Curse you Devil Rays!!!!

What a terrible night for the Cleveland Indians. After beating just about everybody they've faced for the past month and a half the Tribe get themselves in the thick of it not only for the wildcard spot but for the lead in the Central Division.

They come into their final six games of the year and everything looks to be going their way. Before their season-ending showdown with the division-leading White Sox the Tribe was "blessed" with a three-gamer against the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

So far after two games against the Rays the Tribe is 0-2. They've now fallen a full game behind the Yankees for the Wild Card and 3 games back of the White Sox in the Central. Obviously they need a win tonight and losses from the Red & White Sox and the Yankees.

How do you lose 1-0 to the D-Rays when they have a guy on the mound with an ERA over 7 and you have the most balanced lineup in the league? Only in baseball and only at this time of year.

I'm sure Red Sox fans are wondering the same thing as their Sox were pretty much stymied by Ted Lilly last night as the Jays get set to take 3 of 4 from Boston and make the upcoming season finale between Boston & New York that much more compelling. From what I've seen from Boston over the past couple nights this team should not make the playoffs.

However, they seem to come to life whenever they play the Yanks. The Blue Jays have rediscovered some of that magic they had back in mid-July. The pressure is off them now, they're just simply trying to finish the year out strong. I think that's a good sign from a young ball club. If they can add AJ Burnett in the offseason and perhaps package Alex Rios and Eric Hinske (probably the only way you'll get rid of Hinske is to add him with Rios) for a slugging outfielder (Adam Dunn perhaps?) then this team could make some noise next year.

They'll need to decide what to do with their middle infielders too. Aaron Hill, Russ Adams and Orlando Hudson all deserve an everyday spot. I really like Adams but he looks to be the weakest link defensively of the 3. Perhaps you convert Adams into an outfielder, play Hill at short, the O-dog at second, with Koskie at third and Hillenbrand at first. Who knows what Gonzo . . . I mean, Ricciardi, will come up with.

Anyways, here's to hoping that the Indians pull a Pedro Cerrano and sacrifice a bucket of KFC's finest in order to wake their bats up. They need to run the table and win their last four games.

I have a good friend who loves the White Sox and it would bring me extreme happiness to call him up on Monday and congratulate him for his teams monumental fall from grace.

Go Tribe!

Only 7 more sleeps. . .

That's right hockey fans, only 7 more sleeps until the new era of NHL hockey kicks off.

I was reading an article on Sportsnet.ca today with their predictions for who will finish where in the NHL this season (http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/article.jsp?content=20050928_115322_5076) and thought this would be a good time to chime in with my own predictions.

We'll start with the Western Conference.

I have been a Detroit Red Wings fan pretty much my entire sports-loving life. It would be against the rules for me to not have optimism about my beloved (albeit aging) Wings. Apparently the boys at Sportsnet have the same optimism as they have selected Detroit to finish atop the Western Conference. I'll have to agree with that prediction.

1. Detroit

The rest of my picks differ quite a bit from what Sportsnet has predicted. Here's the rest of my predicted order for the Western Conference in the new-look NHL:

2. Calgary- Iginla is the MVP and this team is so deep and playing in the best hockey city in the world.
3. Dallas- Modano returns to form, Guerin has a big year in the new offensive-minded league, and Turco backstops them to a division title.
4. San Jose- not much optimism here- Sportsnet ranks them out of the playoffs as the #9 team- but I like Marleau & Nabokov and think they'll compete again.
5. Vancouver- they have one big line and a decent supporting cast but Cloutier will kill them.
6. Edmonton- Goaltending, a lack of depth on D and the absence of an offensively gifted #1 center will keep this team from truley revitalizing the Battle of Alberta.
7. Chicago- made some big acquisitions with Khabibulin and Aucoin and already have some great young players highlighted by Tuomo Ruutu.
8. Nashville- finished 8th in 2003-04 and will be solid again in 2005-06. Paul Kariya's not the great acquisition that everyone expects him to be. I predict he plays less than 40 games.
9. Colorado- FINALLY we can have playoffs without the Av's.
10. LA- Andy Murray is one of the best coaches in the game and will have this team in the hunt for a playoff spot late into the season.
11. Columbus- Nash scores 50 and Columbus makes some serious strides towards being a threat in 06-07.
12. Phoenix- Gretzky & Co surprise all critics by being a much-more competitive team than predicted. Doan will challenge Iginla for league MVP and cement himself as one of the games best leaders.
13. Anaheim- I like Brian Burke as the GM but this former one-year wonder will underachieve badly.
14. Minnesota- Gaborik will shine if healthy but, as Sportsnet wrote, can you name another player on this team?
15. St. Louis- Overpriced Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk battle injuries all year and this team takes a big-time fall in the new world of salary-cap hockey.

