Monday, October 30, 2006

Some random thoughts on a snowy Monday . . .

That's right, I said "snowy" Monday. It's snowing here in SK today.

Anyways, I just finished reading a story on TSN.ca about Canucks GM Dave Nonis' recent criticism's of the NHL. In particular the chubby-faced one was bashing the NHL's current schedule as well as the new set-up of the CBA that allows for players to become free-agents after seven years in the league.

I have to say I agree with the general sentiment that the NHL's current scheduling system is severly flawed. As a Red Wings fan I know it gives us a significant advantage to have to play the likes of Columbus, Chicago and St.Louis eight teams each throughout the season. That's as close to a guaranteed 48 points as you can get from 24 games. That means the wings only have to amass MAYBE 40-50 more points in their other 58 games in the season in order to make the playoffs. That's a lot of night's off if you ask me. Anyways, I think it's best for the fans in the west to get to see the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin and Jagr a couple times a year just like it's best for the fans out east to get to see the Thornton's, Iginla's and Hemsky's on a more frequent basis.

The NHL talks about wanting to use their marquee players to bring more exposure to the game well they'd be better off by exposing those marquee players to a broader range of people groups throughout the regular season would they not?

Anyways, the point I want to focus on was part two of Nonis' rant, and that's the issue of when players can become free agents. Nonis particularly mentioned the fact that Sidney Crosby will be an unrestricted FA when he's 25, just when he's coming into his so-called prime. Nonis' complaint was that the Penguins organization will have spent seven years of development funds on Crosby and could stand to lose him just when he's supposed to be at his best. How is that fair to the Penguins he asks? The other part of his rant was that this new system would lead to constant player movement and provide teams with the opportunity to turn the ship around quicker than they could have in the old system.

To those complaints I say "Ya, and that's a bad thing because?" I really don't see what the problem with either of those things is.

In the case of players becoming free agents at a younger age I say that's a good thing. It puts the honus on the organizations to make sure that they're constantly looking to build a winner and not just simply taking advantage of having marquee players to fill seats without actually looking to provide that marquee player with an opportunity to compete for the Cup year after year. If Pittsburgh can compete on a yearly basis and show's Crosby they are committed to doing so then why wouldn't he want to stick around and win as many cups as he can with that team?

To me Nonis sounds like he's already starting to lay the groundwork for making excuses when he starts losing his marquee players in the next few years. It's not his fault, it's the leagues fault for introducing a system that allows younger players the opportunity to move to a better situation. Sorry Dave, shop your crazy somewhere else.

It's instant accountability to GM's and owners throughout the league to ensure that each franchise is run in such a way that you'd be crazy if you ever wanted to leave that organization. If you have a league where you have 30 teams pulling out all the stops to recruit and retain players then you're going to have a league that will succeed.

As a fan of the game I love the fact that there's tons of player movement both during the season and during the off-season. Sure there's a part of me that loves to see guys like Steve Yzerman who play for one team their entire career but if every player did that then it wouldn't be all that special. One Steve Yzerman for every 100 Anson Carter's is alright by me.

I want to know that when my Wings lose Yzerman to retirement and Shanahan to free agency that it won't be 5 or 6 years before they're respectable again. Isn't that great news for the poor and suffering fans in Leaf's nation who've waited 157 years for their team to return to respectability?

When it all comes down to it the last thing the NHL needs is fledgling GM's with very little (if any) notariety speaking out publicly about their distaste for the NHL's guiding principles and practices. Let's face it, Dave Nonis is no Brian Burke or Lou Lamoriello. He's not even a JFJ at this point.

You have beefs, fine, feel free to air them behind closed doors. But for the foreseeable future all members of the NHL- players, management, league officials, etc.- should be exhibiting a united front in the face of the public if they want to avoid falling further into obscurity and spending the rest of their lives doing a real job.

If there's one thing I'm positive about, it's that the negativity has got to stop.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Before I leave for the weekend . . .

A few updates to pass along . . .

