Random Thoughts from a Random Mind

Draft Week: Part Two

2010-06-24T20:40:00.003-06:00

In the salary cap world of the NHL it's becoming increasingly rare to see big names moving around in trades. Many teams simply don't have the cap room to take on big contracts. That has not been the case this week at all, and I love it!

It started with Montreal shipping playoff hero goalie Jaroslav Halak to St Louis for a couple of prospects. Habs had two goalies that wanted to start, they needed to get rid of one of them. Time will tell if they made the right choice.

The New Jersey Devils picked up a playoff hero from years past. Jason Arnott scored the double overtime winner in the Stanley Cup final for the Devils in 2000. He's spent the last few seasons in Nashville putting up good numbers, but they're going younger. Again.

The Florida Panthers are making big changes. New GM Dale Tallon, a former Blackhawks GM, wants to put his stamp on the team, and started by sending Nathan Horton to Boston for Denis Wideman and a couple of picks. That trade leads me to think the Bruins believe the Oilers are going to take Taylor Hall. The B's need a scoring winger, which is what Hall is. Don't think they make that trade if they think they can get Hall.

The Chicago Blackhawks, in very serious cap trouble, needed to ship out contracts. Boy, they didn't wait long. Another playoff hero, Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager and Brent Sopel were sent to Atlanta for a couple of picks and Marty Reasoner.

The Oilers have even gotten into the mix sending a sixth round pick to Chicago for centre Colin Fraser. Low key move, but just the sort of move this team needs. Fraser has grit and is very good on the faceoff dot. He'll look good as a third or fourth line centre. The Oilers might not be done though. TSN analysts have said the Oilers are very interested in the 15th overall pick, which Florida got in the Nathan Horton deal.

There is, of course, the Sheldon Souray situation. The d-man wants out, and Tambo wants to get rid of him. Buffalo, New York Rangers, Dallas and San Jose have been listed as possible destinations. They're most likely not going to get fair market value for Souray, and are probably going to have to take salary back. Hopefully something can be worked out at the draft.

Every effort is going to be made to trade Ethan Moreau, Robert Nilsson and Patrick O'Sullivan. Don't really see them being too successful in that, but hey, a man can dream. All three will most likely be bought out.

There is one dream scenario when it comes to an Oilers trade. What would it take to pry the second overall pick out of Boston? Is there a scenario that would see the Oilers not only pick first overall, but second as well. Taylor Hall AND Tyler Seguin on the same team? Some proposals have been tossed around in the media. Dustin Penner and Ales Hemsky. Maybe Hemsky and either MPS or Jordan Eberle. I don't see it happening.

Anyways, here's hoping for a trade filled exciting day tomorrow. Bring on Hall or Seguin! (or both)

Draft Week: Part One

2010-06-22T18:55:00.004-06:00

So here it is, the week where the rebuild officially begins for the Oilers. It's arguably the most important draft for this team since their first ever draft in 1979, and it will be the first time they pick first overall. In '79 they took a defenceman first, that being Kevin Lowe. This year it will be a forward, either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin. I'll muse more about them later on this week.

Of course, there are no shortage of decisions to make about players currently on the roster. What to do with under performers Ethan Moreau, Robert Nilsson and Patrick O'Sullivan. Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano need new contracts. Which young backup do they keep, Jeff Deslauriers or Devan Dubnyk. When they do pick one, what to do with the other?

One area they seemed set at was behind the bench. One year ago Pat Quinn was hired to be the head coach.

"I didn't want to construct or bring in a good coaching staff. I wanted a great one."

Those were the words of Steve Tambellini after introducing Quinn as the head man. Sitting next to Quinn, former New York Rangers head coach Tom Renney. He had been named an associate coach, and the idea was to move him into the head spot in a couple of years. Well, out of nowhere, that change has come.

Pat Quinn has been 'promoted' to the role of Senior Advisor, and he is not impressed.

"Promoted? I'd say not. My career is coaching. It's why I wanted to come back into the game with Edmonton last year."

Quinn joins the training and equipment staff as those being 're-assigned' due to the need of a culture change. All the changes coming out of left field, and not done with the proper amount of class due to the individuals being let go. I understand that change is a hard thing to do, but there needs to be a certain amount of class exhibited when making these changes. Unfortunately, that appears to be lacking.

It's not a good start to the week.

Sports! (and the Sports Cage)

2010-05-20T18:26:00.004-06:00

"We've got to get back to our basic principles of drafting and development," Oilers President of Hockey Operations Kevin Lowe said in Oklahoma City this week. "Get out of the free agent business."

HALLELUJAH!

This is the same man that has chased and chased and chased since the lockout ended in 2005. Admittedly it worked that first year, he picked up Pronger, Peca and others and the team ran all the way to game seven of the cup final.

Since then it's been an epic failure. He's chased Hossa, Nylander, Heatley, Briere, Drury and so on. They have all spurned the team. Other lower priced free agents that were already playing here, Reasoner and Glencross to name two, have gone elsewhere, and the Oilers got progressively worse.

Now, it seems, Lowe has seen the light.

"It just seems to be in recent NHL history that the only way you become a contender is you have to go to the back of the bus for a while and regroup. We had a pile of injuries this year to key players and in some respects, having been at this for 10 years now, it's a blessing in disguise."

Yes it certainly has. But wait, he went even further.

"It's almost like something hit us in the side of the head and said, 'okay, if you guys can't figure this out yourself, then we're going to do it for you!"

Perfect. Now don't fuck it up.

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Step one comes at the end of June. That's when the NHL Entry Draft will be held, and the Oilers will pick first. It will be either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin. Who should they take? I don't know, I can't really say I've seen enough of Seguin's play to make an educated guess on his talent level.

I have however seen plenty of Taylor Hall. He was very good at the World Juniors. He has been a beast at the Memorial Cup. He goes to the net and shows unbelievable intensity on the ice. Two things the Oilers are seriously lacking. I like this kid, and have visions of him wearing number 4 in the Copper and Blue for many years to come.

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It was about this time last year I spoke about the Toronto Blue Jays on this blog. They had gotten off to a tremendous start at 22-and-12, although it was against teams that weren't considered contenders. They had yet to play the Yankees or Red Sox. I wrote that they needed to show they could win against those teams before we start planning any parades. As it turned out, they couldn't beat those teams and went on to look terrible for most of the rest of the season.

This year they've gotten off to another hot start, but it feels different this time. They're getting great defense, they're getting very good starting pitching from all five of their starters, and they're relatively healthy. Vernon Wells looks like the player they signed to a massive extension again, hitting the cover off the ball. They've got some speed with Fred Lewis leading off. Now, I'm not saying they're going to win the division, or even get the wildcard, but this team is making strides. They'll still probably finish fourth in the AL East, but it won't be an embarrassing season. Now, fans in Toronto, how about you actually go and show them some love?

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LOVE the new sports talk show on 620 CKRM. The Sports Cage features my favourite sports guy in the city in Rod Pedersen, and he's joined by a range of guests every day. They talk local sports, they talk NHL and CFL. It's something that I love in sports talk radio, the variety of topics that can come out.

Monday to Friday, 4:00 to 6:00 on CKRM. Listen online, I do from work.

Randoms (some hockey thoughts)

2010-04-25T21:42:00.004-06:00

I can't bring myself to cheer for another Canadian team. It goes against my nature. I'm an Oilers fan, plain and simple. I've had to defend this line of thinking many many times since moving to Regina. People here jump on the Canadian bandwagon, and look at anyone who doesn't as unpatriotic. Patriotism has nothing to do with it. Vancouver is a division rival. Montreal fans are nearly as annoying as Leaf fans. The Senators? I'm apathetic towards them. I'm also friends with fans of each of these teams who will lay it on me if they were to win the cup.

To explain it down here I tend to put it this way. Roughrider fans, would you ever cheer for the Blue Bombers? Or Stampeders? Or Lions? I didn't think so.

So, to the Canadiens, Senators and Canucks. Boooooo. The quicker you are all eliminated, the better.

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I remember a time when CBC's hockey coverage was second to none. You watched their broadcast because it was the best. My how the times have changed. I don't know if they've gotten worse so much as TSN has gotten better. Much, MUCH better. Chris Cuthbert (he of fired from CBC fame) calls a great game. Ray Ferarro has turned into one of the best analysts in the game. Gord Miller also calls a really good game, and Pierre McGuire (as annoying as he is) provides good analysis too.

As far as CBC, the team of Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson are still among the best, but there is plenty to dislike about the other crews.

We'll start with Mark Lee and Kevin Weekes. Mark Lee calls a good game, but he almost sounds disinterested. I don't know, he's not exciting. Kevin Weekes is in a bit too deep right now. I'm sure someday he could make a good analyst, but right now he is just too green. He doesn't add anything but tired cliches. This team also misses very obvious calls over and over again. In game three of the Sharks-Ave's series both missed the fact that it was an own goal by Dan Boyle in overtime that ended the game. They continually spoke of Ryan O'Reilly just firing it at the net, and only realized several minutes afterwards when they saw the replay it wasn't actually him. Not good enough.

The other team features Bob Cole, who is very clearly no longer in his prime. I still enjoy listening to him call a game though. Just, this team also misses calls. I'm not exactly sure who the other two in the booth are (I think there are two others) but I think one of them is Glen Healy. Anyways, in the Ottawa-Pittsburgh game Saturday night the Senators scored a goal, but it went under review. Healy was going on about how it should count for several minutes and confused as to why it was being reviewed. It wasn't until after several replays they all noticed that the net was very clearly off it's moorings. Not good enough.

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James Duthie has become the best sports broadcaster in the nation. He's proved it through the NHL season, through the Olympics, and now through the playoffs. He's smooth, he's smart, and controls the TSN panel brilliantly.

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Ugh, my Facebook news feed is filled with Canucks fans and bandwagon jumpers filled with glee over their win. Go Blackhawks go!

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The Oilers fired four of their longest serving employees this week, and only one of them had anything to do with player personnel. Kevin Prendergast was shown the door after 20 years in the team's scouting and management departments. He was in charge of the minor league teams, and they were abysmal. It was time for a change there.

Also let go though were trainer Ken Lowe, and equipment men Barrie Stafford and Sparky Kulchisky. These ones don't make any sense. The only mildly decent explanation floating around is the team is looking for a complete culture change. Not sure how those three were negative influences on the team's culture.

We just better see some players on the way out.

History will be made

2010-04-15T13:52:00.002-06:00

The NHL has come out with some terrific promos for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Really, a rarity for this league. But, they have led to a number of hilarious parodies. This is the absolute best one I've seen so far.

Let the rebuild begin! (Steve Tambellini's Oilers?)

2010-04-14T23:42:00.004-06:00

As an Oilers fan I haven't had a whole bunch to cheer for in the past few years. They have shown absolutely no progress in developing good talent. In fact, they almost appear to be regressing. The team has missed the playoffs for four straight seasons. Several players have demanded trades or spurned big contract offers, making Edmonton look about as appealing as a mushroom casserole for lunch. It has been a terrible stretch. Here's hoping Tuesday night is the start of something different.

Tuesday night offered us the Draft Lottery special on TSN. It's ridiculous to think that a 30 minute program is devoted simply to what order teams will pick in a draft. It's even more ridiculous to think that I was glued to it. By finishing in last place the Oilers had the best chance of winning the lottery at slightly over 48%. I had no faith in them actually winning though. It's been a long time since this franchise has won anything. A very, very long time. So when Bill Daly opened the envelope revealing the Oilers logo, I actually jumped and cheered. A bizarre reaction. I wasn't alone though, as a live shot of Hudsons on Whyte Ave showed a couple hundred Oiler fans gathered there for a Lotto Party doing the same thing. What can I say, we don't get to cheer much, so we'll take any opportunity we can get. A brief moment of joy that may go all for not if this isn't the start of significant change. Today, Oilers GM Steve Tambellini gave me some hope.

"It's fact that we finished 30th in the league. To me it presents clarity to the entire organization that we have to make some change. There's no question about that."

Change. Something this team desperately needs. Sheldon Souray has demanded a trade, and took a big swipe at the organization in the process. He needs to be traded quickly. Patrick O'Sullivan, while extremely talented, quite obviously does not work here. He needs to go. Ethan Moreau is no longer playing at an NHL level. He needs to go. That trio would be a great start, but it's easier said than done. Each have money remaining on their deals, and none are overly attractive assets. This is going to require buyouts. This is going to require taking less than market value. This might even require burying some bad contracts in the minors.

"I am sick and tired of hearing people complain about this city, this organization, the coach, the cold."

"If you can’t develop your own core of expectations of what an Oiler is, respect for the logo, for the city, you’re always going to be spinning your wheels."

Pride. There was a time the Oilers were a proud franchise, and an honour to play for. This team has a rich history of championships and tremendous players. But, the glory days of the 80's are long gone, and the fast and workmanlike teams of the late 90's are just a faded memory. It was very obvious that this wasn't a true team this season. It was a collection of individuals. Most nights the effort wasn't there. There appeared to be no desire to win, and very little frustration about losing. This team needs players who are proud to wear the Oilers jersey. Men that will play for each other, not just for themselves.

"If we're only reliant upon a trade or a free agent signing then I'm going to be sitting here possibly ten years from now and we're going to be talking about the same thing. We have to take care of our own business as the Oilers. We have to do a better job of drafting, of scouting, of assessment."

The Oilers weren't the only team in this organization to finish in last place. The Springfield Falcons of the AHL, the Oilers top farm team, also finished last. A damning assessment of how this team has done at player development. Yes, there are a number of exciting prospects on the way. Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson are the two highest profile. But neither have played in the Oilers system yet, and both were first rounders. What makes a franchise truly successful is how you draft and develop prospects in the later rounds, and the Oilers have been abysmal. It's nice to finally see someone in the organization stand up and say so.

Tuesday night the Oilers won the draft lottery, giving them the first overall pick in June. It will be between Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin. Both are viewed as game changers. Can't miss prospects. Reset buttons. Here's hoping the Oilers not only do their homework and pick the one best for this franchise, but start a culture change in the locker room this summer so the poison of these last four seasons doesn't infect the change they so badly need.

Number 44 in our program, number one...douche

2010-04-12T21:09:00.004-06:00

The terrific season continues for the Edmonton Oilers, even after it came to an end with a whimper of a 7-2 loss in Anaheim.

"It’s not a players thing. It’s not a fans thing or a city thing. It’s a management thing, they’ve given up on me, and it’s a two-way street."

And with that, Sheldon Souray has demanded a trade. Not privately with Steve Tambellini, but very publicly, in an interview with Mark Spector of Sportsnet.ca. I appreciate that he's frustrated with how his tenure with the Oilers has gone. Three seasons, and two of them spent mostly injured. But, I find it very classless to go about demanding a trade in this manner. If you like the players, the fans, and the city, why on earth would you bury the franchise like this so publicly? Selfish move, but whatever.

Really, the fact Souray is still an Oiler is his own fault. The Oilers have made it no secret that they would have liked to have moved Souray this season. He submitted a list of teams that he would be willing to go to at the trade deadline, but that was dashed when he stupidly fought Jarome Iginla, breaking his hand, and ending his season. Nice move. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out this summer, it might break your brittle hip.

I'm getting pretty tired of these big name players dissing this franchise year after year, but maybe it's time Daryl Katz started to listen. Souray pointed directly at management for his desire to ditch. A management team that has pushed this team up to the cap with bad contracts, and finished out of the playoffs four straight seasons. I'm more than willing to see Steve Tambellini try and tear this team apart this summer, but it's his last opportunity. If we don't see a real commitment to rebuild, a real commitment to make changes, and some sort of progress in the fall, it will be time to clear the pressbox of that team entirely. Otherwise we might start seeing young stars start demanding a ticket out of town. (Patrick O'Sullivan, you're more than welcome to demand a trade by the way.)

To read Mark Spector's entire article, you can click right here.

Quit smoking! (and maybe more)

2010-03-30T15:45:00.002-06:00

Okay, this is unbelievable. We all know quitting smoking is one of the hardest things anyone has to go through. There are now a bunch of different medications on the market that help people do so, but, like most medications, they come with side effects. This is the most ridiculous list of side effects I have ever heard! Why on earth would anyone take this stuff?

T-Rex and Zombie

2010-03-11T14:55:00.003-06:00

Apart from this toothache I'm suffering through today, I've had a terrific first half of my day. It's a rare Thursday off for me, so I'm taking advantage of it by getting caught up on chores. I have had my Ipod plugged in the entire time, dancing and singing along while doing the chores. U2, The Airborne Toxic Event, Foo Fighters, Matthew Good Band, Coldplay, Radiohead and more all the soundtrack of my day.

Ultraviolet (Light My Way) while cleaning the plates. Everlong while swiffer mopping my bathroom floor. Fix You to my laundry. And now Fake Plastic Trees as I blog. Well, at least as I write this sentence.

I know I haven't been a very good blogger of late. Really, it's been months and months of declining production, but February was an all time low. One entry in 28 days, hardly the stuff of champions. Well, I'm going to turn that around. I have things on my mind, and I'm going to put them on here! Starting with how I'm going to spend this evening.

I've been looking forward to this evening since last night! Your favourite random minded blogger has found a like-minded girlfriend. You read that right, I have a girlfriend. Her name is Sarah. She's cute, brilliant, driven and, just like me, she' a bit random minded! Tonight we're going for dinner to either Houston Pizza or Western Pizza. I can't remember which one, so it's a good thing she's driving. We decided on this through text messages last night. Text messages because we didn't actually get to see each other yesterday.

We're at that stage where we hate going long periods of time without seeing each other. Quite frankly, I hope this stage never ends, because I like seeing her all the time! (I know, how ridiculously annoyingly cute have I gotten? Who saw that one coming?)

It was a romance that started from an introduction while working together, and grew through our common love of cheesy 80's movies. Our first official date included watching The Breakfast Club. The night where we, I don't know what the right term is here, decided we were a couple? Anyways, the official "now a couple" night included Say Anything and Weird Science (the movies, not actual actions.) We listen to Bryan Adams on the drive to work. I think we're one step away from crimped hair and a mullet. Or at least acid wash jeans.

So there you have it. My life as a boyfriend. I'm loving it, and I'm sure it will be filled with hilarity. This blog will still be about random things of course, the Oilers, U2, my shoes, but maybe I'll share some of those hilarious moments as well. Be sure to stay tuned!

Oh, and I have a dentist appointment on Monday to take care of this toothache. I'm sure that will make for a stirring read, right?

My role in mediocre (an Oilers tanking story)

2010-03-10T17:36:00.004-06:00

I'll admit, I was a bit worried earlier this week. The Oilers started to string together some pretty good hockey. A 2-1 win over Minnesota and a 2-0 shutout of the New Jersey Devils, and all of a sudden the Oilers were four points back of Toronto for 29th place in the NHL. That's a bit too close for comfort!

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Thomasean, are you nuts?! Four points out of 29th is too close for comfort?" To that I say YES! If the Oilers finish 30th overall they are guaranteed one of the top two draft positions, and a shot at either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin. If they finish 29th, there is a chance they could pick third overall. Cam Fowler will be picked in that slot and he is a terrific hockey player, but not the immediate game changer Hall and Seguin are projected to be. And let's be honest, the Oilers need immediate help. Last night the Oilers played the Senators. They lost 4-1 and I discovered that I have a very important role to play in the tanking.

I didn't see a minute of the Wild or Devils game, two games the Oilers played terrifically in. I also didn't see the first two and a half periods of last night's game. My friend Raj texted me midway through the second very angry about JDD's strong play in goal. I turned on the game and it was tied 1-1. Ten minutes later the Oilers were trailing 4-1 and looked awful in the process. Coincidence? Probably. But I'm not risking anything!

So here is my mission. The Oilers have 16 games left, and it is up to me to sit through those games and bring my particular brand of luck. They are going to be awful games, but I must make this sacrifice, especially this weekend. The Oilers visit the Leafs. If Toronto wins, they will be eight points up on the Oilers. That's a nice cushion.

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I know it's over a week late, but I do have some thoughts on the trade deadline moves by the Oilers. They made three trades, sending Denis Grebeshkov to Nashville for a draft pick, Steve Staios to Calgary for Aaron Johnson and a draft pick, and Lubomir Visnovsky to Anaheim for Ryan Whitney and a pick.

I'll start with Grebeshkov. I actually liked Grebs on our blueline. Yes, he was prone to making very boneheaded giveaways that lead to goals against, but you can say that about most of the Oiler's roster. He is a very mobile defenseman that can make some very nice plays on offense, and that type doesn't fall off trees. Unfortunately, he's a bit expensive, and for a team that's bumping against the cap, the $3+ million that would be due to him in contract negotiations is steep. They already have Gilbert locked up for several years at $4 million, so Grebs was expendable.

Staios needed to go. He has been a great war horse for this franchise, but has lost a step and wasn't any help to this team any longer. His $2.7 million for next season was money that could be spent much more effectively elsewhere, say on a fourth line centre that can win faceoffs and kill penalties, and a crusty stalwart defenceman. Think Marty Reasoner and Jason Smith types.

I know a few people unhappy with the Visnovsky deal, but I really like this one. Lubo is a $5.6 million cap hit and over 30 years of age. By the time this team has turned it around and is a perennial threat (hopefully) to make the playoffs, he will be past his prime. In return they got a 27 year old American Olympian in Ryan Whitney. He hasn't figured out the game entirely just yet, but he still has quite a bit of upside, and is a $4 million cap hit for four more seasons. A nice young d-man to build the backend around.

With those three moves alone the Oilers cleared more than $7 million in cap space for next season. A pretty good start to the full on rebuild.

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Changing gears, the line of the day comes courtesy of one Chad Jeremy.

"Isn't that the Saskatchewan way. We're still mathematically still in the Brier, but we need a lot of help. It's only day three."

Randoms (I could use a shower)

2010-02-08T23:18:00.005-06:00

The most played song in my Ipod this week, another track by the Airborne Toxic Event. Wishing Well. Love this song. And it makes me want to buy a Buick.

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My latest gym membership certainly isn't going to waste. I've already had several sessions with a personal trainer, which has gotten me into a pretty good base of shape. Is that a term? Base of shape? I'm making it one. Anyways, he's been on vacation for the last week and won't be back until next week, so I've been on my own in the gym. With this baseline of fitness though I've been having some terrific workouts without someone forcing me to! The only thing though is by the end of the workout, I stink. Physically stink. Why does that have to happen?

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Does it make me a bad fan that the Oilers two game winning streak last week had me worried? They were tied 2-2 with Minnesota on Thursday night, then Harding got hurt making a ridiculous save and some kid I'd never heard of replaced him. I actually thought to myself "ah shit, the Oilers are going to win." Does that make me a bad fan? NO! It makes me a committed fan. Fall for Hall!

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Oh, by the way, the Oilers lost 6-1 in Phoenix tonight and looked brutal doing so. It still is strange to see how epically bad this team has actually gotten. Injuries or not, they should be at least a bit more competitive.

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I've heard a couple of people say this year's Superbowl wasn't all that good, not sure what they were hoping for! It was a tight game right up until the very end, and a great story with New Orleans finally winning one! A game doesn't have to end 56-55 for it to be a good game! Come one.

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Are we even going to recognize the Riders when training camp kicks off this spring? What is it with this team and the number of defections each and every year. Not just players, but coaches too! Hopefully Taman can find someone to play DE this season. Losing one of Chick or Baggs is manageable, but both? That's a pretty big gap to fill. Welcome to Saskatchewan Brendan, enjoy the rabid fan base while trying to fill the roster.

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Oh, CTV, I get it. The Olympics are coming up. Enough with the commercials! Maybe that's what ruined the Superbowl for people, the annoying douchey "Do You Believe" commercials. What's with that one where that girl is singing for what feels like 15 minutes? Canadian networks have a way of making the Olympics very lame. Not going to convince too many 18-34 year old males to tune in with those promos.

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No, I don't want to talk about The Bachelor.

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I had a dream the other night that the intro to the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson changed it's opening song, and I was quite upset about it. When I woke up I actually was worried that the dream was true. Perhaps I like that show a bit too much.

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Isn't that Wishing Well track terrific? If you didn't listen to it, damnit, go up and click on the video. It is worth your time!

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Okay, that's all from me for now. I just got home from the gym, and I stink. Time for a shower, then it's off to bed. Goodnight.

It's Time To Tank (UPDATE)

2010-01-30T15:07:00.003-06:00

Nearly two months ago I wrote an entry called The Merits of Last Place. It was December 3rd. The Oilers were last in the Western Conference, and third last in the league ahead of only Carolina and Toronto. At that point I called for them to tank for a shot at either Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin in June. They proceeded to win five straight games, all of them on the road. Now, I'm not one to believe the Oilers read my blog and said "oh yeah, screw you!" But clearly the Hockey Gods read it, and weren't about to let me have my way. That is until December 15th.

It has been an epic slide for Edmonton. The night of December 15th the Oilers lost 3-2 to a very good Los Angelas Kings team. That was the start of a seven game losing streak. On December 28th the Oilers managed a 3-1 win over Toronto, but they haven't won since. Twelve straight losses. No wins in January. One win in their last 19. Ladies and Gentlemen, the tank is on! The Oilers sit last in the entire league, five points clear of Carolina. In the west, they're 13 points back of 14th place Columbus! Rumours are rampant that the for sale sign is up in GM Steve Tambo's office window. Sheldon Souray, Ethan Moreau, Lubomir Vishnovsky, Fernando Pisani all available not just to the highest bidder, but any bidder really. The Edmonton Oilers have finally committed to a full rebuild. Usually I look forward to the trade deadline to see who the Oilers pick up. This year I'm looking forward to seeing who they're able to get rid of!

Tonight the Oilers visit Calgary, who are also having some epic struggles. They are winless in nine games, and have fallen back to ninth place in the Western Conference. I can't describe the joy this brings me! If the Oilers are going to win the odd game down the stretch, this is one I definitely want. Could life be any better? The Oilers looking in great shape to earn one of the top two picks, and maybe kicking the Flames a little while they're down? (Hockey Gods, please don't screw this up for me!)

Shower Talk (What the fuck?!)

2010-01-20T22:50:00.005-06:00

I'm now a full member at Gold's Gym here in Regina, and I go to the north location several times a week. There's a changeroom with lockers there that I use to get in and out of my workout gear. There is also a shower in there that I don't use, but a lot of guys do. Well, as I was getting changed after my workout, I heard a very loud and excited conversation between two buds.

Guy 1 - Wassup!

Guy 2 - Wassup!

Guy 1 - Wassup!!!

Guy 2 - Wassup!!!!!!

Guy 1 - (higher pitch) WASSUP!!

Guy 2 - (even higher pitch) bud, WASSUP!!!

Guy 1 - Bud, I have a water bottle in my bag.

Guy 2 - Don't you dare.

Guy 1 - It's ice cold!

Guy 2 - Don't you dare squirt me!

Guy 1 - I'm serious man, ice cold!

Guy 2 - (higher pitch) Don't you squirt me!!

Guy 1 - What are you doing in the r'tard shower anyway?

Guy 2 - What?

Guy 1 - What you doing in that shower anyway?

Guy 2 - It's nice!

Guy 1 - Man, the water is ICE cold!

Guy 2 - (even higher pitch) Don't you dare!!

At that point I was fully changed and left before I heard something I really didn't want to hear. What the fuck?!

Moose Jaw vs Medicine Hat! (Craig Ferguson Monologue)

2010-01-15T18:49:00.000-06:00

Conan? Leno? Who cares, Craig Ferguson is funnier than both. Here's the second half of his monologue on Thursday night where he talks about city rivalries. It is hilarious! (PS, I hate you Calgary!)

Rediscovering A Lost Love (Canadian Style)

2010-01-14T15:19:00.004-06:00

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of learning how to skate. I couldn't have been much older than three years old when my Mom and Dad would lace up these little black and red plastic skates, and send me off onto the ice. At that age you don't so much skate as you just try to remain standing up without falling. As I got older, I obviously got much more comfortable. I took a year of powerskating to help improve. I didn't play much league hockey, a year of Novice 'A' in elementary, and a year of PeeWee in grade 8. I loved the game, but I wasn't very good. I figured I had a better shot at making the NBA, so I focused more on basketball. Still, I would go play shinny at the rink with my friends after school and on weekends. The town built an outdoor rink when I was in Junior High, which I would go out to with my brother and my friend Shane well after midnight. Just being on the ice shooting the puck around felt so comfortable. Typical Canadian kid. Somewhere along the way I got away from it though.

It's the same old story. You turn 18 and you get into other things. You get a job and your free time evaporates. You move away and make new friends that have different interests. What free time I did have I spent going to the bar, or to the movies. I can sit here and honestly say I have no idea how long it's been since I've gone skating. Maybe ten years. While I watch it every week, and talk about it every day, I've gotten away from the part of hockey I loved the most, actually playing it.

