‘Archie’ and My Summer Vacation

So there it was. Number 13 in a rather discombobulated list of ‘Things to Bring’ on vacation. It said ‘Archie Comic Book’.

My youngest son Richard – 9 years old- had put his list together of the things he was going to bring on our trip next week to Alberta to visit family and friends. As was typical of 9 year old boy it was comprised mainly of sports equipment and electronic devices and treats. He did however list ‘clothes’ as a item, which was good.

But it was number 13 that caused the most concern for me since some of my Pucksense nation followers will know that Pucksense broke the news – after CNN, Reuters, the Globe and Mail, the Guardian – that Archie Andrews of Riverdale had died taking a bullet for his gay friend.

I remember the trips with my family all crunched into our Chevy Impala heading to vacation at our cottage in Saskatchewan. Reading ‘Archie’ comics is a right of passage for a young kid like me. But now that whole experience for my child has become more complex. I am now in mortal fear that in some impertinent moment that my 16 year daughter will scorch his soul with something like

“Hey Rich, did you know that Archie got killed saving his gay friend”

I can hardly wait for it.

Heading down the TransCanada highway past the Last Spike in Craigellichie BC the questions start.
“Why did Archie get killed dad?”
“Who did it- was it a bad guy?”
and of course
“What does gay mean?”

You see, there is previous experience here. Once – in a fit of temporary insanity – I decided to take my three kids 9,5 and 3 years of age – on a BC and Alberta tour to visit family and giving my wife some time to herself. (Plus – she said she would paint our walls!)

As we headed into Valemount BC I found a very Canadian moment – looking up a Terry Fox mountain- stopping at the historical site at the side of the road commemorating Terry and his ‘Walk’.

My five year Graeme started first
“How did he die dad?”
“What is cancer dad?”
“Why did they cut his leg off dad?”
“What did they do with his leg dad?”

Watching all of this my 3 year old Richie , who has lived with a lifelong aversion for anytime his brother is getting more attention – especially from his best friend ‘dad’.

Barely able to pronounce some of his consonants Richie blurted out

“Daeme, if you were a bad duy. I would cut your leg off…and throw you in jail”.

Ah…another wonderful Canadiana moment etched in my memory.

Could somebody please pray for me?

What it is to be Canadian

Years ago the Globe and Mail newspaper ran a contest for readers on who could come up with the best definition of what it is to be Canadian.

Some of the more memorable entries

“Someone who crosses the road to get to the middle”

“Someone who apologizes to instant bank machines”

“Someone who brags about his universal, government funded health care system while he is in the United States buying gas, liquor and cigarettes”

A new definition came to mind last night

‘A Canadian is someone who attends a hockey board meeting for 4.5 hours in the middle of summer to discuss policy for ‘A’ Rep level hockey tryouts’

Ahh…what it is to live in the wonderful beach community of Tsawwassen all to spend summer evenings in stuffy rooms talking the intricacies of hockey.

Ford to visit Ukrainian Parliament

It’s great to see the lawmakers in the Ukraine get prepared to welcome Toronto Mayor Rob Ford to their chambers.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/two-ukraine-parties-quit-parliament-coalition-to-trigger-election/article19736487/#dashboard/follows/

They appear to be getting ready to put some of the women up front to Rob can make one of his patented dashes across the floor.

‘Co-opetition’ and the Tour de France

I work in an interesting industry – software and technology. I am not really a technology expert at all but I do feel I have an understanding of how people and organizations operate and can appropriately attach relevant technology solutions that will improve the performance of the business.

It’s an odd industry in that most participants compete with one another in some cases but also supply and purchase from one another in other facets of their operations. For instance, Samsung and Apple engaged in a gigantic lawsuit about certain smartphone patents all the while Samsung continued to supply Apple with components for its smartphone.

As I watch the Tour de France this morning I marvel at the way riders in the ‘break out’ groups conspire with one another to maintain their separation from the main Peleton by taking turns taking the lead position – which results in fighting greater wind resistance. They work together to give themselves the chance to compete for victory in one mad and terrifically competitive dash in the last few kilometres. It’s a perfect example of ‘co-opetition’ and a great model for people in business to emulate.

