hockey blog june08



	J Ju June 30, 2008 I opted not to blog yesterday. Pretty scandalous, I know. Pad and I hit the road early for beautiful Midland -- one day tournaments are risky ventures in that you are assured two games, three if you make the final -- long trip for a little action. We won our first over Halton Hills and then lost to Peterborough in the semi final. In between we hung out at a very nice park adjacent to the South Simcoe Rec Centre, at least until it started raining. One of the more interesting developments of the day was when I found myself in the middle of a near riot in the stands at the end of a game in front of ours -- Halton Hills vs. Fergus, I think. The tournament was midget and intermediate teams, which means there's a fair amount of rogue testosterone present at all games. And in the stands. Some kid in the stands -- 15, maybe 16, no idea where he was from or if he was even a player -- was chirping at a group of parents, who chirped back. Not sure who started it, don't really care. The usual high-brow debate ensued. Me and several other parents watched with bemusement. Then this kid starts in with a mom, at which point a very large, very fit dad -- I think from Fergus, but I'm not sure -- comes over and basically tells the kid to shut up (he also helpfully encouraged him to send his dad to see him if he felt any discomfort about being told to shut up. Like most bullies, the kid shut his pie hole when actually faced with a losing proposition.) But naturally, that wasn't the end of it. He starts in with the mom again, and another dad comes over and tell him to shut up. Less large, less fit. Kid challenges guy to a fight, guy accepts. I roll my eyes. So the kid makes his way out of the stands, up the stairs to the back corner of the mezzanine where I'm sitting. He's yapping a mile a minute about the legendary ass kicking he's going to dispense on the man, who is now coming up the stairs. Me and several other people intercept the dad. I basically tell the dad, he's not going near the kid and to turn around. Several other parents are moving the kid away. Then a whole bunch of intermediate players from parts unknown (large, fit, 17-18 year olds) arrive and start haranguing the guy about trying to fight with a kid, etc. etc. It's not good. I'm basically nose to nose with one of these guys and tell him no one is going to fight, take your posse and go, because really, you're not helping. There is jostling and trash talk but the kid I just spoke to did actually help lower the temperature and he and some of the others move away, and good for him. Things generally disperse, everyone is very excited. People head for the exits. The whole thing had the feel of people who didn't really want to fight, but felt honor-bound to pretend they would. It was world-class stupidity, and I had a ring-side seat. Anyway, at this point I lose track of the action because everyone left and I sat down to watch the Oakville-Peterborough game. But Large Fit Dad apparently later reported that more crap continued outside and the police showed up. Glad I missed it. The kid at the centre of all this behaved like a total knob. But . . . adults don't confront kids or accept challenges to fight even if you don't intend to go through with it. Bad, bad idea. I have a motto, "Nothing Good Can Come of This", and it's remarkable how well it applies to many, many situations. And this was one. Anyway, that was my excitement for the day. Otherwise, Midland was uneventful. - - - Southern Ontario remains under a full Cape Breton cousin alert. While Pad and I were away, Sunday was a shopping day. The Toronto Zoo is under a full alert. Today's plan was (because the cousins like horses) Medieval Times theatre, but there's no show today. Or tomorrow! Tragically, the only show we could get is for Wednesday night, when I'll be in Orangeville for lacrosse with Pad. I'll have to miss Medieval Times. And the horses. And eating with my hands (because, it's like, medieval. OK?) Words can't describe my heartbreak. Pad's pretty ripped up too. But we'll get by. - - - Where I'm from, 12 million bees is a lot of bees. And 12 million bees in the back of an overturned truck? Well, there's a story that's going to generate some buzz! Yes, New Brunswick police have a real sting operation on their hands today! Skip more bad puns and go right to the story, here. June 28, 2008 Like Macaulay Culkin, I'm HOME ALONE! Except it's less funny. Laura, the boys, her sister, and her girls all headed for Marineland this morning because, you know -- everyone loves Marineland. Except me. So I stayed home. Yesterday they did the CN Tower, the Hard Rock Cafe, Eaton Centre and the Cape Breton cousins got to ride a GO Train and a subway for the first time. Trust me, if you live in Howie Centre, Cape Breton, that's a big day. Actually, I like Marineland just fine but I had some errands to run and since I'm going to be at a lacrosse tournament all day Sunday, I could either frolic with the belugas at Arctic Cove, or get my butt in gear and do some things I needed to do. Anyway, email reports from the Niagara Peninsula suggest everyone is having a blast, they got very wet on Maid of the Mist, and they're all exhausted. Two observations about adding three women from Cape Breton to the house. First, they eat less than my boys. Second, they travel with a lot of shoes. I should have seen that coming. Third, they don't care for baseball or the Jays. That's just weird. Fourth, it's weird that they went to Niagara Falls to see belugas and Killer Whales, because they live on an island surrounded by whales. I know that was four things. Consider it a bonus. Depending on how the day goes tomorrow: 1 - I may not blog at all. 2 - I may blog live from beautiful Midland, Ontario. 3 - I may blog late in the day when we get home. Wherever you are this weekend, drive carefully. As always, hug your kids. June 27, 2008 We begin today with a cautionary tale -- two, actually -- from the world of electronic banking. I have never lost, misplaced, or had stolen a credit card or bank card, which makes the events of the last couple of days interesting. I rushed home Wednesday night to get Pad to Maplegrove, where he was to officiate a novice peewee rep lacrosse game at 7p, then play with the midget 2 team at 9p. I stormed through the door at 6:46p, which is to say, really late. I quickly threw on shorts and t-shirt, grabbed wallet and blackberry, and ran to the car. I dumped Pad at the rink at 6:59p (don't ask how I got from Upper Middle Road in Glen Abbey to Maplegrove in that time period. You don't want details. But it didn't matter since the novice Hawks all went to the wrong rink and the game was late starting anyway. That's another story.) So, I then went to the Beer Store to get, well, beer. I look in my wallet. No ATM card. I call home. Search ensues. No card. I had last used it Monday night to take money out, so now I worried that I had left it in the bank machine, which would not be good if someone came in after me and our accounts were still open. So, I spent 15 minutes trying to find a number to call to contact the bank. When I finally reached them, they were actually very helpful, cancelled the card and checked to see if there had been any activity on the account. (There wasn't. All good.) Lesson: don't lose your bank card. So, fast forward to last night. I'm just getting on the train home when Laura calls me on the BB and says, call Visa right away. They think your card has been stolen. Um, OK. (I immediately had a bunch of questions, like, if the bank thought my card was stolen maybe they should cancel it, but, on with the story.) I call Visa and answer 16 questions to verify who I am. They then ask if I had been in <city I won't name> and spent $XXX at Zellers and then $XXX and Canadian Tire. No. Had I used my card at two different fast food places? No. A gas station in yet another city? No. Fact is, I rarely if ever use a credit card. So the smart people at Visa were really sharp to catch the activity, right? Wrong. When I get home, there's a letter from Visa with a new card, advising me that they suspect my account's security may have been "compromised." Here's a new card. Activate it. Use it. Destroy the old one. Etc etc. OK. But first I call Visa again and say, basically, WTF? If you suspected there was a problem on my account and sent me a new card, why didn't you cancel the old one then? <Insert long bureaucratic banky-bank type answer here that says, "We can't do that.") OK. So should I activate the new card in my hand? LORD NO!! DON'T DO THAT! (Same account, just different number, bank must delete the entire account, a small animal will be sacrificed, and I lose two draft picks to the Blackhawks.) OK. So, they're going to send me (us) new cards. ASAP. So they say. OK. So, I'm not liable for the fraudulent charges and the account is dead and everything seems cool. Do I have any more questions. Yes, ma'am, actually I do, I said (trying not to sound like Columbo.) How did the bank come to think my account had been compromised? Seems like it was good information, since it in fact was? Another banky-bank type answer -- my account number was one of a group of numbers the bank suspected had been compromised (there's that word again -- compromised. And hey -- are you getting tried of the excessive use of parenthesis"?) So, it sounds to me like someone got their mitts on bank data -- a whole bunch of accounts -- and made duplicate cards. And I have BIG concerns about that. There will be more calls to the bank. One other thing. Because the credit card was used at Zellers and fast food places, I told Laura that made it easy for the bank snoops to figure out it wasn't her using it. If it had been Holt Renfrew and Seasons on Lakeshore? They would never have blinked. She smacked me in the head. - - - The Invasion of the Girl Cousins is upon us. The Y chromosome is usually dominant in our house, but the arrive of Laura's sister and her two daughters yesterday changed at that and we guys are now in minority. Southern Ontario's tourist attractions will get a workout over the next week. The region's retail sector, and GDP generally, will rise dramatically. The Eaton Centre has laid on extra staff. Holt Renfrew has a car waiting. Theatre tickets are selling out. The Maid of the Mist is being spit polished. Border patrols are on alert. You get the drift. - - - If you pass a geek in tears today, try to be nice. Bill Gates, the pontiff of Microsoft, the UberGeek, the billionaire brain behind one of the largest companies in the world, is retiring. He's only 53, so he must have saved carefully. That's important if you want to maintain your lifestyle once you're retired. Here's a pretty funny video on Bill's last days at work. Hal, queue the tape . . . - - - The midget 2 Hawks are in Midland on Sunday for a one-day tournament which sounds like a great idea but . . . how bad will the traffic be coming down the 400 on Sunday night??? I know a lot of people are taking an extra long weekend by adding Monday as a day off, but still. Sitting in traffic isn't my idea of fun. I'll report back later on how that goes. Assuming we ever get back. Maybe I'll get to meet Sgt Cam Wooley! BTW, the midget 2 Hawks beat Orangeville 8-4 on Wednesday night. Two highlights -- goaltender Brennan Donville played out and scored a goal, and Pad was running down the floor with the ball and got crosschecked, and the kid broke his metal-shafted stick on him. Pad didn't seem to notice. I chatted after the game with the father of the kid who broke the stick -- we had a good laugh. - - - Mats Sundin: will he stay? Will he go? Does he have my credit card? More here. - - - Bryan McCabe: Please help Mats find Gerry's credit card, and then leave. Really. Leave. Thanks. More here. - - - Darcy Tucker says he's excited about starting a new chapter of his career (with $6 million in buyout money from the Leafs.) More here. June 26, 2008 It's hard to know where to start with this one, but let's call it Morons On Parade. Last weekend's Harry Kazarian Memorial Lacrosse Tournament in Owen Sound featured some behaviour that hits new lows for parents at sporting events. Sarnia and Orillia's novice teams were playing. NOVICE. So, we're talking nine and 10 year old kids. Words are exchanged between the benches. Some clever coach throws a water bottle at the other bench. Parents from Sarnia confronted the Orillia bench staff. It escalated into a fight involving coaches and parents behind the benches. Sadly, kids were standing on the floor in tears, watching their parents fight. It beggars my command of the English language to put this sad, pathetic incident into words. But, hey -- I'll try. How about: There is simply no excuse in any circumstance where adults -- ADULTS! for Pete's sake -- should expose their own or anyone else's children to the trauma of violence at a minor sporting event. Protecting you loved ones from an intruder in the night? Do what you have to do. Exchanging profanities and punches with the parents and coaches of a novice lacrosse team? What are you? Parent of the year? The Ontario Lacrosse Association is apparently investigating. I hope lifetime bans are being considered. The respective association should ban the individuals from further participation in the sport. Parents who took part should be banned from the rinks. Zero tolerance. That is the only solution. Read more here from the Sarnia Observer. The Orillia newspaper checks in with this report here. - - - So, have you been sitting around the house wondering what soon-to-be-former New York Ranger super-pest Sean Avery has been doing with his summer (aside from letting his spleen recover)? He recently completed a stint as an intern at fashion magazine Vogue. Because when I think haut couture, I think Sean Avery. What sort of helmets are the European runway models wearing this season? Can the Cooperall make a comeback as a fishnet? What are the latest trends in Under Armor? You probably think I'm kidding. I'm not. Avery, who created a stir in the playoffs for acting like an ass in front of Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur and inspiring the NHL to create a new rule to shut down such antics, wrote a blog (so far he hasn't mention MOHA, but it's just a question of time) and a farewell essay when he left the job in pursuit of other interests. If you want to read his blog (as a blogger, he's a first-team NHL all star hockey player -- it's mostly a boring collection of places to eat in Manhatten) click here. His parting essay is here. - - - One cool thing Avery did was to collaborate with Vogue for an online piece on the worst sports jerseys/outfits of all time. And yes, the Vancouver Canucks are there. It's pretty funny and it makes the MOHA house league jerseys look classic by comparison. Hal, do the magic to take readers to the Sports All-Ugly Jersey feature when they start clicking here. - - - Kyle Wellwood was claimed off waivers by the Canucks yesterday. If he can crack their roster, maybe the change of scenery and fresh ocean air will do him good. In the meantime, interesting piece in the Globe today on how the new Leafs, slowly but surely taking shape now, might have a bit of a retro look too. Hmmm. Click here for more. - - - This is becoming an unpleasant trend -- pointing readers to obituaries. I've been meaning for a week to post something on the passing of Brian Budd, an iconic Canadian athlete whose career I followed with rapt fascination once I discovered who the hell he was. Budd -- Budgie to his friends -- was the first Canadian soccer superstar. But that wasn't how I -- or many, many other people -- learned of him. No, he came into our living rooms via one of the first realty TV shows -- ABC's Superstar competition, in which stars of big league sports competed with each other in various sporting events. Simply put, the lanky Canadian soccer player, an obscure name at best on network TV in those days, kicked the butts of all those high-priced NFL and NBA and MLB star athletes and Olympic heroes. He won the competition three years in a row. And he won it so handily that ABC created a rule (you can only win three times) to get him out of the competition so the others would have a chance. I didn't know him. I didn't follow soccer. But it made me smile when he kept beating those American pros when I was a kid. People who did know him tell me he was larger than life. He was only 56. Read more here. June 25, 2008 I think this says it all. Right? (Courtesy of the funny and often rude people at ishkur.com) - - - Just FYI, according to Technorati (citing 2007 data), approximately 120,000 new blogs are launched every day. (That's a demand for lot of monkeys that would bring Marlin Perkins to his knees, I suspect. If he were alive. Which he's not). Most blogs are read only by their author. And maybe his dad. Few are updated more than once a week. Three make money (that's my estimate) and this isn't one of them. - - - From the Department of the Truly Useless: If you're like me, I'm sure you've sat around wondering what would happen if you were in the space shuttle and you decided to jump out, without a space suit. Man, the hours I've spent pondering that question. Well, wonder no more. I've been pointed to a really useless site that will ask you a series of questions and figure it all out for you. And make no mistake, you're gonna die up there. It's just a question of how fast. Click here to take the quiz. - - - Well it took awhile, but Cliff Fletcher is finally -- finally -- making some moves with the Leafs to open up some salary cap room in advance of the July 1 free agency deadline. Darcy Tucker. Gone. Kyle Wellwood. Gone. Andrew Raycroft. Gone. Probably. Tucker and Raycroft will find work, and even if they don't, they will have a lot of money in their pockets. Wellwood may be at the end of the line. I have no doubt someone will take a chance on the guy, but his history with the Leafs never achieved its promise and there were constant natters about his conditioning and work ethic. At least stuff is happening, which is a change in itself. Read more here. - - - Tiger Woods had is ACL repaired yesterday. More here. - - - For the first time that I'm aware of, I've landed a blog reader from the southern hemisphere. An Aussie-based reader, no less. I could make all sorts of 1980s references to shrimps and barbies and Aussie Rules football. But that would be lazy. So I won't. But, hello to all our Australian friends, who are just starting winter! - - - In trying to keep up my pledge to offer you a good news and somewhat inspiring story each week, this week's offering comes from the New York Times, and it's about golf. As courageous and inspiring as Tiger Woods' win at Torrey Pines was, this story is better and unlike last week's, it won't make you cry, so no worries there. Meet D.J. Gregory, PGA Tour-sanctioned golf blogger. He's halfway to his goal of walking every hole of every tournament on the Tour this year. DJ has cerebral palsy and has had more operations than Tiger has major championships. And from his perspective, he's feels he's one of the lucky ones. Read his story here. June 24, 2008 Speed blogging -- 16 minutes to do this. Ready, set . . . - - - Where did June go? All those smiling people you see around town right now are school teachers. And who can blame them? - - - Proving my theory of "you never know" to be still alive and well, my friend Michael Santangeli made the Team Ontario U-15 rugby squad, along with six other Oakville Cru teammates. What Mike lacks in physical dimension he makes up for in heart, speed, and quick hands. Way to go. Other Oakville athletes on the team include Dan Caudle, Matt Jones, Sam Jones, DJ Stewart, Kyle Munoz, and Brendan McFarlane You just never know . . . - - - Need to know where to get your new ice dance costume but don't have a phone book nearby . . . or a computer? Try 1-800-GOOG-411, the new, free Google directory assistance app. It basically allows phone users to audibly access the Google database to locate nearby services. I'm waiting for Google to develop a program to tie my shoes for me. Then, I'll be impressed. Until then, you can read more about GOOG-411 here. Hello? Anything in a 46 tall? - - - Tiger Woods may be gone from the PGA Tour for the rest of the year, but he's not forgotten. The Tour started to get used to the idea of Life After Tiger this past weekend. Stewart Cink is a good guy and one of the top golfers in the world, but his struggle with male pattern baldness didn't make for quite the same story line as Tiger a week early winning the US Open on a gimpy knee with two stress fractures in his tibia. Click here for one take on some things to watch for on the Tigerless Tour. Who will benefit? Who will lose? Who will kick Phil's butt now? Another take is here, with an opinion that Tiger -- with only six starts in 2008 -- has already locked up Player of the Year honours. And here, the Scotsman has something of an inside-the-ropes story on how it came to pass that Tiger played at all at Torrey Pines. Clearly, he wasn't ready. It's quite a yarn. - - - Last night's midget 2 Hawks lacrosse practice may go into the annals of Oakville sporting history as one of the most listless and distracted such efforts in the town's records. (If they kept records of such things, which I'm glad they don't.) Maybe it was the thunder and lightning. Maybe it was the rainbow that seemingly draped our town after the storm. Maybe it was the end of exams and the pending release of the boys to . . . wherever they get released to (I'm thinking released to sleep 16 hours a day.) Whatever. Coach Mark showed remarkable restraint in not resorting to medieval behavioral correction procedures. Honestly, the pick and roll is not that difficult a concept. And they get to do it all again tonight. For two hours! - - - Time! 509 words. 14 minutes. And it's all free, to you the blog-browsing public. G'nite! (Day, actually.) Drive carefully. Try the veal!! I'm here all week. Thank you! June 23, 2008 Do you remember the early 1990s? Good times -- two World Series championships for the Jays, the Leafs went to the conference finals in consecutive years (1993, and 1994) and were consistently among the top teams in the league for a time. And two of the big personalities in sports in Toronto way back then were Cliff Fletcher and Cito Gaston. So, here it is, 2008, and Cliff is back running things for the Leafs (on an interim basis, whatever that means anymore) and Friday, as I sat on the deck with my dad, the Jays finally fired John Gibbons and, stunningly, rehired Cito. It was like a time warp, except with losing records. At the same time all this is happening, Canadiens boss Bob Gainey is on the phone booking plane tickets to Sweden to talk to Mats Sundin about French lessons. And the irony here -- not lost on anyone -- is that Cliff Fletcher created those Leafs teams, including doing the deal for Sundin. And now he is poised to become the GM who sends another Leaf captain -- Sundin -- packing (not that it would be a bad call in this instance. Anyone who sees Mats as part of the team's future is missing the big picture. Great guy, love his heart, but the marginal utility of investing in Mats for another year or two makes no sense if you have to rebuild the team.) If your head is spinning, you are in good company. Click here to read more as you sip your coffee. - - - On the flip side, everyone seems to be giving Fletcher high marks for making a bold move to ensure the Leafs had a crack at a potential future franchise player in Friday's entry draft. Luke Schenn is big, mobile, and blessed with a nasty disposition on the ice. He has, the scouts say, all the tools to be not a good player, but a great player. Don't expect to see him on the blue line for a couple of years, but it's an exciting turn of events. More here. - - - Pad has his final exams today -- both French. He is as excited about French exams as I would imagine the Queen is excited over French fries. Which is, not at all. He gets good marks but he doesn't enjoy it. And after today, he's done with high school French. (I think.) Chris is practically bouncing off the walls, this being the last week of school, coupled with the pending arrival of his aunt and cousins from Cape Breton later this week. This will mark their first visit to the GTA and Chris is pumped. Always, he has been the visitor. Now he gets to play host and show off his corner of the world. I haven't seen an itinerary but everything from the CN Tower to Niagara Falls should prepare for what happens next. It will be fun. And after a week, everyone (except me) gets on a plane at 6:20a and goes to Nova Scotia. I never get to go anywhere (queue the violins, fade to black . . .) - - - Well, it will be fun for those who get to do the tours. My touring will likely remain confined to lacrosse rinks and roads leading to lacrosse rinks. Oh, and work. Lots of that, too. The midget 2 Hawks have a team run and practice from 8:15p till 10p tonight, then a two-hour practice tomorrow night, then a home game Wednesday. On the weekend, we're up in Midland for a one-day tournament. Chris will be entertaining and enjoying the lull in his schedule. June 22, 2008 As some of you have helpfully pointed out, I didn't update this space yesterday. Hey -- I was busy! The Oakville Minor Lacrosse Association Gala Day was a huge success, and thanks and congratulations to the volunteers, coaches, refs, players, parents, timekeepers and fans who made it the day it was. Chris's team played in (I think) the 3rd vs 4th game, and won 5-1, and my kid scored his first, last and only goal of the season, after which he achieved a new personal best in the vertical jump. Here's a pre-game photo of coach Jeff reviewing the strategy (run hard, have fun, keep the shifts short!! Arnold!! Get out there and score a goal!) One of the game officials was a guy who lives here and eats a lot, and he and his partner did a good job -- the game was a fairly straight forward one. My favourite part of this photo is the woman behind the glass. Is she saying, "Hey, is that Patrick?" Or, is she saying, "Hey, do you think that coach over there will shut up?" Which coach? Take your pick. After the game the kids repeated the sweaty ritual of jumping on the goalie and celebrating a win before parading off to the dressing room for cold drinks, cool t-shirts and the presentation of the Coach's Award to goalie Thomas Hammond, who was outstanding for the squad all season long and is a nice, nice kid. The talented Rock team scored eight seconds into the game, then Thomas (below) played 44 minutes and 52 seconds of shutout lacrosse. Way to go, Big Man! And here's a close up of Chris after the game, still beaming about the goal he scored. Anyway, it take a lot of work to make Gala Day happen -- before the event, and during. Volunteers are recruited to help sort the t-shirts for the teams, distribute the trophies, run game sheets, announce games, do the music, on and on and on. So, here's Dylan doing the less glamourous work behind the scenes in a dressing room, meticulously sorting shirts and helping out. His efforts and those of many others were very appreciated. Thanks to all the volunteers! A couple more pictures for you -- I took this one of a novice final -- I probably know some of the kids out there but if I did, it wasn't immediately apparent to me. But this picture jumped out at me Sunday morning as I looked through the files -- sort of like finding Sasquatch posing in the background of a picture you took on a camping trip. (If this has ever actually happened to you, please contact me.) Anyway, in box lacrosse there are 12 players on the floor -- two goalies, and 10 runners. In this picture you can see 10 of the 12 kids (or parts thereof). As a coach, you find moments like this pretty funny because in lacrosse (just like hockey) you try to teach the players to, um, spread out. It just struck me funny. PS -- I