the Kid and lambasted them.  Not a big IIHF fan – looks good on them. Now if folks can just clear up “Goalie-Gate”.

Doping – Admissions from the tour de France disgraced. Drag Lance Armstrong back into the mud. Quelle Surprise! Move on unless we find someone who cares.

Game Threes – Notwithstanding the Philly heroics against Boston, if Montreal or San Jose want to at least pretend to be in these series, they better step up big time tonight. I.e., Montreal has to at least score. For all you hockey nuts out there, has there ever been a semi-final (or any) play-off series sweep where one club has never lit the lamp? I honestly don’t know but I suspect not. Maybe that’s what I will cheer for here. I would also expect somewhere that some Vegas sportsbook has put out a line on it. Does Price get the start? Bigger guy – hot head – willing to Whack-a-Philly!

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May 19 – In the playoffs it often turns out that the earlier rounds are more competitive and exciting to watch and this year is tending to shape up that way as well with both 2 – 0. While it is never over until the corpulent female orchestrates, Montreal better score soon to be considered part of the event and who cares about San Jose anyway. Either way as I have indicated, my interest is fading, not building to the finals.

Call of the Wild – no sooner do “Wayne & the boys” start extolling the manly bonding virtues of a rustic canoe trip through Algonquin Park, then a bear decides to throw a damper on that plan by tangling with some guy in Severn township near Orillia. The conventional wisdom goes that you are safe from any bear attack as long as you were not the slowest runner in your group. I am not sure I would be safe anymore under that criteria. Maybe we should do a Detroit ballgame road trip instead.

Need Controversy – then take a page from the IIHF book and dump on people because they don’t jump at the chance to go play “for their country” (coincidentally in your tournament that in an Olympic year is a yawner at best).  They picked on Crosby as a notable no-show and it was good to see folks (including Hockey Canada) jump to his defense. Not only does he have to get over any aches pains and disappointment of a long and arduous season – where he is “the target” every game, but he is entitled to a life – we don’t own him. Never mind that in the prior two seasons he had gone to game 7s inthe Stanly Cup finals and played one heck of a lot of hockey - And – if he does go, he takes the spot of someone who really wants to be there and may see this as their big chance. If you want, read the IIHF drivel here.

You know it’s ____ : When you get home from a hard day at the office and the first question is not “How was your day?” or “Can I get you a cold drink?” but rather “Start the BBQ and get cooking ‘cause we’re hungry! Is there some genetic reason men have to BBQ? I know I am the best BBQ’er around but every once in a while the maestro needs a break – consider it a training opportunity to pass those skills on to the next generation. I even had to go down to the basement fridge and get my own beer to balance while cooking. It’s not right.

Hmmm – I’m on the PEAC Burlington mailing list. How would you like to sign up for a Junior Cougar program to “keep sharp all summer”? I wonder what they have for regular Cougars.

No games tonight in case I cared, so get this out of the way and go make some inroads on the PVR backlog.

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May 18 – Got embroiled on a software issue that chewed up my blogging time tonight. As noted in an earlier post, the hard drive in my desktop PC imploded a while ago. That being the case I was not able to salvage any applications but simply had to reinstall everything new under Windows 7 on my new drive.

All well and good - until tonight. I received an e-mail request this evening for a photo and when I pulled up Photoshop to get the right one I received a warning notice from Adobe indicating that I had exceeded my install limit and would be deactivated within 30 days if I did not get a new license key. With the price of a new Adobe Web Premium CS64 suite being somewhat less than a three bedroom condo (not that I paid that originally), I had no interest in pursuing that route. When I tried to tell the machine that I had deactivated a prior install, it was not buying the story. Figuring nothing ventured, nothing gained I scoped my way into an Adobe "chat room" with a service tech, digital communicator that I am, and surprisingly within 20 minutes (it would probably have been shorter if I could type faster) the situation was resolved -- new activation authorized, key accepted.

The picture request was from an Ottawa participant in last year's Frank Sabatino Memorial tournament which reminded me that I had not updated the Sportsmanship section from last year - sooo! That was next on the agenda. It had to be done, as believe it or not, there is already one registration pending for the 2011 tournament.  A great reputation, is a wonderful thing and well earned by the volunteers for this tournament.

Having said that:

I'm home alone

have not eaten

have little energy

and less content

with likely no leftovers

an empty fridge and

no interest in cooking

besides that, there's a hockey game on -- the second installment of “Smack the Habs” - 2 - 0 at the end of two! Goodnight Nurse!

as BB says "that's all folks".

