September

Sept 30 – Another month / quarter comes to an end. Ongoing chorus of –“it’s hard to believe Q3 is over – where does the time go?”

Another sign of approaching winter weather – GO Transit (dis)service.

Most of the summer – not too bad, but now. . .

Sunday I had to GO downtown – 35 minutes late – not a busy day, not a lot of trains ? ? ?

This morning – I usually grab the 7:03 AM express from Clarkson to Union.

I get to the station and the announcements / fun starts

The 7:03 express is running 25 minutes late – next train will be the 7:13 all stops – GO Regrets. . .

Wait – wait – wait. . .

Stand back of the yellow line a high speed train is coming through

The 7:03 will not be stopping at Clarkson

Train zooms through – it is the 7:03 express – does not stop

7:13 local shows up 15 minutes late

The train arriving on track 2 is your 7:13 all stops to Union – running late – GO apologizes for any inconvenience – yada yada yada.

I finally get in about 40 minutes later than usual – welcome to GO Transit!

Typical GO (dis)service as they do not seem to care about either schedules or customers.

Those of us that have to use GO can only fume at the problems.

Just wait until the weather really gets bad!

The US “slam dunk” Bail Out” bill rims out. The simple calculation – a $700 Billion potential support bill is dumped, so the market takes over 1 Trillion dollars of “value” out of the economy (that’s a 1 with nine trailing zeros, unless you mean the European trillion that has 12 – a million million). Only in America.  Now the pols can wait a few days, tinker with the bill and pass it proclaiming they have addressed some major flaws (that really don’t exist). How much of the $1 Trillion comes back?

Leafs beat the “all star” Blues in a shoot-out with Schenn scoring the winner. If it happens again, there won’t be an issue of him making the big club – he’ll be the new captain! If Sid the Kid can do it, why can’t he?

Speaking of captains. . .

Vancouver has to do everything different! They must be Leaf wanadees. The Canucks named Luongo their team captain – a goalie. Don’t these guys read the rule book? Yes he can be named the captain, but as a goalie he can not wear the “C” and therefore limits his on-ice “negotiating” with zebras. He must be a great “room” guy.

Hockey – the stories they keep on coming (and getting filed away). It seems that accusations I suggested be stopped are still being circulating as excuses 1 through 10. If it continues, it is going to generate some additional blog content and potentially additional action.

Today in History Jimmy Dean bought the farm when he piled up his Porsche 550 Spyder nicknamed “little bastard” en route to a race in Salinas. In a truth is stranger than fiction, Dean won a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for East of Eden – supposedly beating out Paul Newman for the role – Newman just passed away last weekend at 83 after an exceptional career – including Slapshot but I liked the Hanson Bros. better “old time hockey” – I’ve got the DVD, maybe I will watch it again tonight.

From another “sporting” perspective, in 1927 Babe Ruth hit his 60^th home run for the season. A mark that was not passed until Maris hit 61 in 61 and started the great “asterisk” controversy and almost put Roger into the nut house – the stress was so bad his hair was falling out.

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Sept 27 – An early post to make up for yesterday and possibly to deal with tomorrow as well.

First of all, congratulations to the Oakville Beaver. While always a challenge to get any local hockey news covered, especially House League, it appears that the Beaver has discovered its own area of excellence - a wrapper for flyers / junk mail.

This Friday’s edition may have established a category record by enclosing no less than 38 separate come-ons. The count may be off as I don’t know if family members pre-empted any and I ran out of fingers and toes. While we all face the “Green” monster (not the wall in Fenway but the ecology word), you have to wonder how many trees get sacrificed each week so some paperboy person can get a herniated disk. However, in fairness, I must admit I looked at nine (three for competitive reasons, four as a propeller head looking for something, 1 – Sobeys – to scout out the new “Club Sobeys” and 1 – Bulk Barn to see if they had some great snacks on sale – Yeah – chocolate covered almonds – 25% off). I did not read the paper and yes, my Canadian Tire flyer is one of the culprits.

Leafs Blow Lead!

Just practicing for the season headlines, but oh so true. I know preseason games really don’t count for much but nobody (other than the blue and white) likes to lose. The lead-up to the playoffs soon starts (that’s all the season is) and it will be interesting to see how “bad” or good they end up being. I still feel pretty smug about my Wings so we will see how that goes. The interesting thing about the Leafs and last night’s game was that Luke Schenn got a goal and the winds are now blowing towards possibly keeping him with the “big club”. Give the kid a break and don’t cook him. The plan, and a good one appeared to be at least one more year of seasoning. Bring him up for spot duty or whatever but give the kid a chance to transition. In today’s NHL life is tough enough for a seasoned D without getting some kid smoked and destroying his confidence. Enough wasted ink on the buds.

Coaches helping Coaches – next Saturday, Oct. 4

Hope to see you there. Have not seen an agenda yet but for you greedy folks here are the prizes you could have won if you registered before September 26 – I did and I am winning the Detroit tickets if I win anything else, come see me and we can see about a team fund raiser!

2 Pairs of tickets for the Tim Hortons Private Box vs. Detroit on October 4, 2008
1 Lunch & Learn with a member of the Leafs coaching staff
1 Signed Curtis Joseph jersey
1 Teamed signed stick

The Blue Jays' season is finally coming to a close which will free up more space in the sports section for Leaf stories – Aaaarrrrgghhh. Someday we may find out why Cito can’t get a job as manager anywhere but Toronto. I mean he only won two World Series which is two more than a lot of the other so called “better” managers. The good news for the Jays is they have signed him for another two years. I think he does a good job, which probably means he won’t last the two years. Will firing him be enough to keep the wolves from JP’s door?

HRCA?

Interesting and hopefully positive news out of the consortium formed by the Hockey Hall of Fame, Lakeshore Lions, the Leafs, Hockey Canada and the City of Toronto. Not sure how this group could ever agree on anything – especially with some past history, but the establishment of an expanded and hopefully more accessible “Hockey Resource Centre & Archives” is a great thing. I am not going to cough up $2,000 personally  for a puck, but this is something that Oakville should both investigate and get hooked up with ASAP as there stands to be long term benefits here. There, I have broken one of my cardinal rules and suggested something positive that the cabal should do.

