June 30, 2006

Happy Canada Day everyone. I may or may not be blogging this weekend -- no official sports planned but me and the boys may be swinging golf clubs in anger for the first time this summer tomorrow.

Otherwise, hopefully a lot of nothing and sunny skies, warm clear evenings and good food and drink.

Drive safely if you're traveling, enjoy the company of your spouse and kids, and take a moment to truly appreciate how great a country we were lucky enough to be born in or chose to make home. A few minutes spent watching any TV newscast will convince you that not everyone has it so good.

 

 

June 29, 2006

  • OK. I've been busy and unblogging. So. Chris Pronger doesn't want to live in Edmonton anymore. The story apparently is that his wife, a native of St. Louis, doesn't care for Edmonton and she's being made out to be Yoko Ono. My two cents -- that Edmonton is cold and far away is not news and even Pronger could have figured that out before signing a five-year contract that still has four years left on it. Second, I lived in Edmonton for two years. Pad was born there. It takes some getting used to, or at least it did for us. The people are wonderful. Alberta is a province with spectacular natural beauty. I had a great job. So what was the problem? It gets cold, sure. But so does Ottawa and Montreal and . . . well, Canada. But in Edmonton, the sense of isolation, especially for my spouse, was palpable. We had a newborn, we were young, we were on a bit of a steep learning curve. By the end of the day, when everyone was fed, the baby bathed, and we could catch a breath, it was pushing 9 pm. Or, midnight in Nova Scotia where my wife's mother is. Too late to call. She felt isolated. She wanted to talk to her mother. It made her unhappy that she could not call when she wanted to. That's not good. Me, I'm glad we lived in Edmonton. Pad's prime ministerial credentials are stronger for it. But I get a little bit of what Pronger says. Unhappy wives are not a small matter, especially if you like them.  But -- and this is key -- Laura would have found ways to be happy in Edmonton for $6.25 million annually, US dollars. And, the Mississippi Valley is only one time zone from Alberta, not three, so presumably Chris's missus doesn't have the big time-zone problem. And, Edmonton is a great hockey town with some of the friendliest people on the planet who worship guys like Pronger.

  • At Swamp Hockey the other night, Chris -- who still aspires to greatness -- pokechecked the puck cleanly off a smooth-skating Ranger as he zipped over the blue line. Later he scored and almost added another in the same shift. Now, William S. pretty much filled the net with pucks later, and Chris had his share of dubious moments as well as the goal. But you know what? When you're nine, you remember the goal.

  • Last day of school today for our guys and many others. Where did the year go? No three-on-three this weekend. A lacrosse practice tonight for Pad, then nothing for the weekend. What will we do? Trust me -- we'll figure something out.

June 25, 2006

And just like that, house league lacrosse season is over. This season seemed to go by faster than others, but that may be a function of my advancing age, the number of plates we have spinning on sticks in this household, or numerous other things.

Chris's team won their final game in Novice, a thriller vs the fifth place team. The Bandits squeaked past the Mammoth and Hunter Albrecht's debut as a house league coach turned out a championship win for his Wings over the Rock. Saturday was long and busy but it's always fun. Gala Day means the end of another school year is only days away and the summer lies in front of the kids like a blank piece of paper to be coloured, folded, textured and otherwise filled in with hopefully countless adventures with friends and family.

 

Some quickies

  • The Penguins drafted Jordan Staal yesterday and are positioning themselves to have a contending team three to five years down the road -- perhaps sooner with some luck.

  • The Leafs traded for a young goalie -- Andrew Raycroft -- whose best years (on second thought, make that best year) may be behind him. Rookie of the year two years ago, he had injury problems last year and even the pitiful Bruins made him their second stringer. All of the sudden, Toronto has too many goalies.

  • OK, OK. I've been sucked into the World Cup vortex. But what else was I going to do? Hockey is over, NBA is over. And the Jays season is a long way from getting interesting. I'm cheering for England, because that seems to be the soccer world's equivalent of being a Leaf fan.

 

 

June 23, 2006

Sweet.

What other word can you use to describe the bounce back last night by the bantam 3 Hawks in the second leg of a home-and-home with Mississauga, a night after being not just thrashed on the scoreboard but also subjected to the classless spectacle of Mississauga allowing their goalie to repeatedly come up the floor in the third period to try to score when they were leading by NINE goals?

Considerably different state of affairs at Clarkson Arena last night, I'm told. I missed it because of a work commitment, but the Hawks scored with 12 seconds left on the clock to secure a 5-5 draw in a game they led a couple of times.

