Just leave Stephane, and take the other 2 idiots with you.

I for one am hoping that Harper can put off parliament till January 27th when his government delivers the budget, It would be just enough time for some Liberal, NDP and Bloc MP's to get a earful from thier constituents on why they are acting like sore losers, my guess is that even though Dion, Layton, and Ducceppe all ruled out a coalition during the campaign it was a big LIE, They probably started talking about a coalition the moment Harper won, and would have tried this stunt regardless of what the Conservatives did. Ah maybe on second thought let this thing go to a confidence vote I bet there are a bunch of Liberals getting that really uncomfortable feeling right now and may end up absent for the vote. I also get the feeling that the next time thier is a election i get the feeling that it will be a Conservative Majority and Dion, Layton and Duceppe will have some splaining to do.

US election thoughts

Well Congratulations America, You've out done yourselves, and four years from now I don't want to hear you complaining about your Messiah, because rememeber you were DUMB enough to listen to all the hype and cult worship and elected a MARXIST. I'm sorry folks but promising the people the world is not going to work, it can't the government will go bankrupt, and when you don't follow up with your promises that the people bought hook line and sinker, how do you tell them to trust you for four more years. It will be very interesting to see just how far he does go left and even more interesting to see how the electorate reacts in 2 years when the mid term elections roll around. As for 2012 the GOP will have to find a conservative candidate that will run on conservative principles, McCain was to much to the left, and was not the best candidate.My pick would be Mike Huckabee or Sarah Palin who got unfairly ripped by the left wing media. As for the GOP it's time to get back to Conservative Values, the last 8 years they spent like druken sailors and acted like Democrats, they only have themselves to blame.

Election night Post Mordem

Well it's not what I had hoped for but hey the Conservatives are still in power and the Conservative guy in my riding won by a landslide. (Mckenzie). The Good news is the Conservatives gained 16 seats, and well the Libs lost 19, which should pretty much seal the casket on Stephane Dion's leadership of the Liberals, not that the the alternative choices are any better, Bob Rae no thanks you did one hell of a hatchet job to Ontario when you were in office in the early 90's, not a chance in hell that Ontarians would vote for you. Micheal Ingnatief no thanks as well, you are way to arrogant for my liking and quite frankly the fact that the only reason you left the states was to be a Star Candidate for Paul Martin and a shot for leadership. Gerard Kennedy thanks to you Dion won in 2006 so no thanks. Ken Dryden not a great choice but the best of this bunch.
As for the Greens I'm glad that they didn't win a seat as for Elizabeth May running against Peter Mckay in Nova Scotia was not a bright idea, but then when she and Dion were in kahoots they really didn't deserve a seat.
Jack Layton did well taking votes away from the Libs and gaining 7 seats, I can't see Captain Mustache getting more than 40 seats this is probably the peak for the party.

Election Bricks: CAW national leader Ken Luenza on 2 fronts, the first I'm glad that your anything but Harper campaign blew up in your face, funny how all the "Automotive ridings" went Blue exept for 2 in Windsor. And while we are at it your little comment about your hoping that the Opposition parties would form a coalition government to overthrow Harper, well excuse me you arrogant prick last I checked the auto plants and suppliers that have all closed down or layed off recently were all UNIONIZED, I think maybe the Unions high demands come contract times have led to the problems not Harper.

Election night thoughts

9:00 PM EST- Half hour left to vote, hope like hell people in this country do the right thing and tell Dion and Layton to go take a hike, they are the wrong people for Canada.....If Green Party Leader Elizabeth May honestly thinks she has a shot at defeating Peter McKay in her riding, she's even more looney than I thought.
9:07- Gotta love all the left wing think tanks that these election coverage shows use....
9:22- God I Hate Dion apologists.... just admit he's weak dammit.
9:30-Closing Time, the Early returns from the Atlantic Provinces, Dion with the early lead but looks like they will lose at least three seats, So far so good for Mckay with a big lead over May....
9:51- Damn a Conservative Mionority, well maybe they are wrong....
10:03- McKenzie projected a winner in Oxford, looks like the NDP candidate might finish ahead of the Liberal candidate.
10:08- Nice to see CAW's golden boy Taras Natyshak get defeated in Essex shows that the Unions don't always get there way.
10:22- Conservatives sweep Alberta 28-0, Liberals look like they have lost votes in Ontario and I would imagine in alot of places in Canada.
10:35- If I'm a Conservative I'm doing everything I can to get those 2 or 3 independents on board they night just give them the magical 155.
10:47- Looks like Dion probably won't stand a chance of keeping the leadership of the Liberals....
10:57- No Greens get elected, wonder how much of a success Elizabeth May will say it was.
11:53- waiting for Dion to finally speak, wonder how he will spin the loss....