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May 17 – low key Monday. I got to start the week off early with a morning session presented by Microsoft Advertising on the nature of the “new” media world and the “digital” canvas. Basically, this was a sell job on their online and Internet services promoting digital advertising in various ways and forms. Regardless, it was quite interesting and really highlighted the changes occurring in the media world since I was more actively involved in creative production and advertising in my package goods days. Banner ads, rich content, code snippets, mobile apps, and on and on  -- none of these existed not too long ago and are now all are a dominant force in the media world. If nothing else, I got a couple of free 1 GB memory keys in the shape of -- guess what -- a key. It also broke up my Monday so that I could cruise into the office at 1:30 this afternoon. Actually not a good idea, as I have a number of major events starting tomorrow that probably could have used a little more babysitting.

Pin Party -- Saturday night Jane and I got together with about 2,000 of my closest friends from Canadian Tire to celebrate the biannual Pin Party. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, Canadian Tire hosts this event every two years to recognize long service employees -- actually quite a big event as is evidenced by their hosting it at the convention center. In the scheme of things, I must admit that the food was actually quite good with the entertainment somewhat less so. The MC for the evening was Ron James -- the Canadian so called comedian and the subsequent music was provided by Tom Cochrane and the Red Riders. Unfortunately, we did not stay long from a music standpoint, as sitting front and center, the bass output from the speakers was enough to blow us across the room. Clearly I am either too old, or too sensitive for that (I vote sensitive). Regardless, it was a very nice night that was very much appreciated.

GO Transit -- just cannot stay out of my bad books. No sooner does GO Transit get accolades in the press for having a better on-time arrival stat than last year, then I hit the platform this morning with 8 million other people to jam onto the 7:03 train. Apparently, with the lane restrictions on the QEW, everyone in Mississauga and Oakville decided that the train was the better way this morning. Standing up, crammed in the upper deck, I'm not sure I made that same distinction.

Habs -- hate to be right again, but I will bet that the Habs clearly wished Boston had managed to hang on against Philadelphia. An 8 - 0 Score does not lead to a lot of confidence going forward with any hope for success. It was nice to see Chicago beat San Jose though even if I am finding it harder and harder to stay enthused about watching hockey when all my teams are gone. The weather isn't helping either, as Sunday afternoon I made a point of sitting out on the back deck in a pair of shorts listening to a baseball game and reading a good book -- hopefully that means summer has arrived.

The spill -- I'm still keeping an eye on this for a number of reasons, some personal interest, and some business-related. Snaking down a hose over a mile long to start capturing approximately 20 to 25% of the output may be seen as a step in the right direction, but there's a long way to go yet. It was also interesting to hear the suggestion from an individual in the US that they should simply drop a nuke on the well site to cap it. American brilliance at its best.

I can’t be bothered picking a winner in either series here although I think the Windy City will end up playing the Windbag City in the final. Yawn!

Speaking of capped -- I see the number of divisions with goalie waiting lists are growing with no sense of any inclination to change the approach. As I said earlier, there's clearly a perception that a few disgruntled parents don't matter relative to the importance of administrative convenience. Too bad for the kids. For all of those people poking away at this one, keep it up, you're right.

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May 14 - I was definitely not unhappy to see the end of this work week. As a further bonus, it seems that we are due for a good weather weekend. Canadian Tire has an interesting benefit where every two years they host a "pin party" to recognize the service of their employees. Individuals start earning pins after five years of service and receive additional recognition every five years after that. As I mentioned earlier in my "illness comments" I have been with Canadian tire for 15 years and received that pin recognition this past week and, as well, Jane and I are invited to the 2010 pin party this Saturday night being hosted at the convention center. Cocktails, dinner, and entertainment (always kept a secret but in the past has included Burton Cummings and Blue rodeo) will make for a nice night out.

Goalie pains -- it looks like this faux pas is not going to go away quietly -- good! So far, it would appear that MOHA’s response has been to simply post an updated list of impacted division on their website. According to today's information, the Atom, Minor Bantam, Bantam and Juvenile divisions. Apparently, the politically correct word for shafting kids is “capped”. It will be interesting to see if certain individuals have the intellectual wherewithal to realize they have made a mistake and the conscience to fix it. Keep up the pressure everyone as you could be next few run afoul of another new rule.

The $$$$$ of Hockey – Round 6 & 7 -I am starting to run out of "meaningful" numbers (other than “admin”) to include in my ongoing tally of specific costs reflected in registrations. Don’t forget that for rep players, the cost of everything over and above the standard house league player registration coverage is supposed to be identified, costed out and specifically factored into the rep team assessment that is then parceled out to rep players – parents. The concept being user pay and fair value.

To keep things moving, today, I will deal with two items -- calendars and pictures.

Calendars have been used as a long-term fundraiser for MOHA dating back to when it was necessary to demonstrate fundraising activity in order to qualify for the town grant. The comment always used to be that the registration fee included the $40 calendar charge and that the calendars themselves could be resold to defer registration costs. As a pariah, I can't necessarily confirm current specifics but the last available information I have put the cost of producing the calendars plus the "giveaway" (the money to winners in the calendar draw) was approximately $35,000. If one pegs registration at 4,000 participants then the cost associated with this program would be about $8.75 per registrant.