Some of you may remember the “Centre of Excellence” program that used to exist in Toronto (still does in other Canadian centres) that went down in flames a number of years back because everyone would not play nice. I’ll have to track Brian down and see what his take is on this – I’m sure he will have an opinion and I suspect none of you have a clue what I’m talking about.

Forty-four years ago today (that’s 1964 for you math challenged individuals), the Warren Commission released its report determining no conspiracy in the JFK assassination and that both Oswald and Ruby acted alone. There were no gunmen on the grassy knoll. Clearly a cover-up as Oliver Stone unearthed the true facts.

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Sept 25 – Once again I have survived a trek to the coast. However next time I will do my own travel arrangements. Normally I do but since I plugged myself into this trip at the last minute for a number of reasons, I let my colleague do it.

My plan was to fly out Tuesday afternoon and fly back Thursday noonish. That would give me two evenings to enjoy a couple of Halifax dinners, one at the Five Fishermen, an old favourite and one at Salty’s – a recommended new experience.

I presumed this would work fine as I expected to be staying in beautiful downtown Halifax – walking distance for the fun and fine dining.

NOT!

Unbeknownst to me my outbound flight was booked for 7:45 PM TO time getting me into Halifax airport at almost 11:00 PM local. A tad late for day 1 plan for fine dining. Oh well, thought I would just get the hotel, grab some room service and sack out.

Problem!

I had been booked into this wonderful new _____ hotel in rural Dartmouth. Looks like it will be a reasonable spot – when it is done. No Food! My room was a wonderful mini suite that came complete with two HDTVs and the permeating odour of construction, drying plaster and drywall. It’s now 11:45 PM local and I need to be up at 5:00 AM local (4:00 AM body) so I just chalked it up to experience and sacked out.

Day 2

As I crawled into the site the next day expecting to be able to lounge around and play the Grand Poobah, prior to heading off for at least one fine dinner, I found out we were short staffed, police were not coming to support traffic control and the site was on the busiest street in town – maybe that’s why they called it “Main Street”- Duh! So much for the stand around plans. By the time I shut it down at 7:30 and got things wrapped-up, I was on my feet for 14 hours, could not feel my ankles, knees or hips but could sure feel my back! Did I mention I didn’t bother with a hat or sunscreen so if nothing else, I did get the true maritime look – “Lobster Boy”.

Scratch dinner 2

Given the time and my aching bod, I headed back to the motel boonies (had my cabby stop and pick up a six pack – I had gone native) and had my late dinner out of a can (Heineken) while I watched the Pens stomp the Leafs. I found out that I could have gone next door to a local “happenin” place called “The Rodeo” complete with a mechanical bull but decided discretion was the better part of valour (since I could hardly walk anyway). I didn’t think they still had these as the last one I saw was in Dallas over 10 years ago (and no I did not ride it then either).

The flight back was relatively uneventful other then using an “e-boarding pass” look gate person – no paper.

So, the next time someone tells you how wonderful it is to travel – just look at them and laugh.

In support of us old guys, today in 1965, Satchel Paige at the age of 59 pitched three innings for KC against the Boston Red Sox (he only gave up one hit – Yaz hit a double. Before the game he sat in the dugout in a rocking chair while a nurse rubbed liniment into his pitching arm.

Now time to see what’s up since I left town and rub some liniment into my face.

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Sept 22 – The best laid plans – off to the East Coast we go.

Last time I hit New Brunswick – tomorrow I’m off to Nova Scotia – Dartmouth bound. Somebody almost got me into deep kaka with the regulators and since I am not partial to horizontal stripes, I scheduled myself out to make sure it doesn’t happen.

It also gives me a good excuse to visit what used to be and I hope still is one of my favourite Halifax restaurants – The Five Fishermen”. There is supposed to be another equal or better down in the harbor so maybe I will have to try both. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

It probably means I will be going off air until Thursday or Friday so save up those good stories. Everyone should be too busy to worry anyway at this time of year.

Leafs pre-season starts tonight against Buffalo on the Coca Cola “free ticket” night. Someone has finally ascribed the appropriate value to these games. The trick will be – how many names do you recognize in the line-up and can Buffalo ice a weak enough team to make it interesting.

Trying to figure out what a $15 dollar a barrel jump in crude is going to do to gas prices (they are going down 1.4 cpl tomorrow despite this). The market did not like the US government’s bail-out plan and went running for cover – oil is seen as an essential commodity and apparently is now a hedge option instead of a demand driven item. Makes my life interesting.

Anyway – time to pack.

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Sept 21 – As your favourite US Political Correspondent I feel it is important that I keep you informed on important election issues. Take note – just reported McCain has 13 cars, Obama 1 (including spousal registrations). As a “gas man”, I have to support McCain on this issue. Besides that, Obama has a hybrid! Stay tuned for additional key insights.

On the domestic front it is still pretty hard to even find an issue to poke fun at.

A number of folks have commented on my “draft” post. Mostly favourable. An aspect that I probably gave short shift was “parent” impact on selections and parents need to have a realistic view of their child’s ability.

On the first aspect, besides a parent being known as a “pain in the a__”, (and some of you truly are) which in and of itself can end up being the reason why a child is not picked for a team or level, it is also important to realize that a “bad” parent can be a “cancer” to a team environment and impact not just their son/daughter and their relations with the coaching staff, but it can easily spill over into the entire team and the other 15 participants and their families. In cases like this where it becomes a choice between two similar ability youngsters, I don’t fault any coach for making the non-aggravating choice.

To the second aspect, drafts are very challenging for all involved. Minor differences, real or perceived can make the difference between a player being chosen at the “higher” level or not. For people who watch different levels, it is easy to suggest the lower 25% of one level and the top 25% (or pick a number) of the “lower” level could easily be interchangeable. When drafting their team, the coach looking to fill his last “couple” of spots is trying to round out his “line-up – does he need forwards or defense? Does he need someone from the left side or right side? Is he looking for someone who he knows pairs up well with someone he already has? Does he need someone who he knows is a high energy, “team” player. For your 14 – 16^th choices, it is fair to say that items other than “current” pure ability will make a difference.