First off, our littlest man had his first real giggle yesterday. Unfortunately I wasn't there to witness it but Karlene certainly go to experience it in all it's toothless-grin glory. I did get to hear him giggle later on last night and I have to say I don't know if there's a better sound in the world than hearing your child laugh for the first time. I look forward to many more belly laughs with my little man in the years to come.
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Tiigers/Cardinals in the World Series. First of all, huh? Tigers/Cardinals? If anyone predicted that they should be crowned as "Genius of the World". I was really hoping to see the Mets make it through but you've certainly got to give the Red Birds credit. They were the worst team going into the playoffs by far but have turned it around in a big way.

Who are the people loving this World Series the most? All free-agent-to-be pitchers in the baseball. Specifically, I would think, Barry Zito. The Tiger's and the Cards have proven once again that pitching wins in the post-season. The Yanks and Mets had two of the best offensive lineups in baseball but mediocre (at best) pitching and that is why they're cleaning out their lockers and missing out on the chance to play on the worlds greatest stage.

BTW, if you didn't see the catch by Mets leftfielder Endy Chavez in the sixth inning of last night's game go to MLB.com and check it out. It's not quite as good as Gary Matthews Jr.'s from the regular season but, as far as big time catches at big time moments, it's probably one of the best in the history of the great game.
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Monday, October 16, 2006

Lou Pinella in the right kind of pinstripes

Well, it appears as though the Chicago Cubs have finally made a smart move in the front office by hiring Lou Piniella to manage the team for the next three years. As a long-time Cubs supporter I am thrilled to see someone with Piniella's track record and vigor coming to the Cubbies. This team needs a little fire, okay, a LOT of fire, in order to break a long-standing tradition of disappointment after disappointment. Of course, a manager can only do so much but, as Jim Leyland this year and Ozzie Guillen last year proved, a good Manager can go a long, long ways.

Speaking of Jim Leyland, the Detroit Tigers are poised to be one of the feel-good sporting stories of the modern sports era. This is a fun group of ball players to watch. They play the game the way it is supposed to be played.

I would hope that after they win the World Series in another week or so that people will start to talk about Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez as one of the games truly great clutch performers. Let's not forget that Pudge was the little engine that could behind the improbable World Series run of the Florida Marlins a couple years back and now he's doing the same thing with the Detroit Tigers.

If I'm a GM with a young, could-be contending team, and I'm looking for that one missing piece to put my team over the hump, I'm looking into Pudge's availability this winter (do you hear me Blue Jays and Indians?). The guy bleeds winning.

Anyways, here's to hoping that the Mets send the Cards packing and then we can sit back and enjoy what I think will be a phenomenal WS matchup between the Tigers and Mets. With the way the Tigers are pitching though I don't think there's any way they don't win the World Series this year.
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The NHL is back in full swing. It's been a pretty uneventful first two weeks I think which is probably good. Of the games I've watched it's been pretty disappointing because the brand of hockey that is being played right now is pretty boring. If every team in the NHL played like the Buffalo Sabres than the NHL would be the most popular major sporting event in North America.

Unfortunately though too many teams continue to play like the painfully boring Calgary Flames and, let's face it, there's nothing fun about 1-0 or 2-1 hockey games with no offensive flow.
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It's now been one full week of "farmer vision" in the Benallick house. It's been so long since we've been without cable I forgot what it's like to not have 50 or 60 channels to cycle through. I don't even have a remote to use right now:). It actually hasn't been as bad as we anticipated. I think you realize better how much you have and how much you're blessed with when you go without for a little while. The only thing I'm really missing is my TSN and Sportsnet channels. This is the first time in a long time that I won't be able to watch the World Series and that's not really sitting too well with me:). Oh well, I'll survive.
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Watched two good movies this weekend- Adam Sandler's new one, Click, and X3. ___________________________________________________________________
Last night's episode of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was another great one for the young show. I love the writing and the dialogue in this show. It is quick, it is witty, and it is smart. I would love to write for a show like this. It's obviously not anywhere near as intense as a show like 24 or CSI but, for me, the hour of watching goes by just as quick. Anyways, this uneducated critic thinks that NBC has a homerun with this show and I hope to see many years of this. Again, outstanding performances in this show by Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford.
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Tuesday, October 10, 2006

October 10

Well, happy belated Thanksgiving to all. I hope you're all coming out of your turkey-induced coma's after a long-weekend of eating. I have to admit I was a bit of a glutton myself this year. Karlene's turkey was one of the best I've tasted and my mother-in-law's cherry cheesecake seemed to be one of those things that's best in three's (as in pieces). So it was a very satisfying Thanksgiving feast at the Benallick household.

