Making It Up As I Go Along #381

Some things to note over the past week or so...

I have little reason to be a National Hockey League fan...

Gary Bettman is the biggest liar in pro sports (narrowly beating out Blue Jays GM JP Riccardi). Bettman once claimed that the NHL was not financially supporting the Phoenix Coyotes. Less than six months later, he claims that the owner of the team can not put them up for bankruptcy because the league has been paying the bills.

Paul Kelly is fired as the players association boss. Kelly isn’t confrontational enough. The players are doing quite fine in today’s economy, yet greed and power hungry morons have done enough to lead the great majority of players (who pay no attention to their union) away from a civil and reasonable leader. Eric Lindros and Buzz Hargrove are here to call the shots. The next strike/lock out will soon be upon us... 2011, here we come.

The Shoot out. Gimmick.

Southern Ontario is the greatest hockey market on earth but we have one team covering that zone while New York City has three teams within walking distance, Los Angeles has two teams, and even the state of Florida is equal to the province of Ontario with two teams a piece. All that said, with talk of moving the Phoenix franchise, rather than putting another team into one of the few markets that want hockey and don’t get enough of it, the league would rather look at Kansas City or Vegas. This is the only sports league in the world whose goal it is to keep franchises away from markets that desperately want them.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the most greedy sports franchise on earth. Where the New York Yankees work for their money (building connections with other sporting franchises and owning it’s own television network). The Maple Leafs fight the idea of a hockey team in Hamilton because that would infringe upon their market. With an attitude like that, it’s no wonder the team hasn’t won a championship in more than forty years.

Indeed, there are few reasons why I should be a hockey fan. I have to overlook way more of the disgusting than I have wonderful things to draw me in. It’s sad.


Broken thumbs and Soy Sauce packets don’t mix...

It was an epic battle when I recently bought Chinese food and tried to zest up my rice. In the end, scissors were needed and I felt like I cheated by calling in relief to get through the fight.


Without babies and drunks, Facebook would not exist...

New privacy laws are being adopted by Facebook after it learns the site breaks Canadian privacy laws. But it seems a large portion of the population on this site could care less about privacy. And it goes from one extreme to the other. Pictures of babies, all pure and innocent, are sprawled across the pages of millions of Facebookers. Sometimes it seems as though you’re actually a Facebook friend with a toddler rather than a co-worker. Then, on the other extreme, drunken parties are no longer private. Back in the day, you could wretch over the side of a cabin deck with minimal intrusion. Today, such an incident makes it’s way to the World Wide Web.

I understand the baby pictures. I may be somewhat overwhelmed by them sometimes. When I see six friends online and five of them have pictures of six month olds as their profile pic, I tend to wonder if I’m in the wrong place. But I can’t understand why people regularly want to show off the fact that they may indeed have an alcohol problem. To have a somewhat crazy picture of yourself there once in a while, or to occasionally post status reports about how you’re feeling a bit under the weather due to tying one on the night before... that’s acceptable. But when the drunk status report comes up weekly and when pictures are regularly showing you licking a stranger’s face at the bar... maybe you’re sharing a little too much.


Slowpitch Softball can be exciting after all... huh...

See the MONDAY & TUESDAY status below.


The furnace comes on August 29...

I’m actually a believer of Global Warming. And I can understand how the general warming of the globe can cause cooler weather in given locales. But still, hitting the heat before you’re out of August is a hard thing to do. Yes it can happen in Newfoundland, with it’s sea breezes and the like. But in Ottawa? A depressing day this was.


MONDAY & TUESDAY...
— Busy times at work. Just me for two days... lots to do. Each day, by lunch, there’s no stop.
— Monday has the best slow pitch softball game I’ve been around. With me coaching third, the team rallies from being down 8-1 after two to win the game 18-17 in nine innings. Quite a playoff game... a bit of everything.
— Tuesday is movie night with Annick, Jamie, Sarah, Sheila, Jon and myself. Meant to see the Tarintino movie... but it’s sold out, so we see 500 Days of Summer. Quite good.

WEDNESDAY...
— Sort of a sudden day off. That is to say, I knew I’d always be late going in... but end up deciding not to go at all.
— Geoff and I head downtown for supper at the Fish Market Restaurant. Good time and a fine tuna steak for me. Could go to work after it’s done, but instead we hang out a bit, as Phil tells me it’s a pretty quiet shift.

THURSDAY...
— Work is quiet. Not much else.

FRIDAY...
— Groceries at Sobeys at 6:30 AM... right from work. Nice sunrise viewed from the parking lot.
— Sleep a few hours and then lay pretty low... a walk around the pond is about it.

SATURDAY...
— UFC night with Phil. Jamie comes part way through. A fun night of food and drink and fights... plus we saw some knob have to get carried out of the bar he was that drunk... classy!

SUNDAY...
— Quiet day. Naps and a talk with mom and dad on the phone.