Minor Hockey, pregnant men and Lady Gaga...Uh?!?!

The minor hockey season is about to get into full swing over the next few weeks.  You know, that time of year where young hockey players are simply happy to be back on the ice with their friends while their parents are in the stands plotting their child’s easiest possible road to the National Hockey League. 

Maybe it’s because I grew up playing outdoor hockey in a small community with no arena.  Our eyelids would freeze shut on occasion making it hard to hit the top corner. We would put our skates near heaters in between periods to warm them up and have hot chocolate while our parents were outside scraping the snow off the ice.  We had two teams each composed of a “big line” and a “little line” as we did not have enough players for atom, pee wee or midget teams.  There were no false illusions of making it to the NHL.  It was all about having fun and having bragging rights at school on Monday morning.

Each year I am amazed at the level of politics and in-fighting that exists in minor hockey, mostly as a result of parents that firmly believe that if their child has the right coach and the right teammates, they will make it to the NHL.  Minor hockey should be about kids having fun, being physically active, learning teamwork, learning leadership, oh and did I mention, having fun.

A quick reality check for the parent of every “future NHL star”:  There are 30 NHL teams with roughly 25 players per team (including scratches) which means there are 750 NHL spots available.  In 2010-2011, 55% of the players in the NHL were Canadian which adds up to 413 Canadian in the NHL.  If you consider that during the 2010-2011 season there were roughly 570,000 children playing minor hockey in Canada, that means that only one out of every 1380 playing in minor hockey last year will ever make it to the NHL. 

Dear hockey Mom/Dad, chances are little Ronnie or little Susie is not making it to the NHL so let him have fun and stop yelling at him.  If you find hockey to be too expensive an investment if your son/daughter likely has no chance to make it to the Show, than perhaps you may want to re-visit your priorities or introduce your child to another sport.

A few hockey notes

·        I really want to take international women’s hockey seriously.  However, until the tournaments get more competitive, it is hard to get excited about it.  Sure, Canada and the USA have provided some classic battles but when every other game finishes 12-1, it does little to improve the state of the game or its international appeal outside of Canada.

·        I hope that the Winnipeg Jets have a good year for their fans that waited a long time to get their team back.  It is so nice to see the NHL finally put a team in a city that truly cares about hockey!

·        I watched parts of the Little League World Series this weekend…it is always so much fun watching kids enjoy themselves despite being on such a grand stage.  As a footnote did you know that Pierre Turgeon and Stephane Matteau, both former NHLers, represented Canada as members of a team from Rouyn-Noranda at the Little League World Series in 1982

Random Thoughts:

·        I watched the Jack Layton funeral on Saturday and was moved as I usually am while attending or watching anyone’s funeral.  I still do not agree that this was a “transcending” moment in Canadian history as others have stated. 

·        I get so annoyed when a guy says “…my wife and I are pregnant”. Guys, your wife gets to be nauseous for several weeks, starts to crave jalapeno peppers on her vanilla ice cream for 9 months and has to give birth…all you did were a few pelvic thrusts, rolled over and had a nap.  Conclusion…she’s pregnant, you are not!

·        Why do so many people feel compelled to “ride out the storm” when officials declare evacuation areas while a hurricane or other major storm is approaching?  Mother Nature has a way of winning most of the fights she starts yet every time an emergency is declared we see yum-yums on TV saying “…this is my house and no one is going to make me leave”.   Inevitably, after every major storm, we hear stories of people dying because they failed to evacuate even though they could have.

 

·        I don’t get the whole Lady Gaga thing…she seems to be a talented singer so why does she not simply just sing. 

Jack Layton, fence posts, boobs and bacon...uh?!?!

