A Murderer Caught, Baseball Finally Gets It Right, Our Tax Dollars in Action and the Death of an Idiot

 You would think playing in the NFL with a future Hall of Fame QB,

earning $40 million would be enough...

First let me start by saying it's been a while and for that I am sorry. Many a change has gone on in my world and now that things are settling down a bit, things can get back to normal. With that being said, wow has there been a LOT that has happened over the last few weeks! I have so much on my mind and probably not enough time or space to let everyone in on my insights. I have to start somewhere so lets start with that total horses' ass Aaron Hernandez and the waste of life he actually is.

I am sure that sounds harsh but let me put it to you this way. If you or I had even a shred of this man's physical, god given talents, I am inclined to believe that we would use those as he appeared to be using them; to become one of the premier tight ends in the NFL, playing with a future Hall of Famer in Tom Brady, going to the Super Bowl, on a perennial championship contender, signed to a long term $40 million contract. One would think that trying to harness his physical gifts towards becoming a Champion would encompass and consume his daily life but apparently not to this shit for brains.

 This was more his style then wearing the red, white and blue of the Patriots

Instead, he choose to remain firmly entrenched in the (trying not to laugh) "Thugs" who grew up in his "hood" in....wait for it, CONNECTICUT! Are you kidding me? The word Connecticut should never, in any way, shape or form, be associated with the hood. I would be embarrassed if I was a "gang banger" from Connecticut. But yet, that's what he was. I guess for evil purposes, even gangster wannabes in a vanilla state like that are good enough as the fools he used to hang out with as a teen, who nearly derailed his future back then, were able to somehow keep a hold on this moron to the point where not only is he most likely going to go to jail for murder for the rest of his life (for what he is alleged to have done 2 months ago), but he is also under investigation in a double homicide committed over a year ago which may have been committed as a drive by in a car he rented around the same time.

WHY WASN'T HE CHAINED TO THE F-ING WEIGHT ROOM IN GILLETTE STADIUM!?!?!

 Get used to the cuffs buddy, you will be someones b*tch within a year

What is it with people not being able to deal with success now? To a certain extent you can understand if someone hates their poor life when they have nothing but when you have everything and it still isn't enough? Sorry, no sympathy for you.

Which leads us right to this Glee moron who for all intents and purposes, had everything going for him. he could sing and dance, could act apparently too, was on a hit show (although how Glee ever became a hit is BEYOND me) and yet it wasn’t enough. I apologize in advance to anyone who may not like where I am going to go with my commentary on this idiots death but to me, he threw his life away and I have no sympathy for him at all.

Given how I feel about this guy, a perfectly appropriate photo

He had fortune and fame and a hot ass girlfriend who was his co-star. What else could he have possibly wanted more? Apparently a needle in the arm was what he wanted more. Unable to stop himself from using drugs, his death should be turned into THE story all parents teach their children about the old parable of “be careful what you wish for because you might just get it.” This moron literally had everything anyone could ever want, just like Aaron Hernandez. The only difference was he killed himself to waste his talents away instead of others but they are essentially the same story about a person unable to deal with and properly use all the god-given natural ability they were blessed with.

Fortune, fame and this beautiful woman at his side weren't enough for this loser

Hopefully his story will be told over and over again to help the next generation learn from his mistakes

Continuing with the whole “drugs” theme, we come to Major League Baseball and the recent suspensions that were levied against 13 players, 12 of which openly took their medicine and are now service 50 game suspensions. Again, I have no sympathy for these guys because first of all, the fact that they had enough talent to GET to the Big Leagues wasn’t enough for them, they had to push the envelope and take illegal drugs to enhance their performance even more. Some of the more notable players to admit their mistake and take their punishment like men were Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres, Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers and Jhonny Perralta of the Detroit Tigers (who had the forethought to acquire a god young Shortstop before they knew of his fate, keeping them in 1^st place in the AL Central Division).

 At least these three guys took their punishment like men

Melky Cabrera of the Blue Jays was also involved in this Biogenesis anti-aging lab scandal but he was suspended last year for his part. Also, realizing that this was a lost season for his Milwaukee Brewers and already playing hurt, Ryan Braun (who was caught in a drug test for using HGH and then as able to get off on a technicality) took his punishment (a 65 game suspension) like a man as well, despite having blatantly lied about the same thing only 18 months ago.

Ryan Braun came clean once all the evidence was stacked up right in front of him

65 games was probably not enough of a suspension given how he lied

Despite all of this, the real prize that commissioner Bud Selig wanted to nail to his mantle piece (as a way of trying to correct his own failures to go after drug cheats in the past) was Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod (or A-Fraud as I like to call him) already admitted to using steroids back from 2001 to 2004 so his inability to admit to using HGH (human growth hormone) this time has nothing to do with the truth of the matter (he is a perpetual liar and clearly did use them given the mountain of evidence against him) but rather the 5 years and $100 million left on his deal with the New York Yankees.

I guess when someone told Braun that he should try to emulate A-Fraud,

he took them too literally

This is a man who cheated on and filed for divorce from his wife while she was 8 month pregnant with his twin girls so this kind of “truth” coming out about him is not even close to surprising. The fact he got 211 games as part of his suspension (the rest of this year plus all of next season), to me, was actually a light sentence as he should have been banned for life the way Shoeless Joe Jackson was (despite the fact there was LESS evidence against HIM!).

A-Fraud needs to be out of baseball for life. 

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson was kicked out with less proof then this clown

A-Fraud will probably get a reduction in his suspension and is playing while that process plays out but it’s a shame that he will essentially get paid anything from this point on. Here is a guy who has earned over $350 million in his career and he is so greedy that he is, according to him “fighting for his life” and trying to protect his bogus image that everyone has already long ago seen through. A-Fraud should be out of Baseball.