Pictures involve both the "free" pictures for every player as well as providing a sponsor plaque with a picture of the team for each team. Again, the last numbers I had for these items were $2.50 per player and $12.65 per sponsor plaque. Apportioning the plaque back to player runs the total photo bill for each individual up to $3.29. Still quite a gap.

Bruins 2 – Flyers zip in the first – dare I hope? It’s Friday night, game on and time for some personal time. Enjoy your weekend, lobby for (Oops 3 – 0) those homeless goalies and remember the AGM is coming. Oh-Oh : 3 - 1

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May 13 – bouncing back to my usual grouchy picture of health – thank goodness. A working lunch of fajitas and Dos Equis at Mariachi’s seemed to go down well so there you go.

Habs Win! Habs Win! Habs Win! – The incredible saga continues. However, if Philly continues on their rampage return against Boston, I think the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge can start planning their golf game as I think an energized Philly club will smoke them.

If Boston makes it, and they are not playing like they plan to, then it could be a heck of an original six series.

It might be just as well if the Habs do lose, since I do not know how much more street violence and destruction Montreal can take. Nice video on CBC news. I am not sure where the mentality comes from that suggests you need to loot and trash your “home” to celebrate your team’s win. However, it seems to be there in spades and cropped up again last night.

 

A man lays on the ground after being tear gassed as fans celebrated following the Habs' victory over Pittsburg in the Eastern Conference semi-final. (May 12, 2010)

Rep – holding spots? When looking at a sample of the registration screen (post the raising of the “goalie fiasco”), that shows three registration categories (HL Player / HL Goalie / Rep) it suddenly struck me that MOHA has at least optically and I suspect actually changed another registration philosophy and policy. Another change I strongly disagree with and consider unfair.

It “used to be” all registration was on a first come, first served basis. It did not matter if you were Bantam AAA or Tyke Blue. Gee – that sounds fair. If there were 18 House League teams of 16 players and 4 Rep teams of 17 players then the first 256 kids to register were in – the rest went on a wait list (that hopefully lead to more teams or to players being moved up or down an age group to get them on the ice (goalies or not).

I can remember the hours we spent to make that work). What this also meant was – no special registration privileges for rep versus house league participants – a kid is a kid is a kid. I can recall several cases where a rep player tried to register after the division was full and when put on a wait list could not believe or understand (or at least his parents refused to believe or understand) why we didn’t just put him in and bump someone off the list because hockey was more important to their son then some house League kid. If that were the case dear sweet parent you should have got off your butt and registered at or immediately after try-outs to make sure this did not happen. The I’m rep so I am more important was not a mindset or approach I was prepared to accept but now it looks like the cabal has found a way to simply “technically” justify it on a neatly concealed basis and create a class system in terms of registration privileges to add to all the other ‘perks”.

It just goes on and on. 

Found Him - Graham James tracked down in Mexico – good place for him, although with perfect knowledge even the Mexicans may want to toss him, even though I suspect they have few hockey team opportunities. Wonder if he is inclined to coach soccer. According to the article “Former junior hockey coach, pardoned for teen sexual assaults, denies he is hiding in light of new allegations”.

I guess as long as he stays out of this country the Theo Fleury charges won’t go anywhere. Wouldn’t it be just too bad if this messes up his pardon in the future. Can a pardon be revoked?

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May 12 – There must be a conspiracy afoot to take me off the air. If it is not travel, then it is “work” and then Monday afternoon I was struck down by the plague (or some reasonable facsimile). I bailed early, staggered home and crashed - literally until 8:00 AM the next morning. Tuesday for I think the first time in the fifteen years that I have been with Canadian Tire, I phoned in to let my fearless leader know I was going to be a no show. He knew I was not scamming him as I DON’T GET SICK!

Nothing that involved an upset stomach but a generous and varying combination of the shiver / shakes, the sweats and the fever/headache medley meant I was done like dinner (which I did not eat). Now I know why I don’t get sick and have resolved never to do it again. It must have been a virus on my Cornwall Wings – best in Ontario – HAH!

And, for the record, I am a lousy patient!

HABS – for the record (a popular phrase today) let me once again state that I am not and never will be a Habs fan. BUT, based on what they have done to get here – Game 7 against the Pens I am going to cheer for them tonight. That will probably ensure that they lose but whatever.  I like a few guys on Pittsburgh – but not all – and they have not demonstrated the killer instinct that shows they are that hungry for the win. My friends at Tim Hortons will probably read this and disown me but I am still mad at them anyway for not ensuring I won more than one lousy coffee in the RRRoll up the Rim promotion.