Two days ago my buddy Shawn sent me a text. "Bud, ODR?" His way of asking if I wanted to hit the outdoor rink just two blocks from his apartment. I hadn't even thought of hitting the ice in years. I was in. Just one problem though, I have no equipment. The last time I saw my skates was before I moved away from Edmonton in late 2002. My hockey gloves were even longer removed, and I left my stick up in Grande Prairie because there was no room in my car when I moved down here. I needed to restock. This afternoon I picked up Shawn and we headed to Canadian Tire. I love shopping for hockey gear, and because it's now mid-January you can find some pretty good deals. I grabbed a pair of Easton Reflex skates for $100, an Easton Synergy stick for $20 and some Easton gloves. It all added up to under $200, and I'm now completely ready to hit the ice. We headed right for the rink.

I really didn't know what to expect. It was like when I hopped on the bike for the first time in a decade this past summer, was I going to still be able to do it? Would I still be able to not just skate, but stop. Do cross overs. I was nervous. When I slipped on those skates for the first time a flood of memories from my days at the old Derald Palmer Memorial Arena in Fox Creek came back to me. Lacing up in the old dressingrooms there. Pulling the nets off the boards by the penalty box with my buddy Shane as we were the only two on the ice at times. The skating drills we used to do in practice to improve our mobility. Just how much I love being on the ice. I tightened up the skates, it was the moment of truth. Can I still do this?

While I'm obviously not as good as I once was, I went out there without missing a beat. With each stride I picked up speed. It felt amazing. Just being out there carving through corners and coming to a stop. I could still do it all. I just skated laps to feel the wind in my face. It's such an exhilarating feeling, and I'm hooked all over again. My puck handling skills leave something to be desired. Shawn and I attempted a couple of passes, and they didn't click all that well. Also, I don't have much of a shot anymore. Not that I ever did. After 20 minutes on the ice a teacher brought a bunch of his what looked to be Junior High students out to play some broomball, so we got out of their way. It was a short stint, but an amazing one. We're going to go back out tomorrow night, and I hope to get out at least once a week until the ice melts. I might even give Pat Quinn a call, someone of my current skill set would fit right in on the Oilers top line.

I can't believe I let this go on for so many years. For all of you reading this, think of that one thing you loved to do so much as a kid. When was the last time you tried it? Why do we let these things just go by the wayside? Just because we aren't kids anymore doesn't mean we can't still go out and have a great time. If you haven't gone skating in years, get out on the ice. Trust me on this one, it's just as much fun as you remember it.

I bought two new suits, Miami

2010-01-08T19:43:00.004-06:00

So, I got a big big gift card to Moores from my family for Christmas. I turned it into two suits. One brown, and one grey. This is the brown suit. I love it.

What a Start! (and Shake it Out!)

2010-01-07T21:48:00.006-06:00

Let's kick off the new year with the most played song in my Ipod this week.

Manchester Orchestra. Yet another group introduced to me by my sister. She is a wealth of great music.

------

Someone told me that the way you spend New Years is the way your year will be. Well, I better get ready for bed in 2011, because I'm going to need to catch up on some sleep next year! December 31, 2009 was EPIC. I had the day off, and no plans. I sauntered out of bed at around 11:00 and decided to throw a roast in the slow cooker. I figured I'd be hanging around my apartment for the big countdown, and I might as well have a good meal. An hour later my phone rings, and on the other end is my friend Brandy Rucka in Saskatoon.

"Thomasean! You and Chad are coming up tonight, right? I've tracked down tickets for the big concert at Prairieland for you guys."

This wasn't just a concert. It was three parties in one. A rock party, a top 40 party, and a country party. Three different rooms. Sounded like a pretty good way to ring in the new year. There was another little event going on that night, the Canada-USA game at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Chad and I each had media access to the Credit Union Centre, one of the perks of our jobs, and figured it would make a terrific start to the night. At 4:00 we hit highway 11 and headed north.

After a quick A&W break in Davidson, we pulled into 'Toon at around 6:30. Plenty of time before the 7:05 puck drop. We parked what felt like 3KM's from the front door, and sprinted our way through the -40 windchill into CUC. The rink was buzzing. Everyone decked out in their red Canada jersey and people chanting everything but the stupid Pepsi cheer. We were about 10 minutes to puck drop. Now we had to find a seat. Not an easy feat with a sold out game. Canada scored early to go up 1-0. So early we didn't even get to see the goal, we were still wandering the concourse trying to find a gap in the crowd. The goal made us move even quicker. We were missing precious action. We spotted an entire row behind the cameras, and headed straight there. The view wasn't spectacular, as parts of the ice were blocked by the cameramen, but we had a seat and could see both nets.

Anyone that knows me knows I get a bit passionate about hockey. I should wear a heart rate monitor during these high stakes games, I'd be interested to see exactly how many beats per minute I actually peak out at. Canada wasn't playing all that well. Their powerplay was being exposed by the speedy Americans. Ryan Ellis was making bad pinches, and Alex Pietrangelo was too deep in the slot. It led to several breakaways and two on ones for the US, and they jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the third period. Cue the comeback. With just under ten minutes left Jordan Eberle scores to bring the Canadians back to within one. Then, with Eberle in the box, Pietrangelo scores shorthanded to tie it at four. The crowd exploded. I don't know how I didn't fall over into the lower bowl I was jumping so high.

Overtime solved nothing, so the game was to go to a shootout. I was three beers in, and god did I need to pee. The second the horn went to end OT, I was on my horse. You've never seen me move so fast before. I sprinted down the hall to the bathroom, bolted past the dummies waiting in line for a urinal and straight into a stall. While I'm sure I was peeing for a normal amount of time, it felt like I was going for an hour. You push as hard as you can, but the hole the pee comes out of is only so big. Thankfully my bladder emptied, and I sprinted back to my seat in plenty of time. The shootout begins. Eberle and Kadri open with goals for Canada. Danny Kristo and Jeremy Morin answer for the US. Brandon Kozun scores for Canada. Over the boards comes Jordan Schroeder for the US. He scored shorthanded on a breakaway in the first period. This time Jake Allan stopped him. The crowd went nuts again! Who knows how we would have felt had the Canadians lost afterwards, but they won, and we were off for part two of our night.

I won't bore you with the way out of the CUC only to say it was cold, we sprinted, and drove over a fence to avoid the line out. Off to Prairieland!

We got into the big party at around 10:30, met up with Brandy and another GP friend Jen Baron. The Stereos were just about to take the stage. I'll admit, I don't know much about the Stereos, but they were good. I found myself buying drinks more than watching them play. Chad and I also wandered over to watch a bit of the Trews play on one of the other stages. Wow, the Trews are great live! Very tight. We were having a blast. After the Trews we made our way back to the Top 40 party with Brandy and Jen to watch Mariana's Trench and countdown to New Years. It was about ten minutes before twelve when this really cute girl comes up to me and asks me to be her New Years kiss. Seriously. How could this night get any better?

After the strike of 12:00, this girl and I went off to talk where there weren't great big speakers right by our ears. Her name is Niki, and she's the female me. Likes the same music, likes Seinfeld, same sense of humour. I don't know how long we spoke for, but I got called away for an emergency. Poor Chad couldn't carry around his blood tester, and his blood sugar had dropped to dangerous levels. So to end the night, I went and found him in his car spilling skittles everywhere. He got his sugar back up to safer levels, and we all hopped into a cab to the house of Brandy's morning show co-host. There we ate mass amounts of McDonalds and watched Dumb and Dumber. Suddenly there were a bunch of guys walking around in their underwear, so we called a cab to take us home. Two hours later, that cab actually came, and we crashed in Brandy's living room.

What a night. Considering I had started the day with absolutely no plans, a night at a classic between the Canadian and American Junior teams, a massive concert, and a new friend made is a pretty good way to ring in the new year. I wish all of you the best in 2010. We'll talk again soon.

Top Five of the 2000's

2009-12-29T00:10:00.003-06:00

Can you believe Y2K was a decade ago? I remember that night as if it were three weeks ago. Paul, his girlfriend Rosie and I spent new years at the fireworks in downtown Edmonton. Afterwards we went back to Paul's place and watched "Enemy of the State" on TV. Boy, we sure knew how to party in those days. Tonight I got to thinking about what moments in my life stick out from the last ten years. I'm going to avoid the obvious where was I when 9/11 happened, but five others came to mind. So, I present to you Tom's Top Five of the 2000's.

5. Snow angels with Jo.

Jo was my first real girlfriend. Girlfriend might even be a bit strong of a word as we didn't date all that long. It was spring in Edmonton, so obviously it was cold and snowing. We had gone to a movie or something one night, and stopped at Tim Hortons for hot chocolate before I drove her home. On the way back to her apartment we were stopped at a red light and decided to go make snow angels right then. We lept out of the car, ran into a school field, flung ourselves into the snow and made angels. We just laid there in the snow laughing for a couple of minutes before running back to the car. It's not often you actually smile while driving home with a wet ass.

4. Game Six between the Oilers and Canes.

The Oilers weren't even supposed to make it to game six. After a magical run to the Stanley Cup final, they had fallen behind 3-games-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes. In overtime of game five, the Canes got a powerplay. I was watching the game with my buddy Chad at the Corral in Grande Prairie. My heart sank, I thought the game was over for Edmonton, but Fernando Pisani intercepted a pass, and scored shorthanded on a breakaway to force game six. The Oilers had life. They went back to Edmonton and didn't just win game six, they dominated. The crowd in Rexall Place was electric, chanting 'we want the cup' at the end of the game. I still get shivers thinking about that feeling. The Oilers seemed like a team of destiny. I believed with all my heart they were going to win game seven, and bring the cup back to Edmonton. I floated out of the Corral that night filled with such joy and excitement. I had honestly never felt so high in all my life. The Oilers would lose game seven a couple of days later, leaving me devastated. I can only imagine the feeling if they had actually won.

3. Radio Star.

November 24th, 2002. My first day at Big Country. I wrote about this last year, you can read that entry here. I wouldn't be where I am today without getting hired on at Big Country by Tyler Wold. I wouldn't be here today without making all the terrific and hopefully lifelong friends that I met at Big Country. Everything I have accomplished to this point I owe in part to that team in Grande Prairie. It will likely go down as the most important event for me personally of the first ten years of this century.

2. Video Killed the Radio Star.

Ever since I was a little kid I dreamed of doing TV sports. I grew up watching Jim Van Horn on TSN and Darren Dutchyshen and Perry Solkowski on ITV in Edmonton. I idolized them. I wanted to do what they were doing. On November 24th, 2009 (wow, seven years to the day I got hired on at Big Country!) I had the opportunity to do just that. I anchored my first TV sportscast on the six o'clock news. I did it several more times that week, and earned a spot as the backup sports guy! I'm so close to achieving my dream I can taste it.

1. Dream Out Loud

I saw U2 in concert three times in the last ten years. April 2001 in Calgary, April 2005 in Vancouver and August 2009 in Zagreb, Croatia. Each of those concerts hold a special place for me, and each involved a grand adventure, but this last stop was the craziest. It was the culmination of a ridiculous trip across Europe by Paul and I. By far the greatest adventure I've ever gone on in my life. I blogged about almost the entire trip (I still need to wrap up that story) and posted a review about the show. You can read that here. You had to know U2 was going to figure in somewhere on this list, right?

So there you have it. Tom's Top Five of the 2000's. Honourable mentions go to my adventures driving around Calgary, Jarko the Japanese Exchange Student, Sport Coats at Tylers (really, any house party at Tylers) and Oiler Season Tickets. Everybody have a safe and fun New Years, and I'll talk to you in 2010!

Unacceptable Roads

2009-12-09T13:38:00.003-06:00

In the last few days I have traveled to both Montmarte and Weyburn for stories. Saturday I was in Montmarte to cover a busload of Regina women shopping a small town dry. Monday it was off to Weyburn to speak with a friend of newly minted PGA Tour Professional Graham Dalaet. Both stories turned out really well, but required driving down a couple of very rural highways. (highways 48 and 35) Two lanes, and not necessarily shoulders. The sorts of highways you'd expect to have snowdrifts and icy patches at this time of year. In fact, the exact opposite was true. Both highways were exceptionally clear and safe to drive on. Clearly the Saskatchewan highways ministry knows something that the city of Regina does not.

To all my Regina friends, have any of you ever witnessed such a poor job of street clearing in your lives? It's almost as if they're leaving a thin layer of ice on the streets on purpose! I've seen the snowplows out, are the drivers not instructed to lower the blade all the way? Theo Fleury was in town last week to sign copies of his book. When he and his publicist stopped by our station Friday afternoon I asked how the highways were on the drive from Saskatoon. He said they were great, but 'what is wrong with the streets here?!' There are NHL rinks that have poorer quality ice than the sheet along Victoria Avenue at Toronto street, or the entire length of Avonhurst Drive. The city needs to figure this out, there are accidents happening every day that don't need to be. Let's all call our councillors and Mayor Pat Fiacco and let all of them know that this is unacceptable. If highway 35 at Francis can be free of ice, surely Albert Street can be too, right?

I've Got a Few Things On My Mind

2009-12-07T00:19:00.006-06:00

The start of another week, how is it already December 7th? Let's start with the most played song on my Ipod. I haven't done that in a while.

Such a terrific song. I was actually listening to Zooropa (the album this song is from) on my Ipod tonight while reading the latest book by A.J. Jacobs, 'The Guinea Pig Diaries.' I'll let his own words (or maybe his publicists words) describe the gist of it for you here. This is from his website.

On a mission to understand the mysteries of modern life – from love to work to fame – I became a human guinea pig. I immersed myself in a series of radical lifestyle experiments. I changed the way I thought, talked and looked. I followed old wisdom and new science. I saw the world from the eyes of a woman. I followed the wisdom of George Washington. I outsourced my life. I engaged, I’m afraid to say, in public nudity. (Not all at the same time).

The experiment I read tonight was called 'The Unitasker.' For one month Jacobs did his best to not multitask. No music while reading, no internet while working, no making toast while talking with his wife about the bathroom soap. He attended a class on meditation, and even tied himself to a chair so he couldn't get up and wander away from his computer. If you've never read a book by Jacobs, you're missing out, they are all as ridiculously random and funny as this sounds. Anyways, this particular experiment really spoke to me. I was reading it while taking a bath, listening to my Ipod and thinking about what to make for dinner tomorrow night with the package of ground beef I have sitting in the refrigerator. I am addicted to noise, and I don't know if I have the patience or ability to kick the habit like A.J. did. Hell, even as I write this I've got Facebook open in another window. I've checked it at least five or six times since starting!

But, I've decided to take up the challenge (at least at work tomorrow) (baby steps, right?) When writing my story, I will not check Facebook. When talking with people, I will not fall into a daydream 30 seconds into the conversation. That's a particularly bad habit. Just ask anyone that knows me, I use the phrase 'what sorry?' more than any other. When driving, I will not talk on my cell phone or check my text messages. This becomes law in Saskatchewan next month, so I might as well get some practice in. When I make my spaghetti sauce with the ground beef in the fridge tomorrow night, I will not leave the room periodically to watch what's on TV. Yes, I did make a decision on the beef while reading and humming along to Lemon. I know it's early, but score one for multitasking.

The Merits of Last Place

2009-12-03T14:42:00.005-06:00

As I sit down to write this entry the Edmonton Oilers sit dead last in the Western Conference, and third last in the league overall. The only two teams in the NHL right now with fewer points are the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes. Normally, this would send me into a fit of rage. I'd be shouting at the television, I'd be throwing my coke bottle or can or whatever onto the floor. Kicking Kleenex boxes, and all sorts of other productive ways of expressing myself. But not today. Today I'm filled with a strange sense of hope.

Let's take a look at the top four teams in the NHL at the moment. San Jose, Washington, Pittsburgh and Chicago. Three of them have something in common. The Capitals, Penguins and Blackhawks were all wretched just a few short years ago. They couldn't beat anyone, and there was absolutely no sign of hope they would ever turn it around. But there's a positive consequence to being brutal, and that is getting a string of high draft picks. Those three franchises have completely rebuilt themselves through the draft, and it didn't take all that long to see results.

In the 2004 NHL Entry Draft the top three picks were actually owned by those teams. Washington took Alex Ovechkin first overall. Pittsburgh followed with Evgeni Malkin. Chicago took Cam Barker third. That year the Oilers finished 9th in the West, two points out of the playoffs. They selected Devan Dubnyk 14th overall.

Because of the year long lockout, the 2005 Entry Draft was a lottery, so we have to weight it a bit differently, but it's safe to say the right team got the first overall pick. The Penguins were the worst team in the league in 2004, and most likely would have been again in 2005. They won the lottery, and selected Sidney Crosby first overall. The Oilers were drawn 25th and picked Andrew Cogliano.

In 2006 our three model teams were once again brutal. Pittsburgh took Jordan Staal with the second overall pick, Chicago got Jonathan Toews third and Washington picked Niklas Bakstrom fourth. The Oilers, in need of a goaltender, sent their first round pick to Minnesota for Dwayne Roloson. He led them, along with Chris Pronger, on a magical run in the playoffs all the way to the Stanley Cup final. But let's remember that the team very nearly missed the playoffs, only qualifying for eighth place in the final week of the season. Once again, they would have earned a mid-first round pick. LA ended up with their pick and selected Trevor Lewis 17th overall.

By 2007 Pittsburgh was starting to see dividends from all their high draft picks. Sidney Crosby led the league in scoring, and the team finished fifth in the Eastern Conference with 105 points. They would fall to Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs, but they were clearly a team on the rise. Washington and Chicago were still struggling, and the Oilers completely tanked after trading Ryan Smyth at the trade deadline. The Blackhawks took Patrick Kane first overall that year. Washington got Karl Alzner fifth, and the Oilers got Sam Gagner sixth. They also got Alex Plante 15th and Riley Nash 21st. There was some thought that maybe the Oilers were going to commit to a rebuild that summer. Kevin Lowe thought otherwise.

When free agency opened, the Oilers made a massive contract offers to Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. Kevin Lowe wanted to make a big splash with new owner Darryl Katz signing the cheques. He wanted a superstar right away, rebuild be damned! We all know that neither of those players ended up agreeing to join the Oilers. Michael Nylander actually did verbally agree to sign, but reneged and signed with Washington instead. Sheldon Souray did eventually agree to a deal, but he wasn't the goal scorer they wanted. So they went the way of offer sheets to group 2 free agents. They signed Sabres forward Tomas Vanek to a seven year $49 million offer sheet. Buffalo promptly matched it. Then Lowe signed Dustin Penner to a five year $20.25 million dollar offer sheet. Ducks GM Brian Burke declined to match it, but we all know the fallout from that one. Granted, Dustin Penner has played tremendous this season, but that signing cost the Oilers their first, second and third round picks in 2008. Not exactly the way you rebuild a franchise. That season Pittsburgh finished second in the east, just ahead of Washington. The Penguins would eventually lose in the Stanley Cup final to the Red Wings. The Oilers finished ninth in the west, just ahead of Chicago.

Remember, the Oilers had lost their first three picks in the 2008 draft because of the Dustin Penner signing. They did own the 22nd overall pick from the Chris Pronger trade to Anaheim. They took Jordan Eberle with that one. A great take at number 22.

To recap, between 2004 and 2007 the Penguins have drafted Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal. They now have a Stanley Cup ring.

Washington selected Alexandre Ovechkin, Niklas Bakstrom and Karl Alzner. If they get some decent goaltending, they're a lock to win their division, and are a threat to win the Stanley Cup.

Chicago has drafted Cam Barker, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Like the Capitals, if they get some decent goaltending, they could make a run to the finals.

Each team has drafted players that are now the faces of their franchises.

The Oilers drafted Dubnyk, Cogliano and Sam Gagner. All good players, but not franchise players. Not difference makers. Not the sort of player you're going to be able to draft unless you make a commitment to rebuilding. That is what gives me hope this season.

The Oilers are the same old team they've been for the last 15 years, middle of the road. But with all the injuries and the flu bug that they've been dealing with, they're even worse than that. They're too small. They don't have enough fight to play defense or enough skill to score goals. This is a franchise in need of a difference maker. Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin are sitting 1-2 in the pre-draft rankings for next summer, and either one of them would look fantastic in the Copper and Blue. Both are franchise players. Both will play in the NHL next year.

So, to Steve Tambellini. Tank. Cut the fat off this team. If you can get rid of some contracts, do it. Tom Gilbert is taking up space. This team has enough offensive defensemen, and he's the softest of the bunch. Robert Nilsson, Fernando Pisani, Patrick O'Sullivan and Ethan Moreau are not the forwards of the future for this franchise, do what you can to get rid of them. It's time to strip down this franchise and start from scratch. With the current make up the Stanley Cup is not an option this year, next year, or even the year after that. But, with a couple of high draft picks in the next couple of years, it might just be the Oilers making big jumps up the standings in a couple of years.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to tank.

The Riders BETTER win the Grey Cup

2009-11-27T00:29:00.004-06:00

It has been an amazing week for me. I have always dreamed of being a television sports anchor. From the days of watching Jim Van Horn host the 4:30 edition of TSN Sports Desk after school, or Darren Dutchyshen and Perry Solkowski on ITV Sportsnight in Edmonton. This week I have had the chance to live that dream. When the Riders won the West Final over Calgary on Sunday they booked their ticket to Cowtown for this weekend's Grey Cup. Both Warren Woods and Derek Meyers were dispatched to cover the event, and I was moved to the desk to fill in on the sports cast! My first cast ever was on Tuesday night at 6:00. I also did the 11:00 that night, and the 11:00 on Wednesday night. I literally floated home both nights. It was even more fun than I had imagined! To think, seven years of working my way through the radio ranks before getting a TV shot, and here I was reading sports. A dream that had finally come true.

Now, I'm not on every cast. When possible, Derek and Warren do the sports live from Calgary. I just have to be at the station during the cast in case the line goes down, that way I can jump on the desk and do sports for them.

Let's change gears. Today is American Thanksgiving, my favourite holiday of the year. It includes a triple header of NFL football. My plans for the day were to get up, watch football, and then go to the Pressbox Sports Bar to watch the late game. For weeks they've been running a promotion, buy an MGD, and you get an entry into a draw for a trip for two to San Francisco. The trip includes a private MGD party AND tickets to the Monday Nighter between the 49ers and Cardinals on December 14th. Not just any tickets though, you will be standing on the sidelines. Let's just say I had a few entries into the draw barrel. The only catch was you had to be in attendance at the time of the draw. Tonight, when the draw was made, I was at the station to back up Derek. He got on the air no problem. My name was drawn at the Pressbox. I wasn't there to claim my prize. Somebody else gets to go.

I'm not overly heartbroken. I mean, it sucks I don't get to go, but because the Riders made the Grey Cup, I got to live my dream. Still, they better win the fucking thing on Sunday. I'm out a trip to San Fran because of them.

The Great Sale

2009-11-18T21:55:00.002-06:00

I have been an Edmonton Oilers fan for as long as I can remember. Growing up just north of the city in the 1980's my earliest memories of hockey was the dynasty. Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Lowe and so on. Being born in 1981 I was very young when the team was winning the cups. I don't remember the ones in 84, 85 or really 87. My first somewhat clear memory of them winning the cup was their fourth in 1988. I don't remember watching the game, but I do remember talking about it in the schoolyard with my friends. My most vivid memory of the 1980's was to happen just a couple of months later.

It's hard to explain what Wayne Gretzky meant to me. He was hockey. He was a constant in my life as an Oiler fan. When I thought of the Oilers, I thought of Wayne Gretzky. When you're seven years old the whole business of players being traded, or signing with other teams, doesn't resonate. You have this belief that when a player is on your team, he is always going to be there. Then August 9, 1988 happened.

We were still in our house on 4th street in Fox Creek. I was playing with something in the hallway, I don't remember exactly what, and my brother was watching TV in the livingroom. I can actually still hear his voice. "Thomasean, come here." I went into the livingroom, and there on the screen was Wayne Gretzky trying not to cry in front of a bunch of microphones. I had never seen so many microphones in one place before. I couldn't understand why he was crying, and that's when Dan told me that he had been traded to the LA Kings. Wayne Gretzky was no longer an Edmonton Oiler. I cried. A lot.

Being seven, and not understanding fully why the sale had happened, I blamed Gretzky. It really took a few years for me to even like him as a player again. His first game back in Edmonton was early in the season, and it was on Hockey Night In Canada. We had a playroom in our basement, and for a time there was a TV set up in it. I went downstairs and watched the game, furious that Gretzky would come and play against the team I loved, and the team I thought he loved too. When we played soccer at recess in school I no longer pretended I was Gretzky. I was now Esa Tikannen or Mark Messier. They were true Oilers. When they won the cup again in 1990 I had this sense inside me that it was showing Gretzky what it was that he had left. We didn't need him, and we were going to be great without him.

Sadly a couple of years later I started to understand why Gretzky was sold. My heroes were being sold off, my team was being dismantled. I was in Edmonton with my Dad in October of 1991 when Mark Messier was traded to the Rangers for Bernie Nichols, Steven Rice and Louie Debrusk. We heard the trade alert on 630 CHED. Three players I had never even heard of. They seemed to repeat it every two minutes, so I just turned off the radio. I knew the dynasty was over. While my love and faith in the team didn't diminish, for the first time in my life they weren't going to be a contender. It's hard to believe that apart from the magical run in 2006, they haven't truly been a contender in nearly 20 years.

This may seem like a random time to post about this, but I watched a terrific documentary on TSN tonight. ESPN is doing a series of them called 30 for 30 to mark their 30 years on the air. Tonight's was called Kings Ransom, and it was about the Gretzky sale 21 years ago. A terrific piece. If you didn't see it tonight, I hope you get the chance to. The filmmaker, Peter Berg, asked Gretzky straight up how many more cups he thought the Oilers could have won. The Great One figures it would have been four. What could have been.

Home Alone!

2009-11-15T22:27:00.002-06:00

I'm 28 years old, and I have never really lived on my own. That sort of feels like a strange thing to say. When I left home for Grande Prairie at the tender age of 21, save for my first month in Regina, I've always had at least one roommate. There's always been someone around to watch sports with, joke around with, generally just hangout with. Being alone is not really something I'm used to. This week my roommate is on vacation, I am home alone. Now, the question is, what do I do with myself?

You're talking about someone who still locks the door when I go to the bathroom, even when I know I'm home alone. What if someone were to break in? I don't want to be caught with my pants down! Clearly I've lived with people for far too long. So, on with the alone experiment.

My first thought was hey, I can walk around naked all I want! Who's going to stop me? I've always had to get dressed in the bathroom after a shower, just in case one of my roommates happened to be walking down the hall as I leave the washroom. I'd even do this when I knew they were out. You never know when someone comes home unexpectedly. Not anymore though! Until Sunday afternoon, I can air dry if I so desire. I started tonight. I got out of the shower about half an hour ago, and walked stark naked back to my room. It did not feel as free as I thought it might. First thing I noticed was the crack in my curtain in my room. For some reason the thought "Dear god, what if someone climbed the tree in the church parking lot across the way and is peering in?" passed through my mind. How rational of me. This is going to need some work.

Anyways, as I walked stark naked into my room, my next thought was "man, if I had a girlfriend, just think of the freedom!" No lingering thoughts of who might come home at what moment. How am I wasting such precious time? So, a second mission, find a girlfriend before Sunday afternoon. Doesn't seem likely.

I have found one definite advantage that I can take advantage of! I got dressed and came out to the kitchen. It is a disaster right now, I need to do the dishes. With just me around for the next seven days though? It's going to take TWICE as long to dirty that many dishes! For some reason that excited me. Has it really come to this?

So, I enter my week alone. Will I be bored? Most definitely. Will I talk to myself? I hope not, but probably. Will I walk around in the nude? Sparingly. Hey, you never know who might wander in. What if they check the fire alarms this week?

Article on Peter Hall

2009-11-04T18:19:00.002-06:00

A nice article in the Daily Herald Tribune on the passing of Hallzee. The two people quoted in the story are very good friends of mine. Gord Sharp was my boss in Grande Prairie, Jane is his wife.
Anyone who got to know Peter Hall over the years will tell you we have lost a great individual in the community and a great voice on the air.

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Anyone who got to know Peter Hall over the years will tell you we have lost a great individual in the community and a great voice on the air.

The Peace Country's longest-serving radio personality, Hall died yesterday at his home in Grande Prairie at the age of 62.

Big Country 93.1 FM (CJXX) news director Gord Sharp said Hall had never been late in his 37 years in radio. When he didn't show up for work yesterday, co-workers knew something was clearly wrong and went to Hall's apartment to check on him.