 Hold on their Magic, it wasn't all Peaches and Cream after the trade...

Tomorrow is the 25^th anniversary of “The Trade”. Wayne Gretzky was dealt from the Edmonton Oilers to La La Land as the LA Kings suddenly became relevant when then Oilers owner Peter Pocklington ran out of money fighting the unions at his meat packing plants and needed $15 million just to stay afloat. He can and has denied it all he wants but the trade was made because he knew he couldn't afford to keep the team together and was not willing to pay Wayne and the rest of the team what they were worth so he dealt them when he could make a killing off of them. It was hailed as the turning point in the US for hockey as new teams started popping up all over the sunbelt. Many a sports writer has proclaimed this as the biggest turn for Hockey.

Bruce McNall (Top right) made back the money he spent "buying" Wayne within 6 months

and was well on his way to making quite a few rich guys losing almost all their money trying to copy him

I  am here to tell you it was the worst move for the sport and at least 15 different owners who have come and gone as owners of those same sunbelt teams and it very nearly killed hockey in Western Canada (all of Canada except for Montreal and Toronto). Almost immediately after the Oilers began to dismantle their dynasty, all the Western Canadian teams started to see their pocketbooks suffer as well. This was of course also largely due to the low Canadian dollar at that time but the Gretzky trade was a harbinger of bad times in Canadian hockey.

Almost as if on cue, relocation of northern based teams to southern locations and expansion to the Sunbelt started to take over. Minnesota lost it's team to Dallas and as a byproduct, San Jose got an expansion team. Within 10 years of the trade, Hartford (moved to Carolina), Winnipeg (moved to Phoenix to lose $330 million in the last 11 years) and Quebec (moved to Colorado) along with new teams in Anaheim, Miami, Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Nashville. Atlanta was such a horrible ownership situation that at least the league was able to correct the error of losing Winnipeg and moved that franchise back to a place that has embraced it but many of the others (if not all of them) have had some form of ownership issues since their inception. Even Columbus, another expansion team that came in with the "wildly" successful Minnesota expansion team, has had financial problems.

Between the 9 new teams introduced to the league since the trade, almost all of them have come about as a direct result of the Gretzky deal and the stupid notion at the NHL head office that people in the US Sunbelt want to watch hockey, forgetting almost entirely about Canada and the northern US states that live, breathe and die the game all winter long. I am sure some will point to the equalization program that the league used to try to help Canadian teams when the Canadian dollar was hovering around $0.62 US but the real problem could be linked back to the league's failure to get a hard salary cap back in 1994 which would have prevented most of those cash strapped teams from having to worry about paying players more then they could afford to.

 Its too bad the NHL can't seem to see the problem with so many Sunbelt teams 

all having severe financial issues (at various times) over the last 20 years

Going back to the 9 new expansion teams and the teams that relocated since the trade for a minute, between them, there have been more then 20 different owners of these teams as well as 3 of them being on the verge of bankruptcy, ownership turmoil and infighting, NHL Ownership of franchises and billions of dollars lost trying to keep these failing franchises around and all because Mr. Bettman refuses to acknowledge that his Sunbelt idea has failed miserably. The problem is, there continues to be morons who believe as he does, that these teams can survive. And all because of one trade that started the dominoes falling.

Forced to coach to save his investment, Wayne wasn't great at it. 

He is STILL owed $25 million 

For all the success that the Sharks have in San Jose, there is the Coyote situation in Phoenix which, despite yet another group of suckers, err, investors buying the team and trying to get them to work in Phoenix, is the money pit of the league. Oh and hey, lets not forget the $25 million that the team still owes to Wayne which led to him actually coaching that sad sack team for 3 years.

Sorry for the delay in getting a new post up.

New one will be up shortly.

Until next time....

 

The Boston Bombing - Avoidable American Made Tragedy

Monday April 15th, 2013. A day not unlike any other in the city of Boston except for the fact that it was the day which changed the lives and future of so many because of 1 cowardly and pathetic act perpetrated by a couple of "losers" as their own uncle called them on Thursday when it began to leak out about who the alleged bombers were. A day of celebration for many who would have their lives altered forever.

What we know about the 2 alledged bombers is not a whole hell of a lot to be blunt. One just 19 years of age, the other 26, brothers who had lived in the US for over a decade yet could not find a way to assimilate into the new found freedom they had after fleeing war torn Chechenya with their hard working father and mother. The description that their uncle used to call them "losers" seems to fit quite well given their back story. 

April 15th is commemorated by Major League Baseball and all it's teams as they honour the birthday of a man who changed the game forever when he became the first Black player to become an everyday player in what had been an all white league before he crossed the colour line. Jackie Robinson, the man for whom a movie was made which is currently the #1 movie in theaters, was born on April 15th and is seen as a hero for his courageous move in crossing that racial divide which still engulfs many aspects of American life. In Boston on that day, not only were they commemorating his birthday by having every player involved in the early 11 am Red Sox game, but they were also celebrating the running of the Boston Marathon, which was the reason why the baseball game was being played at that time. This meant a great many more people were in the general area of the downtown core then would normally be on a typical Monday afternoon.

April 15th now will have a negative commemoration going forward as well given what happened only 1 week ago.

Clearly, this plot had its roots in the knowledge that there would be thousands upon thousands of innocent bystanders to which these villains could unleash their sinister plans upon.I would also suspect that there is something else at work here as well. Something that speaks more to the where of this occurrence then anyone will care to really acknowledge.

The one thing I hate hearing more then anything is how everyone who knew the younger of the 2 accused is so stunned by this. How he "appeared" to be so "normal". Well, what is normal now? Is it normal to have no friends at all and have members of your own family calling you a "loser"? Or maybe it is normal to be so unaccustomed to freedom that you resent everyone around you to the point that you decide to leave bombs at the finish line of a major sporting event? Possibly it's more normal that while your parents accuse everyone else of a set up to frame their children, that you kill a cop and throw home made grenades at police while you try to escape, then try to detonate a bomb attached to your chest instead of being taken in by the police.