Montreal on the other hand has battled every step of the way as a throw away underdog that dig not cave in the the capitals onslaught and have now demonstrated the intestinal fortitude (read guts) to force the Pens to an entirely unexpected Game 7 – especially when they were down 3 – 1!

Go Habs Go!

Cathal Kelly tries to combat this surge to Hab support with 7 reasons why not in an article in today’s Star.

Chicago - did the job on Luongo and the underachieving Canucks. Given I was in bed considering my mortality I did not see any of the game or post game but I hear Luongo made a brilliant comment about improving his goals against versus last year’s sixth game exit.

“I battled for 60 minutes, kept it under seven goals so improvement was made.”

 

He only gave up 5 this time - Looks good on him.

More to come – for those of you who are ignoring the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the gulf of Mexico, I would suggest you pay more attention as I would suggest that you keep an eye on it as it may come back to bite all of us on a number of fronts.

 

On the lighter side – While I enjoy criticising both the TTC and GO Transit for what I believe are unsatisfactory service standards and management practices, I guess I should be thankful that I don’t live somewhere else – like Jakarta.

Seems they are a little more aggressive in filling the public transit vehicles than we meek little Canadians.

So many topics – so little time – maybe I will hit some of these in more detail later.

Goalie limits – I hear that as of May 10^th kids are already being closed out of MOHA registration if they are a goalie and some other speed demons registered faster. CRAP! This is absolutely wrong, not fair to the kids and simply convenient for the association. I made this point in my May 4 post. Congrats to Oakville’s premier blogger for zeroing in on it as well with an informed and “kid-centric” point of view. I hope it strikes a chord with folks and they send a message to the cabal.

Commish B – has successfully blackmailed convinced Glendale to cover any operating losses for the Coyotes in Phoenix for the 2010/11 season – if they are not sold – like a) that is going to happen, and b) a buyer will stay there. Some would describe this as an underhanded tactic since apparently the same option was not available for the former owner. Wonder what Jimmy B’s thinking now or is he too busy thinking about an IPad killer.

Goodbye Blue Jays – it is only a matter of time before the Jays migrate south for the winter and stay there. Right now they can’t draw flies – let alone catch them and they let the G20 Summit drive off the one series they might actually sell tickets to. Who is next on the American League’s expansion target list. Let’s help rebuild New Orleans with a baseball team. The guys would fit right in on Bourbon St.

Gotta go – my PVR is almost full since I have had no time for it either and don’t want over-runs to wipe out some of my goodies.

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May 9 -  given that over the last few days my blogging appearance has been erratic at best, I thought I had best post something today even though it is Mother's Day, and Sunday. With all of the things that are coming down the pipe I am not sure that my behavior will be much better over the next little while.

Detroit -- done! With all the chasing around over the last few days on the road, as well as weekend guests, and the aftermath of hosting a baby shower, I kept falling asleep instead of watching the game, so I ended up simply going to bed. Waking up this morning, I discovered that my Wings went down 2 - 1, and while I can't probably blame goal tending for this one, it does not much matter as they are still finished. Along with that, other than some interest in Pittsburgh goes my interest in the playoffs overall. Hurry up, and award the Cup, and move on.

Cornwall - as part of my tour up and down Highway 401, I ended up spending a night in Cornwall. Having not really paid much attention to Cornwall in the past and not even sure that I had ever stayed there before, I found it a somewhat interesting place. While it was nice and clean with a lot of older style homes, I had forgotten how close it was to the Indian reservation as well as the United States border with all of the challenges that presents. Other than the cigarette smuggling that I think everyone is aware of, I was not really aware of the fact that there are a lot of people smuggled back and forth over the border, typically more coming north than south. The suggestion, is that is not really the "Indians" that are behind this, but rather, organized crime from Montréal. Montréal being less than an hour’s drive from Cornwall.

Driving the 401 back back on Friday night, was also a real treat as you hit all of the traffic across the north side of Toronto in the rain. It seems like it started in Oshawa and was steady all the way through. My sympathies to anyone who has to do this every day. It was almost a relief to bail on my companion at Leslie and Shepperd and rejoin the TTC and GO networks.

Taser times -- I think most of us probably saw the news articles on the fan at the Philadelphia Phillies ballgame that was tasered as he ran on the field. The follow-up is that apparently a spectator at the players golf championship was tasered as well for being disorderly and resisting arrest, probably because of intoxication. I would hate to think that this is now becoming the preferred measure for crowd control at sporting events, with what can be very dangerous weapons in the hands of rent a cops

Keep an eye on this -- while it is still news, it seems that the current oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is being somewhat downplayed in the media. This spill is a very serious matter and has put BP in a position where it looks like they have no immediate answers as to how to cap the well and stop the spill. Besides costing them millions of dollars to attempt to stop the leak and deal with all the clean-up and losses, the oil that has already escaped into the gulf is causing significant problems and will continue to do so over time as more is added. As it is now, the first containment box attempt has failed and BP is not commenting on next steps. The well is pouring about 210,000 gallons of crude oil into the golf every day with millions of readers already released since April 20 when the incident started. "Balls" of tar are now starting to show up on the coast and impact wildlife.