All Canidates meeting thoughts.

Tonight they had the All Candidates for the Riding of Oxford in Woodstock, If I had walked in there as a undecided voter at the beginning of the night, I would have had the list knocked down to 2 candidates by the end of the night, Conservative Dave McKenzie and CHP candidate Shaun MacDonald they both came prepared knew thier parties platforms and were very well spoken, and thier parties platforms represent my views of this country. As for the rest of the candidates, get your facts right and know your platform that you are speaking on, The Liberals are pushing a BS greenshift plan and their candidate Martha Dennis couldn't remeber some of the points of the plan, If you want any undecided voter to really take you seriously learn the platform that your party plans on screwing the country into the ground with. As for Captain mustache's aka Jack Layton candidate Dianne Abbott sounded way to ditzy and also had to read out of the platform binder, again come prepared. As for the green party sorry I can't vote for their silly policies. Seriously though If I wasn't voting for the Conservatives I would seriously give a hard long look at the CHP party the only downfall to voting for them is that it seems like a wasted vote because really does anyone really think they got a chance in hell of ever getting elected. Next Tuesday Candians have a important choice you can vote to stay the course and know that Harper is a strong leader that is looking out for Canadians best interests or you can vote for Dion and his dumb little greenshift tax grab, and then really see how bad this country gets f'd up. Seriously folks the best thing would be a Harper majority really this country would be better for it.

Here is my prediction for how it will all shake out next Tuesday night,
Conservatives 185
Liberals 75
Bloq 30
NDP 18

So Far So good

The Norwich Merchants are off to a 2-0 start after thumping Simcoe last night in the Mechants home opener 7-3, they followed that up by beating Aylmer in thier home opener 2-0. The Defence has been rather impressive in Aylmer holding the Spits to 13 shots for Cody Vinnai's first shutout of the season, The early surprises so far up front Ryan Baetz who has 6 assists and rookie Tom Brady followed up last nights four point night, by scoring again. Defenceman Todd Kemp has looked impressive so far in 2 games. They play again next Friday night in Norwich when they host the Paris Mounties.

Thoughts

First off It does indeed look like the Salford Blacksox will play fastball in 2009 with 12 currently on the roster, I am still looking to add a few pitchers and a catcher, and at the time are still working on coaches I have one coach confirmed for sure and am still contacting a few more.

The Niagara District Junior C season starts Sept 19 and it's time for this blogger to preview and predict how I think the standings will shake out come the first of February.

1. Norwich Merchants- Last years division Champions just got alot stronger with adding Chad Barclay after 2 seasons away and adding his linemates from St. Thomas. They also added a stud dman and return thier league leading goaltending tandem of Justin Alyea and Cody Vinnai.

2. New Hamburg Firebirds- After a surprising season last year they return most of the team from last year and should be even better.

3. Simcoe Storm- If anything they will be much better defensively with Pat Lenehan starting from scratch this season. They won't be as lethal up front as they have in the past after losing Cam Sault.

4. Aylmer Spitfires- It will be a rebuilding year after losing most of thier scoring punch, they still have vetran keeper Brandon Rohrer back for another season which should be enough for a top 4 spot.

5. Woodstock Renegades- Another season of promise will turn out in dissapointment after losing goalie Matt Fallowfield to injury and losing several player to overage, it will be yet another up and down year. If Chris Lee bounces back from a awful year last year they might be a surprise this year.

6. Paris Mounties- Maybe this year they might be in position to battle for 5th spot, A new attitude by management and a whole new coaching staff may just be what this team sadly needs.

Team Building Part One.