Oakville, I'm told, played a punishing physical game -- no doubt summoning the vision of the Mississauga goalie from the third period the night before as inspiration. The tie was a huge moral lift for the team. And oddly enough, Mississauga's goalie decided to stay close to home last night.

To their credit, in fact, some of the Mississauga kids congratulated the Hawks after the game for their effort. That's classy. I'm guessing the showboat tactics of the night before were no more popular with many Mississauga parents than they were with ours and maybe that message was sent and received.

Anyway.

Maybe the Hawks learned something about effort, and paying the price, and making the other guys pay a price, and teamwork, and all of that in the last two games. Because if they did, then all the previous losses were worth it.

I'm told Chris Rooney had four points and several guys -- including Pad -- played very, very physical games at both ends of the floor. Mitchell was great -- stupendous -- in goal by all accounts.

Pad wearily crawled out of the shower just as I got home last night and he collapsed on couch with a bagel and juice. I asked how he felt.

"I hurt all over," he said. Then he smiled. "I feel great."

---

OMLA gala day tomorrow. And Sunday. Should be fun, but I expect a long, long, long, day for Laura. Have a good weekend everyone.

 

June 22, 2006

  • Pretty much on the cusp of summertime now. I know the calendar says it's summer, but it's not really summer until the kids are sleeping in and I'm leaving for work every day without anyone noticing.

  • Pad's school did "Music on the Lawn" last night. All the kids received their gold medals from the extraordinary performance in Ottawa last month, and they played under cloud speckled blue skies for parents and friends. As is typical in our lives, we had to bail early to go play lacrosse.

  • We played a Mississauga team last night. Regular readers will know the Bantam 3 Hawks are no powerhouse. Part of the problem is there are not a lot of true "C" and "D" level teams for them to play, so they play a lot of "B" and even "A" teams, and the result is inevitable. We lost last night -- I think it was 11-4 or 12-3 or something like that. Anyway, the score wasn't terribly relevant. What was interesting -- any frankly offensive -- was in the third period the Mississauga coach allowing his goalie to come up the floor over half to try to score. In short, he was trying to humiliate our team. I have no problem losing to a better team by a big score. I do have a problem with a team hunting for humiliation when they are up by 10 goals in the third period. The goalie never came close to scoring  But nonetheless, it was completely bush league. I also bet they will be the first team to whine when one of their kids gets hurt from a cheap hit while they are doing their little showboat routine, which is exactly the type of reaction that sort of "kick 'em when they're down" garbage invites. Our coach restrained our team from running their goalie. I've coached hockey, lacrosse and soccer for nine years and never seen anything like it. I hope they're proud.

  • Having said that, they had the best female lacrosse player I've ever seen. I think she scored or assisted on eight or nine goals. She was a joy to behold. Remove her from the team and they were pretty ordinary all in all. 

June 20, 2006

  • Well, I hate being right sometimes. The 'Canes won the cup, but what a great 7th game. Even after Edmonton scored to pull within one, the game never felt in jeopardy for Carolina -- they were just a step too quick last night for the Oilers. I finished the playoffs with a 10-5 record, which is not bad for a rank amateur. The crystal ball goes away for awhile.

  • Pad's school band went to Wonderland yesterday (ever notice how school is different now?)  Anyway, Laura went as a chaperone and took Chris too, and another mom from the band also brought her nine-year-old, so a grand time was had by all. I had to work late last night and got home around 8:30p and everyone was flaked out in the family room with Swiss Chalet containers around them. I enjoyed a small piece of leftover chicken and a glass of milk. My life is non-stop glamour. (Acutally, it was a small price to pay to not have to go to Wonderland with 110 kids among 20,000 already there.)

  • Lacrosse action resumes tonight with the Bantam Hawks hosting Orangeville. Then Wednesday and Thursday we do a home and home with Mississauga. We know we're competitive with Orangeville, but the Mississauga games may be tougher. They may also be compounded by a confluence of Grade 8 graduations, parties, band concerts, and sundry other occurrences intended to challenge lacrosse coaches.

  • Phil Mickelson gets the award for bonehead golfer of the week. Standing on the 18th tee needing a par to win the US Open, he hacks and flails to a double bogey. Now, many of us mere mortals would have our hands full making a par from the tips on a US Open layout. But we're not Phil -- three-time major champion. He shoulda won.

June 18, 2006

 

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and to mine especially. I was lucky in life to have an extraordinary dad who supported me in all my endeavors, hare-brained and otherwise, from cradle to present day. I learned many lessons from him but they can pretty much be summed up as, you only get one chance to raise your kids so you had better get it right the first time. He did, in spades.

