Why the NRA & Extreme Republicans Are Propegating Violence in the USA

Out of respect for the victims, I chose not to put up a pic of their greiving, 

opting instead for this picture of a father comforting his son

While I am sure I will get quite a few angry replies to my general thoughts on this subject, unlike some people who just react, please make sure you read the whole thing before you judge where I am going with this Blog post. The tragedy we saw yesterday is yet another symptom of a system in the US that hasn't changed much since the wild, wild west. Cowboy mentality and the need to stock pile weapons was the right way to think of things back in the 19th century. Last time I checked we are in the 21st century and the time has come for the US and many of it's backward citizens to catch up with the rest of the world in regards to this particular issue.

The violence we saw yesterday in Newtown, Connecticut (and again today in Alabama as a lone gunman killed 3 people in a hospital today) can be directly correlated to the way that the NRA (the National Rifle Association) has been fighting against any and all measures any US government over the last 50 plus years has even considered when it comes to imposing stricter gun controls across the country. Shockingly, for an organization as brazen as the NRA, they have remained quiet in the hours after these senseless and insane killings. Maybe the will of the people and the realization that people have had enough of their antics has finally put a muzzle on this idiotic group of people.

This single-minded and reckless organization has fought for decades to, as they see it, protect their "God given right" to bear arms that is enshrined in the 2nd amendment of the US constitution. The line that always gets me about this organization was issued by former NRA President Charlton Heston (yes, THAT Charlton Heston), who was issuing a speech in Colorado maybe 2 weeks after the Columbine shooting and basically stated that the only way the Government would take his rights away from him in this area was to rip his guns out of his "COLD, DEAD HANDS!!!"

These people don't seem to realize that we are not living in the 1800's anymore....

This kind of fundamentalist mentality is the biggest problem facing America and Americans when it comes to this and many other issues. It has permeated many areas of American society and has even started to destroy their democratic institutions in that over the last 5 years, more and more political extremists are being not only supported by the Republican party, but are in fact at the forefront and LEADING the party by being elected into the senate and house and as Governors of States. It has gotten so bad that some of these people are literally coming into their new found offices with pledges to ensure that there is political gridlock in Washington unless they get things done the way they and their supporters want. They are so extreme that you could make the case that they are no longer governing in the best interest of the country but rather their specific extreme minded supporters.

I know it may sound like I am just bashing the Republicans and the NRA but lets look at this more directly. It's ironic that on this day in 1791, the founding father of the US created the 2nd amendment for which the NRA and Republicans continue to throw back at anyone who even breathes the words "gun control" towards them. But what these people seem to be oblivious to in regards to this "sacred" amendment they keep repeating ad nauseum is that the environment of America in 1791 was vastly different then the current climate and stage of evolution of American society as a whole. These people may not realize but that was 221 years ago. Its time to evolve.

That seems to be the biggest issue with the "Right" side o American politics in the last 5-10 years; They can't seem to evolve their positions to the new reality of what American society is becoming. In Canada we have Liberals and Conservatives as well but their positions are not NEARLY as diametrically opposed as the Democrats and Republicans are currently in the US. We have been a nation for about 100 years less then they have and yet we HAVE tight gun control laws. We have a MUCH safer society then they do. We have (statistically speaking) lower gun violence per capita then they do and we live, the majority of us for the most part, roughly 50-100 km north of the US border. Guns seem to be part of the American DNA so to speak but that can change if Americans wake up to the reality of their world today.

 This kind of nonsensical drivel is common among the most extreme members of the Republican base

How he hasn't snapped and called them all racist I will never know

Some will argue that they will never accept changes like that to their nation. Well, lets see what else people use to say they could never accept as part of their nation over the last 160 plus years. President Lincoln fought and fought until he ended Slavery with the Emancipation Proclamation. It took a Civil War but eventually, the slaves were freed. Women were not allowed to vote until the suffrage movement in the 1920's. Now, the US is one of the top proponents of Women's rights around the world.

Despite ending slavery, African Americans had to fight for equal rights and it wasn't until the late 1960's and the murders of JFK, RFK and Martin Luther King Jr. that they were given rights that they deserved. Most recently, look at the fight that Gays and Lesbians have been having trying to ensure that they too have the same rights as everyone else. For all of these groups, there were people who stood up and had the EXACT opposite view of them and did everything in their power to demonize them, attacking them, even killing them in an attempt to suppress their voices. While I am NOT saying that the NRA is doing anything of the sort, their form of extremism in the face of the sad facts surrounding gun violence in the US makes you question the level of sophistication of their membership as well as the IQ level of people who can't seem to move forward into the present, opting instead to live in the past.

Here is a perfect example of how idiotic NRA members and Republicans can be. 18 hours before the tragic events of Newtown, the State of Michigan, now under the control of Republicans who owe much of their campaign funding to the NRA, rammed through a Bill into law which makes it LEGAL to have a gun in a school or daycare as long as it is for "self-defense" purposes and in the possession of an adult with a permit. Permit or not, why on earth would you legalize guns in schools? Do these people actually think it would have been BETTER if there was a gun fight in the school in Newtown? The possibility of more casualties is more appealing to them? Just pathetic.

No good can EVER come from what happened yesterday and today. The only thing we can do is hope that the anger and sadness that it has caused will spur debate and action on the part of the President and Congress to get tough on the Gun lobby and enact much more stringent gun control laws. Think about this; it is easier right now to buy a gun then to adopt a pet. It is easier right now to buy an assault rifle then it is to get a mental health assessment in the US. It is legal to posses a .223 calibre, semi-automatic assault rifle with a sniper scope, that carries up to 50 rounds of  ammunition in all 50 states but only a handful have made it legal for anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, to marry each other if they so choose.