I love how suddenly all these conspiracy theories start popping up about how these two were patsies for some secret "Blackwater" plot involving some massive multi-national corporation named Craft and how all these mysterious pictures start circulating about a couple of other guys who were wearing back packs in multiple pictures. I admit I would love to live in the movies, but this is such a far fetched notion that even a seasoned novelist would have a hard time explaining away some of the aspects of these theories. Lets' get back to reality.

For all these people who keep saying that they thought the youngest of the two was so "normal", clearly he wasn't. Clearly he had problems adjusting to a society that expects you to assimilate to their customs and traditions and clearly this has much more to do with what happened than anyone has even begun to mention yet. I am not going to say that anything that happened was deserved because it wasn't. I will never believe that there is any justification for such ruthlessness simply because you as an individual can't accept having (god forbid) freedom.

What I am saying is that the melting pot which is American Society, has some fault to blame when it comes to people like these two brothers acting like this. It has some blame to accept when a person like Timothy McVeigh becomes a domestic terrorist and kills hundreds of people in a bombing back almost 20 years ago. When people proclaim the virtues of America as being the best in the world, why then do so many people have so many issues with America?

We live in a nation that has over 75% of our population within 100 km of our border with the US and yet our cultural differences, particularly with regards to how we treat immigrants, are so different that we could like thousands of miles away from one another. Our society is not perfect. Canada has (lately) been seemingly overrun with policies that appear, on the surface at least, to actually favour immigrants over people actually born in Canada or who have lived here for decades. Case in point, a person who has lived here and worked here their entire life gets paid less per month in retirement benefits than a retiree from a country like India (a country that has some kind of financial arrangement worked out with our Government, dating back to the 1990's) and has moved here with their family only within the last 10 years.

Clearly, we have our own issues. But the one thing you don't seem to hear (in general at least) is anyone complain that their culture (other then Natives and the hardline sovereigntists in Quebec) is being subjugated or ignored by the government. You don't hear anyone say that living in Canada means forgetting about your cultural roots. When people ask you what nationality you are in Canada, a person will say blank-Canadian whereas south of the border, they just expect you to say American. Clearly this is starting to weigh on some immigrants in the US more then anyone cares to say or do anything to even attempt to change.

What we need to learn from this is clearly that even with all the freedom in the world, some people just can never be happy or satisfied, for 1. At the same time, the amount of violence in the US seems to continue to rise and yet the powers that be can not figure out how to agree on anything when it comes to gun control measures. I'm not saying that I believe this but there is always a chance that part of this idea I am about to explain could be fueling some of the conspiracy theorists out there.

Given that the US Federal Government in Washington is so dysfunctional (and borderline racist, at lest the Republicans appear to be) and they can't seem to agree on any gun control measures particularly when public sentiment is hovering around 90% in favour of gun control measures, what better way then to change the public sentiment about guns then to scare them into thinking they need them to fight off immigrant terrorists? The Bush Administration did it all the time, it is a remote possibility but still, you never know.

In conclusion, regardless of who or whom you believe is the actual perpetrator of this heinous and cowardly act, the fact remains that it has once again pushed Americans into a position of fear with regards to their daily lives. Americans living in fear leads to more guns being sold and more violent reactions by everyday "normal" people. I would not be surprised if we start to hear about a spike in both gun sales and violent behaviour over the next few weeks after this tragedy simply because it tends to be how Americans react. Yet we live so close to them and we don't react even remotely like they do and will to the exact same tragic event. Which just goes to show in great detail just how different our 2 great nations are.

WBC Recap, NHL Follow Up, Blue Jays Talk & More

 The Dominican Republic won WITHOUT Jose Bautista

How much better could they have been WITH him?

In case no one noticed, the World Baseball Classic just wrapped up a few days ago with the Dominican Republic becoming the first team to ever go undefeated in winning the tournament. Given how low the ratings were and the fact that Canada was knocked out early, despite playing 2 very entertaining games in beating the Mexicans (both on the scoreboard and with their fists in that wild brawl) and giving the Americans all they could handle until their bats woke up in the top of the 8th inning of their head to head confrontation, the tournament itself seemed to lack any real enticement for baseball fans in North America. For that simple fact, I blame the organizers who put Canada, Mexico and the US in the same group playing out of Arizona.

Yes, Arizona is close to the border, but given how the people of Arizona treat Mexicans, and have purposely imposed some blatantly racist immigration laws about people who even "look" like they could be "non-Americans". It would have been much more fair to the Mexican team to have their games in LA to make it fair for their fans as well. You know, so that they aren't unfairly stopped and searched by Arizona police because of how they "look".

Another issue I would say is why was Mexico not able to host a game? Arizona borders Mexico. Why was that not even a consideration? Canada hosted one in the first WBC but hasn't since (which is wrong) and then you throw salt on the wound for the Mexicans by playing just across the border in Arizona? That's just wrong.

 Canadians fighting in a sporting event? NOOOOOO!

One last thing that bothers me about the tournament is the same thing that led to the Canadian Mexican brawl. One of the first tie-breakers in this tournament is run differential. Canada lost by 10 runs to the Italians in their first game which meant that they didn't just have to win against Mexico, they had to win by a certain number of runs to make them truly even in the tournament. This led to some things you don't normally see in a blow out game, like a bunt by the Canadian Cather when they were up 6, and then stealing a base to try to get into scoring position. The Mexicans clearly took offence, not really understanding why the Canadians were doing what they were doing (I guess someone didn't take the time to explain the rules of the round robin format of this tournament to them properly) and tried to hit Robinson, the Canadian catcher, during his next at bat. They missed twice and were warned which meant nothing to the pitcher as he nailed him on his third try causing the brawl to begin.