For kids who didn’t get selected where they felt they should, there is no doubt that it is a difficult situation. Kids can be cruel, and schoolyard gibes are inappropriate, no fun but impossible to avoid.

My advice was always:

•  Life is not always fair.

•  Don’t quit and let them have the satisfaction.

•  Go out and prove them wrong. It is amazing how often situations get resolved – some spots often do open up.

•  You are playing house league hockey – go out and have fun.

•  Be the big fish in the smaller pond as compared to a little fish in the big pond.

At the end of the day it is often the parent(s) who make a bigger deal out of the situation by turning it into the injustice of the century as compared to the player who will often quickly “get over it” go out and have fun and a great season. Ripleys Mooreheads – “Believe it or Not”.

The next couple of weeks will be interesting as it leads into the next challenge – balancing!

Football note – the latest “Where’s Waldo” challenge is trying to find an Argo fan. As the Star headlined – “Argos crushed in Cowtown”. 34 – 4 in the CFL makes “crushing” a polite understatement – any thoughts on how long Matthews lasts?

Arrrrgooooooos!

Moving on to baseball,

We have an event that will figure in future “today in history” features. Today will be the last ballgame played in Yankee stadium. I don’t think there is a more iconic sports venue left in North America that has the same panache as “the House that Ruth built”. The “monumental” events and history of this park are unmatched, Larsen’s perfect world series game, Al Gionfriddo's catch of a DiMaggio drive in the 1947 World Series, Lou Gehrig’s “luckiest man alive” goodbye, Maris’ 61^st in 61 and on and on and on.

I was lucky enough to hit this stadium a couple of times and while it may not have had some of the Fenway features or Wrigley Ivy, it was clearly Mecca for baseball. Despite it’s faults – seats too narrow, pricey, some lousy sight lines, it was still an experience. Regardless, next year I will have an excuse to hit NY again to check out the new stadium.

By the way, I HATE THE YANKEES – They have had an unbelievable 20+ percent of ALL World Series games played there!!

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Sept 19 – Time for a hockey topic. I have had folks ask me if there are lawsuits pending since I have not commented much on hockey lately.

I post a story – I am being self centred, petty and vindictive. I don’t post a story and I am being uncaring, guilty by gossip and chicken. Interesting options.

Soooo!

Beware the Ides of March September! It’s not Shakespeare and Julius Caesar but it is unfortunately a traumatic time for many people.

Patience is short

Tempers are shorter and

Long standing friendships are on the skids.

Why?

The “Draft” – House League’s annual challenge of selecting players into levels (Red, White, Blue) and onto teams within levels.

 (Quick aside, - as VP when someone said my “friend” called / dropped by, whatever, my immediate and unfortunately oh too true response was – “I have no friends” (– only potential enemies or enemies-in-waiting))

There are still people in Oakville who I used to consider “friends” who will not even talk to me (cursing does not count) because I did not draft their son 10 or 15 years ago.

99+ percent of the time, players should end up at an appropriate level. However, that does not happen by accident.

What needs to happen is essentially very straight forward – remember this is my opinion, based on a reasonable amount of experience.

• Well thought out, “honest” and complete ratings need to be assembled for all players from the prior year and made available to the coaches.

• Coaches need to be sensitive to the contents of these ratings as they are not fodder for schoolyard conversations with the coach’s kid and his buddies.

• Draft lists need to be complete and provide the most up to date info on players, especially if there are specific issues involved – change in position, preferred level, domestic challenges etc.

• Wait lists (which should be short or preferably non existent) are managed down as much as possible before the draft and not after.

• Strong and experienced league administrators from convenors on up, are actively involved in the draft, recognize potential problem situations and deal with these problems or issues proactively in the draft itself – often by saying “No”.

• Players and drafting coaches need to attend the evaluation / practice skates to take a good look at all the players who have not yet been drafted, are new to the system or who for whatever reason were not rated or were potentially “improperly” rated last season.

• Coaches need to understand that it is in everyone’s best interests to have the “right” kids playing at the right level and that open sharing of information through the draft process is the way to do this and will lead to a better fit for all players, more balanced teams, leagues and a more challenging playing environment.

• Coaches need to avoid the “buddy” system syndrome and pick the best players that are available at the time

• Pick the kid – not the parent. That’s who you are there for – a problem parent can be dealt with – don’t punish the kid.

• Limited “protected players” – Allowing more protected players solidifies problems, builds the cliques and makes problems harder to avoid or solve. Allowing three or more protected players on a House League team can easily create a nucleus that is hard to beat and takes away from the experience for everyone in the league that comes up against “the Juggernaut”.

• Think of the kids first – there are times when a player will and should move down a level. However, it should be the exception, not the rule. It should be recognized at the time and with an ability to speak to the “reason why” to a concerned parent or the player him or herself. It also needs to be handled properly and with empathy.

To the extent that these criteria are not followed or managed ineffectively, the process breaks down. Problems after the draft are difficult (if not impossible) to fix after the fact. While you may be all excited about telling a youngster he or she is moving up, by then the offset is you are turning around and telling someone – “sorry, we were just kidding – you aren’t good enough to be there”. The player moving up also knows he wasn’t “picked” there but got shoved in. Not a pleasant situation.

From my experience, the biggest dangers to the process are:

1. Poor or potentially intentionally misleading player ratings.

2. Coach selection on the “buddy basis”, especially a coach moving up a level who feels he will bring half of last year’s team along with him and

3. Poorly managed drafts where coaches and, or league officials don’t work together effectively, share knowledge or “force” decisions – e.g., how does it happen that one of the top players at his position one year does not get drafted the next.

While other factors impact as well, these are my “Big Three”.

MOHA has historically supported the premise that “coaches pick their teams” (Town Rep and House League). However that is tempered by the expectation that players are picked in the hierarchy they fit – not by who they know, what sponsorship or money they can bring or whether someone has an issue with their parent(s).

The unfortunate fact is that this behaviour drives kids out of the game when they need to stay in. It teaches kids the wrong side of the “do as I say not as I do” truism and is indefensible when the situation is clear cut.

Having experienced the negative side of this behaviour first hand, it is an area that I was and am keenly sensitive to and it is disappointing to see that it appears to be alive and well.

