Olympic Thoughts, Blue Jays Faltering as Expected & Buttman At it Again

The Olympics are nearly over and my personal opinion of certain athletes aside, there have been some great moments and some controversial moments that have left people scratching their heads. There were some great tennis matches, electric moments on the track and some shocking results on the soccer pitch (both good and bad).

Before I get into it, someone has to tell me how some sports are still in the Olympics while some other, more commonly played sports around the world are not. For example, how the hell are table tennis and Trampoline events in the Summer Olympics as medal sports yet Baseball and Softball are not? The rationale behind the exclusion of Baseball and Softball at the time was the argument by the IOC that not enough people around the world were playing the two sports on a high enough level to warrant them as Olympic sports. It's the same argument that the Winter Olympics keeps throwing at the Women's Hockey event since the winner of the Gold and Silver Medals in every single Winter Olympics since the sports inclusion has been Canada and the USA.

But to me that argument could be used against a lot of sports that are dominated by certain nations. You don't hear people saying that basketball should be be booted because the US has dominated the tournament since they went to the "Dream Team" model in 1992 do you? What about table tennis, the sport I already question. It's dominated by China and has been for a good 20-25 years yet no one (for whatever reason) questions its' inclusion. So why was Baseball and Softball booted?

It's quite easy to figure out actually. The sports were kicked out because Major League Baseball refused to "play ball" with the IOC with regards to shutting down the MLB season for the 2 to 3 week period that it would require to fulfill an Olympic commitment. Plus, they would have to release all the stars to play for all of their respective national teams and given how much money some of these owners have invested in some of these stars, and how they would have to share the profits from such a tournament, it would never happen.

There were 2 record setting marathon tennis matches that went way past the normal amount of time to complete the 3rd and final set. In Olympic Tennis, the men and women both play a best 2 out 3 sets which means that the final set has to be won by 2 games. Typically, if each player wins a set then that means that the first player to get to 6 games won in the set would win the set and advance except that in both the Milos Raonic vs. Willy Tsonga (3-6, 6-3, 23-25) and the Roger Federer vs. Juan Martin Del Potro (3-6, 7-6 (5), 19-17) both of which took over 4 hours to complete, the final set (as you can see from the scores) went well past the norm.

Usain Bolt showed the world that he is still the fastest man on earth as he defended both his 100 and 200 meter titles from 4 years ago by, once again, obliterating the field on the way to a Gold in each event. Displaying his typical playful nature in the lead up to each event (by chatting with field attendants, flirting with female athletes and attendants as well both in the lead up to his events and in his down time), Bolt was everything a Champion should be.

Now the negative stuff. Boxing matches where the winner (by unanimous judges decision) had to be carried out of the ring by his trainers (overturned on appeal). Athletes tweeting racial stuff on their twitter accounts, being booted out of the games before they even started and still other ones being booted out for having pictures up on their facebook profile from 4 years ago that didn't jive with their country's Olympic committee's ethics.And of course, the controversy over the pathetic officiating in some sports, particularly the Women's Soccer Semi-final between Canada and the USA 3 days ago.

The fact that the ref called a delay of game foul on the Canadian Keeper (for holding the ball for 6 seconds) without giving her a warning, then she calls a penalty shot on a hand ball resulting from that same free kick in the Canadian box when a Canadian player was only about 3 feet away from the ball (she should have blown the play dead and forced the Americans to re-kick their indirect free kick, but instead opted to compound her error) demonstrated to everyone that this official simply had no idea of what she was doing (when you add to that the fact that the US also got away with a hand ball not being called against them in the gold medal game against Japan, you really have to wonder about these soccer officials in this women's tournament).

The Olympics wrap up in a couple of days but there have been a ton of unforgettable moments, including a couple of cool scenes from the opening ceremonies featuring Mr. Bean and James Bond taking the Queen up in a helicopter. The best part about these Olympics? The fact that they have made Mitt Romney look like and even bigger fool on the World stage. Classic.

I really thought that after the scorching pre-season the Jays had they would be a bonafide contender this year in the American League. While they did look like they were possibly going to be the beneficiaries of an off year by the Red Sox and parody finally starting to creep into the sport, ultimately a 4 day stretch in June was the key turning point in this season as 3 of their starting pitchers went down (2 of them having had to have Tommy John Elbow Ligament replacement surgery and will be out of action for up to a year each).

Even though many will point to the fact that the team was able to maintain a .500 record up until recently, and still others will point to Bautista going down, having 3 young starters go out like they did was clearly the key turning point to the whole year. They currently sit at 53-58, within striking distance of the 2nd Wild Card but with their injuries mounting (Luis Perez and Jason Frasor are also out not to mention Adam Lind with a bad back, JP Arencibia broke his hand, now Brett Lawrie going out with tightness in his oblique and, of course, Bautista and his wrist injury from hell), and their offense now running on fumes, it appears the team is now in free fall.

They were swept in Seattle (against a feisty team that traded away Ichiro), split a 4 game series in Oakland and then got swept in their own personal hell known to everyone else as Tropicana Field in Tampa. Now they start a 10 game home stand against the Yankees, the White Sox and the Texas Rangers. Anything short of winning 7 of those 10 games and the season is pretty much over. Stranger things have happened but I won't be counting on it.

Just a side note on Bautista. I have had to go through the exact same injury on the exact same wrist he has had to endure since the last time the Jays played the Yankees. About 8 weeks ago I also sprained my wrist while playing ball hockey and it has taken me all the way until this week to finally have the ability to swing a baseball bat without any pain. It has taken 8 weeks for me to go through a 3rd degree sprain, then tendonitis and finally now just having nominal pain when I attempt to use it more then I should. When he got hurt that night in New York, I knew it would take an awful lot longer then the Jays were letting on because at that point, I had been hurt for a month or so and it was still very painful.

A 2 to 3 week timetable was unrealistic when first announced but necessary to try and coax the remaining Jays to play above their heads for a few weeks without their star until he returned. Maybe in a year or 2 this team will be in a position where they can compensate for such a loss but as of right now they are too young and inexperienced to do anything other then fight with until the 27th out is recorded against them. They will be better for having gone through this experience, especially the younger players like Anthony Gose (who is looking more and more like he will be a stronger version of Kenny Loften with each game he plays) and Edeiny Hechevaria (who reminds me of a young Tony Fernandez when he bats and fields and should make the transition to 2nd base so that they can just release the strikeout machine known as Kelly Johnson ).

Even their pitching depth, which has been severely tested this season, will be better for it over the next couple of years as the young guys have had a baptism under fire of sorts and can go back to the minors knowing exactly what it takes to stay in the big leagues (here's a hint; it's not just throwing the ball over the plate, the key is throwing quality strikes). Many Blue Jays fans were hoping against hope that the Jays would have been able to make a move and get an arm or 2 (like a Ryan Dempster or a Matt Garza....or both) to help them make that final push and actually make the playoffs for the first time since 1993. All the pitching depth in the world won't help you if you can't score enough runs to win the game and without their starting Catcher, 3rd baseman, All-World Right fielder and DH, they really have no shot at doing a whole hell of a lot right now do they?

