So...does this seem ridiculous as all getout to anybody else, or am I a man on a dangerously unsecured island here?
LONDON — Surface-to-air missiles could be stationed on the rooftops of an apartment block in east London as part of Britain's air defences for the Olympics, the country's military confirmed Sunday.
Around 700 people living at the building in Bow -- about 3.2 kilometres from London's Olympic Stadium -- have been contacted and warned that the weapons and about 10 troops are likely to be based at the site for around two months.
Britain has previously confirmed that up to 13,500 troops are being deployed on land, at sea and in the air to help protect the Olympics alongside police and security guards. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has said Typhoon fighter jets, helicopters, two warships and bomb disposal experts will also be on duty as part of the security operation.
"As announced before Christmas, ground-based air defence systems could be deployed as part of a multilayered air security plan for the Olympics, including fast jets and helicopters, which will protect the skies over London during the games," the defence ministry said in a statement.
Listen. I like the Olympics as much as anybody. Yes, even though they're awarded based on legalized bribery and are a gargantuan money pit for any country that dares host them. What can I say, I like sports. But if this is where we're at in 2012, do we really need the Olympics? For Christ's sake, we're giving serious consideration to rigging manned missile stations to apartment buildings! In England! Because the hammer throw is in town! When you're at that point things have gotten way out of hand, and we all know that once you take this step, there's no going back. What's next? Unmanned drones with nuclear boms on them, just in case? The moment missiles at sporting events is a thing that doesn't get laughed out of the meeting in less than about 12 seconds, we're in some serious more trouble than it's worth territory.
Perhaps we should all do something else this summer. Something a lot safer than watching a couple weeks worth of cycling and footraces.
Before I say another word, I seriously just watched John Cena beat Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules. No really, that happened. Don't ask me *why* it happened, but it happened. I guess I have to allow for the idea that this might be going somewhere and is part of a larger story, but this is 2012 WWE, so I might as well get my Jesus motherfuck on a slice of toast that was dumb out of the way now so there's no need for it later when they screw this up even more and I'm really pissed off.
So...how's everybody doin'? Other than that, I'm pretty ok.
The new site is coming along nicely. All the posts are now written by the right person, which is one huge job out of the way. the next part of Operation New Comet is to upload all the audio and video downloads to the new server so you can actually download them. Yes, that means all the VC Casts, the singing screenreaders and everything else will work again, and probably a lot faster than before.
I took a break from all the site business and had myself a fun weekend. I spent a good bit of it with our old friend Greg, who some of you would remember a lot better had Echo not hosed us so bad on that comment deal. Side note: Check out where that link goes. Remember, we're not finished yet. If it looks a bit like crap, cut us some slack. I'm just getting myself used to linking to the right site.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, weekend with Greg.
We spent Saturday afternoon down at the Dome (it'll never be the friggin Rogers Centre to me) watching the Jays take on the Mariners. These are always fun, especially because Greg is as much a Mariners fan as I am a Jays fan. Old brain injury, I think.
I was a bit worried about the trip because of Friday's debacle, but the Jays came through big time, sparing me an evening of listening to more laughter from a fan of a team much more terrible than my own.
It was a memorable game for a couple of reasons. It was my first ever live shutout (Jays 7, Mariners 0), plus I got to see my first ever major league grand slam!
Thanks, Edwin! I know you and I haven't always been on the best of terms, but that's all because your managers have had this weird thing about making you field. Your hitting I've never doubted. In fact I'm one of those people who wanted you to be a DH forever ago. It's that sketchy aiming and throwing stuff that gets me all riled up and angry about you. Now that you're where you belong and can focus on what you're really good at, you and I are just fine. I'll go so far as to say that this year, I look forward to your at bats even more than Lawrie's and Bautista's. You're the man, artist formerly known as E5!