I understand the reasons behind making 2nd tie-breaker run differential but they need to sit down each and every team manager and explain to them that this is not the same as the Majors where bunting with a big lead and trying to run up the score is frowned upon since it actually isn't by the organizing committee and the rules of the round robin itself.

As for the way the tournament played out, it was no real surprise that the Dominican Republic won by going undefeated. That small island boasts some of the most talented players in the game and, unlike Americans and some Canadians (Re: Martin, Russell), players actually care about winning this tournament. It's probably also a good thing that the US has not won the tournament yet. It might actually make the top US born players want to be a part of the team in the future.

We are almost at the NHL trade deadline and it's entirely possible that 6 of the 7 Canadian based NHL teams will make the playoffs this year, with only the lowly Flames flaming out and sitting well back in the West. Montreal is a total shock. There isn't a non-biased hockey prognosticator in the world who would have put them in the Playoffs at anything higher then the #8 seed, let alone leading the Eastern Conference. Their only 2 home regulation losses are to the Leafs from early on in the season, including a 6-0 beat down which seemed to ignite them more then anything else.

Many in Montreal have started calling him "Jesus" Price again

Ah, fickle Habs fans...They will "turn" on him again before it's all said and done...

Speaking of the Leafs, who would have said they would be sitting in 6th place in the East, looking a favorable match up with the best of the worst division in the East as a possible playoff match up (if things continue along the lines they have been). Shockingly to some, Nazem Kadri has been the key to the team all season long and has been red hot in the last 4 games, netting 9 points and seemingly resurrecting the careers of Nik Kulemin and Clark MacArthur (who have both played much better with Kadri then when they played with other players), he helped turn Matt Frattin's AHL start into a hot NHL call up when he was back with the team until he himself got hurt. Now with Joffrey Lupol playing on his line, the Leafs seem to have 3 solid lines with a 4th line center who get a ton of minutes killing penalties and winning key faceoffs when called upon.

Looks like all Reimer needed was to get rid of the "Monster" on his back 

to be the #1 goalie in Toronto

Ottawa shouldn't be playing as well as they are. It's a fact. It's also a fact that they are playing so incredibly well because they are playing as a team and because of their depth at goaltending. Ben Bishop and Robin Lehner have saved their bacon this year and made Bryan Murray look like a genius for having 3 quality goalies. Craig Anderson has been out for 5 weeks now with a high ankle sprain and I don't have to mention the fact that Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson is out for the year, and Jason Spezza has been out for weeks with a bad back that needed surgery (he won't be back until the Playoffs either). So yes, they are a shocking team given all the injuries. Paul MacLean is working magic with this team and he has had to.

Winnipeg is the one team that everyone kind of wrote off given their travel schedule, their youth, their lack of depth, etc, etc. Well, I guess everyone forgot to tell them they were done because there they are fighting it out for their division lead (which would be funny to see the last winner of the South East Division end up being Mid-West Winnipeg). They currently have a 4 point lead on Carolina, who lost both of their NHL goalies to long term injuries within a span of 10 days and are fading, and 5 points over surging Washington and the suddenly red hot Alex Ovechkin. If the Jets can hold on, it's possible all 4 Canadian teams in the East would make the Playoffs. Half of the 8 playoff teams in the East being Canadian sure would put Bettman's panties all in a bunch.

Out West, Only Vancouver looks like they will make it. But they have their issues. They really need to lower their expectations on a Roberto Luongo trade and deal him now before teams really come offering next to nothing when the Canucks will be really screwed with their salary cap situation. They have $63.5 million committed to 14 players next year and the cap is only $64.3 million. If this situation gets to the summer, Vancouver will be SOL when it comes to getting anything worth while for Luongo.

 I don't want to start a riot or anything but Vancouver might be the only 

Western Canadian team to make the Playoffs

Edmonton is an up and down team that sits in 13th right now but only 4 points behind the Dallas Stars who seem to have thrown up the white flag yesterday when they dealt Brendan Morrow to the Pens for next to nothing. There are 4 teams between them and the Stars, who sit in 8th right now in the West, but Edmonton is young and has a lot of home games left to play so there is still a chance they could pull it off, which would be a good thing for the Leafs as their trade of Mike Brown to the Oilers would see that pick go from a 4th rounder to a 3rd if they make the playoffs this year.

Calgary is all but out of it now, despite being only 1 point behind the Oilers. They are an aging team that seems to have finally said enough is enough, we don't want to be like the Leafs when they refused to deal Mats Sundin, and end up with nothing when he either walks away or retires, helping to keep them out of the playoffs for years to come. The rebuild is on and the "For Sale" sign is being affixed to the Flames dressing room as we speak and offers are being accepted for anything not bolted down right now, including Iginla, Bowmeester, Cammalari and even Kiprusoff. So we can pretty much look at only 1 of the 3 Canadian teams out west being in the playoffs by the end of the season.

The Blue Jays are starting to round into form and one thing has become abundantly clear; Ricky Romero is a mess and has failed to keep a spot in the starting rotation. He has been getting blown up just about each and every time out and his competition for the 5th starters spot, JA Happ, has been lights out. If Romero makes this team, then Gibbons hasn't been watching him pitch at all this spring. Brett Lawrie will start the season on the DL which means super utility and glue guy Mark DeRosa will be the opening day starter at 3rd base. This is a guy who everyone just gets along with right off the hop and has been on teams that have been in the playoffs in 7 of the last 8 years. Lawrie will be a star and doesn't need to rush back into the lineup as DeRosa will be able to handle to position until he is ready to go, full bore.