Plus, the added bonus is that they get to keep those young assets that everyone was trying to pry away from them in any kind of trade so maybe, just maybe, these injuries were a blessing in disguise in several senses. Young players filling in at the Major League level gain experience against the top competition in the world which will hopefully speed up their development curve significantly and the young pitchers in "A" ball that everyone loves so much, are still members of the team that may end up being more ready to start the spring of 2013 then anyone realizes. One can only hope.

On to Buttman. Somebody needs to smack this guy around a bit and show him the numbers after the first 2 labour stoppages that have occurred on his watch. 1994 we hockey fans had to endure a strike shortened season that lasted a total of 48 games and was the main reason that New Jersey Devils' styled trapping (re: BORING) hockey was brought into the sport. Then, the entire 2004-2005 season was wiped out when the League and its' retarded owners (I use that term in the sense that anyone with a mental handicapped should be embarrassed to be associated with people this incredibly stupid) and, in some areas, the league has never fully recovered.

The only good thing to come out of the wiped out season were some of the rule changes. The Salary cap, while good for the owners (as they try to control the lunacy of some of their own brethren) has done nothing for the sport and has instead kept teams like Nashville and Phoenix in non-hockey markets where they don't belong. It took the owners of the Thrashers going through an 8 year court battle before one of them was finally saddled with being the owner of the sad sack franchise and that lasted all of 8 months before he went screaming for the hills allowing True North to swoop in and buy the team moving them back to a Canadian city that was craving the return of the NHL for nearly 16 years.

And guess what happened? In it's first year in Winnipeg, the re-born Jets went from the lowest attendance in the League in Atlanta the year before, to a playing in front of a loud, sold out, hockey mad crowd each and every night, pushing the Jets into the top 10 in the league in both attendance and revenue. How many US based owners of NHL teams aren't incredibly jealous of True North right now of what they have going on in Winnipeg?

Buttman is a target for me once again because of his statement he made on Thursday when he went on the record as saying that the owners would once again lock out the players if there was no new CBA agreed to by September 15th. Given some of the details that have been made public about the first "offer" the league made the players a few weeks ago and how truly pathetic it was, his comments today and the position he and the league are clearly starting to take with the players shows us all that those 5-8 morons who own teams in cities that simply will not support the game and continue to bleed money left, right and center, have WAAAAAYYYY too much control over the process right now and need to be pushed out of the conversation entirely. If you are too stupid to realize you are losing money in one location and that you best bet is to move to another one, then you don't deserve to be in business. It's that simple.

I just realized how late it was so I will wrap this one up and turn it over to you. Let me know what you think about any of this or any other of my blog posts.

Until next time....

It Seems To Me That 9/11 Was Just Phase 1 of Al-Qaeda's Plan

Having gotten myself hooked on the new HBO Drama "The Newsroom", political moments that have occurred over the last 2 years seem to made me re-analyse some of the more important moments that have happened over the last 10 years, starting with 9/11. In the most recent episode of the show, the focus was the evening that it became known that US Marines had finally found and killed Osama Bin Laden. It was an emotionally powerful episode (as they all seem to be lately) which got me thinking about the whole process that George "W" went through in "trying" to find Bin Laden, before Obama finally got him last year.

Then it hit me. What if, in this whole time since the attacks, Bin Laden was more of a distraction then anything else? What if Al-Queda had decided to use Bin Laden as their fall guy after 9/11 and focused on other aspects of their "plan" in the meantime? Let me explain.
 
On a piece about Bin Laden I watched shortly after 9/11 on ABC's 20/20, it was mentioned that Bin Laden had ties to Saudi Royalty but felt compelled to go fight "infidel" invaders of Afghanistan. Of course it would have been known to Al-Qaeda that Bin Laden and many of the other senior members of the Taliban in Afghanistan had been trained by the CIA so allowing the Americans to place the blame entirely on Bin Laden allowed Al-Qaeda to focus on other aspects of their plan. I think Al-Qaeda had a multi-pronged plan that started with 9/11 and has continued in the following years after the attacks, even after Bin Laden was killed last year.


Let me break it down for you. Starting with the premise that the attacks, and the subsequent pursuit of the only man that the US Authorities have ever blamed for the attacks as the first 2 phases then the third phase would have been the anticipated invasion of a country like Afghanistan and the subsequent fall out that would come of invading a sovereign nation all in an attempt to find one man, the loss of respect that would come with it and the loss of trust the rest of the world would have in everything that has to do with the US. I would argue that the 4th phase was the slowest to enact as one of the tenets of Al-Qaeda has been the systemic destruction of Western Civilization, beginning with our financial and social institutions. I believe Al-Qaeda leadership felt that once the US became involved in wars in 2 different countries, they would continue to spend primarily on their military (which they have) and allow many areas of their society to fall to waste (which they have) as they very nearly saw every major bank on Wall Street go bankrupt once Government started peeling away regulations and basically paying more attention to their war machine then their economic system.

Let me give you the details, or at least how I see them as they fit into this master plan of theirs.

In the last 9 years, with all of these "supposed" military assets in search mode for Bin Laden all over Pakistan and Afghanistan, the US Military was able to use this "search" as an excuse to increase their budget to a ridiculous figure. At the same time, the US Economy has been stagnant if not in pure recession mode almost the entire time with the Government more focused on Military spending then fixing the ills of the economy.

The reaction by the White House was both expected and over the top at the same time. President George W. Bush was able to coin the phrase "War on Terror". A prophetic statement indeed given what would transpire over the next 10 years. Bush was then able to turn the perceived threat of possible continued terrorist activities against the US to invade Iraq under false pretenses (in order to finish the job his dad started in 1991 and eradicate another Dictator who had been trained and funded as well by the CIA at the same time as Bin Laden). If that wasn't bad enough, he invaded Afghanistan by saying that the Taliban was hiding Bin Laden. The 2 wars that Al-Qaeda had hoped for, were now in full effect. Their plan was working.

With respect to each of these invasions, Bush made himself and Americans in general look foolish. Firstly, by claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of Mass Destruction and invading Iraq, Bush was blatantly lying through his teeth yet despite all the evidence to indicate that he WAS in fact wrong about Iraq, not a single person ever brought up the dreaded "I" word. You know, the same one that was brought up against Former President Clinton because he got a little BJ from an intern way back? Impeachment. The Republicans were outraged at the thought of a President getting some sexual favours behind his wife's back while in the Oval Office but killing thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens based upon pure lies is ok? Talk about some pretty ridiculous people. Where are there morals when it comes to killing innocent civilians?

Their actions in Iraq made many people around the world lose a lot of respect and admiration (if any was left in some parts of the world) for the way the US handled foreign affairs. Yes, there were always some people who felt that the US intervened way too much in some areas (like the whole Yugoslavian war) and not enough in others (like most of the African wars over the last 30 years) but with the way they jumped into Iraq again, their real intentions were made very clear: America was concerned with money and protecting their oil interests in the region.