There was also, like there is at most games, that guy from the visiting team who gets mercilessly heckled. In my section, it was Chone Figgins. It was pretty standard stuff for the most part, just people slowly yelling his name at him. Expecting much more from the people in our area would have been asking too much. I'm not sure how a few of them walked and breathed at the same time long enough to find seats, to be honest. But the best was when a little girl (at least we think it was a girl) who couldn't have been any more than about 4 looked over at the person next to her and asked "what's that guy's name?" She got her answer and the next thing you know, that cute little voice takes a deep breath and let's out the loudest "FIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSS!!!!!!" YOU'VE EVER HEARD, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. She was much more amusing than that stupid woman behind and to one side of me who kept calling him Shawn Desman, chanting "we love BJs" and laughing at herself all afternoon. I hope something mildly unpleasant happened to her later, something like being forced to struggle with the plot of a Dick and Jane book.
and because I usually can't let an outing like this go bye without commenting, wholly crapshite the price of beer at these places! I go in knowing it's not going to be pretty, but $9.75 for a woman to reach into a cooler, pull out a tall boy, open it and hand it to me? Yes, I said one tall boy! Not two! One! They were $9.75...each! Legalized robbery is what that is. It was extra off pissing because we'd both just finished buying 12 of the fucking things at the LCBO for $30 before we left for the game. If the aim is to get people not to drink so much, forget it. the problem ones usually have more money than they know what to do with or are smart enough to drink beforehand, smuggle the shit in or both. You're just screwing guys like me who want to have one or two while we enjoy the afternoon.
Speaking of drinks, I finally tried one of those Tim Hortons smoothies. They're ok. I'd probably get one again. but I have to ask. Why is adding yogurt extra? Yogurt, at least on planet earth where I come from, is kind of what smoothies are made of. Yogurt, fruit and juice. You cant' have a smoothie without yogurt, it's just not possible. At all. Ever. Cannot be done. What is Tim Hortons putting in these things to make people think that going yogurtless is an option, and how can they still call whatever it is a smoothie without running afoul of some sort of regulation?
Oh, and speaking of running afoul of regulations, I learned something useless yet amazing from Greg when we were back home enjoying our reasonably priced beer.
Poker Face, the song that everybody but Lady Gaga can make sound good, is not as it seems.
Pick a chorus and listen to it. When she's doing the thing about pa pa pa poker faces, tell me you don't hear "fuh fuh fuh fuck her face" at least once. I never noticed this before due to my tendency not to pay attention to crap, but poor Greg spends a lot of time with a Gaga loving child so isn't so fortunate. I went in with an open mind just like I do when one of those Islam is the light type things comes along, but unlike most of those I heard "fuck her face" without a doubt. It's not just our imagination either. Carin heard it, and a little Googling turned up this guy. How is everybody so clueless to this, or are they just choosing to ignore it and see what they can get away with?
That's about all for now. I'm hungry and it's supper time. I may even have a beer afterwards. And no Rogers, I won't be paying $9.75 for it, you arsecaps!
I disappeared for a few days and then came back with two posts full of sadness. Sadness is part of life, but we can't be sad all the time. So to lighten the mood, here's a video of Levon Helm being awesome.
I would also like to take a moment to wish Ro and her beloved Tampa Bay Rays good luck in their series with my Blue Jays. They're going to need it. Don't forget what happened to the Red Sox when they had the nerve to beat us once, or the Orioles when they dared do it twice.
Ya know, in my old story about the blunder in the Croatian national anthem where an opera singer belted out a line about having a penis that was a mountain, I said that if something laughable happens during the singing of the national anthem, we should just laugh it off. Well, in the case of what happened to Kazakhstan, I take that all back.
You see, the organizers at the Arab Shooting Championships in Kuwait failed at research. I guess when they tried to look up the anthem for Kazakhstan, they found the spoof anthem that was in the movie "Borat". Thinking that was the real anthem, they had it at the ready if the country won a gold medal.
...
which it did
...
and they played the spoof anthem
...
and the good folks of Kazakhstan are justifiably angry.
In my last post, I talked a bit about the Leafs and their goaltender issues. I said I wasn't quite sure what the problem is, but I think Mike Brophy nailed a good part of it in this piece.
It's partly coaching, but my biggest problem has been with consistency, which I suppose makes it all coaching, just spread out over more than one coach. If you have a guy playing well and a guy not playing well, the who starts decision should be an easy one. but the Leafs seem so determined that the Monster is a second stringer that it's got to be ruining his confidence on some level, and tossing Reimer out there when he's obviously not the same guy for some reason can't be doing wonders for his, either. I hope this is one of the first things addressed by Randy Carlyle as he settles in. Still may not hurt to at least consider a new style of goaltending coach, too.
Now, with the team having lost six games in a row and just 18 games remaining, it is high time to turn the crease over to The Monster. Gustavsson, after all, was the guy the Leafs signed three years ago to be their savior.