Like most Canadians it seems, on Monday I posted a note on my Facebook page mentioning that I was saddened by Jack Layton’s death while highlighting the courageous battle he fought against a disease that has had an impact on just about every person and family I know.  Over the past few days I have been startled at how Mr. Layton is often being positioned in both social and traditional media as a man who was a future “savior” of our country. I get it when people overreact in their comments following someone’s untimely death but Jack Layton was NOT the “chosen one” nor would he have been the savior of our country.  He was a good politician who worked hard and who ended up in the right place at the right time in Canadian political history.  The NDP’s newfound status in parliament has a lot more to do with the mess that is the Liberal Party at this point in history and the fact that the NDP became this election’s “flavour of the month” for Quebec voters than anything else.  The NDP gained 66 in the last election, 58 of them in Quebec…hardly a national movement.  They became the latest benefactors in Quebec’s habit of voting “en masse” for one party or another in federal elections.  It used to be the Liberals, and then it was the Conservatives, then the Bloc Quebecois…now it is the NDP.  Who knows, by the next election maybe Quebecers will have gone Green.

Rest in Peace Mr. Layton and may your family and friends find some solace in the fact that you are no longer suffering from the awful disease that is cancer!

A few more political thoughts:

·        Weird times in Canadian politics.  Only one of the federal parties has an actual leader.  The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois all have interim leaders.  In a related note, does anyone else find it strange that the interim Liberal leader has more experience as a member of the NDP than the interim leader of the NDP?

·      I wish there was a “training school” where we could send municipal politicians after the first year of their term.  Two courses I’d like to see offered at such a school would be: “Introduction to the 21^st century 101” and “Removing that fence post from my posterior 101”.  Does anyone else have suggestions?

·      I think that any political advisor, strategist, party rep that appears on Sunday morning television shows should be yanked immediately off-stage by a crotchety old guy with a hook just like in the old cartoons if they do nothing but repeat the same “talking points” as opposed to answering the questions they are asked.

A few random thoughts:

·      Does Much Music even show music videos anymore?  Frankly, I don’t want to “keep up with the Kardashians”.  As for Jersey Shore, the predecessor to that show was on CBC in Canada years ago was much better.  It was called Bob & Doug McKenzie…less boobs, more beer and bacon!

·      I really hope that Sidney Crosby is ok and can return to play at the start of the NHL season.  I don’t care if you hate the Penguins, guys as talented as him are important to the league.  By the way, did I mention that he scored “The Goal”!

·     Tried to tell someone that I was surprised that she looked younger in pictures from 10 years ago because in my mind’s eye she had not aged over the years.  Note to all the guys who read this blog, there is no out on that one.  No matter how I tried to explain, it came across has her looking older…inside voice-outside voice! Luckily the person in question tuned me out years ago!

·     Finally…I wish there was a way of getting accurate crowd counts for events that do not have a gate and/or paid entrance in my community.  I’ll admit that I’m a bit jaded from my past as an organizer of events where tickets were sold and accurate counts were kept.  For that reason I get annoyed when I see “out of whack” estimates of how many people attend the “Summer Concert Series”, the “Kayak Challenge” and other events in Timmins.  These are good events that should continue.  To attempt and add to their credence and feasibility with inflated attendance numbers is an old trick that should not be necessary.

Multi Sports Complex creates a "ground swell"...or does it?

On October 25^th of last year, the people of Timmins did its best to impress upon our municipal leaders that it was time for change.  There were four new Councillors elected and all but one of the re-elected incumbents had a real fight on their hands on election night.  I’m not one of those high-priced political pundits you see on Sunday morning television but it was pretty clear back in October that we as a community wanted things to change at City Hall.

I preface my blog with the above reference because it became clear while reading reports from the discussion that took place at Council on Monday regarding the idea of building a multi-sport complex in Timmins that several Councillors have forgotten the message that was sent to them in October.

More than anything I have gotten frustrated by the “double-talk” of certain Councillors who think they can get away with talking out of both sides of their mouths.  I understand that it is important for our Councillors to take into account the financial impact that large projects will have on the community.  This is due diligence and I would expect Council to do their due diligence on every decision they make on our behalf.  However, it is difficult to listen to certain Councillors that argue with great passion that sport tourism should be one of the key areas of focus for the community and then refusing to support the development of a facility that would help the community position itself as a sport tourism mecca for the region and beyond. Notwithstanding the Under 17's and a few high school hockey tournaments which we've successfully hosted, our local arenas are limited in the scope of events they can host.  Furthermore, a new facility would also include additional space where local s ports associations could expand their programming and where new sports could be introduced. 