That was the plan all along. By getting the Bush Administration to show their true intentions on the world stage with regards to their foreign policy, the level of respect for the US and Americans in general, took a massive hit as the rest of the world began to see the lies of Bush and his cronies (as well as those of Bush apologists who, to this day, still defend him on Fox News). To put it more succinctly, if 9/11 was Phase 1. and turning Bin Laden into a military diversion was Phase 2, then this would qualify as Phase 3. That is, making the world see that America and Americans in general only care for one thing and one thing only; Money and it's acquisition. Their loss of respect around the world and even for each other was just an added bonus.

The second aspect of Bush's War on Terror (his invasion of Afghanistan), was similar to his invasion of Iraq as it too was done under false pretenses. Despite all the reasons that they claimed they were invading Afghanistan, there really were only 2 main ones; To ensure a massive Haliburton-paid for Natural Gas Pipeline was completed (after the Taliban had objected to its' construction through the country without a more significant cut of the profits going rightly to the nation that it will go through) and to gain control of the opiate trade that is a major export for the country. Haliburton, for those of you that do not know, was and is the massive sub-contractor that supplies all US military with everything from clothing to food as well as being heavily involved in the Middle East with regards to oil exploration, refinery development and exporting. Oh, and a vast majority of the people in the Bush White House throughout the entire 8 years he was in office, were and still are major stakeholders in Haliburton. Hmmmm.

Back to the point. Where was all the concern for Afghanistan when the Russians were invading them back in the late 1970's, early 1980's? The easy answer is there wasn't any. Instead of concern, the US saw dollar signs and a chance to give the Soviets (back in the day) a little bit of a nose bleed in the process when they began to supply the Mujahadeen (Muslim freedom fighters) with weapons and training in order to help the Afghani people resist Soviet occupation. The CIA spent Billions of dollars funding these freedom fighters and training volunteers, men like Osama Bin Laden. Isn't it ironic that the same man who they were apparently searching for throughout Pakistan and Afghanistan for nearly 10 years was the same man that they themselves had trained back in the late 1970's to do to the Russians what he is credited with doing to the Twin Towers.

In the end, Al-Qaeda is just as much a thorn in the side of the Western World now as it was when Bin Laden was alive so, in reality, other then the psychological aspects of feeling relief and vengeance that he died at the hands of the US military in some parts of the America over his death, the world is no safer now then it was before he died. Bin Laden was a figurehead, the fall guy who, regardless of whether he did or didn't plan the attacks, he took the fall for them as he had planned to all along. He was just a pawn in a much larger game that the US very nearly lost altogether and, without some serious help, I fear may well be destined to lose, especially if a fool like Mitt Romney somehow gets control of the White House.

I fear that they are not nearly done with their plan. Al-Qaeda are, I believe, lulling Americans into a false sense of security as they plan another attack, a major one that will be a coordinated effort with attacks in several major cities in the US and Europe. They have had operatives testing the perimeter as it were, with minor attempts at planting bombs in certain areas of certain cities for years now. If you look at the attacks in London on 7/7 and Spain, you start to realize that they are seemingly throwing pebbles at an electric fence trying to find a weakness.

I don't mean to scare anyone but these are just some scattered thoughts I felt would be best explained especially after watching the most recent episode of the "The Newsroom". I hope to god I am wrong but something tells me I am not.

(Pictures would not upload or they would have been included)

JFK, MLK, RFK & What If....

 Ask not what could have been....Fore it could have been grand

What would the World have been like now if John F. Kennedy had been able to fulfill his full term as  President? How much different would the world have been today? Would his life have changed things for the better as so many believe? For that matter, what would have happened to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and even JFK’s brother Bobby? Would he have followed in his brother’s footsteps as he had intended to in 1968 and thrown his hat into the political arena attempting to become President as well? 

These three men made a difference but they could have done so much more....

On June 6^th, 1968, Robert Francis Kennedy was assassinated while on a Presidential Campaign stop in Los Angeles. He was the third important political figure to be assassinated in the mid to late 1960’s following the assassination of his brother John F. Kennedy on November 22^nd, 1963 and, just 2 months before RFK, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in cold blood by a single assassin. 

He wanted freedom but on his own terms....he was taken far too soon from us

All 3 of these men were civil rights leaders in their own way. JFK was the first Catholic US President and had seen America through the Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis. He also oversaw the forced de-segregation of the first US college in the Deep South (Alabama, among the worst in terms of civil right violations) when he forced an all-white college to allow a black student admission by sending in the National Guard to protect him and 2 other black students. His beliefs were always questioned as was his decisions as President. His assassination was the beginning of a tectonic shift in the way politics and politicians conducted themselves as the controversy and conspiracy theories mounted over who killed him (without resolution) and why.

One incident alone was not the tipping point but once Martin Luther King was murdered, followed closely by Robert Kennedy, both of whom had taken the 5 years since the death of JFK to spur the civil rights movement forward, demanding equality and freedom for all peoples under law, things were beginning to change. Much too quickly it would appear for some people at that time.

Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr. had been an advocate of peaceful resistance to government actions against their protests for equality and freedom in the South and had been vilified by the all white media as well as many US congressman and State Governors, who feared that the same protests and demands of the Black community in Alabama would migrate to their States. In essence, Alabama was the frontline state where civil rights activists and racists alike had drawn a line in the sand and Martin Luther King was considered to be the most influential leader in the civil rights movement at the time. He was the General fighting the good fight peacefully on the front lines.

This battle for equality would prove to be the most important battle in US history with both Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy fighting against the establishment.  This put both men firmly in the cross hairs of many different factions that all supported the continuation of the status quo, wherein white men had all the power and everyone else was subjugated under their “rule”.

The argument could be made that their assassinations actually spurred on the civil rights movement faster than it would have asserted itself had the two men actually lived. I strongly disagree with this notion and, in fact, when you add in the survival of JFK as well, I firmly believe that the world we live in today would have been vastly different on a multitude of levels. Lets start with a simple premise and go with the concept of “What if…”

What if JFK had not been shot and killed in Dallas on November 22^nd, 1963?

I believe that it was clear in his 3 years as President that JFK was unafraid to make the big decision. He was, after all, the one who gave the go ahead for the Bay of Pigs fiasco. At the same time, he learned from that error in judgment and was able to successfully navigate the world through the Cuban Missile Crisis only a year later, averting what was surely going to be a nuclear war with the Soviet Union through an intelligent blockade of Russian ships to Cuba where the Soviets had been stockpiling long range nuclear missiles aimed at New York and Washington. The biggest error JFK made was not reigning in Bobby when it came to his crusade as Attorney General, against organized crime. Let’s say for this blog’s sake, that he was in fact able to control Bobby’s ambition and get him to tone down his vigilance against them. Not only do I believe that he wouldn’t have become a target to mobsters all over the country, but he would have also shown that special Presidential quality that supersedes everything, even family.