Recognizing that you will never please everyone, people have suggested other “systems”. All have their +’s and –‘s. I continue to believe a well run draft system for experienced players is the best way to go. However, that process can go south in a hurry.

Good luck to all you kids and parents out there. I hope you are not on the wrong side of the ledger.

By the way - Gas is now going up almost 5 cents tonight - Go figure!

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Sept 17 – For those of you who apparently want to understand gas prices – good luck and let me know when you do as we can make meeeellions.

Case in point today, NYMEX crude October futures, not to be confused with the cash market reversed its decline and was up 4+ dollars US a barrel today. The second step in the food chain RBOB or reformulated gasoline base (used to produce the E10 Ethanol blend prevalent in southern Ontario) was up 6 cents per US gallon – roughly +2 Canadian a litre. So far so good, that holds together – so today’s rack price (what you pay when you show up with a tanker and have access to a refiner terminal) went down 6.2 cents per litre (approx 20 cents per gallon). Tomorrow with the factored out impact of GST your friendly Toronto gas prices will "likely" be down 6.5 cpl to about $1.198. If you don’t believe me, listen to the radio or watch TV or wait and see but unless you are one of the many people I dislike – don’t buy gas tonight.

Marketing and retail is supposedly a relatively scientific and predictable business – right – not so the retail gas world. All you need is a dissident rebel blowing up a chunk of a Nigerian pipeline which in the scheme of things is the square root of bupkis and the market goes sideways.

Follow the daily decision tree:

• World supply factoring in Middle East, Russia, Venezuela, et al

• World economic  and geopolitical events

• New York NYMEX commodity market

• US Commodity Traders Mindsets

• US Market issues – hurricanes, bankruptcies, elections, housing starts, labour stats. . .

• Global big oil mindset

• Canadian / US exchange rate

• Canadian Market situation

• Set Canadian Rack

• Set initial Street price

• Street level free for all which often makes all the above moot.

This is the Reader’s Digest Condensed Version – now you know why I watch CNN and Hurricane stories, let alone international terror and sabotage and you know what - there's not a blankety blank thing I can do about it. Enjoy

Pretty boring stuff but I am using it as filler today as we wander through the lull before the storm.

With all the shootings going on in the GTA these days it is probably only fitting that today in 1916 Manfred von Richthofen aka the Red Baron shot down his first plane. What I did not realize was that his legendary career with 80 confirmed "kills" only lasted 18 moths as he was shot down in April 1918.at the ripe old age of 25. Different time, different world but still senseless violence.

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Sept 15 - Back from the Hinterland – aka the suburbs of North Bay.

Spent the week-end with friends in a “network less” house – and no nearby neighbours with unsecured WiFi. Being “out of touch” is something I am not used to. I did have crackberry access so that did help, but it did knock me off the air for personal access and blogging. Did the wedding thing – back to our friend’s house and sat up until 4:00 AM yakking. Twice in three weeks – I’m too old for this stuff – the recovery period is too long.

Got home and flipped on CNN to see what Ike hath wrought. The whole Galveston area got whacked pretty good so we will have to see how that impacts a lot of things, not the least of which is our gas prices. Some of the current footage from the areas hit is pretty scary stuff. In Houston, people were lining up for four hours to try to get gas – not in vehicles – on foot in line with gas cans to run their generators as there is no electricity. In a lot of Galveston and the gulf coast impact zone they don’t need to line up because there are no houses anymore.

When you hear about the bankruptcy protection for Lehman Bros. and the B of A scooping up Merrill Lynch and AIG liquidity issues – gas may be the least of our problems.

The Dow and markets are sinking like a rock. Dow closing down -469 points – ugly. Finger pointing by the candidates has been elevated to a fine art and the game continues.

The Blue Jokes basically finished their season in Boston over the weekend with the help of some lack luster play both in the field and with the bats – Sundays game particularly.

Knowing my apparent dislike of officials, it was interesting to see that on Sunday two blown calls may have been the difference in the game. I can’t remember the last time I saw two calls this close together that were missed (allegedly). Usually it is uncanny how good the Umps are.

Today in 1978 Muhammad Ali (aka Cassius Clay) defeated Leon “The Teeth” Spinks to take the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time. I remember the bout in 1964 when he beat Sonny Liston to win the title for the first time and proclaimed to the world “I am the Greatest” and for years he was until his refusal to accept induction for the draft got the title stripped from him. I used to enjoy and follow heavyweight boxing when it had some pizzazz – not anymore In that first championship bout, I was sure (on bet on) “the Bear” to whip him as Sonny was touted as a human battering ram who was going to destroy this mouthy young kid. Liston’s brute strength and boxing prowess got him out of prison early (seemingly typical of the seamier side of the boxing world). Liston had won the championship (at that time there was only one) by knocking out Floyd Paterson in 62 in the first round.

Ali specialized in psyche warfare and used to drive his opponents crazy with his tactics:

Clay comes out to meet Liston and Liston starts to retreat, if Liston goes back an inch farther he'll end up in a ringside seat. Clay swings with a left, clay swings with a right, just look at young Cassius carry the fight. Liston keeps backing but there's not enough room, it's a matter of time until Clay lowers the boom. Then Clay lands with a right, what a beautiful swing, and the punch raised the bear clear out of the ring. Liston still rising and the ref wears a frown, but he can't start counting until Sonny comes down. Now Liston disappears from view, the crowd is getting frantic and our radaring stations have picked him up somewhere over the Atlantic. Who on Earth thought, when they came to the fight, that they would witness the launching of a human satellite. Hence the crowd did not dream, when they laid down their money, that they would see a total eclipse of Sonny.

– Cassius Clay, As read on CBS' I've Got a Secret

During training, Clay took to driving his entourage in a bus over to the site where Liston was training, and repeatedly called Liston the "big, ugly bear". Liston grew increasingly irritated as the motormouthed Clay continued hurling insults ("After the fight I'm gonna build myself a pretty home and use him as a bearskin rug. Liston even smells like a bear. I'm gonna give him to the local zoo after I whup him... if Sonny Liston whups me, I'll kiss his feet in the ring, crawl out of the ring on my knees, tell him he's the greatest, and catch the next jet out of the country."). Clay insisted to a skeptical press that he would knock out Liston in eight rounds.