Exactly what happened, and why BP was unable to originally cap the well as part of emergency shutdown is being kept very quiet. The cost to the environment from this spill will be enormous as well as the impact on the local economy on the Gulf Coast, especially the fishing industry with shrimp being a prime item that is affected. BP's stock has already taken a hit and in the scheme of things the total cost to them for this incident could very easily have a material effect on their business. Will they survive it?

For perspective, there is some conversation that suggests BP should build 68 km of fake islands to protect the coast from spreading oil spills and, or recognizing that hurricane season is coming. It could also lead to a variety of investigations and, or additional regulations that could drive up production costs and create additional speculation in the futures market -- i.e. more expensive gas. Just what we need.

Tiger trouble -- so much for being a superhero. First, there is surgery to deal with knee problems, then there is head shrinking to deal with personal problems, and now Tiger has pulled out of the players championship because of a sore neck which may be a disc problem in his back. Not the type of experience he has been used to. Guess what, I think it looks good on him.

The $$$$$ of Hockey – Round 5 - as part of my continuing attempt to quantify and qualify the cost to play minor hockey, especially at the house league level, I have been trying to quantify for folks the items that overall have the most impact in compiling the expenses that need to be covered with registration fees. For a number five, I have chosen to comment on honorariums. Over the years, the MOHA has elected to create honorariums for different positions and roles. From an officer level, the president, treasurer, and two VPs, house league and town rep, are awarded honorary and for their contributions in time to hear. All honorary were prorated on a per player basis Tuesday budgets involved -- i.e. house league or town rep. What this meant, was that house league players paid approximately 87% of the president and treasurer's honorariums as roughly 87% of the registrations were for house league players. The honorariums for EVP of Housley was allocated 100% to the house league budget as were the honorariums that were paid to the individual house league conveners to support their role.

League conveners received an honorarium equal to $60 per team in their division. In effect, they would receive $360 for a six team division. At $60 per team and with 16 players per team the cost per player for the convener honorarium was $3.75. Add to this the cost to cover the relevant portion of officers honorariums as well as the cost of other honorariums paid to individuals like the senior convener, the referee scheduler, the timekeeper scheduler, the clinic coordinator, and the equipment manager and the total cost of honorariums to house league was approximately $36,000. With about 3,500 house league players, the burden for honorariums for all of the support individuals for house league worked out to less than $10 per player ($35,808 / 3,632 = $9.86).

People can argue the merits of paying or not paying honorariums to volunteers. However, in this day and age, it is becoming more and more difficult to find people who are willing to provide volunteer services at any “cost”. Anyone who has a concern about providing this funding to either the individuals involved as conveners or to directors or officers of the Association, should sit down and figure out what this translates to on an hourly basis and recognize people are not really being paid to do the job. That's different from a salaried employee in the Association or actual game fees paid to timekeepers or referee.

With these six items, a big chunk of the annual expenses have been covered and we are now at total of $383.05. Stay tuned for more.

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May 5 - being busy at work is really starting to cramp my style. Today, was another case in point as my plans to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at a very nice Mexican restaurant close to the office got torpedoed by several other priorities that basically did in lunch plans in general. It's tough when you lose an opportunity to celebrate another French defeat as even the Mexican militia managed to do them in. The good news, is that there is enough of these events that won't be long before I can substitute another.

Having said that, my on-again off-again blogging schedule is going to take another hit this week as I will be on the road (literally) for Thursday and Friday. Chances are I will not have any access Thursday night, and if I did I'd have to go back Live Spacing as I would have to work off of my office notebook. Net, net -- it will not be happening thing. Given that I will be coming home Friday night to a house full of guests -- preparatory to the Saturday hosting of Becky's baby shower, my chance of posting anything this week border on slim to nil.

Playoffs -- from a Detroit fan perspective, I think it is safe to say that things came unglued in the third period last night. While I hate to see it happening to my team, this round of the playoffs is demonstrating very convincingly what I believe to be a truism in hockey. Essentially, a team goes nowhere in the playoffs without goaltending, and goaltending can take a team everywhere in the playoffs. Case in point was last night’s game for Detroit where a strong start and aggressive offense disappeared when the team lost confidence in their goaltender -- some questionable labor calls didn't help, but after Howard gave up the first goal which was not the best, it was almost as if Detroit was playing to try and protect their goaltender as opposed to winning the game. The tying goal in the third period, which even I could have stopped, took the heart out of the team. There is no way Detroit comes out of this series regardless of how San Jose plays because they do not believe there goalie can win it for them. To be really silly they may turn around and start Osgood in game four.