I also find it amusing when certain Councillors that raise a ruckus because they got a complaint from “a lot of people” (…usually that means 2 or 3) start arguing that there is not a “ground swell” of support for a project.  The irony is that the membership for the Facebook page created for individuals that support looking into the construction of a new multi-sport easily doubles the number of votes received in the October election by three of the four Councillors who seemed opposed to the idea at Monday night’s meeting.  How’s that for a ground swell?

As for hearing from the “silent majority” through a municipal referendum on the issue… well, that would not happen for another three years anyway because Councillors opposed to the idea would argue that the costs of organizing a referendum outside of the regular municipal election would not be cost-effective. If they do go forward with a referendum, I suggest that they only allow the eligible individuals that voted in the last municipal election to vote in the referendum.  If people didn’t care enough to have their say on who was going to decide what is done with our 100 million dollar annual budget over the next four years by voting in our municipal election then why should they be given a say on whether or not we will move forward with the construction of a multi-sport complex?!

At some point in the future when the City is actually forced to build a multi-sport complex due to the continued deterioration of our existing facilities, I hope that an intrepid journalist will do his/her research and find out how much the City will have spent on “patch-work” repairs to these facilities and how much money each facility has lost from 2011 until the time the complex is open…only then will we know how expensive the current Council’s lack of foresight was if it decides not to pursue the construction of a new complex

21st Century Garbage

Well…it is an exciting day in Timmins today!  It is one of those days where our community begins the process of implementing a monumental shift in the way we do things.  Yup, today is the first day that we get to use our new garbage and recycling bins as provided by the City of Timmins.

So as we make this huge leap into the 21^st century, I was left with a few questions:

Can these bins withstand the bitter cold that we Northerners often get in the winter?  One would expect that City staff did their due diligence and researched how the cold impacted the bins in other areas where the bins are already in use.  However, did they do their research in communities where it gets as bitterly cold as it gets in Northern Ontario.  I offer as an example, the Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay Committee that organized the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.  The local committee thought these folks, in charge of a multi-million dollar cross-Canada relay, would have done their due diligence and would use equipment that would not freeze in cold weather.  Alas, when they arrived in Timmins with our - 41 weather on January 1^st 2010, the hydraulics on their stage were frozen and, unbeknownst to most in the crowd, our local Torch celebration took place on what was supposed to be a viewing platform for guests and people in wheelchairs.  We were told that they did not expect it to be this cold.  Hmmm, Northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan in the middle of January, someone definitely did not do their homework.  All this to say…let’s wait and see if these bins will survive our cold winters!

The second question that came to mind was how maneuverable these bins will be, specifically for older individuals and people with disabilities and especially in the winter.  You have to know that snow and/or ice will build up in and around the wheel wells of theses bins which will make them next to impossible to roll.  I can see it already; Councillor Doody voice cracking, tears welling up in his eyes imploring City staff to find a solution to this problem that could cause injury or health risks to a lot of people he has spoken with.  I for one think that this particular issue will be met head-on by a few industrious young people who will do garbage/recycling bin duty for others in their neighbourhood for a small weekly fee.  See, the City was thinking!! These new bins might very well create a new sub-industry in our community…who needs paper routes!

The third question will be how many of these bins will become the cause of “fender benders or “bin benders” over the winter months?  In the winter, more often than not, most secondary streets in Timmins have no sidewalks and no distinguishable “curbs”.  People will be pretty much placing their bins on the edge of the street, as opposed to garbage bags or small bins which could be place on a snow bank.  On those mornings when the roads are icy, prepare yourself for a new sport…garbage bin bowling!!

All that being said, There are a lot of good people that work for the City and I’m sure they’ve anticipated these issues and they are not as much of a concern as some people in the general public might think.  All the same, it will be fun to watch.