"We went over there and when the door was dead-bolted we knew that was it," said Sharp.

Hall had been on the air at Big Country since November 1997, but Sharp first met him 20 years ago at CFGP AM (now Rock 97.7 FM), where Hall had worked many years.

Jane Cada-Sharp, now the Crystal Centre general manager, met Hall when she started at CFGP in 1980.

"Peter Hall was one of the very first people I met when I moved to the community and started at the station," she said.

She will always remember and miss his "smooth-like-butter" voice.

"It just was. He could be having the worst day in the world but you got him on the radio and he sounded like he should be working Toronto, Vancouver, New York," said Cada-Sharp, adding that more than that, she will miss a friend who was like family.

"When Gord and I got married in 1981 he was one of the very few people from Alberta who came to our wedding in Windsor, Ont., and probably at a time he could ill-afford it ... I so appreciated it."

Sharp said there is no shortage of stories about Hall, and offered one from that trip.

"We were out way late the night before I got married. He and Ken Truhn, now general manager of Q99, were sharing a room. Ken got back to the room before Hallsey did and he took his contacts out. He didn't have his case with him so he put them into a glass of water and put them by the bedside," said Sharp.

"Hallsey came in and went to sleep and he woke up about five in the morning with a raging thirst from all the drinking. He looked at the glass of water and drank down Truhn's contacts."

from FRONT

Sharp said he is going to miss his friend.

"We agreed on nothing – politics, sports, anything – but we agreed we were great friends and that's what I'll miss most about him," said Sharp.

"When I go into work tomorrow, there's going to be a big empty spot where Peter's bunk is."

Hall's death – either yesterday morning or the previous night – was a sad, sudden shock to his friends. There were no real indicators it was coming.

Sharp said there was a time several years ago when Hall was told by a doctor he needed to clean up his act or he would be dead in a year.

Sharp said he thought Hall would "cut off his own leg before he quit drinking beer," but he did stop.

"He had been doing very well from a health perspective. He had dumped a bunch of weight and he was really taking care of himself. He was excited about the condition he was in and how he felt so much better ... it was like a new lease on life for him," said Cada-Sharp.

"I guess his clock just ran down," said Sharp.

Tom Pura of the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce and formerly Big Country sports director "Big Paul" Thomas, had not known Hall as long as some, but does not feel any less loss.

Both were gung-ho Saskatchewan Roughrider fans, among other shared interests, and they clicked immediately.

Pura said he could not pinpoint the year he met Hall, but it feels like he had known him forever.

"He's just the kind of guy that once you start talking to him, it just feels like somebody who has already been a friend of yours. He was one of the good ones," said Pura.

"We got along great, like he did with so many other people ... it is definitely a sad day, and we're all a little poorer for it. When you lose somebody like that it is never an easy day for anybody."

Veteran Herald-Tribune newspaperman Bill Scott has long memories of Hall, going back more than 20 years.

"We were both Roughies fans for one thing, not a surprise for Peter because he was from Saskatchewan. I even had a brief radio career with him on CFGP on Sunday mornings about '86, '87 when we'd play oldies mainly from the '40s and '50s," Scott recalled.

"It was a shock to hear he'd died. I'd heard him on the air last Sunday morning at 10 when he kicked off XX's request show. I know the best thing he liked doing was cruising around the area broadcasting special events, especially for XX."

Scott said Hall has no immediate family: "He never married but he did find companionship with a good friend, Alma Fletcher. She died of cancer several years ago and it took a while for Peter to recover."

Here's the link to the actual article.

Sleep Well My Friend

2009-11-03T12:37:00.004-06:00

I got news today that a dear friend of mine has passed away. Peter Hall is an institution in Grande Prairie radio, and I had the pleasure of working with him for five years at Big Country. While he had a bit of a rough exterior at times when things weren't going his way, he had a heart of gold. The great conversations we would have about radio, or the Riders. I'll never forget the day I set up his Facebook account. He figured he should have one because everybody else did.

While we have spoken on the phone a couple of times since I moved to Regina, the last time I actually saw Peter was on my last day at Big Country. I've been up there twice since then, but didn't get the chance to see him on either occasion. I tried to go see him on location at McGovern's RV the last time I was there in August, but my car had other ideas and decided to overheat. Anyways, that last time I saw him I shook his hand and said 'I'll see you soon Hallzee' and he looked me square in the eye and said 'really? I don't know, I had this feeling I was never going to see you again.' I wish you were wrong buddy. I will never forget you. Sleep well my friend.

Penner Better than Ever!

2009-10-23T21:50:00.003-06:00

Will the real Dustin Penner please stand up, and put one of those fingers on each hand up!

There are many fans out there that deserve it, me included. Let's revisit. Penner is in his third year of a five year 21.25 million dollar contract. It's fair to say his first two seasons have been well below expectations. His first season was okay. 23 goals, 24 assists. There were stretches where he was invisible though. He didn't use his size to his advantage. Whispers started coming out that he was out of shape, and had a 'don't care' attitude. Last season, his second with the Oilers, was abysmal. 17 goals, 20 assists, and several games as a healthy scratch. He wasn't physical, he floated, he just didn't seem to care. I was at the front of the line saying get him and Craig MacTavish out of there! We very nearly got our way. MacT? Gone! If Dany Heatley had said yes, Dustin Penner would be a Senator. It appears now that only one move was needed.

It was no secret that Craig MacTavish was NOT a Dustin Penner fan towards the end of his tenure. We all knew that it was having a negative impact on 27's play, but we're now learning exactly how big of an impact that was. In 9 games this season under the tutelage of Pat Quinn and Tom Renney, Penner has 7 goals and 7 assists. He's fourth in league scoring! His play has been remarkable. He's not just battling in the corners, he's winning those battles and driving the puck to the net. He's taking initiative. He's hitting. He's loving the coaching change.

I read a great article on the Oilers website about it, and I think you should read it too! For those of you who told me that it doesn't matter who the coach is, it's up to the players, please take a gander. If you're uninspired by your boss, you won't play inspired. If you're torn down by your boss, you're sure as hell not going to play for him.

Mr Penner? I'm sorry I doubted you. Keep up the good work, my support is fickle. (because I'm sure you're worried about that!)

Confident Penner Realizing Potential

Randoms (I'm so blue)

2009-10-17T21:41:00.005-06:00

Okay, let's start off with the most played song on my Ipod this week. Love this band. I saw them up in Grande Prairie before I moved down, and then saw them here last November or something. Non-stop pop rock. Fun music, fun band.

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I think I'm in a rut. Work is still great, so no complaints there, but after work? I have been so incredibly bored. There's more to life than just coming home and watching TV or reading, isn't there? I need to find it again.

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I guess it hasn't all been boring nights this past week. Amanda and I went to the Casino on Tuesday night. I lost $20, she won $137. Dean Martin just won't sing for me! He sure loves to sing for her though. He's very clearly replaced Darkwing Duck.

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Thursday night Rod Pedersen invited us out to the Molson box at the Brandt Centre for the Blue Man Group. Pretty good show, but kind of weird. And dark. The whole thing was built around 'how to put on a rock show.' So there was the obvious head bobbing, devil horns (or floppy the clown horns as they called them) and jumping. But then they did these songs where there was a singer. The lyrics were about wearing a mask, and losing your real self in your on stage persona. Take off the mask at the end of the day, but there's another one underneath. Are the blue men starting to feel blue on the inside too?

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Speaking of blue men, how bad are the Toronto Maple Leafs? They are dreadful. They're now 0-6-1 to start the NHL season, and look completely disinterested. I pointed out to a friend of mine that hey, if they continue to stink, at least they'll get a shot at the first overall pick next summer! My buddy Raj corrected me though. Brian Burke gave that pick to Boston for Phil Kessel. Oops. Love it!

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I take back every bad thing I've ever said about Dustin Penner. He is playing great hockey for the Oilers so far this season! Big body, soft hands, five goals. The guy the Oilers were hoping for when they signed him. Keep it up for 82 games though.

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This will be the only time I ever mention the balloon boy story. Hoax? No hoax? Don't care. At least it got Jon and Kate off the news for a couple of days though.

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I must now travel to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Never thought I'd say that. My buddy Rob tells me that they have this random giant coke can there! And a restaurant on Main Street called Sticky Fingers.

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Holy shit, look at this thing!

There will be a picture of me in front of this massive can someday.

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Bah, I'm bored. I need to go find something to do. Goodnight everyone.

UPDATE: Rattled No Longer

2009-10-14T22:22:00.003-06:00

I've decided to write some updates to previous posts. Make sure all of you curious about the world of Thomasean are right up to date. I'm not sure how many past entries require updates, probably not many seeing as most of them are random, but this should be fun. See if I've grown at all in the year that I've been blogging. So, let's begin.

Rattled in Regina - June 8, 2009.

http://thomasean.blogspot.com/2009/06/rattled-in-regina.html

It's been five months since my first attempt at a return to the gym. I was very rattled that night. Every little bit of self consciousness inside of me came right out, and I did not like that feeling. I never felt more out of place than I did that night. I'd even describe it as mild panic. But I vowed to not let that deter me.

I bought the gym membership because of my trip to Europe. I'm not the slightest bit overweight, but I wasn't overly happy with how I looked. We all have that bit of insecurity inside of us, and I didn't want it to hold me back from having a good time. If I found myself in a situation where I wanted to take my shirt off, I wanted to do it without hesitation. That was my motivation, and just as I said I would, I went back the next night. This time I brought backup.

At this point, I'm going to throw out a thanks to my buddy Chad. He had been going to the gym for some time at this point, and let me tag along with him so I at least had somebody there to help me out. He was a great help. That first night I followed him around on his routine. He showed me several different exercises, reassured me that the smaller weights that I was using were nothing to be ashamed of, and made sure I completed every rep. Without the help of Chad that night, I would've had a repeat of the night before, and never would have gone back.

I'm not going to lie to you and say that I became a gym rat. That first month I probably only made it a couple of times a week. I would still make excuses. I was too tired, or I wanted to see the baseball game, or go out for a beer with someone. I didn't fully commit to going to the gym. I bought a second month so I could continue going through July, and I would go, just not as often as I could have. But each time I did go, I got more comfortable.

When I went to Europe I was in better shape, and I did look and feel better, but it wasn't what I wanted physically. That's okay though, because I made a different improvement. I found confidence. I can go to the gym on my own. I do my own workout. When I got back from Europe, I bought a three month membership to the gym. While I still don't go as often as I should, when I go I feel like I belong there. I grab my free weights, I take a bench, and I do my thing. Now, to go more often and finally get in the shape that I want.

Randoms (my life in regular definition)

2009-10-08T22:58:00.006-06:00

Why do we say "I have to piss like a racehorse?" Do racehorses pee a lot? They must! I looked it up. Yahoo Answers tells me this.

Racehorses are commonly given Lasix ( aka Salix) which is a powerful diuretic. They pee a lot right before they race, we're talking gallons and gallons. The medication is thought to help prevent nasal bleeding, which sometimes happens when racehorses supremely over-exert themselves.

So now you know. I can sleep easy tonight without that profound question circling my brain.

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The most played song on my Ipod this week.

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In that video. I know she's wearing face paint and all, but isn't the girl in it absolutely stunningly beautiful?! Look at the shot around 1:15 and tell me she isn't cute!

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I went to watch the Pats and Warriors in the Crushed Can in Moose Jaw last night. What a great barn to watch a game in! They are passionate about the Warriors in MJ. That building was loud. Hopefully the new rink can have a similar atmosphere. What a game too! 9-6 Warriors win. Non-stop offense. Now, if can we get some fans in the Brandt Centre for Pats home games? These kids can skate, they're fun to watch!

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New coaching staff, same old Oilers. Giving up a goal with a second left in the third period to send it to overtime? Mildly annoying. That's not really fair, this version of the team does skate harder and throws way more body checks. Still, they make the same old mistakes.

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We're hitting lows of -10? A high of -1 on Saturday? I guess it isn't August anymore. I do have a nice new Global Regina jacket to keep me warm though!

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I do love this time of year. The Oilers are underway, the NFL is going, baseball playoffs have started, and we're getting close to the NBA season! Sports overload! Only thing though is our HD box died! We're watching sports in regular definition? What is this, 2008?!

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I bought some of that window wrap to try and keep my room warmer this winter. It's hard to describe exactly how cold it gets in my room in the winter. When I go to bed I have to wear long johns, socks and two shirts. When I wake up in the morning I'm still shivering, and my nose is freezing! So, I open up the box, put up the two sided tape, and unrolled the plastic. Don't make the same mistake as me and assume this stuff is one size fits all. It's only wide enough to cover half my window. Because I already cut up the two sided tape, I can't return it! Fail. Anybody have some windows they want to wrap? I have some plastic you can use.

Randoms (and Live From Regina, it's Thursday Night!)

2009-09-27T23:18:00.004-06:00

A few randoms to kick the week off.

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Let's start with the most played song on my Ipod this week. That way you can hit play and listen to it as you read along. Brilliant!

The Airborne Toxic Event - Sometime After Midnight. I love this track.

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The Oilers have announced their latest round of cuts, and not surprisingly Jordan Eberle was among them. He played very well throughout the pre-season, but it's simply a numbers game. The Oilers have too many forwards under contract, and sending Eberle back to junior was the easiest solution. Could he have made an impact in the NHL this season? Maybe. He definitely has the hockey smarts. Still, he needs to add some bulk to his frame before throwing himself into the dangerous areas against NHL defencemen. I really think he'll be better served dominating in junior for another year. Just ask Gilbert Brule. He was brought along too soon by Columbus and still hasn't fully reached his potential. Although it looks like he'll be the fourth line centre this season. So long Pouliot! (one can hope at least)

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Another one of the cuts was Robbie Schremp. He didn't play his way off the team in the pre-season, but apart from some minor flashes on the powerplay, he certainly didn't play himself on. By the time you read this Schremp might be in another organization. He has to clear waivers before reporting to the AHL, and there are a few teams out there that might just see fit to pluck him up. He was a scoring machine in junior, but has struggled adjusting to the pro game. I'm sure the Islanders or even someone like Minnesota could find some room to give him a shot. It's really too bad, I wanted this kid to pan out. He came out of London with such fanfare, but it never really worked for him in the Oilers system.

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A buddy of mine told me tonight about this new bed he bought. Some crazy NASA foam bed. It got me wondering though, what the hell would NASA know about beds? Do astronauts use beds while in space? Wouldn't that require being tethered down? Surely being weightless would eliminate the debate between hard or soft mattresses. I've never really thought about how astronauts sleep, but I would assume they just float. Come to think of it, that doesn't sound very safe. Remember when homer busted the ant colony with his head while floating out of control?

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You know what are really annoying? Mushy Facebook status updates between couples that are clearly just meant for eachother.

"Such and such had such a wonderful time at the movie with her honey tonight"

"What's his face sure loved that movie, and is glad his honey enjoyed it too."

Seriously, just text eachother that crap, that way I won't have to delete you off my newsfeed.

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Wow, that came across as bitter. I'm really not bitter, just easily annoyed I suppose.

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Three weeks into the new job, and I love it. It's been a while since I found work challenging, and last week certainly was just that. Thursday I had the story about the five Sasktel employees being under investigation for a possible conflict of interest. To deliver the story I had to go live at six. That was a bit nerve wracking! I've been live a million times on radio, but that's easy, nobody's watching you. Not the case on TV!

The wait was the worst part. I got to the scene at five, and wasn't on until six. Plenty of time to dwell on what was coming up. Thankfully the shooter I was working with noticed my nerves and distracted me with stories and pictures of his trip to Newfoundland to get my mind off things. The time came, so I set up in front of the camera and waited for my cue. I could hear our director Rick and Jill in my ear. As Jill read the intro to the story I took one last deep breath.

"Tom Vernon joins us now"

Remember, look right into the camera, and don't squint. I was on. I was nervous, and you could hear it a little bit in my voice. The way it worked was Jill asked me two questions, I answered them, then threw to a clip of the Sasktel spokesperson. After the very brief clip (seriously, it was only five seconds long) I wrapped up the story. That was it.

It went so quickly. All that anticipation and nervousness, and it was done in what felt like a heartbeat. I wasn't sure how I did, so I watched it the next day, and it looked pretty good. Another challenge under my belt. I know I can do it, so there's no need to be nervous next time, right?

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Oh, I suppose I should share the story. Well, Sasktel isn't saying much. Three managers out of head office and two other employees have been suspended without pay as they are investigated for a possible conflict of interest. The company isn't saying what exactly they are accused of doing, and the police have not been called in and any next steps will be decided on after the internal investigation is complete. We'll be keeping an eye out on this one, so stayed tuned to Global news.

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Anybody watch Saturday Night Live this weekend? Megan Fox was the host. She's hot, but not overly funny. U2 was the musical guest though! They played three songs, Breathe, Moment of Surrender and Ultraviolet (Light My Way) off of Achtung Baby. Now, I'm a bit biased, but the performances were terrific. I won't go on in length about it though, just read my entry about the show in Zagreb to know how I feel about the performances of these songs.

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You listen to that Airborne Toxic Event song? I told you it was good!

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Okay, it's late and I still need to shave. Another week at work begins tomorrow. Have a good one everyone.

Doing God's Environmental Work

2009-09-21T20:45:00.004-06:00

There really isn't anything more divisive than politics and religion. You start talking with anybody about either topic, and you're most likely going to end up in a shouting match towards the end. In Canada, we tend to keep the arguments completely separate. In fact, I can't even think of a time religion even entered a national debate. Of course, in the United States the two topics are quite often intertwined. Both are debated very openly in public. I witnessed first hand over the weekend the very clear difference between politics and religion on the two sides of the border.

Premier Brad Wall welcomed Senators Lindsey Graham (R-NC) and Kay Hagan (D-SC) to Regina on Friday to tout the research on carbon capture and sequestration in our province. As the world searches for ways to reduce emissions, a great deal of attention has now come upon this technology. The University of Regina has been studying it for two decades, and are really world leaders on the topic. The Senators acknowledged that during a scrum on Friday, and said they are here to learn all about it and possibly recommend funding. Enter Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. Premier Wall and Gov. Schweitzer signed a 240 million dollar partnership in May that would see the two jurisdictions work together to build a demonstration facility to showcase the technology. It requires federal funding from both sides of the border, and neither side has seen the money flow.

Saturday morning the two Senators were toured around the research department at the UofR, then taken out to the Weyburn-Midale demonstration site. It was all designed to show them exactly what the technology does, and what it looks like. Before the tours though, both Premier Wall and Gov. Schweitzer made their pitch. It was stunning to hear the difference.

Wall went first. He made a financial and environmental case. Pioneering this technology in North America would give us something to market to the rest of the world. It would create jobs on both sides of the border, and at the same time give us a way to lower emissions. He did an excellent job tying everything together.

Then, up stepped Gov. Schweitzer. His case began with a story about his 85 year old mother not knowing what he was talking about when he was trying to sell the idea of pumping emissions underground. The science of it makes no sense to the common person. So, he added God into the equation. Gov. Schweitzer pointed out that for 60 million years hydrocarbons have been underground, right where God put them. God safely stored all that CO2 underground, so now all we're proposing to do is put it right back where God put it in the first place. When the Governor told his mother this story, she understood and was all for it.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Canadians as a whole are much more private about our religion, and don't want our politicians preaching to us. That's what Sunday morning service is for. To see, in person, an American politician so openly discuss religion and how it should be used to sell public policy, I was almost at a loss for words. Almost.

I sure hope the final selling point of this very worthwhile project south of the border is more business and environmentally based. Gov. Schweitzer is a terrific speaker and I have no doubt he can sell this project. I just think there is a more rational way of explaining things, which is exactly what we'll continue to see out of politicians on our side of the border.

I wanted to get the reaction of the two Senators about his specific argument, sadly we had to move along to our next shoot that morning. I'm going to continue to watch very closely though. If they do recommend funding for the project, and part of the argument is because it's mimicking God's work, well at least I'll have been witness to the birth of the argument.

Help I'm Alive!

2009-09-18T22:31:00.003-06:00

Just a brief Friday night update. I have so much I want to write about, I just can't find the words to do it, you know? Like the start of the NFL season. It's like Christmas for me! I love it! Can't find the words to express it though. How about the Oilers and a pre-season outlook? I'll eventually get around to writing it, but it's just not coming out right now. I don't know, I'll try over the weekend.

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The top played song on my Ipod this week?

Metric - Help, I'm Alive!

These guys are great! You should seriously check out their stuff if you haven't already. That is an order.

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If the month ended today, September would be the hottest month of the year so far. Of course, if the month ended today, we'd have bigger things to worry about then what the temperature was last week, wouldn't we?

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Oh, one note about the Oilers, how good has Mike Comrie looked in his couple of pre-season games? He's been a spark plug on the powerplay, and even got in a scrap tonight. I've heard a bunch of fans complaining about him being brought in, but come on, for $1.125 million? He's 28, so really still in the prime of his career. I don't see the problem here. If he produces, awesome. If not, it's a million dollars. The team is paying Steve Staios more than $2 million to flop around on his belly, where's the outrage over that?!

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That's enough. Have a stellar weekend everyone!

I am Ironman!

2009-09-17T22:41:00.004-06:00

I'm 28 years old, and I have never ironed a shirt. I've never really found myself in a position that warranted it. I was a radio reporter, who cared if I was wearing a wrinkly shirt? I certainly didn't! But, I'm on TV now. The standards are a bit different.

I went shopping last week and bought a whole bunch of new clothes. The first wearing was fine of course, but a big problem happened this week. When I pulled my nice new button up white shirt out of the dryer I was horrified by what I saw. I have never in my life seen a shirt so wrinkled up. It looked like very white tree bark! Obviously this was not going to work. I knew what I had to do.

I was nervous. I was really nervous. I didn't want to mess this up, I really like this shirt! I set everything up, and hopped onto the internet to find an instructional video. The first tip on the video I found? Get out your iron. Clearly this was Ironing For Dummy's 101. After sitting through the thorough explanation on how to set up my ironing board, it got down to the nitty gritty. First, the collar! Seemed simple enough, although theirs came out way smoother than mine. Next up was the sleeve. It told me to pay particular attention to the cuff, but didn't explain what that meant. I just left the cuff alone. If someone points out wrinkly cuffs, they don't deserve my time. This is simple! Or at least until you get to the body of the shirt.

Where this video was very clear in how to plug in the iron and set up the board, it was equally unclear on how to iron the body of my shirt. It mentioned pulling the shoulder over the corner of the board, but that was it. From this point forward, I was on my own.

Surely logic can fit into ironing, right? I lined up the seam along the edge of the board and tried my best to pull the thing flat. I didn't want to iron a big crease into the damn thing! Attempt one, fail. Not only did I have a bunch of wrinkles to iron out still, I now had a great big crease to take care of. Let me tell you, it's difficult getting out a crease! I bet that's how pant pleats were invented. Their hideous, but so much work to get rid of. After several pass overs and squirts of water, the crease was finally gone. I knew I had to be a bit more careful the rest of the way. While my technique wasn't pretty, I managed to complete the rest of my shirt without incident. After a brief inspection, I must say, it looks somewhat fantastic! Feel free to comment on it's wrinkle free-ish status when you see me tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning, I thought it was going to be just another average day. No real excitement, no real challenges, just a nice simple day off. Never did I think I would acquire a new skill.

I'm 28 years old, and I have ironed a shirt. I am Ironman!

Randoms (and I'm glowing green!)

2009-09-15T22:03:00.008-06:00

I've gotten terrible at keeping this thing up to date, so let's get back into the swing of thing with some randoms!

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The Oilers kicked off their pre-season schedule against the Calgary Flames in the Saddledome tonight. I know it's only game one, so I'm not going to read too much into it, but here are some early observations. The Oilers forecheck was MUCH more aggressive than at any point last year. Quinn wasn't kidding when he said this was going to be a more aggressive puck possession type team.

Rob Schremp looked really good on the powerplay. His skill with the puck has never been in doubt. Now, can he do it consistently five on five? I hope so. I'd love to see this kid on the roster, and not lost to the Islanders for nothing on waivers. Maybe a third line slot with Comrie at centre in the regular season? That would create a third line that could score, and move Cogs to the wing, which wouldn't be a bad thing considering he struggles on the faceoff dot.

I don't know. Like I said, it's early. Maybe I should wait a few more pre-games before making line combinations.

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I can tell you all you need to know about the Dan Perrins report to the Wall government. I spent an hour and a half in a press conference this morning. Thanks press gallery.

Mr Perrins toured Saskatchewan in the late spring/early summer to gauge the public mood on nuclear development. Those who turned out were overwhelmingly opposed to nuclear power. Should we be surprised? I went to the meeting in Regina and it was packed with anti-nuclear advocates. The two people that spoke out in favour of nuclear development were jeered and booed out of the room. Would you want to stand up in favour in those circumstances? Perrins was right in saying this might not be an accurate reflection, and that further polling needs to be done. Actually, Global conducted a poll that showed the majority of Regina and Saskatoon residents approved of a reactor. The truth has to lie somewhere in between, right?

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I'm enjoying this September heat. While it really wasn't an awful summer, it certainly wasn't one to write home about. Is it just me though, or does 27 in September feel cooler than 27 in July? There's still that hint of cool fall air even when it's hot. Maybe it's just not as humid or something, I don't know.

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Apparently we had a ripper of a thunderstorm the other night? Early Monday morning I suppose. There was a massive crack of thunder at 4:00 AM that woke everyone in the city up. Everyone but me. Slept right through it. I'd like my gold medal for sleeping now please.

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Anybody watch the NFL doubleheader Monday night? To all those CFL fans out there that slam the NFL for being boring the last two minutes, with no scoring to speak of, you're wrong. Two games where the underdogs were up late, only to lose on scoring drives in the dying minutes. Amazing finishes.

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There was an amazing finish Sunday night as well. Ever since Jay Cutler was sent to Chicago I've had to listen to prognosticators pick the Packers to finish third in the NFC North. Well, Aaron Rodgers led the Pack to a game winning touchdown (in the final two minutes no less!) over the Bears to go 1-and-0.

As long as AP is healthy the Vikings are still the cream of the division, but these Packers aren't that far behind.

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Wasn't it nice watching the Riders embarrass the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 55-10 on Sunday? I'd suggest Bomber fans buy two tickets on the Greyhound right out of town for head coach Mike Kelly and QB Michael Bishop, but Greyhound is halting service in Manituba. Guess you're stuck with them. Ha!

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That's enough randoms for one night. Good night, and go Oilers!

Onwards, and Upwards!

2009-09-08T20:52:00.002-06:00

After a two week hiatus, I am back with my random thoughts. Remember my last post where I said coming back from the U2 show, I was on the cusp of change? Maybe I didn't say that, I can't quite remember. I did write it two weeks ago! Anyways, there has been a big change.

I have left Harvard Broadcasting, and moved on to full time hours at Global Regina. I have spent seven years in radio, and it has been an exhilarating seven years. It all started in November 2002 when I was hired on by Tyler Wold as a creative writer at Big Country in Grande Prairie. I moved into the newsroom in the fall of 2004, and then came to Harvard here in Regina in January 2007. I won't get into all the memories in this entry, I'll save that for later this week. I have to admit though, it felt pretty good walking out of that building on Friday. I'm excited to get to work tomorrow morning and starting off on this new adventure.

I Know I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight!

2009-08-24T21:15:00.005-06:00

August 10, 2009 - Maksimir Stadium - Zagreb, Croatia.

The whole point of this trip was to prove that I can. To prove to myself that going halfway across the world to see my favourite band, no matter how ridiculous the concept, was entirely within my reach. After seven long days of traveling and exploring, Paul and I were within 100 meters of the front entrance to Maksimir Stadium. We just didn't have our tickets in our hands.

When Paul bought the tickets back in March or April (whenever it was when they went on sale) he checked off to have them mailed to us, but they never arrived. A couple of frantic emails to Ticketmaster helped us learn that they would be waiting at the venue. We found the will call window. The tickets were under Paul's name. The woman looked through her file, stopped and looked up at us. My heart sank. This was not happening. She confirmed the name, and went in search again. I'll admit it, I was plotting my revenge on Paul at that moment. If those tickets weren't there, he wasn't going to find his way back to Canada. He wasn't going to find his way anywhere. Thankfully, she pulled out the envelope. "Enjoy the show!" We were in.

I made a b-line right for the entrance. I was going to get in early, and get up front. Paul suggested we hangout outside the stadium, but I would have none of it. After buying a couple of shirts (one for me, one for Lindsay) we entered the stadium. The stage for this tour is ridiculous. I can't describe it any better than that. It's a 164 foot tall claw, with a big cylindrical screen. It towered over the crowd.