On the other hand consider Montréal, where a team that has no business being in the second round has won a game against Pittsburgh. I don't know what the total shots were but one stat that stuck with me from yesterday was the Montréal had three shots in the second. And yet after two the game was still tied 0 - 0. In a nutshell playoff goaltending, and the team that knows who's behind the. The offense is not lighting up the rink, as they wait for garbage goals, but the defense is playing well and it has proven almost impossible to beat Halat. Montréal will go down, but they're making a credible showing him doing.

End of an era -- as someone who grew up in southwestern Ontario, near Stratford, and listened to the Tigers religiously on WJR Detroit, it isn't possible to do anything but have great memories of Ernie Harwell. Ernie was the voice of the Tigers through thick and thin for as long as I could remember growing up. Harwell started his pro ball broadcasting with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1948 when he took over from an ailing Red Barber. After stints with both the Giants and the Orioles, Ernie ended up in Detroit in 1960 where he stayed until 1991 when a misplaced football guy named “Bo” temporarily forced him out, but he returned until 2002 when he packed it in after 55 years behind the mic. Many's the night I would sit up by the radio (a tube version if anyone can remember those) scoring the game on homemade score sheets cheering for my beloved Tigers based on Ernie's calls.

Harwell passed away May 4^th at the age of 92. Here is a shot of him in action in the booth at good old Brigg’s / Tiger Stadium (also now long gone) – I remember those lovely “view obstructed” seats (great pillars) when watching Kaline – Colavito – Cash in the batting order.

They don’t make them like this anymore.

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May 4 - Nine o'clock at night is not the time to start working on a blog. However, when you have other things to complete that take a higher priority you don't have much choice. Therefore, tonight's pitch will be pretty light. Based on the hour, my mind set, and the fact that I'm trying to watch two hockey games at once while dictating this suggests that you may not get my best thinking. However, both my Blackhawks and Bruins won yesterday and at the moment both Detroit and Pittsburgh are winning as well. If that holds up, it would be a nice 4 for 4.

Goalies -- as a teaser yesterday, I suggested that I would comment on the goalie restriction that the MOHA is apparently applying to this year's registration -- for house league. This is a challenging situation and arguments can be made for both sides but I personally disagree with applying a registration quota for goalies on a first come first served basis depending on the number of teams.

Part of my underlying rationale for an open registration, other than it is the right thing to do, is that as a coach, convener, or league executive I always believed that there were two things you could not balance for: coaches abilities and the quality of goaltending (ask the mayor). In a tiered system such as Oakville it is important that the more developed or skilled goalies are provided with the opportunity to play on a higher division team. It is better for them, it is better for their teammates and it is better for the quality of the league. Under a restricted registration policy, in a 18 team division with six red, six white and six blue teams, only the first 18 players in that age group registering as goalies will be accepted. If some of the "better" goalie's -- read their parents -- are slow to register, they may not get a chance to play goal at all or, if they are placed on a waiting list typically they would not get in until after at least the initial draft for the red level teams. In that case, if people follow through on what they claim to be doing, you will have weaker goalies drafted to red level teams which will cause all kinds of competitive grief throughout the season while stronger goalies lose the chance to either play, or play at the level they deserve.

Tagging goalie registration this way, is simply a convenience to the administrators as opposed to what is best for kids. You may not agree with that, but think it through, understand the impact this could have, and see if you still think any the same way. The other question, is what happens at the younger age groups where historically we have tried to provide as many kids who wanted the opportunity to play goal with that option -- we even provide the equipment. If these younger players apply saying they would like to play goal does that mean they get counted in the quota, or is there a magic cutoff age that's going to be determined where it's only after that point that the rules apply.

Heading off on another tangent, it seems that there is much ado about the MOHA celebrating 50 years this season. Clearly a big golf tournament is the preferred recognition. While I understand times are changing, or is that commitment is changing, it is interesting to note that for the first 50 years it was not deemed necessary to restrict goalie registration and somehow we manage to muddle through. In fairness, I know that it has been difficult for convenors in some situations to try to deal with extra goalies at certain age groups. I guess the question becomes would you like the challenge of having to try to work with some type of system that splits time or would you rather not play at all.

Of course, similar to so many other things, nobody will care unless all of a sudden they become the individual who gets hit by the change. Then they will care, but it won't matter because they will be on the outside looking in with no voice in the decision. Never mind what's right, let's look at what's the easiest, and you know what a couple of disgruntled people won't matter. goalie parents - pay quick!!!

Non-residents -- another interesting addition to the registration process is a supplemental charge of $150 for nonresident registrations. At first glance, the reaction is -- good idea -- if they don't live in Oakville let's make them pay more to play here. The likely thinking, is also that -- well -- it likely only applies to Rep players anyway so who cares.