I like Detroit, Calgary, Vancouver & Edmonton to come out of the first round (that's right, all 3 Canadian teams baby!). I like Detroit over Edmonton and Calgary over Vancouver in round 2. Unfortunately I think my idol, Stevie Y's season ends with a Western Conference Finals loss to the Calgary Flames.

The Eastern Conference is the Young and The Restless Confrence. Okay, I don't know if they're restless but they're definitely young. With Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin and the highly underrated Zach Parisse (sp?) making their debuts there are some great rookies to watch for.

1. Tampa Bay- questions in goal but some awesome forwards in Lecavalier, Richards and St.Louis.
2. Ottawa- Hasek has a little more magic left and Ottawa watches a new star shine in Jason Spezza.
3. Philadelphia- Forsberg is a great addition but the most valuable are the kids- Jeff Carter & Mike Richards.
4. Boston- Thornton and co. are too good to handle.
5. Montreal- Theodore wins the Vezina again and this team brings hockey fever back to Montreal.
6. Toronto- As long as they're healthy, they'll be competitive.
7. Pittsburgh- If this team could have about 40 minutes of PP time each game they'd be #1.
8. Buffalo- the surprise of the east. You'll see Ryan Miller emerge as one of the games best goalies and Tomas Vanek is another Eastern Conference rookie who's soon to be a star. Daniel Briere will light it up.
9. Islanders- Yashin as captain?
10. Florida- good young team with the best young goalie in Roberto Luongo.
11. New Jersey- the loss of Niedermyer and Stevens hurts, but Parisse gives them something to look forward to.
12. Atlanta- Hossa will be great but their hopes lie in whether they can sign Kovalchuk.
13. Washington- not as bad as anticipated. They've drafted many from the WHL and we all know that that's where the best hockey players are formed.
14. Carolina- Were they really in the cup finals a couple years ago?
15. Rangers- They suck.

In the east Tampa, Ottawa, Montreal (beats out the Bruins again) and Toronto (who finally beat the Flyers in the playoffs) will advance to round 2. Tampa will break the hearts of Leaf fans and Ottawa will send Montreal packing. It won't be a Cup rematch though of 2003-04 as Ottawa will beat T-Bay and earn the right to play Calgary in an all-Canadian finals (probably the last thing the NHL brass would want to have happen).

Calgary will right the wrongs from 2003-04 and defeat the Senators in 7 games to capture the Stanley Cup.

It will be interesting to see how close, or (more likely) how far off, these predictions are in another 8 months or so. Regardless of whether I turn out to be right or not I'm just glad that we're back to predicting who's going to win the Cup instead of who's going to win the Lockout battle.

Enjoy the season.

Did I mention the pennant race is heating up . . .

What a final week baseball fans are in store for as the MLB regular season enters its final 7 days.

The schedule makers must feel like the world's smartest people now as each team gets set for its final two series' of the 2005 season.

Only 1 of the 8 available playoff spots have been confirmed at this point with Atlanta and the Anaheim Angels all but sure things (Atlanta more of a sure thing then the Angels right now).

The most intriguing storyline comes from the AL with the race going on in the AL East & Central div's along with the Wild Card. The Red Sox & Yankees are at it again as they sit tied for the division lead. A season-ending series in Fenway between the two teams will not only determine who wins the division, but probably will mean that one team goes to the playoffs and one team goes home. I think the wild card winner will be from the Central division (either Chicago or Cleveland).

So far it looks like my predictions from the previous post are still on track to come true.

So once again I'll be finding myself glued to the ticker watching to see how things are playing out.
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Moving on to hockey, our home town Moose Jaw Warriors - www.mjwarriors.ca- kicked off regular-season play this past weekend.

