How Conrad Black Made Me Change My Tune on Hockey

I have to admit to paying a lot of attention to Conrad Black. His trial intrigued, fascinated and annoyed me. I do read his column every week; when he is on his game he is a ridiculously talented writer. And I found myself following the back and forth between John Moore and Mr. Black.

The one thing that sticks out with the end result of this trial is how much Mr. Black refuses to acknowledge the reality of the situation he's in.

When Black writes things like "In a mind-bending exercise of suppressing, distorting, and fabricating evidence, the Circuit Court revived two of the counts," he comes across as thinking he's still to be vindicated on these charges. When Black states that ...there is practically no chance that even an American court would have convicted on the two remaining counts if they had not been embedded in 15 other counts that eventually all failed at different stages of the proceedings, he comes across as a conspiracy theorist who has deluded himself into thinking that he is the victim in this situation.

It's frustrating to read Black when he continues on about his conviction. I found myself wishing him to continue to write about the U.S. penal system and its failures (in his view). On this he is just as passionate, but it seems much more productive use of his immeasurable writing skills. But it also got me to think about myself and my own railing on about the Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup victory.

I have been frustrated by how the sports media has glossed over something that I found incredibly odd and discomforting - that the Bruins benefitted from favourable refereeing in each game 7 they played during the playoffs. While I realize that linking this to Colin Campbell (father of Bruins' player Gregory Campbell) is basically taking a giant leap into the crazy conspiracy theory area, it would be nice if somebody acknowledged that the refereeing actually changed in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals and game six to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and it benefitted the Bruins, who were a much stronger team at even strength than on special teams. I've brought this up at times with friends to the point where I'm basically repeating myself. And that's not productive for anybody.

So here's my solemn vow: when I talk about the inconsistency of refereeing in the playoffs, I will not take any shots at the Boston Bruins benefitting multiple times from this. Further, I will only talk about the inconsistencies within the series, not in the greater terms of the playoffs.

I know I am not as skilled a writer as Conrad Black. I hope that someday I will have one-thousandth of his writing talent. But until that day arrives, I'll settle for having a skill he seems to lack: being able to move past things in order to work towards a greater good.

Well, I failed again

Yesterday I did not post, meaning that Manic May ended right again on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I did it intentionally, choosing to sleep/relax/hang out with friends over posting. I'll get into this more in the post-mortem on Wednesday, but it was definitely the right choice.

I'll have a UFC 130 summary up either later today or tomorrow But for those who can't wait, the results of my predictions...

Overall, my predictions were 6-4 (starting out 6-0, then going 0-4), putting me at 40-26-2 for the year. I made $10.40 on my wagers, putting me at a net profit of $18.30.

My new favourist search which brought people to this blog

"survivor what was andrea doing showing her butt to her mom"

Brilliant not only for the absurdity of the situation on the show, but also because it was Natalie who did this.

It returns

Once again I've become a little angry with my blogging. Other than my Survivor posts, I've been pretty negligent with posting anything. So, much like last year, I'm going to do Manic May. What does that mean? A post every day.

The hurdles this year? Another trip to Vegas at the end of the month, and a trip to UFC 129 around the beginning of the month. The Vegas trip will probably be the most difficult time yet again, but I think last year's eperience will help me to be more prepared for this year.

As with last year, expect a fair bit of Survivor content, along with movie reviews (the summer season is here), some UFC thoughts, the return of Monday Musings and Random Thoughts and other minutia.

Things that Grind My Gears - the first in a recurring post

So, I was listening to Prime Time Sports and thought I had come up a good point to make about the NFL decision to fine Brett Favre for not cooperating but not to punish him for his alleged actions. After listening to Bruce Arthur make the point that the NFL could also have been sued by Sterger because of the workplace sexual harassment piece of the story, I came to the conclusion that this is why they were not as harsh as they were on Ben Rothleisberger - because any further punishment would be a tactic admitting on their part that they felt that Favre did this, and would weaken their defense of a certain to come lawsuit.

Of course, while looking for links to fill out the post, I found this blog post by Kevin Seifert, which makes the point that the statute of limitations has expired on Sterger, so she can't actually sue. Which ends up destroying my point and brings me back to square one - Why so light on Favre in the face of Rothleisberger's punishment?

In short, I hate it when blog posts get ruined by things like facts.

Note

There was an unfinished post here which was posted automatically. I've deleted it because I'm not sure that the point I was going to make was really worth arguing, or if it is that strong of a point to write about. So if you saw it, that's where it went.

Question for the masses

If you came to this blog via this AOL article, could you leave a comment to let me know how you got the link? I had a pretty large spike in hits from that article, and going to that page, I don't see the 'Muse linked anywhere?

From the home office in the Mill-Town...

Only threefour weeks late, but hey, who's counting.

Mike hit me with another tag from new father Jorge.

The idea of this list is to give 10 things you are unable to live without. The twist is that you can not include people or animals (not that this mattered to a heartless, materialistic person like myself, but still).

So, let's give this a go.

10 Things I Can't Live Without

1. My DVR. Those on Facebook have read bits and pieces of my ongoing saga with my DVR (current status: now functioning normally, except for a small detail of not producing any sort of sound at a normal volume level). It has taught me two things: To be thankful for re-runs and that I like the convienience of just pressing the record button on the program I want to watch a little too much. With baseball and the hockey palyoffs here, the ability to rewind to be able to watch plays over again while not missing anything is key. (Trust me, I used it about 500 times while watching Dice-K's start against the Blue Jays.)


2. My laptop. When I first got my laptop, I had intended on using it to replace my 4 year old desktop, but also for travelling. Then I got it and realized that a 17" screen might be a bit too big for travel. That would be the only downside to it.