When Reimer went down with a concussion Oct. 22 in Montreal after opening the season with a 4-0-1 record, Gustavsson did his best to pick up the slack. But even though he finished that game with a victory and then won three of his next five starts, you never had the feeling the coaching staff had faith in him. Ben Scrivens suddenly appeared on the scene as his next competition.
Then when Reimer returned, clearly not as sharp as he was prior to the injury, it again became obvious the Leafs were going to go with Reimer no matter what. However, when Reimer hit a real dry spell late in December, the club had no choice but to see if Gustavsson could carry the ball.
And he did.
Gustavsson started 11 of 12 games, winning seven and losing four. It wasn't enough to give him security, though. The Leafs still wanted Reimer as their starter.
Reimer started 10 of 13 games leading up to the Chicago contest. He can let in the first shot of a game and he'll be back in to start the next game. Gustavsson makes a miscue -- albeit a costly one -- in overtime against the New Jersey Devils and even though he helped the Leafs secure the only point they managed in a four-game home stand, he sits.
Would you look at that, I've decided to crawl out of my hole and post something! And what a suckass hole it is, I must say.
The things that put me into said hole are thankfully getting better, which is great. but as that situation improves, dealing with it has caught up to me in a big way. Essentially not sleeping for a month...don't ever do that, everyone. It's not good for you. At all. I have no memory, no focus, migraines and the constant feeling that I've had the stuffings kicked out of me and been thrown down a flight of stairs...and that's just the constant stuff. I'm feeling a bit better, but garbage and I are still close to each other on the feeling like scale, so I think I have a way to go before I can call myself what passes for normal.
Due to all this, I haven't been the most exciting fellow. I'm just sort of existing. I'm behind on just about everything and need to start catching up. I owe lots of people phone calls which upsets me because telephones give me headaches, but on the bright side, I think I'm close to the point where I can start rounding up stupidity and writing about dicks again. That's me, always trying to find the bright side of things. Hooray for dicks!
There are lots of things catching my attention that need a word or two like the whole Harper Government robo call deal, but they all require far more brain power than I currently possess, so let's start with sports.
Ron Wilson finally got fired. I say good decision. He had his few years at the job, and it's obvious that something wasn't working. Obviously not everything wrong with the Leafs right now can be laid on him, but it's clear after three plus years that things had to change. The Leafs should be right in the thick of the playoff race right now,but instead they're falling further and further behind. You don't lose 10 of 11 games this time of year with the talent level these guys have and hold the coach blameless. It's his job to get the players to respond and bounce back, and it just isn't clicking.
And while we're making coaching changes because of things not clicking, can something be done about the goaltending? Neither James Reimer or Jonas Gustavsson are bad goaltenders. In fact both have been downright awesome at times. But sometimes it seems that both of them have absolutely no confidence. Whether that's the fault of Francois Allaire, Ron Wilson or something else entirely isn't obvious to me, but it's an area that could definitely use some looking at. Even if by some miracle this team makes the playoffs, flakey goalies aren't going to keep it there long. You kind of live and die by what's going on in net, and given some of the mistakes guys have been making lately and some of the less than stellar defence, what's happening in the net needs to be top notch.
On the subject of playoffs, MLB has added a couple more spots to theirs. This is great news. It's great news because I'm a Jays fan and making the playoffs in the ridiculous AL East is pretty damn hard. Any extra chance that exists can't help but be a good thing. It's also good news for every other team for the same reason. It gives teams that are playoff worthy an actual sporting chance against the stacked teams to whom money is no object. Oh, and let's not forget that it means there will be more meaningful baseball games later in the season and perhaps even more meaningful trades and roster moves. I like that. I'm not sure how you could view this as anything other than a win. More teams have a chance to make more money by staying in the race longer, and more fans have more of a reason to keep watching and stay invested. I can't wait to see how it all plays out, even if the Jays don't make it this year.
Before I get out of here for who knows how long again, I need to vent about one small wrestling thing. For once it's mostly fans and column writers rather than anything stupid a company did.