WRONG! This is actually just another money grab and another way of controlling or limiting registration. Instead of the foregoing think about it this way. Hockey teams, in house league, have 16 players per team. Sometimes people aren't considerate enough to register in the correct numbers so that you have an even number of teams that are exactly filled at 16. Sometimes you have more. Sometimes you have less. In fact it never works out evenly and that's where waiting lists come in, or where we used to move late registrant / wait list players up and down in age groups to get the most players on the ice and have the most teams that we could. Our objective was to get all the kids out with a chance to play not to conveniently fill a predetermined number of teams. We often added teams within days of the kids actually hitting the ice. What that also allowed us to do was work with surrounding centers such as Burlington and Milton to either allow some of our players to go there or some of their players to come to Oakville to play. Otherwise they would not have had that opportunity and in many cases would end up not having anywhere to play. Now, with the extra $150 for these foreigners and recognizing that these last-minute decisions would take place after the late registration cutoff, the cabal will now have the opportunity to set a new high in registration fees - $745. Unreal!!

 ($495 “Early” + $50 more in June, + $50 more after June, + $150 foreigner fee = $745.) - check the site

That will probably guarantee none of this horse trading takes place and make sure no out of towners show up to help fill out teams that by the way lets other Oakville kids on a wait list play. But since there is a neat predetermined list of teams nobody cares anyway. Thinking of the kids once again!

Chapter two of talking to myself given that probably no one else understands this, or cares.

AGM – by the way – info on this is starting to show up. More later.

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May 3 – Hockey off-season can often provide a challenge to dredge up stories that have some chance of being considered either interesting or relevant. Often interesting occurs only because they are so dumb. However in any case I have two hockey items today that are probably better reading than hearing about my water closet adventures – (I did get it fixed).

On the What’s next? front – it is not black, it is not blue, it does not have a flame trail – it’s the new IIHF Green Puck developed as part of their anti-doping education campaign and it will be used in “practices” for some of the upcoming World Championship. Imprinted on the green disc is the mighty (overused) slogan – “Say No”. OK – I am saying NO – I don’t like it. Article.

#2 – To Check or not to Check – That is the question - that continues to get coverage. The “not to check” camp seems to be getting the favourable slant as the coming world, at least according to my jaundiced view on coverage – to whit – today’s article in the Globe & Mail about the Toronto Non Contact Hockey League that is expanding by popular demand for the 2010/11 season.   Article This group is one to watch as potentially a bell weather of things to come. They were at the Toronto Star sponsored summit meeting on violence in hockey a while back that I attended – clearly with the support of the Star – less so from John and his GTHA crew. The TNCHL is not a GTHL member and is not sanctioned by them or any conventional minor hockey governing body. As per Hockey Canada “rules” – this makes them an Outlaw League, Similar to the Stratford Rotary League I have discussed earlier. Of interest though, Bob Nicholson. President of Hockey Canada is quoted as saying

“Hockey Canada is looking at all ways to get these groups involved through our branches,”

He carefully seemed to want to avoid any of the negative “Outlaw” perspective but also seems to want to protect the minor hockey empire and gain jurisdiction over this type of league. As more and more of these leagues crop up – and in today’s “anti-violence” and “It costs too much” social fabric they will, it is a multi-faceted whammy for Hockey Canada and via trickle down the regional governing bodies (OHF – OMHA/GTHL) and then too local association like the local cabal. A lot of players can very quickly exit the formal system to play “fun” hockey some where else – take Oakville’s Original Six league as another example. Loss of critical mass as kids enter another options, Loss of control as they are not in your chain of command. Competition for resources – players – ice time – coaches - zebras. Lost revenue – that will hurt - The picture can get pretty complicated and pretty ugly pretty quickly.

Simplistically on the Check / No Check front, I am a dinosaur. I grew up with checking as part of the game from day one whether we were playing shinny at noon on the local pond or organized in a rink. To me it is part of the game. The difference is that we played with checking to separate the player from the puck – not to separate the player from his head or various other body parts and that is where the game has gone today and it is not for the better. The sight of a 6’ 4” – 240 ld. Defenseman lining up to unload on a railroad tracks suicide pass recipient to the cheers and accolades of his team mates is wrong. Again being simplistic, it did not used to happen the way it does now for a couple of reasons – 1. – Players had more respect for each other – it was a league of sports athletes not qazillionaire sports-business scions and 2. the instigator rule – you can’t sent the sheriff out to mete out justice. If people wanted to better mange checking they easily could – lay down the ground rules, train the coaches, players and officials and call the penalties – with escalation for repeat offenders – throw them out of the game - league - sport. Let them take up MMA if they are that into violence and where they will wind up battling against kindred spirits who fight back?

Now that I have displayed my affinity with Don Cherry (although he is a much better dresser), I will admit I expect things to go the way of the no check wimps, if for no other reason than to avoid lawsuits in our litigious world. It is the old story – you can never go home again and it is a different game.