We were right up front, but three hours early. It was hot out. Well over 30 degrees, and no shade to be found where we were standing. It was going to be a sweltering wait.

This show had two opening bands, first up was a band out of London called The Hours. They were high energy, they were catchy, they were good. Definitely worth checking out. Next up was Snow Patrol. Heading in I knew a couple of their songs. We don't have a station here in Regina that plays stuff like that, so I didn't know too much. (Hey, how about a Sonic Regina? Just saying) I now fully intend to learn more. The show they put on was terrific! But, it wasn't why we were all here.

The first two bands are done, and the crowd starts to get restless. Once again, like the other three times I've seen them, you start to feel this energy in the crowd. The excitement. The place is packed. I'm right up front, so I didn't realize exactly how full it had gotten. I pointed my camera back and took a couple of pictures. I was floored. 63,000 people were crammed into the stadium. This was going to be huge.

This is ground control to Major Tom.

David Bowie's classic hit starts blaring throughout the stadium. Fog starts to lift from the stage. The crowd's excitement grows. My excitement grows. We've come all this way, and here it was, the show was moments away.

Ground control to Major Tom: Commencing countdown, engine's on.

The crowd surges forward. While we were all tired from the heat up to this point, everyone in the building is full of energy.

Ground control to Major Tom: Commencing countdown engine's on
Check ignition and may god's love be with you.

Larry Mullen Jr walks onto the stage and starts drumming the opening beats to "Breathe" off No Line on the Horizon. It's probably my favourite song on the album. The crowd explodes. The Edge and Adam Clayton appear next, and launch into the opening riff. Everyone is screaming. We're all jumping. Bono appears, and the show is on. Breathe is the most U2-ish song on the album. A chant along anthem. One to sing at the top of your lungs. The guitar solo will lift you up. The perfect opener for the show. After that the band launched into another new track, No Line on the Horizon (the title track) and I was floored by how hard it rocks live. The track is fantastic on the album, but live gave me an entirely different view of it.

Their first song from a different album was Beautiful Day. Then into Mysterious Ways, where a local belly dancer was pulled out of the crowd to dance along on stage. The crowd was nuts. From there they went into "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The Balkans of course have a rough history. A very bloody civil war was fought in the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990's, which led to the creation of several countries including Croatia. Bono referenced that past before opening this song, and the crowd took over from there. Incredible moment. This is the actual video from that night.

This crowd was amazing. I was so lucky to be a part of that. From there they launched into an acoustic version of Stuck in a Moment, which was also sung along by all 60,000 in the room.

The catchiest song on the new album has to be "I'll Go Crazy if I don't go Crazy Tonight." It's the song that is being used on the Blackberry commercials. They didn't play the straight up version of that song at the show though, they played a remix of it. You hear this remix beat echoing throughout the stadium, and the giant screen has the four guys bobbing their heads. Bono is on stage leading chants of the lyrics from the crowd, as the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr circle the B-stage playing the song.

The first real political moment of the show came on Sunday Bloody Sunday. The band showed images of the bloody crackdown against protesters in Iran. The stage was lit entirely in green as Bono opened with that line.

I can't believe the news today, I can't close my eyes and make go away.

That song was written about the killing of 27 protesters in Northern Ireland in 1972. Every tour it has a new meaning. The same thing keeps happening over and over again.

A few songs later, Walk On. The song was written for Aung San Suu Kyi, the jailed democratically elected leader of Burma. Masks of her face were handed out to the crowd, and everyone was encouraged to wear it during the song. It's a terrific song that sends shivers down your spine live. The show was flying by.

Song after song, each one everyone singing along, but nobody was slowing down. This show could have gone all night, but you knew you were running out of songs. From Walk On they launched into Where the Streets Have No Name. A staple of U2's live show since the Joshua Tree. To see that song performed live is something else. Up on the screen appears Bishop Desmond Tutu. He was a vocal opponent of apartheid in South Africa in the 1980's, and has spent his life fighting for human rights. He brought a message from Africa, about how much has been accomplished in recent years, and what it means to the world. It was the intro to One.

The band left the stage. The opening set was done, we knew we had only the encore left. The entire crowd started chanting "we want more!" I thought they would be chanting something in Croatian. How polite of them to chant something that I could join in on. The screen lit up with something that sounded like it belonged on ZooTV. A distorted voice. Glowing green squares. Out came Bono in a jacket with red lights shining in all directions.

Sometimes I feel like I don't know, sometimes I feel like checking out

Ultraviolet Light! A track off Achtung Baby that has the spacey quality perfect for this stage. For this show. The crowd went nuts again as the band launched into the encore.

Out the moody Ultraviolet Light came the familiar baseline from perhaps U2's most famous song. Another one to send chills down your back. Another one that everyone, whether they're a U2 fan or not, knows all the words to and sings along. With or Without You.

You know the end is near when With or Without You is over. We're two hours into an amazing show. Every word to every song sung along. Sure enough the next track was to be the last. It's another one off the new album, Moment of Surrender. It's one that really pushes the limits of Bono's voice, especially after two hours of singing. The crowd lifts the band up, and the band keeps the crowd going. The show was done. The band salutes the crowd. The crowd gives them one final cheer, and then it was over. Not unlike Popmart, this was an amazing spectacle.

When people asked me why Croatia, I simply responded why not? I figured the show in Europe would be different than it would be in North America, and it was. "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" had a completely different meaning in Croatia than it does over here. I will never forget how it felt to sing that song with those people. People from all over the region whose countries were at war just over a decade ago. People who now just want peace.

It was a long road to Zagreb. As it turns out, it was a trip right on the cusp of another big change in my life. I came home with a sense that I can do anything. My buddy Paul and I made it all the way to Zagreb, Croatia to see U2. What can't I do?

(Set list)

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
Mysterious Ways
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stuck In A Moment (You Can't Get Out Of)
Unknown Caller
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight (Remix)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In The Name of Love)
MLK
Walk On
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
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Ultraviolet
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Day Seven - Zagreb, Croatia (The big day!)

2009-08-12T18:08:00.002-06:00

I don't often feel stress. In fact, I never feel stress. I'm a laid back guy. Today, I was feeling it. I had to be in Zagreb for the show, I was in Italy. My experience on European transit wasn't exactly one of extreme efficiency. Paul and I quickly made our way to the bus station in Triest at seven in the morning to get tickets for the 8:30 bus to Rijeka. There was no bus service to Zagreb from Triest on Mondays of course. Thankfully we got a ticket, so we were going to get into Croatia at least. Four passport checks later, there we were.

In Rijeka we joined a line out the door to hopefully get the earliest ticket possible to Zagreb. Croatians need to argue everything. Everyone in line in front of us had to get mad at the ticket agent. It was all I could do to not yell "seriously, my fucking day is more important than yours, get the fuck moving." FINALLY we got to the front of the line and got our tickets. 11:00 bus to Zagreb. Like every other transport on this continent, it was 30 minutes late. We pulled into Zagreb at 2:00 and made our way to our hostel. Paul had the foresight to at least book one here for us the night of the concert. After finding our way there, we checked in. If I can say one thing about people working at hostels here, they are extremely helpful. The girl at the Funk Hostel gave me a lock for my drawer, a towel for the shower and the suggestion of a fine restaurant called the dancing bear. Or hungry bear. Something bear, I don't know. I ordered the breaded cubed grilled chicken. I got another damn schnitzel. I'm doomed to eat nothing but schnitzel on this fucking continent. Thankfully I got mashed potatoes with it, and didn't have to endure any ketchup adventures either. After lunch, we made our way to Maksimir stadium. Our tickets were supposedly waiting for us there. The last bit of stress on our ridiculous adventure to the show of a lifetime.

Day Six - Triest, Italy (Part Two)

2009-08-12T17:53:00.002-06:00

We still had a full day before we needed to be in Zagreb for the U2 show. We were told everything (trains and buses) to Zagreb were sold out that day, so we weren't going to get very far that day. After a fantastic sleep, we each stumbled out of bed and went in search of breakfast. The day before we were taught nothing was open during sunlight hours, so we didn't really have high hope. To our surprise everything was open!

We decided on a restaurant that was opened in 100 or something. I don't know, it was older than Canada, which is like saying trees grow from the ground. The menu was almost entirely fish. I come from north central Alberta. Fish isn't exactly top of the menu. Thankfully there was some beef on the menu as well. The chef felt it necessary to bring out the fish tray. Let me tell you, if I were a fish, I'd date moose. Fish are ugly creatures. Open a new window and google scorpian fish. Who in their right mind would eat that ugly mother fucker? Paul ordered the sea bass. I ordered the roast beef. The meal was stellar! They fawned over us like we were royalty. I told them I was the arch-duke of Edmonton. It didn't impress them.

After that we walked down the pier and hungout in the hot afternoon sun for a couple of hours. Now, I had made it the entire trip without feeling anything but exhaustion. That Medi heat though hit me hard. After an hour on the pier, it was time for Thomasean to find a bed. I went to the apartment and I'm not ashamed to say I puked and slept. Well, I'm a bit ashamed to say. Puking is the second most least sexy thing a guy can do. It needed to be done. Paul went for ice cream, then returned and we both slept for several hours. After waking up, we made our way back to the square the play was in the night before. That night it was a group called Drumerella. Booberella off the Simpsons is better. These guys were okay, but would've been better if they had boobs. We wandered off and drank beer at a couple of places instead. The next day was important. We had an 8:30 bus to catch to Rijeka, from there it was off to Zagreb for the U2 concert. We hurried off to bed, set our Ipod alarms (which are extremely uneffective) and went to sleep. The most important day of the trip just hours away.

Day Five - Triest, Italy

2009-08-12T10:03:00.002-06:00

It gets hot early along the Mediterranean. I woke up at 7;30 the next morning and jogged back up to the shopping mall. I only had euros, and Croatia has it's own currency. I didn't want to continue using my Visa. After that, we enjoyed breakfast at the hostel and decided Triest, Italy would be our next stop. It's also along the Medi, and just a short bus ride from Rijeka. We spent about an hour on the same beach as the night before, and then headed for the bus station. This is where I learned to speak very clearly. At the ticket window I asked for two tickets to Triest. The lady printed them off, and told us platform number one at one o'clock. That gave us another two hours to kill, so we went and sat under some umbrellas at a restaurant and had a coke. There we met three other english speaking travellers. They were from England, although one via Montreal. They had slept in the train station the night before, and had to kill the next 8 hours before boarding a ferry to an island. Having gone through a similar thing on our first couple of days, we knew exactly what was up.

Did I mention it is hot in Croatia? In the shade of those umbrellas it was still well above 30 degrees. When we got back to the platform, Paul's thermometer read 42 celcius! Our bus pulled up, but it didn't say Triest on the front. In fact, neither did our tickets. We were sold tickets to another town further south along the Croatian coast. Thankfully a different lady at the ticket window inside corrected the mistake and got us on the right bus. Sadly it was an hour later. Another sixty minutes in the heat.

Travelling to Triest requires a route that goes through Slovenia. That meant another four stops, and another round of stamps. Two hours and about 100 kilometers later, we got off the bus and walked into a city that was even hotter than Rijeka! What made it even better was it was deserted. Nothing was open, nobody was around. We had nowhere to stay, and no one to ask where one might go. So we did what you do in these situations, you just start walking and hope for the best. We eventually stumbled across a place that rents apartments. We told the lady we wanted to pay no more than 25 euros a night, she agreed and we had our own apartment for two days.

Triest appears to be a port city, as there was no beach to speak of. Nobody was swimming in the water. We weren't going to beat the heat with a dip. We tried our best to find a restaurant that was open, seeing as it was 5;30, you would think they'd be ramped up for the dinner service. Not a soul! Finally we found a Bennigans, which I think you can find in Edmonton, and had a burger. No fries for me though. I need to stop assuming you automatically get sides over here! I had suffered the same fate with my schnitzel in Vienna.

After we ate, the town started to stir to life. They have ciesta's in Italy. I thought it was a Mexican thing. It makes sense, it is swelteringly hot. Anyway, earlier we spotted a stage set up in the main square. We went back to our apartment, each took showers, and made for the square. Sure enough, a play was just getting underway. The age old question was answered. Can you enjoy a play, even if you don't understand a word? The answer. Yes. I'm sure it helped that there were a bunch of hot girls in it though. From what I gathered the play was about a scientist making Frankenstein. There were a bunch of parody songs in Italian and dancing, so it was good. Don't know how it ended though. (or how it started, or continued really)

After watching the play, we wandered around the town some more and enjoyed some drinks in the street bars, then made our way back to the room. Hot weather sucks the life out of you, and I was ready for some sleep. It was certainly and adventurous day. We started off not knowing where we were going, how we were to get there, and where we were going to stay when we did. It ended with a nice apartment, a cool little play, and a comfortable bed. Who needs to make plans?

Day Four - Rijeka

2009-08-12T09:45:00.002-06:00

Marion the Macedonian thinks I am the toughest man on the face of the planet. More on that in a bit.

After the long and sleepless bus ride, Paul and I decided the train would be the best way to make our way south. The original plan had called for us to travel to Budapest, but wanting to see the Mediterranean we decided on Rijeka, Croatia instead. It was an early train (for our standards anyways) as it left at eight in the morning. It was a late night the night before. I figured I should stay up all night so I wouldn't oversleep. Seemed like sound logic to me. We boarded the train and began what was to be a LONG ride. Thankfully my lack of sleep allowed me to spend most of the trip out like a light, but it seemed that our passports and tickets were getting checked every fifteen minutes. Without getting into the history of the Balkans, let's just say it appears there is some lingering mistrust between the Slovenians and the Croatians. After receiving four stamps in my passport, the train arrived in Rijeka nine hours after it left Vienna.

Now, I found it hot in both Munich and Vienna. Rijeka was an entirely different beast. We stepped off the train into what felt like a sauna. The first priority was to find a place to sleep for the night. This wasn't a planned stop, so we had done absolutely no research on this city. Thankfully a kindly english speaking woman pointed us to a bus that would take us to a hostel. We checked in with my Visa and were told there was only a room available for one night, so the next day we would be on our own. Fine. We'll figure it out. We dumped our stuff, and went in search of a restaurant. Here's what I learned about Croatians in that walk to find a restaurant. They don't eat out, they prefer to gamble. We walked for blocks without seeing a single restaurant. Not one. Plenty of bars though, each with a sportsbook in it. After finally finding a shopping mall we figured there would be plenty of restaurant options. Nope. I could sure gamble if I wanted to though! Thankfully there was a grocery store there, so we bought some food (and a couple of towels! No longer would I be forced to use the little Canadian flag washcloth) and took the groceries to a nice beach and ate as we watched the sun set over the islands in the distance.

After making our way back to the hostel, I met a kindly little kitten. This guy is the Croatian version of Painter. (one of our cats back home for those who don't know him) He was no more than three months old, had shown up at the hostel, and was adopted. Very friendly little guy. We sat down and started talking to this guy from Macedonia. He rode his bike from his home, across the Balkans and to Rome, and is on his way back. I don't know how he hasn't melted. We started talking about Canada, and the look on his face when I told him I felt -40 in the winter months was classic. "oooohhh, that's way too cold. You Canadians are crazy." The we spoke about how big Canada is, and he was even more shocked to learn that I drive for seven hours to get from Regina to Edmonton. He couldn't comprehend being in a car for that long. "You are a very tough man, cold weather and that long in a car." I thanked him and agreed that, yes, I am a very tough man. I then wowed him with the story of Lindsay and I driving 16 hours home from Vancouver Island in a single day.

I retired to bed shortly after that. A rather uneventful day, filled with mostly travel, but dipping my feet into the Mediterranean made the entire day. So I slept, unsure what the next day without a room was going to bring.

Day Three - Vienna (Part Two)

2009-08-07T14:57:00.004-06:00

I had gotten unneccesarily drunk my first night in Vienna. That German beer went down far too smooth, which led to far too many. When I woke up at noon the next day, I felt like I had been hit by a shovel. Not one of those plastic ones for clearing snow, one of the old school steel ones like on Home Alone. Thankfully Paul brought along some Advil. The pain meds and some breakfast cleared it right up, and I was ready to rock. We ran into Alex and Alisa in the lobby of the Hostel. Alex was heading home, so Alisa joined us for the day. First up, a trip to see Mozart.

Alex had joked that we were to take care of Alisa, but in reality it was her that was looking out for us. Having someone with us that spoke the language proved extremely helpful. The day didn´t start out so smoothly. While jay walking across the street, her and Paul were almost struck by a Tram. My vantage point was just like a movie camera. The two of them crossing slowly, the tram bearing down on them, ringing itś bell. They finally notice and dive out of the way in the nick of time. Weŕe five minutes into the day, and already I nearly kill Alisa. I wouldnt have held it against her if she turned and headed straight for the hostel.

The trip to the graveyard was very uneventful. It took nearly an hour. We got to the grave, took two pictures, and headed back. Not quite the musical adventure I was hoping for, but at least Ive got the picture.

We went to the old town site to eat some lunch and do some shopping. In retrospect, Alisa might think I´m a bit slow. When ordering lunch I got a chicken-schnitzel. I thought it came with a salad. It came with a slice of cucumber. So there I was with two plain old chicken-schnitzels. I got a package of ketchup, which proved to be my match. I tore along the strip, but only half came off. I tore from the other side, and not all of it came off there either. I was forced to squeeze out my ketchup through the tiniest little hole. You have never seen in your life a more drawn out ketchuping of a schnitzel. It literally took me five minutes to get it all out. And I had to do it like I was squeezing out toothpaste. Rolling the package up as I went along, otherwise it wouldnt come out. In the end, the ketchup was warm, the schnitzel wasn´t that good, and Paul and Alisa at my lunch for me.

After some unsuccessful attempts at buying shoes, the three of us made our way to the Danube river to rest our feet and lounge around. The great Jellyfish campaign was underway. We could see them floating by, but werent sure if they were j-fish or feathers. We of course wanted to catch one to confirm things. Not as easy as you might think. Failed attempt after failed attempt after failed attempt. FINALLY we got ahold of one. Alisa then asked ´do they bite?´ Well, the thing was in my hand, I guess we were about to find out! It didnt, so we moved it to her hand, took a picture and set it free.

There are steps leading into the river. These steps are slippery. I very nearly fell in, but managed to regain my balance. This guy near us wasnt so lucky. He was wearing white pants and black underwear. I know he heard us laughing.

After a long day, the three of us made our way back to the hostel for well needed food, showers and sleep. A few hours later we met back up in the hostel bar, which led to late night food, Paul and some girl from Chicago calling eachother names, and a farewell to our newfound friend Alisa. Wish you could have headed south with us Alisa! Looking back the day was pretty random, but a really good time. It was our last night in Vienna, with a train ride south leaving in just a couple of hours.

Day Two - Vienna (Part one)

2009-08-06T20:21:00.002-06:00

As Paul and I waited at the bus stop in Munich, a family got out and they had a small dog. I of course went 'awww, whose-a-puppy' The momma was madda. She was not impressed with me. She shouted something in German at me, then did the whole pointing at her eyes-then pointing at me thing. You know, I'm watching you. THEN she motioned like she was going to break me in half. That woman is very protective of her puppy. A little later on, the puppy walked up to my leg and looked at me. I just kept looking up. There was no way I was going to get broken in half by an angry woman for petting her puppy. No chance.

The bus was about 15 minutes late, so when it finally pulled in everybody crowded up to grab a seat. I sent Paul in to grab two seats, while I checked the bags. By the time our bags were checked, everbody else was on the bus. I was the last person let on. Paul waived his hands in the air. All the seats are taken. Awesome. I was going to have to stand during this bus ride? Remember, I hadn't slept yet. So, I made some smartass jokes. This awesome couple from San Francisco that we met waiting for the bus made a joke about how I was going to have to sit on the toilet for the trip. I demanded some bran flakes and ice tea. If I was to sit on the toilet, I was going to make good use of it! Instead, I went and explained the situation to the bus driver, and he was kind enough to clear a seat at the front for me. Crisis averted.

I didn't sleep much on the ride. It was a five hour bus ride, I maybe slept for an hour and a half. We pulled into Vienna at 5:00, dead ass tired and in need of figuring out the transit system. A hostel was booked, we just had to get there. After a few minutes of reading it, we found our way to the right train and made our way. The subway stop is about ten blocks from here. A painfully long walk in our state! After what felt like an hour we arrived, but told we can't check in until 2:00. We had eight hours to kill. It's amazing what you can accomplish in eight hours.

First, breakfast! We hit a bakery, and I had a balogne sandwich. An odd choice. We wandered around the area near our station a bit before sitting in a cafe for an hour. This was going to cut it, so we went in search for the old part of the city. It has the parliament, city hall, and a bad ass old church. The old church was incredible! It's been in stages of construction since the 1100's. We bought the full meal ticket and got a tour of the catacombs, and access to the two tours. If you come to Vienna, let me warn you, the south tower climb is trecherous. This little spiral stairwell like 15 km's long! It's worth it once you get up there, but so tiring! We did all that, and it was still only 11 in the morning. Eight hours takes forever down here! We tracked down some lunch, wandered around the old town some more, and finally 1:00 arrived. Time to head back and get our room!

There has been no greater feeling on this trip than when my head hit that pillow. We got our room at 2:00. I was asleep by 2:06, and slept right until 9:00. Out like a light. When I woke up, it was like I had been reborn. I felt like a million bucks. Now for the second most needed thing. Have you noticed I haven't once showered by this point? Long flight, long day in Munich, long night on the bus and a long morning in Vienna. I smelled awful! One problem though, I didn't pack a towel. Paul had an extra washcloth though. Picture that. This itty bitty washcloth to dry my entire body. It's highly ineffective. After getting all cleaned up, it was off to the hostel bar. Hostel bars are great, just a bunch of young people travelling around and telling stories. Fantastic. I made two new friends. Germans. Alex and Alisa. They've been on a ridiculous trip of their own, five cities! Alex unfortunately had to head home early, so Alisa was to join the Tom and Paul tour the next day. After more beers than I needed, I stumbled off to bed for my second sleep of the day. Day two brought me sleep, a shower, and new friends. The trip is starting to get great.

Day One - Munich

2009-08-06T11:29:00.002-06:00

When you don't have anything planned it's really hard to kill time. We walked off the plane in Munich at 9:30 AM local time. That's 2:30 AM back home. I hadn't slept a wink on the plane, and I now had a full day in front of me. Paul and I hit the subway, and made our way into town.

We weren't going to spend much time there, the plan was to head straight to Vienna, so we hadn't booked a room to ditch our stuff. We hauled our bags around until we decided to sit down for some lunch. Being in Germany, we obviously found a Wienerschnitzel place to eat. The first schnitzel of our voyage. That sounds gayer than it actually is. The waitress was friendly, and spoke english. That was helpful. She was to become another first for the trip. The Zagreb sign I'm holding in the picture below has made the trip with me. We're taking it around to get people to sign and take a picture with us. That sign has had some fun times already!

We ate lunch, and stepped out of the restaurant. It was now 11:30. Time moves very slowly over here. We went to buy our bus ticket to Vienna, and found out that it wasn't scheduled to leave until 11:00 that night. It was at that point we went in search of a locker to ditch our stuff.

I can't remember much of what we did all afternoon, apart from wander around aimlessly and laugh at how angry German people sound when they speak. It's an intimidating language! The subway announcement that the doors are about to close sounds more like an angry warning than a friendly reminder. I laughed everytime, and obeyed. I wasn't going to get caught in the door, and then have a German train driver yell 'vhat are you, stupeed? Ve have unt varning for a veason!'

By about 3:00 I was completely out of energy. Still no sleep, I'd wandered all up and down Munich. Seriously, from one side to the other. We went to the Olympic park, which is now a shopping mall. We got back downtown and went back to the locker to grab some deodorant, and then found out we couldn't relock it. Our bags were back with us. Great. We walked over to a field that looked like Oktoberfest is held in and I promptly fell asleep on the ground for a few minutes. I needed some sleep. I was about ready to call it quits and just get a hostel, screw the bus ticket I already bought. Paul talked me out of that. We went for dinner at Burger King. German burger king tastes like Canadian Burger King. It was not a new and exciting experience. Tasty though.

It was 7:00, we'd managed to kill 10 hours. We still had four left! We found the bus station, had a beer there, and moved along. We went to the University section and had a beer there. Another thing about Germany, dogs practically rule the place. They can go anywhere. We in this really nice and classy restaurant, and this massive German sheppard walked right in. Nobody took a second look. Then the old boy that owns him came in. Even he didn't seem too concerned. We stayed there until about 10:00 before heading back to the bus station. The overnight bus to Vienna. Now there's a story. I'm out of time on my internet here. This trip has been a blast. The sign is filled with signatures. My camera is full of pictures.

One More Day!

2009-08-02T15:27:00.003-06:00

We take off tomorrow. It's going to be a long and ridiculous voyage!

Red Sox Postponed

2009-07-31T15:44:00.003-06:00

Apparently they don't like rain in Melville. Game one of the first round playoff series between the Regina Red Sox and Melville Millionaires has been postponed due to rain. Here is the revised schedule.

Game 1 in Melville – Saturday, August 1st – 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 in Melville – Sunday, August 2nd – 7:30 p.m.
Game 3 in Regina – Monday, August 3rd – 7:00 p.m.
Game 4 in Regina (if necessary) – Tuesday, August 4th – 7:00 p.m.
Game 5 in Melville (if necessary) – Wednesday, August 5th – 7:30 p.m.

Everybody get out to Currie Field on Monday night, and of course Tuesday if necessary. These kids can play ball. Regina has the best hitting team in the league, and their pitching has finally started to come around. It's a good time.

Can't sing, but I've got soul!

2009-07-30T00:02:00.001-06:00

April 9th, 2001 - Elevation Tour - Pengrowth Saddledome - Calgary, Alberta

By 2001, U2 was cemented as my favourite band. I had most of their albums, as well as several singles. I was starved for some new music, and was following very closely the internet rumours of their new album.

Since the release of Pop in 1997, a couple of new songs had been released. "Sweetest Thing" came out in 1998 to promote the release of their "Best of 1980-1990" album. It was a remixed b-side from the Joshua Tree sessions. In 1999 they released "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" from the "Million Dollar Hotel" soundtrack. Other than that though, not much from the foursome. Then, in October 2000, Beautiful Day hit the airwaves. It was the most straight up rock song the band had done in a decade, and a notable shift away from the style of Pop. It was a huge single for the band. They announced their world tour shortly after, and Edmonton didn't make the cut. We were going to have to go to Calgary.

The afternoon of Monday, April 9th we hopped in my Mom's car and headed south. I don't have a love for Calgary. That city is like a dryer. The second I get in it I get tossed around to god knows where. The streets make no sense. They're all freeways. All of them. If you're not careful, you'll end up in Lethbridge before you even figure out what direction you're going. We had four tickets, so Paul and I obviously got two of them. Paul's girlfriend Rosie got the third, and our buddy Shane got the fourth. "Perfect!" we thought. "Shane lives in Calgary, he'll get us to the Saddledome with ease." So, after a bit of an adventure to find his place, we picked up Shane at his Calgary home. At this point he declared he wasn't actually sure how to get to the Saddledome. There goes that plan. I can tell a great big long story about the trip to the arena, but I don't want it to hijack this entry, so here's the coles notes version. Shaganappi Trail, hate it. We overshot the rink by 32 blocks. Seriously. We made our way back north and finally found our way into the parking lot. It had a sign "Parking for horse owners only." I told the sign to fuck off, and parked anyways. If my car got towed, so be it. It would probably be faster for us to just walk out of the city.

Elevation was different from Popmart in two ways. First, it was an arena show, not stadiums. Second, gone was the elaborate set and grand theme. Popmart was about mocking pop culture. Elevation was about four guys on a stage just playing music. And that's what we saw when we walked into the arena. A plain stage, with a secondary catwalk stage in the shape of a heart. There were four screens above the stage that were dedicated to each of the guys in the band. PJ Harvey opened the concert. All I remember about her was she was wearing a black dress. I'm sure she was good, but she wasn't exactly who we were there to see.

I remember feeling a sense of anticipation in the stadium. An energy that something big was about to happen, which was of course the case. The band was starting the show with the house lights up. The four of them, just walking onto the stage to a mix of 'Elevation' over the PA system. When that hit, everyone in the rink stood up. It was time for the show. There was no better way to start it than with that song. It's a song you don't really sing so much as shout. The band got onto the stage, and the place erupted. 18,000 fans singing and "whoooo-ing" along. Halfway through the song the house lights drop, and the show lights take over. A great moment, and we're only two minutes into the show. After Elevation, the band launches into 'Beautiful Day.' It's hard to explain the feeling, this overwhelming positive energy fills the room. As long as this concert is going, it feels like nothing bad can happen. A pure joy.