There is no moral justification for a school teacher to need to have 5 guns in her home. The NRA has been the biggest opponent of limiting what kind of guns each person can own. To me, their 50 year fight has a direct link to this and every other shooting that has happened in the last 30 years. Why isn't there a check done to see if the person buying a gun has been through a mental health screening or lives in a home with someone who may have mental health issues? Because the NRA opposed it, that's why.

Kind of speaks for itself doesn't it....

American's will only wake up from the nightmare of this kind of gun violence when they grow up and realize that their precious 2nd Amendment is as outdated and antiquated as the majority of the people who still have power within the Republican party and NRA.Maybe then, maybe once these people are pushed to the fringes of their own party by moderates, maybe then will we see some semblance of change in the DNA of cowboy America. Then and only then, when the NRA are turned into a minor political annoyance and the Republican Party moves into the 21st Century, will we begin to see the democratic process for which the US praises itself for, take center stage once again.

President Obama can Sympathise with Rob Ford

Embattled Mayor Ford of Toronto should not have had to go through the week he did

With the news this week that Mayor Ford has been "removed from office" pending an appeal, it dawned on me that there are real parallels between Mayor Ford and US President Barrack Obama dating back to when we first heard of both of them in the political spectrum. Don't believe me? Well let me take the time to show you exactly what I am referring to.

When Ford started off his political career as a city counselor, he railed against the greed he saw in city counsel and was a consistent thorn in the side of Miller and all his croonies who were voting in higher pay for themselves, higher spending budgets for themselves and little to no regard for something called "a budget". He was the loudest vocal critic of Miller and for all his thrifty ways, and the fact he didn't spend a single penny of his office budget, HE was the one investigated. Kind of funny how the man who was demonstrating how to be fiscally responsible during Miller's days as Mayor and constantly complained about the spending ways of former Mayor David Miller's regime, ended up being the one investigated himself.. His wasn't the only voice that complained about Miller but it certainly was the loudest.

Ford sparring with Miller was a common occurrence back in the day

One has to wonder if Miller's friend in the media continue to attack Ford just out of loyalty

During Miller's time as Mayor, there wasn't as much as a peep about his spending spending and how he was basically flushing taxpayer dollars down the drain. The only person who consistently fought against Miller's wasteful spending was none other then Counselor Rob Ford. When Miller announced that he would not seek re-election after his final term ended in 2010, it signaled a chance to have someone different try to fight their way into the mayor's office and that was exactly what Ford did. He campaigned on his record and pointed to the wasteful spending ways of Miller and, guess what, people agreed with him!!! Funny how that works.

The voting public believed in the change Ford was talking about. Sounds like someone else doesn't it. President Obama basically was selling a similar message in 2008. He too campaigned on getting into office to correct the wasteful spending ways of his predecessor (who essentially left Obama with a turd sandwich for an economy when he left office).

Considering the crap Bush left behind, Obama has set a deadline to end operations in Afghanistan,

ended the war in Iraq, Killed Osama Bin Laden and avoided a Fiscal meltdown cause by Bush

yet Republicans think he is a fascist, socialist, muslim who wants their guns....hmmmm  

Like Obama, Mayor Ford has been thwarted at every turn by political adversaries over every single one of his promises. Ford wants Subways (the smart and environmentally sound choice to try and turn Toronto into the world class city its' citizens already think it is) yet everyone else in city counsel, in their infinite wisdom, wants Light Rail Transit that will clog our streets and congest an already unbearably congested downtown core even more. Ford has been fighting to eliminate wasteful spending and, shockingly, despite having to argue and bicker with everyone in city counsel about just about every one of his motions or ideas, the city coffers are actually starting to stabilize after 2 years of sound fiscal policies.

Just like Ford, Obama has had to endure political gridlock in Washington along with an economy that was on the verge of fiscal collapse. Despite being saddled with a nearly crippling economy and over 398 times when the Republicans filibusted (essentially did everything they possibly could to stop a proposed piece of legislation endorsed by the President from passing into law), President Obama was able to pull the American economy out of the nosedive it was in, reformed student loans to ease the crushing repayment options forced upon students, instituted Obama-care giving basic health care to over 3 million Americans and created over 5 million new jobs (despite losing almost a million in the first year of his 4 year term).

 Obama actually had lunch with Romney yesterday, at the White House no less

Maybe it was to rub it in just a bit that "Hey, this is still MY HOUSE BITCH!!!"

Like Ford, Obama's political opponents have been steadfast in their ridiculous approach to "dealing with" the President. When the Tea Party started to gain prominence in 2009 and were instrumental in getting several radical Republicans into the Senate, they made it clear that their main goal was to prevent Obama's re-election. They didn't care that they were basically shutting down the US Government for 2 years and wreaking havoc on the lives of every American in the process, they had a mission and come hell or high water, by God, they wee going to go through with it. Sounds a lot like the way people have been opposing Mayor Ford.

Instead of focusing on the messages of both men, opponents have instead opted to focus on the physical appearance and/or name, race or beliefs as reasons to openly oppose them. Opponents of both men have attacked them for being fat, for being rough around the edges (Ford) or for the family connection to Islam and their name and race (Obama) because they know that we as people are too stupid to wade through their crap and see their attacks as what they are; pathetic attempts by the opponents of these men to try to obscure their accomplishments by trying to make people mad about other things that have no bearing on reality nor upon their ability to lead.