Last season our boys took 19 games before they notched their first win. It was an abysmal year that eventually saw the team squeak into the final playoff spot and lost in 5 games of the opening round. This year there was a lot more optimism surrounding the team and it looks to be with good reason.

The Warriors won both their games this weekend with decisive victories over division rivals the Prince Albert Raiders (5-2 win in PA) and Saskatoon Blades (a 9-3 blowout in the home opener on Saturday night). PA and S'Toon are thought by many to be the top-two teams in the Eastern division so this sends a loud message to the division and to the rest of the league.

Many hockey fans have been complaining about the new rules and how it has changed the game. Personally, I love it. I love that it's more wide open and there's a lot less clutching and grabbing. I love that guys need to move their feet instead of just hooking on to a guy with their stick. I love that every game has the potential to be 8-7 instead of 2-1. Eventually players will figure out that the new rules are here to stay and they'll stop playing the way they've become accustomed to over the past 10 years. Just like it took a number of years for hockey to move from a wide open game to a game of clutching and grabbing, it's going to take time to go back to the way it was in the 80's. I think it's worth the wait.

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And finally (going back to baseball), I applauded (not physically, but in my head) the decision of the Baltimore Orioles to send Cheater Palmeiro home for the rest of the season (likely signalling the end of his career). Apparently there's no limit to this guy's selfishness as he tried his darndest to take one of his teammates down with him before he fades off into a steroid-enlarged sunset.

Not only does this guy lie in front of a grand jury by saying he's never taken steroids before. Not only does he lie to the fans of baseball and try to make it sound like he "unknowingly" took steroids; but then he goes and tries to say that one of his teammates, Miguel Tejada, was the one who gave him the steroids that were found in his system.

Thankfully tests proved that Tejada was not in fact the villain that Palmeiro hung him out to be.

How much of a coward is this guy and why is there even a debate about whether he should be considered for the Hall of Fame? Not only should he not be considered for the Hall but he should be wiped out of the baseball history books altogether. In 50 years if someone were to look up the name Rafael Palmeiro they should be able to find no evidence of his existence in Major League Baseball.

This is a classless individual who unashamedly tried to pin his transgressions on a high-profile teammate. What he should have done was do what Jason Giambit did and be a man. Stand up, admit your mistakes, admit you cheated and then go out and do your best on the field- as a clean ballplayer- to make people realize that your abilities are natural and not steroid-induced.
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Finally, what's up with the season premier of CSI:Miami? Did anyone else find it absolutely ridiculous that Archie Andrews- AKA Horatio Cane- was able to single-handedly bring down the "new Florida Mafia" in a span of about 20 minutes? I mean, is this guy not the most unbelievable superhero to ever be created? I have never watched a show where a character is as indestructible as Carusso's character is in Miami.

I realize they're now trying to show some weakness and that he has some dark secret from his past that seems to be haunting him. It will probably end up being something along the lines of an allergy that he has to a mysterious green rock that comes from his home planet. Oh wait, that's already been done.

Well maybe he was bitten by a radioactive spider and now. . . no, that's been done too.

Okay, well perhaps his parents were killed in front of him when he was a little boy, leaving him to be raised by the family butler . . . nope, that's been done too.

At least Grissom is pretty much a science geek who refuses to carry a gun and has a hearing problem. They don't make him out to be the perfect man.

MLB pennant race is heating up

I have to say that this is one of my favorite times of the year. Even though I hate to see the hot weather leaving and I hate the thought of having to endure another long Saskatchewan winter, this is one of the best times of the year for a sports fan (which I of course am).

NHL training camps are now in full swing with the new-look NHL set to kick-off in less than 3 weeks. The NFL season is underway (which I really don't care about but it's nice to have the option to watch if I'm really bored on a Sunday afternoon). Major Junior hockey is entering it's final weekend of exhibition play before regular seasons open up next week. The CFL is getting into it's final weeks of the regular season. And last, but certainly not least, the MLB regular season is winding down and providing plenty of intriguing story lines to watch over the final few weeks.

For starters there's the Wild Card race in both the American and National Leagues. When the wild card format was introduced a number of year's ago baseball purists everywhere bashed Commissioner Bud Selig for implementing a change that many thought would ruin baseball. I have been a fan of the wild card format since year one. I think Bud Selig was a genius for bringing this about. The wild card race has produced an exciting race for fans to keep a close eye on through the home stretch in September.