The day after the fight Cassius Clay announced he was changing his name to Muhammad Ali and the saga continued.  A great showman Ali / Clay’s ring career with all the punishment he took – Thrilla in Manila, Rope a dope, float like a butterfly – sting like a bee, came at a price. Theorized brain damage from repeated blows is hypothesized as  leading to or exacerbating the Parkinson’s disease he suffers from today.

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Sept 12 – Today I was supposed to take a casual day off to burn a holiday. NOT!

My daily rack pricing update was late – we wondered why and then we found out when it arrived. A 13 cents per litre increase in gas prices, just when consumers were thinking things were heading down. Did anyone pay attention to my comments on Ike?

Of course the resident media hound has to let everyone know last night what was going to happen today so guess what – panic and pandemonium everywhere Thursday night. Thanks to the Toronto Star for publishing an “action Shot” of one of our sites. We were some busy.

The actual “reward” is I believe somewhat less than the perception, and, or the value that people put on their time. Forty litre fill, savings of 13 cpl = $5.20 (less the fuel you burn waiting in line and the value of lack of it for your time).

With this going on and being a little short staffed anyway, I pulled the plug on rest and relaxation and went in to the office. Fun day. By the way look for another 1.6 cpl tomorrow and cross your fingers about what happens with Ike.

For those of you who care, the Texas target area, known as Refinery Row has 26 refineries (Ontario has 4) that account for about 25% of the US domestic refining capacity. They are mostly now in safety shut down mode but if they get blasted – sell your car and buy a bike!

And people wonder why I watch weather stories.

Along the lines of people are idiots, the authorities say “leave or die” and people still stay. On top of that the media sends reporters in for on the scenes carnage reports. One report says that Galveston Island could be totally destroyed – 22 foot surge, 50 foot waves – just where I would want to be.

With this going on, I can’t be bothered with hockey comments, other than I hear there is a heck of a wait list.

Regardless, off to Callander tomorrow, notebooks are ready, crackberry all charged up, two cell phoes good to go, I guess that means by today’s standards we are ready.

1963 – Leave it to Beaver ends – Ward, June, Wally, Theodore (Beav), Eddie etc. – Oh the jokes that have come out of that show. I will leave that alone.

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Sept 11 – Seven years ago this morning I was working in my office when someone came in and told me “a plane has crashed into the Trade Centre in New York”. The immediate reaction was how could a pilot have made this type of mistake – terrorism was not the immediate response and never entered my mind – how times change. I turned on the TV and watched the situation unfold and saw the second plane hit the other tower. Even after the second hit I never expected it to drop the towers.

I (and I think just about everyone) figured these are huge buildings, they have rigorous engineering and safety specs and it was not even something anyone really considered until the first tower went down. Having been to New York and that area earlier in the year it was something that just seemed surreal.

Those fateful hours have impacted all of our lives over the last seven years and will continue for the foreseeable future. Terrorism is “a fact of life”. Airport and travel security is orders of magnitude stricter, passport regulated travel to the U.S., limited or controlled access (often under armed civilian or military supervision) to places that “before” were freely accessible to the public – you and me.

On a flight I made that had to connect through Ronald Reagan airport in Washington, I had to go through four separate security checks and two searches (including checked bags) in Toronto.

Think of what it must have been like on any of those planes or for folks trapped in the WTC.

If they find OBL and I hope they do and soon, I hope they turn the sand around him into glass. I would happily push the button.

That’s it for today – anything else pales in comparison and would be disrespectful.

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Sept 10 – Déjà vu – all over again. What year is it?

Cito is managing the Blue Jays and they are winning games. Someone PLEASE tell them the playoffs are NOT in the cards Tarot or otherwise.

Cliff Fletcher and Tom Watt are managing / scouting for the Leafs - getting ready to lose an incomprehensible number of games.

Don Matthews is coaching the Argos again. He had to bail on the Als for “anxiety” health reasons so it’s brilliant to come to a quiet hick town like Toronto to relax.

Do you think it is fair to say that there is an “Old (literally) Boys Network” in major sports or shall we say in Toronto? It may be part of the “if I want you to have a new idea I’ll give you one” syndrome. It gives “recycling” a whole new meaning.

I know this is part of media stories all over the place but I just could not resist.

For an opinion on “The Pig” debate. The phrase “putting lipstick on a pig” is a mouldy oldie. For those of you who are familiar with some of my Canadian Tire Gas Bars from years past but thankfully much less so today, we used to use that expression regularly to describe a “cosmetic”, “paint and paper” fix-up we would do. We “put lipstick on a pig” but it was still a pig. The elephants are simply trying to bring a third animal into their fight with the donkeys. Only in America.

In Canadian election politics, we are much more subtle – we use “puffin poop” – nice ad, and then apologize for it!

Article floating around on the shortage of Rabies vaccine. Not amused. With the number of rabid fans around going into hockey season this could be a crisis. Stay away from the dark corners of the rink. Don’t catch people’s eyes. Avoid unnecessary conversations. Stay away from me. I think you have to anyway – it’s a league rule.

ZAP! Apparently it is not a good idea to try to connect 47 USB devices at once. It resurrects that old Windows favourite – CRASH! However, I did not get the “Blue Screen of Death”, or a three finger salute lockup, – just a unsolicited reboot. Classic Microsoft, when I come back up, it self diagnoses and sends the encrypted message on what happened off to the Redwood trees. Usually nothing happens as you think the little tree gnomes are reading it and laughing – BUT – this time I got a reply. Mozilla Firefox kicks up (that must really p*** them off as it is not IE) and guess what – they blame the only non Microsoft app running at the time as the culprit. The old Norton did it story. Sounds like a game of Clue – Norton did it in the CPU with a Worm. I’ll have to give Pete a call and let him know. I would have though Norton would block that type of message. That is the first time I have trashed out in years – not happy. Must seek a consultation with son #1. He reads this so I will wait for the call – maybe that’s why the hub was on sale at Radio Trash.