The other day, a story came out that Ring of Honor had blocked a few of their guys from signing with WWE by enforcing contracts and not letting them go. This pissed a bunch of fans off, getting them all up in arms about how unfair it is that one company wouldn't let them leave and go make more money in another. ROH and the named wrestlers all deny it and have even made fun of the idea, for what it's worth. But heres' the thing. So what if they did? These guys are under contract to the company. Unless I am fundamentally misinformed about how contracts work, that means they can't just pick up and leave unless all parties agree to it. If ROH doesn't agree, too bad. Yes they've let guys leave before, but things are different now. ROH has a big TV deal and are now owned by a broadcast network. They're trying to grow, and you can't grow if you can't keep your talent. Look at it this way. ROH has a big 10th anniversary show tomorrow. It has title matches and important storylines are going to progress. Are you telling me that if WWE threw a bunch of money at everybody on the show to leave, that ROH should just be fine with that? That's insane! Of course they shouldn't. That's why there are contracts. The company has to protect its interests and its ability to make money and put on shows. Wrestlers aren't interchangeable and fans aren't stupid. If you slot somebody else into an angle built for a specific person, it won't work. It's fine to let people go if those people aren't involved in something, but for the sake of logic and business, you can't just let anybody with bags of money loot your promotion and kill it dead. How people don't understand this is quite honestly beyond me.
That's all for now. Time to rest my head, get some breakfast and prepare for the first Blue Jays game of the year! I know it's only spring training ball, but hey, it still means the Jays and baseball are back!
Wait. since I mentioned Ring of Honor and their 10th anniversary show, you really should order it if you like wrestling. It only costs $10, and I promise you you'll get much more action and quality storytelling out of it than you will out of just about any $50 WWE offering. You can head over to GoFightLive.tv for all the details.
I just came across this one while catching up on some reading and thought I'd share it. It's all about the different kinds of taunting and chirping we all know go on in hockey. It won't teach you any words or insults you don't already know, but it's an interesting look at a different side of the game. It's a good reminder that even though players are highly paid professionals playing a game they know is mentally and physically tough, they're still human beings.
Fraser talks about what it can be like when the trash talking goes too far, and how difficult it can be in the moment to put a stop to what needs stopping and let things go when it's ok. He also touches on how these incidents can change people for the rest of their careers and lives.
If you're a fan of hockey or sports in general, check it out.
Update: The audio hasn't worked for a while here. Thank you Blind File Sharing for hosing us. So now, for all things cast, pop on over to our new site. There, you'll find audio that works!
Well, it is here. The Occupy VC Cast, the Occucast, whatever you want to call it, it's here...and it's about to occupy about 2 hours of your time. It would be awesome if you found it 99% funny.
We divided it into 4 parts. It would have been only 3, but well, ya see, I'm a giant moron and caused us to need to make a bonus part.
Part one lasts for about 25 minutes or so. In it, we spend some time on the whole Occupy VC thing, and how the Occupy movement has invaded my subconscious, because when I hear 1% or 99% from the computer as it's loading something, I immediately think of Occupy-related stuff. We mention Lunchupguelph, and ramble a while about the work Christmas party we went to, some about the odd weather, the Baker Street Station, and then we set off on our first major rant. Steve got very creative in making fun of the reasons people come up with for petting guide dogs when they know they shouldn't, and Trix got excited by his silly tone. I also did my best to describe the drink I tried at Baker Street Station, man that was awesome. Then after Steve talked in a funny voice, a joke next to noone will get, we brought this part of things to a sudden end.
In part two, which lasts about 42 minutes, Steve made me a drink and we talked about its ability to smack me around six ways from Sunday. We also talked about how Steve knows what drinks I'd like and has a pretty good track record. the story of the recent time where one of our Twitter buddies jokingly called Steve a douchebag came up, as well as the fact that someone seriously calls themselves Magnificent Douchebag as their Twitter name. We asked a question about something someone said who has gone lots of times to the Occupy Toronto movement, and Steve scared the hell out of me by mentioning this video. We lament the fact that BlindFileSharing's front end went splat, cutting off access to the files. Other topics talked about are the Occupy Movement's biggest curse, the stupidity of news media working people into a frenzy over nothing, Black Friday insanity, The mumbly new Tim Horton's slogan and general suckiness of Tim Hortons commercials, especially the use of the words "whipped topping". And before we break again, Steve talks about how much he loves the Grey Cup finals, and a few recent Grey Cup party memories.