I would suggest that despite all of these people and their dirty tactics used against these two men, they have accomplished much more than anyone seems to realize. Republicans have, in my opinion, been bordering on treasonous behaviour in the way (especially Tea Party members) have been acting in Congress and the Senate, blocking every attempt possible to get the political machine moving in Washington. Mayor Ford has had to deal with the fact that a minor charity fund raising issue has, for some reason, been brought to a court proceeding and resulted in a heavy handed suggestion by the courts that he be removed from office. Let's get the facts straight here. Mayor Ford admitted that he helped raise $3500 or so in funds for a youth football team, agreed that he had to repay the funds himself and voted in favour of his repayment and somehow that makes it right that he be booted out of office?

The actions of his opponents are despicable in my estimation. Here is a man who has his issues, that's a given, but who has been able to accomplish something Mayor Miller never could (balance a budget) and yet his opponents would prefer to squander that fiscal change and force an election that would cost the city about $7 million (conservatively speaking) all over this stupid matter that should never have gone to court. The Mayors of Montreal and Laval have been forced out of their jobs in the last 2 months as well but in both of those cases, we are talking about fraud and corruption that was well into the millions of dollars and that were only discovered by accident. In Ford's case, he himself readily admitted his errors and even voted in favour of forcing himself to repay the money and yet he is being forced out of office? WTF?!?!

 Don't get me wrong, Hazel is the best but her scandal last year was 

1000 times worse in scope and nature then Mayor Ford, and she is still Mayor

The people of Toronto as well as Republicans who continue to rail against Obama, have lost all my respect. The way they are acting right now (or should I say overreacting) in the case of Ford tells me that they would treat a zit on their forehead by cutting off the patients head. They are radicals who have no business in politics given the way they are reacting to such a trivial issue. I mean for the love of God Hazel McCallion, long time Mayor of Mississauga was invilved in her own scandal which was much more nefarious then what Ford admitted to doing (helping her son land an $11 million Convention center and hotel deal) and no a single person I know of felt that she should be forced out of office (even IF she had been found guilty, I still think she would have kept her job).

The difference is that she has the support of the people and Ford doesn't. Or at least he doesn't have the support of the right people, namely the media who consistently chose to mock him for his weight loss attempts and attack him whenever they can about any tiny thing he does wrong (like picking up some KFC or coaching the Don Bosco high school football team, neither of which has ANYTHING to do with his job as Mayor). Frankly, I would surmise that the media has been on a paparazzi-like witch hunt on Mayor Ford ever since he reacted angrily when a Toronto Star writer literally violated his privacy by trying to get pictures of the mayor at his own home.

They saw that they could antagonize him and he would react like a normal person, not like a real polished politician and they said screw it, lets keep poking the bear and see how he reacts each time. I mean if you listen to the Dean Blundell show on the Edge, every morning he and the guys find something new about the Mayor to mock him about. I love their show but at the same time, enough is enough. The man still has done a decent job, both despite his political adversaries and in spite of himself. But the message has been lost because of the messenger. Everyone has been so focused on the who that they have forgotten about the what.

 I'm not sure there is anything President Obama will ever be able to do to get his critics

off his back aside from flying a jet into an alien armada and saving the planet like 

Bill Pullman did in Independence Day

I am almost 100% positive that Mayor Ford will be able to fight off this challenge to his position and, given the fact that President Obama won a 2nd term, he will be able to get much more accomplished in the next 4 years then he did in his first 4 (and he did do a lot more then the Republicans will ever admit). Its just pathetic to me that at a time when people are always talking about "anti-bullying" and respect for all people that we are still looking at people and judging them based upon their appearance, their name their race and their political affiliations. We still haven't grown past them and, as much as people want to say that Toronto and Canada as a whole is not as divided as the US, I think it is quite clear that we are much more divided then even we realize.

Post US Election Thoughts

American Politics is a fractured mess and the Republicans don't understand that this needs to change

I’ve been busy the last few weeks but no more blog neglect as I have some things to day and they need to be said (or my head might explode).

Lets start with the recently concluded US election. The last 4 years under President Obama in the US has seen a slow economic recovery from the 8 previous years of financial deterioration under Bush. At the same time, right from when President Obama began his campaign, the Republican Party has seemingly adopted a radical tone which, at times, has taken on racial overtones to try and show Obama as something he isn’t.

President Obama has had to endure relentless baseless attacks on him, on his birthplace, on his religion, on his values and, of course, on his choices. He has had to endure BLATANT racism from other elected officials having the audacity to bark orders at him and wave their fingers in his face to being yelled at while addressing Congress, being called a liar. All of this by people who, in any other nations, might be considered treasonous for the way they speak of and to their own political leader. I say that mostly because for the last 2 years, the Republican Party has done more to hurt their own nation then any terrorist organization ever could; They have ground the political mechanisms of the US to a screeching halt.

Through all the racism he has faced as President, he has remained calm, cool and collected

With President Obama’s resounding re-election victory (thank god!!!), which for whatever reason the idiots at Fox News never saw coming (and neither did Romney or Ryan), the hope is that the differences between the two parties can somehow be resolved and Washington can actually get back to working as a unit instead of having Republicans (led by their Tea Party members, the most blatantly racist of them all) doing everything they can to make the President look bad. As I say that, the Republicans are already continuing down the road they have been going along for 5 years now of polarizing the nation even further by conducting a witch hunt over the issues that led to the deaths of 4 Americans in Benghazi, Libya.

