Retire Pelle Lindbergh's #31 Jersey

It's a sad, sad story; it really is.

On November 11, 1985 Pelle Lindbergh, the then-highest paid goalie in the NHL, and the pride and joy goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers was brain-dead. Lindbergh was the master of his own fate, having been drunk at the wheel, when he failed to negotiate a corner that ended up leaving 60 yards of skid marks before hitting a stone retaining wall in front of a school.

His 930 slant-nose Porsche was crushed, and the 2 people in the car with him left critically injured. Although his passengers would survive, Lindbergh did not, and he succumbed to his injuries that left the All-Star Swede in a Brain Dead state.

All of the hockey world was left shocked, and mourning this tragedy. Just months before this, Lindbergh had won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in the NHL, had narrowly been defeated in the Stanley Cup Finals by Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers, and had just signed a new contract that made him the highest paid goalie in the history of the NHL. He was 26 years old with the whole world in front of him.

But it was not meant to be. Lindbergh's blood-alcohol level was 2 times the legal limit at the time of the crash. A native of Sweden, which has some of the world's most strict drinking and driving laws, Lindbergh was rarely known to drink. But on this night, he was given a rare night off and the Flyers were on an extended unbeaten streak to start the season. That night of drinking was to change history.

Fast-forward to 2010. It has been 25 years since Lindbergh has passed away. No Flyer has ever worn his number #31, and the Flyers have paid tribute to him by creating a Pelle Lindbergh award amongst the team's players. He is still much loved and remembered by the Flyer faithful, and although his Flyers career was brief, it was spectacular. The fact that no other Flyer has been able to wear #31 is testament to the fact that The Flyer organization values his memory and contribution to the team. But I think it should be made official.

People in life get second chances, and often we get a chance to redeem ourselves from the mistakes that we make day to day. Can you imagine your world without a second chance? It's obvious that people in death do not get that chance. So today, I am starting that process for Pelle Lindbergh.

It is the highest honour that a player's jersey number is retired by the team they played for. Pelle deserves that honour, even posthumously. And the people think so too. Prior to the Redskins cornerback Sean Taylor, Pelle Lindbergh was the only player to be voted posthumously to an All-Star Game.

Please join my facebook page to show your support to retire Pelle Lindbergh's #31 jersey. Let's show the Philadelphia Flyers that this is the right move!!

Check out my facebook page below dedicated to retiring Pelle's number. Please join to show your support!!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=110392632333181&ref=ts

Pedophile vs. Murderer

I was reading an article about a man being released from prison the other day after he had served 2 thirds of his sentence for being a convicted Pedophile.


I was also reading about Former NHL hockey player Mike Danton who was released earlier this year after he had served his 6 year sentence for conspiracy to commit murder.

Both articles were for men who had served their time and had paid their debt to society, yet, it was a total difference in moving forward. The public outcry was against the Pedophile, and it was supportive of the attempted murderer moving on with his life.

So I thought this was worth asking, and that is; is a crime the same as the next crime?

Obviously, murder is considered the worst act that a human can commit. It carries the heaviest punishment, and it is looked at with great severity in its carried out sentence.

Being a pedophile is morally the worst crime that I think can be committed. I think people would be much more willing to forgive a murderer, than a pedophile. When children are targeted, there is a hierarchy of crimes, even amongst criminals. This is the lowest of the low, and everyone knows it.

Whereas if a murderer can be rehabilitated, I don't believe a pedophile can be. I think it is a mental illness that would cause a human to abuse little kids, especially in a sexual way. I don't think a pedophile reasons and acts in society like a normal person would. -Even compared to a Murderer.

So what to do about it?

Well, this is just my thought, but I think that we need more information on why a pedophile acts the way that they do. We need to find out how they reason, and why they lack the judgement, and are not able to control their urges towards children. I think we need much tougher laws to protect our children, and I would hope that given tougher sentences for being a pedophile, this would force these horrible sick people to not commit their unthinkable crimes.

Another step further would be an idea that I believe would serve the good of the whole in a much more altruistic way. I believe that all convicted pedophiles would be subject to medical testing while incarcerated. This means that we could use them as human guinea pigs to test their brains and see why there are people who live amongst us that would violate a young child and ruin that child's future. And I believe that being a pedophile automatically carries a life sentence in jail without the possibility for parole.

You want to abuse a child? Go ahead. Just know that in my mind, you run the chance of being violated much worse than the hurt you can inflict on a child. We will treat you with the same respect that your perverse mind treats other kids. And hopefully we will learn from your behaviour, and be able to come up with some great advances in medical science to avoid having pedophiles being a reality in our world...

Ann Coulter is a Damaged Muppet...

Ann Coulter is like the mentally challenged kid in class that doesn't know she's mentally challenged. She's running around the playground of life trying to point fingers telling the rest of us that it is US who are mentally challenged.

Can you imagine if she was your daughter? I don't know if I have it in my being to love something so horrible, even if she was my daughter. I just hope her parents can't see her now...

There is just no arguing with her, and there is especially no sense in trying to reason with her. She is just a piece of bad fruit, and damaged goods to talk to. We've seen too many interviews with this woman to see that this simply isn't an act, she REALLY feels and believes passionately about her views. I thought that she was just out for some attention, but it's much worse than that. Unlike some attention seekers who just want their 15 minutes of fame, some money and then they leave, she is intent on staying and making hurtful statement after hurtful statement.

As a white male, I am disgusted to share the same skin colour as she does My fear is that some non-white person looks at Ann Coulter and thinks that just because she is out there, that every white person feels this way. Maybe it's just Ann who is expressing it, but do all white people think this?

NO!!