Saw the blog note on Oakville GO station and parking. I’ll see that and raise you one – Clarkson. Parking – forgeddaboutit (and by the way the Tow Truck boys were there today making a killing and looking to get killed by PO’d passengers – except the ones who could now actually drive down a lane). That’s fine BUT we can add to that the exit maze where you need a trail of bread crumbs and a GPS to find your way off the train, off the platform, around the construction, through the tunnel to granny’s house for exit. What a mess. Clearly they are getting ready for a fare increase to support reduced service, more inconvenience and extra crowding.

NCIS – Season 4 – Gibbs is back (end of episode 2) and I know why.

History - Firsts are fun - In 1897 the first Drunk Driving charge was laid in London against a Taxi driver (no surprise) who ploughed his car into a building. He was fined 25 shillings which with inflation and exchgange rates would now be about $7 Million.

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Sept 9 – A low key week as far as extra curricular activities go.

Other than plotting my trip to Callander for this week-end my calendar (note the use of both in the same sentence) is light. Callander – “Four Seasons of Reasons”. Not sure which of the reasons or seasons is mine (Community, Culture, Business or Tourism). Having been there I don’t think it matters. Home of Dr. Dafoe – doctor to the stars and the Dionne quints who were born nearby. Why go? Another wedding – Friends of ours are getting even. You made us come to yours, now you have to come to ours! There is no justice. Anyway, how else am I going to use up 2.5 weeks of holidays from 07 before they expire on Halloween?

I suspect there is lots of frantic activity in other areas in Town as hockey gears up. Now that everyone is waiting for a comment, I’ll just ignore it and move on.

I have season four of NCIS waiting for me and I have to see how and why Gibbs came back. And to think I made fun of people watching “daytime dramas” aka “soaps” This is just as bad but it’s at night, so obviously that legitimizes it and theoretically its only once a week – UNTIL YOU GET HOOKED ON DVDs! There ought to be a law against them.

Of course you almost have to get DVDs as right now live broadcasts are dreck. When political shows and hurricane watch are what get your attention, you know you have a serious mental problem.

Son number two is enrolled in at Sheridan this fall. Not sure of the course content but he has expressed a concern that there are no hockey team / players notices on the sports board. No college hockey? Say it ain’t so. If someone knows different let me know. Otherwise he may want to move to Lakehead or Red Deer or somewhere equally foolish.

I have finally been beaten into submission. After “holding out” for roughly four years I have been dragooned into the ranks of the crackberrians. While I will not develop an addiction and will refuse to admit it if I do, I got tired of carrying both a cell and a “secure” notebook around to deal with issues. Of course that has created the numbers game. I ended up on Bell “N”obility with my crackberry which is the same network as my cell. I asked to port my number to the crackberry as I planned to flush the phone. Guess What! My crackberry arrives with a spanking new number! Soooo – Do I start the process of republicizing my new mobile number – bus cards, correspondence, on-line, fiends, enemies, . . . OR do I try to stem the tide – send back – reissue . . .  OR do I just keep both for an indeterminate length of time? Only the Shadow knows and he’s not telling. Remember the “simple life” (starring P Hilton) when we didn’t have any of these wonderful productivity tools. I am going to need a hip replacement from all the vibrating going on.

We still got things done, but I guess this is way better!!

History – 1971 – Attica prison riot (very ugly!)

Off to NCIS!

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Sept 7 – Wrap up another week-end – this time with not so good weather. Spent the morning standing in the rain in Guelph watching a ladies slow pitch game. Me watching ladies Slo-Pitch - Aarrgh! The things you won’t do to keep the relatives happy. Turned it into a double header sports day by coming back and watching the Peewee AA’s in an exhibition game (they lost 3-2). Chalk up my first spectator game of the year. Plus the NFL is now in full swing so there will be no shortage of sporting events. There's hope for a triple header day - check the TV listings.

The B Favre saga continues – tosses 2 TDs to Squish the Fish as the Jets win.

    No comment from the Cheese Heads but they open at home tomorrow.

It seems my “cartoons” are inviting more comments than my blog content – guess that may be telling me something. I’ll try to change them regularly - some folks did not like the last one..

There will probably be lots of content around as it is now official – we have our own Canuck Election Day – Oct. 14 – Right after Thanksgiving – is this Freudian? Didn’t take long for the signs to start popping up, we saw a number up in town on our way home. Somehow though, right or wrong, I don’t think it will get the hype even here that is coming through from the US.

The seriousness of some of what is happening in the US which can spill to us should be evident today with the announced federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Between the two of them they owned or guaranteed over $5 Trillion in home loans – about half of the US total and they were going south. Those are mind boggling numbers and something we should all be watching – What would be a Canadian equivalent?

Lost in all the political hot air blowing around is Hurricane Ike which hammered Haiti (again) and now is headed towards the states – Florida is battening down with the keys evacuating but now the Gulf Coast folks are thinking it might head their way and double barrel them after Gustav. By the way, the official hurricane season extends to November and seems quite active this year – global warming?

For the Naval historians in 1776 the US tried the first “submarine attack” on an enemy vessel – the British flagship Eagle in New York Harbour. The attack of the “Turtle” – a wooden one person underwater vehicle failed (tried to attach a “time bomb” to the hull) but was the start of where we are today.

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Sept 5 – Short blog this evening as I have been spending time responding to an interrogation.

Separate subject - As it seems to be a common topic – You know it’s September when:

• It’s dark out when I get up

• It’s dark out when I leave for the GO train.

• I don’t get a seat on said train (never mind parking issues)

• The train is full of jabbing university students – all of whom look 12 years old

• The sky goes gray and it feels like it means it

• People are moaning about summer being over

• Back to school crap is replaced by Halloween crap

• Office work that should have been done in the summer "reappears".

• The NFL has returned – Super bowl champs get a free one

• The Jays are winning meaningless games and talking playoff hopes

• Sundin is undecided but then so are the Leafs

• Hockey is started and folks are sending me news

Welcome to Ontar iar iar io

In local news -

Mom clocked at 101 km/h in school zone
Sep 05, 2008 08:33 AM
Sunny Freeman
STAFF REPORTER
A Toronto mother has been charged with street racing after police spotted a car driving through a school zone at more than 100 km/h. . . .

 I posted this just to point out that “street racing” is not just a “guy thing”!

The historical reference is a tough one today – In 1972 At the Munich Olympics, 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage and through subsequent events all were killed along with one German police officer and five terrorists.