I think it's coming along quite well I am still working on lining up pitchers for next year, but the rest of the roster is coming along nicely. As for the coaching search it's still a work in progress. It's been a interesting expirience but I am confident the team will get off the ground. And if there is anyone that has coached before, let me know.

Ball, Ball and more Ball

Well where to start, Those wonderful Mount Elgin Mets won't go 0 and 22 this year, they got thier first win last Sunday night by pounding on the Burgessville Bulls 9-2. Three nights prior to that they had to come from behind in the last inning just to beat the Oxford Pirates who happen to be a midget all star team. As for the Mets who now stand at 1-14 are a complete mess, thier starting shortstop has gone MIA since getting tossed in a loss to Ingersoll in mid June. They spend most nights with only 10 or 11 guys and to top it off a team that is supposed to be getting better seems to have regressed, If I'm the one running the team first thing I do at the end of the year is tell head coach Barry Irwin to take a hike and let Lee Hartnett run the team next year, Hartnett seems to know alot more about how to win then Irwin ever has or ever will.
As for other ball notes The Salford Blacksox look forward to making thier debut in the Tri-County fastball league next May a team that is bieng started up by this very blogger. I have the head coach in mind, now I just have to ask him. I have a idea in the kind of team I want, I want 3 or 4 throwers, one vetran pitcher at least, with 2 or 3 younger kids to learn off the vetran guy. Hopefully I can talk my brother into moving down this way when he gets done school in January, if he does he should be the starting shortstop and bat leadoff as for this fellow blogger I am the first baseman and will be perfect in the 7 or 8 hole, or at least it's worked out fine for me this season. Now the fun starts getting sponsors on board, getting the diamond details worked out and then off to scout some midget teams during thier playoff runs and try to get them on board. If you are interested in playing competetive fastball in 2009 let me know.

Thanks Ozzie and the Wings

Last night was for me a great night of hockey and a celebration of a great season with Stanley being awarded to the Detroit Red Wings. The whole team played awesome throughout the playoff run, but my MVP is goalie Chris Osgood who was cast aside in 2001 after Hasek came to town and I seriously thought I'd never see Ozzie in a winged wheel again and with the way it had ended in 2001 getting beat out by LA in the first round was a sour way for Ozzie to leave town, and when in 2005 he resigned in Detroit I was thrilled that Ozzie was back and since his return to town he has been nothing short of excellent and when he was given the number 1 job in the first round against Nashville it seemed like the team relaxed and Ozzie gave them super goaltending as he backstopped them to the cup and as far as I'm concerned he is the best in the NHL and now has 3 cups to boot.

wish it were warmer

You'd never know it isthe 19th of May by stepping outside today it felt alot like late October or early November, hopefully mother nature decides to warm up sooner than later.
Went and caught a couple games of the Woodstock tournament, and they were both excellent games and as usual really made me wish I was playing on a more competitive team but as I look at it this year is a way to stay playing fastball till next year when hopefully I'll be back in the tri-county league, although am still floating the idea of starting up a team although am looking at options of where to play out of, anyone in Salford or Thamesford that can let me know diamond rentals for either diamond to get back to me on a price.

Baseball and Government waste.

Last night was the first action on the field for me as I started play in the Brantford Fastball League, I find that the pitching wasn't quite up to snuff and most of these pitchers in this league would get hammered in the tri-county league yes even by the offensively enemic Mount Elgin Mets. split the two games of the double header got the first hit out of the way in the first game, even got the first error of the year out of the way playing short. All things considered though it was great fun and can't wait till the next 2 games in 2 weeks, in the meantime I'll get my ball fix by helping my 5 year old sons team out as they prepare for thier league opener in a week.
If anyone of you are looking for some good fastball action the Woodstock Kelseys are having thier annual Fastball tournament in Southside park in Woodstock this long weekend action gets underway Saturday morning, it always seem to be a great tournament to watch and bring the family out to watch.
This morning I had to rewrite the AZ test to renew my license which is all fine and dandy but it bugs me when I have to go to 2 different offices to accomplish the task, one office to write the test and another office to actually renew the license seems like a waste to me but I guess the government likes to make things complicated.