NHL – San Jose has got the “choke” monkey off of their back which I think makes them a differe4nt team. With Marleau back and home ice advantage which they have taken advantage of, I think my poor old Red Wings are in deep Doo Doo. Check the season record SJ is a good team.

Montreal - is on borrowed time. One win does not a series win and I do not anticipate lightning striking twice. The Caps took the bolt. The Pens are just to good. Six at most. However, before I give up, Detroit just needs to win their home games and 1 of 2 in SJ.

Others – don’t really care about the other two series they are just filler to get to the final fourbut just out of interest, would like to see Boston and Chicago win (old time hockey – original 6.

Take the Quiz – Here a link to an online USA Coaching Quiz. They are promoting their certification process by running an on-line quiz of 5 questions that you can answer on line and then they email you the correct answers with an explanation. I did it, got 3 of 5 correct but would argue my answers to the other two were right – especially the one. Here’s the link http://www.americancoachingacademy.com/iq.html

GO Transit. - Clarkson Station is a mess at night coming home. They have reduced the number of exits to the south lot, creating all kinds of bottlenecks, promoting over crowding in the cattle cars that “stop” (usually) close to the functioning exits and encouraging people to bring out their pushy, ego centric selves. They must be going for a world record as tonight they had “clicker boy” out counting us as we squeezed through the exit. Do I hear a Health and Safety complaint coming?

Off to the TV – it is close to game time - MOHA has a blurb on registration and restricting goalie registrations! More on that later.

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May 2 - The way my schedule is looking for the next little while at least, I had better post when post can. I have been too busy on a variety of fronts to even watch much hockey. In a way that is OK as I am now really interested in two series - My Wings for obvious reasons (I cheer for them remember - unlike Torontonians I do not have to adopt a playoff team) and the Penguins as I like to see Sid do well and I would like a Wings Penguins final as a tie-breaker - although I must say on balance the Pens look stronger.

Just for fun, my picks for the four series are Pittsburgh (slam dunk), Detroit (heart speaking as San Jose is better than they are given credit for), Canucks (cheating a bit after watching part of game 1, they are on a mission and much as I do not like Luongo if he stays hot the Hawks are golfing) and Boston (you gotta like the Bean Town boys and lunchbox mentality - besides, on principle, I can't pick Philly). Given I went 4 for 8 in the "fun" round with some entertaining long shot picks, I don't think I did too bad.

The $$$$$ of Hockey – Round 4– Let's see! We have paid our dues to Big Brother (aka Hockey Canada, OHF, OMHA etc.), We have paid for our ice and we have covered referees and timekeepers. What's next? Oh yeah, we need a stunning wardrobe - the Pirates, the Knights, the Eagles and all those other catchy names. As part of their registration fees, players are provided with a team sweater and socks.

When I was summarily executed, we had finished a formal RFP process for uniforms for the next three years so I believe these numbers should be a reasonable reflection of House League socks and sweaters. I cannot speak to Rep as a number of weird and wonderful things have gone on there. However, sticking with the Peewee mindset, Sweaters were about $16.99 for "Adult" sizes - which the Peewees were in and socks were a mix of Youth @ $7.79 and Adult @ $7.99. go with the expensive gusto and socks and sweater (pre-tax) add up to $24.98 per player. There are some funny tax issues on "kids clothes" but assume the worst and add the new HST at 13% and the new total is $28.23 which I have added to my running table total (see above). With fees, ice, officials and uniforms, we are now at $373.19.

BUT - don't forget from the "uniform" perspective - the attempt is to secure sponsorship for each team at $500 per pop. If the team / organization does a good job and gets that sponsorship (as they should) the $500 works out to $31.25 and "wipes out" this registration player expense attributed to uniforms!

What were ya thinkin' - Just to wrap it up as the "Honey Do" list has gone vocal you have to wonder what gets into some peoples alleged minds. A video (since pulled) on the questionable value YOUTube showed a dressing room of 10 year old hockey players in Humbouldt, Saskatchewan being encouraged to display, promote and drink beer! Yes - I did say 10 year olds! Guess what, the assistant coach and parent (treasurer) involved have both been suspended indefinitely - ya think! Here's a link to the brief blurb that I suspect all involved are busy trying to make go away. Reminds me of a local escapade - think Tykes - Awards Week - Dressing Room - Champagne! What were they thinkin'!

Sad State - let's see, Greece going broke, Gulf of Mexico polluted - no shrimp, dead birds and an excuse to jack oil prices, Terrorist bomb vehicles in New York City near Time Square and Polar Bears making out with Grizzlies what is this world coming to. I though it was bad enough that I was on a one week countdown until baby shower at Wayne's house next Saturday (fix / move / clean / set-up / take down - Get Out!) and then they throw in all these other distractions. YIKES!

To Close - No one should be able to do this! It hurts just to look at it!

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