With a full year out of Easy E and POW-tista, the Jays look poised

to win the AL East for the first time in 20 years 

With their batting order almost set, and their back up catcher now selected (with Josh Thole sent down to Triple A, Henry Blanco makes the team in that role), the only position left to figure out is 2nd base which has been a dog fight between Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio. Both have played very well all spring but Bonifacio would be the better fit in terms of the batting order as he can be put into the 9 spot and, with his speed and Reyes at leadoff, they could be stealing, bunting and causing all kinds of havoc for opposing pitchers, while filling the bases for #2 hitter Melky Cabrera, Bautista in the 3 hole and Easy E hitting clean up. Adam Lind looks like he may have re-found a semblance of his past self so he will be in the 5 with Arencibia in the 6 (for now) and Rasmus in the 7 with Mark DeRosa hitting 8th until Lawrie returns from his oblique strain.The back up players would be Rajai Davis, Maicer Izturis and Henry Blanco.

The man had a plan, now it's time to see the plan unfold...

With the pitching rotation set at Dickey, Morrow, Buerhle, Johnson and JA Happ (with Romero sent down to re-invent himself in the minors), that leaves 8 spots in the bullpen to round out the roster of what will be the AL East Champs. Reliable lefties in the pen would be Darren Oliver and Aaron Loup. Righties would be Steve Delabar, Casey Janssen and Sergio Santos. With Esmil Rogers getting the 6th position, that leaves 4 pitchers fighting it out for 2 spots; Brett Cecil and Jeremy Jeffers are out of options so they need to make the team or they will be exposed to waivers with former Jay David Bush and (possibly healthy) Dustin McGowan in the mix as well. I would guess Bush and Cecil will make the team out of camp with Jeffers and McGowan going to Triple A Buffalo. Jeffers has electric stuff but is not ready for the bigs yet as he is too erratic and McGowan needs to build the arm strength.

That my friends, is a solid team, top to bottom. Once Lawrie returns, one of the bullpen arms will have to be sent back down and, depending on how things pan out, I would guess someone like Rogers might be the first one to go as (hopefully) he will hardly be used in the first week or so.

 He only knows how to play 1 way....balls to the wall, all out, all the time

A couple of other things that caught my eye lately. The Miami Heat are on such a role that it doesn't appear anyone can really stop them. They are now up to 27 straight wins and only have 1 difficult team to play as they continue to march towards a record that no one even fathomed could be touched. They play the San Antonio Spurs in a few days when they will be going for win #29 in a row. I think they can pull it off and actually have a shot at breaking the old Lakers record from 1971. Even Hall of Famers from that team, including Jerry West, think that they will do it. If they think that and they did it, then who am I to argue?

A new pope is selected and nothing seems to be any different so far. It reminds me of a saying that I have been hearing a lot more often lately (mostly from one of my favorite new shows, Banshee); Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Replacing an 85 year old with a 76 year old isn't change that really will mean anything to the world. It's a temporary band aid solution for an institution that doesn't seem to understand that they have a crisis of leadership at the top of their command structure not to mention a growing pandemic of pedophiles within the clergy and all the cover ups they have had over the years.

I have no faith left in this crumbling institution simply because they don't understand nor do they even follow the values that they want all of us to adhere to. I always have that picture in my mind now of the Pope sitting on a golden throne with a 2nd picture beside it of a poor boy begging for food, with the caption below in bold print saying "You are doing it wrong A$$hole!"

Kind of says it all, doesn't it...

I think it's time to petition the Government for some kind of mandatory law with regards to regulating the colour and strength of beam of headlight lamps re-sold to the general public. I am tired of having these ultra strong, blue-ish and purple-ish coloured headlights in my rear view mirror, blinding me because they are stronger then most car high beams. How they are allowed, I will never know but it's time that the Government stepped in and did something about them.

Still on Government action needed, this new area code thing that is about to happen would be so much simpler if they just made the area from Mississauga to Hamilton the "905" area and changed the area code for Markham, Concord, Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Ajax, Pickering and every other small city to the East of Toronto take the new area codes. It would simplify things and is not impossible as it was done when 905 was first added to Mississauga (I remember having my home number switched from 416 to 905 back in the early 1990's. I guess it makes too much sense so it won't happen.

Some new shows that made an impact lately and I would suggest people take a look at include Banshee (extremely violent, almost grotesque and vulgar at times but, if you can watch Spartacus, you can watch Banshee), Homeland on Bravo has been great so far (I'm dreading Season 2 as I have not heard good things) and Dallas (JR's funeral episode is still saved on my PVR). Strikeback is another show from the same people who make Banshee (HBO sub-division Cinemax) and had it's first 2 seasons hook me. When they return (If?) is unknown but it too is being re-broadcast on Showcase from the beginning. The Newsroom and Game of Thrones are both due to return soon as well as Dexter and I can't wait for any of them as all 3 are what I would consider top drawer entertainment. Spartacus only has 2 episodes left and you know it's true when 2 of the min characters were killed off in the last episode Sunday night. I won't say anything else but I still believe the only survivor will be Gannicus.

 "Fall to purpose and watch as we make Rome Tremble!!!"

It's late and time to get some sleep. If you have any comments or agree/disagree with anything, please feel free to let me know. Until next time...

Too Little too Late for Vatican After Pope Benedict “Arnolds’ ” by Quitting

From the sound of the headline, you would think I was saying Catholicism was on the decline (which it isn't), about to go under as one of the biggest organized religions in the world. Well, yeah I can see how you would think that but my actual intent is to say that the Vatican itself is too late when it comes to saving face and keeping  what little integrity it had in the eyes of former followers like myself, who while still believe to a certain degree but are sick and tired of these old farts trying to dictate to “the flock” how we should live our lives while living double lives themselves.

When Pope Benedict quit earlier this month, the first living Pope to say he had had enough (citing health concerns) and clearly showing that he didn’t want to die in office like all before him for the past 600 years or so, he proved what I already believed about him going into office; That he was the wrong choice and that he was too old. At the age of 85, he is so far out of touch with society that when he tries to issue some kind of formal statement on the position of the Vatican on just about anything, he sounds like an old man fighting against the times, angry at how the world has changed  “too fast” around him.