And then, we really get silly in Part three, which goes about 50 minutes. This was the other half of our inspiration for audio. The story goes that the police in our area step up their efforts to watch out for impaired drivers. So, they pull everybody over on a stretch of road, ask them if they've had anything to drink, and if they think they have, they test them and deal with them. This is called the RIDE program (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere). But at Christmas, they call it the festive RIDE program. This always gave us an image of singing cops jingling bells and being full of jolly cheer while making people walk the line and blow into the breathalizer. We then wondered what sort of songs they would sing at the festive RIDE program...and that's what we spend the majority of the time doing. Part of the way through, I suddenly realize we need bells, and go off in search of something that would serve as bells. Since I can't find them, we have to settle for jingling our keys. At the very end, we wrap up by laughing at someone for thinking the Foo Fighters were called the Food Fighters, and there's a little joke in there for a fellow known on Twitter as @thedangillis.
And just when you think it's over, we make Part four, all because I found those pesky bells! This one only goes about 4 minutes or so.
I doubt this comes up in many training camps, so here's a good tip for all you kids out there. If you're gonna play hockey, always, always! remember which team you're on. It might just save you a punch in the face during a goal celebration one day.
During a Swedish hockey league game between Mora IK and Leksand, Henrik Eriksson of Mora got a little bit too excited after scoring a goal to give his team a 2-1 lead. After deflecting the puck into the net, Eriksson went into full celebration mode, hugging the player nearest to him, who just so happened to be Alen Bibic of Leksand. Bibic, as you could imagine, took exception to the display, giving Eriksson a quick punch to the face.
This hardly ruined the mood for Eriksson however, who, still smiling, skated a little farther to celebrate with players who wouldn't punch him in the face.
The uploader of the video seems to think the mistake wasn't a mistake at all, but it's funny and a bit stupid either way.
This piece should have gone up last week, but due to the small matter of it not being recorded until right now, that didn't happen.
On this here 18.5 minute adventure into something or other, we touch on such topics as the good and bad of the #LunchUpGuelph event Carin went to today, why you should never, ever break anything made by Corelle and my talking Maple Leafs beer koozie with Joe Bowen's voice on it that was the main reason for recording this thing. Yes RO, you finally get to hear it. There's also a bit of Trixie, who plays some tug, runs around a bit and gets quite interested in the microphone.
If this sounds interesting or if you're the type to listen to stuff just because it's here, have at it.
And when you're done having at it, enjoy game 7 tonight. Even if you don't like baseball, you maybe should watch. Last night's game was one of the best games I've ever seen, the kind of game that makes fans out of people who never gave a damn about baseball before.
Amanda may hate me for this, but I'm going with the Cards. their run has been amazing and for some reason I'd kind of like to see them win. On second thought, Amanda may love me considering how well some of my previous baseball predictions have gone.
Whatever happens, I'll be watching and hoping for another fun one. Back and forths are great when you have no true cheering interest.
I'm in no shape to be making fun of even the most average of marathon runners, but the most average of marathon runners aren't Rob Sloan.
I'm not even sure it's proper to call Sloan a marathon runner in this case, since he rode a bus the last 9.6 kilometres and then ran out of the woods near the finish line and acted like nothing was wrong. Unfortunately for him, one of the key parts of the phrase spectator shuttle is the word spectator, and several of them watched him get on and off the shuttle, making denying what he'd done impossible.
I can't decide if the worst part of his day would be having to come clean, apologize to everybody and pretty much be shamed in public while losing his prize, or having to live with the fact that even though he cheated, the best he could do was 3rd place. Not only will he forever be known as the guy who cheated in the marathon, but he's got the added benefit of being known as the guy who cheated in the marathon and kinda sucked at it.
The even sadder part is that it probably didn't have to be that way. It seems like he really can run. He's done the marathon straight up before, and the day before the busathon he'd won a 10 K race. Ahh, maybe that's the problem. A marathon is hard enough, so why would you do that? Only he knows...unless he told somebody on the bus.
Just a quick note before I turn in for the night because this has been a pretty good day for a few reasons and it needs to be remembered.
1. The Leafs won their season opener by shutting out Montreal. What more need be said other than I hope the same damn thing happens to Ottawa on Saturday?
2. the Yankees lost to the Tigers at Yankee Stadium no less and are now eliminated from the playoffs! What more need be said other than I hope the same damn thing happens to the Phillies tomorrow?
3. Vince Russo appears to no longer be TNA's head writer. I've been waiting for this since the day they hired him. What more need be said other than I hope this is the first step towards shitcanning him completely?
4. We still have a Liberal government in Ontario. I voted NDP as I tend to do provincially, but a Liberal victory is completely fine with me. It looks like a Liberal minority that's going to end up one seat short of majority status, but hey, a win's a win, right? And minority governments don't have to be a bad thing. They can keep a scary government in check and make a decent government better. They can work if everybody involved wants to make them work, which I hope is the case here. The last thing the province or the country needs is yet another election before it's time. What more need be said than don't be tools, people we've elected? Please do right by all of us and make this work.
