Brian McKeever, and the douche-bags of Cross Country Canada.

Having a bit of an arguement on this issue at the Olympics today. Thought I`d share my displeasure here...

Just a thought on Brian McKeever, the paralympian who made Canada's Olympic cross-country team, but was left out for this 50km race today: He SHOULD have been included! SHAME ON Cross Country Canada! It's just far too massive a story - the first Paralympian to also participate in the Olympics - to leave him out. Not even too massive a Canadian story. This is a major human story. 

Next part:

Then why bring him on the team? Why the big VISA ad campaign? The Olympics aren't just about who wins and loses. If it was, why do wars stop for this event? Why is there such good comaraderie between opposing athletes? The Olympic spirit has taken a hit here.
I was only interested in watching the cross-country skiing in the hopes of watching a huge historical moment. One that was guaranteed: rarely are we afforded such a luxury as a no-doubt historical moment. CCC robbed the world of this. It was a hugely important moment for the Paralympics, for people with disabilities all over the world. It would have been almost as significant as Barack Obama becoming president. THIS is a major part of the Olympic movement... make the world a better place.
As it stands - this is a "results" oriented statement - Canada is barely threatening the podium right now... far from dominating in this event. And a few of the guys are slipping back badly. Seems like perhaps they were gassed from previous events. Maybe a "lesser" athlete who is fresh is better than a higher-ranked fellow with nothing left in the tank.
Again, if it's all about rankings, don't bring the guy. Don't set yourself up for douche-bag status of using a massive, feel-good story to get investment in the team (VISA ads) and then not following through.
Last thing, once again... my major point in this: if you`re going to bring the guy, use his story, you pretty much become obligated to use him.

Further along the story: another point to ponder. It is NOT uncommon, for various reasons to knowingly field an inferior team. Example? Canada regularly selects players for it's international squad in hockey specifically to groom them for future competitions. Arguably, this would have been the case in Vancouver for Jonathan Toews. Seen as a lower-level selection as a forward, he probably won the job because he is also seen as a young star with loads of future potential, who could moderately contribute this time out. Funny thing is, he more than moderately contributed. He became viewed as one of the main cogs in the entire tournament picture. What if "lesser talent" McKeever had proved a big-game player as Toews did?


Now obviously, cross-country skiing is individual and as such, the "weaker team" scenario is severely hampered. My point is merely that there are circumstances that justify fielding a weakened team. It was not without this fear that Jackie Robinson broke the baseball colour barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Was it a shoo-in that the plan would work? Or perhaps... they waited for the right guy to come along that would 100% guaranteed dominate enough to eliminate all justification against his participation. Hmmm. Either way, the CCC choked on this massive opportunity, or they made a critical error in bringing along and allowing McKeever to be overhyped when he wasn't fit for the monumental task.

Alexandre Bilodeau, you are Rediculous!

At long last, there's gold in them there hills for Canada. Alexandre Bilodeau will forever be the answer to Canada's favourite Olympic trivia question by winning the Men's Freestyle Moguls on Day 3 of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. This much I am certain you all know full well by now.

This simple act and newly minted fact has made Alex an instant legend in Canada. I dare say there could not have been a more perfect personage to fill the role. Here is why:

This Olympics has been remarkable in the fact that there is so much synergy between the Olympics itself and the Paralympics. The Paralympics were notably recognized in the Opening Ceremonies, most obviously with the inclusion of Rick Hansen in the ceremony. He is also responsible for a wonderful daily feature on CTV's Olympic broadcast called "The Difference Makers." One such difference maker was Alexandre's older brother, and poster boy for the wild celebrations, Frederic. Frederic has cerebral palsy, and his efforts in overcoming the obstacles presented him proved inspirational to Alexandre. Couple this with the first ever Winter Olympic AND Paralympic athlete, Brian McKeever of Canada, and the symbolic power of Bilodeau's victory grows.

The fact that a Quebecer won the first gold is significant on the national unity front as well. And while this event is inherently an individual sport, the true team spirit of Men's Moguls team and one of these guys winning gold is a big boost for the entire Canadian Olympic team, in their highly specialized and "individualized" events.

 

And to a lesser degree, this Valentine's Day victory provided a whole lot of warm feelings and glowing hearts in Canada with our first gold on home turf ever!

 

There may be other reasons discovered as to why Alexandre Bilodeau proved to be such a great and symbolic winner of the first home gold for Canada. These may not even be the most significant, but in the moments following his victory, it just struck me how wonderfully connected this individual was to all the things this Olympics in Canada is trying to achieve. Bravo, Alexandre! And thank you from this very proud Canadian!

One quick donation thought

Hello all! With the recent devestating events occurring in Haiti, I just wanted to give one piece of food-for-thought here when making donations to aid groups such as the Red Cross that was passed along to me by one of my former pastors...

When making these donations, make them non-specific to the organization in general. This way, the funds will be directed to whatever situation is most dire at the time. When you make the donation to say, the Asian Tsunami Relief Fund, that money can ONLY be used for tsunami relief. What often happens is these group get deluged with Tsunami relief money, and after a time, there is more than what is required. When a new crisis occurs such as the earthquake in Haiti, this money cannot move from the specific fund to help the other crisis. When you donate in a more generalized sense, the money can then be used for Haiti as is required at the moment.

