Off to Carriage Hill up by Huntsville today for a week of R&R. Just refreshing this space so that if “The Spirit” (probably spirits) move me I am good to go!
Sept 24 – saturday in Niagara Falls and day two of the provincials. The boys are 3 – 0 with two wins Friday, the second in rain, rain and more rain, and a good solid win this morning.
I was going to post the Friday games last night but in trying to setup WordPress on my TouchPad I could not remember what my log in was and ended up needing a password reset. I waited until after today’s game to log in on my PC and get the access update.
I took a bunch of video and for today’s game did the tripod thing for video and wandered around for some pics.
Now it is 2:45 in the afternoon, cloudy now but so far no rain today and we are waiting to hear what happens next.
Late news flash coming in – Andrew’s Facebook says the guys are 3 – 0 with a bye until tomorrow. No more BBall today! Darn. However, good news we have made it through to Sunday.
Now it is back to trying to figure out the technology I have on hanfd.
I will post this from my notebook and then see if I can access / add from the TouchPad.
Given that I don’t want to worry about copying and syncing my FrontPage site / Blog from one computer to another and worrying about software loads and licences, I will point readers to my WordPress Blog while I am enjoying some vacation time and update my base file when I return!
So – Look for stuff here starting Friday, September 1!
As a reminder, I use this space as an easy post area when I am away from my “real” base of operations (and software).
Check for the great blog content at http://minorhockeyfan.com/Wayne_Blog.htm ~
Jan 10 – With both the Frank Sabatino Memorial Tournament and the Sport Oakville ADM coming up, the weekend seemed to blow by and the list of “to dos” never-ending and growing longer. We too experienced the strip mining machines disguised as Benevolent Sidewalk Snow Removers. I hope no little people fall into the pit that used to be the edge of my lawn. The one benefit on Saturday was the morning snow flurry seemed to scare off all the half-milers from “Stick & Puck as Andrew and I were two of the seven hardy athletes hockey wannabes on the ice. Fifty minutes of open ice skating and shooting is a lot of real estate to cover, especially when there is no beer tent setup for intermission. That’s where Slo-Pitch has it all figured out. With the few folks out no one mistook my Brain Bucket for a Clay Pigeon this week to practice their skeet shooting. We will see if the Stick and Puck time helps this weekend when I am targeted for 3.5 hours on ice for the Skills on Saturday. PUCKZ – Get the Guinness ready – I can see a transfusion coming on!
Midget AAA – A very good time – probably because they have two very good guys at the helm. Had to do a quick reconnoiter re a planning issue at 16 Mile so we stopped off to watch some of their game at RO A against Guelph. Other than RO A being quite a commute from their home rink and dressing room at JCA, ??? the game was “interesting. We only stayed for two periods as I did not want to be in the building if things went the way I thought they might. Oakville outplayed Guelph convincingly in the first and then in the second probably were on power plays for roughly 18 of the 20 minutes. Guelph clearly deserved a number of penalties but Oakville was not squeaky clean and seemed to enjoy the sight lines being tilted in one direction. That is as far as my comment on _____ing goes as the striped animals get all upset when I express an opinion that does not nominate their members for sainthood.. I will say anyone can have a bad day – we were just concerned that Guelph was going to turn a bad day into a S Storm similar to the Welland OMHA Playoff on the same rink many years ago (I think 7 suspended players, 1 goalie and all the coaches that needed special OMHA “papal” dispensation so that they could ice a team for their final game the next day). It was ugly and stupid.
Anyway Oakville was up 4 – 0 after two, went on to win 6 – 0 and I don’t know if Armageddon broke out or not. This runs the Midget AAAs to 21 – 0 – 2 in their 23 games. Not too shabby at all. Continued good luck to Tom, Mario and the squad.
OMHA – Early heads-up if anyone is interested. The OMHA has called a Special General Meeting for Sunday January 23 at 2:00 PM at the Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre (a popular spot for hearings as well). Details on the meeting are on the OMHA site and were in Friday’s OHMA Insider Enewsletter – you should subscribe. Essentially the entire meeting is being called to ratify the OMHA’s motion to amend the current “Exemption to Play in Another Centre”. In short – the enhanced freedom of player movement that has been featured in the press, ballyhooed by John Gardner and a topic near and dear to many parents (especially outside of AAA, The GTHL and the LOR). I think many people have very high and broad expectations as to what this coming change will alow. I suggest those people read the motion closely and several times, and, or refer it to their Philadelphia lawyer to get a real appreciation of just what these proposed new “freedoms” are. (here is a link to the motion)
I have, and I have an opinion (as always) but a) I would like to hear what others think and b) wait to see if this gets picked up on by the brilliant media mavens to hear their “interpretation. As an official outcast, I can not be a delegate, but I may go to this meeting just to hear what I expect will be some interesting debate!
Official Concession – Yes it is only January, BUT, Crosby is hurt, I am in last place in the FHP and going nowhere. I think every one of my top 10 or more picks has had a serious injury or been sidelined for a while and I am DONE! So heap on the ridicule, razz me all you want and get it over with. I am now officially jinxed and out of contention!
Jan 6 – Armchair Quarterbacks and Harvard Review Case Writers are / can / will have a field day with last night’s game. It is not the end of the world although the suggestion is that we are teetering on the brink. Russia won – because they deserved to! In my role as TSN wannabe analyst, (anyone has to be better than Bob MacKenzie – I like Pierre, for his comprehensive knowledge of the game and players, but he can be a master of the obvious) some disjointed thoughts
Russia played their game for 60 minutes – Canada did not, Midway through the second and on, they gave up the aggressive physical game they were playing and what got them there and just lost their focus. The too many men call at the end of the second was just an indication of that and I don’t recall one good “hit” in the third. Almost all tournament and for half of the game they smothered the opposition and owned the boards. Not so in the end. Were they tired, complacent, or did nerves catch up?