I think that's everything. It's time for head to hit pillow before it hits keyboard. So what more need be said than good night, and let's hope that tomorrow turns out as good as today?
I'll warn you right off the top that this post might be even more disjointed and sucky than usual. I'm a bit distracted by the pain in my right foot and it's making me cranky. The thing hates me, but if I were it and I'd been injured so many times by me, I'd probably hate me too. I wish I'd kept a log from the first time I hurt it when I was 8 or 9 up to now so I could see exactly how much I've put it through. I think it would be a little bit fascinating. It's kind of scary that I've done so much to it that I can't remember it all off the top of my head, isn't it? Usually hurting something that effects you that much is memorable, but perhaps after a certain number you just stop counting and forget about it all because it's too much to remember and maybe even a little bit routine...at least until the next thing happens to it. It's anything but routine in the moment, I assure you.
So what sort of heinous and horrible things did I do to it today, you ask. Well...I walked on it. Seriously, that's all it takes some days. I like long walks but it doesn't, and there seems to be no room for agreeing to disagree. I often need to walk to get around, and since its entire purpose in life is to serve as my right leg, it has no choice but to come along every time. For now I can take it, but with each passing year it gets a little worse. Man, getting old is gonna blow.
It's a beautiful sunny day here in lovely Guelph. A perfect day to get out and vote in the Ontario election if you haven't already done so. Carin and I did that this morning so that we could take advantage of the audio voting system that she's posted about here. If you want all of the info on that stuff, check the elections tag. Everything you need should be there. If you want to audio vote or sip and puff or any of the other options they have, you only have until the end of tomorrow to do it. For reasons nobody will ever get me to understand, these things are not available on election day proper, nor were they around for the regular advanced polls. You have to find your returning office and vote there. I'd love to see them try pulling that stunt with pencils. If you're in Guelph, the address is 292 Speedvale Avenue West, unit 1. It's in the plaza near the Speedvale and Silvercreek intersection. If you're anywhere else, the Elections Ontario site or 1-888-ONT-VOTE can help you find where you're supposed to go. Please, go there and use this stuff if you need it. I can tell you with certainty that they're keeping track of how well used it is. Every vote cast using these machines really is a vote for justifying their existence. It shouldn't have to be that way (see pencils, pulling that stunt with), but until a whole lot of attitudes change for the better, that's how it's going to be.
Carin and I had a very nice trip to Ottawa this weekend. I could have done without spending the better part of Friday and Sunday on buses since I really don't travel well, but the between time was great. We got to catch up with some old friends and even meet a couple of online ones in person. I'm not sure what's wrong with the folks in the latter camp, but for some reason they liked us enough to not let us pay for breakfast. Thanks again, guys. We'll be happy to return the favour any time. And thanks to the old friends for everything. Twas a great weekend, and trust me, never again will I make the mistake of calling your apple cinnamon coffee bread cinnamon coffee bread. I meant neither to underestimate or offend it. It was a lovely creation, and I deeply apologize to it.
For those of you who care about such things, I'm still tied for the lead in the PWInsider pay-per-view pick 'em contest. I'm tied with a different person, but still tied. I can't seem to get first place all to myself, but honestly I'm just happy I'm a contender with only 3 shows to go.
Since I'm insane, I'm thinking about signing up for the TNA/ROH version they're going to run. Yes, you read that correctly. These people are going to try to make figuring out TNA a thing. I figure what can it hurt? If I'm going to watch the shit anyway I might as well try getting some found money out of it.
On the subject of wrestling since I don't talk much about it anymore, Mark Henry is awesome lately. Somehow, after 15 years, WWE has finally figured out how to present him. Slowly but surely they're turning him into one of the only believable characters in the company. The more they let him mow through people and bust things up, the more it feels like indeed, this fellow could and would kick the living hell out of me if given the chance. Wrestling needs more of that sort of thing if it wants to keep people interested and paying.