Mitt Romney came out 2 days ago and blamed his loss in the election on the same reasons Bill O’Reilly used that same night; Obama pandered to people who “wanted things from the Federal Government”. Basically, these rich white guys are whining that people who have nothing, want something. They are whining that poor people don’t want to have to pay for basic, fundamental health care. These people don’t want to have college loans force them into poverty because repaying them the way they used to be structured in the past, would bankrupt them. They want women to be equal to men in their pay. They want access to contraception and (in the worst of cases) abortion, a right enshrined in the 1970’s in the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court case and yet still re-visited over and over again by the religious right-dominated Republicans.

“They”, the 47% which Romney pilloried in the now infamous secretly recorded campaign speech (plus the 4% of other people who also happened to vote for Obama), want gay people to be able to love and marry like the rest of the country, they want US troops to come home from war for the first time in 12 years. They want their elected officials to represent them and their moderate views instead of the extremist views that the Republicans seem to have embraced over the last 5 years. The Republican message is a narrow minded, predjudice view of the world that is as outdated as the message itself. Once that sinks in to the talking heads and head honchos of the party, only then will they mature into a political party that is representative of the will of the people and not the select few upper class, rich snobs who would rather “go it alone” then help out their fellow Americans.

 I really have a hard time seeing why anyone would vote for Romney, 

especially when he wouldn't even tell you the basic tenets of his fiscal plan

One of the most intriguing parts of their election was how some of the words used by both Mitt Romney and President Obama about Americans really do ring more true of Canadians then it does of Americans. America is not the “great social experiment” that they claim it to be. That is in fact Canada. When you go to the US, you are indoctrinated into a mindset of becoming “American”. Maybe this has lessened now then before but as recently as 10 years ago, many immigrants identified first as being American, and then where they were from. I was born and raised in Toronto and the first thing I say when people ask me is that I am Portuguese because that’s always been the way we describe ourselves in many parts of this country. Sure we are Canadian, but we identify first with the country of birth of our parents (even more so when both our parents are from the same place and are the same ethnicity, but that’s another subject altogether).

Canada is the mosaic model that US political pundits speak of when they (now, suddenly) use that word, not America. Just look at how the voting panned out for the electoral college votes. All of the major metropolitan areas of the US voted for Obama (New York, California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Ohio), while all of the states that voted for Romney were part of the former Confederate States during the Civil War (the ones that had the hardest time with the idea that slavery was a “bad” thing) voted in favour of Mitt Romney (mainly Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, the Carolina’s, Wyoming, Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky).

 This map didn't have the added 29 Electoral College seats that Obama won from Florida

nevertheless, it was a total asswhopping, something Fox News was completely shocked to see 

As much as we differ in Canada about certain issues, Universal health care is something we all agree is needed simply based upon how poorly we see the US health care system in the US runs. It’s all about money over people in the US when it comes to health care, not in Canada. We have a strong central Government (that some do not like) which keeps our fiscal house in order while still maintaining the kinds of social programs that Americans can only dream of having (as much as Fox news has continually tried to denigrate us about throughout their hotly contested and testy election).

Despite the push back from the Right in America against the concepts of community and being compassionate towards their most destitute, the political push for policies that actually help out EVERYONE instead of just the top 1% have gained traction and are now on the verge of being engrained as the lasting legacy of President Obama’s presidency.  The changing demographics of America are certainly a huge factor but they are still miles away from being the kind of fully integrated and accepting society that we are in comparison to them.

We are the cultural mosaic that they are now trying to convince themselves that they in fact are. It is almost laughable to hear Americans who say that about themselves. It is almost as if they fail to see just how far away they actually are from being a true “mosaic” of nationalities and ethnicities. When an entire political party can get away with institutionalized racism against the President of the nation for nearly 5 years, then clearly America, you are nowhere near what we have in Canada. It is true that in the major cities, the melting pot is starting to show some cracks. People in New York and LA and Chicago are beginning to identify differently than they used to in the past, mostly due to where they emigrating from. This self-identification sea change may well be the result of seeing how we as Canadians identify ourselves. Is it possible that we are having an effect on them?

Maybe for all the things we worry about how our culture has been negatively influenced (for example, US TV) as well as other traits that we have been absorbing from American culture, maybe one thing has transferred back down south from us; the need to have some <GASP!!!> socialist-types of ideas about helping out everyone, no one being left behind (sounds like that old Bush phrase about no student being left behind doesn’t it), and protecting the poor by giving them free health care. America, it appears, is trying to become a little Canadian suddenly and its not a bad thing despite what Racist Republicans would have their constituents believe.

The Sleeping Giant Awakens: Jays Relevant Again

 The revamped logo of the Blue Jays is going to mean something again starting in 2013

Who finally woke up Rogers, owners of the Blue Jays, and told them that they had a baseball team?  Did someone knock on the door of the CEO at Rogers and remind them that this is the same team that used to spend the most money in baseball (1991-1993) and actually won the World Series in that time as well? Whoever it was (Paul Beeston, who was there at the time, or Alex Anthopolous or someone else) deserves their very own statue in front of the Skydome. Remember that place Rogers? The one that used to have 4 million people a year come out to watch the Blue Jays back when the team was, you know, the best in the game?

Whatever it was that led to this past week’s amazing turn of events, all I have to say is that its about F-ing time!!! For years (decades maybe if you actually consider that it has been 20 years since the 1993 World Series win) the Blue Jays have been an afterthought in MLB. Whether it was pathetic ownership (Labatt’s, then Belgian company Interbrew S.A., finally Rogers), piss poor decisions by the GM (Gord Ash, JP Riccardi I am speaking about both of you here) or just bad players drafted or signed, followed up by poor performance from players you would expect better from. The team has never really been in a realistic position to be considered a contender, not even for a playoff spot, let alone to actually win anything again if they somehow managed to get themselves into the playoffs (its been 19 years since that happened)

Even with the expanded playoff format in place (now with 2 wildcards in the American League no less), the team hasn’t been any closer than 6 games back of said playoff position at the end of any season since it came into existence.