It is my belief that JFK would have easily won a 2^nd term in office in 1964, meaning that Lyndon Johnson and his war-mongering cohorts would not have been able to push the USA into a war in Vietnam to the same extent that we actually saw. While it is very probable that the US would have still been involved in some capacity in the region, given how the Bay of Pigs had gone, it is doubtful that JFK would have lept in, feet first, into another conflict halfway around the world simply at the behest of his military advisors, of whom he was already suspicious of to begin with.

The fact he never ws able to become President cost us so much in the long run...

So rather than sending thousands of drafted young men to their deaths (the average age of the men who fought in Vietnam was 19), JFK would have taken a more cautious approach and, given how he had used radical strategy to avoid nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, who’s to say that the same type of outside-the-box thinking wouldn’t have resurfaced against the Vietnamese Government as well?

Going back to 1961, JFK was the one who forced integration in the Southern US College system when he used the National Guard to protect the first Black students to enroll it what had been previously an all white institution. Given how he handled that situation, it is logical to assume that the demands being made by people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King would not have fallen on deaf ears all throughout the 1960’s. Segregation of the school system would have been the next major domestic issue JFK would have tackled, removing Martin Luther King from the line of fire in the sense that his demands would no longer have been termed to be so subversive to the culture of the time.

I believe that had JFK lived, he would have been the first sitting President to denounce segregation and call for full civil rights for all citizens, regardless of race.  It is my firm belief that given the way in which he governed in his short 3 years in office, JFK would have been a transcendent President who would have pushed the government into forcing them to acknowledge the rights and liberties of all of its citizens’ regardless of their race.

While this may have taken some of the revolutionary aspects of Dr. King’s life away (and most likely prevented his assassination in the process), Dr. King would have still been seen as a pioneer for his new role in helping States complete their integration process. I could easily see that once the dangers of his fight were taken away, Dr. King would have been freed up to focus on the important aspects of the civil rights fight. He would have become the first Black man to have the ear of a sitting President as I believe JFK would have found an important role for him to play in the transition from the past to the future of race relations in American history.

These two men should have been allowed to push their agendas through the White House

With the increased race relations and the smaller role of America in Vietnam under JFK, Bobby Kennedy’s role reduced (or restricted), I believe he would have chosen to leave JFK’s cabinet and ventured out into the private sector as a lawyer. That flirtation would have lasted all of about 8 years as it is more than likely that after his brother left office, Nixon would have won the next election and attempted to make up for lost time with regards to Vietnam.

The American people would have become disenfranchised with him very quickly and, after 4 years, in 1972, Bobby Kennedy would have entered into the race and won the Presidency back. Dr. King would have seen much of his hard work pushed aside under Nixon and returned to his roots and continued to mount pressure on the Government not to turn back the clock to the pre-JFK days. Dr. King’s influence would have been especially strong during the 4 years of Nixon’s uneventful Presidency.

Two great men who could have had an even larger role in our history

With Bobby as the new President-elect of 1972, the next 8 years start to look as if they could be great for the country on so many levels. Bobby always was more open to innovative ideas and willing to look at things from a different perspective, even more so then his Brother. In terms of civil liberties, he would ensure that the gains made under JFK would be expanded upon. Dr. King would have been able to once again revert back into the “peace-time general” he would have been under JFK’s full 8 year Presidency and continue to build upon his own personal legacy of peaceful change.

If all of these actions had been the way our history had played out, Dr. King would have made someone like Malcolm X pointless in the sense that Dr. King himself would have been able to secure the changes he and many others fought so hard to gain without having to resort to violence to get them. Groups like the Black Panthers wouldn’t have been necessary. The Nation of Islam and their grip on the Black community in the early 1960’s to mid 1970’s wouldn’t have been nearly as tight as it was. Violent protest and police crackdowns on innocent people wouldn’t have been the norm in many of the larger US Cities like Detroit, New York and particularly in the Bay Area.

Bobby was a man who didn't see colour when he looked at people

Bobby Kennedy would have been an even more influential and dynamic President then his brother because of the way he looked at things through a different lens. A father of 9, an attorney who knew more than just what the text books said about how to interpret law, he was a determined and focused man who once set to task, was like a pit-bull on a bone. His experience as a lawyer had taught him that there was always 3 sides to every story and so there were always 3 ways of doing things; the right-wing way, the left-wing way and the way in between where both sides make concessions in order to achieve a higher goal. In politics, the middle road is the one that always makes headway, something the current US Congress needs to remember as they stall and bicker with President Obama time and again just because they can.

It is absolutely frightening to think of the dominos that fell after the deaths of these 3 historic figures. The way the world would have evolved instead if even one of them, particularly JFK, had not been murdered, would have altered much of how we look at the world today and how we look back on the events of the recent American history.  If JFK had not been gunned down in cold blood, Dr. King and Bobby wouldn’t have either (in my estimation) as JFK’s Presidency would have paved the way for a much brighter future.

More emphasis would have been placed on technology and innovation as it was JFK himself who demanded of NASA that America be the first nation on earth to visit the Moon setting off a space race that the Americans ultimately won 6 years after his murder. He was a fair man politically and would have fought for Civil rights of all people of all races. He would have forced more schools to acquiesce to the Federal Government and de-segregate faster than Lyndon Johnson did when he took over as President. His actions would have forced states to recognize the equality of all its citizens sooner without the unnecessary strife and bloodshed that transpired from the early 1960’s up until the mid to late 1970’s (and still goes on in some small pockets of the Deep South).

 In a private moment, we can only imagine what might have been...

If Bobby had been able to become President in 1972, something tells me America would be in a much better position globally then they find themselves today. The oil shortage of the mid to late 1970’s would have created a new form of race as I firmly believe that Bobby would have had the foresight to try and diversify the energy resources and supplies of the US. I really believe that he would have had the wherewithal to start looking alternative energy sources or possibly cutting an energy pact with OPEC before they became the Oil Cartel they are today.

While there are some aspects of society today that these three men would not have been able to change alone just with their presence (like our materialistic society, the influence of corporations on government are just 2 such examples), I think it is quite clear that these men were taken from us at far too soon a time for the good of the world in general. These men are viewed through the lens of history are seen as 3 of the most influential men of the 20^th century. Had they lived instead of being murdered for their ideals, not only would the United States have been a much better place for it, but the world in general would have been in a much more secure and fundamentally sound place.

Who knows, with the cultural influences that these men had on our society in death, their influence in life may have been even greater. We may have even had the chance to have avoided ever seeing people like the Kardashians on TV as we could have had a much more intelligent use for the medium then that with which we are using it now.

One could only dream….

The Annoyance of Modern Job Hunting and More....

 Job hunting is never easy....

The modern job hunter is believed to have many more options when it comes to looking up job postings now then job hunters 10-20 years in the past. The internet has given the average job hunter access to positions all across the globe if they really want to apply for them but there are problems with that.