have no clue who won. Here's one more photo from the same game, a nice action shot: OK, so Chris's coach was having a pool party for the team after the game and the sun was shining and I was told by the gala day chairwoman my services were not needed, so me and Chris bolted. BUT. Before we did, I ran into the longest serving MOHA director in history (his tenure dates back to when Clarence Campbell was NHL president I think.) And then in comes John Lee, another MOHA director and my senior convener from last hockey season, who joined us. So at this point I'm thinking that maybe a board meeting was about to break out but that wasn't why they were there -- they came to cheer on fellow MOHA director Nelson Pavao (we were approaching quorum at this point) and his peewee Shamrox in the championship game. It must have helped, because Nelson's team won and not only that, it was his second championship of the day, having coached one of the younger division champions earlier in the day. In all, Shamrox teams made appearances in four finals, and won three of them (maybe the other was bantam, with some pretty good goaltending I am reliably informed) so it was a good day for the luck of the Irish. And incidentally, if Marshall and John want to joined the board of the OMLA, we'll take them! The glamorous work is exciting, you meet interesting people and you get to see kids hitting each other with sticks. It's just fun. Lots of folks with no direct connection to the association were at the rinks on Saturday. Thanks to all of you for supporting the kids. They -- and we -- appreciate it. What a great day. June 20, 2008 My meetings are done so now I'm out at the ancestral estate taking care of 1,462 emails that went unattended while I was in meetings. But technology -- as much as it makes us 24-hour slaves to the job -- can also be liberating and I'm sitting on the deck with my parents taking advantage of the wireless network I put in for them. I'm literally sitting in the same place where I would sit as a teen some 30-odd years ago. It was my habit to be home at a decent hour, and sit in the dark on the deck, stare aimlessly down the road and across the lake and have a glass of Pepsi and a hunk of pepperoni before heading for bed -- and waiting for the dreaded 4:45a alarm to go to work at the golf course. On the drive out here this afternoon I drove by Georges P. Vanier Junior High School, where the grounds were happily speckled with kids enjoying the sun -- it's 21 and sunny here -- and no doubt looking forward to the seemingly endless days of summer that can only truly be enjoyed by kids. It hasn't changed much since my day. I told dad I remember one such day, from when I was in Grade 9. It wasn't the last day of school, but it was almost last. Me and three buddies played hooky in the morning and went golfing and I swear I remember that day as if it happened a week ago. The sky was brilliant and blue and we had the course to ourselves, or so it seemed. Afterwards, we went to school where there was a special afternoon of events for the school athletes. We watched Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in the gym, then we were free to make use of the gym and sports equipment as we saw fit for the rest of the day. I suspect it sounds rather pedantic in the retelling, but it was one of those days that for whatever odd reason I just never forgot. It was a great, worry-free day before we left junior high and headed for high school, at which point everything would seem to change and get more serious at a much faster pace. And it seems it hasn't let up much since. - - - Tomorrow is one of my favourite days -- house league lacrosse Gala Day. It's not unlike Awards Week in hockey, but it's compressed into a single day -- fewer teams, fewer kids than MOHA, but just as much excitement and fun for the day. Laura is the coordinator of the event and in the days before the event our garage, and sometimes the living room, and maybe a hallway, slowly fill up with boxes of trophies and medals and t-shirts. The phone rings and rings and rings with people confirming arrangements for volunteers for running the music, doing the announcements, helping with the boxes, and a million other things. Glen Abbey Rec Centre. Tomorrow. Come cheer the kids on, even if you don't know them. - - - If you're in Manitoba and hoping to watch a minor lacrosse game, you might just be out of luck. Fed up with the level of abuse being hurled at refs by obnoxious parents, one association has said "enough." The Red River Lacrosse Association closed the doors on all its games to everyone but the players, the refs and the bench staff. It's a sad thing when it comes to that. But as a parent of a ref, probably better that than someone like me going aboard a parent in the stands for abusing a game official. Read more here and here. A couple of years ago, as a convener watching a house league lacrosse game, I asked one such parent to ease up on the ref, who could not have been more than 15. The guy mumbled about the kid needing to learn the rules (to which I replied maybe HE could take the courses, and HE could ref and HE could become a mentor to young officials by leading by example. That's a real thigh slapper, that one.) Anyway, on his second warning minutes later, I asked him to leave. He didn't budge and basically said, "you can't make me leave." I said, no, but as convener I can stop the game until you do leave. At that point, every parent within earshot trained their eyes on the guy. He left. Bu-bye. - - - It's the first weekend of summer. Make it a great one. I'll see you at the rink. Thank a volunteer this weekend, and don't forget to hug your kids. June 19, 2008-- Update I'm in a hotel in downtown Halifax where the fog is thicker than the head on the Guinness in the pub across the street and, no word of a lie, there's a bagpiper playing in the street below my window. It took three tries but I finally hit him with an empty Keiths bottle (you try emptying those that fast!) but it just grazed him. It took two more to bring him to his knees. The sixth one shut him up. My work her is done. I'm going to dinner. PS -- there's an old saying: Why do bagpipers walk back and forth while they play? Because it's harder to hit a moving target. Have a nice night everyone! - - - It's really early and most of you are still asleep as I type this. I'm en route to the airport and points east so I don't have much today. The midget 2 Hawks prevailed 4-2 over Halton Hills 2 in beautiful downtown Acton last night. It was an unremarkable evening in every way. Chris and his school band saw their plans for Concert on the Lawn turned into Concert in the Gym because of the weather. My bride and her friends had a lovely dinner in a nice restaurant. I got a thin cheeseburger in Acton where, I have to report, it wasn't worth the drive. If I had more time I'd point you to stories on the Celtics smacking down the Lakers, and the latest chapter in As The Tiger Turns. But I don't have time so you'll have to amuse yourselves. I expect blogging to be light to non-existent for the next 36 hours. Everyone behave. Like the big guy in the Terminator movies, I'll be back. June 18, 2008 The Hockey Hall of Fame grew by two people yesterday, and again, I'm not one of them. Yes, I think it's odd too. Glenn Anderson, the prolific finisher on those great Oilers teams of the 1980s, and Igor Larionov, who joined the NHL from Russia as a 29-year-old and won three Cups with the Wings after playing in Vancouver, are the latest honourees. I have to admit both had better careers on the ice than me. Anderson is the sixth member of the Oiler dynasty to enter the hall. Larionov was one of the greatest Russian hockey players in history, a member of the famed KLM line with Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov. Read more about them here. - - - Weird Golf Stuff In the News An insurance executive who was annoyed that his company forced him to accept a free golf club membership as part of his compensation (he hated golf) wins his fight with the Canada Revenue Agency. They taxed the membership as a taxable benefit, he argued that if he hates golf and derives no benefit from the membership, why is he being taxed? Read more here. - - - Tiger Woods. Yet more commentary: This is a New York Times story on Woods that, in a nutshell, marvels at his ability to focus with a singular clarity that not only eludes ordinary guys like me, but also makes what passes for concentration among his peer group look silly. You can read the Times piece here. Me? I have no trouble concentrating on things. I am blessed with the laser-like focus of a Zen master and when I turn my attention to something it's . . .Hey! Someone brought donuts! Let's get some! - - - The MOHA board elected veteran Mark Bentley as the new president last night. Thus ends the longest election and election-related elections since the Florida recount in 2000. Rich Garrie -- a non-board member -- was named as treasurer. I think it's a terrific idea to bring in someone not on the board. I know Rich -- his son and mine played rep hockey together three years ago, and he has another very, very, very, very fast son on the novice lacrosse team that Pad coaches. He's a great guy. Smart choice. - - - This is another one of those things that got lost in the weekend blur at home, but Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press and chief of their Washington bureau, died while at work Friday. He was only 58. I never met the guy, but he was a legend in the news business for his professionalism, his fairness, and his tenacity. Even those who were the targets of his questions would admit he was unflinchingly fair. He had no agenda beyond facts and the truth. That is about as high a standard as there is in this business. What I said earlier about sports journalism legend Jim McKay applies to Russert too. The son of a working class neighbourhood in Buffalo, he was named last year by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. If you have a kid interested in journalism and communications, have them read up on Russert. He was among the best of the best. You can read more here if you want. - - - A couple of weeks ago I posted a link here to story about sportsmanship and fair play and courage in a women's college softball game. It generated a fair amount of comment from people for good reason. And people said if I ever stumbled across stories that inspire and bring perspective, please point them out. OK. Meet John Challis. He's a kid in Pennsylvania. This is a story of personal triumph in the face of terrible adversity. John Challis' story is not an easy one to read as he fights a formidable battle with cancer while maintaining his love of sports. But he's inspired everyone he's met in Beaver County, Pa., and lots of others that he hasn't even met. You can read more here. - - - The word "frantic" enters our lexicon at home again starting this evening. Two lacrosse practices, a band concert, and a rep lacrosse game in Acton, plus some other stuff not related to the boys. I haven't seen the detailed battle plan yet but we may be calling in reinforcements to get it all done. The weekend is promising to be even more taxing that the last one as my smarter, better looking half prepares to Sherpa several hundred house league lacrosse players, coaches, conveners, refs, parents, sponsors, supporters and a small army of volunteers through Oakville Lacrosse Gala Day. The action goes all day (through 6p I think) on Saturday -- if you want to see kids having fun, come by the Glen Abbey Rec Centre on Saturday. I am her larger, less attractive but nonetheless willing helper. Lacrosse nerds on parade! See you there! June 17, 2008 Like an act of mercy, last night's two-hour midget lacrosse practice was cancelled so the limping and wounded could both heal and study -- lots of exams this week for the Grade 9 and 10 Hawks. Which left us at home in the curious position of having an evening with no scheduled events. Well, almost none. Chris had hockey at 6p, but once that was done it was clear sailing. Odd things happened -- conversations on non-sports topics broke out. Phone calls to relatives. A baseball was tossed around in the backyard. Actually, it was also tossed into two adjoining yards as well. It was all too weird to describe in detail -- no scheduled sporting events. Amuse yourselves. More oddly, the cycle may repeat itself tonight. We're all a little concerned. - - - Canada is, truly, a great country. Regardless of the people running the show at any given moment, it's a wonderful land, blessed with natural riches, a home to people with roots around the globe who enrich the experience for us all. You don't have to travel far abroad to understand how good we have it. In other countries, where they take soccer way more seriously than we do hockey, it is not always so pleasant. Especially when the prime minister -- of Poland in this instance -- tells the media he wanted to "kill" a referee over an alleged missed call in a recent Euro 2008 game. The prime minister's remarks let loose a torrent of hatred for the English referee in question -- incidentally, the only Englishman at the Euro. Have I mentioned that England failed to qualify? Anyway, it's all fairly bizarre. And yes, you can read more about it here. - - - Regulars will know that I am occasionally hard on GO Transit. But they regularly and inevitably apologize for any inconvenience, so it all works out. And unlike some people, at least the catalytic converter is usually still attached to my car when I return to the GO station lot in Oakville. Huh? It seems the pollution reducing device on the bottom of your car, a key element of the exhaust system, contains platinum. And platinum has shot up in value in recent months. So, thieves are no starting to steal catalytic converters right off cars in some GO station lots. Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up. The good folks at GO insist the problem is small and isolated. But if you park at a GO station and see a dude walking around with an acectelyne torch and a wagon full of pipe, you might want to put Aunt Madge on hold and call the cops. And if you start your car and it sounds louder than normal and emits a strange smell, ditto. If you follow commodity markets at all, just be glad your car doors aren't made of potash. You can read more here. - - - Eventually, sports writers will run out of superlatives for Tiger Woods. But not yet. He looked pretty ordinary on Monday, and played barely well enough to win, but in capturing his third US Open, his 14th major, and his third career Grand Slam, Woods sent the amiable Rocco Mediate to the pages of a trivia book yet to be written. I was pulling for Rocco. I love Tiger's pursuit of Jack's records. I love that me and my kids get to witness one of the great athletic careers ever. But Rocco was every man who ever showed up at a hard-scrabble driving range with his kids. Rocco had the common touch. Everyone over 40 wanted Rocco to win one for us. He almost did. Three down to the world's top player, Rocco reeled off three straight birdies on the back to take the lead. It was his to win. An errant drive into the sand on 18 was all the breathing room Tiger needed, and after that it seemed inevitable. The end was great theatre. And Rocco will never, ever get that close again. The respected British broadsheet The Guardian today asks a question worth pondering. Is Tiger the great athlete ever? Has any athlete, present or past, ever dominated their sport the way he dominates golf? Read more here. June 16, 2008 Not sure what your weekend was like, but ours was a blur. The midget 2 Hawks won their semi final early Sunday afternoon, defying the Las Vegas bookmakers as they got ahead 6-3 on Guelph and held on for a 6-5 win. That sent them to the late-afternoon final (about the same time that Tiger was teeing off) against Hamilton where, finally, the ride came to an end against an older, bigger team with more firepower. But there was not a parent among us who expected we'd be watching our guys play in the final, so the weekend was a nice surprise. Full credit to the boys for never backing off. Below is a photo of Hawks' captains (left to right) Patrick Arnold, Patrick Megannety and Mack Hulbert accepting the finalists' banner. And under that is sweaty team photo. It was a fun weekend. - - - The Hawks had to manage this weekend without a number of key players, some of whom were off in Cincinnati with the Edge Lacrosse club team. The Edge squad went 4-0 before losing to Cincy in the finals. Great showing. - - - And the peewee 2 Hawks also made the finals in Milton, losing to Brampton in the finals. We cheered them on before our game Sunday. - - - We did manage to get home to see a good part of the back nine at the U.S. Open and we did see The Putt. Win or lose, Tiger Woods is as about full-value as an athlete can be. He just puts on a show worth watching. Just the same, it's pretty hard not to root for Rocco today. The Journeyman vs. The Superstar. The 18-hole playoff starts at noon. - - - I'm told Oakville hockey veteran Mark Bentley is also putting his name forward to be the next MOHA president. Mark has been around hockey in Oakville a long time and is well respected. Aside from seeing him as a timekeeper at many Ranger games, Mark is also the friendly voice who answers when a beleaguered convener -- like me -- has to call at 8a on a Sunday morning to track down a missing referee. Or two. The MOHA board selects a new president and treasurer tomorrow night. I haven't heard anything on possible candidates for the treasurer's job. - - - Still with MOHA, former president Mike Zardo was honoured on the weekend by the OMHA, receiving the organization's Honour Award in recognition of his outstanding voluntary contribution to minor hockey for a considerable period of time. There can be no denying his record of service and congratulations are well deserved. You can read more on the award and the nomination behind it at Wayne's site here. I couldn't find a page on the OMHA site or I'd link to it too. - - - Several of Pad's lacrosse teammates -- and a couple of dads, too -- played in the annual Alex Corrance Memorial Ball Hockey Tournament on the weekend. The tournament featured NHLers Steve Downie and Sam Gagner as well as a bunch of NCAA, junior A and local athletes, all for the cause of heart research. Alex was the popular young man who died during a hockey game in December 2006 from a heart problem unrelated to the game. I'm told the winning team in this year's ball hockey tournament featured some of Alex's closest friends. The win was very special to them. June 15, 2008 Hi. It's me. Spent enough time in Milton yesterday to qualify as a ratepayer. We lost the game with Guelph (it may have set a record for the longest midget game in history, taking about 18 hours to finish, wire to wire. But the boys did well enough in the remaining games, including a win over Cambridge last night, to quality for a semi final today. So it's back to Milton. And we play Guelph. Again. - - - Chris and his house league team were carpet bombed in their semi final, so they won't make the championship game next weekend. - - - One advantage of watch three (3) midget lacrosse games yesterday is that I was spared from having to spend one, single minute in front of the TV watching Tiger Woods illuminate southern California like the northern lights. Because you know, that's just so typical. Been there, done that. Seriously. Glad I missed it. Not bitter at all. Really. - - - Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there and especially to mine who literally spending the day sitting with his feet up. It was my dad who taught me that every day is Fathers Day and fathers are here to lead and help their kids learn and have fun. Which is why I'll be in a sweaty rink in Milton. I wouldn't want to miss a minute of it. And if I don't get my butt in gear right now, I will miss way more than a minute. Hug your dad. Or call him if he's out of reach. June 14, 2008 Arrgh. The midget 2 Hawks' game in Milton last night was stopped with about six minutes left in the second because the arena floor was sweating -- humidity on the concrete rendered the floor unsafe, the refs stopped the game and so we'll go back there early this afternoon to finish that one, with Guelph leading 3-2. An hour later, we play Fergus. - - - Chris came home from his very busy night at 11:30p, walked right past me and went to bed. Seemed like a good plan. Anyway, we're all thinking about things happening today back in Nova Scotia and we wish we were there and . . . well, that's the way it is when you live away. - - - Scores and updates later. Not going to see a lot of golf today -- likely three rep lacrosse games, a house league semi final, Pad refs a game . . . it's all fun. June 13, 2008 Friday the 13th. Hmm. Just try to be careful, OK? No, I'm not wearing a hockey mask and carrying a chainsaw. - - - Me and Chris stayed home last night while older brother attended the big athletics awards dance at Abbey Park. He went out the door in a black suit, blue shirt and silver tie, looking something like a blond James Bond. He rolled in around 11:30p and reported he had a great evening. Two more exams today, then the rugby team year-end social, then a lacrosse game in Milton -- first game of a tournament. Chris has a big class party thing after school that includes pizza, a pool party, laser tag, a movie and video games that will go to close to midnight. My kids have far more interesting social lives than me. - - - Laura finally returned from the west, very late last night. She's tired but glad to be home. I offered to take her to dinner tonight (before the lacrosse game) since the boys will both be out. She said she didn't want to see another restaurant meal anytime soon. I'll be working the grill tonight. - - - Soccer fans -- ok, one -- have emailed me (repeatedly) to point out that I'm missing the second most important soccer tournament in the world -- the Euro, taking place right now in Austria and Switzerland. (The English are missing it too!) I have been paying a little bit of attention to it, but soccer is not really our thing at the Greenbriar Amateur Athletic Association and Social Club. My boys both played a little soccer early on, but given that they spent six weeks in Nova Scotia with grandparents in those days made it sort of pointless to try and be part of a team for half a season. We did actually register Pad in soccer in Cape Breton one summer, but that didn't work out a whole lot better. So, rather than make a half-assed commitment, we shifted to other things -- like lacrosse. But, back to the Euro. Correct me if I get this wrong. The Swiss are out. The Italians had their butt handed to them by the Dutch. The defending champion Greeks played what we hockey players would call dump and chase, and got beaten by the Swedes. And the Germans are wondering WTF happened that they lost to Croatia. Did I mention England didn't even qualify for this? They bear a striking resemblance to the Leafs, actually. - - - Last weekend, one of the giants of sports journalism died and I have been meaning to say a few words about him. Jim McKay, the voice behind ABC's Wide World of Sports, was 86. How many weekend afternoons did I spend as a kid listening to him report from some distant corner of the globe on sports of all stripes, from bowling to cliff diving and everything in between? It's hard to explain to people how good he was at what he did. The ability to be conversational and engaging on a wide range of topics, on live TV, is immensely difficult and it's why people who can do it are in such demand in network TV. He was a mentor and inspiration to a generation of sports journalists. He was more than a sports reporter. The horror of the terrorist attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics turned him into a news anchor for those dark days, and I remember him looking into my living room and saying simply, "They're all gone." I didn't know then that I would follow a path in journalism, but I understood the power of three simple words did more to convey the grim news than anyone else could talking for an hour. If you have kids who love sports, or aspire to a career in journalism or communications, tell them to read up on Jim McKay. He was a great one. Read the New York Times story on his passing here. - - - Enjoy your weekend. Don't forget to hug your kids. And your dad. June 12, 2008 The week at home continues. My cooking skills are meeting local demands. Chicken burgers. BBQ chicken with pasta. Waffles, bagels, fresh fruit. We haven't ordered out for pizza once. Yet. Just in case you moms out there pointing at me and laughing at lacrosse think I was serious about making the kids eat over the sink. No, that's just me. I haven't been commuting this week so I haven't been typing on the train and blogging while making lunches for school doesn't work. And today I was up at Iroquois Ridge High School for a track meet and to cheer Chris on. All of which is to say, yes, I know I'm late. But you get what you pay for, right? - - - The odd confluence of me being off and the US Open starting today is really just happy coincidence. Very happy, actually. Whether the leader board will live up to expectations is another matter, but perhaps more than any other major this one places such demands on the participants that very rarely does anyone who is not a true A-List golfer win. I think Steve Jones winning in 1996 may have been the only such time a journeyman has won this title in the last couple decades. I expect to miss most of the weekend action because of kids' commitments. I don't mind. - - - Two MOHA board members have contacted me in the last day or so to let me know they are putting their names forward as nominees for president. They are both excellent gentlemen. The first, Brian Metler, has watched more house league white hockey action with me than I care to discuss. Smart, articulate, and gifted with great people skills, he is one of my favourite Oakville folks. New to the MOHA board, Brian has a wealth of real-world experience to offer. He could give seminars in corporate governance -- part of his job is reporting to the audit committee of one of the largest corporations in Canada. And it's no secret he is a good friend of mine. John Lee was my senior -- opps!! -- my head convener last year when I was doing the chores for minor peewee white. I reported to him. John made it his business to get out to our games regularly, which I truly appreciated. He is incredibly well organized, generous with his time, sage with his advice, and a board veteran. Any guy who coaches teams and convenes divisions where he has no kids participating is a saint. I consider him a friend and he too has tons of real world experience. The Beer Store (corporate side, but still, it's beer. Need I say more?!) There may be other people coming forward I am not aware of -- certainly the board and the town has many people who could offer a lot to such a position. Both guys know a lot about consensus building, communication, inclusion, organization, reporting structure, transparency and accountability, and many other things important to a senior job like this. The board will shortly elect a president to serve out the current term which expires at the next AGM in May 2009. It will be a tough choice for sure. - - - House league lacrosse season is winding down, with just two weekends of action left. At Chris's practice last night I learned that if his team wins Saturday -- if, if, if -- they will be in the peewee final. We were all asking, how did that happen? Good for the kids. Play hard. Have fun. Meanwhile, the rep season rolls on and on. The midget 2 Hawks were in Orangeville last night where they dropped a 7-1 decision. It was almost midnight by the time Pad got home. That's late for Grade 9 and Chris's practice and the need for a reasonable