There were already numerous questions surrounding this man and he selection as Pope, starting with the allegations that he was in the German SS youth brigade back when he was growing up in Germany. Then came the confirmation that under Pope John Paul II, he was assigned to be the “go to man” when it came to correcting the prevalence of child abusers in the priesthood. He was the one who had all the allegations come to his office directly from the mid 1990’s until he became Pope and, instead of actually trying to fix the issue, he simply did his best to brush the allegations under the rug.

Now word comes out that there was a 300+ page report handed to the Pope the day before his announcement which outlined (in DETAIL) blatant homosexuality being perpetrated by priests who refuse to stop their actions and blatantly defy church doctrine. This must have been the last straw for a man who clearly was in over his head as Pope.

From the outside looking in, it would appear that this man simply had enough, knew he couldn’t do anything to “fix” the church the way he wanted (as in back to the times when mass was in Latin and the Pope could force elected leaders and Monarchs to do what he wanted) and pulled a move right out of Cartman’s playbook from Southpark by saying “Screw you guys, I’m going home!”

What he and many of the “old guard” can’t seem to realize is that it is completely unnatural to force a man to be celibate for his entire life. Forcing someone to live without a family, without a wife and children just to be a priest is simply ridiculous. Even the claim that this priestly rule is based on the life of Jesus has been called into question with revelations that it is entirely possible Jesus himself was married to Mary Magdalene and had children with her (as seen in the fictional book, although entirely possible Da Vinci Code). The church was so convinced that this was what would be best for Catholicism that they portrayed Mary Magdalene as a whore without any real proof, just to continue to propagate the lie of Jesus celibacy.  

When faced with such an asinine existence, and such a protective atmosphere (especially apparently if you are into being a child molester) is it no wonder that the priesthood is attracting such warped individuals? Men who would rather molest young boys are disturbed and yet for some reason, the priesthood seems to attract them in droves. There is a higher concentration of child molesters in the priesthood then every other profession in the world combined. Scary.

The Church has lost all its credibility with people like me who grew up in the “system”, so to speak, but have become increasingly turned off by their rigid interpretations of the rules and their refusal to progress as a force for good as well as changing with the times. They are one of the wealthiest organizations in the world as well as one of the most influential and they have the power to become the accepting harbinger of good will that they preach about what Jesus would do if he were here, alive in our times. Yet they have chosen to lie, hoard money, protect the guilty over the innocent and promote hatred instead of unity at a time when people need them to be a shining beacon of peace and love. 

It's for the best that Pope Benedict quit when he did, the problem is the institution will not change nearly as much as it should if it maintains the same remnants of the old guard exactly where they are. So despite a new Pope coming in, he will not be the new Hope that he should be...

The Return of the NHL: Only Missing 1 Thing Plus Some Other Tidbits..

For anyone who doesn't think Burke being fired by MLSE wasn't a shot at "The Count" sitting 

next to him, you really don't know how much some businesses were hurt by the NHL Lockout

 

I've been a bit busy lately with all the hockey that has been on TV so other things, like my blog, have been sorely neglected but that ends today. Ever since the league backed down and realized that they were doing more damage to the game then good by continuing to hold out for more concessions from the players then they already had gotten, they kick started a frenzied process which has been enthralling to watch. The game is back which means for me and many other passionate fans that it is back to some real hockey issues instead of watching fights over which one of the players or owners gets the majority of each dollar we spend on the League.

As much as I hate to admit it, I am back to watching as much as I can, just as passionate about the game as ever but there is one thing I will not bow down and do this year. Mostly, i refuse to do it because I really feel it would have been a sign of good faith on the part of the league to give it to us for free for whats left of the 48 game season. What am I referring to? The NHL Center Ice Package. I WILL NOT order it this year. I absolutely refuse to do it and no one should order it for the last 3 months of the season.

Sure, for the first 12 days of the season it was on for free for anyone who had a Rogers digital terminal or Bell Expressvu but once the calendar flipped over, it was gone. And really, with all the games TSN is desperately cramming into their programming scheduled between now and the end of the year, we have no need to spend cash on Centre Ice. We should be using this time to send a LOUD message to the League about how retarded they are with regards to their fiscal stance against the players.

At least now we can focus on these incompetent boobs instead of Bettman and his merry

band of dysfunctional and out of touch morons

The same deal they signed on January 10th, could have been agreed to back at the end of NOVEMBER had they been honorable enough to actually present it to the union at that time. Owners like Jeremy Jacobs, who acts shocked when the news leaks about just how much he detests his OWN players and belittles them like the way he mocked Cam Neely, former Bruin player and current Executive, during their Stanley Cup Parade by chastising him for never being able to do the same as a player himself during his career. These owners are such asses that they have no concept of just how a joke of that nature is in such bad taste that it makes them look like clowns. 

As much as we as fans are thrilled that the game is back and (at least in cities where they care for the sport) have returned in record numbers, we need to send a clear message to Bettman and the Hawks (Like Jacobs in Boston) among the owners who seem to revel in the idea of crushing their players union or at least want to attempt to do it each and every time they DARE to want something close to a "fair deal". We need to ensure that 8 years from now, we are not stuck in yet another mess of a lockout imposed by greedy owners who want "more" of a cut then they deserve.

To me, a simple first step is not paying at all or ordering NHL Center Ice. Its calculated based on how many games TSN broadcasts nationally, plus all the Leaf games on TV but it still sends a message with the only thing they seem to care about: Our pocket books. If that doesn't make it clear to them that they have pissed off their fans, nothing will.