The most wonderful time of the year

Gotta love hockey this time of year, NHL playoff races heating up and playoffs in the junior ranks. I don't think I've ever really seen a playoff race this tight for as long as I have watched the NHL. Toronto will fall short again for the third straight year, time for the rebuild to begin there is only a handfull of players I would keep on the Leafs roster, Toskola, Kaberle, Tucker, Stajan and Steen. As for the rest of the teams chasing the 8th spot in the east, If Buffalo can't get the eighth then I'm hoping the Capitals can get in cause it would be fun to watch Ovechkin in the playoffs. In the West I'd love to see Edmonton get in, they have a ton of young guys that can play.

One Win away!!!!!!!!!

The Norwich Merchants are a win away from winning the Niagara West Division for the second straight year after last night comefrom behind 4-3 overtime win in Aylmer to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the best of seven division final. Things looked good early on for Aylmer as they roared out to a 3-0 lead midway through the first period, Justin Aylea's night was done as Cody Vinnai was brought in to help stop the bleeding. Vinnai stopped all 20 shots he saw the rest of the way. Norwich would score before the end of the period to make it 3-1 after one period. Ryan Baetz scored a shorthanded goal in the second to make it 3-2 after two. With thirteen seocnds left in the third Aylmers resident dumbass and goon gets a roughing penalty and with 7 seconds left in the third Justin Bremner would tie the game at three and send it to OT. The overtime was a short one as Patrick Fergus would pot the winner 2:56 into the extra frame.
Big props go to Norwich backup goalie Cody Vinnai who spent majority of the playoffs as a afterthought having only seen action in mopup duty in game 2, bieng pressed into action early into last nights game and answering the bell. Honurable mention to Norwich Bench boss Dave Smith who has completely out coached Aylmer head coach Steve Thompson also known as Butterball who for the second year in a row.

Jr C Hockey playoffs

So far in the Niagara West Finals there have been one close game and 2 games that well weren't so close. Norwich won game 3 last night with a 5-2 win over Aylmer which made up for thier 8-4 shellacking they suffered last week in game 2. Last night Norwich did exactly what they needed to do they came out and hit anything in sight in the first while roaring out to a 4-0 lead at the end of the first period sending Aylmer goalie Brandon Rohrer to the bench for the rest of the night. The second and third periods Norwich sat back and played dump and chase while frustratting the Aylmer forwards. Justin Aylea returned to form for the Merchants after having his worst outing of the year in game 2. Game 4 goes tonight in Aylmer. A Norwich win would give them a chance to finish out the series Sunday night.

Norwich-Aylmer Series preview

As the Niagara West Division final starts up Wednesday night in Aylmer it's time for this blogger to preview this matchup which will be the fifth straight year that these two meet in the playoffs with Aylmer never having won.

Offence: Aylmer gets the edge in this category having scored 197 goals compared to Norwich's 158, Aylmer has had great out put from Rob Vanwyseberg, Graham Spriel, Jeff Gardner along with strong offenseve contributions from super pests Rob Gavey and Adam Vandepoele. Norwich's offence seemed to struggle at times and picked up in the playoffs as they were led by Bryan Phillips, Ryan Baetz and Ryan Devos as they averaged 5 goals a game in thier win over Simcoe.

Defence: Norwich gets the edge as a group over Aylmer. In my opinion the best group of Dmen that Norwich has had in a long time, Aylmer's D is prone to a lot of odd man rushes and tend to let thier opponents get alot of shots on net and a ton of scoring chances.

Goal: Norwich's rookie goalie Justin Alyea gets the edge over Aylmer's Brandon Rohrer. Alyea won every statistical category in the division except wins. Rohrer has always been considered Aylmers weak link and will continue to if Norwich wins again .

Aylmer finished first in the division by 2 points over Norwich and as was mentioned earlier Norwich has won the previous four playoff meetings and with Dave Smith behind the Norwich bench a fifth playoff win and a second straight division title should be within reach and a possible rematch with Grimsby in the Niagara final, Norwich takes this series in 6 hard fought games and wins the crown in front of the hometown fans.