I'm not exactly sure how long the band went, probably close to two hours. I was thrilled when Gone, Discotheque and Staring at the Sun from Pop were played. Shouting along with Sunday Bloody Sunday. The entire crowd hitting 'the note' in With or Without You. Other hilights for me were 'Bad' and 'The Fly.' The Fly absolutely shred. Unbelievable performance! The final song of the set was Walk On. The closing lines from the song and the heart in a suitcase logo projected over the crowd and onto the roof.

Leaving this show felt completely different than when I had left Popmart. This time the show was much more personal to me. I knew all the songs, and most of them had some sort of meaning to me. We spent the entire show singing all the words to every song. We were jumping, cheering. I floated out of the Saddledome like I imagine really ultra religious people float out of church. I was exhausted. Another incredible show. Another incredible memory. I was one month shy of turning 20. One month shy of graduating from broadcast school. Like Popmart when I was 16, this show was another launching point to the next phase of my life. That's a time that I will always remember.

Randoms (not many of them either)

2009-07-29T10:36:00.005-06:00

Very brief entry this morning. I meant to write the Elevation tour entry last night but I got distracted, so I will write it tonight. I threw in the Slane Castle DVD last night, what a show!

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Courtesy 620 CKRM's Chad Jeremy.

Twisted steel and ash remains where the grain show building once stood at the Regina Exhibition grounds. It's been over a month since the structure was destroyed by fire. Neil Donnelly with Evraz Place says they decided to wait until after Buffalo Days to clean up the mess.

"It really is a large project, there's a lot more involved than just getting some dump trucks out here and haul it all away. I didn't think it was fair to the contractors to have them come start a process, then have them ship off, move all their equipment, move all their people off the site, then have all their people come back after the fact."

Donnelly says once it is cleaned up, the area will likely become a parking lot.

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I hear people grumble that there are no flights out of Regina. That you can't get anywhere without flying to Calgary first. Well, we actually do have a pretty good flight! On Canada Day United Airlines started offering twice daily flights to Denver from Regina. Denver is a HUGE hub for Regina to have access to. But to keep the flight, we have to use it. Airport CEO Jim Hunter says the airline sent him a note midway through the month saying there's been about a 51% uptake. Somehow that doesn't seem like enough to me. Let's use this flight, and who knows, maybe direct service to Chicago will follow. Just ask Saskatoon.

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July 29th and Roy Halladay is still a Blue Jay. Thank god!

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The most played song on my Ipod this week, Open Road Song by Eve 6. Love this track!

Have a good Wednesday everybody!

I want to be the song that you hear in your head

2009-07-26T20:49:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe my trip is just a week away. Next Monday my buddy Paul and I will be boarding a plane in Edmonton and flying off to Munich, Germany to begin our European adventure. As you very well know, the trip culminates with U2 live in Zagreb on August 10th. This will be the fourth time we've seen them in concert. This week I will write about the first three times we've seen them.

June 15, 1997 - Popmart - Commonwealth Stadium - Edmonton, Alberta

Up until the mid 90's U2 had always been a band my Dad listened to. He had the Joshua Tree on cassette. Songs like With or Without You and Where the Streets Have No Name were songs from my childhood. I knew them well. I loved them, but didn't really identify with them. In the early 90's when Achtung Baby came out I was still pretty young, and just starting to watch Muchmusic. I remember seeing the videos for One, The Fly and Even Better Than the Real Thing. I loved those songs too, but I still didn't think of U2 as my band. I first really took notice when I heard a song off the Batman Forever soundtrack. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. I loved that song. It shred. It completely changed my view of U2. A couple of years later, in 1997, Pop was released. Discotheque was the lead single, and I was hooked.

Not many people say this, but Pop is my favourite U2 album. You hear so many people tear it down. They say it's U2's greatest failure. Their attempt at a dance record. Techno. U2 sold out. I always say to those people, put it in and have another listen. Listen to how dark it is. Listen to how hard it rocks. Songs like Gone, Last Night on Earth, Mofo and Discotheque. Listen to how it's a natural progression from Achtung Baby and Zooropa. Listen to how bands like the Killers and Franz Ferdinand have had a great deal of success borrowing from what U2 was doing musically ten years before them. It wasn't their worst album, it was their boldest. Like the Joshua Tree a decade earlier, it was different from everything else being released at the time.

Much of the concert is a blur to me, but I do have some very clear memories. The drive to the Stadium. Power 92 was playing U2 song after U2 song. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For came on. I had always thought the words were "I'm still having fun, Peurto Rico" Paul looked at me like I was nuts. Give me a break, I was 6 when it came out!

I remember walking into the stadium and getting my first glimpse of the stage. The world's largest TV screen. The golden arch. The olive on the martini stick. The 40 foot lemon. That was a site to behold.

It was hot out. Our seats were way up in the second bowl. Section R, row 66, seats 15 and 16. The east side of the stands, so the sun was right across from us. I thought I was going to catch on fire it was so hot. 'Fun Loving Criminals' opened the show, and they were about as good as you'd expect them to be. Not very. Then, Popmuzik began. I was moments away from seeing U2 take the stage.

The band came out through the crowd surrounded by security like boxers heading to the ring. They finally got on stage, and the Edge launched into the opening rif of Mofo. The crowd exploded. Mofo is as intense a U2 song as you're going to get. The TV screen lit up with images of the band and a flurry of other images. Everybody was up and dancing. I was singing along at the top of my lungs.

Because I was still a relatively new fan, there were songs I simply didn't know. I knew the big ones of course, and everything off Pop. We got about an hour in, and all of a sudden it was just the Edge urging us all to do karaoke with him. Paul and I had no clue what the song was. I asked him "dude, what is this?" and this woman in front of us turned and said "Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline, 1969!" It was a masterful performance, with every single person in the stadium singing along.

Then, the moment of the show I had been waiting for. The yellow cover came off the lemon. It wasn't just a lemon, it was a discoball. With Zooropa track 'Lemon' blaring over the speakers, the lemon made it's move. The reflections going around the entire stadium was a sight to behold. I remember Bono singing the opening lines to Discotheque as he and the band walked down out of the structure, and then the Edge launched into another one of the great riffs of the album. I will forever remember that performance. The lights. The theatrics. Dancing and singing along. They followed Discotheque with the whispering "If you wear that Velvet Dress" and then "With or Without You." Incredible.

I remember thinking the show was over, until images that I recognized instantly started flashing on the screen. Macphisto. The band launched into the song that first grabbed me. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me Kill me. I was ecstatic.

Right after the concert, the wind started to howl. It was almost instantaneous. The second the band left the stage, the skies opened up. A thunderstorm for the ages. I had just witnessed a two hour assault on my senses, and now a vicious thunderstorm for us to shout and sing into the sky at. It really was the perfect end to the night.

Popmart wasn't just my first U2 concert. Popmart was my first concert. I knew I'd never see a better spectacle for as long as I lived. 1997 will always stand out to me. 16 years old. A bit of freedom. My first concert. My discovery of U2.

The Boys of Summer!

2009-07-24T15:32:00.004-06:00

God I love baseball. The last couple of days there have been some amazing plays. Two in particular. Wednesday night, the Dodgers are hosting the Reds. Game is tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, and skipper Joe Torre sends Manny Ramirez out to pinch hit.

Oh, and it just so happens that it was Manny Ramirez bobblehead night. The guy may be a cheat, and kind of a dumbass, but that was an incredible moment.

Yesterday afternoon White Sox starter Mark Buehrle is pitching an absolute gem. He heads into the ninth inning with a perfect game (no hits, no walks, no nothing!) Sox skipper Ozzie Guillen puts Dewayne Wise in centerfield as a defensive replacement. Gabe Kapler leads off the inning for the Rays, and cranks it.

Buehrle got a strike out and a groundout to complete the perfect game. He's only the 18th pitcher in MLB history to accomplish the feat.

For those who say baseball is boring, sorry kids, have to disagree on that one.

Honour?

2009-07-23T13:09:00.003-06:00

Police in Kingston say three family members are facing murder charges in the deaths of four Montreal women last month. Police say a homicide investigation began after the bodies of a 50 year old woman and three teenage sisters were found in a submerged car in the Rideau Canal.

The father, mother and a brother of the girls are charged with four counts of first degree murder and four counts of conspiracy to commit murder. Police will not release the cause of death, but say the possibility it was an honour killing will form a part of the ongoing investigation.

(The Canadian Press)

The victims are 50 year old Rona Amir Mohammed, 19 year old Zainab Shafi, 17 year old Sahar, and 13 year old Geeti. One of Rona's family member's in France says Rona was scared for her life in recent months because there was pressure on the family from so called "traditionalists" in the community. The two were married in Kabul, Afghanistan 30 years ago, but when they learned Rona couldn't have children, Mohammed married Touba Yahya Shafi. She has also been charged with murder, along with their 18 year old son Hamed Shafi.

The term "honour killing" is really bothering me. At the risk of coming across completely culturally insensitive here, there is no such thing as an honour killing. I don't care what culture you are from, there is absolutely NO honour in what was done here. The father, mother and brother are accused of murdering members of their family. Where exactly is the honour in that? If they are guilty of this, they all deserve to spend the rest of their lives in little jail cells.

Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner summed it up best at the press conference announcing the charges this afternoon.

“All shared the rights within our great country to live without fear, to enjoy safety and freedom, and yet had their lives cut short by members of their own family”

Randoms (and a stellar song!)

2009-07-22T12:10:00.002-06:00

I've been really bad when it comes to updating my blog in recent months, and for that I am sorry. Not much to talk about recently I guess. Here are a few randoms.

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I'm still going to the gym, and am actually starting to feel some results. I'm not bulky or big or anything, that isn't my goal really, none of my shirts would fit if I got buff. I am starting to feel stronger though, and my core definitely feels tighter. Can't really describe it better than that. It's still like pulling teeth to get me to the gym though. Once I get there it's fun, it's the getting there part that's the problem.

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Less than two weeks before I take off for Europe! I can't describe how pumped I am about this! I will be updating as often as I can while I'm over there, so follow along on my blog here.

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I'm Jim Smalley on 620 CKRM this week. What does that mean? I get to be the lead Ag Reporter. I put together a morning farm news broadcast, as well as a noon hour one. Picture that. Tom Vernon, Farm Reporter! I've actually done pretty well. All my years in Grande Prairie and Regina have rubbed off on me.

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Can't get enough Thomasean? Follow me on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/thomasean

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I'll post a longer version of my thoughts on the Oilers before I leave on my adventure, but here's the coles notes version. What the fuck?! Where are the changes we were promised?

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What song is the most played on my Ipod right now? Desire by Ryan Adams. Love this track. Here's a live version of it.

If you don't think that song is amazing, then I don't know what to think about you.

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Have a fantastic day everyone!

New Stadium Update

2009-07-20T12:50:00.001-06:00

A domed stadium is the best option for Regina. That's the finding of a concept study released by the Wall government today. The study recommends a 38 thousand seat facility, expandable to 50 thousand, on the rail yards just north of downtown. It would cost an estimated 350 million dollars, and would take three to four years to build. A retractable roof is still on the table as well. Enterprise Minister Ken Cheveldayoff says they're now conducting a full feasibility study, which will be completed in January.

"We're committing to having the study in our hands at that time. We'll look at the financial wherewithal of the Province, we'll look at the situation with the federal government, we're not going to commit to rush into anything."

Mayor Pat Fiacco says with the additional development around such a project, like hotels and office space, this is very much about the future of the community.

"I don't want 20 years from now for people to say what were they thinking, why didn't they think about the future? Why are our people leaving? Why are our grandkids leaving? We want people to stay, and others to make Regina their home as well."

Fiacco says a new stadium would also open up the Mosaic Stadium site for an entirely new neighbourhood. From the Roughriders' stand point, they've made it very clear that staying in Mosaic Stadium as it stands is not an option. Board Chair Rob Fletch says a new stadium is needed to remain competitive.

"Better seating, not bench seating, theater style seating. Better concession areas, better washrooms, probably more private boxes, club seating. And obviously a domed stadium addresses all of the weather related issues."

The concept study also looked at the redevelopment of Mosaic Stadium, as well as the possibility of building a new open air stadium, but concluded those options would have minimal economic impact on the city. The Wall government has stated that general revenue fund dollars will not be used in the construction of any new stadium. Partnerships between private industry and a crown like the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation have been mentioned as options in the past.

My Pickup is the Man!

2009-07-08T23:45:00.004-06:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the sign of the douche. I snapped this picture on my way to the gym tonight. In case you can't make out exactly what this picture is of, those are testicles hanging from the trailer hitch of that truck. Truck testicles.

How exactly does one purchase a pair of these without coming across as a complete dumbass? Pardon me, I'd like some testicles for my truck. Prairie Oysters for my pickup. A sack for my Silverado. A tea bag for my Tundra. A fun bag for my F-150.

Are these guys not embarrassed to, first of all, buy these things, but then install them? Do these douche bags get together with their other douche buddies and discuss what other accessories they can add to their trucks? I know loud mufflers are an obvious choice, how about giving the cab a mullet? I suppose it's only a matter of time.

My Blonde Moment of the Day

2009-07-07T10:52:00.002-06:00

Driving to work this morning I went past the Ukrainian Cultural Centre. The sign looked like this.

Ukrainian Cultural Centre
1809

"Wow!" I thought "I didn't think the Ukranians have been here that long."

Boy did I feel stupid when the building next door was 1811.

This has been Tom's Blonde Moment of the Day.

Freedom on Two Wheels

2009-07-05T21:31:00.004-06:00

It's like riding a bike. Every last one of us has used that saying without even thinking about it. It's universally accepted. Once you learn how to ride a bike, you never forget. Nobody ever questions it. Tonight, I came face to face with the saying.

I haven't ridden a bike in about a decade. I specifically remember the last time I did. My buddy Paul and I grabbed my Dad and Sister's bikes and rode from my house in Edmonton down 34th avenue to Calgary Trail. I can't remember the reason, if we actually had somewhere to be (unlikely) or felt like getting some exercises (even more unlikely.) Needless to say, it's been a while since I've been on two wheels.

My older brother paid me a visit this weekend, and he came bearing a brand new mountain bike! Let me tell you, it's a thing of beauty. 24 speeds, front and rear disc brakes, front suspension and a bell. It's probably nicer than my car. I'm really excited about the bell. I haven't had a bike with a noise maker since I was in elementary school and I put a thing that sounded like the siren on ECTO 1 on my BMX. I believe I got it out of a cereal box. Anyways, back to the point. Tonight, I took my new bike for it's inaugural ride.

When I got it downstairs and in my behind apartment, my heart rate actually picked up a little. I was nervous. Do I still know how to keep balanced? Changing gears, my god, is it as easy as I remember? A ten year old rode his bike by, no hands on the bars, peddling quickly. "Show off" I thought to myself. Well, if I'm going to fall down, might as well get it over with, right? So on I got, and away I went.

I'll admit, at first I was a bit wobbly-I was in a high gear, so it was hard to peddle. I pressed my switch gear button, and it got even harder to peddle. I now know which way is up, and which way is down. I rode through the parking lot, across the street, and onto the path that weaves it's way through my part of the city. With each passing meter, more and more confidence in my ability. I decided to stand and peddle, and did it with ease. I peddled harder, and got going as fast as I could. The feel of the wind through my hair. My shirt rippling in the wind. I'd forgotten how exhilarating this was!

I rode past two little kids, a brother and a sister, neither of them any older than four or five. They had training wheels on their little bikes. Just learning to love what I stopped appreciating so long ago. I remember learning how to bike, on the grass in my front yard. I didn't have training wheels, so I had to learn by just falling over. In no time I was flying all over town. That first true taste of freedom. No different than the first time you don't have a curfew, or your first car, moving out. I felt a little bit of that feeling again tonight, jumping back on a bike. I will never again let that feeling just slip away. With just that one ride, I'm hooked.

So I say to anyone who gave up bike riding years ago, learn from my experience tonight. The saying is true. You can still bike. Just make sure you're in the right gear.

The Irresistible Underwear of Tom Vernon?

2009-07-03T00:17:00.002-06:00

Living in an apartment building, you have to be somewhat trusting of your fellow building-mates when it comes to your laundry. The laundry room is boiling hot, far too uncomfortable to sit and keep an eye on your things. You put it in, and go back upstairs. Everybody in the building does it. I've never had a problem with people messing with my stuff. Until tonight that is. When I went downstairs to take my clothes out of the dryer, I found half of it pulled out onto the floor, all still soaking wet. Not impressed.

I went through it, and it doesn't look like anything is missing. As far as I can tell, my shirts, socks and underwear are all accounted for. So that leaves me with just one question. What kind of person goes digging through somebody else's laundry? What kind of half wit feels the need to peruse a man's underwear as it dries? Was he making sure all of my socks were accounted for? Maybe some back water hick was shopping for a new pair of cut-off jean shorts? They are a popular fashion item in these parts. (There you go Tyler)

I have a theory on this. I went down at 9:00 to throw my laundry in. There was a load in the washer, and one in the dryer. Both were done their cycles. I figured I'd wait for the person to switch the load over. I went down about 45 minutes later, and still no movement. I had been patient enough, the stuff came out of the washer and was placed neatly on top of the dryer so I could get my load underway. When I went down to put my stuff in the dryer, the other guy's load was in there. "Perfect!" I thought "just 20 minutes left in the cycle, I can get my stuff in there in a bit." I went back down about half an hour later, and his stuff was out of the dryer. It was free for me to use! It's when I went back down to grab it when I discovered what had happened. So, what's my theory? The guy doing laundry before me is a douche bag.

Like I said, I think everything is accounted for. But, if anybody spots a pair of underwear flying from a flag pole on the city's north side tomorrow, wanna let me know? And if there is somebody bowing before them, then I might just officially have my first stalker. Awesome.

Summer Moves - Day One

2009-07-01T23:48:00.004-06:00

Pull the offer. That's what I have to say about the whole Dany Heatley fiasco. The Oilers have tried everything to lure the disgruntled winger to the City of Champions. They flew to Kelowna to meet with him personally. To sell how wonderful it would be to play shotgun with Ales Hemsky. Still, he refuses to waive his no trade clause. His reason? It's too much too soon. He thought he was going to San Jose, or New York, and the trade to Edmonton came out of nowhere. Heatley must not be able to read, because the Oilers have been rumoured one of the front runners from the word go. He is coming across as a complete spoiled brat, and that is exactly the opposite of the type of player the Oilers should be pursuing. He's showing complete disrespect to two franchises, and to the three players in limbo. What has the last 24 hours been like for Dustin Penner, Andrew Cogliano and Ladislav Smid? Those three players may not possess the pure goal scoring ability that Heatley does, but at least they want to be a part of the team. Each one of them has more heart than 100 Dany Heatleys. Pull the offer.

The Oilers did make two successful signings today. It was early in the afternoon when we learned that Dwayne Roloson signed a two year deal with the New York Islanders. That left a gaping hole in the Oilers net. About an hour later, the Oilers finalized a four year, 15 million dollar deal with Nikolai Khabibulin. He's coming off a stellar year in Chicago, and was probably the best goaltender available on the market. I've read quite a bit of negative reaction to this signing, but I'm not really in that column. I had been hoping the Oilers would trade for Minnesota's Josh Harding, but as good as his numbers are, he's not really proven. Khabibulin is a Stanley Cup winner (against Calgary no less!) and is a legitimate number one. He'll be 40 when this contract ends, the same age as Roloson is this year. I'm not going to cry like the sky is falling on this one. He's a really good goaltender, and I think he will provide the team reliable play throughout his contract.

The other signing was Jason Strudwick. He proved to be a capable defenceman for the Oilers this past season. Not flashy, but gave everything he had every game. One year, 700K. Good affordable depth signing.

I have much more that I want to write about, but it is late, and I am sleepy. May day two of the summer moves bring the Oilers a shutdown centre, and a gritty winger. Nothing expensive, but necessary for teams to make and win in the playoffs.

Sad News

2009-06-30T12:12:00.002-06:00

Some tragic news this morning. Former Conservative Palliser MP Dave Batters has taken his own life. The 39 year old announced last fall that he would not be seeking re-election because he was battling depression, anxiety and an addiction to prescription painkillers. Batters was praised at that time for being so open about his struggles. His friend, and former colleague in Parliament Andrew Scheer tells 620 CKRM news that he hopes this tragedy will raise the awareness of mental health issues.

"I hope that through Dave's life in the last year, at the very least, if we can raise some awareness for people who might have this in their family. The importance of getting help, the importance of treating it seriously and not just papering over some of the symptoms, it's very important."

Scheer says he is shocked by the loss of his friend.

"It's so final, and it's so tragic, and you just think about all the things that you might have been able to do, or that anyone would have been able to do to avoid it. I'm just really praying for Denise and his family and hoping that they can get through it."

Regina Qu'Appelle MP Tom Lukiwski was just as shaken.

"I was absolutely stunned, I was shocked. Dave was a colleague and a friend, and I knew he was battling depression, but I don't think anybody could have contemplated the consequences of that depression."

Lukiwski, Scheer and Batters were all first elected in the 2004 federal vote. Lukiwski has fond memories of his friend that night.

"Both Dave and I had extremely tight races that night, he ended up winning by about 122 votes, I ended up winning by 124 votes. Dave was the first one to phone and congratulate me."

Both Scheer and Lukiwski praised the work Batters did during his time as an MP, particularly his work on a private member's bill. Batters was inspired to get into politics after the murder of a close friend. He introduced "Michelle's Law" which would require judges to be presented prosecution evidence before deciding to release a suspect charged with a serious violent crime. Batters was moved to propose the bill after his friend Michelle Lenius was murdered by her estranged husband in 2003 while he was out on bail. I interviewed Dave in April 2008 about this bill, and he came across as very genuine, and excited that he might be able to make a difference.

A statement released by his family this morning says Batters committed suicide in his Regina home yesterday. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

I think it's TIME we had a chat.

2009-06-22T23:56:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was the official start of summer. The longest day of the year! So why was it pitch black dark at 10:00 PM in Regina?

I'm an Albertan, born and raised. I've lived almost my entire life with daylight savings time, and I never truly appreciated it until I moved to Regina. To me, it was always something that came in the spring, and went away in the fall, and that was that. I understood why we did it, but completely took it for granted. No longer.

In Saskatchewan, there isn't a topic that makes people angrier than the thought of DST being brought into effect. To people here, changing your clock an hour is everything that's wrong with the world. How dare we steal an hour of sleep in the spring! (nevermind that you get it back in the fall.) I've gotten into the debate with at least two dozen people since I moved here, and something has become abundantly clear. People here just don't get the concept. So much misinformation has been spread about DST that it's no wonder it's such a terrifying prospect.

Here are the top five reasons I've actually heard against DST since I've moved here. I'm not making these up.

1. The province will be split in half, with only the east half adopting DST.

2. The cows will get confused about what time they get fed.

3. Saskatchewan can't change it's time because the rest of North America bases their time on us.

4. It will cost businesses money.

5. There is no point, because you aren't actually getting an extra hour of daylight.

Let's go through these one by one.

First, the issue of half the province switching clocks, and the other half staying put. I've heard this argument from a few people, and they were mostly older. It comes from a debate in the 1960's (I believe it was the 60's) The natural timezone line does actually split the province in half. You can obviously see how inconvenient this would have been, so after a heated debate, it was decided that the entire province would move to Eastern Standard Time (or, as some tell me, Mountain Daylight Time.) There are those here that believe if we adopt DST, we would automatically revert back to the original timezone line. This makes no sense, why would we switch to that line? If we switch to DST, our time would stay in line with Manitoba's year round. The entire province. End of story.

Second, the cows and their confusion. Cows in every other province have figured it out. Is there something wrong with the genetics of Saskatchewan cows that they're a little slower than the rest of the nation?

Third, the rest of North America bases their time on us. This one floored me. I'm not sure where the guy that told me this came up with this theory, but it's wrong. DST was conceived in 1885, long before Saskatchewan ever came along.

Fourth, it will cost businesses money. This couldn't be further from the truth. I guarantee you every single golf course in the province would love to enact daylight savings time. I'm a golfer, and I can't get out for 18 after work on the longest day of the year. How does that make sense? You have that extra hour of daylight, you'd get a round in no problem. Restaurants benefit from people sitting on their patios later into the evening. A study actually found convenience stores like 7-11 also benefit from Daylight Savings Time. Admittedly, places like movie theaters suffer a bit, but for the most part DST has a positive impact on business.

Fifth, you don't get another hour of daylight, it stays up the same number of hours. You've got me. Factually, I can't debate this point. It is this one that makes it obvious to me though that some people simply don't get the concept. DST isn't about extending the number of hours the sun is up, it's about determining what time we have daylight. Right now the sun comes up at around 4:45 in the morning in Regina. The vast majority of us are still in bed at this time. It sets at 9:15, when the vast majority of us are still awake. The point of DST is to take that daylight later into the evening, have the sun come up at 5:45 instead, and then set at 10:15. It gives us another hour to enjoy outside, playing golf, going for a walk, playing catch. While you're right, you don't get more daylight, you just use it more effectively.

Daylight Savings Time will save you money. Instead of turning on your lights at 9:30 in the evening, you'll turn them on at 10:30. That saves you an hour worth of electricity.

Daylight Savings Time has proven to reduce the number of collisions, particularly car-pedestrian collisions. It's light out, you can see people better.

Our summer's here aren't very long, why not ensure we have enough daylight in the evenings so that we can fully enjoy them after we get off work?

A referendum will be held on the issue during the next provincial election. Judging by the conversations I've had with people here, I don't have much faith in it passing. I hope it does though. I miss golfing.

Tick, Tock (The Oilers are on the Clock)

2009-06-18T20:54:00.003-06:00

I cannot stress enough how important a summer this is for the Edmonton Oilers. After three years outside the playoffs looking in, it's clear changes need to be made. The first change was behind the bench, and it was a big one. Out is Craig MacTavish, in are Pat Quinn and Tom Renney. Next up is the draft, followed by free agency. The Oilers roster as it currently sits is not going to cut it. They're too soft, they're too small, and they can't score enough, so changes need to be made.

Let's start with the draft. The Oilers pick tenth overall, just out of reach for the best prospects on the board. The Islanders and Lightning have the top two picks, and will take John Tavares and Victor Hedman. I can't see either trading their pick. Same goes for Colorado at number three. They're in full rebuild mode now, and will take Matt Duchene. If the Oilers are going to move up in the draft, they might be able to target Atlanta at four, Los Angelas at five or Phoenix at six. If they do move into one of those spots, they'll get a shot at Evander Kane, Brayden Schenn, Jared Cowan or Oliver Eckman-Larsson. Moving up will probably cost them the tenth overall pick, and a high end roster player. (One of their d-men, of which there are many to choose from)

Now, if they don't move up, there are still some good options at ten. Scott Glennie played with Schenn in Brandon. He's got size, and can score. Zack Kassian out of Peterborough would give the Oilers a badly needed power forward. At 6'3, 211 pounds, he's a big body with offensive skill, and a mean streak. Defenseman John Moore is described as one of the best skaters in the draft, and you know the Oilers love kids that can move. He's also 6'3, and could develop into a top two d-man. He's my personal favourite of the bunch.

The draft is all fine and good, but it won't solve what ails the roster heading into this season. First, who will be the starting goaltender? Dwayne Roloson was what kept the Oilers competitive this past season, playing incredible during a ridiculous stretch in the final few months of the season. He ended up playing in 63 games, going 28-24-9 with a .915 sv% and a 2.77 GAA. A great year, and it definitely earned him another contract. The problem is he turns 40 this year, and is looking to cash in, and for more than one season. The Oilers could probably get his name on a contract for one season if they overpay a bit, but then we're right back in the same boat next season. There aren't many other good options on the free agent market. Martin Biron is apparently seeking $4.5 + million per season, and isn't worth it. Craig Anderson had one good year in Florida, and Scott Clemmensen had one good year in Jersey. Nik Khabibulin might be the best of the group, but will be too expensive for the Oilers. They could go the trade route, and try to land Josh Harding out of Minnesota. Sounds like the Wild want a second line player for him though, so you'd have to be willing to give up someone like Andrew Cogliano. If the Oilers can convince Minnesota to take, say, Patrick O'Sullivan or maybe Bobby Nilsson and a pick, then maybe this would be the best option. They'll have to do it on draft day though, they can't risk Roli walking on July 1st if they don't have another plan in place.