One of the best memories of my youth way back in Windsor Jct, N.S., was the day my dad came home from work in September 1968 with three standing-room-only tickets to the first NHL pre-season game ever to be played in Halifax. Montreal vs. Detroit. I am a Leaf fan but this was the defending champions (Belliveau, Henri Richard, the Roadrunner, Lemaire, and so many others) vs Mr. Hockey. What I remember is that Gordie Howe was injured and wasn't supposed to play. What I also remember is that he did. Montreal won, Howe played about half the game, and standing room felt like a luxury box to me and my older cousin Michael.

My dad will be in his chair today watching the Blue Jays, and no doubt grateful that Roy Halladay is pitching so he won't have to curse as much at the Toronto pitching staff.

I also am lucky to have a great father in law, whom I generally describe as the world's most normal guy. Everyone likes him, he is completely unflappable, and as always made me feel part of the clan in Cape Breton. He should visit more often, but that's my only complaint.

Not sure what my day holds in store, as my boys are still asleep after a very busy Saturday. Chris's last place house league lacrosse team won a remarkable game against what I considered to be the best team in the league. We still finish last, but we stopped counting long ago.

Pad was time keeper for five games yesterday. I coached and convened a slew of games.

Our very generous friends around the corner invited us over for a swim and barbeque last evening and it was perfect in every way.

So, anyway, back to where I started. Happy Father's Day to all the dads.

 

June 15, 2006

  • Been busy, forgot to update with the loss in Mimico the other night. The Hawks didn't put up their best effort and got the result that comes with that. I also think that maybe they were a bit fatigued from the amount of practice and games lately, but that's just a guess.

  • What a hockey game last night. Great action and a great winning goal. Carolina will win it on Oiler ice.

  • I've got the England-Trinidad soccer game on in the background here. It's kind of like watching France or Germany beat Team Canada in hockey. The England side is very frustrated for sure.

  • Still with the World Cup, I find it interesting how little work is being done in Toronto these days, but lots of people are hanging around food courts watching soccer on TV.

  • The US Open starts today. Tiger? Phil? Mike? It ends on Father's Day, where all the dads receive offerings of love and gratitude and watch the final round of the US Open until 5:30p when they have to take their kids to lacrosse practice . . .

June 12, 2006

  • Bantam 3 Hawks visit Mimico to play their 2 team this evening. It will be a tough test, but not as tough as the Mimico 1 team that we played on the weekend.

  • A stunning figure crossed my desk today. The US Congress has passed a bill funding the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, Katrina relief, and some other stuff. Now, here's the stunning part. With the passage of this legislation, the cost of the three-year-war in Iraq is now $320 BILLION. How much money is that? Well, in Canadian dollars, it's about $355 billion. That's almost enough money to fund the entire federal budget of Canada for two years (including all of our military.) It's enough to send 3.5 million kids to university for four years at $25,000 a year. It's enough to pay a billion MOHA hockey registrations. Anyway, it's a lot of money.

June 11, 2006

 

We lost today by another fairly wide margin to what is probably the best team we'll see this year. Whitby 3 -- who thumped Mimico 1 -- could do everything well. At one point in the 2nd period it was 5-3 for them but they kind of pulled away after that. But this weekend was about building character. So, mission accomplished I hope.

 

The rink in Milton where we played was small. Small dressing rooms, small benches. One coach, who shall remain nameless, suggested that that everything in Milton is small. Nudge nudge. (Except the margin of victory when they played us.)

 

June 10, 2006

 

Rough day for the Bantam 3 Hawks playing in Milton against Milton 2 and (gasp) Mimico 1. To protect the innocents I'll stay mum on the scores, but we were significantly out of our level. The boys never let up but the results were inevitable.

 

Meanwhile, Chris's house league team took a moral victory -- losing 6-4 with a very late goal to a team that beat us 8-0 last time we met. So good for them.

 

Early morning tomorrow to be back in Milton for a 7:30a start. Yikes.

 

June 9, 2006

 

Late breaking news from the Halton district track meet. Pad finished third in the 800 metres, just missing out on 2nd. He didn't get to try out or compete in the local qualifying track meet because of his broken leg and rehab. But an opening appeared in the lineup in this event and the coach (who knows Pad) stuck him in this race. Considering where he was a few weeks ago, he'll be pretty happy with third. Although he'd have been happier if he got to compete in the high jump and long jump too. Oh well. Next year, maybe he shouldn't break his leg.