bedtime for him severely strained my ability to be in two places at once. Hockey parents find weird kinship in loathing the 6a practice (which perversely, I like.) But try a 10p to 11p practice on for size sometime, or a 9p game in Orangeville. It's tough on everyone. - - - Funniest advice I got this week: Try walking a mile in someone's shoes before criticizing them. Because then you're a mile away, and you have their shoes. - - - Laura checked in via an email from southern Alberta yesterday to tell me to stop talking about the wild weather in Ontario because we don't know what wild weather is. The traveling teamoakville correspondent reports: You think you've got storms? - Drove through hail between Red Deer and Calgary this afternoon, not hail like we get in Oakville once in a blue moon, but hail like we used to get when we lived here, that builds up on the roads like a late-night snowstorm in February after a Rangers game in Orangeville and makes you fear that the rented Jeep Cherokee is going to careen off the road and flip into the ditch. Fierce thunder and lightning rattled the hotel windows in Edmonton yesterday and there's so much rain that cattle (there's lots of cattle!) have been moved to higher ground. That's southern Alberta. Northern Alberta is burning because it's so dry. The rain has let up in lovely Lethbridge and I'm going to retrieve my luggage and laptop from the car. I think it's her way of saying she misses me. And really, who wouldn't? - - - A column in today's Star is a great rant on the Leafs, who have apparently decided that there is no one on Earth -- not a single person -- qualified to be hired as president and general manager. Read it here. Meanwhile, Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe might want to start packing boxes. The new coach is not being terribly discreet about wanting to move them along. Read more here. And what about Sundin? More here. Interesting times in Leaf land. June 11, 2008 In the absence of hockey news, I'll say this: Kobe Bryant. Every time I see the guy, I get the urge to give him a good smack across the head. Not sure why. But there it is. - - - The former president of MOHA is now officially the former president, having formerly tendered his resignation via email yesterday. The fact that he resigned wasn't a surprise. The fact that people now know his email address -- on the website it was simply the MOHA catch-all info(at)blah.etc. for years and years -- is bigger news. Anyway, I saw the email and no, I'm not going to post it because frankly, I don't care and neither should you, but I'll say simply that it lacked any drama or piercing insight, beyond his view that the current board and executive of MOHA don't share his motivation and the changes aren't good, in his opinion. Maybe he'll start a blog and put the email there, or perhaps Wayne will post it. My view? Every person who puts their name and time on the line to work for the kids of this town deserves our respect, regardless of personal disagreements. If folks who put their names forward to work in the best interests of the kids of Oakville don't feel the need to complete the commitment they made, that is their choice. But if they think walking away from a commitment to the kids is an option, then maybe the association is better off without them. - - - Question: the MOHA AGM was chaired not by a member of the executive, or board, but by an outside lawyer. I found that a little odd, but whatever. The gentleman was obviously well briefed on the bylaws and ran a smooth meeting. My questions: Did MOHA pay for this service, or was it pro bono community work by the law firm for a local non-profit association (and good on them if it was)? On the other hand, if MOHA did pay a fee, how much was that fee (including preparation for the meeting), what exactly, was the fee for, and was this expenditure approved by a duly constituted meeting of the executive committee of the board, with that decision and expenditure to be forwarded to the full board at it's next regular meeting to be reviewed? And further, regardless of whether it was paid or pro bono, was the board consulted on the need for outside counsel? My interest really has nothing to do with having outside counsel chair a meeting -- we elect a board to make decisions and if we don't like those decisions, we vote against them the next time. My interest is in understanding whether the board was consulted. Accountability, etc. etc. Just wondering. - - - Before leaving the MOHA stuff: Perhaps the association could post on its web site the emails of resignation from the president and the former VP house (who resigned from the board after losing his executive spot in the election), and anyone else who walks away. (Last one out, turn out the lights!) Wayne's is on his site, but more generally I think it would be useful in allowing association members to be able to see this sort of material in a specific, central place. It would also be useful to post edited versions of minutes of board meetings -- it's a volunteer, not-for-profit community association, not a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Let the members see what is going on, with some important caveats. Personnel matters, financially sensitive material, etc., could be left out. But why not let parents see what is being discussed, and who stands where? Transparency leads to understanding, which leads to building shared goals and objectives and ultimately, accountability (there's that word again.) All good things. Also, where I work (a news agency) we have a button on our website called, Did We Get It Right? It's a way to let people tell us their side of an issue, or highlight something we got wrong, take us to task, give us feedback. Because we aren't hiding and we want to know if we're wrong. And when we're wrong, people hammer us (rightly so.) Maybe MOHA should consider something similar in a prominent location, asking for SIGNED questions and submissions from the membership. It would be really easy to do. Submissions would go to all board members. - - - It was with some combination of shock, sadness and, um, shock (limited vocabulary today) to learn that my all-time favourite thai restaurant in downtown Toronto has closed. I don't even know the name of the place. It was a small joint on King West, a block from my office. I could go there and order take-out pad thai, walk to St Lawrence Market for fresh bagels, and pick up my order on the way back. And now it's gone! I've tried other pad thai and nothing even came close to these guys. They were the best. And they were always pretty busy at lunch time, but maybe that wasn't enough. Ultimately, it's probably my fault for not being downtown this week. I'm sure they were one $7 order of takeout noodles away from making it. It sucks. Darn. Do you think the Leafs had something to do with it . . .? June 9, 2008 I awoke last night to the sound of thunder How far off I sat and wondered Started humming a song from 1962 Aint it funny how the night moves -- Night Moves, Bob Seger So with mom away around here, the usual trains-run-on-time clockwork precision of the household has been relaxed a little. And last night that meant with Pad at lacrosse practice until 10p, I let Chris stay up until 10p -- but given that that was pretty much when the storm started to roll through, it meant he was going to be up later than that. And he was. We had a lot of thunder and lightning and wind and rain and Chris laid on the sofa in the family room reviewing each flash of light or crash of thunder while waiting for his brother to come in. (I'm relying on the kindness of other parents this week to help with Pad's late practices and games. Much appreciated, thank you.) Chris's fascination with storms is naturally embedded I think. Me, I've loved a good storm forever. When I was working my way through school I worked on the grounds crew at a golf course. I was one of two lads who mowed the putting greens -- no ride-on mowers involved, these were walk-behind units and to mow a green one had to walk back and forth and back and forth. So in the course of a morning you'd cover several miles easily, which is why the older guys on the crew had no interest in doing it. That, plus you had to be in literally at the crack of dawn -- I'd usually make my first cuts guided by the dew -- the mower passing over the green and through the dew left a clear track in the early light, or fading dark, or whatever it was. It took about three hours to do 10 greens -- nine on the course plus the practice green. We worked six mornings a week from early May through until school started. And when we were done, we got paid for a full days work -- the incentive being to show up on time, and get off the course fast. But when it rained, we didn't work. Which is why I love a good storm. My alarm would wake me at 4:45a, and every morning I'd listen for rain falling, usually to no avail. But when it was raining, that was like a gift to get to sleep some more. When Laura and I were first married and we'd travel around a bit, we started to feel like something out of a Stephen King movie. We saw a lot of fierce electrical storms. We saw lightning hit a building and set it on fire. We saw a spectacular storm in Newport, RI one night, watching the masts on the sailboats get pinged with bolts. New Hampshire. Edmonton. Cape Breton. Arizona. Boston. Jasper National Park. Freeport, Maine. Digby, NS. We saw a lot of storms. And last night's display was as worthy as any I've seen in a while, and Chris thought so too. It made me remember one evening, years ago, when Pad was a novice lacrosse player, and we were driving home from practice under a forbidding spring sky. From the back seat, he said "Look dad. The sky is purple." It was too -- if you live on the Prairies for any length of time (we spent two years in Edmonton), you learn to respect the sky when it turns that odd colour. A sky like that spawns twisters. Anyway, all great memories for an old geezer like me. I hope Chris remembers last night for a while, too. - - - My seminar topics on bachelorhood yesterday have brought forth some nominees for other topics I should, apparently, be covering while me and the boys make our way own our own: -- Last night's pizza: Today's breakfast. -- Bread + Jam = Gourmet Dining -- Cereal: Not Just a Breakfast Food -- Everyday is BBQ Day -- Yesterday's clothes: Cleaner than you think - - - The Oakville Trafalgar midget boys bowed out in the semi final at the provincial midget rugby tournament, losing 10-7 to Stouffville. Still, an excellent showing. Way to go. - - - CTV has done something really smart and scooped up the rights to the Hockey Night In Canada jingle, which they intend to use in their hockey coverage, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Somewhere inside the orange-and-glass CBC building in downtown Toronto, some guy is eating a donut and saying "D'oh!!" Read more here. - - - Ron Wilson -- again, not The Beach Boys guy -- will officially be named as the new Leafs' coach later today. That's gotta feel a little like being appointed captain of the Titanic 10 minutes after hitting the iceberg, but he's a big boy and he's getting a big sack of money to take on the job. The thing that perplexes me is that the Leafs made a big production out of bringing in Cliff Fletcher to find a new president and general manager, who in turn would then find a coach. So, they seem to (surprise, surprise) be going about this bass-akwards, by hiring a coach first. Conventional thinking seems to be that they could go this way because Brian Burke will leave Anaheim after next year to take on the Leaf job, and he and Murray are old buddies, and all is well, etc etc. Given the rules about tampering, it would take either Kreskin-like gifts of future insight, or, extraordinary arrogance in assuming Burke wants the job. But this is the Leafs. Conventional thinking should not be applied to the equation. Ever. Read more on the new coach here. June 8, 2008 The better looking and smarter half of my marriage is out west all week, so I'm taking some vacation days and playing dad -- making lunches, running kids to and fro, etc etc. So far -- it's been about 19 hours -- no one has starved to death or been poisoned, but these things take time. In the meantime, I'm conducting seminars on Inappropriate Scratching, Eating Over The Sink (It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore), and Clean Enough To Eat: Food Off The Floor. The thunder and lightning and tornado watches have made for great viewing for us and maybe we'll engage in some storm chasing if the chance comes up. Good, clean fun! - - - Pad worked at the Oakville Buzz game yesterday (they blew out Huntsville 20-3) and reffed two novice exhibition games between periods. He looked a little odd running up and down the floor in flipflops - they didn't realize they needed a ref until five minutes before the first game and he didn't wear sneakers to the rink. No matter. Novices don't move that fast. After the game, the boys were keen to go see You Don't Mess With the Zohan or whatever it's called, so we tried that. When we got to the Oakville SilverCity, the only theatre showing the film was a so-called VIP cinema -- 19 and over only (plus the tickets were $17 each.) So we had two choices -- pick another film or go home. Chris really wanted to see a movie and the only other choice was Kung Fu Panda. Older brother was not immediately amused but went along with it for the sake of peace. And we actually all had a pretty decent time -- these movies are built with jokes for older people too and there were some decent laughs. Plus it was air conditioned. I wouldn't recommend it as a date movie or anything. But if you're in need of a desperate second choice, it works. - - - I got so wrapped up in assembling that new outside gas burner on Saturday, I actually forgot to watch the Belmont Stakes which bummed me out, because I was convinced Big Brown was going to win -- almost as much as Big Brown's large-mouthed trainer was convinced he was going to win. Instead, he finished last and became, I think, the 11th horse since 1978 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown only to lose the third. Much hand-wringing etc about what happened but me, I'm already gone. No one remembers double crown winners, Mr. Big. You can read more here. When do the Leafs play? - - - Speaking of the Leafs, word is that they will announce Ron Wilson as the new head coach tomorrow. I was initially excited as I thought the coach was going to be Brian Wilson, the master songwriter behind The Beach Boys. I figured if the Leafs can't win, at least they might be entertaining. But no. It's Ron -- no relation to the California surfer dudes. Incredibly, it seems he will get a four-year contract. <Heavy sigh.> Read more here. - - - Oakville Trafalgar High School's midget boys rugby team is in the provincial semi-finals today, and hopefully, the finals after that. If they don't melt in the heat. Good luck guys. - - - Thanks for all the inquisitive emails surrounding local hockey stuff. Yes, questions are being ask. No, I don't have enough information to tell you anything. Patience. Such things are best done properly, not hastily. June, 7, 2008 Now that Chris has finished his weekly swimming sessions on Saturday, my weekend recreational typing will have to find a new home. I'm sure the instructors at White Oaks pool will miss me -- but I'll be back. So, the plan for today was to take Pad to Glen Abbey and hang around and update this space while he officiated the first of four games he was scheduled for, then watch his novice team. And then watch Chris's game. And then wait for Pad to finish officiating. But. A couple of things got in the way. First, it was hot. Stinkin' hot. Still is, actually. Too hot to bother dragging the laptop around, in fact. Second, I didn't have anything too interesting say (and there's a big leap of presumption on my part, suggesting I ever have anything interesting to say.) So, the laptop stayed home. Chris's team won. Pad's lost. A day of high adventure, it was not. A day of high temperature, it was. So the leggy blonde, who bought ribs for dinner, dispatched me to Canadian Tire between games to find an outdoor propane burner to sit a pot upon and boil these ribs. And find one, I did. And it is boiling the ribs as a tasty prelude to their trip to the BBQ even as I peck away here now, in the backyard, overlooking our garden and bits and pieces of what used to be a pig. - - - The strategy behind boiling the ribs outside, of course, is to keep the house cool and free of the just-boiled pig aroma. But I'm not sure that this does much for our carbon footprint (I think ours is a Size 14) or the ozone layer, or the pig population of southern Ontario. But we're hungry, and something has to give. And the good news is that if southern Ontario gets plunged into a blackout tonight, it won't be because we're trying to boil ribs and cool the house at the same time. The premier can send the thank you note to the usual address. I expect less friendly missives from Al Gore and David Suzuki. - - - Speaking of electricity, I'd be happy for someone smart out there to explain to me why Bruce Power needs to buy ads behind home plate at Blue Jays games. Is the idea to encourage us to want to buy more electricity? Am I supposed to call Oakville Hydro and demand they get more juice from the Bruce? Is it a branding exercise? Do they have more money than they know what to do with? I know someone out there knows. I'll pass on the answer when it comes in. --- Hockey Night In Canada is getting a new theme song. Apparently. I say apparently because these things seem to have a way of getting settled when one side or the other walks away. And given that the side walking away is the one with the cheque book, and given that the HNIC theme is pretty much useless in any context other than Saturday night on the CBC, it looks a little like one side overplayed its hand a bit. But whatever. Will we miss the theme in our house? Probably for 20 seconds and then we'll watch the game. It's a jingle, it's not the national pastime. We prefer the theme to Labatt Saturday Night anyway. More here on the latest HNIC fuss. June 6, 2008 Yes, a rare mid-day update. One of the most loyal Wings fans on the planet forwarded me this piece from the Detroit Free Press on the class act that is Steve Yzerman. While the Wings celebrated on the ice, Stevie Y. stayed in the executive box. "It's their turn to get all the attention." You can't teach class. Read the story here. June 6, 2008 To beat a cliché until it begs for mercy -- it will be a hot time in Detroit today as the Stanley Cup is paraded through Motor City's downtown. I gather these things are quite the spectacle and the Red Wings -- with their fourth Cup in the last 11 seasons -- are getting it down to an art form. Montreal used to win with such regularity that Mayor Jean Drapeau would issue a press release announcing simply that the parade "would be held along the usual route." But I live in great Toronto, so if I want my kids to see the Stanley Cup I have to pay admission to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Maybe next year. Right? You can read more from the Detroit Free Press on the parade here. - - - Another option would be we could all pile in my car and drive to Detroit. If we leave now, we'd be there by the end of lunch time. 35 degrees. Sunny skies! And we'd be comfortable because -- finally -- the air conditioning in my car is working again. Three trips to the shop and . . . money. Arrgh. Honestly, I might have said to heck with it. But with the weather turning hot, hot, hot, air conditioning doesn't seem like an option right now. No, I'm not driving to Detroit. But I bet it would be fun. - - - I realize we're all getting a little weary of minor hockey chatter and the this-side vs. that-side debate. But since people continue to ask, I'm going to address two recurring questions so that great gobs of my day are not consumed answering emails. First -- how does the board replace the president and treasurer mid-term? The MOHA bylaws provide for this, empowering the board to elect people to finish the terms, which would expire at the AGM in May 2009. It need not be a member of the board or executive, so there's room for some creative thinking. My personal preference would be someone who has no interest in the job beyond finishing this term. But that may be a tall order. We'll see. There are lots of talented people who actually are in it for the kids. So we'll see how it turns out. Second -- Mitron. What's happening, people ask. Don't ask me because I only know bits and pieces. But I can say this -- it is being looked into exhaustively. The board -- the full board, the body that runs MOHA and has ALWAYS had the authority to approve and/or enter into binding contracts on behalf of the members (ie -- parents) will be full briefed. I also suspect that once the information is pulled together, the membership -- which pays the Mitron assessments -- will be briefed in some way to try and peel back the shroud of mystery around the Mitron contract(s) and correct some of the disinformation and fix the absence of disclosure, transparency and accountability that has surrounded this arrangement with MOHA, whatever it is. FYI, I did notice that the Mitron site has been updated, and it now lists MOHA's former VP of rep as the general manager of Mitron for MOHA. Last month, he was listed simply as the Mitron general manager for Oakville. And Caledon, Burlington, Hamilton, and Barrie, too. But now he's not listed as the general manager for those areas now, with enquiries for those centres being directed to someone else. It's all very interesting. I'm confident the board will keep asking questions and I'm pretty sure they will get answers. - - - Back to real hockey. A loyal reader sends a link to the Top 10 Stanley Cup celebrations of all time. Or, at least since video tape was invented. Click here to waste some of your day watching the Cup get hoisted. The Leafs win! - - - If you ask an astronaut (and I have) what is the most asked question they get, they will tell you the answer -- by a wide, wide margin -- is, how do you go to the bathroom in space? And the answer is, very carefully. But this week on the International Space Station, the answer was, "how long can you hold it? We land in 11 days!!" When the toilet breaks on the space station, it's a big deal. There are no plumbers, there is no outhouse. Luckily, they got it fixed. I find stuff like this really interesting. Sorry. Read more here. - - - OK, here comes one of those "when I was a kid" posts. But, when I was a kid, there was a fairly exclusive golf club built almost next door to our house. I ended up caddying, often for rich guys, to earn money that I had no way to spend in Windsor Junction, which didn't even have a corner store. We didn't actually have many corners, either. After a couple of summers, I fell in as the regular caddy for one of the top business executives in the region. An extraordinary gentleman, generous and wealthy, a near-scratch golfer, I learned a lot about the way the world worked beyond my small borders by just shutting up and listening. H.P. was one of about 10 regulars that always played every Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. They always managed to get two foursomes, and their matches were great sport. They bet on everything. And we caddies bet too with each other. I never really knew what gambling was until I met these guys. When you're only making $2 for 18 holes, you couldn't get in a lot of trouble, but we'd bet for Cokes or whatever. Anyway, most of these guys were big, big horse race fans and I became educated in the world of the ponies again just by shutting up and listening. And in the spring of 1973, all they talked about was one horse. Secretariat. This big red machine of a horse was, they told me, one for the ages. Watch, kid. Someday you'll be telling your kids that you saw the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. You will never see anything like this horse in your life. Like I said, that was 35 years ago and boy, were they were right. Two more horses won the Triple Crown is rather quick succession after Secretariat -- Seattle Slew in 1977, and Affirmed in 1978. I stopped thinking it was a big deal or a tough trick to turn. I don't think that any more. Six times since 1997, a horse has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, only to lose at Belmont. Smart Jones. Funny Cide. War Emblem. Charismatic. Real Quiet. Silver Charm. These horse are among 18 in history that failed to win the third leg. Big Brown tomorrow will try to become the 12th Triple Crown champion in the history of this sport, one that I pay little attention to. But tomorrow, I'm going to watch. Those guys I used to caddy for are mostly gone now, but I still remember their banter. They would have said, kid, you better watch this one. By the way, on that June afternoon in 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths and set a track record that still stands. On the Sunday morning on a dew-covered tee, Mr. Barclay couldn't stop talking about it. He said horses will chase Secretariat forever and no one will ever, ever catch him. And then he said what he always did, referring to the nickname for his driver: "Hand me Johnny Mize kid, and let's play some golf!" - - - June 5, 2008 Stayed up way too late watching the end of the hockey game and the ensuing presentations, players posing with mom, with dad, with sister, with wife, with drinking buddies from Newfoundland, with strangers, with anyone who happened by. As much as I wanted to see the Pens win (and admittedly it was something less than a life-long dream) the Wings were the better team by a long shot and deserved to win in Game 5, let alone last night. But still. Give the Pens credit. They came within a whisper of sending the game to OT. For the first time, a European captain raised the Cup. Lots of great coverage of the game out there and you're all smart people, go find it. Until then: A game-over story here. A story on the MVP here. A story on a future playoff MVP here. A story on the first Newfoundlander to win the Cup here. - - - Call me odd. Many do, and I've been called worse. But I was fascinated by the end-of-broadcast feature the CBC ran last night, with each of the Red Wings, in turn, saying his name and who his personal hockey hero was as a kid. It was bright and fun (one young Wing said his hero growing up was Chris Chelios, which is pretty funny and a statement on how long the veteran Red Wing has been around.) And most of the names were legends -- Salming. Gretzky. Trottier. Orr. On and on. And then -- Bill Berg. Bill Berg? THE Bill Berg? The Bill Berg who scored 55 goals in 546 NHL games with four teams? The legendary Leaf blueliner? Bill Berg? I'm sorry. I mean no disrespect. But it is really interesting to me that young Kyle Quincey, from Berg's hometown of Kitchener, assumed the persona of Bill Berg in neighbourhood street hockey games. There were a lot of great hockey players in the early 1990s. And while Berg was a key part of the Leaf team that went to consecutive conference finals in 1993 and 1994, I wouldn't have guessed I'd hear his name last night. Unless Quincey is more like me than I could know. Because when I was a kid, the guy I became in those road hockey games in Nova Scotia was Mike Pelyk -- another Leaf defenceman from a more dubious chapter in team history. As a kid, I was a Leaf fan and I wore number 4. Pelyk wore number 4. I was Mike Pelyk. Trust me, it made sense then. - - - When I walked down King Street to my office yesterday, Carleton the Bear, the Leafs' mascot, was standing outside Tim Hortons (the same Tim Hortons where a guy got chewed out by staff for buying a pregnant, homeless woman a meal). No one was booing Carleton, but I thought about it. Tomorrow when the humidex hits 