Up front the Oilers need size and scoring. They have a bigger guy with some pop on the roster right now in Ales Kotalik, but he's a UFA this summer, and the Oilers haven't even started contract talks with him. Not sure why that is. He wouldn't be that expensive, and loves the idea of playing a full year with Ales Hemsky. They're not being in any apparent rush to sign him gives me flashbacks to last summer, when they let Curtis Glencross walk while they were chasing Marian Hossa. Could that be happening again?

There are some interesting options on the free agent market, back is Marian Hossa, who they tried to lure with a 9 year 81 million dollar deal last summer, Marian Gaborik, and Martin Havlat. All three are proven point producers that would look pretty good playing shotgun with Ales Hemsky, but Gaborik and Havlat do have a checkered past when it comes to injuries. They'd also be expensive, and the team would need to clear some cap space to fit them in. (See Souray or Vish on the back end) Of those three, Gaborik could probably be signed to a one or two year bonus laden deal so he can prove he can stay healthy.

The Oilers penalty kill this past year was awful, and it showed exactly how much they missed players like Jarret Stoll and Marty Reasoner. Marty unfortunately re-signed with Atlanta a couple of weeks ago, so he won't be making a return, but there are other options. My buddy Raj is demanding Manny Malhotra out of Columbus be brought in, and he's right, Malhotra would fit in nicely in that role.

I, of course, have to bring up the entire Dany Heatley situation. He is another guy that would look brilliant on a line with Hemsky. Finally, the dominate goal scorer that Oilers have been lacking since the 1980's! He is a monster hit to the salary cap though, and would cost something like Gilbert, Cogliano and maybe a prospect like Brule or Chorney to land. That's a hefty price, considering the Oilers only got Lupul, a prospect in Smid and two picks for Pronger. Any trade for Heatley won't come until after July 1st because of a $4 million bonus due to him that day. If the Oilers can't land anyone on free agency day, I imagine they'll make a big push to land Heatley. I guess we can evaluate it if it comes to pass.

So, there are my thoughts on what could and should happen over the next few weeks. No matter what happens, I'm pretty excited. This is like Christmas for me!

U Can't Touch This!

2009-06-18T19:49:00.004-06:00

I was going to post about the Oilers today, but then I saw this video on Mitchell Blair's blog, and had to pass it along.

Just so everyone knows, Amanda and I are just as cool (if not cooler) than everyone in that video.

Oh, by the way, MC Hammer is headlining Buffalo Days this year!

Randoms (and a chest cold)

2009-06-17T01:04:00.005-06:00

How is it fair that I'm sick during the nicest week of the year so far. I'm not bedridden or anything, but I've got this annoying chest cold that is causing my voice great difficulties, and sending me into the odd coughing fit. Two things that are not appreciated by someone reading the afternoon news on 620 CKRM. (Anyone listening to my 5:00 news on Tuesday would have noticed a longer than normal pause between a couple of stories as I had to turn off my mic to cough my face off for a few seconds. Awesome)

I've really slacked off on the blogging in recent days. What can I say, I've been ridiculously busy, combined with uninspired on the writing front. It happens now and again.

Ridiculously busy, you say? Tom, whatever have you been up to? Well, I'll tell you! I've been working out like a mofo at SETS gym on Rochdale. I have found my comfort zone. I've been going in the evenings with the Hedgehog, and he's shown me some exercises to do, so now I don't feel so lost when I walk through the doors. So much so, that I'm going to be able to go on my own from now on. What an about face from my horror last week!

Now, it's not just gym rat type stuff I've been doing. The Western Major Baseball season is underway, and Chad and I are splitting the P.A. announcing duties. I'll be doing the next few games. If you've never been out to Currie Field for a game, I highly recommend it. These guys are fun to watch, the quality of baseball is good, and you're actually out enjoying the sunshine! (Come on, it's summer, get off the couch already) The Red Sox will be hosting the Swift Current Indians tonight (Wednesday) at 7:00. I'd love to see you at the park!

We're just a couple of weeks away from the NHL draft, I'll post my thoughts on what I hope the Oilers do in the run-up, on that day, and this summer in a couple of days. We all know that changes need to be made, but there are some out there that shouldn't be made.

The Riders open up their pre-season schedule tonight in Edmonton. Darian Durant will get the start behind center. He entered camp as the number one QB on the depth chart, and he hasn't done anything in camp to knock himself off that perch. Of course, a lot can change very quickly at the QB position in the CFL.

Paul and I have booked our flight to Europe. A slight change of plans, we will be flying in and out of Munich. That saved us about $400 each right off the hop. How could you pass that up? I've said it before, and I'll say it again, this is going to be amazing. Ridiculous. Awesome. Ridiculous. Don't forget to follow me on my voyage right here on my blog.

Okay, that's enough for one night. Not much else to say really. Good night, and good farming!

It's the Blind leading the Blonde!

2009-06-10T20:29:00.004-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted about my great European adventure in August. Anybody curious what we have planned so far? First, just to recap, my buddy Paul and I have decided to travel to Zagreb, Croatia to see U2 in concert. It's going to be an amazing show. I plan on writing about it, and depending on internet access and sobriety, I will post about the trip as I go right here on this blog. Now for the update.

What is the point of taking a trip to another part of the world if you don't make some ridiculous adventure out of it? That's the line of thinking we're going for here. Instead of just flying into Zagreb, spending ten days there and flying back, we're going to take a less direct route. The idea is to fly into Frankfurt, Germany, and hop onto a train. First stop, Munich! From there, we will then travel into Austria and explore the beautiful streets of Vienna for a couple of days. Now, it's at this point our trip will go one of two ways. We will either head east for Budapest, Hungary, or travel south to the Croatian coast and bum around on the beach for a few days. This all depends on how much money we have to play around with. The pinnacle of the trip will of course be U2 the night of August 10th at Makimir Stadium in Zagreb. If any of you have any suggestions for things to do in any of these places, please let me know! I need enough adventure to write a book, and while I know Paul and I will find more than enough, suggestions never hurt. This will be a trip of a lifetime. Something to tell my kids about. Now, all I need to do is learn how to say "where do the single girls like to hangout?" in several different languages.

Oh, and the stage for U2: 360 is ridiculous. Look how huge this thing is!

This is going to be amazing.

Rattled in Regina

2009-06-08T21:54:00.002-06:00

In most areas of my life I'm a pretty confident guy, but there is one place where I turn into a complete mess. You know that scene in sitcoms where the main character thinks everyone is looking at him? He feels so uncomfortable that he eventually turns tail, and get the hell out of wherever it is he is. That is me in the gym.

I bought a one month gym membership on Friday. Try it out and see if I can get into the routine. Today I got there at about 6:45, assuming everyone would be at home eating dinner. Apparently every single person in the city assumed that, and went to the gym at the exact same time. Great. My heart rate picked up slightly. I made my way over to the bikes for my warm up, and scoped the gym for some quiet area where I could go do my thing on my own. It didn't appear possible. After biking for a few minutes, I felt sufficiently warmed up, and made my way to the dumbbell area. Every bench was being used. Now, if I were someone confident enough in my ability to perform the exercises without looking ridiculous, that wouldn't have bothered me. Unfortunately, in the back of my mind (hell, in the front of my mind!) the thoughts that everyone was going to be watching me wouldn't stop. "Look at the wuss weight he's lifting" or "look how awful his form is!" Horrifying. I quickly turned around, and went to an elliptical trainer. Those things look easy to use, but by god it's an awkward machine. After just a couple of minutes on that thing, I decided never to use it again. I made my way back to the dumbbell area, and once again, I froze. It wasn't going to happen. So, after just 20 minutes at the gym, I put my shoes back on, and came home.

The worst part is I know how ridiculous this is. Nobody in the gym cares how much I lift, what exercises I choose to do, or how many reps of said exercise I can complete. It is all in my head. I don't know how I got to this point. In highschool, I was actually a pretty good athlete. I could play entire basketball games without a care. I was a long distance runner. I was pretty good at anything I attempted (except volleyball, which clearly isn't a real sport anyways.)

Now, I'm not going to give up after just one horrifying experience. I've paid for this month, I'm going to make use of it. I'm going to Croatia in August, and I want to be in top form. Also, I have an important basketball game in a month, and I don't intend to lose because I'm out of shape. What I need though is the stop being such a moron, get over myself, and rock that place. Tomorrow, attempt number two. Let's hope for a bit better outcome.

Now, like every other time I get uncomfortable, quick, change the subject with something funny!

Roughriders underway, 30 days too late.

2009-06-03T19:32:00.003-06:00

What a beautiful weekend we had. Sunny both days, highs in the mid to high 20s. A perfect weekend to get outside and enjoy your favourite sports. Now, being Saskatchewan, everybody's favourite sport is football, and everybody's favourite team is the Roughriders. One problem, Mosaic Stadium was silent this weekend.

For many, today is a very exciting day. Finally, after six long months without Canadian football, rookie camps got underway in the CFL. What I want to know is, why have we wasted a month of spring?! While it hasn't been a beautiful spring, surely the weather in May has been much nicer than what we'll be seeing in November. The Riders final regular season home game is November 7th, with a 6:00 kickoff. A night game. In Regina. In November. I looked it up, we had a high of -2 on November 7th last year. While it may not sound that bad, let's remember the windchill, and the fact you're sitting in it for three hours. It's going to suck to be at that game. Why on earth aren't we filling the stadium up on the beautiful weekends in June?

While I know there are specific reasons for the CFL season not getting underway until July, NFL mini-camp cuts and so on, but none of it sits with me. This is Canada, we don't have that many months that are nice. Let's not waste the ones we've got, use May for training camp, fire up the season in June, and have the playoffs in October. Just think of how we could turn Canadian Thanksgiving into a CFL playoffs tradition. It almost makes sense, which means the CFL won't step foot anywhere near it.

Quinn, Renney, Bucky and Ebs. Oilers think today, and tomorrow.

2009-05-26T13:53:00.009-06:00

"I didn't want to construct or bring in a good coaching staff. I wanted a great one."

Oilers GM Steve Tambellini.

As you've no doubt learned by now, the Edmonton Oilers have hired Pat Quinn and Tom Renney to take over behind their bench. Quinn will serve as Head Coach, and Renney Associate Coach. Kelly Buchberger will also stay on the staff as an assistant. That has a few people throwing their hands in the air, more on that in a moment. They spoke at today's press conference about the fact that another assistant could be brought on board, but Quinn cautioned that they want to make sure they don't "become too fat." Essentially, they don't want too many voices behind the bench, and will be careful choosing what roles each coach will have, and whether another one is even necessary.

There was a line of thinking that Tambo was going to go young. Names like Todd Richards in San Jose, or Scott Arniel in Manitoba were at the top of that list. Guys that could grow with this young team, stick it out for the long haul through the rebuilding process. In the end though, Tambo went with experience. The fans in Edmonton demand a winner, and he knows that. I'm sure those younger coaches are fantastic options, and will make incredible coaches. (It looks pretty likely Todd Richards will find his way to Minnesota) Tambellini couldn't risk getting it wrong with his first hire though. He needed to get somebody in there that's a proven winner, for the sake of the team, and the sake of his job. BUT, and this is a big one, where do the Oilers go three years from now?

Quinn is 66 years old, so you can't think he'll be here for many years to come. He's been brought in to turn this team into a contender as quickly as possible, not to develop a team that can win in five years. This will obviously require quite a bit of change to the current make up of the roster, but Tambo has shown a commitment to do just that. So, when Quinn moves along in what I imagine will be 3 or 4 seasons, who takes over? Tom Renney is an obvious candidate, but you'd have to think some other team will come calling for his services before then. This is where keeping Kelly Buchberger around all of a sudden makes a little bit of sense.

Many fans, myself included, felt Charlie Huddy was the best assistant on MacT's staff. Just look at how many solid young defencemen the Oilers have developed over the last couple of seasons. Denis Grebeshkov has improved immensely, Tom Gilbert is very slick, and guys like Theo Peckham, and Matt Green before him, played their role perfectly. While I admit the Oilers have struggled defensively the last couple of seasons, I'd lay that more at an overall team philosophy, than the play of the individual defencemen. Charlie Huddy is a very capable coach who will find himself behind the bench somewhere else, and probably soon. But, is he head coaching material? Does he even aspire to be a head coach? Certainly not publicly. Kelly Buchberger on the other hand appears destined to lead a bench down the road, and I think the Oilers want it to be theirs. Bucky now has two fantastic coaches to show him the ropes, and in a couple of years, he'll be all tutored up and ready to take over. Mark my words, that is exactly what is going to happen. I'm not too sure how I feel about it just yet. I'm a bit soured on former Oiler players taking over behind the bench at the moment.

I want to take a look at the hiring of Quinn as it relates to Jordan Eberle as well. In case you don't know, the Oilers took Ebs with their first pick in last summer's NHL entry draft. I get to watch him play here in Regina, and all Oiler fans should be very excited about his future. It just so happens Eberle played for Quinn at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa this past year and absolutely thrived. Quinn played Eberle in every situation in that tournament, and obviously has great trust in his abilities. Remember, Quinn had Eberle on the ice in the dying moments of the semi-final against Russia, where he scored with just 5.4 seconds left to send it to overtime. There is now a coach in Edmonton that believes 100% in their number one prospect. Could this mean Ebs will get a shot on the opening day roster in Edmonton this fall? I'm not sure about that, there are several players ahead of him on the depth chart, but being sent back to Regina isn't exactly a bad option either.

The Regina Pats announced yesterday that Curtis Hunt will be back behind their bench this season. Hunt left the Queen City kids to be an assistant with the Ottawa Senators last season, but was let go after Craig Hartsburg was fired. Hunt opted to come back to Regina. Eberle played some of his best hockey under Hunt. In fact, it was Hunt that coached him the year the Oilers drafted him. Hunt preaches defense, which every NHL coach loves to hear for their prospects. Ebs can flat out score, that comes natural. Playing for a coach that stresses the other side of the game will only build upon his already all world talent.

One last thing before I wrap this up. There are those out there that loved, and still do love, MacT. Tambo knows this, and did the best he could to appease that group in looks, if not in the actual position itself. This is kind of eerie.

Okay. Bring on the draft, let the changes continue! This is going to be an exciting summer.

All of a Sudden, things went Dark!

2009-05-21T16:02:00.002-06:00

We human beings can be a pitiful bunch at times. Well, that's not fair, I'm sure some of you out there that are rather unpitiful. Let me rephrase. I can be quite pitiful at times. This morning something happened to me that I consider one of my biggest annoyances. When this particular event happens, it's as if my entire world grinds to a halt. I become completely useless. At 11:15 this morning, my power went out.

I was sitting on Facebook at the time. Actually, I was just about to create one of those "How Well Do You Know Thomasean" quizzes. I was writing question one when the screen went dark. "Shit!" I exclaimed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!" My grand plans were being derailed. I wasn't just going to write a Facebook quiz, I was going to cook a nice big eggs and toast breakfast. I went to bed last night excited for this meal. Now, I knew I was being reduced to a bowl of cheerios and a banana. I was going to do laundry, but now that would require a scrub board and a river. Two things I don't exactly have in abundance in my apartment.

How on earth was I to pass the time until the power came back on? I made myself comfortable on the couch, grabbed the remote, and proceeded to not turn on the television. Oh, right, power's out. "Well" I thought. "I'll just take a shower." I make my way to the bathroom, and fail to turn on the light. Shit. The power's out. I can't shower in pitch black dark, what if I accidentally wash my hair with my body wash, and my body with my hair wash? I can't deal with that type of anarchy. So I grabbed a book and read for a little bit.

It was at this point my roommate woke up and made his way out to the living room. "Dude, the power's out." I say. "Fuck" was his only response. We complained a bit about our predicament. Let's go see a movie! I thought. That idea was tossed out after we realized we couldn't check the Internet to see what is playing and when. Blasted Internet being so useful, yet unavailable when the power's out.

At one point Chad suggested we phone his Grandparents and ask what they did before electricity. I wouldn't allow him to make that call. We all know what our Grandparents did. They worked hard. Extremely hard. I had no intention of going out and planting crops, taming a wild horse or building a sod house. I buy my groceries, drive a car, and live in an apartment. And there it is. I'm truly a child of the lazy generation. The power goes out, and I'm completely lost at every turn. Everything I do depends on power. My X-box? Useless. My computer? Out. Television? Nope. Fridge, stove, microwave? Nope, nope, nope. I couldn't even go pee, for fear of missing the toilet. (I know what you're thinking, just leave the door open and use natural light. Neither Chad or I want to accidentally stumble across the other one peeing, so that's not happening.)

So, what did we end up doing? We returned our empty bottles and cans to SARCAN. $78.02. Not a bad haul. We played catch in the field across the street. And the second the power came back on? I gave a great big sigh or relief, and sat my ass at the computer to check my Facebook. Like I said, I'm a pitiful human being.

Randoms (and a Ridiculous quote)

2009-05-19T18:25:00.003-06:00

Let's start with a shout out. Thanks to Chad, Derek, Knox, Rob, Roddy, Cindy and Pam for coming out Sunday night. It was a delayed birthday party, and we managed to find some fun at the Pressbox and Gabbo's. I can't remember exactly how much I drank, but I had a drink in my hand at all times between 7:00PM and 2:00AM, so it wasn't a small amount. Somehow, I completely escaped being hungover on Monday. Not sure how I managed that, but score one for Thomasean.

I do want to apologize to Derek Meyers though, we accidentally ditched him at Gabbo's at the end of the night. We turned around and he was gone, and right at that moment it was decided it was time to go. Sorry buddy, I feel awful about it!

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I'm reading this fantastic book right now, "The Ridiculous Race" It's about two buddies who race in opposite directions around the world, just they're not allowed to fly. There's obviously an awesomeness competition between the two as well. Best line of the book so far.

Steve is waiting in line at the Sistine Chapel. I've waited in this line. It's long, it's hot, it sucks. I just bailed from it, so I never did see the painting. Anyways. Steve.

"Meanwhile, the sun got hotter and hotter, and my crotch itched, but it seemed to be rude to scratch it in the Holy See, so that was an ongoing issue."

I laughed so hard when I read that last night. I've been stuck in similar situations in scrums with some pretty important people. See ladies, it's not all rosy being a guy.

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A big matchup for the Blue Jays this week. They're opening up a three game series with the Red Sox at Fenway. The Jays are still in first in the AL East, and have a 3.5 game lead over the Sox. As it stands right now, Boston leads 2-1 in the sixth inning btw. If the Jays can take two of three in this series, that would really cement some confidence. It's going to be tough though, they're sending three inexperienced starters at a VERY good Boston lineup.

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Sticking with the Blue Jays, note to Vernon Wells, you don't need to swing at the first pitch every time. How many times have you seen him pop out on the first pitch? I mean, I know the guy produces, but he could be so much better with a little bit of patience at the plate. Don't even get me started on his numbers with runners on base. He's hitting near the Mendoza line in that situation. He says his timing is off when pitchers are throwing from the stretch. Don't care buddy, you get paid massive bucks to drive those runs in, start doing it.

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The search for a new head coach in Edmonton continues to move forward quietly. Rod Pedersen wrote on his blog that he's hearing Tom Renney is the guy. He has been interviewed by Tambo, but I hope they look elsewhere. Renney's a good coach, but he has never had any success in the playoffs. Although for this franchise, just making the playoffs seems to be a tall task.

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Still no final decision from a Judge in the Jim Balsillie bid to buy the Phoenix Coyotes and move them to Hamilton. The NHL and Gary Bettman are going to look ugly in this one no matter how it ends up, and they don't seem to care. How this league hasn't folded under it's own stupidity sometimes is astonishing.

Misha Pavelick

2009-05-15T11:21:00.004-06:00

For many of us, May Long weekend is a time to head out and have fun. That won't be the case for the Pavelick family. On May 21, 2006, 19 year old Misha Pavelick was stabbed to death at a weekend long grad party near Kinookimaw, Saskatchewan. Nobody has ever been charged for the crime.

It was supposed to be a weekend filled with fun for a group of teens that were graduating highschool, and their friends. The night of May 21st an uninvited group of people showed up at the party. Tensions grew between the two groups, and a fight broke out. In the fight Misha was stabbed and did not survive.

More than 120 people who were at the party have been interviewed, and the RCMP know exactly what happened that night, they just don't have that last piece of information that will identify whoever it was that stabbed Misha.

Misha's father Lorne joined the RCMP at a press conference earlier this week.

"There's no way you can prepare for this. I mean, things that a father thinks about his son, that you'd like to have happen, things you'd like to do together, all those things, it's all gone. It's all history."

The RCMP are asking the public once again for any information that might lead to an arrest and charge in this case. Lorne knows that someone who was at that party knows the answer, and can't understand why they aren't coming forward.

"I think our kids nowadays got everything backwards. To be a stand up guy and zip it up and close your mouth, not say anything. They seem to think that's cooler than somebody stepping up to the plate and say, you know what, this is BS, I know who did this."

Somebody does know what happened. If you have any information that can help solve this crime and bring some closure for the Pavelick family, call the RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

(306) 780 5582

1-800-222-TIPS

www.cstips.ca

Canada's Team?

2009-05-12T21:48:00.005-06:00

When the Vancouver Canucks were eliminated by the Chicago Blackhawks last night the headlines across the country were all the same. Canada's team eliminated. It's as if everyone in the nation was supposed to go into mourning that the Cup would not be making it's way north of the border for the first time since the Montreal Canadiens won it in 1993. I'm about to say something that doesn't appear to be kosher to the masses. Good riddance.

I grew up north of Edmonton in the 1980's and 1990's. Born and raised an Edmonton Oilers fan. While I don't remember the cup wins in 84, 85, 87 or really 88, I do have very clear memories of pretending to be Wayne Gretzky in first and second grade. Jarri Kurri. Mark Messier. Esa Tikkanen. I love them all. I do have very clear memories of watching the Oilers beat the Bruins in 1990. My poor brother was cheering for Boston because he was an Andy Moog fan, Alanna and I made sure it was clear who beat who. I suffered through the lean years of the mid-90's, and nearly jumped through the ceiling when Todd Marchant scored on Moog in game seven in 1997. I lived and died with the run in 2006, and was severely depressed for several days after the game seven loss. Needless to say, the Oilers are a part of who I am. They are who I cheer for, and their rivals are who I cheer against.

Would it be the same if I had grown up in Saskatchewan though? One thing I've noticed about this province is everyone cheers for everyone, as long as their based in Canada. They didn't have their own team to identify with when they grew up, so they cheered for all the Canadian teams. I've met several so called Oiler fans here that thought it was blasphemous that I wasn't cheering for the Flames to beat the Hawks. I've been called unpatriotic for cheering against a Canadian team. My argument that my loyalty to the Oilers makes cheering for the Flames go against every fiber of my being falls flat. In 2004 I proudly sported my Oilers ball cap and cheered for the Tampa Bay Lightning. I know Flames fans did the same in 2006 for the Hurricanes.

The question is now, if one side in this argument is right, who is it? The fans that treat the Stanley Cup as a "national" championship and cheer for the Canadian teams in the playoffs, or the ones who treat it as a league championship, and want no part of their chief rivals winning it? I look at it this way. Say the Montreal Expos still existed and made the World Series against the Boston Red Sox, would New York Yankees fans cheer for the Red Sox and against the Canadian franchise? Of course not. I've pointed that out to a few of those that called me unpatriotic, and they threw back the "well that's different, they're Americans!" argument. Classy. So let's put this a different way. Rider nation. Picture in your mind it's 1995. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are in the Grey Cup. They're playing the Baltimore Stallions. Do you go against everything you stand for, and cheer for the Bombers? I didn't think so. Let's leave the bandwagon jumping to those filming western's.

Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, good riddance!

Let's go Hawks! Let's go Capitals!

How about them Blue Jays?!

2009-05-12T09:37:00.003-06:00

It's going to be a fun night in the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Blue Jays welcome the New York Yankees, and one AJ Burnett is going to be on the mound for the pinstripers. He of opted out of his Blue Jays contract fame. The Jays will counter with Doc Halladay.

We're about to find out if the Blue Jays are for real. At 22-12, the Jays have had the start that nobody was expecting. Let's be honest, heading into this season, all the pundits had the Jays battling Baltimore for last place in the AL East. Their rotation is too banged up, too young. This was supposed to be a long year under the dome. Something happened though. Anchored by Ace Roy Halladay, the young pitchers are throwing strikes and are getting great defense behind them. They're 10th in the league in ERA (4.11), lead in innings pitched (310.2) are eighth in strikeouts (240) and have given up the ninth fewest walks.

It's not just the pitching though. The Jays are hitting the cover off the ball. They lead the league in batting average (.294) and RBI's (195) are third in homeruns (44) third in slugging (.467) and fourth in on base percentage (.361).

Cito Gaston has the team playing loose, having fun and winning ball games. They've only lost one series all year, that was in Kansas City where the just as surprising Royals took three of four.

But, we shouldn't be planning the World Series parade route just yet. We all know that in the AL East you have to beat the Yankees and Red Sox if you have any hopes of making the playoffs, and the Jays have yet to play the big two this season. In fact, the Jays have had a relatively easy schedule so far. The combine records of their opponents is 171-186. The next couple of weeks should show us what this team is actually capable of. After this three game set with the Yankees, they'll play a weekend series with the White Sox before a three game set with the Red Sox. If they can hold their own with the big two, we might see some meaningful baseball in Toronto into August and September, and who knows, maybe even some October ball for the first time since 1993.

On a side note, I hope the fans in Toronto start to turn out for these games. This is the best performing team in years, and nobody seems to be taking notice. The Rogers Centre is a big ugly cavern when it's empty. You can hear the fans (the ones that blow air) over top of the fans (the ones that shout) on the television broadcast, and it makes it look like the least fun place to be in baseball. Come on Toronto, show up for this team. You show up for the Leafs, and they're terrible!

Randoms (and time is irrelevant)

2009-05-11T18:53:00.005-06:00

My name is Thomasean, and I suffer through bouts of road rage. I'm not as bad as I was when I was 18 or 19, but I still get pretty angry at times. Why do I bring this up? I need something explained to me here. Why do Reginans view sidewalks as optional, particularly in Wascana Park? Now that the weather is nice out the park is full of people walking, jogging, having a good time. There is a beautiful sidewalk that goes along the lake, winding through the trees. It's there for you to walk or jog on. For some reason though there are a number of people that feel this sidewalk is below them. (Figuratively, not physically) They feel that it is their right to jog or walk in the middle of the road that leads to the Legislature. Everyday I must weave my way around these people, and I can't help but wonder, what the fuck?! It's a winding road, with a couple of corners that are tough to see around, are you trying to get hit? Another incident today involved some idiot on a bike flying down the wrong side of the street directly at me. I'm not sure if he realized that he probably wouldn't have won that collision. Thankfully he saw me at the last moment.

The worst part is I'm in a station vehicle, beautifully marked with the logos of CKRM, The Wolf and Lite 92, so I can't express my rage. No horn honk, no yelling, no glaring. Nothing. So, if you're one of those road-walkers and you're reading this blog right now, use the sidewalk! That's what it's there for!

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Work is underway at the Brandt Centre to add 1300 permanent seats in time for the World Junior Hockey Championships this December. That will bring capacity up to 6400 for Regina Pats games. There are still a big chunk of tickets available for the WJHC. 620 CKRM will be broadcasting live from the Brandt Centre on Wednesday for a full day ticket blitz. Come down and get your seats. If you're a fan of hockey, you should know that the World Juniors is some of the best hockey you're going to get to see.

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A couple of funny lines overheard this weekend.

I have to admit it, I like Pierre McGuire as a colour man on the TSN broadcasts. He's clearly excited by the game, and he adds to the excitement of watching it. Now, he can get a bit carried away, and maybe speak before he thinks. Take the Jordan Eberle goal at the WJHC where he tied the game with the Russians with five seconds left, and all McGuire could rave about was John Tavares. Obviously ridiculous. Well a line Pierre threw out yesterday during game six between the Hurricanes and Bruins almost floored me I was laughing so hard. Speaking about Dennis Wideman.

"He's got a big package, and boy can he move!"

If I were doing play by play and my colour guy threw that gem out, I'd probably have to turn the mic off to keep from laughing all over the broadcast.

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The next golden line from The Hedgehog Chad Jeremy. We went for a beer last night at the Pressbox, and we were talking about the possibility of doing the in game announcing for the Regina Red Sox this season. We're told it pays $30 a night. To some that may not be much, but to a broadcaster, it's a nice bit of cash. The line from Chad.

"Hey, $30 is more than not $30!"

Well said my friend.

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Speaking of the Regina Red Sox, we haven't heard back from them on the possibility of doing that announcing, and the home opener is May 31st. Whether I get to do some of the games or not, I'm definitely going to head out to the park and catch some games. There's nothing like sitting in the bleachers with a beer and watching ball on a hot summer night. From what I hear, the ball is pretty good quality too. Hope to see a few of you out there for the games too! It's just $10 to get through the turnstiles, can't beat it!

