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Just finished having my dinner (left overs from when I cooked dinner on Sunday). I can eat the same left overs for about five days straight before I start getting sick of them. Anyway I need to continue my ranting of the NHL. Yes, the better team (talent wise) won the cup fair and square but it will not help the league in attracting let alone retaining its fan base. I heard that the Tampa Tribune mistakenly printed a story saying that the Lightning had lost game 7. In addition only 10,000 fans showed up for the Stanley Cup parade while 20,000 fans showed up to see Flames fans return from Florida.

Also listening to a story on the radio about Mario Lemieux (co-owner of the lowly Pittsburgh Penguins) dropping a bomb that the team needs a new rink or the franchise will move. The old Mellon Centre is 43 years old plus the team had the worst record in the league and a mediocre squad of talented players. I am intrigued about the resurrection of the old WHA (World Hockey Association) led by its commissioner Bobby Hull. Remember him? It's a fascinating story and would like to see games played in Miami (assuming they get a franchise and the league starts this fall. I also ordered a book (Complete Historical and Statistical Reference to the World Hockey Association, 1972-1979)
about the history of the WHA. I'm tempted to buy a copy!

Last bit of news is that my roommate Jaclyn moved out (flew home to Nova Scotia) Monday morning. She had stayed almost two years to the day and was my longest serving roomie. So I went through three people in almost four years. It was an interesting experience and helped me fiancially! It's tough living with someone and each person putting up with each other's annoying traits. I'm sure I have annoying characteristics too. So things are a bit up in the air at the moment. I talked with a friend of mine last weekend and he expressed an interest in being a roommate. He's a descent guy and I've known him for a couple of years. So maybe I'll have a new roommate at the end of July! That's all for now - later...
posted by Michael at 7:10 PM

 
Well, I'm obviously disappointed with Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup. I haven't felt as much contempt for professional hockey in America since 1996 when Team USA defeated Canada in the Canada (oops I mean World) Cup. Just one of several examples of how the the U.S. has Americanized professional hockey. Yes, I am biased of course with being born and raised in Canada but I have my reasons.

First is that I just heard stats that viewership of the cup final series was the second hightest in Canada in ten years. This was since a Canadian team (Vancouver) was last in the final. On the other hand tv ratings in the U.S. were their usual dismal numbers. In fact I wouldn't be a surprise if total Canadian viewership was higher than American viewership despite the U.S. having a population ten times the size of Canada. Gee, what a surprise! Could it be because the quality of the game has tanked and is boring to watch? I'm not a Flames fan but I was rooting for the team and for Canada - we need to take back the game (not necessarily the NHL). So the eleven year drought continues (last time a Canadian team has wone the cup).

The NHL has become tainted with Commissioner Gary Betman (sp?) and his ilk. I would almost prefer to see a new professional Canadian hockey league (like the WHA but only Canadian teams) rise from the ashes of the NHL. There were rumors that NHL executives did not want Calgary to win as it would hurt the league's chances to market the game. Of course it would damage the league in tenuous areas like South Florida where most people can't even provide the names of either the Lightning or Panthers. Do you really think that the Lightning winning the cup will create a strong fan base there five years from now? I doubt it! It's not a hockey area and the American sunbelt likely never will be and that's just because of the demographics. I'm listening to 630 CHED and Bryan Murray quit his job as GM of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks to become coach of Ottawa. Murray said he wanted to be in a place where hockey meant something to the community even though it likely meant a pay cut.

Hockey is primarily Canadian and is and rooted in its culture Granted it's also very popular in the U.S. northeast and some border states on the 49th parallel. I believe that the NHL somehow believes the league's financial viability is in the U.S. It's not - it lies mostly in Canada! My prediction is that there will be a long, drawn out lockout beginnning in fall 2004 and it can only end with having a salary cap, a rational business model to run a franchise and a reduction of teams.

Anyway, there are things I like about living in the U.S. but when it comes to sports and especially hockey I support Canada. Most of it is nationalism but in terms of the NHL it is how American pop culture has watered down the sport. Enough rambling for now...Bring on the CFL and let's see if the Eskimos can repeat as Grey Cup champions!
posted by Michael at 6:29 PM

 
I've got some big news to liven up the monotony of my blogs. Darcy and I are engaged! I proposed to her at around 11 am on Sunday, May 30. We had just finished doing some Iyengar yoga outside. I suggested we walk over to a bench that overlooked Florida Bay. I wasn't too nervous and I haven't felt the entire impact yet. Same thing for Darcy too I suppose. But we're both excited about our future together. The little resort of Flamingo, Florida will be dear to our hearts. I think we share many similarities in what we want for our wedding. Not sure when and where it will take place. There are many variables tied to where we will settle down based upon Darcy's job hunt. But it will work out over time. I don't want our wedding plans to suffer recurring problems that many weddings face. We stayed three nights there and was our longest trip in the state.

I folded the Max's rear seats and the car was still full with our belongings and groceries. The drove well but has developed two new problems. One is the sunroof or sunroof visor. It rattles horrendously loud at about 55 mph and am not sure what is causing it. Retracting the sunroof just slightly fixes the problem. But that won't help if it's raining outside! The other thing was that one of the a/c vents began emitting what looked like steam or fog. The vapor didn't smell but we turned the a/c it off and on and it didn;t occur again. I'm getting tired of these stupid little problems!

Anyway Flamingo was more crowded than I thought but it was still negligible compared to Broward County or the rat race of Orlando. Many resort patrons were fisherman. Our cottage was wonderful and quite spacious. We enjoyed the enclosed motel pool and patio. The screen mesh cut down on the sun's rays and kept out the pesky bugs. We learned that the Flamingo motel part (including the pool) close June 1. The resort's restaurant also closes for the summer. The cotages remain open but we can't imagine visiting there and having no pool! We canoed into the backcountry as they call it. But one would have to canoe for hours to canoe up into the 'glades. The bay's waters looked too choppy for us to attempt paddling.

The mosquitoes and flies were horrendous and poor Darcy got bit several time on her back and legs. We had to cover ourselves in insect repellant and 48 spf sunscreen. The deer flies were the worst as they bite quicker than mosquitos. The large inch and a half horse flies buzzed around us like B-29 bombers! We saw plenty of alligators at the Royal Palm yesterday. They submerge and rise like submarines. We also stopped on the way and coming back at a neat store outside the park called Robert is Here. We bought Key Lime honey and had their delecious strawberry and key lime milkshake. We also talked to a spry, elderly man who was showing off a 1913 Detroiter auto and a 1955 Ford F-100. He had many one liners and joke business cards about being South Florida's snowblower mechanic and CEO of Do Nothing, Inc. The motto was if you want professional service to get nothing done then he is the person to call! I'll take Craig and Malini there in July enroute to Key West.

Enterprise's third season came to a close last week and ended with a time travel cliff hanger. It seems that the writers, producers are trying to see how many times they can spin off stories using time travel and changing earth's history. I guess that's enough excitement for now. I need to drop off the film to get developed. Until next time...


posted by Michael at 6:41 PM