42? That's when I want to see Carleton the Bear on King Street. - - - The midget 2 Hawks beat Newmarket 3-1 last night, avenging a loss in Newmarket earlier this spring. Granted, Newmarket had a short bench so that helped. And the bench was so short their young coach actually fell backwards off of it, which was pretty funny (he wasn't hurt.) The ref laughed so hard I thought they'd have to stop the game. Good win. The surging Hawks are 5-2-0 in the last week. - - - Interesting story here about fewer kids signing up for organized sports. Not a great trend, really. - - - Yesterday I pointed readers to an interesting story of sportsmanship and fair play and oddly, I received way, way more reaction to that bit of public service than any of the drivel I've posted on a range of other things. If you missed it, click here. People like good news stories. It validates peoples' thinking that maybe some of the kids are turning out just fine and we're not all messing up. I'm going to make a point of trying to show more of that type of story in the future. Because you people scare me and I want to keep you happy. June 4, 2008 (Updated on the train!) Quick update to start your day, as I have to drop the car off at the shop and a kid off at school (not in that order.) The president of MOHA told the board last night he intended to resign, as did the treasurer. I gather the latter intends to stay on for a month or so to allow for some transition. In the case of the former, I have no clue about the timing but the move comes less than a week after he insisted he wasn't resigning. So, we'll see. Whatever happens, the work of the association will go on among the many committed volunteers. Secondly, the board is reviewing in detail the Mitron contract which was extended in March without the board having been consulted. So that issue is being looked at very closely, as it should. We'll see where that leads. - - - Inevitably, people ask what does it mean. I suspect the answer is, probably very little to the average hockey family. Life will go on. People will volunteer and help out just as they always have, most not out of loyalty to someone on the executive or board, but out of interest in participating in the lives of the kids and/or a love of the game. At the top end, there will be emphasis on transparency and accountability as there must be in an community organization. And all of this hub-bub will pass fairly quickly into the quicksand of time because it's not about the adults, it's about the kids. Good people come and go and are thanked for their tireless service, as they should be. They will be replaced by other people who will make their own mistakes and good decisions, none of which will be fatal or breathtakingly brilliant. And eventually if those people stay long enough at the top they will accumulate their own baggage and contentious issues and the cycle will probably repeat itself. But anyone who thinks change is not a good thing doesn't understand that organizations (volunteer, corporate, not for profit, whatever) are living, breathing things. They have to be tended to just like a garden. They need renewal. People at all levels have to feel like they have a say, they have to feel like there is accountability for what they do and what the people above them do. Change will bring new people and new ideas in. How can that be anything but good? And the kids will keep playing hockey, which is why we do what we do. - - - When Wayne resigned from the board, I took a moment to thank him. I know personally all that Wayne did. I offer the same thanks to Mike for his many years of service to the MOHA. Enough people I know and respect acknowledge his efforts over a couple of decades that I have no doubt the kids in Oakville owe him a great deal. But in nine years around the rinks of our town, I have also never met Mike Zardo and I suspect neither have most of the people who read this space. So I have no insight or personal anecdote to share about the guy like I did for the former VP of house. But I can say this. My dad was on the executive of a minor hockey association 40 years ago, so I know something of the missed meals and lost time with the family and phone calls etc. that these jobs take. I'm certain it's more onerous now than it was then. And I know that being president of a large minor hockey association most days involves more board rooms than dressing rooms -- and everyone would rather attend a hockey game than a meeting. And yes, my dad pissed off some people in his time in that role. It comes with the turf. No one in Oakville should underestimate the considerable size of Mike Zardo's contribution to minor hockey and the youth of Oakville. Thank you. - - - Hey. Game Six tonight in Pittsburgh. For the first time since the Nashville series, the Red Wings have to be holding their sticks a little tighter. Maybe feeling a little bit of pressure to end this. Now. Before the Penguins start thinking they can win this thing. And all you people who mocked my seven-game prediction . . . wait and see! - - - The midget 2 Hawks will pre-empt my viewing of the game, at least until the third period. The Hawks host Newmarket tonight at Glen Abbey at 9p. Before that, Pad has his novice team’s practice, then Chris has a house league practice and then the Hawks. And then home. And then the hockey game on TV. - - - This story happened about five weeks ago, but I just caught up to it. Sometimes things happen in sports and in life that remind you that most days, it’s not really all that important who wins and loses. What’s important is that the kids get to play the game. This is one such story and it took my breath away. But you have to click here to read it yourself. June 3, 2008 It was a late night. Excuse me if I type slowly. - - - In actual fact, I didn't stay up for the Penguins winning goal. I was so confident they would win that I went to bed after the second OT and slept like a baby and I was not at all surprised that they won. Mind you, the Wings deserved to win. They dominated the attack and were so tough with the puck that it seemed they should have won the game a dozen times over. But that's why they play the games. Fleury was terrific and I told Laura early on the game had the feel of one of those contests where one team dominates and the other guys get to capitalize on a single opportunity. We've all been there. Back to Pittsburgh for game 6, and all the pressure is on the Wings. - - - The Toronto Maple Leafs are as hopeless and dysfunctional a franchise as there is in all of sports. Run by guys who know how to make money but have no clue about how to build a winner, they are both a perpetual laughing stock and a bright, shiny opportunity for all the great hockey minds who think they can "fix" it. Someday, someone will. And that person will have statues erected in his/her honour. Parades will be held. That person will be beatified in way that will make Red Auerbach and Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi and Toe Blake look like house league chumps. Someday. Someday. Until that day, the collective buffoonery of MSLE continues to search for a winning hockey tandem of head coach and general manager. The latest buzz is that Ron Wilson (late of the San Jose Sharks) is a shoo-in for the head coaching spot. They could do a lot worse than Wilson. And the media machine continues to insist Brian Burke will come to Toronto as president, emperor and general manager, Pope of all things related to hockey. Which means it might mean waiting another year for him to arrive as he has another season under contract in Anaheim to dispense with. If you enjoying thinking about such things -- and if you do, you probably enjoy poking puppies in cages with a sharp stick, pulling the wings off flies, or cheering for Montreal -- then you can read more here about Wilson and here about Burke. - - - I haven't said anything here about the tragic circumstances of the death of Vancouver Canucks rookie Luc Bourdon. If you'd like to read more about this young man and his tragic death in a motorcycle accident at such a young age, click here. It is a terrible loss. My perspective on this is as a parent. If there is a more lethal cocktail than testosterone and gasoline, I'm at a loss to think of it. As a young man I'm certain I did my share of dumb things in a car and even in a well-used 1972 Datsun 510, there were elements of risk. But I never drove a motorcycle in my life. It was a non-negotiable issue in our house. My dad was a control freak before anyone at a business school somewhere invented the term. I know now that he was trying to be helpful and keep us safe. You want to drive? Well, you're not going to drive my car so you'll need to get a job, save your money and buy your own. (I did.) You want to park it here? There's no room in the driveway. You'll have to widen the driveway. (I took down the rock wall, widened the driveway one wheel barrow of dirt at a time -- it took hundreds of trips-- and put the wall back up.) My dad helped me in many ways -- helped teach me to drive, taught the basics of internal combustion engine repair, helped finance car insurance costs, bridged me many times between pay cheques as I worked my way through university. But when an issue was defined as non-negotiable, it was conversation over. And motorcyles were never on. Ever. These were life lessons (I think I called them something else at the time.) The point being that if I wanted something, it had to be earned, not given. There were many privileges earned in our house and few rights handed out. Transportation wasn't an frivolous accessory where we lived. It was a necessity and life line. But on the matter of a motorcycle, it was not on and I never fought it. It wasn't going to happen. Not ever. Period. Full stop. End of conversation. NEXT! And other corners on my family know these things better than me. So, I get it. I also get why young men are attracted to the power and speed and danger of the wind in their face, an open road, and two wheels on asphalt. The death of Luc Bourdon is tragic on many levels and I won't be trite in trying to address or make sense of any of it. It is sad beyond words, as is the loss of any young life. Suffice to say the same rule that prevailed in my dad's house will prevail in mine. No motorcycles. Period. Full stop. End of conversation. Next. - - - One of my favourite lacrosse parents checked in to update the midget 1 Hawks' showing in the Peterborough Laker Classic on the weekend. Over to him: "We won the B championship. Beat Elora 8-6 in OT. Sean Young scored the winner. Sammy Neeb had two. Tyler Albrecht, Mike Morris, Brian Cole, and Zac Ruys each had one and I can’t remember who had the other. The team record was 4-0-1 overall and if I had to pick a team MVP it would be Ryan Adams. He was on fuego all weekend with eight goals and a thousand loose balls." Way to go guys. June 2, 2008 You better get a coffee. There’s a lot to cover today. - - - As mentioned last night the midget 3 Hawks emerged from Six Nations with a bronze medal – they were actually called “Champions of the Silver Final”, but they finished third. The boys won three, lost two, and played four different teams (we played, and beat, the gentlemen from St Catharine’s twice) so it was a good experience in seeing where they fit on the Ontario Lacrosse time-space continuum. The tournament was terrific and well run and the supply of readily available discount smokes was amazing (except few of the parents actually smoke, so that value was never actually consummated into a transaction that I know of.) The semi-final loss in overtime to the Six Nations hosts was a heartbreaker, but as the coach told the boys, don’t expect to get any close calls going your way against Six Nations, in Six Nations. And they didn’t. The referee slapping the Six Nations boys on the back between periods was a hint of where his loyalties may have tilted. Doesn’t matter. We still had fun and I’d go back in a heartbeat. Six Nations has the Iroquois Lacrosse Centre, which is basically a rink but it is never used for hockey. It has an artificial turf lacrosse floor and it a sign that you’re in a place that takes the game seriously and has a deep heritage. National Lacrosse League teams train here in the pre-season. And the pro shop is like a Mecca for lacrosse nerds of all stripes. Unlike say, hockey, lacrosse players will stand in a pro shop twirling sticks and sampling new equipment for hours. And hours. As long as an indulgent parent will allow. In hockey, unless you need your skates sharpened, forget it. I think every kid on the team dumped some cash for things they didn’t really need. But that’s what you do at lacrosse tournaments. - - - The bantam 2 Hawks were in Elora (not Arthur as I previously said) on Sunday. Their manager suggested the following headline: BANTAM 2 HAWKS GORGE IN ELORA I’ll write the jokes here, thanks. But yes, that is a good one. The bantam 2 squad took two of three and also brought home bronze with wins over Brantford and Elora and an OT loss to Arthur. Well done! - - - At the Laker Classic in Peterborough, the midget 1 Hawks were scheduled to play Elora in the B final. No result to report. The bantam 1 Hawks were scheduled to meet Nepean in the D final. Again, no result posted yet. - - - Two personal highlights from spending way, way too much time in rinks and driving back and forth to Six Nations (four round trips in 48 hours). First, the team picnic on Sunday under sunny but, um, brisk conditions. Lots of great food, learned what I already knew (that we have a great group of parents) and a good way to kill a couple of hours without standing around even longer at the Iroquois Lacrosse Centre pro shop. Second, seeing up close one of the most obnoxious parents I’ve ever encountered at a sporting event. I won’t say which midget team she was with, but surly doesn’t begin to cover it. She could also have served as a stand-in for the actress who played Janice on The Sopranos. She took screaming at the refs to a whole new level, elevating it to art form. Simply lovely. - - - Still on that theme, regular readers know that I have a kid who officiates lacrosse as well as plays. So, I have a soft spot and respect for our youth officials that goes beyond the stuff that’s written the coaches’ handbooks. They provide an important service. And apparently, in lots of places the fans still yell at the refs regardless of age. So, good on the Port Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association which has declared “silent stands” for five games for each team this year. Fans can’t yell, cheer, boo, or even clap. They can, however, shut up and watch. This isn’t entirely new. When my boys flirted briefly with soccer years ago, there was one house league game per season where cheering was forbidden. And my friend Brian Metler, recently elected to the MOHA board, has routinely had a hockey game on his schedule where the bench staff just swing gates. No coaching allowed. The kids just play. Anyway, I like lacrosse. I like respectful parents and fans. I even like some referees. Read more about the B.C. initiative here. - - - Chris had the final swim class of his Personal Best program on Saturday – a big swim meet with multi-coloured ribbons up for grabs. I missed it and I’m sorry about that as I’s the bye who took him to swimming through most of the winter and spring. But I was twirling a lacrosse stick somewhere. Personal Best is a fun program where the kids don’t race each other, they get rewarded for beating their own previous best times (hence the name.) Having said that, there are psycho parents everywhere and swimming is no different. Several years ago when Patrick did the program, there was one mother who thought it was good form to walk the length of the pool while her kid was swimming, yelling at the child the whole way. Wouldn’t it be great if all the parents did that? Some people don’t get it. But then, her kid is probably in training for the Beijing Olympic now, right? Unfortunately, some of Chris’s teammate didn’t show up so he ended up swimming way, way more races than had been planed. He was exhausted by the end of the meet and missed his lacrosse game. Total bummer. We hope they did well and had fun. - - - Hockey stuff: The Red Wings try to put a spike through the Penguins tonight and win their fourth Cup in 12 years. Smart money says they finish it tonight. - - - When the MOHA elections were happening, I asked readers to send me questions and concerns I could direct to candidates. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen the way I planned, but this being the web, you readers get what you pay for. That being said, I think that since the MOHA board is meeting tomorrow night for the first time since the elections and AGM, I’ll pass on a Top 10 list of things readers shoved across the great digital divide at me. Some may be old news. Some, clearly, are not. Not that anyone asked, but since I’m already being increasingly regarded as a pain in the butt, and since a whole bunch of people sent me emails over the last month or so on a range of issues, here a list of items for inquisitive directors to add to their to-do lists for the days ahead. To be honest, some of these may have been covered in recent board meetings, or by the house league committee, or others, but since guys like me are out of the direct loop and never get to see the minutes of the meetings and since there are new people on the board, and since I told you guys I’d ask, here’s my list. FYI, it’s not uncommon for incoming directors to get a, um, full lifting of the kilt to show everyone, everything. Please excuse the imagery. So, in no particular order: Mitron. OK, so word is circulating that the former executive of the association renewed the Mitron contract without consultation with the board. OK. The full board should first review the terms and conditions of that decision. Further, it should be given a full presentation on the operational and financial details of the program – explain every nickel from the parents’ pockets right through the system. MOHA might also want to consult parents of rep players who foot a lot of the bill, to get feedback from users on the relative pros and cons of the system. I get lots of complaints. The “dryland training” component – gym time once every two or three weeks, is useless, critics contend. The benchmarking of players – timing them twice a season at various skating drills – is virtually useless. Kids who fall, for example, don’t repeat the drill. And kids who miss those sessions due to illness or homework or whatever, are never tested at all (nor reimbursed). Times are recorded “as is” so the benchmarking means nothing. And teams are not reimbursed when Mitron dryland sessions are cancelled because of bad weather or because the Mitron guys can’t make it on a particular night, and never rescheduled by Mitron. (I have personal experience with that one.) One of the biggest complaints this season was the scheduling of hockey practices on the same night as Mitron dryland training – at a different arena – meaning parents made multiple trips to different rinks on the same day. And it was never clear how long the dryland sessions were to run – sometimes they were 45 minutes. Sometimes they were almost 90 minutes and parents were sitting outside waiting and waiting and waiting. The bottom line is that there is anger and suspicion surrounding Mitron and it is not going away. It’s way past time for a full and detailed review and accounting for the entire board. An executive summary of that review should be given to the family of every rep hockey player. Annually. The accumulated surplus of $1.1 million. It’s large beyond any practical need, real or imagined, and could jeopardize the association’s non-profit status. As I have said before, some level of reserve is not just prudent, it’s necessary. Define the correct number and find a use for the excess funds. Discuss. The MOHA web site. It needs an overhaul. See Point 2, above. The association has lots of money. They could get a kick-ass site for a small, small fraction of that dough. Four figures. The current site got MOHA into cyberspace and connected with the users in a big way. It’s time for a next step. Online registration. The time has come. It can be integrated with point 3. There may be issues regarding the need for signatures etc., but at least consider it. Tina Field, the new house league VP, proposed it in her remarks to the AGM. Sounds good so far. This next one may seem a bit left field, but hear me out. With the price of gas ~~inching~~ stampeding toward $6 a gallon, the cost of sending Oakville teams to compete in Woolwich, Hespler, Guelph, Fergus, Georgetown, Stoney Creek . . . you get the picture. There’s a tipping point of practicality and affordability. I have nothing against the OMHA – in fact, I think the OMHA brand of hockey is terrific. But as a parent footing the bills, I look east and see 7,100 kids in the Mississauga Hockey League with lots of rep teams at all levels, many within a 10 or 15 minute drive. So why am I on the 401 to Hespeler in an ice storm on a Friday night? Yes, I know this is heresy. Yes, I know there are probably lots of regulatory reasons why it would be difficult to change. Um, I don’t care. Can there at least be a conversation about what is practical, and what isn’t? Our kids go to school and get preached at about carbon footprints and energy conservation, and then we pack them up and drive an hour to a game when there are closer teams, many of whom are better than some of the smaller centres that simply are not competitive at all levels. Having a centre – the MOHA -- with a population base of 177,000 competing against much smaller centres and then feeling really good about how well we do is a little delusional. Woolwich – 513 registered kids. Dundas 769. Hespeler 797. Ancaster 998. Flamborough 1,012. Milton 1084. Stoney Creek 1002. Guelph 1500. Georgetown 1700. Caledon 1568. Oakville – about 4,100 kids. Brampton and Burlington are the only centres comparatively close to MOHA in registrations and they travel the same loop we do. I bet they’d like to drive less, too. Again, discuss. Sponsors. House league needs to get a handle on sponsorship issues. I know of teams that seemed to have as much money as MLSE and others that barely had any for one extra sheet of ice. It’s important for enriching the experience of all the kids, equitably. Wayne Moorehead correctly flagged this one at the AGM and he’s right – it’s easier to keep a sponsor than find a new one. Red-white-blue. A couple of season ago, MOHA, atWayne’s initiative, moved to three divisions within house league. Red at the top, with full contact in older age groups. Then white, then blue. Personally, I think it’s a good system. But new things should be reviewed. Maybe it will be a short conversation. Maybe we need to be more granular of the house leagues where numbers warrant. A conversation can’t hurt. As convenor I saw and heard a lot of opposition at first but kids who never scored goals in white were leaders in blue, and kids who really want to move up to red, but aren’t ready, are starting to score goals in white. It’s all good – from a parental and convenor perspective. Are there other views out there? Can’t hurt to talk about it. Referees. Beyond needing someone to yell at, we can’t play the games without them. What is the status of the negotiation between MOHA and the referees? Has it been concluded? Is an end in sight? Is the board being briefed at every meeting? The elimination of the 6a weekday practices. Last year, this was hailed by coaches as the greatest development since, well, ever. Several people figured Wayne was a lock for sainthood based on this alone. I thought it would be great. You don’t stay as fit and good looking as me without a lot of rest, and getting up at 5a on a Monday to drag 10 year olds around the ice didn’t appeal to me. Until I went through several 7p Saturday night practices, which were poorly attended and lacked focus among the kids who were already tired from their day of swimming, tae kwon do, indoor soccer and, the big one, birthday parties (not to mention that the 7pm Saturday practices inevitably preceded an 8am Sunday game!!). Given the choice, give me back 6a week day practices (in moderation) and ditch the Saturday nights. I’m just one voice, which is why you should: discuss. Here’s the big one: Undertake a strategic review of the organization. What works? What doesn’t? Are the structures and reporting lines holding up? Are the parents (a.k.a. the owners) happy? If they are, with what? If they aren’t, with what? There’s enough expertise and intellectual horsepower in Oakville that this could be done at little cost other than some people’s time. And make it arms-length. No executive or directors running it. This is a pretty long list and others could add to it, I’m sure. Some items would require a lot of work – like Mitron – to do properly. Some – like red-white-blue -- could be handled with a conversation. And I’m sure I’ve missed things. But the good news is there are lots of smart people on the board. I bet they have lists, too! - - - Now, return to your real job. June 1, 2008 The midget 2 Hawks lost the semi final this morning, 5-4 in overtime to Six Nations. Anyone who thinks you're going to beat Six Nations, in Six Nations, in overtime, has never been to Six Nations. We did, however beat St Catharines 5-1 in the bronze medal game, and a less sportsmanlike team you'll be hard pressed to find. Not a classy, gracious or mature bone in their bodies. Sad, really. But they got the result they deserved. More tomorrow. On a bunch of things. I'm enjoying the rest of my weekend from 8p till I fall asleep. ~~June 30~~, June 1 2008 (Thanks to the comedians for pointing out the error!) The streak is over. A listless bunch of midget Hawks lost 6-2 (or was it 6-3?) to Fergus last night. Their record still lands them in the semi-finals today and means win or lose they play another game after that. Um, yaaa. We got home really late so didn't get to call N.S. with score and highlights. At the Laker Classic in Peterborough, as best as I can decode from the web site, the bantam 1 Hawks went 0-2-1, and the midget 1 Hawks are 2-0-1. So I presume the latter will have a playoff game today and the former, maybe they get to go fishing? Like I said, it's hard to tell. Anyway, good luck to all the teams competing today -- including the bantam 2 Hawks who had an 8a start in Arthur! *May 2008 and other archives here*