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Thank you to everyone that has phoned, texted and written on my Facebook wall wishing me a happy birthday. 28 years old. Where does the time go?!

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How ridiculous is American politics? A gem that came down the wire last week.

Fox News and a conservative blogger are accusing U-S President Barack Obama of being un-American, about mustard. Obama asked for Dijon when he made an impromptu lunch stop at a Virginia hamburger joint this week.

Fox News alleges that rival network MSNBC edited out Obama's request for Dijon in a report on the story in order to help the president maintain his `man of the people' street cred. Blogger William Jacobson says it shows how far the White House and the liberal media will go to control Obama's image.

Seriously? Their economy is in the tank, and this blogger and Fox News are worried about Dijon mustard? Dumbasses.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T17:59:00.002-06:00

Don't forget your Mom's today! I wish I was back home in Edmonton to help you celebrate Mom!

May 8, 1945

2009-05-08T20:21:00.003-06:00

64 years ago today millions of people around the world celebrated as the war in Europe ended.

We all know the history of World War Two. Germany's aggression under NAZI rule and war being declared after the invasion of Poland. More than one million Canadian men and women left their families and friends behind to serve our country in the defence of freedom. After six long years of war, and nearly a year since the D-Day invasion in 1944, the German's finally surrendered. Celebrations broke out all over the world to mark the day. Families celebrated the knowledge that their sons and daughters can now come home.

That wasn't the case for everyone though. The victory came at a terrible cost for our young country. 47,000 killed, and another 55,000 were wounded. We should pause today to remember their sacrifices. Let us never forget the terrible price our Grandfathers and Grandmothers paid. Our nation's contributions to this war is an integral part of our history. We should all look back with pride at what our men and women of uniform were able to accomplish, and what they still accomplish today.

Lest we forget.

The Hamilton Coyotes?

2009-05-06T21:13:00.006-06:00

I think if you did a survey of 1000 Canadians in the spring of 1996, you would've heard 1000 people say in unison that the NHL would not work in the desert. Now, 13 years after the Winnipeg Jets played their final game and packed their bags for Phoenix, the Coyotes have filed for bankruptcy. It's believed they've lost upwards of 200 million dollars since 2001, not counting this past season. Now, to be fair to the fans in the Arizona desert, they haven't been given much of a reason to support the franchise. While they had a good team the first few years they were there, the Coyotes have been dismal for the last several years and haven't even come close to making the playoffs.

This week Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie offered to purchase the team for 212 million dollars. Balsillie comes across as the sort of guy the NHL should be thrilled to have amongst their ownership group. He's young, ubre-rich, and is passionate about the game. There's a hitch though. He wants to take the team and move it back up north to southern Ontario. I'm not convinced the NHL is ever going to let it happen. Or at least not let Balsillie do it, and there are a few reasons why.

First: Gary Bettman.

He's convinced that each NHL market will work. This includes Atlanta, Florida, Nashville and Phoenix. Never mind the millions of dollars these teams are bleeding, they aren't going anywhere. Why is that? They all joined the league under his watch. They were all part of his master plan to sell the game to the southern United States. He'll be damned if he's going to be proven wrong, especially by someone not in his inner circle. He'll continue to point to the success stories in warmer climates, those being Dallas, Anaheim, San Jose and Tampa Bay. If it can work in those cities, why not in the first four?

Second: NHL Board of Governors.

If there's one way to describe major sports league franchise owners, it would be "old boys club." If you're in the club, you have this sense of power. There is a way things are done, it's always been that way, and there's no good reason to change it. You don't take too kindly to some hotshot new guy coming in and going against your rules. Jim Balsillie hasn't gone to the owners and asked for their support. He's flat out said this is what I'm doing, and if you don't like it, shove it. This isn't the first time he's done it either. Remember, he's also tried to buy the Penguins and the Predators and move them to Ontario without their blessing. He hasn't just burned his bridges in this group, he's fired rockets at them.

Third: The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres.

If there is one team in the NHL that makes sure they get their way, it's the Toronto Maple Leafs. Everyone knows it's the cash cow of the league, and they DO NOT want another franchise in their backyard. The argument for another team in the region is that the Maple Leafs are an institution, and they won't be adversely affected by another team in the market. This is probably true, but all those fans that can't get into the ACC go watch games in Buffalo instead. If there's a team in, say, Hamilton or Waterloo, Buffalo's attendance will take a direct hit. Unless Balsillie plans on cutting both teams a very large cheque every year, there are two guaranteed no votes.

Fourth: ESPN

This one was brought up to me by Chris and Ballsie from the Wolf today, and it makes some sense. The NHL wants back on ESPN. Badly. They made a huge mistake a few years ago by not signing a deal with the network and moving to OLN, which is now Versus. If ESPN is to get back on board, what sort of allure would another franchise in Canada be for their viewership? Let's not forget that Phoenix is a massive market with 4.2 million people in it's metropolitan area. Surely if the team were to become one of the elite, there would be enough interest there to generate some sort of ratings.

So there are four pretty clear not so insignificant hurdles for Balsillie to leap if he ever hopes to get a team into southern Ontario. You can expect this whole mess to end up in court. How do I think this will end? Just like in Nashville (and in Edmonton back in 1998 if we all remember correctly) Bettman will find a local ownership group to keep the team right where it is.

Of course, I have to touch on one last point. Every time the story "Coyotes in trouble" pops up, people in Winnipeg seem to get excited. They're clamouring for a team. Sorry guys, your arena's too small, and there isn't enough corporate money there.

My buddy Derek Meyers from Global did a good story on a possible case for Saskatchewan. You can read about it on his blog, just follow the link on the right hand side of my page here to read it.

Randoms (and boy are they random)

2009-05-05T00:20:00.003-06:00

With the station out of ratings, you're going to be hearing a lot of me on the 620 CKRM airwaves. It is vacation season, and when other guys in the newsroom are on vacation, my regular schedule goes out the window. I'm doing the afternoon news run all this week, so tune in for the news from your favourite Thomasean on the hour. It will be informative, up to date, and maybe my voice will crack by the end of the day.

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I'm so torn about car ownership. Well, not really torn. I love that I own a car, I just hate when it needs to be fixed. Another $176 bill today. What the hell? I just took it in for an oil change, and as usual, it escalated. I swore all afternoon that this is the final straw. I'm not paying to fix this car any longer, I'm just going get it back from the shop, get rid of the damn thing and take the bus. Then I waited for 35 minutes for my bus through scattered showers. Boy did I miss having my car. You've lived to see another oil change.

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Big shout out to Rod Pedersen and the crew for a fantastic Saturday night. Table full of sports guys drinking beer, talking sports, and doing impersonations of the in game announcer at the Oiler games. You know who I mean. It's been a while since I've had that kind of fun. What I thought was going to be dinner and a couple of beers at the Pressbox turned into a late night that wrapped up at Habano's. That's where things really took off! I ran into Knox and Rob, made some new friends, and the term "White Thomasean" was born. Long story.

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Lesson learned Saturday night as well about where to park your car. I parked on the north side of the Pressbox by the train tracks, which is where my car slept that night. When I went to pick it up on Sunday, it was COVERED in bird shit. Literally end to end. It was awful. I now realize that birds are scared of trains, and when birds get scared, their bird brains let their bird bowels know to bird bomb the nearest vehicle. It could be they knew it was my car, I've written about my run-ins with birds on here before. They don't like me, and I don't like them.

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For anyone that watches Entourage, Rod has two buddies that look exactly like E and Turtle. I swear to god, mirror images!

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I'm really thinking of a blog name change here. Random Thoughts from a Random Mind really describes me perfectly, but there are so many other blogs with this name. Blogasean however is not taken.

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Wasn't Sunday beautiful? I was out playing catch, went for a walk. I also had my first DQ Hot Caramel Sunday of the season. Just as magical as I remember them.

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Okay, this post wasn't brilliant, I know. It'll have to do though. It's been a few days, surely you've all missed my musings by now? I'll do better tomorrow, I promise.

H1N1, R2D2's cousin?!

2009-04-30T22:12:00.005-06:00

By the time you read this entry, it will be out of date. Welcome to the swine flu ladies and gentlemen. Wait, we aren't calling it that anymore. Welcome to the Swine Origins Influenza Virus. Yeah, I see that name catching on.

I'm not going to bore you with the full details on this outbreak, only that health organizations around the world have ramped up operations to deal with the matter. We've hit pandemic level five, which is the second highest level. 34 cases have now been confirmed in Canada, although none of them serious. No cases have been confirmed in Saskatchewan as of right now, but Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Moira McKinnon says it's only a matter of time before we do find one. She says this flu is here to stay, and we're going to have to deal with it.

If you're showing any symptoms of the flu, even if they're only mild, you're encouraged to stay home. If those symptoms get worse really fast, contact your family doctor or the Health Line. To protect yourself and others, wash your hands, and for the love of god, cover your mouth when you sneeze!

Stay healthy everyone.

I will try not to sing out of key

2009-04-29T20:28:00.004-06:00

"When you're a little kid, you're a little bit of everything: Artist, Scientist, Athlete, Scholar. Sometimes it seems like growing up is a process of giving those things up, one by one. I guess we all have one thing we regret giving up; one thing we really miss - that we gave up because we were too lazy, or because we couldn't stick it out, or because we were afraid."

I've recently rediscovered The Wonder Years. When it was first on in the late 1980's and early 1990's I was just a few years younger than Kevin. Like most kids I was in a hurry to grow up. I wanted to know everything, and do all the things that adults did. I didn't watch the show for it's life lessons, I watched it with an excitement of what was to come. Junior high, girlfriends, school dances, being out after dark. This show opened my mind to the possibilities of what I was heading towards. I flat out wanted to be like Kevin Arnold.

This spring marks my tenth anniversary of graduating high school. It's a natural time to not just look back on the last ten years of our lives, but look back fondly (or otherwise) on the time we spent growing up. A time when we spent all day in class with our friends five days a week. We didn't have the worries that hang on our shoulders as adults. Because of the new realities as an adult, my outlook on these episodes are completely different. They're funny and sometimes almost painful to watch. The awkwardness of junior high. The pain of teenage heartbreak. Each episode another lesson about life, and a nostalgic look on another piece of innocence lost. I just didn't understand the true messages this show was portraying my first time around.

That's not to say my feelings about the show in the two time frames are mutually exclusive. While my vantage point on the show is completely different, there is one thing that remains exactly the same. I still have this tremendous sense of longing. When I was younger I couldn't wait to get to grade seven. Today, I wish I could go right back to that time. I guess that is exactly what the show was trying to show us. Remind us of the excitement of youth and learning these lessons, and at the same time portray the longing to unlearn them and go back to a simpler time. I'm glad I've had the chance to watch the episodes from both vantages.

The show is on weeknights at 11:00 on DejaView. The writing in it is absolutely amazing. The opening line on this entry is probably my favourite of all the lines in the show. It's from the episode "Coda" in the second season. In just 69 words, I think it sums up growing up pretty accurately.

The Fire Damage (on the Red Mile)

2009-04-28T18:33:00.004-06:00

Could the Oilers be in competition for the services of Brent Sutter this summer? With their first round exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs, changes are expected in Calgary. This is the fourth year in a row that's happened since their run to the final in 2004. One of those changes could be the firing of head coach Mike Keenan. He was brought in to coach this team to a Stanley Cup, but they just kept hitting the wall. It will probably cost him his job. Now, with Brent longing for home in Alberta, this opens up the intriguing possibility that he could sign on with his older brother Darryl in Calgary. Of course, this all hinges on him leaving New Jersey at the end of the playoffs. Brent's name has also popped up as a possible replacement for MacT in Edmonton. More on that in a minute. First, let's talk about the Flames.

Led by Jarome Iginla, they have players like Dion Phaneuf, Mikka Kiprusoff, Daymond Langkow and Robyn Regehr all locked up to longterm contracts. An impressive core for sure, but one that can't seem to win. Darryl Sutter's kind of painted himself into a corner here too. They already have 47 million tied up in salaries for next season. That's a big chunk of change when you take into account that the salary cap is expected to go down in the next couple of seasons. Not good news when you have a budding young superstar in Mike Cammalleri looking for a new contract. So what changes do you make?

Looking back on the season, the Olli Jokinen deal is certainly going to be a point of contention. The Flames traded away the speedy Mathew Lombardi, Brandon Prust and a first round pick for Jokinen in hopes that his offense would get them over the hump. The exact opposite happened. The move disrupted the chemistry between Iginla and Cammalleri. The powerplay went in the tank and the team stumbled. Jokinen has one season left at 5.5 million, and you can bet that they will try to ship him off this summer.

This team needs a backup that can play 30 games a year. Mikka Kiprusoff's numbers have gone down every season since joining Calgary. They're still good, but not all world. (a ho-hum 2.84 GAA and a .903 SV% this season) I think that's a direct result of Keenan overplaying him. Kipper started 77 games this season, and he looked tired in the series with Chicago. Remember, the season he ran to the cup with the Flames, Kipper only played 38 regular season games. He has four years and 25 million dollars left on his deal. They need to ensure he has gas left in the tank if they want him to come even remotely close to earning that kind of money.

Those two moves are obvious. What about the rest of the core?

Jarome Iginla didn't have a spectacular year, but he still had 89 points. His goal total dipped from 50 last season to 35 this year, but that could partly be attributed to playing alongside the young sniper Cammalleri. While he didn't look that impressive in the playoffs, this guy goes out and bangs and drives the net every game. He's untouchable.

Dion Phaneuf didn't have that great of a season. He only scored 11 goals, and just four of them came on the powerplay. He had a career low 47 points in total, and was a career worst -11. In fact, this was the first time in his career that he was a minus player. Not great stats for a guy that has four years and 26.5 million left on his contract. He's only 24, and you don't give up on a guy after one bad season. I think he's safe.

Daymond Langkow is another guy that had a down year. His point total dropped from 65 to 49, and he netted only 21 goals. At 32 years of age he's not exactly entering the prime of his career, but is signed through the 2011-12 season at 4.25 million per season. That's a bad contract. I'm sure they would love to move him, but it's going to be near impossible to do so.

Now, all that being said, the Flames were pretty banged up heading into the playoffs. They didn't have Regehr, Phaneuf didn't play in game seven, and several other players were playing hurt. Even still, I don't think the fans in Calgary will allow that to be used as an excuse. Some changes are on the way, but are they going to be able to wiggle out of those contracts to make meaningful ones? As an Oiler fan, I sure hope not.

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On the Oilers coaching front, they've asked the New York Rangers for permission to speak to Tom Renney. I'm not going to read too much into this as Tambo is expected to speak to several different candidates. I posted my thoughts on Renney and a few other rumoured coaches a few days ago, you can read that entry below. (Who's the (Bench) Boss)

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What an ending to the Carolina-New Jersey series! The game was on the TV as I was typing this, and I was thinking I would be writing about New Jersey advancing. Nope. The 'Canes score twice in the final 1:20 to tie the game, then take the lead and win the series. Incredible! I'll post my thoughts on the second round of the playoffs later, but Washington-Pittsburgh? I think I just heard Gary Bettman orgasm.

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So I guess that means Brent Sutter is available ?

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A note to Sportsnet. STOP showing Yankees games ahead of the Blue Jays on Sporstnet West. I live in Canada. I'm a Blue Jays fan. I expect to turn to your station and watch the Blue Jays play. I'm going to write a letter to someone about this, it's really starting to piss me off.

Flames Suck!

2009-04-27T22:21:00.001-06:00

If it's wrong for a grown man to giggle uncontrollably, then lock me up. Ah springtime. The leaves come out, the days get longer, and the Flames get eliminated from the first round of the playoffs! Love it.

Randoms (and Brits just aren't that funny)

2009-04-25T22:44:00.004-06:00

Sunday. Oh how I've been looking forward to you. My shift at Global today wrapped up a stretch of 15 straight days of work. My last day off was Good Friday. I would have had a break last Sunday, but I was called into Global due to an illness of a co-worker.

I feel ridiculous grumbling about a long stretch of days. I've worked hard jobs like construction and snow shovelling. I know physically I have it easy now, but mentally it's so draining. My brain is shot. The bags under my eyes even have bags now!

I have two options for tomorrow. First, fall off the grid. Sleep all day, do laundry, watch sports. Second, enjoy the day off by going out and doing something. Unless you're one of my bosses, give me a shout. If you're one of my bosses, don't call me, I'll call you.

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It stinks in my apartment right now. Seriously, something in here smells terrible. I've been trying to figure it out since I got home from work, and I finally found the source. My roommate bought French Vanilla coffee last night. It's his used coffee grounds. Awful. It's punishing my sense of smell. Must empty garbage after wrapping this post.

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Want to know what brings me great joy? Chicago 5 Calgary 1. You couldn't slap the smile off my face tonight. Hawks now lead the series 3-2 heading back to the Saddledome. I have a funny feeling we'll be back for game seven at the United Centre.

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Line of the night at Global goes to sports guy Derek Meyers. To set the scene, Sergei Gonchar scores for the Penguins.

"I don't know where my pants are, but I know where my Gonch Are!"

Beauty.

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Worst line of the night? My buddy Paul is hanging with some fellow Commonwealthers in Brazil tonight. A Brit at the table tells him this joke.

Why did Hitler die?
He got his gas bill.

Huh? I don't get it. Sorry British folks, you just aren't that funny.

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We should all keep an eye on this swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the United States. At least 20 people have died, although 81 are suspected, and more than 1000 have fallen ill. World Health Organization officials are studying the strain, and Saskatchewan Health is also watching it closely. Anyone who's been to Mexico in the last 10 days and is showing flu like symptoms is asked to see their doctor immediately. Last time we saw something like this was the SARS outbreak of 2003. Starting in China, it spread around the world, killing 775 people. 44 of them in Canada.

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That's probably enough for one night.

Have we gone too far?

2009-04-23T19:10:00.004-06:00

Happy day after earth day! There's no excuse anymore to ignore the environment. There are a million little things everyone can do. Let's choose a room at random, say, the bedroom. You can switch to CFL light bulbs in your lamps. Unplug your computer when you're done with it so it doesn't continue to use electricity in standby mode. Seal your windows to keep the cold air out in the winter. Use an all natural laundry detergent when you clean your sheets. Accessorise with a green sex toy! Bet you didn't see that one coming.

Ladies, I present to you the We-Vibe, the environmentally friendly sex toy!

http://www.we-vibe.com/

The We-Vibe is a lead free, phthalate free, rechargeable sex toy made of medical grade silicone. Hell, it's probably even made in a peanut free factory! So if you're allergic to nuts, it's safe for you to use.

So, some tips for being environmentally friendly when perusing your friendly neighbourhood Sex Shop.

Silicone is durable, has no taste or smell, nothing is being released from or absorbed by the material, it has low toxicity and will not support microbial growth. Also nothing will stick to silicone.

Avoid sex toys made of plastic or rubber that give off any kind of odour, by definition they are out-gassing chemicals. (Nobody wants any sort of out gassing during sex)

Look for rechargeable sex toys to avoid sending disposable batteries to landfills.

Look for sex toys that are RoHS-certified or WEEE-certified to be free of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, certain brominated flame retardants, polybrominated biphenyls or polybrominated diphenyl ethers. (sure)

Choose a manufacturer that is carbon-neutral. Any product's website should have its environmental specifications outlined.

So there you have it. If you've ever worried your having sex is causing the destruction of the Amazonian rain forest, or the death of an innocent baby squirrel (because really, who hasn't worried that?), you now have a way to clear that conscience!

It's amazing what you can learn simply by checking your emails at work.

Randoms (and a sucker punch or two)

2009-04-20T21:56:00.005-06:00

I have to give big props to Premier Brad Wall tonight. He has sent a letter to Prime Minister Harper condemning the new law in Afghanistan that allows Shia husbands to rape their wives. I've spoken out about this issue before, and I'm very happy to see it get brought to the forefront by the Premier. Here is the letter.

Dear Prime Minister:

I am writing to urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to continue pressing the Afghan government to reverse the unacceptable provisions of it's new Personal Status Law which take a number of fundamental human rights away from Shia women in that country.

Like the vast majority of Canadians, Saskatchewan have strongly supported the efforts of our Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. We are proud that our brave men and women have played a key role to secure freedom for the Afghans from the oppressive Taliban regime and improve human rights in that country.

This effort has come at a huge cost. 117 Canadian soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of freedom and justice in Afghanistan. That's why this latest move to strip basic rights away from some women in that country is so offensive to Canadians. This law is a huge step backward and, as you recently stated, "antithetical to our mission in Afghanistan."

It is a tragic irony that the latest soldier to die in Afghanistan was a woman - Trooper Karine Blais. Any effort to restrict the rights of women in Afghanistan is an affront to her sacrifice and the sacrifice of all our Canadian Forces personnel in that country.

I note that President Karzai is now saying he intends to change the provision in the law that legalizes rape within marriage for Shia Muslims. I urge you and your government to continue your efforts to ensure this and other provisions which restrict human rights for women in Afghanistan are repealed, and that Canada continues to make every effort to ensure the advancement of human rights, justice and equality for all of the people of Afghanistan. Our national government must remain every bit as vigilant in this pursuit as our soldiers are serving in Afghanistan.

Thank you for your attention to this most important matter.

Sincerely

Brad Wall
Premier

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I assume most of you, my faithful readers, are hockey fans, and watch it religiously like I do. If not, I have two questions for you, why the heck not? And, what's the difference between these two incidents?

and

If you answered absolutely nothing, they're the same play, you'd be wrong. At least according to the NHL. Colin Campbell, in his infinite wisdom, decided that Daniel Carcillo (the first one) deserved a one game suspension for his sucker punch on Maxim Talbot. However, Michael Cammalleri's sucker punch to Martin Havlat (the second one) did not warrant a suspension.

So, if you're unfamiliar with what happened, here's a quick rundown. Carcillo is a mucker. His job is to get the other team off their game. His punch occurred with one second left on the clock, and his team losing. The NHL says because he's a repeat offender, and was out there at the end of the game, it deserves a suspension.

Cammalleri is a goal scorer, and has never been suspended. His sucker punch occurred with most of the third period left to play in a tie game. The NHL said because he has a clean record, he did not deserve a suspension. By the way, he threw this punch the night after Carcillo did, and just hours after the suspension was announced.

This is ridiculous. Is the NHL saying it's okay to sucker punch someone if you're a star player? I don't like the precedent that sets. Campbell got this one wrong.

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Okay, I've given the new Facebook a chance over the last few weeks. I don't like it. It's turned into a quiz and fan site. I'm prompted daily if I want to become a fan of everything ranging from Mushrooms to the Calgary Flames. For the record, I'm a fan of neither. Also, whenever a new quiz gets created, and 100 of my friends decide to take them, I'm stuck with the results flooding my page. I'm sorry, but I could give a fuck what 80's song you are, or what your five favourite cereals were when you were a kid.

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AC/DC tickets went on sale Saturday morning, and sold out in 44 minutes. While there were 38,000 available, obviously not everybody who wanted one was able to get one. Now the complaints are flying! Ticketmaster was flooded that morning online, and the server slowed to a crawl, forcing some to wait upwards of 20 minutes as the page loaded. Conspiracy! Some are crying. The fix is in! Others shout. Tickets have of course popped up on resale sites, and Ticketmaster is being blamed. Sorry folks, but it's not Ticketmaster buying those seats and putting them up, it's other ticket buyers.

The cause of the online slowdown by the way was a massive amount of traffic as both Edmonton and Regina went on sale at the same time.

Who's the (Bench) Boss?

2009-04-17T19:57:00.007-06:00

We're now a few days removed from Craig MacTavish being relieved from his head coaching duties in Edmonton, and there has been no shortage of rumours over who might be his possible replacement. I've had a few days to sit and mull over the options, and generate some thoughts on each candidate.

Let's start with coaches that have a history with GM Steve Tambellini from his many years of service in Vancouver. There are two that have expressed interest in the job.

Pat Quinn.

Quinn was last seen behind an NHL bench in Toronto, where he was relieved of his duties in 2006. He is a two time Jack Adams award winner, fourth on the all time wins list with 616 in 16 seasons and an Olympic gold medalist. During his tenure in Toronto, he got saddled with a reputation of only liking veteran hockey players. What he has done since leaving Toronto is dispel that image. He's won gold with the Canadian U-18 team, and with the World Junior team this past year in Ottawa. There is one championship Quinn has never won, and that is the Stanley Cup.

Quinn has very close ties with Steve Tambellini. He gave Tambo his first front office job while he was the GM in Vancouver. Tambellini was also part of the Hockey Canada management team when Quinn was coach for the gold medal team in 2002.

I think Quinn is a very strong candidate, and I would not be at all disappointed if he were hired. He'll bring a respected voice to the locker room with a proven track record. It might even make it easier to sign free agents if they know they would get to play for such a respected coach. The only drawback is his age. He's 66, and the Oilers rebuild is going to take more than just one or two years. Would he be around long enough to really grow with this team?

Marc Crawford

Crawford has also let it be known he wants the job. Tambellini knows Crawford from his stint as head coach in Vancouver as well. Crawford has enjoyed tremendous success as a coach. He won the Jack Adams award with the Quebec Nordiques in 1995, then won the Stanley Cup the following year after the Nordiques moved to Colorado.

Crawford spent six full seasons in Vancouver, and enjoyed tremendous regular season success there too. Four of those years the Canucks had more than 40 wins, but because of a lack of a goaltender, they never made much noise in the playoffs. He spent two forgettable years in LA, but name a coach who hasn't had a forgettable run there since Barry Melrose left town. Crawford coaches a style of hockey that Oiler fans demand. Offensive attack, and overwhelming forecheck. In Vancouver, Morrison, Naslund and Bertuzzi were the most lethal line in hockey.

I'm not sure what I think about Crawford as an option. He's clearly a tremendous coach if put in the right situation. Still, something about him leaves me uneasy.

Scott Arniel

I know what you're thinking, who? My friend Echo brought him up to me the other day, and he also came up in an article in the Edmonton Journal. Arniel is the head coach of the Manitoba Moose in the AHL, the Vancouver Canucks farm team. Another Tambellini tie. This season he led the team to a 50-23-1-6 record, and was named AHL Coach of the Year. They're currently playing the Torono Marlies in the first round of the AHL playoffs, so won't be available for an interview until they wrap up their playoff run. He is not without NHL coaching experience, serving as an assistant coach with the Sabres from 2002-2006.

Arniel is a relative unknown, which some would say is working against him. I'm not so sure about that though. Look at some of the hirings in the last couple of years from the AHL, and the success that's followed. Names like Randy Carlyle in Anaheim (who came from Manitoba as well), Bruce Boudreau in Washington, and most recently Cory Clouston in Ottawa.

Tom Renney

Another tie to Tambellini in Vancouver, albeit a short one. Renney's first NHL job was with Vancouver in the 96-97 season. The team struggled that season, and he was let go half way through the 97-98 season in favour of Mike Keenan. Renney then moved on to the New York Rangers to work in their front office. He returned behind the bench towards the end of the 03-04 season. Renney coached the squad to three straight 40+ wins seasons starting in 05-06, but failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs in any of those years. He was fired part way through this past season as the team struggled.

I don't know how much water this possibility holds. To be honest, I think the only reason his name is being tossed around is because of the Jaromir Jagr rumours, who Renney of course coached in New York. The Oilers were interested in Jagr last summer, but he decided to sign in Russia instead. Then, in February, rumours came out that the Oilers had forwarded an offer to Jagr to jump over. These rumours were ridiculous, because he would've had to clear waivers before joining the team.

I'm not so sure about Renney. He's definitely a good coach, but his lack of playoff success doesn't sit well with me.

Brent Sutter

This one makes me laugh, considering Sutter already has a pretty good full time job behind the bench in New Jersey. So, if he has a full time job in New Jersey, and doesn't appear to be in any danger of getting fired, why are there rumours of him coming to Edmonton? Simple, he's homesick. Sutter was born and raised in Viking, Alberta. His family is still in Alberta. He owns the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, and coached them to a Memorial Cup win in 2001. By the way, Red Deer is only about an hour and a bit south of Edmonton.

Sutter is a brilliant coach. He was the first coach in history to coach team Canada to back to back gold medals at the World Juniors, going undefeated both years. He coached the 2007 Super Series Junior team that went 7-0-1 against the Russians. Oiler Sam Gagner was on that team. If Sutter resigns from New Jersey and the Oilers manage to get his name on a contract, it would be a fantastic coup. Just think, with his brother Darryl the GM in Calgary, we'd have just one more angle in the battle of Alberta.