Then again, the financial mess that the league is in (or claims to be in) is their own fault. They are the idiots that expanded into the US South into places that do not need, like or want to support the sport and they have already seen Atlanta fail, twice (with the Flames in the early 80's and the Thrashers recently both moving to Calgary and Winnipeg respectively) and they are STILL stuck in Phoenix with no end in sight to that problem. Maybe now that there is some stability in place with the union, the league will finally say enough is enough and get that team out of there.

With all the empty seats creating an even larger hole in the NHL wallet, when will

they finally wake up and realize its time to pull the plug on Phoenix?

Sure they sold out their first game back this season but ever since, they have been averaging 50% capacity of their building. They are the ONLY team below 80% capacity in the entire league which is really telling considering how much anger many fans have and still feel towards the League after the lockout. Even after the massive snowfall we had over the last 2 days here, I would GUARANTEE that the Leafs would have had a sell out tonight had they actually been playing here tonight instead of Montreal, who I am also sure will have a sellout tonight despite that same storm now moving in on them.Phoenix is just not a hockey market and i think at this point, with all the evidence mounting and mounting, someone in the NHL head office needs to come to that same realization.

My point is that if the League won't or refuses to see the problem with a market like Phoenix and how that single team is depressing the economics of the league as a whole, then it's time the Union started to make some noise about moving that team out of Phoenix. They need to flex some muscle quietly behind the scenes as the only way the salary cap will explode the way it did over the last 7 years (creating another large increase in the salary cap each year as it did) going forward will be tied to the future of that team as well as possible expansion teams in Quebec City and a 2nd team in Toronto.

Currently there are 30 NHL teams. Here is how they breakdown by conference at the moment;

Eastern Conference		Western Conference
Atlantic		Central
New Jersey Devils		Chicago Blackhawks
New York Islanders		Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Rangers		Detroit Red Wings
Philadelphia Flyers		Nashville Predators
Pittsburgh Penguins		St. Louis Blues
Northeast		Northwest
Boston Bruins		Calgary Flames
Buffalo Sabres		Colorado Avalanche
Montreal Canadiens		Edmonton Oilers
Ottawa Senators		Minnesota Wild
Toronto Maple Leafs		Vancouver Canucks
Southeast		Pacific
Carolina Hurricanes		Anaheim Ducks
Florida Panthers		Dallas Stars
Tampa Bay Lightning		Los Angeles Kings
Washington Capitals		Phoenix Coyotes
Winnipeg Jets		San Jose Sharks

As you can see there are some teams that are in Divisions they should not be based upon geography and most recently re-location. Detroit and Columbus should not be in the West and Winnipeg should not be in the East in a division with Tampa Bay and the Florida Panthers. The easy move would be to switch either Detroit or Columbus with Winnipeg but there is more that should be done and I have a better idea as a whole to help fix the situation.

First and foremost, there should be confirmation of 2 expansion teams confirmed to begin play in 2 years. 1 in Toronto and 1 in Quebec City. This of course means that there would be 17 teams in the East and 15 in the West which would be very unbalanced, without even addressing the Winnipeg or Phoenix issues yet. The next thing that obviously would need to happen is to move Winnipeg to the West. Just doing that brings the numbers back to 16 in each conference. What to do with Phoenix. Well, as much as it would be better and more fitting to have them move to Quebec City, the NHL clearly wants to maximize the amount of money they get for Franchise fees so Quebec will have to wait. Phoenix has failed as an NHL city which means it needs to move to another market.

In happier times (before Billy Hunter was on the verge of being fired by the players he represents), the

NBA Players Union rep and David Stern seem poised to allow Seattle to get their Sonics back by Summer

The most logical one to me will be confirmed as an option by the end of this summer and it is the city of Seattle. The reason why it has taken this long and will take at least another 6 months to confirm this eventual move is that with the fact that the NBA's Sacramento Kings are on the verge of moving to Seattle themselves bringing back with them the old Sonic nickname. If that happens (and it's about 95% certain), then the arena that the new owners want to build will need a 2nd tenant to make it economically viable.

Add in the fact that Seattle has already won the Stanley Cup twice (back in the early 20th century with the Seattle Metropolitans) and the Western Junior Hockey League's Seattle Thunderbirds being among the best run WHL teams with great attendance figures to back that up and you have a community that seems more then ready to welcome back the NHL. One other re-alignment idea to conclude this segment. With an even number of teams in each conference, this would allow for each conference to have 2 divisions of 8 teams, much better then the current 3 division set up.

Now on to some tidbits about not only hockey but of course the Super Bowl and other things.

The Leafs are 5-1 on the road and 1-4 at home which, for some people, is a huge shock. Not to me and not to a real Leaf fan. The atmosphere in the ACC is just brutal. The corporate suits take up all the good seats (of course, given their over-priced nature) and spend most of the game chatting with their latest squeeze or on their Blackberry Z10 (yes, I will talk about that too) or try to sell their product to the stiff they brought with them who doesn't give a shit about the team.

Doubt by most of Leafs Nation (including me) and even rumoured to be on their way to Van City

for Roberto Luongo, Kadri and Bozak are the main reasons the Leafs have been pretty good this season

The players on the team will probably never admit this but they prefer playing outside of Toronto for several reasons, the first of which being that in some places like Buffalo and Montreal, games there are evenly split with fans of both teams. Another reason has to do with how many Ontario born and bred players are in the league and playing on other teams in the NHL. When they come "home" they get to play in front of family and friends which only serves to motivate them even more. Added with that is the fact that these same players, in some cases (think Tyler Seguin) could have been members of the team or were in the farm system as some point and give it that much more effort when it comes to playing here as they just do not want to lose to the Leafs at any cost.