One more thing before I get out of here. I think I may have mentioned this on one of the recent audios we did, but why are we in such a hurry to get rid of summer and bring on Christmas this year? Seriously, we didn't even make it through Labour Day before people were putting summer in the ground and talking about how there were only a hundred and whatever days to Christmas. Listen, people. I'm going to say this as nicely as I can. Fuck the fuck off with that, you irritating sonsofbitches! We shouldn't be hearing a peep about Christmas from absolutely anyone until the staying type of snow is on the ground or December starts, whichever comes first. Feel free to start your shopping before then if you'd like, that's fine. It never hurts to beat the crowds and it's nice to not have to do it all at once. But please, keep it to yourself. Some of us really can't stand winter and are beginning to feel similarly about Christmas, and you're not helping.
I hate to end things on kind of a downer, so I'll leave you with this instead.
What's the difference between a bad golfer and a bad skydiver? Bad golfer: *Whack* "Aww shit! Bad skydiver: "Aww shit!" *Whack*
Ahh, much better.
Enjoy today's baseball if that's your thing. I personally can't wait to watch what I hope will be the first round end of the Yankees. Between that and Boston not making it at all, there might be enough happiness to make me like Christmas again.
This has been a rather crappy NHL offseason. If there's been another in my lifetime that's been this bad from a guys dying young standpoint, I cant' remember it.
As a Leafs fan, this one is particularly sad. I always enjoyed Belak. He wasn't going to score a million goals or skate circles around anybody, but there was something about him that made him really easy to root for. I'd describe him as one of the nicest guys you could ever have cave in your skull at a moment's notice.
My favourite Belak memory is that time he scored his goal. It was memorable not only because he didn't score many of them, but also because scoring it cost him a record. Had he not potted one in December 2007 against Nashville, odds are he would have broken the Leafs record for games without a goal. He hadn't scored since 2003. I'll never forget watching it go in or the celebration that followed it. I had no choice but to jump up and cheer along with everybody else because man, that was awesome. You can see video of it here. Yeah, it still gets me.
While we're on the subject of baseball and since I mentioned the Jays, this whole mysterious sign stealing man in white thing. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read the tripe for yourself right here.
I'm not going to say much about it since people much more qualified than I seem to have it covered from just about every possible angle, but I will say this. There are a lot of problems with this story. The cherry picked stats they're using to try to prove something they ultimately don't end up proving. The lack of video of this man in white in action which you'd think ESPN, as big an organization as it is, would be able to find quite easily. The lack of complaints save one or two before this was published. and then there's this. Aaron Hill and Adam Lind didn't have the best of years in 2010. Why didn't sign stealing man help them out a little more? John McDonald, much as I love him, was not a 300 hitter last year. If the man in white was any good, shouldn't he have been? Or are you telling me Johnny Mac is so awful that not even impossible levels of cheating can help him? And speaking of awful, are the Jays such a shit team that even though they knew what was coming at them and when during most if not all of their home games, they still couldn't win the East, or at least the wild-card? All of these questions and we haven't even touched the issue of whether a batter would be able to see a guy from that angle or how said guy relays things that quickly.
Do the Jays steal signs sometimes? I don't know, but I imagine probably isn't a totally wrong answer. But then again, who hasn't isn't a bad question either. Sign swiping has been going on in baseball since there's been signs in baseball. It's part of the game. But to suggest that it's happening in the way it's supposedly happening here is completely fucking preposterous and takes a nice, warm steamer all over ESPN's credibility.
This was sent my way by our old friend Matt. It sounds like a really good opportunity for people to learn goalball or get another chance to play the game. I hope lots of people take advantage of it.
The Ontario Blind Sports Association (OBSA) in partnership with the City of Toronto is proud to offer a recreational goalball league through the City of Toronto Parks and Recreation.
This league will run once a week for the duration of 8 weeks during the City of Toronto's, Fall/Winter Seasson.
People of all ages and all visual abilities are welcome. During these sessions, participants will learn the rules of the game and drills to help improve their game and endurance and of course, play full games.
All equipment will be provided and this amazing opportunity is free of charge!
The first try-it session is Thursday, September 8th from 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at Mitchell Field Community Center, which is located at 89 Church Avenue M2N 6C9 (close to Finch Station).
Can't wait to see everyone there!
If you have any questions, please contact the office at (416) 426-7191
The Toronto Argonauts have pulled an advertisement from city subway cars and stations after receiving complaints that it promotes domestic violence.
Oh man, this can't be good. They didn't seriously show a giant football player tackling some poor old woman or a dude with a beer gut throwing a beating on a girl with a black eye as they tug of war over the remote during a game, did they? They must have if we've gotten to this point.