In the past, when looking for work, you were usually put up against people from your own geographical locations, which would greatly increase your chances of landing a decent, well paying job. Employers used to be limited to the area in which they were open for business and therefore their options were limited by the people in the area. Now, with so many more options available to them and so many more applicants able to apply for the same positions, the job market has become that much more difficult to navigate despite all the additional tools.

One of those tools, the one most commonly used by job hunters, is the job search website. Sites such as Monster, Workopolis  and Linkedin have become very popular over the years as they claim to be the go to place for job seekers all over North America. The problem with some of these sites is that to find the "job of your dreams" you have to pay for it. Some would argue that it isn't much of a difference then having to pay for a news paper to search their "Want" ads but I would disagree.

The average unemployed or under-employed person (basically someone who is over-qualified for the job they currently have) should not be put into a position where they have to buy their way into a new and better job. The job market should not be limited by your financial ability to pay a website to "hook you up" as it were, with an employer that is looking for the specific skill set that you possess.

I only mention this because after I did set myself up on Linkedin, I was sent a quick message advising that I could get "pushed to the top of the line" in my advanced job search if I pad for their enhanced services. What if every single person was paying for the service, how could everyone get pushed to the front of the line? Sounds like a scam to me.

One last thing about some of the job openings that are posted online. I find it absolutely ridiculous that many of these independent companies expect people to set up profiles with their websites and take a good 10 minutes just to apply for the possibility of getting an interview with them for a position. It's insulting and a waste of time. Half of the job postings that I find interesting I refuse to apply for just because they expect this from applicants. Do these HR managers have a fucking clue how much time it takes to apply to different jobs? Why on earth they would think that the average applicant has the time to do this is beyond me but it's retarded.

On to a few other things.

This weekends Wibmeldon Champs, In case you missed it....

Roger Federer won his 17th and Serena Williams won her 14th Grand Slam Final as each won the singles title in London at the all England Club, Wimbledon over the weekend. You didn't hear about it? Don't worry, it's tennis. Not many people focus on that sport anymore anyway. Even though Serena and her sister Venus were supposed to be the breakthrough many people felt the sport of Tennis needed to get more diversity into the sport, the two of them, much like Tiger Woods, have not had nearly the impact that many foresaw happening. Neither the Williams' nor Tiger have had the same impact that Jackie Robinson had on Baseball back in the midway point of the 20th century. Instead, many young urban black kids are focuses on Football and Basketball and nothing seems to be able to break the grip those 2 sports have on the Black community in North America.

The MLB All-Star game will play out tomorrow night. Only 1 Blue Jay will be there (Jose Bautista, who is tied for the league lead, again, with 27 homers so far this year). Which is wrong. At least 1 other player should have been there with him and that player is Edwin Encarnacion. He is having a career year  (In a contract year no less) and with his 23 Home Runs, 58 RBI's and .295 batting average, he should have been included in the Mid-summer Classic.

Both Easy E and Joey Bats Should be at the All-Star Game this year....

The fact that he is not there and some others with lesser statistics are begs the question of why they haven't expanded the All-Star Rosters so that obvious omissions (like this) don't occur. It would help if the team were chosen more on merit then based on position but that's not practical in Baseball's All-Star game. The only positive of Easy E not being on the team is that its one less bullet in the gun his agent will try to put to the head of Blue Jays Management after this season is over.

American hockey players go home all the time, Canadian? Not so much

So Zack Parise and Ryan Suter choose to "go home" and sign identical 13 year - $98 million contracts with the Minnesota wild, yet Ric Nash refuses to waive his no trade clause in his contract to include Toronto as one of the teams that he would be willing to be traded to and Steve Nash uses the Raptors offer to get some leverage in order to facilitate a sign and trade from Phoenix to the LA Lakers. Is it just me or are Canadians becoming soft when it comes to the sporting world? They are purposefully choosing to ignore their hometowns and opting to play elsewhere for big bucks.

 Using the Raptors to create more offers for yourself is kind of low in my view....

I know that it sounds harsh but I really do think that it has to be some kind of mentality thing with Canadian athletes who have grown up dealing with the relentless Toronto-based media. I would go so far as to say that Canadian athletes are soft because they are too chicken shit to deal with the pressures that come with playing for your home town team. Before Nash and Nash, there was Dany Heatley choosing to decline being traded to the Oilers. There was Jamaal Magloire chosing not to play for Canada in any off-season international basketball tournaments (when he was at his prime) Even Joey Votto and the fact he just signed a 12 year extension with the Reds when he was 1 year away from being a free agent that could have (and would have) commanded a boatload of money from Rogers to get him into a Blue Jays jersey seems to me to be a slap in the face to the Toronto sports scene and sports media in Canada in general.

Sorry bud but if you are too chicken to play in TO, then we don't want you here anyway

Canadian athletes seem to be willfully choosing to stay away from home opting instead to play away from the pressure of playing where they grew up. I really don't understand  this thought process. If you can use your home town to become a great athlete, why can't you find it in your "heart" to come home and try to make your home town team a winner? The Toronto media is partially to blame as they are turning into Piranha's when it comes to breaking news and (ultimately) being overly negative about just about everything but the athlete themselves are more to blame for fearing the media and using that as an excuse not to play in Toronto. You really are pathetic in my view.

 Am I crazy to be the only one who questions Phelps accomplishments?

Everyone is making a big deal about Micahel Phelps and his medals. While it's an impressive feat, no question, there is one thing that always makes me wonder. When the Cold War was ongoing, the Russians and Eastern Bloq countries were accused of using steroids and ultimately fessed up to it as the reason for much of their dominance in many Summer Sports. When Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis were battling in the late 1980, it was widely accepted that the majority of the field was running dirty (a fact that only the Americans and Carl Lewis deny to this day). We all know what happened to Ben Johnson in 1988 but nothing ever happened to ANY of the other "dirty" athletes, many of whom were American.

Now we have an Olympic swimmer who has 16 Olympic medals to his name, 14 of which are Gold, and no one has ever wondered aloud if he has used any kind of drug to help his performance other then the weed he was caught doing 3 years ago? Doesn't that make you wonder even a little? If he was from any other country in the world, the US media would be clamoring to discredit such an abnormality in the sporting world as being the result of pharmaceuticals. I'm not saying he IS dirty or cheating, I just wonder why it is that no one has ever even considered the possibility that he MAY have been using something from BALCO or HGH. I just find it odd.

John Travolta is trying to fend off the mounting evidence of his homosexuality (only a really gay man would not be able to stay straight for Kelly Preston) and another rumoured-to-be-gay member of Scientology, Tom Cruise, is in for the fight of his life as Katie Holmes has filed for Divorce in the State of New York and not California, intentionally simply because of the fact that she has a better chance to win sole custody of their daughter Suri in New York then in California. At the same time, Rupert Murdoch (owner of many media outlets and a weird person of his own doing) has been tweeting about how "strange and evil" the "Cult" of Scientology really seems to be. The house of cards that Scientology seems to have built on (the weird and wacky mind of creator and founder L.Ron Hubbard) seems to finally be imploding upon itself as two of its' most important and highest ranking members are having to deal with huge personal issues that may or may not bring their beliefs into question.