 

June  9, 2006

 

As usual a very sporty weekend ahead in our house -- so busy in fact that Pad is actually going to pass on his 3-on-3 hockey game tonight. He had a two-hour lacrosse practice last night, then plays in a tournament twice tomorrow, including an early game, then he is time keeper for lacrosse later in the day, then plays again at 7:30a Sunday morning. In between, Chris has a birthday party tonight (they're going to the Buzz game) and lacrosse Saturday morning, where I help coach and semi-convene.

 

If Laura charges the camera we'll have lots of pictures to go with the Milton tournament results, so check in for all the riveting excitement, the scores, the details . . .  Well, at least check in Monday at least to see how we did.

 

Pad used some of the money he's earned timekeeping at house league lacrosse this year to buy golf clubs the other night. He's outgrown his old junior set and is now chomping at the bit to take me out and humiliate me on the links, which really won't be all that difficult. Chris inherits Pad's old clubs in the process.

 

The World Cup tournament starts today. I know I'm supposed to really, really care. In spite of finding it somewhat interesting, mostly I really, really don't. But for those of you who care, have a ball!

 

No hockey tonight -- Game Three in Edmonton tomorrow night. Go Oilers!

 

And, the Leafs re-signed Mikael Tellqvist. Book the parade.

 

June 7, 2006

 

A good parent wouldn't put this link here. But I'm adventurous. Kids: DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WITHOUT ADULT SUPERVISION. And then, only in a wide open outdoor space, away from freshly washed cars. Interesting things can happen when you mix Diet Coke and Mentos mints. Learn more, and see the video, here.

 

June 7, 2006

 

  • Hey lacrosse fans! The Bantam 3 Hawks trip to Newmarket was a fruitful one, and they came home with a 9-3 win. Timely and good for the confidence heading into another weekend tournament -- this one mercifully close by in Milton.

  • OK, a political detour today. Hold onto the rope and no pushing and I'll be boring you about sports again before you know it. As is my occasional wont to do, I thought I'd bore you with some Parliament Hill "inside baseball" in the wake of the terrorist arrests last week and the buzz that the Peace Tower was a target. Back in the early 1990s when I was a reporter for CP on the Hill and Laura was 2IC at the Ottawa Citizen's entertainment department, we had a lot of fun. Lots of interesting friends (not to say that you people are not interesting. Don't get defensive), great parties, lots of dinners out in the Byward Market and on Elgin Street, no kids, no minor sports, and generally behaving poorly, sleeping late, playing golf on weekends . . . you get the idea. Security on the Hill in those days was such that when friends and family visited, I could take them on personal tours of the Parliament Buildings using my media pass to gain access for all of them with just my signature. There were a few place I couldn't go, but for the purposes of showing people around, reporters had pretty wide access. In the context of 9-11, how scary is that? The topper is that anyone -- I mean, anyone -- could drive onto the Hill right up to the Peace Tower. Laura would routinely come downtown and pick me up at 7:30p or 8p and park literally under the Peace Tower -- there's an archway there you can drive under and stop at the base of the steps to the Centre Block, which is probably the best parking spot in town. It took a while, but eventually the bright lights figured out that this was great for public access to the Hill, and really convenient for reporters getting drives home from work, but not terribly secure. Not everyone is -- or was -- as trustworthy as the curvy blonde in the (much lamented) Honda Prelude. Maybe you had to be there. But it's a pretty stark illustration of how much times have changed since we went to Ottawa in 1990. It's a different world. We all know that. Every now and then I see evidence of HOW different. OK, now, back to the sports stuff.

  • Oilers try to right the ship tonight. Who will start in goal? Tune in to find out!!

June 6, 2006

 

Are you, or anyone you know, about to give birth today? It's the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year. If it's a boy, consider calling him Damien maybe. And I want to draft that kid when he's ready to play lacrosse. Read here for some background.

 

Ugly loss for the Oilers last night. Losing their goalie AND a three-goal lead might rattle the lads. I told Laura that if, in the first period, Carolina could fend off the two-minute two-man Oiler advantage (and they did) they would win the game and the series. Lucky guess, I guess.

 

Pad and the Hawks are off to Newmarket tonight for a long drive and a road game. Chris has lacrosse practice and hockey in back-to-back time slots. Nothing is ever simple.

 

June 5, 2006

 

So, who's going to win the Stanley Cup? Who are we going to cheer for?

Two questions with two different answers. While I haven't compared the birthplaces on the rosters, I expect there are just as many Canadians playing for Carolina as there are playing for the Oilers. But that's irrelevant. We all want to see the Stanley Cup on parade in a Canadian city, where it hasn't been seen since 1993, the year Pad was born. (The Leafs should have won in 1993 except for a bad call in Game Seven of the western final that gave L.A. the series. But I'm not bitter.)