An interesting article in yesterday’s Globe outlined an observation by an expert economist that extreme competition may not have served society well. This didn’t come from a Marxist-Leninist…this came from a ‘free enterpriser’.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/management/how-competition-has-failed-us/article19708202/#dashboard/follows/

I often wonder if the traditional model for hockey – one in which most of the hockey dads of my generation have been grounded – which fosters a Darwinian approach to success is really working. One example from this article cited the success of Finnish schools who have pretty well removed grades from their curriculae. Finnish schools rank the highest in the world on a number of disciplines like math.

I wonder, is this the same reason that Finnish hockey is seeing such a resurgence? Perhaps they are doing something different around competition that is contributing to their success. I think we need to take a good long look at it.

Remains of the Day

Pucksense continues to track the story of Casey Kasem, the famed LA Disc Jockey, who created the weekly music show ‘Casey’s Top 40’.

While it was thought that Casey’s wife Jean had taken him to Canada during his final days, it ends up she had only made it as far as Washington state. But in her continuing efforts to defy the wishes of Casey’s three children it ends up that she has now moved Casey’s body to Canada.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/22/showbiz/casey-kasem-remains-unburied/index.html

When reached for comment on the recent developments Shaggy of the ‘Scooby-Doo Show’ said “Zoinks!”

‘Rory’ing to Victory

it was great to see Rory McIroy win the British Open and his 3rd leg of a career Grand Slam at Royal Liverpool this weekend.

I was particularly excited to have a race that involved he and Ricky Fowler and a redemptive Sergio Garcia. While Sergio and Ricky certainly took some good runs at Rory it was really a ceremony that crowned the new successor to the ‘Golf Throne’.

As my eldest son comments from time to time.

“Tiger got injured in that car accident”

I have pretty well gone with that narrative of the whole Tiger episode in my household preferring to leave out the fact that his wife was chasing him with a golf club, her mother getting a heart attack, and revelations about his dealings with hookers and paid sex encounters. I think we can hold off on the TMZ version of sports for a while longer anyways.

Ricky Fowler in particular brings in some new and welcome youth to the sport with a combination of skill, and fashion flair, that livens up a traditionally staid sport. My son Richard and I watched his namesake compete with Rory on Sunday for the championship. Of course he was wearing his Ricky Fowler signature orange Puma hat.

Just maybe we are at the dawn of a new era in the sport. Look ahead and yell ‘fore’….you don’t know where it will end up!

href=”https://pucksense.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/fowlernation.jpg”&gt;<a

“We Dun Run out of Tomorrows”

I remember the time my older brother, Ross, and I were watching an NBA game on TV and saw this quote come up on the screen attributed to one or the other NBA players playing the game that day.

It was the late 1970s, and in an attempt to create more viewer insight into the game of basketball, I believe it was the ABC television network that was attempting to do something innovative in their basketball programming. I remember that we laughed uproariously – my brother especially – when we saw this quote. I can only imagine that in the pre-David Stern era – the pre-television training of athletes era- that some of the owners or league brass must have grated their teeth when they saw this.

I was reminded of this reading an article in the Globe and Mail this morning when ESPN commentator Jason Whitlock suggested that the Canadian players in the NBA were soft.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/nash-says-canadians-have-plenty-of-toughness-on-the-basketball-court/article19711283/#dashboard/follows/

While everybody seems to be a bit ticked at this observation I am somewhat amused by it and think he is right. For most Canadians, basketball is a sport. It really has a hold in one city in our country, Toronto, which is producing most of the athletes that are going to the NBA – exceptions perhaps in Steve Nash and Kelly Olnyk. To Whitlock’s point, I think it takes time for to build the ‘compete level’ in a professional sport in any country.

And sometimes the sport just doesn’t mesh with a culture. While I love basketball when I listen to my local sports radio station Team 1040 – reporters recounting their disdain and dislike for dealing with all manner of NBA athletes that would come to town to play the Vancouver Grizzlies – the more I realize that the NBA was a total lack of fit. When you have a hockey culture in place you really loath those sports where it seems the players want to spend all of their time creating pre-eminence for themselves – Kobe anyone? – or working so hard to create the appearance of ‘team first’ – Lebron anyone? – at the expense of the team. You want to get Don Cherry off the air? Just give him a job providing commentary for basketball games.