John, be a man and just come clean already....

Travolta has been having, according to the ever increasing reports, gay encounters for years and still more that he has attempted to have by offering money to men for sexual favours, that have been thwarted. I feel for the guy about what happened with his son Jet but enough is enough. Come clean already and admit it. You are just causing undue harm and stress to your wife over this issue. Just be honest about it already and get the media off your back.

 Katie probably figured after playing Jackie O in a movie, it would be best not to live her life as well...

In an interesting twist with regards to the Cruise-Holmes Divorce, because of the fact Katie has purposely chosen to use the New York State family court, Scientology will actually have to be defended legally. This is because in the state of New York, family court judges are much more inclined to grant full custody to one parent over the other if there is any question about the living conditions the child will be exposed to. This means that there is a possibility that Cruise will have to explain intimate details of Scientology in order for it not to be deemed a cult in the eyes of the court and therefore dangerous for Suri to be around as she grows up. It is very possible that Scientology as a whole could come crashing down if the New York State family court deems t a cult. Membership could fall sharply, their finances could crumble. Who knows but this divorce proceeding is going to be nasty and ugly and could change the very shape of Hollywood as we know it.

Maybe if it ends up that Scientology is deemed a cult, maybe then we will see a real shift away from the culture of greed that we see in most stars today. 

Let me know what you think of my latest blog. Feel free to post your thoughts.

Until next time....

The Problem with Ontario Roads is Uneducated Drivers

 Our roads are being driven by selfish, arrogant and bad drivers.....In case you didn't already know

I have had just about enough of the pathetic drivers I see on a daily basis on our roads. I have been putting off getting seriously into this topic but the more time goes by, the more ridiculousness I see on the roads and the more I feel the need to vent about just how dangerous our roads are becoming and my belief of why that is. Trust me, you won't necessarily see where I am coming from until the last paragraph.

First, let me start by saying that there are way too many luxury car drivers in the GTA. When you drive a luxury car, at least from what I have noticed, you suddenly develop the mentality that you have the right of way at all times, speed limits do not apply to you, you don't need to use your turn signals and, generally, you can do whatever you want on the road. I have seen more driving errors done by luxury car drivers then anyone else on the road (except for maybe mini-van/SUV drivers).

Don't know if I would trust GTA drivers enough to ride a bike (or even a horse) around town....

Maybe it's the ego that comes along with owning a Mercedes or a Lexus but there just seems to be this attitude for drivers of these cars in this area that they seem to think they are entitled to do and act as they wish on the roads and, seeing as how nothing ever seems to change with regards to this attitude other then it's continued growth among these drivers, I would hazard a guess that they have and continue to get away with their actions.

The main issue I have is that our Police force have been so concerned with raising fines for excessive speeding and, despite the proven fact that highway speeds are not the sole factor in road deaths (just look at the Autobaun in Germany), they are choosing to focus on young drivers of "suped" up lower end cars (like Civics, Neon's, Cavaliers and Lancers) instead of going after the higher end vehicles that can EASILY surpass the 200 Km\h mark. Instead of picking and choosing who they single out, our police force needs to start cracking down on luxury car owners. Hell, they can certainly afford the car so if they want to act like idiots on the road, then they should be able to pay the fines that go with that idiotic behaviour.

 Just another typical day for drivers in Toronto

Unfortunately, that's just one aspect of the problem, or, more directly, one segment of people on the road acting like morons. Changing gears a bit, I want to point out a few of the common things I have seen over and over again. So, in no particular order, here are some of the most infuriating things I continue to see over and over again on our roads (right after I list them, I will delve into my thoughts as to why they keep happening);

-A signal does not mean you have the right to jump into a lane. The rule is you signal to let the other motorists around you know your intention to change lanes, then do so WHEN SAFE. You don't just signal and move right into the lane without looking. Your signal does not automatically make the other drivers stop in their tracks to give you right of way over everyone else. YOU have only indicated you want to move, EVERYONE ELSE does NOT have to slow down or move over because you signalled.

-When make a right turn onto a busy street (like for example when you are exiting from a strip mall onto a street like Mavis Road), it is NOT the responsibility of the car already on Mavis to slow down to YOUR merging slow ass speed but rather YOUR responsibility to merge when safe and get your car up to the speed of traffic as soon as possible. If you fail to do so, expect to get a long ass horn hold from the car you forced to slow down to a snails pace (or, more appropriately, your pace) and some angry gestures or words from that same angry driver now forced to drive behind you. You DO NOT have the right to get angry at the motorist behind you swearing and honking their horn at you because YOU were the one that made the driving error. Just shut up, put your hand up to apologize and move on.

 The pic may say New Jersey on it but all three are pretty much the way things are in the GTA

-The highway seems to bring out some really arrogant morons that act out in so many ways but a few in particular that come to mind. The first is similar to the last point I just made. When merging onto a highway, it is not the responsibility of the cars already on the highway to slow down to let you in. The merging vehicle needs to speed up to the speed of traffic and then merge safely. I had an asshole get mad at me for not letting him slowly merge in front of me on the highway over the weekend, when there was NO ONE behind me. He was going slow, gave me the finger for not letting him in for at least 2 exits on the highway and seemed to honestly think he was in the right when it came to this situation. He was going 90 on the merging lane, I was going 110. Sorry moron, you were not about to cut me off when there was no one behind me.

The second point has to do with the new HOV lanes that are popping up on our highways. There are only certain areas where you can and can't get into and out of these lanes and yet every single time I am on a highway with these types of lanes, people swerve in and out of these lanes as if they are normal lanes. It gets so frustrating seeing people do this that I actually have a suggestion for the Ministry of Transportation; Put up those plastic lane markers every 5 feet along the HOV sections that you don't want people to traverse in order to force people to either stay in or get out of them at the proper places. Since they would be made of plastic, they would last long (unless they are hit by cars) and they would also cause enough damage to the cars of violators that they will think twice about trying to cross the lane markers illegally like they do now.

Now that I have gone over some of the things I have had the misfortune of seeing, let me get to why think they tend to continue to happen; plain and simple, it's arrogance. It all goes back to something I have mentioned repeatedly over the last few months about how we are raising our kids to think that they can do no wrong. The Soccer mom mentality. We are seeing the first real wave of these types of kids just now joining the workforce and/or dealing with people trying to say no to them (as in the student protests in Quebec).

 I really don't see bikes and cyclists gaining a real foot hold in the GTA any time soon

Not to say that I disagree with the protests in Quebec, I fully support them actually (especially when you think of the social and political ramifications of continuing to increase post-secondary education in this country), but the way everyone else is reacting in the Government around them reminds me of parents who are fed up with their OWN kids basically getting everything they want and instead, the Quebec government is simply acting like completely frustrated parents who, despite being the cause of the problem, have shifted the blame to the kids and refuse to acknowledge their own role in the situation.