Anyway, we'll be cheering for the Oilers. Pad's birthplace. A city of warm people and harsh weather.

But.

Carolina is going to win this series, in six games. Maybe they can drink mint juleps from the Cup. It just looks like too much of a hill for the Oilers to climb from where I sit. It all starts tonight.

I'll be happy to be proven wrong.

 

June 3, 2006

 

Just back from beautiful Arthur, ON, where the Bantam 3 Hawks went two and out. We lost the first game 7-3 to Elora --we led the game 2-0 and 3-2, but ran out of gas. Lost the second game 5-3 to Orangeville, who must be getting tired of looking at us -- this being our third game in 10 days versus them. There were a lot of positive things for the team to take away from both games. It's a learning experience.

 

I learned -- on the scenic drive up Highway 6 -- that there are places where you can buy "straw and hay." Now, I didn't stop for any, because we're pretty well looked after in the "straw and hay" department. But if we ever find we're running low, now I know where to shop.

 

Also, I learned that, at least in my limited experience, Highway 6 is the only road I've traveled that has its passing lanes on downhill grades. Generally, passing lanes are on uphill grades, so that when the 18 wheelers hauling "straw and hay" to the good people of wherever it is "straw and hay" are in demand slow down, the rest of us can pull out and pass in safety and comfort. BUT, if the passing lane is on a downhill grade (Ontario Highway 6, north of Fergus, being Exhibit A) then the 18 wheelers can pretty much go as fast as anyone else, and I bet that makes for some interesting jockeying when the passing lane ends. I'm happy to let a fully loaded 18 wheeler barrelling along at 140 kilometers an hour do pretty much whatever it wants. But that's just me.

 

Anyway, we all had a good time, we all would have liked to have done better, and we'll all keep working on this so that next time, we will.

 

June 2, 2006

  • Chris had a great time at Medieval Times yesterday, declaring it the best day ever that didn't involve hockey.

  • So, I was wrong. Carolina won. But I did get the score right. I do my Cup prediction later.

  • Busy weekend ahead. Bantam Hawks are in Arthur for a tournament, lots of house league lacrosse, three-on-three hockey tonight, etc. etc.

  • When is the off season?

  • Oh -- as promised -- bantam 3 lacrosse pics. Click here.

June 1, 2006

 

Wow. Hard to believe it's June already. The Bantam Hawks lost 6-4 in Orangeville last night. I wasn't there, but I gather they dug themselves a bit of a hole early and closed the gap to a goal before giving up a late one. We beat this team a week ago, so they are obviously well matched to each other. A funny habit I developed during hockey season last year was to ask Laura the same questions about the games I missed: How did the team look? How did Pad play? Who played really well? What were the people like?

By people, I mean the other team's parents, coaches, etc. We saw in some corners last year a dark and ugly underbelly of minor sports -- loud, abusive, swearing parents; screaming, loud coaches ready to burst a blood vessel, etc. Even parking lot threats. So I always ask, how were the people? The Orangeville folks -- who have an outstanding lacrosse program -- were classy a week ago and apparently the same last night. Laura took a bunch of pictures at the game and I hope to have those posted by mid day tomorrow via the Hawks page on this site.

 

Chris and me and the coaches and most of the rest of his house league novice lacrosse team had a very humid practice at Maplegrove. Sticky like fly paper. Helmets and gloves only and lots of water breaks. The unmistakable aroma of boys enjoying themselves. We had fun.

 

Chris' Grade 4 class is off on a trip today to the Medieval Times dinner theatre thing whatchmacallit. They have been raising money for this all year and Chris was beside himself with excitement last night. Because what could be more fun than dinner in a horse barn with actors dressed up like knights? Actually, I'm told it's a very entertaining day but I'm glad to miss it. I look forward to him telling me all about it . . .

 

Oh, and Chris wins the prize for best awkward question of the week. During the opening credits of The Simpsons, Bart is always featured writing something on the blackboard over and over as a form of punishment. The other night he was writing, "Spongebob is not a contraceptive" which led Chris -- who is nine -- to call me into the room and ask, "What's a contraceptive?" I won't get into the answer here except to say I did answer. Something about mothers and babies and the Internet and the Da Vinci Code. In parenting, practical information sometimes needs to be cloaked in mystery and technology too. (Right?)

 

Game Seven for Buffalo and Carolina tonight. Buffalo will win 4-2 with an empty net goal.