Anyway, this explanation is probably clear as mud, but I just thought I'd throw it out there for your consideration...

And of course... I do encourage everyone who is able to donate what they can to help in any crisis situation! We are blessed to not endure such horrible events at the moment, so let's share that blessing with those not as fortunate. Thanks!

More variations on a sporting theme

My dear people: I apologize for my tardiness in posting. And for the repetitious nature of my theme here, but two events, one in each of  the past two days, has fired up the ol' thinking-cap atop my cranium.

First, the Eric Tillman saga. From what apparently little I have gleaned on the subject, I do think that the judgement in the case is acceptable. I am personally still in a state of shock that he plead guilty, and in this regard, I feel he has lost credibility in the behavioural demands of his players. It's what he was brought in to do in Saskatchewan: clean up the "gangsta" culture that was prevalent in Riderville. Now that he has pleaded guilty on a sexual assault charge, it doesn't matter the hows and whys of such a plea: how can he administer discipline on any player for any misdeeds outside of the game? This is a major part of his job, which I feel he cannot continue to do under the circumstances. He is a great football mind, very likely a great person who made a mistake. Sadly, this mistake inhibits his ability to do his job, in my view.

Secondly, my home city of Saskatoon hosted the 2010 version of the World Junior Hockey Championship. I challenge all Canadians to admit to this fact: of the "trilogy" of Canada/USA Jr. clashes, tonight's 6-5 overtime victory by the USA was the best of the bunch. The fact that our boys did not win this installment should not deter from the absolutely jaw-dropping exhibition of fabulous hockey that was on display. Both teams played extremely hard, skilled, and determined hockey. I watched this game with my Mom, and she noted that there really was no threat of a fight in the game! How about that: amazing clean entertainment to boot!

First, an admission on my part. I typically gain more enjoyment from the US losing in anything than I do from Canada winning the same. It really struck me this afternoon that I wouldn't be terribly upset by losing this game to the Americans. Why? Those kids spent their entire time in Saskatoon exuding the highest level of class, dignity and respect on every level. I admire that. Without doubt, a small part of me thought they deserved a gold medal simply for this. And now that they have won World Jr. gold, I am quite proud that we have turned over the crown to such a worthy opponent. Bravo Team USA! May you continue to embrace the graciousness that won over this Canadian hockey fan!

Post-mortem for a CFL Season

As you know, I am a Riders fan. After the 28-27 loss in the Grey Cup to the Montreal Alouettes, I know one thing with certainty: I am strangely thrilled to be so disappointed.

Allow me to explain. Virtually for the entire duration of my life, the Riders have been bad. BRUTAL bad. "My grandma can throw/hit/run/catch better than you" bad. We hadn't won our conference (think division in the NFL) in 33 years. Thus, there has never been a serious expectation for us that our team would contend for the championship.

In my mind, this season marked the first time my team has made it to the championship and legitimately belonged there. The fact that it is our 2nd appearance in the big game in 3 years also makes me reflect that, for the first time since those great Lancaster/Reed years - aka first time in my lifetime - we have a team that is going to regularly be counted on as contenders for the championship. When we make it again, it will be no surprise. We in Saskatchewan will no longer feel like, "hey, we made it to the game! If we win, it's bonus!" No, we will expect to win and when we do not, we will be hurt. Badly. We will feel robbed, stripped of our just destiny.

And those newfound expectations to me are the greatest legacy this team left on the field tonight.

Bravo, Riders! You played valiantly, and you deserved better. I look forward to having many more chances for Grey Cup glory in the forseeable future!

To vaccinate or NOT to vaccinate.

So, I've been poking my nose into the whole H1N1 thing. For me, I really think there is a whole lot of flawed logic on the paranoia. #1, the "swine flu" is far less harmful than the typical seasonal flu. Some even say it may go down in the record as the least dangerous flu in recorded history!  #2 There is a very real potential that the fast-tracking of this vaccine will cause much more harm than it will help.

All in all, I am strongly against THIS vaccine, and have a newfound appreciation for my parents - Mom in particular - refusing to let my brother and I get vaccinated as kids. Some of the potential side-effects really leave me shaking my head.

Anyway, much of this is a matter of debate - while I personally will not willingly take this vaccine, I will merely agree to disagree with you if you choose otherwise.  But it truly seems to me that the risks of the vaccine are far greater than the risks of the disease.

Confessions of a Packers fan

So, I must apologize. Seems like this brain is on a single track right now. After the Riders gave me hope last week, I had the long-awaited return of Brett Favre to Lambeau Field to contend with. Mighty stuff, back-to-back weekends. Luckily, inventory at work was finished Saturday afternoon allowing complete enjoyment of the "church of the NFL" Sunday.