	July 2, 2008 Another day without updating my drivel! It's becoming a trend, and I'm finding that writing nothing is much easier than writing tons. But I'm back. So . . . - - - "Shortly." See you "shortly." We'll be along "shortly." I'll deal with it "shortly." One thing that I've learned from the Invasion of the Cape Breton Cousins and the takeover of the house by women is that shortly takes on new meaning. And sadly for Chris yesterday, I made him pay the price! For me (and my famous pathological need to be early for events) shortly usually means, "immediately." It is not thus with the other gender. We were invited to spend Canada Day with friends at the country place north of the city. Golf. Swimming. Walking. Talking. Eating. It was to be a great day. Given that there are now seven of us in our house, and we had coolers and golf clubs and sundry other things to transport, we had to take two cars. Pad and I would load the clubs and some coolers in my car and hit the road first, so we could play golf with our host immediately upon arrival. Laura, her sister, the girl cousins and Chris would follow -- shortly. Pad and I arrived about 10a, socialized for 20 minutes and then us and our host hit the links. We played for more than an hour when young Will appeared in a golf cart, alone. (By now I had expected him to be playing with Chris, who is not a great golfer but loves to play, especially with Will.) So I call the smarter, better looking spouse and ask where they are. They were about halfway to where they needed to be. My first thought: poor Chris. I imagined a torrent of showers, cacophony of blow dryers, and enough curling irons plugged in to bring Darlington to crawl. And I imagined Chris sitting somewhere, waiting. Waiting. Waiting. In my own defence, Chris wasn't event out of bed when his older brother and I headed out. But still. Band of Brothers, right? No one gets left behind, etc etc. I'm told that when Chris arrived at our friends' place, he sprinted from the Laura-mobile to my car, grabbed his clubs and disappeared onto the course with Will. No one -- no one -- likes having fun the way 11 and 12 year old boys do on an almost perfect summer day under a vacation blue sky. It was cool to see him so excited, on the rare moments our paths actually crossed over the next few hours. Pad and I played 18 holes, nine of them just us. At 6 foot 2, though only 14, he is has athletic gifts and the natural fearlessness of youth and it's getting harder and harder for me to keep up. And it's quite enjoyable, actually. On the drive back I think I saw -- without exaggeration -- two dozen fireworks shows and when we got home around 10:30p our street crackled for a god hour with the popping of pyrotechnics. It was a great Canada Day. - - - The Vancouver Canucks want to pay Mats Sundin $20 million for two years, making him -- at 37 years of age -- the highest paid player in the NHL? LOL LOL June 30, 2008 I opted not to blog yesterday. Pretty scandalous, I know. Pad and I hit the road early for beautiful Midland -- one day tournaments are risky ventures in that you are assured two games, three if you make the final -- long trip for a little action. We won our first over Halton Hills and then lost to Peterborough in the semi final. In between we hung out at a very nice park adjacent to the South Simcoe Rec Centre, at least until it started raining. One of the more interesting developments of the day was when I found myself in the middle of a near riot in the stands at the end of a game in front of ours -- Halton Hills vs. Fergus, I think. The tournament was midget and intermediate teams, which means there's a fair amount of rogue testosterone present at all games. And in the stands. Some kid in the stands -- 15, maybe 16, no idea where he was from or if he was even a player -- was chirping at a group of parents, who chirped back. Not sure who started it, don't really care. The usual high-brow debate ensued. Me and several other parents watched with bemusement. Then this kid starts in with a mom, at which point a very large, very fit dad -- I think from Fergus, but I'm not sure -- comes over and basically tells the kid to shut up (he also helpfully encouraged him to send his dad to see him if he felt any discomfort about being told to shut up. Like most bullies, the kid shut his pie hole when actually faced with a losing proposition.) But naturally, that wasn't the end of it. He starts in with the mom again, and another dad comes over and tell him to shut up. Less large, less fit. Kid challenges guy to a fight, guy accepts. I roll my eyes. So the kid makes his way out of the stands, up the stairs to the back corner of the mezzanine where I'm sitting. He's yapping a mile a minute about the legendary ass kicking he's going to dispense on the man, who is now coming up the stairs. Me and several other people intercept the dad. I basically tell the dad, he's not going near the kid and to turn around. Several other parents are moving the kid away. Then a whole bunch of intermediate players from parts unknown (large, fit, 17-18 year olds) arrive and start haranguing the guy about trying to fight with a kid, etc. etc. It's not good. I'm basically nose to nose with one of these guys and tell him no one is going to fight, take your posse and go, because really, you're not helping. There is jostling and trash talk but the kid I just spoke to did actually help lower the temperature and he and some of the others move away, and good for him. Things generally disperse, everyone is very excited. People head for the exits. The whole thing had the feel of people who didn't really want to fight, but felt honor-bound to pretend they would. It was world-class stupidity, and I had a ring-side seat. Anyway, at this point I lose track of the action because everyone left and I sat down to watch the Oakville-Peterborough game. But Large Fit Dad apparently later reported that more crap continued outside and the police showed up. Glad I missed it. The kid at the centre of all this behaved like a total knob. But . . . adults don't confront kids or accept challenges to fight even if you don't intend to go through with it. Bad, bad idea. I have a motto, "Nothing Good Can Come of This", and it's remarkable how well it applies to many, many situations. And this was one. Anyway, that was my excitement for the day. Otherwise, Midland was uneventful. - - - Southern Ontario remains under a full Cape Breton cousin alert. While Pad and I were away, Sunday was a shopping day. The Toronto Zoo is under a full alert. Today's plan was (because the cousins like horses) Medieval Times theatre, but there's no show today. Or tomorrow! Tragically, the only show we could get is for Wednesday night, when I'll be in Orangeville for lacrosse with Pad. I'll have to miss Medieval Times. And the horses. And eating with my hands (because, it's like, medieval. OK?) Words can't describe my heartbreak. Pad's pretty ripped up too. But we'll get by. - - - Where I'm from, 12 million bees is a lot of bees. And 12 million bees in the back of an overturned truck? Well, there's a story that's going to generate some buzz! Yes, New Brunswick police have a real sting operation on their hands today! Skip more bad puns and go right to the story, here. June 28, 2008 Like Macaulay Culkin, I'm HOME ALONE! Except it's less funny. Laura, the boys, her sister, and her girls all headed for Marineland this morning because, you know -- everyone loves Marineland. Except me. So I stayed home. Yesterday they did the CN Tower, the Hard Rock Cafe, Eaton Centre and the Cape Breton cousins got to ride a GO Train and a subway for the first time. Trust me, if you live in Howie Centre, Cape Breton, that's a big day. Actually, I like Marineland just fine but I had some errands to run and since I'm going to be at a lacrosse tournament all day Sunday, I could either frolic with the belugas at Arctic Cove, or get my butt in gear and do some things I needed to do. Anyway, email reports from the Niagara Peninsula suggest everyone is having a blast, they got very wet on Maid of the Mist, and they're all exhausted. Two observations about adding three women from Cape Breton to the house. First, they eat less than my boys. Second, they travel with a lot of shoes. I should have seen that coming. Third, they don't care for baseball or the Jays. That's just weird. Fourth, it's weird that they went to Niagara Falls to see belugas and Killer Whales, because they live on an island surrounded by whales. I know that was four things. Consider it a bonus. Depending on how the day goes tomorrow: 1 - I may not blog at all. 2 - I may blog live from beautiful Midland, Ontario. 3 - I may blog late in the day when we get home. Wherever you are this weekend, drive carefully. As always, hug your kids. June 27, 2008 We begin today with a cautionary tale -- two, actually -- from the world of electronic banking. I have never lost, misplaced, or had stolen a credit card or bank card, which makes the events of the last couple of days interesting. I rushed home Wednesday night to get Pad to Maplegrove, where he was to officiate a novice peewee rep lacrosse game at 7p, then play with the midget 2 team at 9p. I stormed through the door at 6:46p, which is to say, really late. I quickly threw on shorts and t-shirt, grabbed wallet and blackberry, and ran to the car. I dumped Pad at the rink at 6:59p (don't ask how I got from Upper Middle Road in Glen Abbey to Maplegrove in that time period. You don't want details. But it didn't matter since the novice Hawks all went to the wrong rink and the game was late starting anyway. That's another story.) So, I then went to the Beer Store to get, well, beer. I look in my wallet. No ATM card. I call home. Search ensues. No card. I had last used it Monday night to take money out, so now I worried that I had left it in the bank machine, which would not be good if someone came in after me and our accounts were still open. So, I spent 15 minutes trying to find a number to call to contact the bank. When I finally reached them, they were actually very helpful, cancelled the card and checked to see if there had been any activity on the account. (There wasn't. All good.) Lesson: don't lose your bank card. So, fast forward to last night. I'm just getting on the train home when Laura calls me on the BB and says, call Visa right away. They think your card has been stolen. Um, OK. (I immediately had a bunch of questions, like, if the bank thought my card was stolen maybe they should cancel it, but, on with the story.) I call Visa and answer 16 questions to verify who I am. They then ask if I had been in <city I won't name> and spent $XXX at Zellers and then $XXX and Canadian Tire. No. Had I used my card at two different fast food places? No. A gas station in yet another city? No. Fact is, I rarely if ever use a credit card. So the smart people at Visa were really sharp to catch the activity, right? Wrong. When I get home, there's a letter from Visa with a new card, advising me that they suspect my account's security may have been "compromised." Here's a new card. Activate it. Use it. Destroy the old one. Etc etc. OK. But first I call Visa again and say, basically, WTF? If you suspected there was a problem on my account and sent me a new card, why didn't you cancel the old one then? <Insert long bureaucratic banky-bank type answer here that says, "We can't do that.") OK. So should I activate the new card in my hand? LORD NO!! DON'T DO THAT! (Same account, just different number, bank must delete the entire account, a small animal will be sacrificed, and I lose two draft picks to the Blackhawks.) OK. So, they're going to send me (us) new cards. ASAP. So they say. OK. So, I'm not liable for the fraudulent charges and the account is dead and everything seems cool. Do I have any more questions. Yes, ma'am, actually I do, I said (trying not to sound like Columbo.) How did the bank come to think my account had been compromised? Seems like it was good information, since it in fact was? Another banky-bank type answer -- my account number was one of a group of numbers the bank suspected had been compromised (there's that word again -- compromised. And hey -- are you getting tried of the excessive use of parenthesis"?) So, it sounds to me like someone got their mitts on bank data -- a whole bunch of accounts -- and made duplicate cards. And I have BIG concerns about that. There will be more calls to the bank. One other thing. Because the credit card was used at Zellers and fast food places, I told Laura that made it easy for the bank snoops to figure out it wasn't her using it. If it had been Holt Renfrew and Seasons on Lakeshore? They would never have blinked. She smacked me in the head. - - - The Invasion of the Girl Cousins is upon us. The Y chromosome is usually dominant in our house, but the arrive of Laura's sister and her two daughters yesterday changed at that and we guys are now in minority. Southern Ontario's tourist attractions will get a workout over the next week. The region's retail sector, and GDP generally, will rise dramatically. The Eaton Centre has laid on extra staff. Holt Renfrew has a car waiting. Theatre tickets are selling out. The Maid of the Mist is being spit polished. Border patrols are on alert. You get the drift. - - - If you pass a geek in tears today, try to be nice. Bill Gates, the pontiff of Microsoft, the UberGeek, the billionaire brain behind one of the largest companies in the world, is retiring. He's only 53, so he must have saved carefully. That's important if you want to maintain your lifestyle once you're retired. Here's a pretty funny video on Bill's last days at work. Hal, queue the tape . . . - - - The midget 2 Hawks are in Midland on Sunday for a one-day tournament which sounds like a great idea but . . . how bad will the traffic be coming down the 400 on Sunday night??? I know a lot of people are taking an extra long weekend by adding Monday as a day off, but still. Sitting in traffic isn't my idea of fun. I'll report back later on how that goes. Assuming we ever get back. Maybe I'll get to meet Sgt Cam Wooley! BTW, the midget 2 Hawks beat Orangeville 8-4 on Wednesday night. Two highlights -- goaltender Brennan Donville played out and scored a goal, and Pad was running down the floor with the ball and got crosschecked, and the kid broke his metal-shafted stick on him. Pad didn't seem to notice. I chatted after the game with the father of the kid who broke the stick -- we had a good laugh. - - - Mats Sundin: will he stay? Will he go? Does he have my credit card? More here. - - - Bryan McCabe: Please help Mats find Gerry's credit card, and then leave. Really. Leave. Thanks. More here. - - - Darcy Tucker says he's excited about starting a new chapter of his career (with $6 million in buyout money from the Leafs.) More here. June 26, 2008 It's hard to know where to start with this one, but let's call it Morons On Parade. Last weekend's Harry Kazarian Memorial Lacrosse Tournament in Owen Sound featured some behaviour that hits new lows for parents at sporting events. Sarnia and Orillia's novice teams were playing. NOVICE. So, we're talking nine and 10 year old kids. Words are exchanged between the benches. Some clever coach throws a water bottle at the other bench. Parents from Sarnia confronted the Orillia bench staff. It escalated into a fight involving coaches and parents behind the benches. Sadly, kids were standing on the floor in tears, watching their parents fight. It beggars my command of the English language to put this sad, pathetic incident into words. But, hey -- I'll try. How about: There is simply no excuse in any circumstance where adults -- ADULTS! for Pete's sake -- should expose their own or anyone else's children to the trauma of violence at a minor sporting event. Protecting you loved ones from an intruder in the night? Do what you have to do. Exchanging profanities and punches with the parents and coaches of a novice lacrosse team? What are you? Parent of the year? The Ontario Lacrosse Association is apparently investigating. I hope lifetime bans are being considered. The respective association should ban the individuals from further participation in the sport. Parents who took part should be banned from the rinks. Zero tolerance. That is the only solution. Read more here from the Sarnia Observer. The Orillia newspaper checks in with this report here. - - - So, have you been sitting around the house wondering what soon-to-be-former New York Ranger super-pest Sean Avery has been doing with his summer (aside from letting his spleen recover)? He recently completed a stint as an intern at fashion magazine Vogue. Because when I think haut couture, I think Sean Avery. What sort of helmets are the European runway models wearing this season? Can the Cooperall make a comeback as a fishnet? What are the latest trends in Under Armor? You probably think I'm kidding. I'm not. Avery, who created a stir in the playoffs for acting like an ass in front of Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur and inspiring the NHL to create a new rule to shut down such antics, wrote a blog (so far he hasn't mention MOHA, but it's just a question of time) and a farewell essay when he left the job in pursuit of other interests. If you want to read his blog (as a blogger, he's a first-team NHL all star hockey player -- it's mostly a boring collection of places to eat in Manhatten) click here. His parting essay is here. - - - One cool thing Avery did was to collaborate with Vogue for an online piece on the worst sports jerseys/outfits of all time. And yes, the Vancouver Canucks are there. It's pretty funny and it makes the MOHA house league jerseys look classic by comparison. Hal, do the magic to take readers to the Sports All-Ugly Jersey feature when they start clicking here. - - - Kyle Wellwood was claimed off waivers by the Canucks yesterday. If he can crack their roster, maybe the change of scenery and fresh ocean air will do him good. In the meantime, interesting piece in the Globe today on how the new Leafs, slowly but surely taking shape now, might have a bit of a retro look too. Hmmm. Click here for more. - - - This is becoming an unpleasant trend -- pointing readers to obituaries. I've been meaning for a week to post something on the passing of Brian Budd, an iconic Canadian athlete whose career I followed with rapt fascination once I discovered who the hell he was. Budd -- Budgie to his friends -- was the first Canadian soccer superstar. But that wasn't how I -- or many, many other people -- learned of him. No, he came into our living rooms via one of the first realty TV shows -- ABC's Superstar competition, in which stars of big league sports competed with each other in various sporting events. Simply put, the lanky Canadian soccer player, an obscure name at best on network TV in those days, kicked the butts of all those high-priced NFL and NBA and MLB star athletes and Olympic heroes. He won the competition three years in a row. And he won it so handily that ABC created a rule (you can only win three times) to get him out of the competition so the others would have a chance. I didn't know him. I didn't follow soccer. But it made me smile when he kept beating those American pros when I was a kid. People who did know him tell me he was larger than life. He was only 56. Read more here. June 25, 2008 I think this says it all. Right? (Courtesy of the funny and often rude people at ishkur.com) - - - Just FYI, according to Technorati (citing 2007 data), approximately 120,000 new blogs are launched every day. (That's a demand for lot of monkeys that would bring Marlin Perkins to his knees, I suspect. If he were alive. Which he's not). Most blogs are read only by their author. And maybe his dad. Few are updated more than once a week. Three make money (that's my estimate) and this isn't one of them. - - - From the Department of the Truly Useless: If you're like me, I'm sure you've sat around wondering what would happen if you were in the space shuttle and you decided to jump out, without a space suit. Man, the hours I've spent pondering that question. Well, wonder no more. I've been pointed to a really useless site that will ask you a series of questions and figure it all out for you. And make no mistake, you're gonna die up there. It's just a question of how fast. Click here to take the quiz. - - - Well it took awhile, but Cliff Fletcher is finally -- finally -- making some moves with the Leafs to open up some salary cap room in advance of the July 1 free agency deadline. Darcy Tucker. Gone. Kyle Wellwood. Gone. Andrew Raycroft. Gone. Probably. Tucker and Raycroft will find work, and even if they don't, they will have a lot of money in their pockets. Wellwood may be at the end of the line. I have no doubt someone will take a chance on the guy, but his history with the Leafs never achieved its promise and there were constant natters about his conditioning and work ethic. At least stuff is happening, which is a change in itself. Read more here. - - - Tiger Woods had is ACL repaired yesterday. More here. - - - For the first time that I'm aware of, I've landed a blog reader from the southern hemisphere. An Aussie-based reader, no less. I could make all sorts of 1980s references to shrimps and barbies and Aussie Rules football. But that would be lazy. So I won't. But, hello to all our Australian friends, who are just starting winter! - - - In trying to keep up my pledge to offer you a good news and somewhat inspiring story each week, this week's offering comes from the New York Times, and it's about golf. As courageous and inspiring as Tiger Woods' win at Torrey Pines was, this story is better and unlike last week's, it won't make you cry, so no worries there. Meet D.J. Gregory, PGA Tour-sanctioned golf blogger. He's halfway to his goal of walking every hole of every tournament on the Tour this year. DJ has cerebral palsy and has had more operations than Tiger has major championships. And from his perspective, he's feels he's one of the lucky ones. Read his story here. June 24, 2008 Speed blogging -- 16 minutes to do this. Ready, set . . . - - - Where did June go? All those smiling people you see around town right now are school teachers. And who can blame them? - - - Proving my theory of "you never know" to be still alive and well, my friend Michael Santangeli made the Team Ontario U-15 rugby squad, along with six other Oakville Cru teammates. What Mike lacks in physical dimension he makes up for in heart, speed, and quick hands. Way to go. Other Oakville athletes on the team include Dan Caudle, Matt Jones, Sam Jones, DJ Stewart, Kyle Munoz, and Brendan McFarlane You just never know . . . - - - Need to know where to get your new ice dance costume but don't have a phone book nearby . . . or a computer? Try 1-800-GOOG-411, the new, free Google directory assistance app. It basically allows phone users to audibly access the Google database to locate nearby services. I'm waiting for Google to develop a program to tie my shoes for me. Then, I'll be impressed. Until then, you can read more about GOOG-411 here. Hello? Anything in a 46 tall? - - - Tiger Woods may be gone from the PGA Tour for the rest of the year, but he's not forgotten. The Tour started to get used to the idea of Life After Tiger this past weekend. Stewart Cink is a good guy and one of the top golfers in the world, but his struggle with male pattern baldness didn't make for quite the same story line as Tiger a week early winning the US Open on a gimpy knee with two stress fractures in his tibia. Click here for one take on some things to watch for on the Tigerless Tour. Who will benefit? Who will lose? Who will kick Phil's butt now? Another take is here, with an opinion that Tiger -- with only six starts in 2008 -- has already locked up Player of the Year honours. And here, the Scotsman has something of an inside-the-ropes story on how it came to pass that Tiger played at all at Torrey Pines. Clearly, he wasn't ready. It's quite a yarn. - - - Last night's midget 2 Hawks lacrosse practice may go into the annals of Oakville sporting history as one of the most listless and distracted such efforts in the town's records. (If they kept records of such things, which I'm glad they don't.) Maybe it was the thunder and lightning. Maybe it was the rainbow that seemingly draped our town after the storm. Maybe it was the end of exams and the pending release of the boys to . . . wherever they get released to (I'm thinking released to sleep 16 hours a day.) Whatever. Coach Mark showed remarkable restraint in not resorting to medieval behavioral correction procedures. Honestly, the pick and roll is not that difficult a concept. And they get to do it all again tonight. For two hours! - - - Time! 509 words. 14 minutes. And it's all free, to you the blog-browsing public. G'nite! (Day, actually.) Drive carefully. Try the veal!! I'm here all week. Thank you! June 23, 2008 Do you remember the early 1990s? Good times -- two World Series championships for the Jays, the Leafs went to the conference finals in consecutive years (1993, and 1994) and were consistently among the top teams in the league for a time. And two of the big personalities in sports in Toronto way back then were Cliff Fletcher and Cito Gaston. So, here it is, 2008, and Cliff is back running things for the Leafs (on an interim basis, whatever that means anymore) and Friday, as I sat on the deck with my dad, the Jays finally fired John Gibbons and, stunningly, rehired Cito. It was like a time warp, except with losing records. At the same time all this is happening, Canadiens boss Bob Gainey is on the phone booking plane tickets to Sweden to talk to Mats Sundin about French lessons. And the irony here -- not lost on anyone -- is that Cliff Fletcher created those Leafs teams, including doing the deal for Sundin. And now he is poised to become the GM who sends another Leaf captain -- Sundin -- packing (not that it would be a bad call in this instance. Anyone who sees Mats as part of the team's future is missing the big picture. Great guy, love his heart, but the marginal utility of investing in Mats for another year or two makes no sense if you have to rebuild the team.) If your head is spinning, you are in good company. Click here to read more as you sip your coffee. - - - On the flip side, everyone seems to be giving Fletcher high marks for making a bold move to ensure the Leafs had a crack at a potential future franchise player in Friday's entry draft. Luke Schenn is big, mobile, and blessed with a nasty disposition on the ice. He has, the scouts say, all the tools to be not a good player, but a great player. Don't expect to see him on the blue line for a couple of years, but it's an exciting turn of events. More here. - - - Pad has his final exams today -- both French. He is as excited about French exams as I would imagine the Queen is excited over French fries. Which is, not at all. He gets good marks but he doesn't enjoy it. And after today, he's done with high school French. (I think.) Chris is practically bouncing off the walls, this being the last week of school, coupled with the pending arrival of his aunt and cousins from Cape Breton later this week. This will mark their first visit to the GTA and Chris is pumped. Always, he has been the visitor. Now he gets to play host and show off his corner of the world. I haven't seen an itinerary but everything from the CN Tower to Niagara Falls should prepare for what happens next. It will be fun. And after a week, everyone (except me) gets on a plane at 6:20a and goes to Nova Scotia. I never get to go anywhere (queue the violins, fade to black . . .) - - - Well, it will be fun for those who get to do the tours. My touring will likely remain confined to lacrosse rinks and roads leading to lacrosse rinks. Oh, and work. Lots of that, too. The midget 2 Hawks have a team run and practice from 8:15p till 10p tonight, then a two-hour practice tomorrow night, then a home game Wednesday. On the weekend, we're up in Midland for a one-day tournament. Chris will be entertaining and enjoying the lull in his schedule. June 22, 2008 As some of you have helpfully pointed out, I didn't update this space yesterday. Hey -- I was busy! The Oakville Minor Lacrosse Association Gala Day was a huge success, and thanks and congratulations to the volunteers, coaches, refs, players, parents, timekeepers and fans who made it the day it was. Chris's team played in (I think) the 3rd vs 4th game, and won 5-1, and my kid scored his first, last and only goal of the season, after which he achieved a new personal best in the vertical jump. Here's a pre-game photo of coach Jeff reviewing the strategy (run hard, have fun, keep the shifts short!! Arnold!! Get out there and score a goal!) One of the game officials was a guy who lives here and eats a lot, and he and his partner did a good job -- the game was a fairly straight forward one. My favourite part of this photo is the woman behind the glass. Is she saying, "Hey, is that Patrick?" Or, is she saying, "Hey, do you think that coach over there will shut up?" Which coach? Take your pick. After the game the kids repeated the sweaty ritual of jumping on the goalie and celebrating a win before parading off to the dressing room for cold drinks, cool t-shirts and the presentation of the Coach's Award to goalie Thomas Hammond, who was outstanding for the squad all