The ad – which was meant to drum up support for the CFL team — showed defensive end Ricky Foley with the caption, “Home is where the heart is. It’s also where we hurt people.”
Ok, so where's the problem? Surely there must be a legitimate gripe, given our society's tendency not to complain unless there truly is reason for it. A person would have to be wrong in the head not to realize that home means home football field and that folks do indeed get hurt there from time to time during games, you know, because it's a sport. And a person so wrong in the head would never hold so much power as to convince the majority that he isn't, would he?
Toronto city councilor Mike Layton wrote a letter to the Argos president Bob Nicholson, explaining why he wanted the ad pulled.
“While I understand the intended meaning, my concern is the unintended consequences,” Layton said. “In the context of domestic violence, the ad insinuates that domestic violence in the home is acceptable or normal. The ad may also trigger traumatic responses in the many survivors of domestic violence who are courageously moving forward with their lives.”
I'm torn. I want to applaud the citizens of Toronto for being open minded enough to elect this obviously slower than slow man to public office, but I fear those same citizens may not have thought their well intentioned decision all the way through.
And if he's not slow, then he needs more to do, because he's obviously got far too much free time to play with.
David Bedford, the Argos’ vice-president of marketing and communications, said the team pulled the ad almost immediately, but they never considered the posters would be viewed that way.
Of course they didn't. Not a single person who gave them even a passing moment of thought and wasn't representing the no fun ticket in city government would.
"It's very clear it's a football player in a football uniform talking about promoting the opening game for a football team," Bedford said Tuesday. "I think it's pretty common knowledge that football is a contact sport and a physical game.
Ok then, so why did you pull it? I'm sicker than sick of everybody caving in to this kind of PC garbage. I wish that just once somebody would tell these people to jam it right back up their asses and then wipe his own ass with the letter they sent before setting it on fire.
"We didn't look at it in the context of domestic violence and we probably should have, given that we've had a handful of complaints."
I've got news for you, my friend. If you carefully study and change everything that gets a handful of complaints, football wouldn't exist. It's a violent sport and people could get injured, you know. And don't even get me started on those our balls are bigger ads from years ago. Those would never fly...or swing...or get out of the marketing meeting.
Bedford says the team will replace the posters — which went up on June 20 in Toronto Transit Commission subways cars and stations — with advertisements meant for GO Transit trains. The new posters will read “We’re not looking for passengers.”
First question: What the fuck does that nonsense even mean? It sounds unspeakably lame.
And second question: Are you sure that's a good slogan, what with the battles in most cities over the viability of transit services and how businesses should be run? If you look at this from the corporate point of view, not looking for passengers could be interpreted as your team not wanting customers. Rather standoffish of you, no? It could also mean you don't want people to ride the bus, which is environmentally irresponsible especially in this age of climate change. Perhaps you need to give more consideration to the unintended consequences of the messages you're sending.
Going by Twitter and nothing more since I haven't had much of a chance to read anything overly in depth on the subject, people seem pretty happy about the UFC's decision to bump all of the main event fights going forward up to 5 rounds from 3.
Personally, I don't much care for the idea. Maybe it's the wrestling brain in me, but making every main event fight look the same as a title fight diminishes the importance of the championships. Let's face it, not everybody who appears in a main event fight is going to get a title shot. Some guys are just in the main event because somebody has to go on last. Fighting for a title is supposed to be different. It's supposed to be harder, hence why 5 round title matches make sense. I would be fine with this idea if it only applied to fights that would determine the number 1 contender because it would prove a guy could handle the championship rounds, but that's not what this is.
I just don't get how seeing a couple of guys who are nowhere near contending for anything have an average fight that takes longer is going to help anything. Are people really going to buy more pay-per-views or tune into the Fight Night specials in greater numbers because 2 guys get 2 extra rounds to essentially fight over nothing for no reason? I don't think so. The shows that don't sell as well aren't selling poorly because the main events are too short. They're selling poorly because people aren't excited about them. and if people aren't excited about something, the last thing you should be doing is giving them more of it. Sure there are some 3 round fights that you'd love to see go longer, but you never know when that's going to happen. There are also some 5 round affairs that I wish wouldn't have even gotten 3, so it cuts both ways. A longer fight isn't going to always mean a better one.
To me, this is the kind of gimmick you would use in a desperate attempt to prop up a promotion that's failing, and unless there's something somebody's not telling me, the UFC is hardly failing.