So, for those of you unfortunate enough to not live in Saskatchewan, let me give you a bit of a weather review from the past few days. On Friday it was sunny and warm- above 20 degrees or so. On Saturday it was cold and rained like cats and dogs all day. Sunday it was sunny again but cooler temps that sat around 10 degrees or so (a typical sunny, crisp fall day). Monday was again sunny with temps in the upper-teens. Today, we wake up to colder temps again and, for the first time this fall, SNOW! How messed up is that? As special as the first snowfall of the year usually is, I have to admit I wasn't the least bit prepared for it. I don't even have my Christmas CD's out yet.

It's been a while since I last posted so I thought I'd give you a quick update on what's going on in my life.

What I'm reading? Right now I'm reading Dr. Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Successful People". I'm only through Habit #1- Being proactive- but am already finding it to be a very influential book that will be a help to me both in my vocation and in my family. I'm also reading through Patrick Lencioni's "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team". If you're in team leadership and haven't read any of Lencioni's books before I STRONGLY encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. He is my favorite leadership/team building/business writer.

What I'm listening to? A week or so ago I picked up a copy of Jon Mayer's new disc, Continuum. Every once in a while a disc comes along that you can listen to over and over again without ever growing tired of hearing it. I've found that disc in Jon Mayer's new release. It's addcitive. I highly recommend it.

What I'm watching? I'm quite pleased with the new fall lineup of TV shows. Along with the usual suspects- CSI, Criminal Minds, Without A Trace- I've added a couple other new shows to my weekly watch list. My favorite of the new shows? Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I highly doubt this is a show for everyone but I for one love the acting, the humor, and, aside from Amanda Peet, think this is the best cast on TV (aside from 24). Friday Night Lights also looks to be a strong new show and, aside from it's over the tob gore, Heroes is an intriguing new show on NBC as well.

I watched the pilot for Smith and thought it honked. I also watched an episode of "The Class" and also found it to be sorely lacking. Is it just me or are we witnessing the end of the classic sitcom? Where are you Cheers, Seinfeld and Raymond?

Of course between all these great weekly shows I'm also trying to find time for weekly NHL games as well as what is turning out to be a great baseball postseason. Detroit Tigers anyone?

So, needless to say, I'm spending far too much time in front of the idiot box:). I guess it will be good then that we will be without cable TV for the next three weeks as we make a switch from Sasktel Max back to Bell ExpressVu.

For those who are curious, Cole is now 3 months old and getting bigger by the second. We gave him a bath last night and I was blown away by how much he filled that thing up now. It doesn't seem like that long ago when he looked so tiny in his little bath tub. He's almost ready for a move to the big tub now. He's sleeping much better. Sunday night he slept from about 10pm until 9 AM straight! Most nights though he's up at 3 and then at 6 so that's not too bad. He's a smiley kid to say the least. We think he smiles a lot more at this age then either Carter or Jenna did but we can't say for sure (it's funny how much of that stuff you forget). He certainly eats more than the other two did as he's really starting to take on the "baby beef" formation.

Carter is doing well at pre-school. He no longer cries when Karlene drops him off and, according to his teachers, he's really starting to socialize a lot more with the other kids and has a lot of the kids following him around. His teacher's love him so he certainly feels cared for when he's there.

Jenna is busy, busy, busy. The other day she managed to make a cast on her leg out of diaper rash creme. This past weekend she got into Karlene's makeup bag and proceeded to dump about $20 worth of makeup down the toilet (literally and figuratively). She keeps us on our toes but she also keeps us smiling with her zest for life and her curiosity about pretty much everything. My prayer today is that someday she'll have kids who are just like she is now:).

Anyways, that's it for today. Later.