All that is about to change and this is the week that we will look back to a few years from now and say was the seminal moment when a giant awoke from its 20 year slumber. Double A pulled off a gargantuan mega-trade with the suddenly fire-selling Marlins in South Florida, taking on 4 former all-stars and another useful player. Those players are Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio and former Jay (and all-star when he WAS here) John Buck.

Did one trade re-shape the future of the Blue Jays? 

In a word....YES!!!

All of those players are now Blue Jays and all it cost them was their much maligned former starting short stop (Yunel Escobar), their back-up catcher (Jeff Mathis), a 2 pitch starting pitcher who could be great, if he ever gets a solid 3^rd pitch (Henderson Alvarez),  two “A” ball pitchers (Nicolino and Descalfino) who may be pretty good in 3 years (or may not), a “AA” outfielder with a “glitch in his swing” according to one scout (Marisnek) and a potential blue chipper in Edeinny Hechevarria (who along with Escobar is Cuban and should at least help get more Cubans in Miami to come out to games).

Then, as MLB commish Bud Selig (who is very tight with Paul Beeston I should point out) decided it was a good idea to review the deal (as a way to appease the now incensed fans of Miami who agreed to help fund the new Marlins stadium (and are left with a $2.4 BILLION debt because of it) based upon promises made by the worst owner ever in sports history (that would be you Jeffery Loria, the man who put the final nail in the Montreal Expos coffin), Double A went out and signed Melky Cabrera (former Giant, All-Star Game MVP and fresh off of serving a 50 game PED ban) last night to add yet another weapon to a team that is now among the odds on favorites to not just make the playoffs but have a serious chance of winning it all in 2013.

Once again, the only words that come to mind are “WOW” and “WTF took so long?”

You have to remember that the Blue Jays, despite being in the same division as the Red Sox and Yankees (who have rabid fan bases and massive revenue streams) should be able to easily compete with both of those teams year after year based upon being in the 7^th largest market in North America. They have many revenue streams available to them and, since their owners are a monolith of a company that now owns or is part of the ownership of EVERY MAJOR SPORTS TEAM IN THE CITY and stadium and/or arena, it is not a stretch to say that they are able to draw upon massive amounts of revenue for this team if need be.

 You just know that there is a TON of money to be made when 2 of the

BIGGEST rivals in Canada join forces to buy MLSE

Even before this became a fact, the team squandered its glory years in the ‘Dome in the early 1990’s when they could have continued to use that fan generated power to keep them at the top. Instead, Labatt decided to change direction entirely and it cost the team, the city and the fans a chance to have a real dynasty. Their own short sightedness cost them so much that they were themselves purchased by a Belgian brewery called Interbrew S.A. and the downward spiral continued as these new owners had no idea how to use the team to their benefit. Payroll was slashed and the team, despite a small resurgence when they signed Roger Clemons in 1997, would remain in the middle of the pack for the next 15 years.

When Rogers purchased the team and the stadium, things were thought to be on the uptick seeing as how Ted Rogers was an avid sports fan and truly believed that one day he would be able to lure an NFL team to Toronto. His failed attempts led him to the Blue Jays and his belief that demonstrating his abilities as their owner would lead to opportunities for the NFL to eventually come up here as well. He was able to get a deal with the Bills for a few games over a 5 year period but he died a few years ago without ever realizing his dream. Sadly, his fixation on the NFL actually continued to make the Blue Jays a second class entity with the Rogers family until his passing.

When Nazir Mohammed became CEO of Rogers, replacing the late Ted Rogers, he brought with him a different approach to the Blue Jays and very soon Jays fans would start to see that even in someone you would consider a “bean counter” therein lies a true Sports fan. He brought back Paul Beeston to the fold. He allowed Beeston to fire JP Riccardi (who had run the team into the ground when his 5 year plan to rebuild the team and make them a contender had gone nowhere after 8 full seasons at the helm) and allowed his Assistant, Montreal born and Expo trained Alex Anthopolous, as the new, 32 year old GM of the team. Mohammed would continue to show his sports flare when he involved Rogers in a joint purchase with Bell in the purchase of  MLSE from previous owners the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund. Under Nazir, Rogers now has a stake in the Jays, Leafs, Raptors, Marlies, TFC, the ACC, Skydome, BMO field and the Ricoh center as well as at least 3 condo towers and Maple Leaf Square across from the ACC. Maybe this was the prelude we should have read more into as to give us an idea of what was coming for the Jays.

When Rogers bought into MLSE, looking back on it now, Rogers was demonstrating their commitment to the local sports scene monetarily. They had clearly seen that Toronto sports fans are willing to pay top dollar for the Leafs (out of sheer force of habit and loyalty), have done the same for TFC and the Raptors (who have die-hard followings and solid season ticket bases) and all three draw great TV audiences. As a multi-media monolith, Rogers only main goal is to improve their customer base.

 Even in the bad times, Leaf fans are still there....

This kind of commitment to a team by its fans is exactly what Rogers wants to instill in its customers. By trying to appeal to people who show the kind of commitment to a team you own, Rogers shrewdly calculated that it could definitely help their brand improve in the eyes of the kinds of people they desire the most; Loyal repeat customers.

In the good times, there are millions of dollars to be made and Rogers is well aware of that....