season long and is a nice, nice kid. The talented Rock team scored eight seconds into the game, then Thomas (below) played 44 minutes and 52 seconds of shutout lacrosse. Way to go, Big Man! And here's a close up of Chris after the game, still beaming about the goal he scored. Anyway, it take a lot of work to make Gala Day happen -- before the event, and during. Volunteers are recruited to help sort the t-shirts for the teams, distribute the trophies, run game sheets, announce games, do the music, on and on and on. So, here's Dylan doing the less glamourous work behind the scenes in a dressing room, meticulously sorting shirts and helping out. His efforts and those of many others were very appreciated. Thanks to all the volunteers! A couple more pictures for you -- I took this one of a novice final -- I probably know some of the kids out there but if I did, it wasn't immediately apparent to me. But this picture jumped out at me Sunday morning as I looked through the files -- sort of like finding Sasquatch posing in the background of a picture you took on a camping trip. (If this has ever actually happened to you, please contact me.) Anyway, in box lacrosse there are 12 players on the floor -- two goalies, and 10 runners. In this picture you can see 10 of the 12 kids (or parts thereof). As a coach, you find moments like this pretty funny because in lacrosse (just like hockey) you try to teach the players to, um, spread out. It just struck me funny. PS -- I have no clue who won. Here's one more photo from the same game, a nice action shot: OK, so Chris's coach was having a pool party for the team after the game and the sun was shining and I was told by the gala day chairwoman my services were not needed, so me and Chris bolted. BUT. Before we did, I ran into the longest serving MOHA director in history (his tenure dates back to when Clarence Campbell was NHL president I think.) And then in comes John Lee, another MOHA director and my senior convener from last hockey season, who joined us. So at this point I'm thinking that maybe a board meeting was about to break out but that wasn't why they were there -- they came to cheer on fellow MOHA director Nelson Pavao (we were approaching quorum at this point) and his peewee Shamrox in the championship game. It must have helped, because Nelson's team won and not only that, it was his second championship of the day, having coached one of the younger division champions earlier in the day. In all, Shamrox teams made appearances in four finals, and won three of them (maybe the other was bantam, with some pretty good goaltending I am reliably informed) so it was a good day for the luck of the Irish. And incidentally, if Marshall and John want to joined the board of the OMLA, we'll take them! The glamorous work is exciting, you meet interesting people and you get to see kids hitting each other with sticks. It's just fun. Lots of folks with no direct connection to the association were at the rinks on Saturday. Thanks to all of you for supporting the kids. They -- and we -- appreciate it. What a great day. June 20, 2008 My meetings are done so now I'm out at the ancestral estate taking care of 1,462 emails that went unattended while I was in meetings. But technology -- as much as it makes us 24-hour slaves to the job -- can also be liberating and I'm sitting on the deck with my parents taking advantage of the wireless network I put in for them. I'm literally sitting in the same place where I would sit as a teen some 30-odd years ago. It was my habit to be home at a decent hour, and sit in the dark on the deck, stare aimlessly down the road and across the lake and have a glass of Pepsi and a hunk of pepperoni before heading for bed -- and waiting for the dreaded 4:45a alarm to go to work at the golf course. On the drive out here this afternoon I drove by Georges P. Vanier Junior High School, where the grounds were happily speckled with kids enjoying the sun -- it's 21 and sunny here -- and no doubt looking forward to the seemingly endless days of summer that can only truly be enjoyed by kids. It hasn't changed much since my day. I told dad I remember one such day, from when I was in Grade 9. It wasn't the last day of school, but it was almost last. Me and three buddies played hooky in the morning and went golfing and I swear I remember that day as if it happened a week ago. The sky was brilliant and blue and we had the course to ourselves, or so it seemed. Afterwards, we went to school where there was a special afternoon of events for the school athletes. We watched Clint Eastwood's High Plains Drifter in the gym, then we were free to make use of the gym and sports equipment as we saw fit for the rest of the day. I suspect it sounds rather pedantic in the retelling, but it was one of those days that for whatever odd reason I just never forgot. It was a great, worry-free day before we left junior high and headed for high school, at which point everything would seem to change and get more serious at a much faster pace. And it seems it hasn't let up much since. - - - Tomorrow is one of my favourite days -- house league lacrosse Gala Day. It's not unlike Awards Week in hockey, but it's compressed into a single day -- fewer teams, fewer kids than MOHA, but just as much excitement and fun for the day. Laura is the coordinator of the event and in the days before the event our garage, and sometimes the living room, and maybe a hallway, slowly fill up with boxes of trophies and medals and t-shirts. The phone rings and rings and rings with people confirming arrangements for volunteers for running the music, doing the announcements, helping with the boxes, and a million other things. Glen Abbey Rec Centre. Tomorrow. Come cheer the kids on, even if you don't know them. - - - If you're in Manitoba and hoping to watch a minor lacrosse game, you might just be out of luck. Fed up with the level of abuse being hurled at refs by obnoxious parents, one association has said "enough." The Red River Lacrosse Association closed the doors on all its games to everyone but the players, the refs and the bench staff. It's a sad thing when it comes to that. But as a parent of a ref, probably better that than someone like me going aboard a parent in the stands for abusing a game official. Read more here and here. A couple of years ago, as a convener watching a house league lacrosse game, I asked one such parent to ease up on the ref, who could not have been more than 15. The guy mumbled about the kid needing to learn the rules (to which I replied maybe HE could take the courses, and HE could ref and HE could become a mentor to young officials by leading by example. That's a real thigh slapper, that one.) Anyway, on his second warning minutes later, I asked him to leave. He didn't budge and basically said, "you can't make me leave." I said, no, but as convener I can stop the game until you do leave. At that point, every parent within earshot trained their eyes on the guy. He left. Bu-bye. - - - It's the first weekend of summer. Make it a great one. I'll see you at the rink. Thank a volunteer this weekend, and don't forget to hug your kids. June 19, 2008-- Update I'm in a hotel in downtown Halifax where the fog is thicker than the head on the Guinness in the pub across the street and, no word of a lie, there's a bagpiper playing in the street below my window. It took three tries but I finally hit him with an empty Keiths bottle (you try emptying those that fast!) but it just grazed him. It took two more to bring him to his knees. The sixth one shut him up. My work her is done. I'm going to dinner. PS -- there's an old saying: Why do bagpipers walk back and forth while they play? Because it's harder to hit a moving target. Have a nice night everyone! - - - It's really early and most of you are still asleep as I type this. I'm en route to the airport and points east so I don't have much today. The midget 2 Hawks prevailed 4-2 over Halton Hills 2 in beautiful downtown Acton last night. It was an unremarkable evening in every way. Chris and his school band saw their plans for Concert on the Lawn turned into Concert in the Gym because of the weather. My bride and her friends had a lovely dinner in a nice restaurant. I got a thin cheeseburger in Acton where, I have to report, it wasn't worth the drive. If I had more time I'd point you to stories on the Celtics smacking down the Lakers, and the latest chapter in As The Tiger Turns. But I don't have time so you'll have to amuse yourselves. I expect blogging to be light to non-existent for the next 36 hours. Everyone behave. Like the big guy in the Terminator movies, I'll be back. June 18, 2008 The Hockey Hall of Fame grew by two people yesterday, and again, I'm not one of them. Yes, I think it's odd too. Glenn Anderson, the prolific finisher on those great Oilers teams of the 1980s, and Igor Larionov, who joined the NHL from Russia as a 29-year-old and won three Cups with the Wings after playing in Vancouver, are the latest honourees. I have to admit both had better careers on the ice than me. Anderson is the sixth member of the Oiler dynasty to enter the hall. Larionov was one of the greatest Russian hockey players in history, a member of the famed KLM line with Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov. Read more about them here. - - - Weird Golf Stuff In the News An insurance executive who was annoyed that his company forced him to accept a free golf club membership as part of his compensation (he hated golf) wins his fight with the Canada Revenue Agency. They taxed the membership as a taxable benefit, he argued that if he hates golf and derives no benefit from the membership, why is he being taxed? Read more here. - - - Tiger Woods. Yet more commentary: This is a New York Times story on Woods that, in a nutshell, marvels at his ability to focus with a singular clarity that not only eludes ordinary guys like me, but also makes what passes for concentration among his peer group look silly. You can read the Times piece here. Me? I have no trouble concentrating on things. I am blessed with the laser-like focus of a Zen master and when I turn my attention to something it's . . .Hey! Someone brought donuts! Let's get some! - - - The MOHA board elected veteran Mark Bentley as the new president last night. Thus ends the longest election and election-related elections since the Florida recount in 2000. Rich Garrie -- a non-board member -- was named as treasurer. I think it's a terrific idea to bring in someone not on the board. I know Rich -- his son and mine played rep hockey together three years ago, and he has another very, very, very, very fast son on the novice lacrosse team that Pad coaches. He's a great guy. Smart choice. - - - This is another one of those things that got lost in the weekend blur at home, but Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press and chief of their Washington bureau, died while at work Friday. He was only 58. I never met the guy, but he was a legend in the news business for his professionalism, his fairness, and his tenacity. Even those who were the targets of his questions would admit he was unflinchingly fair. He had no agenda beyond facts and the truth. That is about as high a standard as there is in this business. What I said earlier about sports journalism legend Jim McKay applies to Russert too. The son of a working class neighbourhood in Buffalo, he was named last year by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. If you have a kid interested in journalism and communications, have them read up on Russert. He was among the best of the best. You can read more here if you want. - - - A couple of weeks ago I posted a link here to story about sportsmanship and fair play and courage in a women's college softball game. It generated a fair amount of comment from people for good reason. And people said if I ever stumbled across stories that inspire and bring perspective, please point them out. OK. Meet John Challis. He's a kid in Pennsylvania. This is a story of personal triumph in the face of terrible adversity. John Challis' story is not an easy one to read as he fights a formidable battle with cancer while maintaining his love of sports. But he's inspired everyone he's met in Beaver County, Pa., and lots of others that he hasn't even met. You can read more here. - - - The word "frantic" enters our lexicon at home again starting this evening. Two lacrosse practices, a band concert, and a rep lacrosse game in Acton, plus some other stuff not related to the boys. I haven't seen the detailed battle plan yet but we may be calling in reinforcements to get it all done. The weekend is promising to be even more taxing that the last one as my smarter, better looking half prepares to Sherpa several hundred house league lacrosse players, coaches, conveners, refs, parents, sponsors, supporters and a small army of volunteers through Oakville Lacrosse Gala Day. The action goes all day (through 6p I think) on Saturday -- if you want to see kids having fun, come by the Glen Abbey Rec Centre on Saturday. I am her larger, less attractive but nonetheless willing helper. Lacrosse nerds on parade! See you there! June 17, 2008 Like an act of mercy, last night's two-hour midget lacrosse practice was cancelled so the limping and wounded could both heal and study -- lots of exams this week for the Grade 9 and 10 Hawks. Which left us at home in the curious position of having an evening with no scheduled events. Well, almost none. Chris had hockey at 6p, but once that was done it was clear sailing. Odd things happened -- conversations on non-sports topics broke out. Phone calls to relatives. A baseball was tossed around in the backyard. Actually, it was also tossed into two adjoining yards as well. It was all too weird to describe in detail -- no scheduled sporting events. Amuse yourselves. More oddly, the cycle may repeat itself tonight. We're all a little concerned. - - - Canada is, truly, a great country. Regardless of the people running the show at any given moment, it's a wonderful land, blessed with natural riches, a home to people with roots around the globe who enrich the experience for us all. You don't have to travel far abroad to understand how good we have it. In other countries, where they take soccer way more seriously than we do hockey, it is not always so pleasant. Especially when the prime minister -- of Poland in this instance -- tells the media he wanted to "kill" a referee over an alleged missed call in a recent Euro 2008 game. The prime minister's remarks let loose a torrent of hatred for the English referee in question -- incidentally, the only Englishman at the Euro. Have I mentioned that England failed to qualify? Anyway, it's all fairly bizarre. And yes, you can read more about it here. - - - Regulars will know that I am occasionally hard on GO Transit. But they regularly and inevitably apologize for any inconvenience, so it all works out. And unlike some people, at least the catalytic converter is usually still attached to my car when I return to the GO station lot in Oakville. Huh? It seems the pollution reducing device on the bottom of your car, a key element of the exhaust system, contains platinum. And platinum has shot up in value in recent months. So, thieves are no starting to steal catalytic converters right off cars in some GO station lots. Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up. The good folks at GO insist the problem is small and isolated. But if you park at a GO station and see a dude walking around with an acectelyne torch and a wagon full of pipe, you might want to put Aunt Madge on hold and call the cops. And if you start your car and it sounds louder than normal and emits a strange smell, ditto. If you follow commodity markets at all, just be glad your car doors aren't made of potash. You can read more here. - - - Eventually, sports writers will run out of superlatives for Tiger Woods. But not yet. He looked pretty ordinary on Monday, and played barely well enough to win, but in capturing his third US Open, his 14th major, and his third career Grand Slam, Woods sent the amiable Rocco Mediate to the pages of a trivia book yet to be written. I was pulling for Rocco. I love Tiger's pursuit of Jack's records. I love that me and my kids get to witness one of the great athletic careers ever. But Rocco was every man who ever showed up at a hard-scrabble driving range with his kids. Rocco had the common touch. Everyone over 40 wanted Rocco to win one for us. He almost did. Three down to the world's top player, Rocco reeled off three straight birdies on the back to take the lead. It was his to win. An errant drive into the sand on 18 was all the breathing room Tiger needed, and after that it seemed inevitable. The end was great theatre. And Rocco will never, ever get that close again. The respected British broadsheet The Guardian today asks a question worth pondering. Is Tiger the great athlete ever? Has any athlete, present or past, ever dominated their sport the way he dominates golf? Read more here. June 16, 2008 Not sure what your weekend was like, but ours was a blur. The midget 2 Hawks won their semi final early Sunday afternoon, defying the Las Vegas bookmakers as they got ahead 6-3 on Guelph and held on for a 6-5 win. That sent them to the late-afternoon final (about the same time that Tiger was teeing off) against Hamilton where, finally, the ride came to an end against an older, bigger team with more firepower. But there was not a parent among us who expected we'd be watching our guys play in the final, so the weekend was a nice surprise. Full credit to the boys for never backing off. Below is a photo of Hawks' captains (left to right) Patrick Arnold, Patrick Megannety and Mack Hulbert accepting the finalists' banner. And under that is sweaty team photo. It was a fun weekend. - - - The Hawks had to manage this weekend without a number of key players, some of whom were off in Cincinnati with the Edge Lacrosse club team. The Edge squad went 4-0 before losing to Cincy in the finals. Great showing. - - - And the peewee 2 Hawks also made the finals in Milton, losing to Brampton in the finals. We cheered them on before our game Sunday. - - - We did manage to get home to see a good part of the back nine at the U.S. Open and we did see The Putt. Win or lose, Tiger Woods is as about full-value as an athlete can be. He just puts on a show worth watching. Just the same, it's pretty hard not to root for Rocco today. The Journeyman vs. The Superstar. The 18-hole playoff starts at noon. - - - I'm told Oakville hockey veteran Mark Bentley is also putting his name forward to be the next MOHA president. Mark has been around hockey in Oakville a long time and is well respected. Aside from seeing him as a timekeeper at many Ranger games, Mark is also the friendly voice who answers when a beleaguered convener -- like me -- has to call at 8a on a Sunday morning to track down a missing referee. Or two. The MOHA board selects a new president and treasurer tomorrow night. I haven't heard anything on possible candidates for the treasurer's job. - - - Still with MOHA, former president Mike Zardo was honoured on the weekend by the OMHA, receiving the organization's Honour Award in recognition of his outstanding voluntary contribution to minor hockey for a considerable period of time. There can be no denying his record of service and congratulations are well deserved. You can read more on the award and the nomination behind it at Wayne's site here. I couldn't find a page on the OMHA site or I'd link to it too. - - - Several of Pad's lacrosse teammates -- and a couple of dads, too -- played in the annual Alex Corrance Memorial Ball Hockey Tournament on the weekend. The tournament featured NHLers Steve Downie and Sam Gagner as well as a bunch of NCAA, junior A and local athletes, all for the cause of heart research. Alex was the popular young man who died during a hockey game in December 2006 from a heart problem unrelated to the game. I'm told the winning team in this year's ball hockey tournament featured some of Alex's closest friends. The win was very special to them. June 15, 2008 Hi. It's me. Spent enough time in Milton yesterday to qualify as a ratepayer. We lost the game with Guelph (it may have set a record for the longest midget game in history, taking about 18 hours to finish, wire to wire. But the boys did well enough in the remaining games, including a win over Cambridge last night, to quality for a semi final today. So it's back to Milton. And we play Guelph. Again. - - - Chris and his house league team were carpet bombed in their semi final, so they won't make the championship game next weekend. - - - One advantage of watch three (3) midget lacrosse games yesterday is that I was spared from having to spend one, single minute in front of the TV watching Tiger Woods illuminate southern California like the northern lights. Because you know, that's just so typical. Been there, done that. Seriously. Glad I missed it. Not bitter at all. Really. - - - Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there and especially to mine who literally spending the day sitting with his feet up. It was my dad who taught me that every day is Fathers Day and fathers are here to lead and help their kids learn and have fun. Which is why I'll be in a sweaty rink in Milton. I wouldn't want to miss a minute of it. And if I don't get my butt in gear right now, I will miss way more than a minute. Hug your dad. Or call him if he's out of reach. June 14, 2008 Arrgh. The midget 2 Hawks' game in Milton last night was stopped with about six minutes left in the second because the arena floor was sweating -- humidity on the concrete rendered the floor unsafe, the refs stopped the game and so we'll go back there early this afternoon to finish that one, with Guelph leading 3-2. An hour later, we play Fergus. - - - Chris came home from his very busy night at 11:30p, walked right past me and went to bed. Seemed like a good plan. Anyway, we're all thinking about things happening today back in Nova Scotia and we wish we were there and . . . well, that's the way it is when you live away. - - - Scores and updates later. Not going to see a lot of golf today -- likely three rep lacrosse games, a house league semi final, Pad refs a game . . . it's all fun. June 13, 2008 Friday the 13th. Hmm. Just try to be careful, OK? No, I'm not wearing a hockey mask and carrying a chainsaw. - - - Me and Chris stayed home last night while older brother attended the big athletics awards dance at Abbey Park. He went out the door in a black suit, blue shirt and silver tie, looking something like a blond James Bond. He rolled in around 11:30p and reported he had a great evening. Two more exams today, then the rugby team year-end social, then a lacrosse game in Milton -- first game of a tournament. Chris has a big class party thing after school that includes pizza, a pool party, laser tag, a movie and video games that will go to close to midnight. My kids have far more interesting social lives than me. - - - Laura finally returned from the west, very late last night. She's tired but glad to be home. I offered to take her to dinner tonight (before the lacrosse game) since the boys will both be out. She said she didn't want to see another restaurant meal anytime soon. I'll be working the grill tonight. - - - Soccer fans -- ok, one -- have emailed me (repeatedly) to point out that I'm missing the second most important soccer tournament in the world -- the Euro, taking place right now in Austria and Switzerland. (The English are missing it too!) I have been paying a little bit of attention to it, but soccer is not really our thing at the Greenbriar Amateur Athletic Association and Social Club. My boys both played a little soccer early on, but given that they spent six weeks in Nova Scotia with grandparents in those days made it sort of pointless to try and be part of a team for half a season. We did actually register Pad in soccer in Cape Breton one summer, but that didn't work out a whole lot better. So, rather than make a half-assed commitment, we shifted to other things -- like lacrosse. But, back to the Euro. Correct me if I get this wrong. The Swiss are out. The Italians had their butt handed to them by the Dutch. The defending champion Greeks played what we hockey players would call dump and chase, and got beaten by the Swedes. And the Germans are wondering WTF happened that they lost to Croatia. Did I mention England didn't even qualify for this? They bear a striking resemblance to the Leafs, actually. - - - Last weekend, one of the giants of sports journalism died and I have been meaning to say a few words about him. Jim McKay, the voice behind ABC's Wide World of Sports, was 86. How many weekend afternoons did I spend as a kid listening to him report from some distant corner of the globe on sports of all stripes, from bowling to cliff diving and everything in between? It's hard to explain to people how good he was at what he did. The ability to be conversational and engaging on a wide range of topics, on live TV, is immensely difficult and it's why people who can do it are in such demand in network TV. He was a mentor and inspiration to a generation of sports journalists. He was more than a sports reporter. The horror of the terrorist attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics turned him into a news anchor for those dark days, and I remember him looking into my living room and saying simply, "They're all gone." I didn't know then that I would follow a path in journalism, but I understood the power of three simple words did more to convey the grim news than anyone else could talking for an hour. If you have kids who love sports, or aspire to a career in journalism or communications, tell them to read up on Jim McKay. He was a great one. Read the New York Times story on his passing here. - - - Enjoy your weekend. Don't forget to hug your kids. And your dad. June 12, 2008 The week at home continues. My cooking skills are meeting local demands. Chicken burgers. BBQ chicken with pasta. Waffles, bagels, fresh fruit. We haven't ordered out for pizza once. Yet. Just in case you moms out there pointing at me and laughing at lacrosse think I was serious about making the kids eat over the sink. No, that's just me. I haven't been commuting this week so I haven't been typing on the train and blogging while making lunches for school doesn't work. And today I was up at Iroquois Ridge High School for a track meet and to cheer Chris on. All of which is to say, yes, I know I'm late. But you get what you pay for, right? - - - The odd confluence of me being off and the US Open starting today is really just happy coincidence. Very happy, actually. Whether the leader board will live up to expectations is another matter, but perhaps more than any other major this one places such demands on the participants that very rarely does anyone who is not a true A-List golfer win. I think Steve Jones winning in 1996 may have been the only such time a journeyman has won this title in the last couple decades. I expect to miss most of the weekend action because of kids' commitments. I don't mind. - - - Two MOHA board members have contacted me in the last day or so to let me know they are putting their names forward as nominees for president. They are both excellent gentlemen. The first, Brian Metler, has watched more house league white hockey action with me than I care to discuss. Smart, articulate, and gifted with great people skills, he is one of my favourite Oakville folks. New to the MOHA board, Brian has a wealth of real-world experience to offer. He could give seminars in corporate governance -- part of his job is reporting to the audit committee of one of the largest corporations in Canada. And it's no secret he is a good friend of mine. John Lee was my senior -- opps!! -- my head convener last year when I was doing the chores for minor peewee white. I reported to him. John made it his