So those are the five most mentioned names so far, but there will be more candidates as the weeks pass by. Surely there are some assistants on NHL teams still in the playoffs that deserve a look, such as Todd Richards in San Jose. (another name mentioned in the Edmonton Journal) One coach who hasn't been mentioned that I hope gets an interview is Peter Laviolette. He's won a Stanley Cup (Carolina in 2006, bastard.) and even had success on Long Island. Quick, name three coaches that have had any success there since 1983.

As more names pop up, I'll post my thoughts on them. Steve Tambellini is going to take his time to make sure he gets the right man for the job. As Oiler fans, that's all we can hope for!

Turning the Page in Edmonton!

2009-04-15T18:21:00.005-06:00

The inevitable has happened. Craig MacTavish was fired today as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Now, you all know how I felt about the job MacT has done as coach, so I'm not going to talk too much about it. This move was badly needed. This team needs a new direction. Craig MacTavish will be out of work for only as long as he chooses. He will have absolutely no problem finding a new job, and I have no doubt he will find success. He won 301 games in Edmonton, which is a fantastic feat. Unfortunately, the team made the playoffs only three times in eight seasons, and that doesn't cut it. I'll talk about possible candidates to replace him another day.

That brings us to phase two of this summer. The disappointments of the last couple of years aren't entirely MacT's fault. The roster as we see it today needs a complete overhaul. It cannot win. The comments made by GM Steve Tambellini today have given me great hope.

“We need a new voice, we need a new start, we need new expectations, new discipline. It’s time to look forward.”

“One thing I want to make clear is that because we are changing our head coach and moving in a different direction, this does not absolve the players.”

“The second part of this is do we need to address our personnel? Obviously we do. When I think about the Oilers and what they represent and the things that are important to the Oilers and why there hasn’t been success here at times, lately, it’s because of a passion, because of a commitment, because of a sacrifice to do anything to win. That’s why it was so hard to compete against the Oilers. The players would do anything."

“People say we weren’t gritty enough as a team. I agree with that. Do we need to get stronger? Yes we do. The job now is to think about how much of that can we get from what we have. We’ll make that assessment and if we don’t have internally, how do we acquire it? We have some good pieces in place here, but I can tell you things are going to change as far as expectations and preparation from the players' standpoint.”

God does that give me hope for the future. That means though that there are going to be some moves that are going to be hard for some fans to swallow. I've had great conversations with my buddy Raj about what needs to be done to make this team better. He said to me today Tambo is going to make some trades that are going to be tough to swallow, and he's right. For all the faults on this team, we still love most of the players. But, this is a small team. This is a VERY small team. Many of those small players have a world of talent that could be appealing to other teams. You would have to assume that guys like Gagner and Cogliano are here to stay, but what about Nilsson? Robbie Schremp is a free agent, and as much as fans wanted to see him with the big club, I can't imagine he'll be resigned. Patrick O'Sullivan played well in his time with the Oilers, but had trouble scoring, could he be moved?

The Oilers have more offensive D-men than they probably need, and they don't have a guy on the backend that you can throw out just as a vicious shutdown presence. A Jason Smith type. So someone like Grebeshkov or Gilbert could be moved. Steve Staios is a warrior, but he looked completely lost for big stretches this season. (Think about it, how many times did you see him slide off into the disance on his stomach?) He could be past his best before date.

The desire and the compete level in this team was seriously lacking, and that falls to leadership. Could that leave players like Ethan Moreau and Shawn Horcoff available? Fernando Pisani? Nobody will take Horcoff's contract, but those other two aren't untouchable. And if they can find any sucker out there that's willing to take Dustin Penner's contract, that would be a miracle. It would help if Mike Milbury was still the GM on Long Island.

I want to hear from all of you now, what changes do you think need to be made?

There is a very long road ahead for this franchise, and it's going to be a busy summer for Tambellini. You better print off a copy of this roster if you ever want to see it intact again, because we're going to see a completely different team in September. That is a good start.

Let's Drop the Puck

2009-04-14T21:24:00.003-06:00

NHL playoff time! The NHL has gotten some dream matchups this year, especially out east. They have an original six matchup in Boston v Montreal, they've got the battle of Pennsylvania with the Flyers and Penguins, and Ovechkin's Capitals will be playing the Rangers on Broadway. The other matchup sees Jersey take on Carolina. Not exactly headline grabbing, but it should be good hockey.

Out west, battle of California with the Sharks and Ducks, another divisional matchup with Columbus playing Detroit. Vancouver draws the surprising Blues and Calgary plays Chicago. Let's make some picks.

Western Conference.

1. San Jose v 8. Anaheim
Sharks won the season series 4-2.
I like San Jose to knock off the Ducks in six games in this one. They're starting to get healthy again, and want to prove that they're fantastic regular season wasn't a fluke.

2. Detroit v 7. Columbus
Wings won the season series 3-2-1
Columbus in seven. I know Detroit's the defending cup champions, and I know they can throw any number of players over the boards that can score at will. They're goaltending is suspect though. I like Hitchcock to devise a brilliant game plan to derail the Wings offense, and they've got a great kid in goal in Mason.

3. Vancouver v 6. St Louis
Season series tied 2-2
Vancouver in six. Luongo's a beast. St Louis has had an amazing run to get back into the playoffs, but it will be a short run.

4. Chicago v 5. Calgary
Blackhawks won the season series 4-0.
Hawks in six, for a number of reasons. First, Kipper is worn out. Keenan played him far too much, and it's showing. Second, Khabibulin has the Flames number. He's 22-4 in his career against them. Third, I hate the Flames.

Eastern Conference

1. Boston v 8. Montreal
Bruins won the season series 5-0-1
Boston in five. Montreal has lost any hopes of a powerplay with Markov and Schneider going down with injuries. Also, Price has struggled in goal for the Habs this year. Sorry Montreal, no cup in season 100 for you.

2. Washington v 7. New York Rangers
Caps won season series 3-0-1
Washington in six. The Rangers haven't clicked this year. Despite all their fire power up front, they've been a disappointment offensively. Hiring Tortorella will pay dividends next season, but too little too late this year.

3. New Jersey v 6. Carolina
Canes won season series 3-1
New Jersey in seven. Two words, Martin Brodeur.

4. Pittsburgh v 5. Philadelphia
Penguins won season series 4-2
Flyers in seven. This is a tough one to pick. Both teams can score and are fun to watch. I like the Flyers physical play more though. They've got a bit more sandpaper (as my buddy Chad would say) than the Pens.

We should be in for some really good hockey over the next couple of months. Now, hopefully during that time frame the Oilers figure out how to clean up their mess.

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I was invited by Wolf Morning Show host Ballsy to join him on a celebrity team in the Pressbox Sports Bar Playoff Pool. The team consisted of Chris and Ballsy, Rod Pedersen, The Hedgehog Chad Jeremy and I. We had the 20th overall pick, here's how we did.

D. Sedin
M. Sundin
J. Lupul
A. Burrows
D. Langkow
K. Timonen
RJ Umberger
C. Conroy
C. Larose
T. Plekanec

Not that terrible a team. Need Vancouver to make a run though.

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Brian Burke made no secret of his intentions to acquire the number one pick in the NHL entry draft for his Maple Leafs and draft Jon Tavares. I'm not exactly sure what he thinks he has that would actually entice the Islanders to give up that pick though. Wait, it's the Islanders, they're not exactly known for making un-bonehead type moves. God help us.

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From my buddy Paul.

Have you heard about the new corduroy pillows? They're making headlines!

Brilliant!

More on the Dome

2009-04-09T14:25:00.001-06:00

Premier Brad Wall says he'd like to make a decision soon on a new stadium for Regina. The government is spending 70 thousand dollars to review the options, including upgrading Mosaic, building a new outdoor facility or building a dome. Wall says the status quo is not an option.

"We see the Stampeders continuing to invest in their facility, I think British Columbia is putting hundreds of millions of dollars in BC Place, Winnipeg looks to be moving ahead on a new stadium. We want to make sure that our province is keeping up."

When a decision is made, Premier Wall says the government won't simply be writing a cheque.

"If there's going to be any sort of a project the province is involved with at all, it will not come from infrastructure dollars. It will not come from ready for growth money. There may be some other innovative approaches that can work, and we'll look at all of those"

As for what those "innovative" approaches would actually look like.

"We're in the casino business in Regina and Moose Jaw, so, is there some synergy there. Possibly there is. We're going to look at a number of options, and that means it is not competing with the highway projects we want to do, and health care projects we want to do."

The Premier says his preference is to see an entertainment facility that could be used year round, and would serve more than just the Riders.

"If they're talking about a 100 million dollar upgrade to Mosaic, we know that's just principally about football, and as important as that is to the province, it's just nine games and some highschool games..and the Rams. You know, the multi-use part of it, AC/DC notwithstanding, is not as clear. The same would be true for a brand new outdoor stadium. Really, that's a football facility, and it really limits the other multiple use aspects of it. So I think it's reasonable that all the parties are looking at some innovative ways to consider this entertainment complex. An indoor one that would have other applications other than just football."

Premier Wall says he'd like to see the initial work of the review sometime this spring, and is looking at trying to make a decision sometime this year.

Randoms (and has beens)

2009-04-08T22:40:00.003-06:00

Something needs to be done about the gang problem in Regina right now. I spent yesterday afternoon camped out at the corner of Cameron Street and 5th Avenue in North Central Regina as the Regina Police SWAT team surrounded a home. Just before noon three men burst into the home and shot a man inside right in front of his two daughters. He was taken to hospital, and his injuries appear to be non-life threatening. The SWAT team raided the home, but the suspects were long gone. They are believed to be members of a local gang. This shooting seems to be a case of mistaken identity, as the target is believed to be a man who had moved out of the home a week ago. This poor family just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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This incident got me thinking, if I do ever get married and have kids, would I want to raise them in Regina? I personally don't feel unsafe in this community. There are actually many aspects of it that I like. But, I don't think I'd feel comfortable having a young child here. Not with these gangs roaming the streets. The Police and city have done an incredible job to reduce crime, but I would still feel very uneasy. I don't like feeling like this, my Mom and Uncle John were both raised here, and loved it. I don't know. I can't believe I'm having these types of thoughts! How old am I?!

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Well, this proves it. Regina is firmly stuck in 1983 when it comes to music. A pair of massive concerts will be coming to Mosaic Stadium in the Queen City in August. First, Aerosmith and ZZ Top August 9th. Then AC/DC August 24th. Nevermind that none of these bands have been relevant in two decades. (Granted, Aerosmith did put out a couple of good songs in the late 90's) I guess it's kind of cool that these classic bands are coming here, but don't expect to see me lining up for tickets when they go on sale. I put up with enough of their songs on the radio.

This comes on the heels of The Rolling Stones playing the stadium a couple of years ago. They haven't been relevant since the 1970's, yet people here talk like it was the greatest thing in the history of history that they came here. Old people, what can you do.

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I say this, but I'm listening to one of my favourite albums from the 90's right now. The Goo Goo Dolls - Dizzy Up the Girl. I almost wore this disc out in grade 12. It's amazing how clearly I can remember that year when I throw this album in. I was living with a family friend in Fox Creek. My family had moved to Edmonton halfway through grade 11, and I wanted to graduate with my friends. I was happy to be back in the town with my friends that I'd known all my life, but there were times I felt so homesick. I missed my family. It was really strange feeling homesick for Edmonton, seeing as I moved back to Fox Creek so I could be "home."

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I moved away from Edmonton more than six years ago, and I still feel homesick for it. I love that city. Oh Edmonton, I'll be home someday!

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I should probably post my thoughts on the Oilers missing the playoffs, but if you're a semi-regular reader here, you know what I think. I'll post about them in the coming days I'm sure. Although, I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing MacT behind the bench much longer. You can tell by his demeanor that he's leaning towards stepping aside.

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Okay, bedtime.

Peace on Earth

2009-04-05T12:37:00.002-06:00

Who have we left in charge in Afghanistan? A new law has been passed in the wartorn nation that would make it illegal for Shia women to deny sex to their husbands, or even leave their homes without permission. Exactly the sort of law the Taliban enforced during their days in power. It's being reported that this new law was passed to generate support from fundamentalist voters for President Hamid Karzai in the upcoming elections. He's allowing women to be legally raped to buy votes.

To their credit, international leaders have expressed their outrage. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been at the forefront of it, and has voiced his concerns directly to their government. Karzai's government has said they will review the law. This is not good enough. We should all be outraged over this. We have young men and women fighting in Afghanistan. They are doing an amazing job in trying to provide some stability and freedom for everyone, and this law is a slap in the face.

Because of the work of our soldiers, conditions for women have improved since the start of the war. Young girls are again going to school. Women are being taught business skills so they can support themselves. There are men in that nation that believe in equal rights, and are working with us. Unfortunately their government doesn't seem to agree. There are terrorist elements still running wild in that country, and many are involved in their government. Because of this, millions of women are still oppressed. Millions of women still live in fear. Women are still beaten and murdered by men who are justifying it by pointing to archaic laws.

The corruption in the Karzai government is out of control, and we need to stand up and say enough. Passing a law that specifically strips the rights of women should not and cannot be tolerated. I don't care if this guy is an ally or not, he is clearly not good for the people of Afghanistan. That's what this war should be about. Not that the government is favourable to us, but that it is favourable to it's people. Only when there is true freedom and democracy for everyone in Afghanistan can we truly consider them an ally.

There are steps we can all take to see these changes. Write your MPs. If you're an American, write your Representatives and Senators. Tell them this is not acceptable. Let them know that we do care about the people in Afghanistan, and we will support those that share our views.

Educate yourself on what's happening there. Support charitable groups that are doing positive work. Here's a link to War Child Canada. This is an incredible program that they are running.

http://www.warchild.ca/index.php/programsint/selected/2

We'd be fooling ourselves to think changes can come overnight. This is a nation that's been at war for decades. We need to keep at it there. We need to get inside their government and weed out the corruption and criminal elements. We need to fight off the Taliban. We need to provide security for construction projects and schools so there is work and education for their people. This is what those that want to see chaos fear the most. They thrive on an uneducated out of work population. People who don't have any other option but join a terrorist element. By providing education and jobs, we provide a pathway to peace. Laws like the one just passed can undo years of hard work. Stand up and say not this time.

New Regina Dome?

2009-04-03T13:41:00.002-06:00

Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco was asked about the possibility of a new stadium being built in Regina in the next little while. There's been much debate over where the Riders should play heading into the future. As much of a Mecca Mosaic Stadium is, she is showing her age. Here's what the Mayor had to say this morning.

Q - You could build something like a stadium.

"Well you know what, there's a good argument for that, and I think we're going to hear something in the next couple of months."

"There's no question that there's interest, and understanding that this a major project not only for the city, but for the province. The provincial government clearly is a partner with us, so are others, the private sector and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Once the province provides us with additional information from the concept review that they've been working on, then we can work towards that. My understanding is that it will still take a couple of more months, that's fine, in the meantime we're investing in the current facility, Mosaic Stadium. We want to make sure that the infrastructure there is taken care of. But I'm fairly confident that as we move forward we're going to hear some good news in regards to a new entertainment facility for Regina that frankly is going to serve those involved in sports, arts, culture, entertainment. It's needed, but that's down the road."

Q - Maybe some dollars in the 2010 budget?

"You know what, it might even be before that."

Oh Mighty Facebook!

2009-04-02T18:48:00.005-06:00

Visiting Facebook at work can make you a better employee. I'm serious! I'm sure most of you, my faithful readers, have logged onto Facebook while sitting at your desk. What's the harm, right? We're just checking to see if anyone sent me a message, or commented on our status. Why should we feel like a criminal for doing it? Why should we be keeping a watchful eye over our shoulders in case someone discovers what we're up to?

At work, we've gotten emails from the station's engineer. Emails from management. Stay off Facebook, you're here to work. They've even gone so far as to block the site for a few days at a time. Oh, but today I found something that helps our cause. A story from news service Reuters that says visiting sites like Facebook and YouTube can make you more productive!

A new study out of the University of Melbourne finds that people who use the internet for personal reasons at work are 9% more productive. Study Author Brent Coker says people need to zone out for a few minutes to regain concentration.

"Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the Internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days' work, and as a result, increased productivity''

Finally, something we could point to and say "Look! This study says right here that going on Facebook can make me more productive!" I was starting to feel pretty smug.

The study shows I'm not alone. Of the 300 people they followed, 70 percent of them took part in what the study calls workplace internet leisure browsing. This was just too good to be true! My brothers and sisters in the office, join with me. Let's take these results, march right into management and say "A-ha!"

Like everything in life though, you have to read the fine print. The study looked at people who browsed in moderation, or were on the Internet for less than 20 percent of their total time in the office. “Those who behave with Internet addiction tendencies will have a lower productivity than those without'' Coker said.

Suddenly, that smug feeling melted away. Could it be? Am I addicted to the internet? Let's look at the evidence.

After my morning shower, the first thing I do is turn on the computer. I need to check my email to see if there are any early morning press conferences. I like to check the weather, to see what coat I should wear to work. I need to check my Facebook.

When I get to work, I once again check my emails. See if anything new has come down the wire. Check the other local news sites to see if there is anything we missed. I check my Facebook.

When I go to the Legislature to cover question period I sit in my office and listen to it on the headphones. I'll take some notes as it progresses. I log onto the internet with my cell phone, and check my Facebook.

When I get home from work, the first thing I do before I take my shoes off is turn on the computer. It's not to check my emails, or the other news sites. Not even the weather. I turn on the computer simply to check my Facebook. Oh dear god, I think I'm beginning to see a pattern form.

Is Facebook really stealing my productivity at work? I don't think so. I still get all my stories done. I still come up with story ideas and put out phone calls. But could I be doing more? Is it stealing my productivity at home? I don't exactly spend hours on end outside playing sports, but let's be honest, winter sucks here. And this spring hasn't exactly been tropical. Oh no, I'm making excuses for myself. Isn't that another sign of addiction? Am I really gaining anything by sitting for hours on end each day on Facebook? It's time I broke the chain, got outside a little bit more. The weather is starting to turn. And are my bosses right, do I really need to be checking Facebook so many times a day? Am I going to learn something at 2:00 that can't wait until 5:30? Let's solve this. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

My name is Thomasean, and I'm a Facebook-aholic.

Number 100! (of course it's about MacT)

2009-04-01T19:15:00.002-06:00

What better topic to write about in my 100th entry than Craig MacTavish. He's definitely been the most mentioned name on this blog since I started it back in October. As all you regular readers know by now, I am not a MacT fan. His actions last night have finally thrust his shortcomings into the national spotlight. Let's set the scene.

The Oilers, trailing 4-1 to the Anaheim Ducks in the third period, storm back and scored two goals to make it 4-3. With 2:11 remaining, MacT decides to call for a measurement of Teemu Selanne's stick. Gutsy move. The stick turns out to be legal, the Oilers get penalized for delay of game, and Anaheim scores an empty netter to clinch the 5-3 win. The Oilers are now eleventh in the west, three points out of a playoff spot, with just five games remaining.

Fans have been jamming the lines on 630 CHED all season long calling for MacT to be fired for a variety of reasons that I've posted on this blog several times. His constant line juggling, their inability to get off to strong starts, simple and ineffective powerplay schemes, mass confusion in their own end. I can go on and on. The only thing is, you never really heard these issues mentioned in the mainstream media. Analysts at every network continued to call him a fantastic teacher, a terrific coach, and a brilliant mind. It was always the players at fault, not the coach. Analysts were still saying it today. One even said the Oilers better snap out of it, or the players are going to lose a great coach. Even Premier Brad Wall said on Off The Record today that MacT shouldn't be fired! But, this is what gives me hope. The fact that MacT being on the hot seat is making the national media. He was asked about it today by reporters, the Edmonton Sun ran an entire story about it. Finally, the media is picking up on what the fans have been saying for years.

Now, I work in the media, so I know how it works. It's a dangerous thing to jump on what the fans say and just run with it. Someone is always calling for the coach to be fired, the backup quarterback is always the most popular player on the team. You can't just go running stories about how this guy should be fired, or that guy should be played simply because it's the popular opinion of the day. But this is about more than just fan opinion. Look at what this team has accomplished under Craig MacTavish. In his eighth full season as head coach, the team is in danger of missing the playoffs for the fifth time. The product this team is putting on the ice is chaotic at best some nights. They simply aren't producing under his tutelage, and when that happens in professional sports, the coach loses his job. Nothing personal, it's business. We need to see results.

My friend Raj is probably one of the best hockey minds I've ever met, and he made a great observation about this team. This isn't entirely MacT's fault. I'm willing to admit, the job he did coaching the team to the 2006 Stanley Cup final was great. Look at the make up of that team though. It had guys like Peca, Stoll, Reasoner, Harvey, Smyth, Pronger, Smith and so on. Character players that were strong defensively. Willing to go into the corners and muck it up. Willing to play the style that MacT played in his playing days. That type of team suits his coaching style perfectly. Not a single one of those players I just listed remains on this team. They've been replaced by the likes of Gagner, Cogliano, Nilsson, Gilbert and Grebeshkov. Offensively gifted players that can run and gun with the best of them. A style that MacT has never been able or willing to coach. Part of the blame for MacT's demise has to lay squarely on the shoulders of the guy who brought him to the dance. Kevin Lowe. These two have a completely different vision of what style this team should play, and it shows on the ice.

I'll say it right here, Craig MacTavish has proven that with the proper personnel, he can be a very good coach. Once he's done in Edmonton, there will be other teams lining up to hire him. If they have the type of lineup the Oilers had in 2006, they will see some success. He's just run out his time in Edmonton.

Mr Katz, it's time to make the change.

April Fools!

2009-04-01T08:41:00.002-06:00

I love April Fools Day. Growing up my Mom would always try to convince me that it actually ended at noon, so I couldn't pull any pranks in the afternoon. I never bought it though. I assumed she was only telling me that because I wouldn't wake up until 1:30.

Rod Pedersen teamed with CHAB in Moose Jaw, Pats GM Brent Parker and Warriors GM Chad Lang this morning to announce the Highway One Palace. A new 7200 seat arena the two teams will share in Belle Plaine. Parker and Lang each did interviews. I woke up 45 minutes ago, so I didn't get a chance to hear the reaction. Looking at Rods blog, I see some people bought it.

The best April Fools story that I've ever seen was in Grande Prairie. My old buddy Curtis Galbraith had given his tape machine to a couple of guys at the Peace Country Classic Agri-Show the year before, and they went off on how there were going to be monkeys at the next year's show. Curtis saved the clips, and ran them on April fools. The best line.

"Everybody should make sure to wear raincoats, monkeys will be flinging crap everywhere."

The response this story got in the morning was incredible. People were furious!

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Speaking of furious, how about those Oilers! This team is useless. They're now 11th in the west, three points out of eighth with only five games to go. They lost 4-3 to Anaheim last night. Same old story. Bad start, fall behind early, furious comeback in the third that comes up short.

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What has this world come to. Have you seen some of the shows on television now. Rupaul's Drag Race. Brooke Knows Best. Celebrity Rehab. Why would anyone watch this crap? Then there are the shows (mostly on A&E) that feature careers. Sandhogs is the latest one. I've only seen previews, but as far as I can tell, it's about people that drill tunnels? TV executives are just plain getting lazy.

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Okay, this was another brief one, but I do need to get to work. Hello April! Now, if only we could get some decent temperatures. I'm tired of highs of 1 or 2.

Serenity Now

2009-04-01T00:59:00.003-06:00

I've had several false starts to blog entries in recent days. I'm sure you've noticed the lack of posting (or maybe not.) It's not that I haven't had anything on my mind, I'm just having a terrible time trying to turn my thoughts into something coherent. So this is going to be brief.

I cannot tolerate disrespect. I'm not talking about the type of person that fires the odd shot over the bow, we're all guilty of doing that. I'm talking about the sort of person that makes a habit out of talking down to others. The type that go out of their way to make sure you know that they do not appreciate what you do. The type that will criticize any idea you may come up with, simply because it may not be of interest to them. The type that always seem to have a condescending tone in their voice. Today, I'd seen enough. You can joke around with me all you want. Make fun of the fact I always seem to be single, or have messy hair, or because my voice cracked on the air. That's all fair game. But, if you show me or one of my friends unacceptable disrespect, I will not sit idly by and allow it to happen.

Serenity now.

Earth Hour

2009-03-29T22:07:00.003-06:00

I'll admit it, I took part in Earth Hour. Sort of. I turned off my lights for two hours, so I could keep the TV on. I guess that sort of defeats the purpose, but I live pretty environmentally conscious most of the time. I think I've built up some green cred!

My story on Global on Saturday was on Earth Hour. The story featured two men. First, there was Glenn. Glenn was joining 60 other people to celebrate the hour. Then there was Paul. Paul feels that anyone in Saskatchewan that observes Earth Hour is a hypocrite. Clearly we had the two extreme ends of the debate on this one.

Glenn and his family live to lower their carbon footprint as much as possible. In the summer they grow their own vegetables. He bikes to work year round, no small feat in the winter time. They do their best to buy local food. Glenn says we are already living 20 percent beyond what the world can provide, and if we don't change our ways, we won't be leaving much of a future to our children.

Paul calls the World Wildlife Fund a radical group that wants to end our way of life. He points out that we live in a brutally cold environment for six months out of the year, and our communities are spread out, forcing us to travel long distances. He says we clearly need to consume fuel to survive, and sitting around in the dark for an hour isn't going to change a thing.

Both points are valid. Glenn proves everyday that we can live greener. Paul isn't exactly wrong either, it is cold here, we do need to consume energy to survive. The true answer has to be somewhere in between though, doesn't it? I'm a clear believer in climate change. For anyone that doubts it, pull your head out of your ass and look at the science. You're wrong. It's happening, and we need to stop it. We can all live a life that takes a bit less of a toll on our environment. Not everybody can plant their own garden, or bike to work everyday. But we can take the bus, or shop at the farmers market. We can reduce the amount of electricity we use at home by switching to CFL bulbs, and unplugging appliances like our computers when they're not in use. Small gestures like that not only conserve energy, but will have an impact on your power bill.

The results are in for Earth Hour in Saskatchewan. No noticeable difference in energy use for that hour. That's okay though. Paul's right, sitting in the dark for an hour won't make a difference. However, the awareness that this story brings to the issue can make a world of difference. Only if we're willing to listen that is.

Randoms (and writers block)

2009-03-26T00:28:00.003-06:00

I've had writers block bad this week. Every time I sit down to blog, my mind goes blank. All afternoon and evening I had great blog ideas, but they've completely vanished. This is a half hearted apology for another Randoms entry. Only half hearted, because this blog is called random thoughts. What do you expect?!

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Ales Hemsky gave an interview with Dan Barnes of the Edmonton Journal this week, and declared he is entirely frustrated. He doesn't feel important, or that the team is leaning on him offensively. He went so far as to say "I'm just trying to do exactly what they want. I'm becoming a checker." Craig MacTavish has never been able to coach the team to a high octane offense. Sheldon Souray is tied with Hemsky for the team goal scoring lead with 21 goals. Sounds okay, right? Well, think of it this way. Owen Nolan has 22 goals this season. In Minnesota.

Here's the link to the Barnes article.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/sports/hockey/edmonton-oilers/Hemsky+feels+underappreciated/1421448/story.html

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More Oilers news, they've signed Jordan Eberle to a three year deal. He will play with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL for the rest of their season. Don't expect to see him in Edmonton next year though, I foresee another year in the Queen City for Ebs.

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I had the pleasure of attending the U of R Cougars Fundraiser Dinner this evening. CTV's Brian Williams served as guest speaker. His speech was fantastic, and very inspirational. He told several great stories, both hilarious and heart wrenching. The most touching moment of the speech was when he spoke of the highway of heroes between Trenton and Toronto. It's a stretch of highway where our fallen soldiers are brought home. Very powerful. His speech focused on going for gold in every aspect of life. Whether it be athletics, or in business. The most amazing part is he did it unscripted. He had a few notes written down, but nothing in speech form. That's how he works. When you're watching him host the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver next winter, he will be speaking that entire time without the use of a teleprompter. Very impressive man.

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CTV's JC Garden and Morgan Reed hosted the event, and did a very good job. Morgan Reed looked stunning!

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My buddy Paul stayed up late Monday night and bought our U2 tickets for the show in Zagreb, Croatia August 10th. He's pretty sure he got us on the field, but isn't 100% on that. The site was in Croatian. This trip just keeps getting better and better! It's also getting closer and closer to a reality. Stay tuned.

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My sincere condolences to my boss, Craig Wallebeck. Craig's mother passed away on Wednesday. It was her 86th birthday.