In the same way you could look back to the late 1970s and early 80’s when US born hockey players had all sorts of skating skill – especially coming out of college. But they lacked the stickhandling and shooting expertise of Canadians forged as it was through countless hours of shinny on indoor AND outdoor rinks. But in looking at the LA Kings recent victory – with the Jonathan Quicks and the Dustin Browns of the world – who could argue that they like most of the US players now in the NHL exhibit the skills and passion of the some of the best players in the game.

For Canadians in basketball this too will evolve as we see the training and support result in a record number of Canadian picks in the NBA draft this year. Jason Whitlock is talking about passion for the game and provides a good signpost for what its going to take to achieve success in the game.

We haven’t ‘Dun Run out of Tomorrows’ we are just at the dawn of a bunch of tomorrows where some of the ‘team first’ culture of hockey might temper some of the more outrageous antics of a game that is part hockey and part vaudeville!

Pre-Season Pre-Blog

Naturally I have the Beatles on my mind today. This evening I went shopping at London Drugs to buy all sorts of toiletries and sundries for the trip I am taking to Alberta next week with my daughter Makenzie and my son Richard. So my antennae must have been up for the sign stating…
‘Pre-order your Beatles boxed set for $399’.

Now, I am excited about the Beatles but I am confused by the increasing need in our society to ‘pre-order’ things. Why can’t I just order something and have it delivered later?

Even worse I can no longer plan to visit the store…I have to engage in ‘pre-planning’ to do anything these days.

My father is an ordained minister but I don’t think that he was a ‘pre-ordained’ minister because he was a railroader before that.

So I am advocating that we get to conducting a number ‘Pre’ fixes in our society -that we stand up to all those people who live their lives in a state of proactive tentativeness – people too afraid to ‘seize the day’, and take bold actions in their lives.

As for me, I plan to challenge the conventional thinking of society, to make a statement here in my little town of Tsawwassen BC. Tomorrow, I am going to put my Tilley hat on backwards and not be afraid to take it off and show my mature grey hair.

“Put the ‘Fab Four’ out for the Penalty Kill”

Dressing Room – Liverpool Canucks
July 13, 2014

“Hi guys, it’s a big game out there tonight. We are playing the West Bromwich Bruins and we really have to win to get on top of the Campbell- Norris East-West Conference Division. We have called up some reinforcements from Utica for tonight’s game. We just flew them in from the AHL outdoor classic in Shea Stadium – I’d like to introduce you John, Paul, George and Ringo”

“Ringo? Where did that name came from?”

“Oh, it’s a nickname …..my real name is Richard , but you can call me ‘Ringo Richard’ if you like”

“That’s alot of call–ups coach…why so many?”

“This is a very tight and successful group. They initially had some really good games in Germany and we thought they would be a good addition to our team. You know there is some better hockey being played in Germany now now with guys like Erhoff and Neideriter in the league. And besides we have had a lot of injuries”

“But aren’t they English sir?”

“Oh ya, we’ll – tell you something —we think you’ll understand. Oh ya we’ll –tell you something ….we wanna play like Stan……..we want to play like Stan………we wanna play like Stan……Maki-ki-ki-ki- ta”

“Well guys- we are now playing in a league with the NEWER Chicago Blackhawks. I think you guys are stuck back in your days in Hamburg and the players like Eric Kuehnhaeckl. Anything more recent?”

“Patrick Kane there is a player signing autographs of every goalie he has the pleasure to have known – and he really puts on a show, but he’s very vain, Patrick Kane. Patrick Kane is in 5th gear and he can fly – straight beneath the blue-line and this guy, who –sometimes-sits-way-back”

“That’s a bit closer, but we are going up against the Bromwich Bruins tonight.”

“Lanny MacDonald – puck is at your feet– better get your head up or you’ll be-on the street. Who finds the corners when you’re in the slot- wonder how managed to make that-great wrist shot……. Monday’s Call-up ‘rived without a suitcase, Tuesday’s on a plane trip from Verdun, -Weyburn’s call-up really is a tough case……..and he-e-e-e-’s– not that fun….Lanny MacDonald”

“Guys………we aren’t playing the 70’s Leafs here. I know you can entertain – maybe we can get you all a gig on ‘Coaches’ Crooner’ – but we have to focus on our game!”