business to get out to our games regularly, which I truly appreciated. He is incredibly well organized, generous with his time, sage with his advice, and a board veteran. Any guy who coaches teams and convenes divisions where he has no kids participating is a saint. I consider him a friend and he too has tons of real world experience. The Beer Store (corporate side, but still, it's beer. Need I say more?!) There may be other people coming forward I am not aware of -- certainly the board and the town has many people who could offer a lot to such a position. Both guys know a lot about consensus building, communication, inclusion, organization, reporting structure, transparency and accountability, and many other things important to a senior job like this. The board will shortly elect a president to serve out the current term which expires at the next AGM in May 2009. It will be a tough choice for sure. - - - House league lacrosse season is winding down, with just two weekends of action left. At Chris's practice last night I learned that if his team wins Saturday -- if, if, if -- they will be in the peewee final. We were all asking, how did that happen? Good for the kids. Play hard. Have fun. Meanwhile, the rep season rolls on and on. The midget 2 Hawks were in Orangeville last night where they dropped a 7-1 decision. It was almost midnight by the time Pad got home. That's late for Grade 9 and Chris's practice and the need for a reasonable bedtime for him severely strained my ability to be in two places at once. Hockey parents find weird kinship in loathing the 6a practice (which perversely, I like.) But try a 10p to 11p practice on for size sometime, or a 9p game in Orangeville. It's tough on everyone. - - - Funniest advice I got this week: Try walking a mile in someone's shoes before criticizing them. Because then you're a mile away, and you have their shoes. - - - Laura checked in via an email from southern Alberta yesterday to tell me to stop talking about the wild weather in Ontario because we don't know what wild weather is. The traveling teamoakville correspondent reports: You think you've got storms? - Drove through hail between Red Deer and Calgary this afternoon, not hail like we get in Oakville once in a blue moon, but hail like we used to get when we lived here, that builds up on the roads like a late-night snowstorm in February after a Rangers game in Orangeville and makes you fear that the rented Jeep Cherokee is going to careen off the road and flip into the ditch. Fierce thunder and lightning rattled the hotel windows in Edmonton yesterday and there's so much rain that cattle (there's lots of cattle!) have been moved to higher ground. That's southern Alberta. Northern Alberta is burning because it's so dry. The rain has let up in lovely Lethbridge and I'm going to retrieve my luggage and laptop from the car. I think it's her way of saying she misses me. And really, who wouldn't? - - - A column in today's Star is a great rant on the Leafs, who have apparently decided that there is no one on Earth -- not a single person -- qualified to be hired as president and general manager. Read it here. Meanwhile, Darcy Tucker and Bryan McCabe might want to start packing boxes. The new coach is not being terribly discreet about wanting to move them along. Read more here. And what about Sundin? More here. Interesting times in Leaf land. June 11, 2008 In the absence of hockey news, I'll say this: Kobe Bryant. Every time I see the guy, I get the urge to give him a good smack across the head. Not sure why. But there it is. - - - The former president of MOHA is now officially the former president, having formerly tendered his resignation via email yesterday. The fact that he resigned wasn't a surprise. The fact that people now know his email address -- on the website it was simply the MOHA catch-all info(at)blah.etc. for years and years -- is bigger news. Anyway, I saw the email and no, I'm not going to post it because frankly, I don't care and neither should you, but I'll say simply that it lacked any drama or piercing insight, beyond his view that the current board and executive of MOHA don't share his motivation and the changes aren't good, in his opinion. Maybe he'll start a blog and put the email there, or perhaps Wayne will post it. My view? Every person who puts their name and time on the line to work for the kids of this town deserves our respect, regardless of personal disagreements. If folks who put their names forward to work in the best interests of the kids of Oakville don't feel the need to complete the commitment they made, that is their choice. But if they think walking away from a commitment to the kids is an option, then maybe the association is better off without them. - - - Question: the MOHA AGM was chaired not by a member of the executive, or board, but by an outside lawyer. I found that a little odd, but whatever. The gentleman was obviously well briefed on the bylaws and ran a smooth meeting. My questions: Did MOHA pay for this service, or was it pro bono community work by the law firm for a local non-profit association (and good on them if it was)? On the other hand, if MOHA did pay a fee, how much was that fee (including preparation for the meeting), what exactly, was the fee for, and was this expenditure approved by a duly constituted meeting of the executive committee of the board, with that decision and expenditure to be forwarded to the full board at it's next regular meeting to be reviewed? And further, regardless of whether it was paid or pro bono, was the board consulted on the need for outside counsel? My interest really has nothing to do with having outside counsel chair a meeting -- we elect a board to make decisions and if we don't like those decisions, we vote against them the next time. My interest is in understanding whether the board was consulted. Accountability, etc. etc. Just wondering. - - - Before leaving the MOHA stuff: Perhaps the association could post on its web site the emails of resignation from the president and the former VP house (who resigned from the board after losing his executive spot in the election), and anyone else who walks away. (Last one out, turn out the lights!) Wayne's is on his site, but more generally I think it would be useful in allowing association members to be able to see this sort of material in a specific, central place. It would also be useful to post edited versions of minutes of board meetings -- it's a volunteer, not-for-profit community association, not a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon. Let the members see what is going on, with some important caveats. Personnel matters, financially sensitive material, etc., could be left out. But why not let parents see what is being discussed, and who stands where? Transparency leads to understanding, which leads to building shared goals and objectives and ultimately, accountability (there's that word again.) All good things. Also, where I work (a news agency) we have a button on our website called, Did We Get It Right? It's a way to let people tell us their side of an issue, or highlight something we got wrong, take us to task, give us feedback. Because we aren't hiding and we want to know if we're wrong. And when we're wrong, people hammer us (rightly so.) Maybe MOHA should consider something similar in a prominent location, asking for SIGNED questions and submissions from the membership. It would be really easy to do. Submissions would go to all board members. - - - It was with some combination of shock, sadness and, um, shock (limited vocabulary today) to learn that my all-time favourite thai restaurant in downtown Toronto has closed. I don't even know the name of the place. It was a small joint on King West, a block from my office. I could go there and order take-out pad thai, walk to St Lawrence Market for fresh bagels, and pick up my order on the way back. And now it's gone! I've tried other pad thai and nothing even came close to these guys. They were the best. And they were always pretty busy at lunch time, but maybe that wasn't enough. Ultimately, it's probably my fault for not being downtown this week. I'm sure they were one $7 order of takeout noodles away from making it. It sucks. Darn. Do you think the Leafs had something to do with it . . .? June 9, 2008 I awoke last night to the sound of thunder How far off I sat and wondered Started humming a song from 1962 Aint it funny how the night moves -- Night Moves, Bob Seger So with mom away around here, the usual trains-run-on-time clockwork precision of the household has been relaxed a little. And last night that meant with Pad at lacrosse practice until 10p, I let Chris stay up until 10p -- but given that that was pretty much when the storm started to roll through, it meant he was going to be up later than that. And he was. We had a lot of thunder and lightning and wind and rain and Chris laid on the sofa in the family room reviewing each flash of light or crash of thunder while waiting for his brother to come in. (I'm relying on the kindness of other parents this week to help with Pad's late practices and games. Much appreciated, thank you.) Chris's fascination with storms is naturally embedded I think. Me, I've loved a good storm forever. When I was working my way through school I worked on the grounds crew at a golf course. I was one of two lads who mowed the putting greens -- no ride-on mowers involved, these were walk-behind units and to mow a green one had to walk back and forth and back and forth. So in the course of a morning you'd cover several miles easily, which is why the older guys on the crew had no interest in doing it. That, plus you had to be in literally at the crack of dawn -- I'd usually make my first cuts guided by the dew -- the mower passing over the green and through the dew left a clear track in the early light, or fading dark, or whatever it was. It took about three hours to do 10 greens -- nine on the course plus the practice green. We worked six mornings a week from early May through until school started. And when we were done, we got paid for a full days work -- the incentive being to show up on time, and get off the course fast. But when it rained, we didn't work. Which is why I love a good storm. My alarm would wake me at 4:45a, and every morning I'd listen for rain falling, usually to no avail. But when it was raining, that was like a gift to get to sleep some more. When Laura and I were first married and we'd travel around a bit, we started to feel like something out of a Stephen King movie. We saw a lot of fierce electrical storms. We saw lightning hit a building and set it on fire. We saw a spectacular storm in Newport, RI one night, watching the masts on the sailboats get pinged with bolts. New Hampshire. Edmonton. Cape Breton. Arizona. Boston. Jasper National Park. Freeport, Maine. Digby, NS. We saw a lot of storms. And last night's display was as worthy as any I've seen in a while, and Chris thought so too. It made me remember one evening, years ago, when Pad was a novice lacrosse player, and we were driving home from practice under a forbidding spring sky. From the back seat, he said "Look dad. The sky is purple." It was too -- if you live on the Prairies for any length of time (we spent two years in Edmonton), you learn to respect the sky when it turns that odd colour. A sky like that spawns twisters. Anyway, all great memories for an old geezer like me. I hope Chris remembers last night for a while, too. - - - My seminar topics on bachelorhood yesterday have brought forth some nominees for other topics I should, apparently, be covering while me and the boys make our way own our own: -- Last night's pizza: Today's breakfast. -- Bread + Jam = Gourmet Dining -- Cereal: Not Just a Breakfast Food -- Everyday is BBQ Day -- Yesterday's clothes: Cleaner than you think - - - The Oakville Trafalgar midget boys bowed out in the semi final at the provincial midget rugby tournament, losing 10-7 to Stouffville. Still, an excellent showing. Way to go. - - - CTV has done something really smart and scooped up the rights to the Hockey Night In Canada jingle, which they intend to use in their hockey coverage, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Somewhere inside the orange-and-glass CBC building in downtown Toronto, some guy is eating a donut and saying "D'oh!!" Read more here. - - - Ron Wilson -- again, not The Beach Boys guy -- will officially be named as the new Leafs' coach later today. That's gotta feel a little like being appointed captain of the Titanic 10 minutes after hitting the iceberg, but he's a big boy and he's getting a big sack of money to take on the job. The thing that perplexes me is that the Leafs made a big production out of bringing in Cliff Fletcher to find a new president and general manager, who in turn would then find a coach. So, they seem to (surprise, surprise) be going about this bass-akwards, by hiring a coach first. Conventional thinking seems to be that they could go this way because Brian Burke will leave Anaheim after next year to take on the Leaf job, and he and Murray are old buddies, and all is well, etc etc. Given the rules about tampering, it would take either Kreskin-like gifts of future insight, or, extraordinary arrogance in assuming Burke wants the job. But this is the Leafs. Conventional thinking should not be applied to the equation. Ever. Read more on the new coach here. June 8, 2008 The better looking and smarter half of my marriage is out west all week, so I'm taking some vacation days and playing dad -- making lunches, running kids to and fro, etc etc. So far -- it's been about 19 hours -- no one has starved to death or been poisoned, but these things take time. In the meantime, I'm conducting seminars on Inappropriate Scratching, Eating Over The Sink (It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore), and Clean Enough To Eat: Food Off The Floor. The thunder and lightning and tornado watches have made for great viewing for us and maybe we'll engage in some storm chasing if the chance comes up. Good, clean fun! - - - Pad worked at the Oakville Buzz game yesterday (they blew out Huntsville 20-3) and reffed two novice exhibition games between periods. He looked a little odd running up and down the floor in flipflops - they didn't realize they needed a ref until five minutes before the first game and he didn't wear sneakers to the rink. No matter. Novices don't move that fast. After the game, the boys were keen to go see You Don't Mess With the Zohan or whatever it's called, so we tried that. When we got to the Oakville SilverCity, the only theatre showing the film was a so-called VIP cinema -- 19 and over only (plus the tickets were $17 each.) So we had two choices -- pick another film or go home. Chris really wanted to see a movie and the only other choice was Kung Fu Panda. Older brother was not immediately amused but went along with it for the sake of peace. And we actually all had a pretty decent time -- these movies are built with jokes for older people too and there were some decent laughs. Plus it was air conditioned. I wouldn't recommend it as a date movie or anything. But if you're in need of a desperate second choice, it works. - - - I got so wrapped up in assembling that new outside gas burner on Saturday, I actually forgot to watch the Belmont Stakes which bummed me out, because I was convinced Big Brown was going to win -- almost as much as Big Brown's large-mouthed trainer was convinced he was going to win. Instead, he finished last and became, I think, the 11th horse since 1978 to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown only to lose the third. Much hand-wringing etc about what happened but me, I'm already gone. No one remembers double crown winners, Mr. Big. You can read more here. When do the Leafs play? - - - Speaking of the Leafs, word is that they will announce Ron Wilson as the new head coach tomorrow. I was initially excited as I thought the coach was going to be Brian Wilson, the master songwriter behind The Beach Boys. I figured if the Leafs can't win, at least they might be entertaining. But no. It's Ron -- no relation to the California surfer dudes. Incredibly, it seems he will get a four-year contract. <Heavy sigh.> Read more here. - - - Oakville Trafalgar High School's midget boys rugby team is in the provincial semi-finals today, and hopefully, the finals after that. If they don't melt in the heat. Good luck guys. - - - Thanks for all the inquisitive emails surrounding local hockey stuff. Yes, questions are being ask. No, I don't have enough information to tell you anything. Patience. Such things are best done properly, not hastily. June, 7, 2008 Now that Chris has finished his weekly swimming sessions on Saturday, my weekend recreational typing will have to find a new home. I'm sure the instructors at White Oaks pool will miss me -- but I'll be back. So, the plan for today was to take Pad to Glen Abbey and hang around and update this space while he officiated the first of four games he was scheduled for, then watch his novice team. And then watch Chris's game. And then wait for Pad to finish officiating. But. A couple of things got in the way. First, it was hot. Stinkin' hot. Still is, actually. Too hot to bother dragging the laptop around, in fact. Second, I didn't have anything too interesting say (and there's a big leap of presumption on my part, suggesting I ever have anything interesting to say.) So, the laptop stayed home. Chris's team won. Pad's lost. A day of high adventure, it was not. A day of high temperature, it was. So the leggy blonde, who bought ribs for dinner, dispatched me to Canadian Tire between games to find an outdoor propane burner to sit a pot upon and boil these ribs. And find one, I did. And it is boiling the ribs as a tasty prelude to their trip to the BBQ even as I peck away here now, in the backyard, overlooking our garden and bits and pieces of what used to be a pig. - - - The strategy behind boiling the ribs outside, of course, is to keep the house cool and free of the just-boiled pig aroma. But I'm not sure that this does much for our carbon footprint (I think ours is a Size 14) or the ozone layer, or the pig population of southern Ontario. But we're hungry, and something has to give. And the good news is that if southern Ontario gets plunged into a blackout tonight, it won't be because we're trying to boil ribs and cool the house at the same time. The premier can send the thank you note to the usual address. I expect less friendly missives from Al Gore and David Suzuki. - - - Speaking of electricity, I'd be happy for someone smart out there to explain to me why Bruce Power needs to buy ads behind home plate at Blue Jays games. Is the idea to encourage us to want to buy more electricity? Am I supposed to call Oakville Hydro and demand they get more juice from the Bruce? Is it a branding exercise? Do they have more money than they know what to do with? I know someone out there knows. I'll pass on the answer when it comes in. --- Hockey Night In Canada is getting a new theme song. Apparently. I say apparently because these things seem to have a way of getting settled when one side or the other walks away. And given that the side walking away is the one with the cheque book, and given that the HNIC theme is pretty much useless in any context other than Saturday night on the CBC, it looks a little like one side overplayed its hand a bit. But whatever. Will we miss the theme in our house? Probably for 20 seconds and then we'll watch the game. It's a jingle, it's not the national pastime. We prefer the theme to Labatt Saturday Night anyway. More here on the latest HNIC fuss. June 6, 2008 Yes, a rare mid-day update. One of the most loyal Wings fans on the planet forwarded me this piece from the Detroit Free Press on the class act that is Steve Yzerman. While the Wings celebrated on the ice, Stevie Y. stayed in the executive box. "It's their turn to get all the attention." You can't teach class. Read the story here. June 6, 2008 To beat a cliché until it begs for mercy -- it will be a hot time in Detroit today as the Stanley Cup is paraded through Motor City's downtown. I gather these things are quite the spectacle and the Red Wings -- with their fourth Cup in the last 11 seasons -- are getting it down to an art form. Montreal used to win with such regularity that Mayor Jean Drapeau would issue a press release announcing simply that the parade "would be held along the usual route." But I live in great Toronto, so if I want my kids to see the Stanley Cup I have to pay admission to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Maybe next year. Right? You can read more from the Detroit Free Press on the parade here. - - - Another option would be we could all pile in my car and drive to Detroit. If we leave now, we'd be there by the end of lunch time. 35 degrees. Sunny skies! And we'd be comfortable because -- finally -- the air conditioning in my car is working again. Three trips to the shop and . . . money. Arrgh. Honestly, I might have said to heck with it. But with the weather turning hot, hot, hot, air conditioning doesn't seem like an option right now. No, I'm not driving to Detroit. But I bet it would be fun. - - - I realize we're all getting a little weary of minor hockey chatter and the this-side vs. that-side debate. But since people continue to ask, I'm going to address two recurring questions so that great gobs of my day are not consumed answering emails. First -- how does the board replace the president and treasurer mid-term? The MOHA bylaws provide for this, empowering the board to elect people to finish the terms, which would expire at the AGM in May 2009. It need not be a member of the board or executive, so there's room for some creative thinking. My personal preference would be someone who has no interest in the job beyond finishing this term. But that may be a tall order. We'll see. There are lots of talented people who actually are in it for the kids. So we'll see how it turns out. Second -- Mitron. What's happening, people ask. Don't ask me because I only know bits and pieces. But I can say this -- it is being looked into exhaustively. The board -- the full board, the body that runs MOHA and has ALWAYS had the authority to approve and/or enter into binding contracts on behalf of the members (ie -- parents) will be full briefed. I also suspect that once the information is pulled together, the membership -- which pays the Mitron assessments -- will be briefed in some way to try and peel back the shroud of mystery around the Mitron contract(s) and correct some of the disinformation and fix the absence of disclosure, transparency and accountability that has surrounded this arrangement with MOHA, whatever it is. FYI, I did notice that the Mitron site has been updated, and it now lists MOHA's former VP of rep as the general manager of Mitron for MOHA. Last month, he was listed simply as the Mitron general manager for Oakville. And Caledon, Burlington, Hamilton, and Barrie, too. But now he's not listed as the general manager for those areas now, with enquiries for those centres being directed to someone else. It's all very interesting. I'm confident the board will keep asking questions and I'm pretty sure they will get answers. - - - Back to real hockey. A loyal reader sends a link to the Top 10 Stanley Cup celebrations of all time. Or, at least since video tape was invented. Click here to waste some of your day watching the Cup get hoisted. The Leafs win! - - - If you ask an astronaut (and I have) what is the most asked question they get, they will tell you the answer -- by a wide, wide margin -- is, how do you go to the bathroom in space? And the answer is, very carefully. But this week on the International Space Station, the answer was, "how long can you hold it? We land in 11 days!!" When the toilet breaks on the space station, it's a big deal. There are no plumbers, there is no outhouse. Luckily, they got it fixed. I find stuff like this really interesting. Sorry. Read more here. - - - OK, here comes one of those "when I was a kid" posts. But, when I was a kid, there was a fairly exclusive golf club built almost next door to our house. I ended up caddying, often for rich guys, to earn money that I had no way to spend in Windsor Junction, which didn't even have a corner store. We didn't actually have many corners, either. After a couple of summers, I fell in as the regular caddy for one of the top business executives in the region. An extraordinary gentleman, generous and wealthy, a near-scratch golfer, I learned a lot about the way the world worked beyond my small borders by just shutting up and listening. H.P. was one of about 10 regulars that always played every Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday. They always managed to get two foursomes, and their matches were great sport. They bet on everything. And we caddies bet too with each other. I never really knew what gambling was until I met these guys. When you're only making $2 for 18 holes, you couldn't get in a lot of trouble, but we'd bet for Cokes or whatever. Anyway, most of these guys were big, big horse race fans and I became educated in the world of the ponies again just by shutting up and listening. And in the spring of 1973, all they talked about was one horse. Secretariat. This big red machine of a horse was, they told me, one for the ages. Watch, kid. Someday you'll be telling your kids that you saw the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. You will never see anything like this horse in your life. Like I said, that was 35 years ago and boy, were they were right. Two more horses won the Triple Crown is rather quick succession after Secretariat -- Seattle Slew in 1977, and Affirmed in 1978. I stopped thinking it was a big deal or a tough trick to turn. I don't think that any more. Six times since 1997, a horse has won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, only to lose at Belmont. Smart Jones. Funny Cide. War Emblem. Charismatic. Real Quiet. Silver Charm. These horse are among 18 in history that failed to win the third leg. Big Brown tomorrow will try to become the 12th Triple Crown champion in the history of this sport, one that I pay little attention to. But tomorrow, I'm going to watch. Those guys I used to caddy for are mostly gone now, but I still remember their banter. They would have said, kid, you better watch this one. By the way, on that June afternoon in 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths and set a track record that still stands. On the Sunday morning on a dew-covered tee, Mr. Barclay couldn't stop talking about it. He said horses will chase Secretariat forever and no one will ever, ever catch him. And then he said what he always did, referring to the nickname for his driver: "Hand me Johnny Mize kid, and let's play some golf!" - - - June 5, 2008 Stayed up way too late watching the end of the hockey game and the ensuing presentations, players posing with mom, with dad, with sister, with wife, with drinking buddies from Newfoundland, with strangers, with anyone who happened by. As much as I wanted to see the Pens win (and admittedly it was something less than a life-long dream) the Wings were the better team by a long shot and deserved to win in Game 5, let alone last night. But still. Give the Pens credit. They came within a whisper of sending the game to OT. For the first time, a European captain raised the Cup. Lots of great coverage of the game out there and you're all smart people, go find it. Until then: A game-over story here. A story on the MVP here. A story on a future playoff MVP here. A story on the first Newfoundlander to win the Cup here. - - - Call me odd. Many do, and I've been called worse. But I was fascinated by the end-of-broadcast feature the CBC ran last night, with each of the Red Wings, in turn, saying his name and who his personal hockey hero was as a kid. It was bright and fun (one young Wing