That was a long winded way of saying that we are raising arrogant and self-centered kids who don't seem to understand when something is their own fault and can't accept responsibility for the mistakes they make, especially on our roads. But that doesn't explain the adults who were NOT raised that way developing such poor driving skills? Well, the easy way to explain that is to realize that people are copycats in nature. When we see something that works, we try to emulate it. Along the same lines, when we see people getting away with doing something that they shouldn't, the vast majority of us do the same thing until finally someone is caught and punished (and of course we all think that the person who will be caught will not be us).

 Now just imagine that kid has no insurance on top of that....

I could go into a couple of other personal reasons I believe effect the driving situation (way too many foreign born and trained drivers who have been allowed to "exchange" their foreign licenses for Ontario ones, Piss poor driver examiners who allow personal feelings to effect them in their evaluations both positively and negatively, insurance rates being ridiculously unfair thus making it actually a bad thing to put in a claim for something which then gives people the idea that not claiming something is better, resulting in sometimes unsafe vehicles on the roads) but each of those topics deserve way more attention then I have time to get into today.

One quick tangent before I wrap this blog up about auto insurance. Isn't it about time that either the  Provincial or Federal Government stepped up in the name of all Canadians and forced insurance companies to make the mandatory insurance coverage that we are all required to have by law affordable? Isn't it time that the government stepped up to the plate for Canadians and stopped the gauging that insurance companies are getting away with and using in order to pocket billions of dollars off of each and every one of us? Insurance companies are being allowed to rape each of us with their ridiculous and unfair charges based upon where we live, our sex, marital status (all things that everyone agrees are prejudicial and illegal in just about every other area of our lives yet used against us each and everyday by these multinational corporations) as well as how many traffic tickets we have (which should not matter nearly as much as it does) and how many times we have put in an insurance claim (which should instead count as the most important aspect of insurance claims, the actual number of accidents we have).

 These two need to stop playing Rock, Paper, Scissors and protect Canadian 

motorists from Big Insurance companies

Our governments sit back and  allow these corrupt companies to rob us blind and then when we need them, they throw a million and one reasons at us as to why we are not entitled to coverage we paid for. This is yet another reason why we have seen a recent increase in hit and run drivers. There are way more non-insured drivers out there then anyone realizes. I should know as I was one of them when I was younger. I drove my parents insured minivan for 5 years without coverage of my own in order to avoid paying the nearly $5000 they wanted to get out of me since I was among the last group of fully licensed 16 year olds in 1994. By not paying their insane fees, I saved my family $25000. I can assure you that I'm not the only one who has tried or is currently doing something along these lines. When you add the fact that being caught without insurance is a criminal offense, you start to understand why so many hit and runs are starting to occur more often.

Getting back on topic, suffice it to say that the way our roads are being used right now and the level of driver education on the road is down right frightening. We are seeing countless errors on our roads each and every day leading to many more accidents and taking us to the point where there are driver errors being committed each and every moment of the day. With the way our streets are being used and poorly watched over as well, it can be downright scary to drive in a place like downtown Toronto or even Mississauga. I would offer some suggestions on how to improve our roads but realistically, the state they are in right now is a direct by-product of how our society has shifted into a me-first, selfish, do whatever you want society that until the social aspects of our society change, our roads will continue to be a free for all.

Until that changes, we need to keep our eyes open, follow the rules of the road as best as we can and hope for the best. Or basically do your best to survive in the midst of the crap that is the general state of our roads today.

Good luck

Kings Crowned, Jays Uncertainty, Euro Round Up and More

All this whining about the hit that Steve Bernier (the idiot) threw on Rob Scuderi last night (that essentially sealed the deal for the Kings as they went up 3 zip on that same 5 minute powerplay) needs to be put to rest. Yes it was THE turning point in the 6th game of the Finals but you can't just stop playing the way that the Devils seemed to just roll over after that call, giving up 3 power play goals in 3 minutes.

The Kings were Crowned Champs Last night....LA has never seen such a polite party crowd before

No Riots in LA after winning a Championship? Even the Cops are stunned 

You have to realize that this series was over when the Kings went up 3-0. Sure, the Devils seemed to have fought back and were (in their minds) about to pull off a great comeback but even when they did "win" their two games, either of those results could have gone the other way (just like the first 2 games having gone to OT could have been split or gone in favour of the Devils). They didn't however and all those 2 losses did was galvanize a team even moreso then they had been. And really, their loss in Game 4 was more about nervousness and jitters then anything the Devils did overly well and Game 5 went to the Devils because of a lucky bounce off of Voyonov's shoulder. So even in "getting back into the series" the Devils were not outplaying the Kings at any point. It was just a matter of time and the right team won. That's all that matters.

The Jays are at the 1/3 mark of the season and are still hanging around in the incredibly tight AL East. At 31-30, they are only 4.5 games behind the division leader (but only 2 games up on last place Boston) so they have some work to do if they want to finally break that 19 year Playoff drought. It won;t be easy and now, with the release of Vladimir Guerrero (who tried to force his way up to the team when they felt he wasn't ready) and the loss of Brandon Morrow to an Oblique strain, that job could be that much more difficult.

If he is out for an extended period of time, then the Jays need to make a move....NOW!

Morrow was having an all-star caliber season, having reeled of 7 wins in his last 8 starts and a sub 2.50 ERA before he injured himself last night. His loss could be the catalyst for a trade which would possibly give the Jays a much need boost to make that leap and push themselves over the hump. The 2 big arms available right now (at least in the rumour mill) are both Chicago Cubs; Matt Garza and Ryan Dempster. Just to throw some fuel on the fire, here is my prediction on this. If Morrow is gone for 6-8 weeks, look for the Jays to push hard for a trade for both of these starters and here is what the package SHOULD include;

To the Cubs:
-1st Baseman Adam Lind
-Outfielder Travis Snyder
-Starting pitcher Henderson Alvarez
-Relief Pitcher Joel Correno
-Relief pitcher Francisco Cordero

To the Jays;
-Starting Pitcher Matt Garza
-Starting Pitcher Ryan Dempster

These 2 would look great in Blue Jays Jerseys....

If you were the Cubs, who are in DESPERATE need to revamp their team and getting younger as quickly as possible (both in the field and on the mound with Correno and Alvarez), wouldn't you do this? The Jays would get 2 quality starters directly into your starting rotation which would give them a REAL shot at securing themselves a Wild Card spot this year and some veteran savy to help Romero calm his ass down (he is just losing it WAY too often) as well as Hutchison and Drabek. Their starting rotation would be among the most solid in the league (once Morrow returns of course) but by adding these two veterans now, they would have a solid chance to stay in the hunt. Could we see some meaningful games in September?

There have been some great games so far in Euro 2012, including today's match between Russia and co-host Poland. The fan violence before the game was just retarded. People will take any opportunity they see fit to try and cause shit whether for a real reason or for perceived slights from years gone by but it didn't detract from the game, which was one of the best of the tournament to this point.