I was more than a smidgen taken aback by the booing of Favre as he joined the field pre-game. I dare say that it did please me though. There are many more Packers fans than Favre fans in Green Bay as evidenced by this display. And as many seem to forget, if the Packers organization treated Favre unfairly and with disrespect, he returned in twofold to all who bleed Green and Gold. As nice as the good folk of the midwestern club are, they were unpologetic in letting this *ahem* legend know what they thought of him willfully donning the colours of the reviled Minnesota Vikings.

Sadly, the Vikings went on to beat the Packers, which stung in no small way. Favre played great, and Aaron Rodgers, his replacement and long-term solution at QB for Green Bay - I still say he could end up a bigger legend in Packerland than Favre will be - played pretty well. His indecisiveness in the pocket was costly with, in my opinion, a minimum of four sacks attributed to him. Favre, meanwhile, suffered no such ills. Wiley veteran play, I guess.

I also blame some horrendous game-planning and play-calling by the Packers on both sides of the ball. This offense is a dink-and-dunk, YAC yards machine. Until the 3rd quarter, no such plan was imminent. If this had been the m.o. from the outset, I believe it would have been a different result.

After a scorching pre-season, and a 3rd ranked defensive showing to this point, where was Dom Caper's attacking philosophy on defense? When he cranked up the pressure on Favre, the defense got off the field and the ball in Rodgers' hands to continue the scoring surge in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Inexplicably, the dogs were called off, and the Vikes' were able to extend the lead for good. Brilliant, just brilliant.

I suppose I am therefore still on the fence as to the development of Rodgers in Favre's stead. He has faced two big games against the old QB and borne his fair share of the blame due to a distinct and worrisome inability to see, feel, sense the approaching pressure on the pocket. Still, the "Mr. Hyde" side of the club that has appeared against the hated rivals of Minnesota has contributed as well. In the end, this is a young quarterback, on the youngest team in the NFL, both of whom show signs of how great they can be. Clerly, they aren't there yet.

So, I hold to my pre-season beliefs that this team is capable of greatness, even now. My true prediction remains that they will be contenders and start making regular runs for Super Bowls in 2-5 years. As for how Mr. Rodgers can leap over Favre in Lambeau lore? Win a minimum of 2 Super Bowls. As gaudy as the stats are for Brett, he only got one Super Bowl in his Green Bay tenure. In Packerland, that's the most important stat of all.

Let the true runs start next year!

The 13th Man

If any more proof be needed, it was provided tonight at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan. If not for the influence of the present Rider fans, it is likely that the BC Lions would have won tonight's CFL matchup. Instead, Saskatchewan pulled out a 33-30 Overtime victory to remain tied with the Calgary Stampeders in the West Division.

On the final drive by BC, they were guilty of two illegal procedure penalties, which can be attributed to the crowd noise spewed forth by the Green-and-White faithful. The noise caused the Lions to modify their offensive line technique so they could get off the ball on time instead of relying on looking back to the football. On the final play, with a cacophony of noise avalanching upon them from the Mosaic stands, Casey Printers was pressured heavily by the Roughriders defense and threw a prayer into the endzone, which fell happily into the arms of James Patrick. All with BC in position to kick an easy field goal - if any field goals can be called easy with Paul McCallum kicking them - to tie mini-game number 1.

Also revealed pre-game were the "Saskatchewan Roughrider" Hockey Canada jerseys that the Junior team will wear twice for the World Junior Hockey Championships over the Christmas season. Count me in as one who is horrified by this decision. The team is national in scope. And why are we honouring a football team in a hockey tournament? Yes, the Riders are Saskatchewan's lone (semi) professional sporting club, but how do they connect to hockey again? Please! This smacks of a clear money-grab by Hockey Canada, pure and simple.

Politico in the making

A dear friend of mine recently reminded me of a music video making the YouTube rounds called "Canadian Please."  This spawned a wholly unrelated spin into the world of, well, spin. I started off on a suggested piece about from the Fox News network's satire show called "Red Eye" about Canadian troops pulling out of Afghanistan. An upsetting piece for us Canadians, to be sure. This spilled into a whole bunch of Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Tucker Carlson video evidences, along with some diverging into The Daily Show, particularly with the tete a tete he had with Jim Cramer of Mad Money over the economic meltdown. The merry-go-round of economic/political discourse I encountered did not merely contain such nuggets, of course.

Now, I am not writing to debate the intelligence levels of any of the parties involved. I most certainly have my opinion there. But this is not the point of my blog here: it is simply to share that a small bit of entertainment has created in me, well, striking levels of intellectual entertainments. I find myself thinking differently. I feel inquisitive. I have discovered something out of all these "experts" disagreeing with one another: it's called curiosity. I am searching, probing, analyzing, cross-referencing, back-checking, validating, counterpointing all over the place. This has been up to now a sadly lacking activity for me.

I also discovered something else: I feel more informed. It is an empowering thing, and the more informed I get, the more I feel enabled to form my own opinion, to defend that view, and to begin to help educate my peers on these things.

So, my dear friend merely attempted to entertain me for a moment. It worked. However, it opened a new sense of curiosity in me that has sprung open, for lack of a better metaphor, a pandora's box of consequence. I fully expect it to be a major positive influence in the road that lays ahead presuming that I shall continue to pursue this course of action.