Here is how this relates back to the Jays. Rogers has owned them for a few years now and, as the media market has changed over the years, Rogers has developed numerous TV channels, online content and mobile content which they have used to market the team through. They have started to see those revenue streams grow exponentially and now, after analyzing the fans of other sports teams in the region, they have come to the conclusion that it is time to invest in this team. It also helps that their rivals are reeling.

The Red Sox are re-building with their table scraps (yeah, that means you John Farrell….Guess all it took to invest in the team was to ship you back to Boston eh?), the Yankees are old and aging right before our eyes (Derek Jeter is 38 and broke his ankle on a routine play in the playoffs last year. Will he be able to have another outstanding year like he did in 2012? Doubt it) and have dedicated themselves to a specific payroll. The Orioles were a surprise team in 2012 but are a flawed team that would need everything to break right to have another shot at being a contender again in 2013 and the Rays are a small market team that has no real fan base, hardly any season tickets and play with a small budget. On top of all that, despite how good they have been for the last 5 or 6 seasons, the team is about to lose some key players (BJ Upton maybe Cy Young winner David Price as well) because they can’t afford them. Sounds like the Jays of yester year. Given how this past week has gone down, it doesn’t appear that the Blue Jays will be following that script any more.

This selfish SOB is the reason why the Blue Jays are re-making themselves this week,

Faster than a jilted ex-girlfriend who lost a ton of weight and is into "trying new things"

Is it possible to change the minds of an entire league and its players about your team and city in the span of a few days? Given the fact that the trade hasn’t even been completed yet (it will, they just had 12 physicals to perform and agents and families to speak with who had scattered all over the planet after the season had ended, before it could be completed, as well as Selig trying to give some reassurances to the Marlins fans that he is properly scolding Loria) and already Josh Johnson’s agent (one of the players acquired from the Marlins) has said that Toronto “went from a 4 to an 8.5” out of 10 with regards to potential destination for free agents. To top that off, and show at the same time that this agent was correct, the Jays went and signed Melky Cabrera to a 2 year contract on Friday.

He has to make it look like he is not 100% asleep at the wheel, 

hence the TO-Miami trade being placed "under review"

To me, the moment that this team "awoke" was more of an incident than an actual moment. To me, the entire John Farrell affair and the bush league tactics employed by the Red Sox and Farrell in an effort to get things to go their way was the trigger that sparked this brushfire of a week that the team has used to usher in their renaissance. The fact that some nobody that was given a chance to be in the Big Leagues as a Manager wormed his way out of his deal with the Blue Jays because the Red Sox came calling was the shot across the bow that this team needed to wake up and start spending like they can to be the team they used to be again. Maybe it was out of spite to make that idiot Farrell look even more foolish or maybe it was the fear that if they didn't do something drastic then they would begin to head down the same path that the Expos went to oblivion but whatever it was, something snapped within Management of this team and they went nuts this week.

By picking up Jose Reyes and friends, the Blue Jays are looking a lot more like their

late 1980's to early 1990's selves....

You have to remember that this used to be a team that all the premier players would flock to come play for. Some of the guys that they had in their line-up included Joe Carter, Robbie Alomar, Dave Winfield, Jack Morris, Paul Molitor, Dave Stewart, David Cone, Ricky Henderson. All of these guys, at one time or another, came to Toronto by free agency or trade, because they believed they could win here and they WANTED to win in Toronto. We haven't seen that around here for years. Players that the team would sign had to be egregiously overpaid and given more years then they should have on their contracts in order to be convinced. That wasn't the way things had been done during the glory years.

After the strike shortened season of 1994, and the change of commitment by ownership, things took a nose dive and the Blue Jays disappeared from relevance. Sure, they would pop up once in a while like in 1997 with Clemens and his 2 steroid-aided Cy Young Seasons, or the Tim Johnson Season where they won 88 games, or the ascension of Roy Halladay as the top pitcher in the league and then a couple of years later Jose  Bautista's rise as a premier slugger in the game, but nothing of any significance really.

In retrospect, Joey Bats being out of the line-up may have been a blessing in disguise for the team

After this week, its safe to say that the Blue Jays are back people. It only took 20 years for the team to find itself again but the REAL Blue Jays are back. And it all started with Farrell bailing on the team for his "Dream job". It says here that he will regret making that decision (if he doesn't already). It was his defection and how he basically blatantly pined for the move for over a year which was the final straw in determining the path the Blue Jays would ultimately take. For that, all Blue Jays fans across the country should all be grateful to that selfish SOB.

Weekend Movie Reviews: Reel Steel, Man on a Ledge & Goon

Even in resigning he couldn't do it the right way....

On a day when most of my thoughts about politics are already out there (Romney sucking and getting his ass kicked in that debate, Mc-Liar being called out for his illegal and underhanded actions but immediately before and right after his resignation, Gary Bettman made to look like the fool that he is), I felt it was time to turn my attention to some movies that caught my attention recently both on DVD and on TMN.

I forewarn you that if you haven’t seen any of these, please stop reading now. Since these are all older flicks, it stands to reason that most of you have already seen these movies but I just wanted to warn you beforehand.

Let’s start with...

A surprise hit but it had all the elements of another boxing movie...

 

 

Starring Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly and newcomer Dakota Goyo, the premise of the story is basically similar to Rocky. I even remember some of the TV trailers had reviewers calling it Robot Rocky, and they really were not far off on that assessment. Set about 10 years in the future, an outdated, underpowered robot (Atom) “trained” and controlled by a down on his luck loser (Charlie Kenton played by Jackman) and his estranged 11 year old son Max (Played by Goyo).  Max has particular attachment to the robot given the fact that Atom saved his life in the junkyard that he and Charlie had broken in to in order to steal parts for Charlie’s other robots.