Super Bowl Aftermatch, Parenoid Religious Righties

Well as much as the Giants won the Super Bowl over the Patriots I have some dying questions that need to be asked that alot of the national pundits haven't.
1. Going for it on 4rth and 13? why not let Gostkowski kick a field goal it would have been a 48 yarder, if he makes it it makes the game 10-3 and instead of bieng down 3 at the end the game goes to OT.
2. What was with the playcalling at the end of the game 29 seconds left and three time outs and only needing to get within field goal range why not try 15-20 yard passes instead of three shots for the endzone.
3. Why not use Lawrence Marouney more, had they used the run on their Touchdown drive than chances are that the Giants don't have almost 3 minutes left on the clock.
Anyways enough of my ranting about the Patriots losing.

Today in the US is Super Tuesday and it's been quite entertaining listening to some of the conservatives talking doom and gloom if Mitt Romney doesn't win the Republican Ticket, in fact I think the best thing would be if John McCain win the Republican nomination, It would be music to my ears to listen to the religious righties have to pick two staunch democrats in either Obama or Hillary or a middle of the road McCain. Oh how James Dobson would scream gloom and doom to the future of the US to bad the religious righties can't figure it out that Bush has pissed the country into the ground for 8 years so I don't think another Bush type president would be in the US best interest

Super Bowl Sunday is here!!!!!

Yes I can say that with a smile this year because the Patriots are playing in the game, and yes I won't be at home to watch the game, I'm off to the Pub in Woodstock to watch with football fans and root the Pats on to win thier 4rth Super Bowl in 7 years. My one complaint is the lame pregame show, they started showing it at noon and it seems like all they've shown is musical acts for the last two hours, quite lame and boring. Whatever hapened to breaking down teams and having analysis by the pregame show experts I guess they figure that won't bring in ratings as well as these lame singing hacks.
I spent last night spliting my time watching the Leafs beat Ottawa and checking out ticket prices for a game in Detroit, If all works out I'm hoping to score tickets for a playoff game, I figure I can turn it in to a family trip, let the wife and the kids go shopping since she loves shopping in the Detroit area and I know of some great eateries I want to try while I'm there. Really if you are wanting to go see a NHL game I urge you to try Buffalo or Detroit before Toronto, you're pocketbook will thank you.

Thoughts

Watching the All Star Game tonight bought back memories of just how much down hill it has gone downhill. It just plain sucks, It seems like Gary Bettman is trying his best to ruin it. A live band during the player intro's that was horrible, a boy's chior that sounded like they were all gay to sing the US anthem and some broad I have never heard of to do the Canadian Anthem, And the whole marching band in the second intermission what are they trying to do with that it's not a halftime show. The game was ok, the usual no defence, no hitting, a ton of scoring. I felt bad for the goalies who seemed to get hung out to dry most of the game. It would be nice if someone would at least throw a hit. oh well back to real hockey in a few days.

Thoughts

That Green Bay-NY Giants game was one heck of a finish, I was hoping Green Bay would pull it out. Oh well looks like the Pats will get a rematch with the Giants, If it's anything like there matchup at the end of the season it will be a heck of a game, GO PATS!!!.
I've figured that next winter I want to get back into coaching hockey It's been 12 years since I've done it and I figure I've learned more about the game watching it since I was last behind a bench, I have alot of knowledge about the game that I'd love to pass on to youngsters, and the message I had coaching ball to the kids seemed to work well and with the right coaches working with you, you can really teach kids the fundamentals of the game, but as every year goes you have to be adaptable to change, I know what worked last year with the ball team and I want to make a few changes on how I handled some game situations, and the one advantage to this years ball team will be Most of last years kids will be back for another year so I know what thier strenghths and weaknesses are and I can work off of that, now getting that plan to work for hockey shouldn't be to hard right?

I guess the old man was right.

When My Dad still roamed this earth he spent the majority of it driving longhaul, sure he tried to retire but as he always said, It was in his blood. Fast forward to now, I was working as a longhaul driver up until about a year ago when I got a local gig, It was a one year contract with a service and after a year it would be up to the company to hire me on, well with the contract's end coming up and no word on my future my heart is slowly pulling me back on the road. I miss going to differeent places, I was thinking about all the different companies I've drove for over the years and all the places I've gone and how much I enjoyed going to them, Laredo was a place I loved going to and miss. My perfect job would be running coast to coast in Canada or doing Laredo runs. Soon my future pondering will hopefully be done and Yes Dad was right.