“When I find myself at Tim’s in trouble – Don-Cherry comes to me……….speaking words of wisdom – ‘Order Tea, Order tea’. And when a defensemen does Flamingos standing right in front me……..I will have an answer – shoot with glee, shoot with glee”

“Exactly , this is what I want you thinking. Ringo – you will be No. 16 – you’re beautiful out there, man – so beautiful, and you’re third line. George – you will be second man in, in a supporting role as always – just emulate your hero Taj Mahovolich. Paul – you and John need to keep working that ‘one-two’ combination stuff- it’s electric when you guys are ‘on’- remember what Steve Sullivan said about you four the other night on Hockey Night on Granada Television”

“Well shaking defenders now, shaking defenders – ‘Time & Space’ – ‘Time & Space’ – C’mon, c’mon, c’mon defenders now – c’mon defenders – we’ll pull you outta place – pull you outta place –ooohh”

Coach – are they going to be playing together as a group? Are they some sort of penalty killing unit?

“Well – really not sure – they used to have 5 guys but one of them left or got kicked out. But I am sure they will do their best without him.”

“Let me take you down……if you’re going — Straight to the Net…..you’re a scoring threat …..but there’s nothing to get fussed about……….Straight to the Net no never. Crossing the zone with your eyes closed, when you’re on a 4 on 3 – oh but …….you are so offbase and yes it won’t work out…..and it will become a ‘3 on 3’”

“Exactly, if they try some ‘dipsy doodles’ coming across the blue line……take ‘em out. We need some toughness – but don’t get hurt.”

“You say thigh, I say toe, you say groin …and I say that seems low……o-o-o-h…o-o-o-h n-o-o-o……….you pick the part and I’ll say Salo, – Salo, Salo……….I don’t know why he’s always hurt -I say Salo”

“We can’t think about injuries guys. Just think about scoring.”

“Can’t buy a goal now………everybody tells me so….can’t buy a goal now……no- no -no. Tell me to shoot on that LA King and I’ll be satisfied, tell me he’s quick and does those things that FA money buys……..I just want that FA money……all I want’s to beat his glove…”

“You guys will get your confidence back.”

“Something in the way he moved……..fooled me like no other Goaler………something in the way he-e-e moved……….I think I should deke him now, or backhand it like Gordie Howe……..oh – oh-oh – oh … You’re asking me will my stats grow………well I don’t know, I don’t know…… I looked around and it went off my toe………but that’s a goal, that’s a goal”

“That’s the spirit. We just need the odd lucky break.”

“Hey dude, don’t be afraid………take a bad pass and make it better. Remember to keep your eyes on the net, and you will make it better.”

“The Luongo winding road……..that leads out the door……..he’s disappeared again to a place he’s been before ….don’t leave him stranded there…..send him Jose Theodore”

“Don’t worry about the goaltending. We’ll get to Florida next month. Let’s focus on the Bruins tonight”

“In Bean- Town where I was born, – lives a man we like to scorn – he likes to check and he makes some plays but he’s yellow and creates big frays. We’ll all watch for the Marchand submarine, the Marchand submarine, the Marchand submarine………we’ll all watch for the Marchand submarine”

“Now we are tuning into things guys. Let’s take a minute and create a vision for what victory look like in this series”

“Picture yourself in at the end of a series, a line-up of players with blood in their eyes. Fans are all leaving they head out the turnstiles – dashed hopes so incredibly high. Yellow, black banners with Bucyk and Orr towering over your head. Look for the man at the back with a nose like Bob Baun….
Lucic’ in the line and he’s swearing.
Lucic’ in the line and he’s swearing
Lucic’ in the line and he’s swearing”.

“Wow, that is a great vision. We will crush these guys tonight”

“And in the end – the goals you make, are equal… to.. the… goals ….you ….take…….ah-ah-ah-ah-ah..”

“I guess you guys haven’t heard much about ‘plus-minus’ or ‘shoot-outs’ then”

‘Willis’ Update

Looks like our Corporate Challenge walking team ‘What you Walking Bout Willis!’..has landed in Sri Lanka at the Siripada Temple.

http://www.360globe.net/sri-lanka/adams-peak/siripada-temple.html

Great location — fascinating.

Just trying to avoid the Eastern Ukraine and the Gaza Strip right now.