The subplots are actually what give this movie much more character and heart then you would expect. Charlie is not a likable guy when we first meet him. He is solely driven by money and even uses his son to get $50,000 (up front) out of Marvin (Max’s mother’s sisters’ rich husband) so that he will “babysit” Max for the summer before signing away his parental rights to them (not before making it seem as if he was going to make Max a ward of the state of Texas). This after he finds out that Max’s mother had passed away from cancer and has a say in what happens to his young son. 

 This scene (not in the movie) gives you an idea of where 

the real heart of this movie lies...

Upon getting the cash, Charlie goes and spends it on a robot boxer that he hopes will replace his previously destroyed robot and his lost income. As well, he is now in debt to a former rival he had placed a wager against in the opening sequence of the movie, a character that we see again later on in the movie. There is also one other person he owes money to as we find him preparing to receive his new robot and his son at Tallets’ Gym, owned by Bailey Tallet (Played by Lilly). She plays the daughter of Charlie’s former trainer from back when he used to be a boxer himself. Clearly there is a history there between them, despite the age difference, and because of that history, she has been much more lenient on him with regards to what he owes her.

Max is clearly in a state of sadness and hurting from the death of his mother. He shares a love for robot boxing with his father which gives them something in common, along with Bailey who helps Charlie by being his robot techie. After having his newly purchased robot destroyed (mostly due to his arrogance and not knowing how to properly use it), Charlie is again broke and with no way to repay his debts. Frustrated, he and Max end up breaking into a junkyard in search of spare parts to try to fix one of the two destroyed robots Charlie owns. Max nearly dies when the edge of the cliff he was on (unknowingly) gives way. He is saved by a mysterious arm protruding from the earth. Charlie, finally displaying some fatherly love for his son, grabs him off the arm overlooking a treacherous cliff.

Max becomes convinced that the sparring ‘bot he unearthed worth much more and the two become inseparable. In an especially poignant moment, Max and Atom bond and it becomes clear that there is more to Atom then just a collection of gears and circuits. Right from his first fight, with Charlie clearly against it, Max and Atom start showing Charlie that there is more that they can be together. Atom seems to listen to Charlie’s instructions as Max uses his controls.

After surviving his first fight, Max begs Charlie to start training Atom in his style (after having incorporated systems from both of Charlie’s previous robots into Atom’s operating system). The training and subsequent victories seem to bring father and son together as Charlie starts to bond with his son. He even begins to repay his debt to Bailey (who had had a fight with Charlie before he and Max had left on his winning streak). His winning lands them a shot at a World Robot Boxing League fight.

 

Their relationship is also vital in making this futuristic movie realistic

After a shocking victory, Max grabs the mic and openly challenges the World Champ to a fight. Right after the fight, Charlie’s old gambling debt comes back to haunt him as he is attacked by 3 guys led by Ricky (the former boxing rival to whom he owed $20,000 from the beginning of the movie). Beaten and robbed, Charlie begins to realize that the way he has been living his life would place Max in danger in the process. Finally starting to feel like a father seemed to scare Charlie as his first instinct was to get Max away from him and back to his now legal guardian, his aunt Debra (played by Hope Davis).

 In one of the more touching scenes of the film, Charlie tries to explain to Max why it’s best to have him live with his aunt by saying,  “You deserve better then me…. It’s better this way”. Before he leaves with her Max tells Charlie that all he ever wanted was for him to fight for him.

Charlie drives all the way back to Texas from New York just to see Bailey and after an emotional exchange and a passionate kiss, he leaves but not before another touching exchange between Charlie and Bailey where she asks him “you drove 1200 miles for a kiss?” eliciting a response from Charlie of 2 words: “Worth it” as a tear falls down her cheek.

In another Rocky parallel, the Champ (Zeus) gives Atom (The “nobody from nowhere”) a shot at the title. Charlie ends up going and getting Max back from Debra (with her permission) to fight the “Ivan Drago” of Robot boxing. Rocky, er, I mean Atom is a massive under dog and early on in the fight, he is getting pounded. Then the movie seems to take from several Rocky movies.

We all remember Drago's reaction here....he, along with the whole world, was shocked

First, Atom comes up with a surprise upper cut while being pounded on which stuns the champ, just like in Rocky IV how Rocky shockingly does the same to Drago as we hear the announcer screaming out “He’s cut!!! He’s CUT!!  As you watch that scene (if you have seen Rocky IV) you will see the similarities. Then, in the final round, as Atom is again being pounded on, Zeus seems to run out of power, just like in Rocky III how Rocky made Clubber Lang punch himself tired by taunting him to try to knock him out before finally coming out strong and knocking Clubber out himself. Finally, just like the end of Rocky, Atom loses a fight that was much closer than it should have been, embarrassing his opponents camp in the process leaving things wide open for a sequel (which is in the works). 

 Looks like a cool scene but it's actually a flaw in the movie....

mirror mode should have meant Atom used his Left, not his right...Yes, I nitpick

For all the Rocky comparisons, its more than just an updated knockoff.  The subplots, while not explained in great detail, give the viewer enough of a back story that you start to care about the characters, a real problem in a lot of movies being made right now.

From all accounts, the sequel will go on a slightly different tangent as it will focus more on Atom’s creation and the Robot underworld. The 3 main characters will be returning so at the very least, unlike some sequels, it will have the same base to start from for part 2.

Regardless, Real Steel was a success at the theaters and a massive success in DVD sales because it resonated with both kids and adults. Out of 5 Stars, I would give it a 4. There were some inconsistencies in the final fight scene that need to be explained better and possibly in the 2^nd movie they will be.