Let’s not forget or downplay that Russia has a good team that does not quit, that proved before that they could come back and that they beat Sweden (who beat Canada).
Russia – good move in switching goalies. I don’t know their coaches style or mindset but to me this was less of a goalie issue than it was a message to the team that we have to do something different.
Time Out – Time outs are precious – you only get one, but as a coach, I would absolutely have used mine when Russia scored the 3 – 2 goal 11 seconds after they potted their first one. I yelled these instructions to the TV but they were ignored. My additional call at that time that “next goal wins” was also right and part of the reason for a “take a break – reorg.” Need after the second goal. However, Cameron is a pro coach and I am just a former minor hockey has been so what do I know.
Injuries – waiting to hear about “injuries” as I think a few of the Canadian key drivers got racked pretty good and that may have helped “blunt” their focus. Ellis, Schenn and Johansen were on my list.
Stretch passes are what I call “goal sucks” but that was a key part of the Russian game that I think they exploited more as the game went on and it seemed to cause Canada trouble with their game plan.
Five Goal Meltdown in one period – they lost it – The Russians “smelt blood” and went after it. It looked like everyone was waiting for someone else to make the “big play” to save the game and it never happened.
But let’s remember, these young men are essentially 18 years old (kids – sort of), with high expectations for themselves and from others, lots of pressure in a game where they are bombarded with the fact that they are representing their country in a world forum and need to get back to the Gold. Full house all for them and a global TV audience. They had an exceptionally bad period – shit happens – get over it and move on.
Kicked off flight – and just to prove they are kids – the Russian Champs got kicked off of their Delta flight for being too exuberant and creating a potential safety hazard.
FSMT – enough on the Juniors. I have an FSMT meeting tonight as the tournament is coming up quickly. Starts a week from tomorrow! Yikes! Glad everyone else is organized!! Looking forward to some good hockey and even better fun. Check the site for the schedule www.fsmt.ca and come out and watch a few games. We have some great prizes and the skill competition on Saturday is always fun to watch.
Jan 5 – Second day “back” – the first was too busy and painful to write about. That is the worst thing about holidays like that – the pain of returning.
Juniors – played a great game against the U.S. as they simply blanketed the US with “in your face” hockey, relentless pressure. Every time the US got near the puck there seemed to be a red sweater all over him or laying on the body. It took the US until mid way in the third to make any headway and that may have been more a function of a) a “we have it in the bag” mindset creeping into the Canadians’ heads and, or b) a bit of fatigue catching up from two high pressure “must win” games in two days. The sea of red in the stands and turning the rink into a Canadian – Buffalo, Ontario has also been impressive as where else and for what else could one “major” country’s home game be so dominated by foreigners. And this is with the “home” team, a tournament favourite playing!
Canada and Hockey – you have to love it.
Or at least until tonight’s game is over and we see what happens – Of course we are going to win! The question is only by how many! Think positive, especially with a former Halton hills goalie in net.
Go! Canada! Go!
Thumbs up or down!
Down – to the Windsor school and school board who suspended for a day a number of young ladies for wearing duct Tape shirts with letters promoting their school team to a major annual event. Yeas they were warned, but they promised (and delivered on) nothing revealing or provocative and got suspended anyway. Can kids not do anything anymore to have fun that is not either fully scripted, supervised or robotic? Everyone knows Duct Tape is a National Treasure – just ask Red Green. How can you penalize anyone for its creative use – this was also part of a school tradition – Way to go Grinches!!
Up – to the young ladies!
Down – to the American Airlines pilot who allegedly caused first a hijack ID Squawk and then an emergency landing at Pearson Airport by spilling his coffee on some communication equipment. That will turn out to be one expensive cup of Java. Not to mention the hassle of the incident report, the obligatory involvement of the CATSB and FAA plus the internal “performance” review!
Down – to lottery pool mooches. Apparently the payout to the Bell group that won the $50 Lotto Max is delayed and under review based on some “additional” group members coming forward with a claim for a piece of the pie. Nice play – were they in or out, on this or other tickets, did they pay etc, etc, etc. take note for pool play in the future, pay, sign, and get a copy to avoid the thieving, greedy hordes.
Down – to the US Navy and the FORMER Captain of the USS Enterprise nuclear carrier on both the production and display of “stupid” videos and the fact that the big Brass did not act on them for three years. In fact it seems like the promoted the guy from XO to captain during the time. What does it say about the US Navy if they promote an alleged porno producer and distributor using the ship’s internal systems to be the head honcho. It is not like the Captain of one of the most powerful ships afloat, complete with his own air force and nuclear weapons needs to be somewhat sensible!
Two Thumbs Down – Not a fan – While he may have been an exceptional baseball player, Roberto Alomar would not have received my vote for the hall of fame. While Toronto fans and media appear to be all agog over Alomar’s election and the likelihood of a “Blue Jay Lid” being on a Hall of Fame bust, I think it is a bust. It seems too many people have forgotten some of the less favourable aspects of Mr. Alomar’s time here and elsewhere. Maybe they don’t even know about some of them! If the argument is that what you do on the field is what matters and not that “other stuff” – give Pete Rose a call.