In the NL we have 4 teams giving everything they've got for that coveted final spot. Philadelphia, Florida, Houston and Washington are all vying for that final playoff spot and are providing incredible entertainment for their fans as the summer winds down. Everyone knows what the Marlins did as the wild card team a couple years back.

I predict that the City of Brotherly Love will be enjoying post-season baseball for the first time since Joe Carter broke the city's hearts with his World Series winning walk-off homerun off Wild Thing Williams in the '93 series. I think Houston will fade, Washington just isn't deep enough, and it will come down to a very tight race between the Marlins and Phils. With the ups and downs the Marlins have gone through all season though I think they're destined to finish as the season's biggest disappointment.

The Braves will win their millionth consecutive NL east title; the Cardinals had the central wrapped up in October 2004; the Padres will be the "champs" of the pitiful NL west.

I believe that means the Braves would play the Padres and the Cards & Phils would square off. That should set-up a meeting of the NL's top two teams in the NLCS with St.Louis & Atlanta. I'll take St.Louis to make a return trip to the World Series as the NL's best team.

In the AL I find myself glued to the highlights as one of my favorite teams, the Cleveland Indians, look to regain the magic of the late 90's that made them one of baseball's best franchises. Having been to a game in Jacobs Field when the Indians were at their best I can tell you that it is one of the greatest baseball cities and parks to have baseball fever in. It's great to see "The Jake" full to the rafters again and those great fans getting a chance to watch winning baseball again.

I truly believe that the Tribe will hold off the Yankees and A's and take the wild card spot in the AL. They have a deep lineup of hungry young players, they have solid starting pitching and the best bullpen in the AL and they've got a team that is firing on all cylinders right now.

There are still some other questions to be answered in the AL though- such as will the Yankees forget about the wild card and focus on beating out the Red Sox for top spot in the east?

Right now the Sox are riding on the shoulders of should-be AL MVP David Ortiz. If he gets hurt or goes in a slump then I think this team is done and the Yankees will very easily catch and surpass them in the east.

In the west I think Anaheim will hold off the A's and stumble into the playoffs as the AL West champs. The White Sox will make it as the AL Central champ but not before Cleveland closes the gap even more and gives them a good scare.

That will leave New York and Cleveland to square off while Chicago and Anaheim meet in the other series (I think that's how it would work anyways). I'm going to stick with Cleveland continuing their resurgence and Anaheim making quick work of the overachieving White Sox. In what would be a great ALCS I think the temperature in the city of Cleveland will rise as baseball fever continues along with the Tribe to the World Series.

I think Chief Wahoo's train though will be derailed by Albert Pujols and the Cardinals and St. Louis will be your 2005 World Series Champions. The Cardinals have played like champs all season long and sport the games best hitter (Pujols) and pitcher (Chris Carpenter). It will be a great final series but the Cardinals are the class of MLB this year.

I'm sure it won't play out this way- if it does then I hope some newspaper or magazine out there offers me a job- but it's always fun to predict.

It definitely is a great time of year- unless you're the wife of a sports nut like me, in which case you probably hate this time of year.

Enjoy the playoffs.

Catching up amidst crazy times

Wow, it feels like it's been an eternity since I last posted. Before I get into my latest post I've got to put a question out there- what's with all these comments coming on people's blogs from anonymous posters about "Dealing with Divorce" groups and a whole slew of other blogs that they're trying to get you to check out? Even blogs have now been invaded with spam? That's brutal. Hey, if you're a spammer and you're thinking of leaving me a message because you think I might be interested in checking out your, "How to properly shampoo your dog" blog, don't bother sending me a link because I DON'T CARE.
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Now, on to the update. A lot has been going on in the Benallick household over the past few months. On the job front, we've just come through our busiest time of year. For those of you who don't know, I work for Briercrest Family of Schools in the bustling metropolis of Caronport, SK. We have a College (our primary school), Seminary, High School and Distance Learning school that enrolls about 1300 students (combined between all 4 schools) annually. Briercrest is the largest Bible College in Canada, privileged by the attendance of about 750 students each year from around the world. You can visit our website at www.briercrest.ca.