That’s 36 years ago and I can still remember watching and thinking – this can’t be happening – they’ll be OK – they weren’t.

Be thankful for what you’ve got folks – things can change in a “heart beat”.

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Sept 4 – This blog may contain content that is offensive to some people

Interesting article in the Toronto Star and other papers today. An excerpt is posted below with the link to the story. Hopefully I have not inappropriately infringed on any copyright protection.

 Rash email costs sender $7,800

Now-settled defamation suit shows how even cyberspace missives can be fair game in courts

Sep 04, 2008 04:30 AM

Betsy Powell
Courts Bureau
A recent out-of-court settlement provides a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever sent an email saying malicious things about someone, especially if untrue.

The case, which was resolved before it went to trial in May, also underscores that under Ontario law, a statement sent electronically can be defamatory – not to mention costly and embarrassing – even when transmitted to just one inbox.

. . . Toronto Star – The Star Online

Where am I going with this?

Gerry writes an entertaining and informative blog which I read on a regular basis and I commend him for his efforts to “inform’ on events. Having said that, the following is an quote from his Sept. 4 blog in commenting on MOHA.

“It also doesn't help that a lot of the association's scheduling templates and similar materials apparently disappeared this spring, requiring them all to be re-created. Odd, huh?”

While I can't comment on the source (we know how protective journalists are on that information) the insinuation is clear. Who cares if the facts are wrong. The use of the “weasel word”  “apparently” is a nice out. I would have expected better.

So let me be clear (and I will call someone a liar to their face as compared to back door insinuations), so please pass that on to your source(s).

First, there were no scheduling templates as such, other than what existed on Excel files that were redone every season (several times) based on the game day, times, rinks, number of teams, division setup, rotations and practices. Versions of the schedule and ice allocation / block assignments were all there in the MOHA Office as well as a file I believe called “availability” that contained working sheets. Schedules were not “finalized” until the last minute as we tried to shoehorn every kid in that we could to get them off the wait list and let them play by moving them up or down and age group and adding teams at the last minute. We thought that was the right thing to do. I wonder how that is working out this year. Your “canned” scheduling programs don’t have that flexibility. The dreck about the meeting being early as an implied excuse for not being ready is not worth comment.

I might add that every calculation and cost for the HL Budget was there in several versions and going back several years as well as former planning schedules, meeting agendas, minutes etc., etc., etc..You might even call it a step by step template for the season (or did I take that too)!

Second, the files that I created and used within the MOHA over my eight years as VP, including the volunteer database that I developed with information on over 2,300 volunteers, were all left on the computers in the office, unprotected for the use of the new “team”. Nothing was deleted or changed as my opinion was and is that those files were the property of MOHA not me (despite the hours and effort I spent building them to support the association and the kids and the intellectual property arguments that could be made). It was not even a consideration to “wipe” this stuff which I could easily have done.

Third, I did not remove any “paper” files or other “similar materials” – whatever those are from the office and made a point of returning items, such as the master software disks that were taken “off-site” for safekeeping.

I find the allegations to the contrary absolutely offensive and disgusting. If people want to criticize me for my comments fair ball, but I do take exception to challenges to my integrity, especially considering the likely source(s). Note my use of the "weasel word" "likely" - I can play that game too.

So, as we used to say as kids “put up or shut up”! I have made my position clear about certain individuals and why I will have nothing to do with them and I would suggest this speaks to that opinion.

As I indicated yesterday, to the parents, kids and “good” volunteers who make up the bulk of the MOHA – good luck and have a great season. To the others – you make me sick!

And no – I have not applied the 24 hour rule and don’t care to.

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Sept 3 – Today my primary target is the Town of Oakville.

Skitters – no not skittles - I am a GO Train kind of guy. My usual schedule is to leave the house around 6:30 AM to catch the 21 bus to Clarkson Go. Works quite well.

However, the last couple of mornings I have found myself serving as a fresh meat smorgasbord for swarms of potentially West Nile ex pat Mosquitoes!

You have to wonder why in September we are even having a conversation about mosquitoes, especially since I have not had this problem in any month at any time at my local bus stop over the last 15 years. It would be easy to “blame it on the weather”. However I tend to think it is more of the absence of Pesticides and the efforts of the tree huggers (that ought to rile up a few people).

So now I have several choices, do nothing hoping they die off, wear my camo gear and netting to the bus stop, or perfume myself with eau de Deep Woods Off (is that still legal in Oakville) to wear to work. Tough choices.

MOHA – I am hearing that I want MOHA to fail!

Pretty sweeping condemnation, although I can appreciate how someone who doesn’t know me could easily think that.

So here’s the scoop.

I hope that the 4,000+ participants and their parents who are the MOHA end up with as good as or a better program than we “the former regime” provided. Continuous improvement should be the name of the game and is why I got involved in the first place years age and what we as a team tried to accomplish every year. Look at the record.

So why the blog and my “sniping”.

My candid opinion is that the new “leaders” who got involved for their own agenda, are not capable of doing that, or at least not without a lot of help and “active” supervision. You can choose to share that opinion , or not. My “sniping” or comments, which believe it or not, have been relatively tame (compared to what I could say – mindful of lawsuits, your credibility, etc.,), will hopefully either goad or embarrass them into doing at least a reasonable job or will get people asking questions.

So far I have seen nothing that would change my opinion of their capabilities or motives. Maybe that is simply a function of them not sharing or publicizing their actions, but how would I know. In fact just the opposite seems to be the case – so prove me wrong and guess what – the kids win.

When I ask why the teams are down, why only 24 Timbit teams, what’s the wait list story, where are the convenors, who’s dealing with this, why the schedule changes, why no information , why the web site issues, why the budget increase, why another protected spot, why people are disappearing / getting dumped, why nobody’s there. . . , maybe, just maybe something will get done about it.

Up until now, the activity has just been a paper shuffling game. With tonight’s volunteer meeting, as I wrote in yesterday’s disguised metaphor – the rubber hits the road. Watch out for the skid marks!

So, if that makes me the “bitter old man”, who "wants MOHA to fail” – then so be it and pass the Geritol. However, keep pushing for what you paid for – (what used to be) the best minor hockey program in Canada for YOUR kids. And guess what - I will be at the rinks – where I want, when I want, watching what I want - simply because I enjoy it.