Good cast, good story, well executed....HORRIBLE title

Starring Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Ed Harris and Edward Burns, I remember seeing the trailers for this movie and writing it off as just stupid. So, as it is now on rotation on TMN, I figured what the heck. I will see what it’s really about.  Well, it is about a whole hell of a lot more than just a potential suicidal jumper. Bad Cops, a funeral, a jail break, Stolen (or not stolen) Diamonds, a heist, a redemption story for 2 other cops and a distraction later you have a decent thriller that was doomed from the start because of a stupid movie studio giving this movie an idiotic and uninspired title. Jumper would have been a better title, or On the Edge or Over the Edge or even Living on the Edge. The title really took away the potential this movie had.

  A cop ends up behind bars for stealing a $40 million diamond, breaks out of prison at his father’s funeral and a month later is “suicidal” at a hotel on the ledge. Except that nothing is as it seems. Worthington’s character (Nick Cassidy) ends up having Dirty cops hunting him down, a corrupt “Donald Trump-like” figure played by Ed Harris he accuses of framing him and a broken police negotiator (played by Banks) intertwining and seemingly having their own agendas. Even his former partner, played by Anthony Mackie (who was also in Real Steel as Finn) are playing things in completely different ways then you would think.

 

Sam and Elizabeth had some good chemistry in this flick

Nothing is at it seems in this cop thriller (which, for some reason is listed on TMN’s guide as a horror movie…WTF?!?!) which has some decent performances from pretty much everyone involved. I really think, like so many other movies that have been coming out lately, Hollywood has lost the touch on how to market anything other than big budget movies. Even with some of those, they sometimes make mistakes (John Carter? Cowboys and Aliens?).  In this case, they just didn’t have a clue as it could have had a decent theater haul had it been marketed properly. Instead, it barely broke even. With a budget of $42 million and an overall take of $46 million, this movie should have made a lot more money than it did. It’s a good plot, good actors and a great setting. I would give this movie a 3.5 rating out of 5 Stars. This movie is yet another example of Hollywood not knowing what they had when they brought this movie to market.

A second example of this is the next and final movie I will review.

 A little more depth to this movie then you would have thought

This movie set off alarm bells all over the country as it came out just after Derek Boogard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak were found dead in separate events last summer.  It is clearly a hockey movie but what most people don’t now is that it was loosely based on the life of a real life Minor League Hockey enforcer Doug Smith and his book, Goon: The True Story of an Unlikely Journey into Minor League Hockey.  For people who just saw the TV spots, they didn’t see what the real story was and that’s a shame. This movie is more than just about the hockey violence. If anything, the game action is used to show to what extent Glatt would go to protect his teammates.

Written by Jay Baruchel (who plays Doug’s foul mouthed best friend Pat), this movie is about a regular American guy named Doug Glatt (Played by Sean William Scott). He is a lovable dimwitted security guard/hockey fan with fists of steel, who gets into a fight at game and is asked to play on the local low level, semi-pro team. He can’t skate worth a lick but just through his presence alone he is able to help the team start to turn things around.

The coach works with him tirelessly to the point where he can at least somewhat stand out on the ice. As he improves, so does the team (with the new found pride they feel and security having someone watching their back).  The coach is so impressed with the confidence instilled by Glatt’s presence, he suggests to his brother that he give Doug a shot with his Pro team in Canada. So off goes Doug to go play in Halifax on a team in desperate need of some protection.

 Canadian Jay Baruchel wrote the script and Sean did

a good job in his portrayal of Doug Glatt

 Their best player, Xavier Laflamme (played by Marc-Andre Grondin) had been concussed by the most prominent enforcer in the league the year before (Ross Rhea played to the tee by Live Schreiber) and had never been the same since. Glatt is brought in essentially to play the “Dave Semenko” role to Laflamme’s Gretzky. Glatt finds time to fall for Eva (played by Allison Pill). Doug’s lack of skill is overshadowed by his kindness and heart as he is welcomed by all on the team except for Laflamme who resents him for almost everything he stands for. Liev Schrieber’s character is another central figure in the movie as he is close to retiring and the movie plays up the potential of “Boss” Rhea passing the baton (as it were) to Doug.

 

 Laflamme, on the right, slowly starts to see what a guy 

like Glatt can do for him and his career

The 2 men even have a heart to heart conversation after Doug is suspended which gives you an idea of the way hockey players actually have a sense of camaraderie even among players that are billed to be enemies. This movie really gives you a sense of why hockey players are different from other athletes. They are willing to sacrifice a whole hell of a lot more than any other athlete and regularly put their lives on the line to “play a game”.

 In the climatic fight sequence, Rhea and Glatt have at it and the 

baton is officially passed on to Doug

The movie itself only made about $6 million in theaters but like many small budget movies, the point of this movie wasn’t to make money but to tell a story about what it is like for minor league enforcers coming up through the system. The side stories of how his parents disapprove and his love interest being a total puck bunny are not really well explained but they are still enough that it gives us a slight amount of insight into just how playing this role can be both a help and a hindrance to the daily life of a professional enforcer.

Out of 5, I would give this movie a 3+. It’s not an Oscar-worthy picture by any stretch but it is worth a look see for both heart-felt and comedic scenes alike.

Even George Laraque, long time NHL Enforcer

had a cameo in the movie

Hope that I was able to help you pick out a decent movie to watch at home this weekend. Next up, I will review Argo in the coming days. Here’s a hint- Ben Affleck should win an Oscar for this one.

Until Next Time…