On September 5th my office (the Enrollment Services Office) welcomed in over 300 new students to our College. These were bright-eyed freshmen from all corners of the globe (but primarily Canada and the US). For many of these students they would have been working with us for close to a year now so it was great to finally put a face to the many voices we've been talking to over the past 12 months.

I had kind of a funny incident though during the college check-in day. In the morning I was to be a part of a Parent's Orientation presentation. The President of our Institution, along with a VP and a Senior Faculty member were also presenting during this time. It was a great opportunity for yours truly to meet with parents and help to give them an idea of what their sons/daughters would be experiencing in the months to come.

About 10 minutes into my presentation I lost all train of thought, the room started to spin, I started to feel really woozy, began to panic because 30 parents were staring at me wondering what was going on, and proceeded to take a seat and pass out. Talk about leaving an impression on people. As one of the other presenters said to me in an email the next day, "You should came up with a dramatic way of showing people how hard you've been working lately."

Probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life but also, at the time, somewhat scary as well as I have never passed out before. I've done a million public presentations in my life too so I couldn't see how it could have been stress related. Anyways, I've since been to see a couple doctors and they assure me that I'm totally fine and that this was simply an isolated incident that I should not be concerned about. I think the next few public presentations I do though I'll have that in the back of my mind.
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We've had our Moose Jaw Warrior billet living with us now for almost a month. It's been going great so far. He's a great kid and has been an absolute pleasure to have in our home. The only difficult part of the experience is that he's from Slovakia and this is his first time living away from home so we've had some interesting times trying to get over the language barrier. Thankfully he's a smart kid and is eager to learn the language. His english has improved by leaps and bounds during these first few weeks. We're looking forward to seeing him play as he is a very gifted hockey player with a great work ethic and an incredible focus on his goal- which is to eventually play in the NHL.

Our beloved Warriors have played 2 exhibition games thus far and are 1-1 with 2 more exhibition games to go. There's a lot of optimism around the team this year which is great to see. We've got some incredibly gifted players on the team this year and they look to be a solid bunch of kids. As sad as I am to wave goodbye to the summertime it's always nice to have 7-8 months of hockey to look forward to.

Speaking of hockey, how great is it to see NHL training camps starting up today? There's a few of us around the office here who are counting down the days until October 5th when the NHL returns to the ice. What better way to kick off the season then with the Battle of Ontario?

Being a Red Wings fan, I don't really care who wins that game but it will just be nice to see one of the games best rivalries kick it off for the league that night. I don't know what the response to the NHL will be in the US but I don't think they'll have a problem filling rinks in Canada. It will be great to have Hockey Night In Canada again, even if they don't have commentators for the first part of the season while the CBC works to resolve their labor issues.
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And finally, our little boy celebrated his 3rd birthday on Saturday. His actual birthday was on Sunday, September 11th (that's right, he was born on the 1-year anniversary of 9/11) but we had the big party on Saturday.

I can't believe the little man is 3 years old already. Time certainly flies. There are many nights when I absolutely cherish saying good night to him because I know that one day he'll be moved away or staying up later than I and I won't have that little boy to kiss goodnight, or say prayers with, or read Veggietales books with. I'm okay with that, but I'm going to soak up every opportunity that I have right now.

You'd think after 3 years of living with this kid that I'd be able to put into words just how special our relationship is but yet I'm still searching for the words. There are times when I am so consumed by how much he means to me and how much I love him that I feel like I am going to burst inside. There are times when I feel like I want to hold on to him and keep him from growing up because he's so little and innocent now and I don't want him to be hurt by the world when he gets older. It's at those times when I have to remember that he does not belong to me. I don't own him. His life belongs to the Lord and I have simply been entrusted with caring for him for as long as God requires. I heard my favorite writer, Phil Callaway, speak about his son in those terms and it really hit home with me. He said something along the lines of, "Thank you Lord for our son. . . I know he was only on loan to us but we've really become attached to him."

It's hard to remember that my son's life- the direction he heads, the decisions he makes, the life he leads- has less to do with me and more to do with him coming to know the Lord in a deep and meaningful way. I am fortunate that I can still play a part but I need to keep in mind that I am not the lead character in this movie. I'm more like the goofy sidekick. . .

Anyways, I'm extremely thankful for my son (and my daughter) and cannot wait to celebrate a whole bunch more birthdays with him.

Enough from me for today.