I have an issue with some of the ridiculous questions being asked of the players by the media during the tournament so far. Portuguese players were being asked why they didn't stick around after they lost to sign autographs, specifically Ronaldo (because that's the first thing players want to do after they lose, hang around the pitch after losing and sign autographs!?!?! ) and now Italian striker Antonio Cassano is "being criticized" over comments he made to an Italian reporter on Italian TV about not thinking there are any "queer" players (he used an Italian word for queer) in the tournament and he hopes there aren't any on the national team.

Why are soccer players being asked such stupid questions during an international tournament? It's bad enough when players are asked the standard questions about the game and their replies usually consist of the typical cliches we always hear about giving 100%, blah blah blah, but why would you venture into an area like that which has absolutely no bearing on the game whatsoever? Now he and his teammates will have to deal with this contrived controversy on top of the pressure of trying to win their next game. All to sell more newspapers, get more ratings back home, this idiot reporter may have just ruined his national teams' chances of moving on.

 Love him or hate him, we don't pay to watch him give an opinion....

That is just the start of it. This shouldn't be a controversy at all, at least not to me. If you have an opinion, and someone asks you for it, what's wrong with expressing it? Cassano wasn't bashing anyone. He wasn't saying he agreed or disagreed with anything about being "Queer" as he put it. He simply said that it's their business and that was it. There is nothing wrong with telling people what you think. The reporter asked him his opinion and he expressed it. Athletes are not paid to use their brains and give out political opinions, they are in the positions they are in because of their physical prowess. You shouldn't be asking an athlete a political question in the height of their competition. That's like asking a surgeon in the middle of surgery if he can tell you about the political issues going on in Europe and see what kind of response you would get.

I know that was a bit of stretch but you see my point. Athletes should stick to their sport and the journalists who cover those sports should stick to questions that are appropriate to that sport in which they play/excel. Period. End of point....

Dallas returns to the air tomorrow night and from the few TV spots I have seen on it so far, it looks like it picks up almost as it had never left. All the major players are back including JR Ewing (Larry Hagman), Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) and Sue Ellen (is that her name?). Now it will be more about their kids and grand kids and how they interact but the central theme of Oil tycoons and the relationship problems they have to deal with will be the same as the original series. It will be fun to see how this series plays out and whether it will be like the redux of Melrose Place (which bombed) or 90210 (which survived for at least 2+ seasons) or something entirely different. Only time will tell.

Spartacus certainly has a way with the ladies...Most tend to die after being with him

They have announced that this upcoming season of Spartacus will be the final season and that truly is a huge disappointment for me. It will return to air in January of 2013 on the Movie Network and according to creator and executive producer, Steven S. DeKnight, Spartacus: War of the Damned will be the "Epic Conclusion" of the Spartacus story. Personally, I think they really could have drawn it out over at least another 2 or even 3 seasons, which would have been great to see new characters being developed, older ones being allowed a chance to grow into more then what they have been so far, maybe see Crixus and Naevia have a family, possibly see how Ilithyia survived (if she did, I think she did) and her recovery, possibly even see if Spartacus himself will now try to find a woman to move on with since his wife is dead (and avenged) and his play toy or rebound sex-buddy (Mira) is also now dead and avenged as well.

<<SPOILER ALERT: Game of Thrones: Season 2>>

The 2nd season of Game of Thrones concluded a couple of weeks ago and the last 2 episodes were possibly the best 2 of the series so far. The battle episode in the 2nd to last episode of the year was spectacular in how it played out. Tyrion Lannister (played by Peter Dinklage) is the heart of the show and has turned himself into a true leading man. He has had a masterful season displaying not only his ruthlessness and cunning in dealing with all the pressure of being the "Acting" Hand of the King but also his heart and compassion in how he has clearly fallen in love with Shae, placing her in mortal danger if she were to ever be discovered.

 His character has had the biggest leap in terms of importance in Season 2

There have been plenty of plot lines developing but 2 of the best have been Jon Snow and his transformation from shy member of the "Watch", referred to by the people north of the gate as "The Crows" into their somewhat defacto leader and now (possible) defector and how Robb Stark , now the "King of the North" has grown into the role left to him by his father and taken it to new heights. As we start looking ahead to Season 3, I wonder (having not read the books) where this story will go next.

When last we left off, the "Wildlings" seemed to have their army marching towards the gate and yet another battle about to begin, Stannis Baratheon has had a crushing defeat and is home licking his wounds, Theon Greyjoy (who had taken Winterfell, home of the Stark family) has been given up by his own people to Robb Stark and will most likely be executed for his actions (including burning Winterfell to the ground) and Daenerys Targaryen  taking over control of her fortune by getting back her dragons and killing the kidnappers. Season 3 promises to be even more compelling as there are so many different ways that the story can go.

Last but not least, I feel the need to throw a few disparaging words towards TFC and their inept management team. They fired/let go/relieved their coach of his duties a few days ago when Aron Winter was replaced by Paul Mariner as Head coach of the team. It wasn't a big shock given the fact that they are now 1-9 on the season, setting records along the way for longest losing streak to start a year and longest goalless streak to start a season. The team has been around for 6 seasons and this is now their 7th coach in that same time. Truly pathetic. Yet somehow, the man who has made every single one of these changes, Tom Anselmi, is still (STILL!!!) in charge of making these decisions.

WTF does he have to do wrong to get relieved of HIS duties?!?! I mean could you imagine getting 7 chances in 6 years to pick someone for a job? I think after the 2nd or 3rd person is replaced, your bosses would have a sit down conversation with you and ask you what the fuck is going on, wouldn't they? Is everyone asleep at the wheel at MLSE right now? Only the Raptors seem to be heading in the right re-building direction. The Leafs are all over the place and can't seem to figure out what they want to try and attempt to go out and get (They should go get a goalie, a top forward, and then trade Luke Schenn, Mike Komisarek and your 5th pick and whatever else the Oilers want, for their #1 pick), the Marlies lost an OT Playoff game in the Calder Cup Final on an officials blatant Error and then there is the mess that is Toronto FC.

 In happier times, Aron Winter is now just a footnote for a franchise in disarray

If they DARE to attempt to raise ticket prices again, I am OUT as a season ticket holder. In fact, if they don't offer a public apology to the city as well as offering to LOWER season ticket prices for the next 2 seasons, I may walk. I haven't gone to a game in over a year and have found it harder and harder to sell my tickets this season since the team has been putrid. The "FIRE ANSELMI" chants should be heard around the stadium any time now, the same BMO field that USED to be sold out to each and every game. TFC is NOT the Leafs. You can't expect people to keep coming to watch a crappy team year after year. Someone needs to tell the MLSE board about that before all interest in the team is gone.

I've had a busy few weeks with very little blogging getting done but that will change as I have a few issues I will be addressing in the coming week.

Stay tuned.