said his hero growing up was Chris Chelios, which is pretty funny and a statement on how long the veteran Red Wing has been around.) And most of the names were legends -- Salming. Gretzky. Trottier. Orr. On and on. And then -- Bill Berg. Bill Berg? THE Bill Berg? The Bill Berg who scored 55 goals in 546 NHL games with four teams? The legendary Leaf blueliner? Bill Berg? I'm sorry. I mean no disrespect. But it is really interesting to me that young Kyle Quincey, from Berg's hometown of Kitchener, assumed the persona of Bill Berg in neighbourhood street hockey games. There were a lot of great hockey players in the early 1990s. And while Berg was a key part of the Leaf team that went to consecutive conference finals in 1993 and 1994, I wouldn't have guessed I'd hear his name last night. Unless Quincey is more like me than I could know. Because when I was a kid, the guy I became in those road hockey games in Nova Scotia was Mike Pelyk -- another Leaf defenceman from a more dubious chapter in team history. As a kid, I was a Leaf fan and I wore number 4. Pelyk wore number 4. I was Mike Pelyk. Trust me, it made sense then. - - - When I walked down King Street to my office yesterday, Carleton the Bear, the Leafs' mascot, was standing outside Tim Hortons (the same Tim Hortons where a guy got chewed out by staff for buying a pregnant, homeless woman a meal). No one was booing Carleton, but I thought about it. Tomorrow when the humidex hits 42? That's when I want to see Carleton the Bear on King Street. - - - The midget 2 Hawks beat Newmarket 3-1 last night, avenging a loss in Newmarket earlier this spring. Granted, Newmarket had a short bench so that helped. And the bench was so short their young coach actually fell backwards off of it, which was pretty funny (he wasn't hurt.) The ref laughed so hard I thought they'd have to stop the game. Good win. The surging Hawks are 5-2-0 in the last week. - - - Interesting story here about fewer kids signing up for organized sports. Not a great trend, really. - - - Yesterday I pointed readers to an interesting story of sportsmanship and fair play and oddly, I received way, way more reaction to that bit of public service than any of the drivel I've posted on a range of other things. If you missed it, click here. People like good news stories. It validates peoples' thinking that maybe some of the kids are turning out just fine and we're not all messing up. I'm going to make a point of trying to show more of that type of story in the future. Because you people scare me and I want to keep you happy. June 4, 2008 (Updated on the train!) Quick update to start your day, as I have to drop the car off at the shop and a kid off at school (not in that order.) The president of MOHA told the board last night he intended to resign, as did the treasurer. I gather the latter intends to stay on for a month or so to allow for some transition. In the case of the former, I have no clue about the timing but the move comes less than a week after he insisted he wasn't resigning. So, we'll see. Whatever happens, the work of the association will go on among the many committed volunteers. Secondly, the board is reviewing in detail the Mitron contract which was extended in March without the board having been consulted. So that issue is being looked at very closely, as it should. We'll see where that leads. - - - Inevitably, people ask what does it mean. I suspect the answer is, probably very little to the average hockey family. Life will go on. People will volunteer and help out just as they always have, most not out of loyalty to someone on the executive or board, but out of interest in participating in the lives of the kids and/or a love of the game. At the top end, there will be emphasis on transparency and accountability as there must be in an community organization. And all of this hub-bub will pass fairly quickly into the quicksand of time because it's not about the adults, it's about the kids. Good people come and go and are thanked for their tireless service, as they should be. They will be replaced by other people who will make their own mistakes and good decisions, none of which will be fatal or breathtakingly brilliant. And eventually if those people stay long enough at the top they will accumulate their own baggage and contentious issues and the cycle will probably repeat itself. But anyone who thinks change is not a good thing doesn't understand that organizations (volunteer, corporate, not for profit, whatever) are living, breathing things. They have to be tended to just like a garden. They need renewal. People at all levels have to feel like they have a say, they have to feel like there is accountability for what they do and what the people above them do. Change will bring new people and new ideas in. How can that be anything but good? And the kids will keep playing hockey, which is why we do what we do. - - - When Wayne resigned from the board, I took a moment to thank him. I know personally all that Wayne did. I offer the same thanks to Mike for his many years of service to the MOHA. Enough people I know and respect acknowledge his efforts over a couple of decades that I have no doubt the kids in Oakville owe him a great deal. But in nine years around the rinks of our town, I have also never met Mike Zardo and I suspect neither have most of the people who read this space. So I have no insight or personal anecdote to share about the guy like I did for the former VP of house. But I can say this. My dad was on the executive of a minor hockey association 40 years ago, so I know something of the missed meals and lost time with the family and phone calls etc. that these jobs take. I'm certain it's more onerous now than it was then. And I know that being president of a large minor hockey association most days involves more board rooms than dressing rooms -- and everyone would rather attend a hockey game than a meeting. And yes, my dad pissed off some people in his time in that role. It comes with the turf. No one in Oakville should underestimate the considerable size of Mike Zardo's contribution to minor hockey and the youth of Oakville. Thank you. - - - Hey. Game Six tonight in Pittsburgh. For the first time since the Nashville series, the Red Wings have to be holding their sticks a little tighter. Maybe feeling a little bit of pressure to end this. Now. Before the Penguins start thinking they can win this thing. And all you people who mocked my seven-game prediction . . . wait and see! - - - The midget 2 Hawks will pre-empt my viewing of the game, at least until the third period. The Hawks host Newmarket tonight at Glen Abbey at 9p. Before that, Pad has his novice team’s practice, then Chris has a house league practice and then the Hawks. And then home. And then the hockey game on TV. - - - This story happened about five weeks ago, but I just caught up to it. Sometimes things happen in sports and in life that remind you that most days, it’s not really all that important who wins and loses. What’s important is that the kids get to play the game. This is one such story and it took my breath away. But you have to click here to read it yourself. June 3, 2008 It was a late night. Excuse me if I type slowly. - - - In actual fact, I didn't stay up for the Penguins winning goal. I was so confident they would win that I went to bed after the second OT and slept like a baby and I was not at all surprised that they won. Mind you, the Wings deserved to win. They dominated the attack and were so tough with the puck that it seemed they should have won the game a dozen times over. But that's why they play the games. Fleury was terrific and I told Laura early on the game had the feel of one of those contests where one team dominates and the other guys get to capitalize on a single opportunity. We've all been there. Back to Pittsburgh for game 6, and all the pressure is on the Wings. - - - The Toronto Maple Leafs are as hopeless and dysfunctional a franchise as there is in all of sports. Run by guys who know how to make money but have no clue about how to build a winner, they are both a perpetual laughing stock and a bright, shiny opportunity for all the great hockey minds who think they can "fix" it. Someday, someone will. And that person will have statues erected in his/her honour. Parades will be held. That person will be beatified in way that will make Red Auerbach and Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi and Toe Blake look like house league chumps. Someday. Someday. Until that day, the collective buffoonery of MSLE continues to search for a winning hockey tandem of head coach and general manager. The latest buzz is that Ron Wilson (late of the San Jose Sharks) is a shoo-in for the head coaching spot. They could do a lot worse than Wilson. And the media machine continues to insist Brian Burke will come to Toronto as president, emperor and general manager, Pope of all things related to hockey. Which means it might mean waiting another year for him to arrive as he has another season under contract in Anaheim to dispense with. If you enjoying thinking about such things -- and if you do, you probably enjoy poking puppies in cages with a sharp stick, pulling the wings off flies, or cheering for Montreal -- then you can read more here about Wilson and here about Burke. - - - I haven't said anything here about the tragic circumstances of the death of Vancouver Canucks rookie Luc Bourdon. If you'd like to read more about this young man and his tragic death in a motorcycle accident at such a young age, click here. It is a terrible loss. My perspective on this is as a parent. If there is a more lethal cocktail than testosterone and gasoline, I'm at a loss to think of it. As a young man I'm certain I did my share of dumb things in a car and even in a well-used 1972 Datsun 510, there were elements of risk. But I never drove a motorcycle in my life. It was a non-negotiable issue in our house. My dad was a control freak before anyone at a business school somewhere invented the term. I know now that he was trying to be helpful and keep us safe. You want to drive? Well, you're not going to drive my car so you'll need to get a job, save your money and buy your own. (I did.) You want to park it here? There's no room in the driveway. You'll have to widen the driveway. (I took down the rock wall, widened the driveway one wheel barrow of dirt at a time -- it took hundreds of trips-- and put the wall back up.) My dad helped me in many ways -- helped teach me to drive, taught the basics of internal combustion engine repair, helped finance car insurance costs, bridged me many times between pay cheques as I worked my way through university. But when an issue was defined as non-negotiable, it was conversation over. And motorcyles were never on. Ever. These were life lessons (I think I called them something else at the time.) The point being that if I wanted something, it had to be earned, not given. There were many privileges earned in our house and few rights handed out. Transportation wasn't an frivolous accessory where we lived. It was a necessity and life line. But on the matter of a motorcycle, it was not on and I never fought it. It wasn't going to happen. Not ever. Period. Full stop. End of conversation. NEXT! And other corners on my family know these things better than me. So, I get it. I also get why young men are attracted to the power and speed and danger of the wind in their face, an open road, and two wheels on asphalt. The death of Luc Bourdon is tragic on many levels and I won't be trite in trying to address or make sense of any of it. It is sad beyond words, as is the loss of any young life. Suffice to say the same rule that prevailed in my dad's house will prevail in mine. No motorcycles. Period. Full stop. End of conversation. Next. - - - One of my favourite lacrosse parents checked in to update the midget 1 Hawks' showing in the Peterborough Laker Classic on the weekend. Over to him: "We won the B championship. Beat Elora 8-6 in OT. Sean Young scored the winner. Sammy Neeb had two. Tyler Albrecht, Mike Morris, Brian Cole, and Zac Ruys each had one and I can’t remember who had the other. The team record was 4-0-1 overall and if I had to pick a team MVP it would be Ryan Adams. He was on fuego all weekend with eight goals and a thousand loose balls." Way to go guys. June 2, 2008 You better get a coffee. There’s a lot to cover today. - - - As mentioned last night the midget 3 Hawks emerged from Six Nations with a bronze medal – they were actually called “Champions of the Silver Final”, but they finished third. The boys won three, lost two, and played four different teams (we played, and beat, the gentlemen from St Catharine’s twice) so it was a good experience in seeing where they fit on the Ontario Lacrosse time-space continuum. The tournament was terrific and well run and the supply of readily available discount smokes was amazing (except few of the parents actually smoke, so that value was never actually consummated into a transaction that I know of.) The semi-final loss in overtime to the Six Nations hosts was a heartbreaker, but as the coach told the boys, don’t expect to get any close calls going your way against Six Nations, in Six Nations. And they didn’t. The referee slapping the Six Nations boys on the back between periods was a hint of where his loyalties may have tilted. Doesn’t matter. We still had fun and I’d go back in a heartbeat. Six Nations has the Iroquois Lacrosse Centre, which is basically a rink but it is never used for hockey. It has an artificial turf lacrosse floor and it a sign that you’re in a place that takes the game seriously and has a deep heritage. National Lacrosse League teams train here in the pre-season. And the pro shop is like a Mecca for lacrosse nerds of all stripes. Unlike say, hockey, lacrosse players will stand in a pro shop twirling sticks and sampling new equipment for hours. And hours. As long as an indulgent parent will allow. In hockey, unless you need your skates sharpened, forget it. I think every kid on the team dumped some cash for things they didn’t really need. But that’s what you do at lacrosse tournaments. - - - The bantam 2 Hawks were in Elora (not Arthur as I previously said) on Sunday. Their manager suggested the following headline: BANTAM 2 HAWKS GORGE IN ELORA I’ll write the jokes here, thanks. But yes, that is a good one. The bantam 2 squad took two of three and also brought home bronze with wins over Brantford and Elora and an OT loss to Arthur. Well done! - - - At the Laker Classic in Peterborough, the midget 1 Hawks were scheduled to play Elora in the B final. No result to report. The bantam 1 Hawks were scheduled to meet Nepean in the D final. Again, no result posted yet. - - - Two personal highlights from spending way, way too much time in rinks and driving back and forth to Six Nations (four round trips in 48 hours). First, the team picnic on Sunday under sunny but, um, brisk conditions. Lots of great food, learned what I already knew (that we have a great group of parents) and a good way to kill a couple of hours without standing around even longer at the Iroquois Lacrosse Centre pro shop. Second, seeing up close one of the most obnoxious parents I’ve ever encountered at a sporting event. I won’t say which midget team she was with, but surly doesn’t begin to cover it. She could also have served as a stand-in for the actress who played Janice on The Sopranos. She took screaming at the refs to a whole new level, elevating it to art form. Simply lovely. - - - Still on that theme, regular readers know that I have a kid who officiates lacrosse as well as plays. So, I have a soft spot and respect for our youth officials that goes beyond the stuff that’s written the coaches’ handbooks. They provide an important service. And apparently, in lots of places the fans still yell at the refs regardless of age. So, good on the Port Coquitlam Minor Lacrosse Association which has declared “silent stands” for five games for each team this year. Fans can’t yell, cheer, boo, or even clap. They can, however, shut up and watch. This isn’t entirely new. When my boys flirted briefly with soccer years ago, there was one house league game per season where cheering was forbidden. And my friend Brian Metler, recently elected to the MOHA board, has routinely had a hockey game on his schedule where the bench staff just swing gates. No coaching allowed. The kids just play. Anyway, I like lacrosse. I like respectful parents and fans. I even like some referees. Read more about the B.C. initiative here. - - - Chris had the final swim class of his Personal Best program on Saturday – a big swim meet with multi-coloured ribbons up for grabs. I missed it and I’m sorry about that as I’s the bye who took him to swimming through most of the winter and spring. But I was twirling a lacrosse stick somewhere. Personal Best is a fun program where the kids don’t race each other, they get rewarded for beating their own previous best times (hence the name.) Having said that, there are psycho parents everywhere and swimming is no different. Several years ago when Patrick did the program, there was one mother who thought it was good form to walk the length of the pool while her kid was swimming, yelling at the child the whole way. Wouldn’t it be great if all the parents did that? Some people don’t get it. But then, her kid is probably in training for the Beijing Olympic now, right? Unfortunately, some of Chris’s teammate didn’t show up so he ended up swimming way, way more races than had been planed. He was exhausted by the end of the meet and missed his lacrosse game. Total bummer. We hope they did well and had fun. - - - Hockey stuff: The Red Wings try to put a spike through the Penguins tonight and win their fourth Cup in 12 years. Smart money says they finish it tonight. - - - When the MOHA elections were happening, I asked readers to send me questions and concerns I could direct to candidates. For a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen the way I planned, but this being the web, you readers get what you pay for. That being said, I think that since the MOHA board is meeting tomorrow night for the first time since the elections and AGM, I’ll pass on a Top 10 list of things readers shoved across the great digital divide at me. Some may be old news. Some, clearly, are not. Not that anyone asked, but since I’m already being increasingly regarded as a pain in the butt, and since a whole bunch of people sent me emails over the last month or so on a range of issues, here a list of items for inquisitive directors to add to their to-do lists for the days ahead. To be honest, some of these may have been covered in recent board meetings, or by the house league committee, or others, but since guys like me are out of the direct loop and never get to see the minutes of the meetings and since there are new people on the board, and since I told you guys I’d ask, here’s my list. FYI, it’s not uncommon for incoming directors to get a, um, full lifting of the kilt to show everyone, everything. Please excuse the imagery. So, in no particular order: Mitron. OK, so word is circulating that the former executive of the association renewed the Mitron contract without consultation with the board. OK. The full board should first review the terms and conditions of that decision. Further, it should be given a full presentation on the operational and financial details of the program – explain every nickel from the parents’ pockets right through the system. MOHA might also want to consult parents of rep players who foot a lot of the bill, to get feedback from users on the relative pros and cons of the system. I get lots of complaints. The “dryland training” component – gym time once every two or three weeks, is useless, critics contend. The benchmarking of players – timing them twice a season at various skating drills – is virtually useless. Kids who fall, for example, don’t repeat the drill. And kids who miss those sessions due to illness or homework or whatever, are never tested at all (nor reimbursed). Times are recorded “as is” so the benchmarking means nothing. And teams are not reimbursed when Mitron dryland sessions are cancelled because of bad weather or because the Mitron guys can’t make it on a particular night, and never rescheduled by Mitron. (I have personal experience with that one.) One of the biggest complaints this season was the scheduling of hockey practices on the same night as Mitron dryland training – at a different arena – meaning parents made multiple trips to different rinks on the same day. And it was never clear how long the dryland sessions were to run – sometimes they were 45 minutes. Sometimes they were almost 90 minutes and parents were sitting outside waiting and waiting and waiting. The bottom line is that there is anger and suspicion surrounding Mitron and it is not going away. It’s way past time for a full and detailed review and accounting for the entire board. An executive summary of that review should be given to the family of every rep hockey player. Annually. The accumulated surplus of $1.1 million. It’s large beyond any practical need, real or imagined, and could jeopardize the association’s non-profit status. As I have said before, some level of reserve is not just prudent, it’s necessary. Define the correct number and find a use for the excess funds. Discuss. The MOHA web site. It needs an overhaul. See Point 2, above. The association has lots of money. They could get a kick-ass site for a small, small fraction of that dough. Four figures. The current site got MOHA into cyberspace and connected with the users in a big way. It’s time for a next step. Online registration. The time has come. It can be integrated with point 3. There may be issues regarding the need for signatures etc., but at least consider it. Tina Field, the new house league VP, proposed it in her remarks to the AGM. Sounds good so far. This next one may seem a bit left field, but hear me out. With the price of gas ~~inching~~ stampeding toward $6 a gallon, the cost of sending Oakville teams to compete in Woolwich, Hespler, Guelph, Fergus, Georgetown, Stoney Creek . . . you get the picture. There’s a tipping point of practicality and affordability. I have nothing against the OMHA – in fact, I think the OMHA brand of hockey is terrific. But as a parent footing the bills, I look east and see 7,100 kids in the Mississauga Hockey League with lots of rep teams at all levels, many within a 10 or 15 minute drive. So why am I on the 401 to Hespeler in an ice storm on a Friday night? Yes, I know this is heresy. Yes, I know there are probably lots of regulatory reasons why it would be difficult to change. Um, I don’t care. Can there at least be a conversation about what is practical, and what isn’t? Our kids go to school and get preached at about carbon footprints and energy conservation, and then we pack them up and drive an hour to a game when there are closer teams, many of whom are better than some of the smaller centres that simply are not competitive at all levels. Having a centre – the MOHA -- with a population base of 177,000 competing against much smaller centres and then feeling really good about how well we do is a little delusional. Woolwich – 513 registered kids. Dundas 769. Hespeler 797. Ancaster 998. Flamborough 1,012. Milton 1084. Stoney Creek 1002. Guelph 1500. Georgetown 1700. Caledon 1568. Oakville – about 4,100 kids. Brampton and Burlington are the only centres comparatively close to MOHA in registrations and they travel the same loop we do. I bet they’d like to drive less, too. Again, discuss. Sponsors. House league needs to get a handle on sponsorship issues. I know of teams that seemed to have as much money as MLSE and others that barely had any for one extra sheet of ice. It’s important for enriching the experience of all the kids, equitably. Wayne Moorehead correctly flagged this one at the AGM and he’s right – it’s easier to keep a sponsor than find a new one. Red-white-blue. A couple of season ago, MOHA, atWayne’s initiative, moved to three divisions within house league. Red at the top, with full contact in older age groups. Then white, then blue. Personally, I think it’s a good system. But new things should be reviewed. Maybe it will be a short conversation. Maybe we need to be more granular of the house leagues where numbers warrant. A conversation can’t hurt. As convenor I saw and heard a lot of opposition at first but kids who never scored goals in white were leaders in blue, and kids who really want to move up to red, but aren’t ready, are starting to score goals in white. It’s all good – from a parental and convenor perspective. Are there other views out there? Can’t hurt to talk about it. Referees. Beyond needing someone to yell at, we can’t play the games without them. What is the status of the negotiation between MOHA and the referees? Has it been concluded? Is an end in sight? Is the board being briefed at every meeting? The elimination of the 6a weekday practices. Last year, this was hailed by coaches as the greatest development since, well, ever. Several people figured Wayne was a lock for sainthood based on this alone. I thought it would be great. You don’t stay as fit and good looking as me without a lot of rest, and getting up at 5a on a Monday to drag 10 year olds around the ice didn’t appeal to me. Until I went through several 7p Saturday night practices, which were poorly attended and lacked focus among the kids who were already tired from their day of swimming, tae kwon do, indoor soccer and, the big one, birthday parties (not to mention that the 7pm Saturday practices inevitably preceded an 8am Sunday game!!). Given the choice, give me back 6a week day practices (in moderation) and ditch the Saturday nights. I’m just one voice, which is why you should: discuss. Here’s the big one: Undertake a strategic review of the organization. What works? What doesn’t? Are the structures and reporting lines holding up? Are the parents (a.k.a. the owners) happy? If they are, with what? If they aren’t, with what? There’s enough expertise and intellectual horsepower in Oakville that this could be done at little cost other than some people’s time. And make it arms-length. No executive or directors running it. This is a pretty long list and others could add to it, I’m sure. Some items would require a lot of work – like Mitron – to do properly. Some – like red-white-blue -- could be handled with a conversation. And I’m sure I’ve missed things. But the good news is there are lots of smart people on the board. I bet they have lists, too! - - - Now, return to your real job. June 1, 2008 The midget 2 Hawks lost the semi final this morning, 5-4 in overtime to Six Nations. Anyone who thinks you're going to beat Six Nations, in Six Nations, in overtime, has never been to Six Nations. We did, however beat St Catharines 5-1 in the bronze medal game, and a less sportsmanlike team you'll be hard pressed to find. Not a classy, gracious or mature bone in their bodies. Sad, really. But they got the result they deserved. More tomorrow. On a bunch of things. I'm enjoying the rest of my weekend from 8p till I fall asleep. ~~June 30~~, June 1 2008 (Thanks to the comedians for pointing out the error!) The streak is over. A listless bunch of midget Hawks lost 6-2 (or was it 6-3?) to Fergus last night. Their record still lands them in the semi-finals today and means win or lose they play another game after that. Um, yaaa. We got home really late so didn't get to call N.S. with score and highlights. At the Laker Classic in Peterborough, as best as I can decode from the web site, the bantam 1 Hawks went 0-2-1, and the midget 1 Hawks are 2-0-1. So I presume the latter will have a playoff game today and the former, maybe they get to go fishing? Like I said, it's hard to tell. Anyway, good luck to all the teams competing today -- including the bantam 2 Hawks who had an 8a start in Arthur! *May 2008 and other archives here*