3. My favourite blogs. From Paul Wells to Andrew Coyne to Perez Hilton and beyond, I am provided entertaining and thought-provoking reads. Then there's my friends blogs, which let me know what they are thinking at a particular time. Not to mention the Hunter and the fine folks over at Two Way Hard Three. And numerous others that I am forgetting. Blogs provide a diverse range of thoughts and opinions, and can make you look at things in a different light.


4. My MP3 player. (A Creative Zen Touch, to be precise.) At work it lets me listen to my favourite podcasts, along with listening to music. It's indispensible for any sort of lengthy travel as well.


5. Air conditioning. As cold as it can get for 8 months of the year up here in Canada, the other 4 months tend to get warm and humid, which I don't like. Air conditioning lets me be comfortable indoors for 4 months of the year, which is all that I ask for.


6. Vacation. I like to travel. New places are fun to explore, while familiarl places are also fun to go back to. Getting to know a city can be its own reward as well, whether it is finding an area that I haven't seen yet, or if it is going back to a favourite place..


7. Alone time. I'm separating this from vacation, even though they are kinda related. One of the other reasons why I like vacation is that I get time to myself. It gives me a chance to recharge and refresh. And I know that I need this time, so it's always a pleasure to get it.


8. Games. No specific one, but all games. I am a competitive person at heart. Unfortunately, my athletic career (which is a term I use extremely loosely) was derailed by a combination of recurring knee injuries and assus lardius (the latin term for my particular condition). So games give me an outlet for my competitive streak. Not only that, but the also help to improve my critical thinking. 99% of all games involve some sort of decision. And the best way to approach those decisions is with a logical progression, and then look at the decision again.


9. Heroes and Friday Night Lights. This is probably better stated as "quality entertainment", but these are the best shows to have debuted on television this season. On the surface, these shows have very little in common beyond being dramas on NBC. Heroes is based on a geek reality, where people are discovering that they have superpowers and have to save the world. Each episode has many plot twists that do not feel contrived when they are revealed. Secrets exist that the fans do know know the answer to. Meanwhile, Friday Night Lights is a drama based around the coach of a high school football team. While marketed as a sports drama, it is truly a family drama at heart. While serialized, the show does not rely on cliff hangers. So why do I have them linked? Because the reason both shows work are because of the characters and their interactions. Friday Night Lights might have the most realistic characters on television. None of the characters are cliches. They are real, and their reactions ring true. Heroes has one of the all-time great characters in Hiro. The chemistry between him and Ando could singlehandedly carry the show if the writers chose. Instead, they can barely appear in an episode because the rest of the ensemble is just as strong. I highly recommend that you find a way to watch each of these shows from start to finish.


10. Baseball. Baseball is a game of contradictions. It is a team sport, but ultimately it is played as a series of 1 vs. 1 confrontations between the pitcher and hitter. It is a game that you can look at statistics and get who is good and what isn't, but you will not understand without watching many games. And that's why I can't live without it.

So, who am I going to tag for this? We're going to go the famous route again, except for one exception. I tag:

• Graham


• Jenn Sterger


• Adam Daifallah


• Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada


• Garth Turner, MP (Liberal) for Halton
• 
  

I will update this page for their responses (if any).

Procrastination taken to a whole new level

I had really intended to post my 10 things I can't live without, but I got a bit sidetracked by a new, uh, project.

That's right, I have caved to the peer pressure and joined Facebook. Consider it the kick-off event to what's sure to be a 30 year mid-life crisis.

If I can get serious (and self-absorbed) for a minute...

So, I was reading Jorge's blog and noticed that he got hit with one of those blogger tag things. At that point I thought I may be in trouble. Because I knew if he tagged Mike, Mike would answer and then tag "the boyz" (well, at least the ones with active blogs).

Sure enough, Jorge tagged Mike. And then Mike tagged the boyz. I can see the future!

The funny thing is, I was thinking about writing this already. I've been contemplating what I want to do with this blog for a little bit, since I've been in a bit of a rut. There are things that I want to write, but haven't been inspired to do so. Since Salma Haeyk isn't walking through the door to be my muse, I have to look for other inspiration. So to begin...

5 Reasons Why I Blog

1. For the money. (looks at Adsense account). Uh, let's start over again.

5 Reasons Why I Blog

1. To write. Seriously, I like to write. I enjoy using the written word to express myself and my opinions in new and interesting ways. Of course, this doesn't mean I'm good at it. But the more I write the better I become.


2. To improve myself. It's nice to be able to see a difference in what you have written a year ago, let along ten years ago. And I'm confident that in a year's time, I'll look back at this and find places wher I could have written differently.


3. For attention. Anybody who says otherwise is lying. Why else would you delibrately set up a place for people to come and read your thoughts?


4. For clarity. Sitting down to express your opinion on a topic and defend it forces you to truly examine it. Maybe it causes you to rethink your opinion. Or it could solidify your opinion. Regardless of the outcome, forcing yourself to go through the critical thinking process is always a good thing.


5. As an outlet. Generally speaking, things that end up on this blog are things that I want to talk about, but my friends and/or family do not care about. (Politics is the most glaring example, though I can be a bit obsessive about sports as well.) This blog gives me the opportunity to rant about whatever I want and not stand out as a larger kook than most people on the Internet.

ETA: Now it's my turn to tag people. So, I'll go for the longshots. I don't think any of these people read this blog; if they do fantastic and hopefully they will do this. If not, there's nothing really lost here. They are:

• Andrew at Bound by Gravity


• Colby Cosh


• Dan Arnold


• James Mirtle


• John Ferguson Jr., GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs