Time To Pass Time In the Pastime

The Cantaloupe

As of a couple months ago this thing showed up on the radar of our Canadian national consciousness and it's a little bit odd. You see, over the year from September 2004 until August 2005, we had simply lived our lives like we had. Nothing special. Nothing crazy. Then all of a sudden our lives changed. There was this new sport called "hockey" and they were starting up a league. The "New NHL" as they called it. Now Canada had never really had a national sport before. Some say it was "Lacrosse" (those people would still say it's Lacrosse), but to me Lacrosse sounds like a girly game. Something on par with hopscotch maybe. Actually I think it's French for "The Cross". What are you crossing I wonder? But I don't really wonder, because I simply don't care anymore. I've moved on with my life. And so have Canadians. Initially Canadians were excited about the start up of this so-called hockey thing. While there apparentally was only six of the thirty teams in this league based in Canada, many of the employees of these "teams" were mainly Canadian. Well I figured I'd watch some of these games and you know, give it a shot

Root, Root, Root For the Home Team

When I heard the name of the Calgary team was the "Flames" I remarked, "That's a smart name". What guy doesn't like sports? What guy doesn't like fire? Combine the two and you've got a sure fire hit. Well I certainly was proved right. Guys do like fire. The Flames have sold out their games constantly. Some other teams weren't nearly as smart when they named their teams. For example, there's this team called "The Mighty Ducks Of Anaheim". This team hasn't sold out their games much. I mean at least they didn't call themselves the "Pastry Ducks". Or no...guys like pastries. But you get the point right? Guys are only going to support teams that have cool names. Now I wonder why a team doesn't exploit the wide open female sports loyalty market by calling their team the "Flowers" maybe.

The Canadian Way

Have you ever noticed how soft Canadian sports are? Well not always in the first sense you think of, but there are ways. For example, what other sports gives consolation points for the loser? Hockey loves that extra point for the overtime loss (I don't even want to comment on the shootout). No wonder people think of Canadians as nice and polite and all. I'm sure this is how it started:

NHL Dude 1- You know, it's sad when teams lose in overtime. They're so close to winning. I feel really bad for them. We should do something extra for them.
NHL Dude 2- Give them hugs?
NHL Dude 1- No, I was thinking an extra point
NHL Dude 2 (Also Known as Harrison)- Fine
NHL Dude 1- I also feel bad for the teams that don't win the Stanley Cup. Do you think we can give them some sort of trophy too?
Harrison- Or maybe hugs?
NHL Dude 1- We should get the CFL to briefly adopt this system too, because they feel sorry for losing teams as well.
Harrison- Can I at least have a hug?

I really thought it was ridiculous when the CFL started doing it. No American would EVER think of giving consolation points. In fact I'm surprised they haven't started the Mayan tradition of sacrificing the loser to the gods.

This Little Season of Ours

In a couple of days, I promise to write something about Christmas. I mean it's a good topic. Lots of things to write about. But not today unfortunately. Well actually I'm just keeping them, because I don't want to waste ideas when I already have an idea.

Movie Report

You know I'm a corporate pawn as I keep telling you. Anyways on Saturday I saw this really cool movie that I had been waiting to see for many years. And yes, it was very cool. No let down at all in my opinion. With talking animals, magical lands and mighty battles, the story was fantastic. What movie am I talking about? Well I thought it was obvious, but the correct answer is in fact, Mary Poppins. So go see Mary Poppins in a movie theatre near you!

Final Note

In the next couple of days I would like a response from you on Christmas. I particular, what are some of your favorite and least favorite things? Maybe some cool things that have happened to you. I'd like to share your love of Christmas with the world. So what does Christmas mean to you?

Trevor YVR Plett

(Some people will tell you the Flames need more scoring. These people need to realize that winning hockey games involves scoring more goals than the other team, not scoring a lot of goals. Winning hockey games also involves knowing a great chicken noodle soup recipe because I hear that is a huge factor towards winning games. Often appreciating the works of Van Gogh is an element that determines who wins and loses. Sometimes the team that looks happier after the game won it. But not always)