Those are the outside factors. Internally, given the fact that these players are under such intense media scrutiny (only the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys would have anything close in terms of accredited media after each game), these players are analyzed and dissected about 1000 times over before, during and after each and every game. The media crush in this city at times isn't even fair with the way they cover the team. Just look at how they handled the Phill Kessel goal drought. About 1 minute after the game was over and he had scored his first of the year, the Game winner mind you, the media was then turning it's full attention to Captain Dion Phaneuf and HIS goalless drought.

 Funny how after he gets canned, the Leafs are now that tough, no nonsense, aggressive, in your face bunch

he had always said he wanted them to be since he was first hired

While I find athletes who refuse to come here because of the media crush to be extremely soft, to a certain extent I would agree with them that the negative attention of the media can be overbearing at times. Still, being an Ontario boy, you should be falling all over yourself to come back home and try to win the Cup for a team that has this passionate a fan base. If you refuse because of the media (Re: Cammalari, Mike), then you are a pussy and the team is better off without you anyway.

This new rule about covering the puck with your hand leading to a penalty is stupid and needs to be eliminated about as quickly as the stupid trapezoid behind the net and the instigator. Of course, it will take about 3 years before they figure it out so I won't hold my breath.

Teemu Selanne is still going strong at the age of 42. He and his Ducks are off to a great start and the entire hockey world is better off with him still playing like a man 10 years younger then he actually is. His teammate though, Ryan Getzlaf, made a comment I saw on the TSN season preview show the night before the season started which has made me detest the man and hope he never becomes a Maple Leaf (as is rumoured to be possible if he does not sign an extension this summer with the Ducks). To paraphrase, he essentially blamed the changes in his family life (his wife having his 2nd child) for his bad season. Who does that? He sounded like a douchbag when he said it.

The Super Bowl was memorable on several levels. It was a lopsided game at half which turned into one for the history books after that (NFL sponsored) power outage. A 35 minute delay is absolutely ridiculous and would not have been tolerated had it not been something that the NFL clearly felt would level out the game and it did just that. Asmuch as I appreciate the Ravens win also giving me $250 in earnings that night, there are just too many players on that team that I do not believe deserved to win that game due to personal reasons and circumstances which make me question their character and moral fiber as individuals. The only one I am happy for is Michael Oher.

Michael Oher's story (and the $250 I won) are the only good things that came out of the Ravens 

winning the Super Bowl

The man behind the story for the movie "The Blind Side" now has a Super Bowl ring to add to his already incredible life story. It's a shame that he had to play on a team with a Linebacker who is a double murderer and an arrogant ass for a QB.

Why are we still seeing those annoying kids on those Rogers commercials? I thought they were gone but nope, they brought back one of the most annoying ones yet where the red headed guy is trying to test the speed of one phone against another and his ass of a friend won't do it. To me, that kid who won't do it needs a beating but maybe it's just Rogers way of showing that they are actually scared to test their "fastest ever LTE speed". Hmmmm.

Still on annoying commercials, ever see that one where the girl gets the wait staff to sing to her soon to be ex about her breaking up with him? The end of that song makes no sense. They sing "once we were 2 and now we are 1" but that makes no sense. When you are with someone, you become 1, it's when you end things that you go back to being "single" or 1. Even changing the words to say something like "once we were 1 and now we are done" makes more sense. Who hires these marketing firms? Such morons.

So the Fiberals have selected Katherine Wynne as the Premier-elect and just before doing that, Laurel Broten, Education Minister for Ontario repeals Bill 115 (the one which basically took away teachers rights to strike) claiming victory and that the Bill had "accomplished what it was designed to do". WTF?!?! Are these people on crack? If you were planning on turning the wrath of your biggest union supporters against you, causing them to make you look like fools for months and ruining the supposed "legacy" of their "beloved" former Premier Mc-Liar, then hey, you did a bang up job. What a colossal mistake in judgement it was to go after the teachers like they did. They have incurred the wrath of thousands of registered voters and made parents and students angry because of the work to rule campaign the teachers have been on since they had their rights infringed upon.

I don't think I could trust any of these 3 people to do anything for me let alone run the Province...

The Raptors finally pulled the trigger on a massive deal and traded away a long time loyal player in Jose Calderon. The return was Rudy Gay and, after the early returns, he seems to have been exactly what this team has lacked since they had an injury-free Vince Carter patrolling the court at the ACC. He has been dynamic and visibly happy to be playing on a team that is (FINALLY) trending upwardly.

If the rumoured deal of Andrea Bargnani to Chicago for Carlos Boozer happens next, then I will publicly state right now that the Raptors will claw their way into the Playoffs THIS year. I know they are well back right now but something tells me that this young core will finally gel and make a serious run down the stretch when they play 75% of their games at home.

With his master plan finally starting to come to fruition, Bryan Colangelo has proven his worth to 

MLSE and should remain at the helm of the team for the next few years   

What's with the sudden influx of new, young announcers on Sportsnet and TSN? By my count, TSN has 2 new, young hot women working their various Sportscentre telecasts (Natasha and Kate) and Sportsnet brought back Martine Gaillard and has brought in Erin Hawksworth who used to work for the Seattle Seahawks in their local pre-game show. I'm defintely not complaining, hell, Erin, Natasha and Kate are all just gorgeous women and all 4 are pretty good at different sports (no one is perfect) but the fact that this kind of beauty is now on these shows (and when you recall that CBC has Andi Petrullo and Hazel Mae is also back doing Jays pre-game shows but is now on Mat leave, that makes 6 hot women now all over the sports scene in Canada) it makes you wonder if the new pre-requisite is to either be a hot woman or ethnic (at least 5 new young male journalists have been added at the same time, none of which I would classify as "White").

  Her first night on air, I thought she was going to pop out of her shirt she had so much cleavage showing....

I will do my best to talk about a few other things that have been gnawing at me lately with a more concerted effort to write more blog entries going forward. Feel free to make suggestions about topics as I am always open to new ideas.

Until next time....