Today in history - MOHA’s first volunteer meeting of the century without moi – truly a memorable event. Staying with current events, Sarah Palin will address the Elephants to try to reroute the media onslaught, diffuse the “issues” list and establish some credibility – make no mistake this is a critical speech that won’t “win” the election in November, but it could sure lose it! I wish her well!

Me – watching a political convention – erg - how the mighty have fallen!

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Sept 2 – The Saga continues

 WASILLA, Alaska–“The boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unwed, pregnant daughter will join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.”

"Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea."   

You gotta ask yourself (especially if you are John McCain or any of the movers and shakers in the Elephant party) “What is the Alaskan equivalent of the Clampetts?”

All families have their challenges and should be acknowledged and respected for dealing with them but there are rules that unfortunately apply to “regular” families and different rules for paparazzi food. Potential US VPs, a heartbeat from the presidency are clearly paparazzi food.

Despite his careful and eloquent statements, Obama and Co. must be doing cartwheels on top of their back flips. What a train wreck. I don’t think you could sell this one to Hollywood – not credible. The question now becomes – which is the most disastrous to the ticket, toughing it out, or having Ms. Palin withdraw citing whatever, “family reasons”? If not, everyone is sitting back thinking – what comes out next?

Kudos to the U of T Varsity Blues football team who broke their 0 – 49 streak with an “upset” of the plumbers. Chalk one up for me. They are now on a 1 – 0 win streak

Continuing with football, it is a good thing that the Argos won yesterday. If not, the Ti Cats could have made the play-offs by beating only one team – the Argos – 3 times – that’s the CFL for you and we wonder why the league has “limited” credibility.

Missed on Weir though. Saw a horrible stat for Mike – He is now 1 – 9 for wins when leading going into the last round. Shades of a Greg Norman rep. However, he still made a heck of a lot more yesterday than I did.

McCabe's gone - yawn - Either the Lightning brass has been hit by a bolt or they have been out in the sun too long. At a production rate of $1,000,000 per goal he must be an exceptional defender - NOT!

Sticking with the Leafs, - is Sundin really that indecisive or is he playing out the master plan? You tell me. On second thought, don't bother as I don't much care.

Gustav appears to have missed landing the knockout punch but it was still pretty miserable looking weather. The cost in property damage, down time and relocation expense is going to be astronomical. I am not sure it will ever get fully assessed and guess what – there could easily be another one – anytime. I suspect a lot of folks have to be asking themselves if it is worth living there – that’s presuming they have an economic choice.

For my history reference, I could go with the easy ones, 1666 Great fire of London begins, 1945 Japan surrenders, but these pale in comparison to a truly historic event – In 1969, Star Trek’s final episode aired. Only on air for three seasons, the show has spun off four series and nine movies and countless loony tunes fanatics. Beam me up Scotty.

Tomorrow night the Michelin hits the Macadam – the big meeting where all shall become clear for MOHA, class of 08/09 – or at least that is what usually happens. I won’t be there but for those of you who are – enjoy. I hope a lot of questions that are hanging out there get answered to your (and the kids) satisfaction – number of teams, schedules, volunteers, rules . . . .  There is little if any useful information posted on the MOHA site so we will just have to wait and see. Tick Tock – see you at the rink. I will actually get to watch games whenever I want this year.

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Sept 1 – Another month bites the dust as with the end of August we are now 2/3 of the way through 2008 – Time flies. Of course with the Labour Day weekend we end up getting the best weather week-end as the last summer week-end.

Keeping our fingers crossed, but it seems like Gustav is not going to create the destruction that resulted from Katrina – at least for “homes”. Had CNN on for quite a while yesterday and watching it again today. American sure does love its event / disaster coverage. They leave all their reporters in the “impact zone” and right now are discussing the merits of levee construction and the role of the US corps of engineers. You can almost hear them over the wind noise. Having said that they do provide some great coverage.

While the “hurricane” aspect may be weaker, there is still the big concern about rain and water levels for flooding – especially at Port Fourchon. This is my focus as this is the “hub” of the oil industry in Louisiana. It covers off on the off shore LOOP pipelines and the oil coming in from the gulf rigs. It seems to be getting hit worse than New Orleans proper. For perspective, there are 150 refineries in the United States, about a third of which are located in the Gulf Coast region. About 15% of total U.S. refining capacity has been shut down, including 9 closed refineries and several more with reduced output.

The accumulation of water and the length of time that the storm will be continuing to “add” water to essentially an area that is below sea level is becoming the big concern.

In response to the situation, the Elephants have announced that they are going to downscale their convention. They had to do it but from some of the political debate going on it may be a good thing for the McCain / Palin ticket as it seems a lot of people (real politicos) seem to agree with my reaction – the selection reflected a “senior’s moment”. This way they are likely to sneak through a “slam duck” ticket versus any hoopla.

This must secretly gall the GOP poobahs as the Donkeys had uncontested media for their coronation while the Elephants get nada.

Saw in the Star that the good old U of T Varsity Blues football team is trying to snap their streak today. If they lose to Waterloo that will be 50 consecutive defeats. That’s no fun for anyone so let’s hope they get lucky and pull one off. Besides as a Golden Hawks fan it would not hurt my feelings to see the Plumbers take a whopping.

On top of that we have the typical Argos / Ti Cats Labour Day special where the betting line is that if the Argos lose AGAIN to the hapless Ti Cats that Stubler is dust and Pinball comes back. As Yogi B (Berra not Bear) says “Déjà vu, all over again”.

Continuing with sports – Mike Weir is on top of the leader board (by one stroke) heading into the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship. Hopefully he can hang on and rack up a win for us Lefty Canucks. I note that after my recent golf foray he did not call me for any advice – smart man.

September also means the “start” of the MOHA House League season. The “big” meeting to kick things off is in two days (Wednesday). This will be the first time in 16 years that I will not be there as either a coach or director/executive member. This will be an interesting month – and yes, I will be commenting on what goes on, whether certain people like it or not as it seems the new process is to not tell anyone anything. Funny, that’s what we were “accused” of.

This is also an important day in history as it marks the day in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland and effectively started WWII.

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