My contention is how do the Conservative Republicans let this woman walk around saying this shit? I mean, how can you defend ignorance like her? You couldn’t, you wouldn't... Your credibility would be cut off so fast that it would mean political suicide to stand behind her. So how does she have so much of a following? Am I an idiot to think that there are people out there that can actually drink the Ann Coulter Kool-Aid and like the taste?

So who supports this idiot and lets her tour, publishes her books and thoughts, and allows her to go on the airwaves of TV, Radio and the Internet? Who pays to listen to her talks, and allows her to have the income that she has?!

You know, when you wake up in the morning and you think that some awful person like Ann Coulter makes more money than you do doing the crap that she does, it can make for a very long day. It's actually a bit hard to take sometimes.

Well, she is scheduled to speak in Calgary on Thursday. I hope Canadians ban her in Calgary tomorrow night when she gets off the broom stick she flies in on.

The Perceived Fear Factor

Fear is a bitch.

It will make you do some pretty stupid things that you normally would never think of doing. There has to be something when your nervous system identifies fear in your blood. You freeze, you make a funny face, and you act completely on instinct. They call this the "Fight or Flight" mechanism.

It’s also funny to see what people PERCEIVE as fearful, and what others don't. Take for example, yesterday's reaction to the American proposed Health Care Bill. My facebook page was filled with my American friends expressing their likes or dislikes for this new step forward. Of course, just plainly on instinct, every Republican hates it, and every Democrat thinks it's yet another milestone in securing Barack Obama's legacy as President.

This Bill hasn't even been signed as yet, and you've already got chaos. I went on Newt Gingrich's website last night (He is the former speaker of the house) and you had to see the displeasure laced with fury, worry, and heated passion about this. Rather than thinking that this Bill is a positive step forward, these people have nothing better to do with their time than to point out what is wrong with this move.

It absolutely amazes me that he would jump all over a medicare system that would give every citizen of the US the security of a government funded health plan, but yet, he would sit idly by watching the US spend a Billion Dollars a Day for a 2 term war in Iraq that costs American lives, as opposed to the health plan that will save them.

FEAR.

Plain and simple.

So that brings me to my thought of the day...

I'm wondering if some people are more genetically pre-disposed to having a nervous system that is a little more reactive than the average person. I mean, people with anxiety disorders obviously have a chain response from the moment that they identify something threatening, and how their body processes it, and then how that fear takes control of their actions and dictates how they are going to react. Perhaps some people are slave to their bodies, and can't really help being worry-warts. I think that these people would naturally be the conservative populace that makes up our right wingers. They are always fear-motivated.

I know that there are people that are slave to their fears and won't leave their house, neighbourhood, or comfort zones for fear of having a meltdown or going into full blown Rainman. Maybe Newt Gingrich and the rest of the Republicans are like this? I don't know if I have ever seen a group of people who are more interested in telling you what to be afraid of than right wingers. They are always so fearful of everything. -It dictates their lives. They pass it on to all the lemmings that follow them, and then they go and elect some Dumb-Ass like George W Bush to lead them into Hell.

Fears like this compound into McCarthyism, massive Defence Spending, NRA mentality, government take overs, fear that the neighbourhood isn't as white as it "should" be, and the loss of good ol' family values. It sounds like I am watching "Leave it to Beaver" or "My Three Sons"

Well, the Dwight Eisenhower days are over, as are the Richard Nixon days, and the Ronald Reagan days. Change is here. Embrace it. I'm sorry that your little boys club days are over, and your Elephant Club is in disarray, but there is a leader in place right now who has the courage to make tough decisions instead of just riding out his post for 8 years like Bush did. I expect Obama to make some mistakes, but as long as he is going in the right direction, let him continue on his course.

You know the saying, If you want to make an omelette, you have to break some eggs...

The United States gets Healthcare. The world welcomes you to the 2000's and beyond...

So finally the United States of America has its proposed health care plan in place to serve every single American who needs it, instead of taking what you can or can't afford. It seems odd that the world's most powerful and wealthy nation of people would be the last first-world country to get this, but let's not look back, when so much progress has been made looking forward.

For the record, this is not going to be a great plan. It will be very flawed and will take generations to fix, but at least the first step has been made!! For those of you complaining that this will raise your taxes, you are right. For those of you complaining that there will be long lines, you are correct as well. Welcome to what every country in the world has to deal with in Medicare. I think it's about time that Americans stopped being arrogant in thinking that their system was ok "as is" in every capacity. You simply cannot abuse decades of foolish spending and planning and expect a quick fix...

Surely, something has to suffer when you spend Hundreds of TRILLIONS of dollars in defence, and you ignore healing your own people. Surely something has to suffer when one in every 3 or 4 Americans are clinically obese. The US have the fattest people on the planet, and they are going to need a nationalized healthcare plan. Surely when the elite of the elite in the States bring the nation's and world economies to a global recession because of greed and posterity, something is going to suffer.

And now the piper is calling. -Its payday. Give me your first born, give me your mansions, your boats, your 401K's and the rest of your fortune. You've had it too good for too long and haven't realized that in enjoying today, your children's future is worse than you think it is. You've been watching rerun's of "Gone with the Wind" remembering a nicer time, rather than dealing with the serious problems now facing you.

What's that? You don't want socialism? You don't want economic reform, higher taxes, and have to share your wealth with immigrant Americans? Sorry. You should've thought about that while you were out playing in the field enjoying the days of slavery and how the west was won. I'm quite sure the people who lost those battles weren't happy about it either.

So on the lucky side, you are quite fortunate that you are still the least taxed first world country who has the lowest gas prices and can buy clothes and items cheaper than any of your fellow trade partners like Canada, UK, France, Italy and you enjoy a higher standard of living than most.

So consider yourself fortunate in catching up to the rest of the world.

Now if we can just get you converted to the Metric System, you will be almost complete...

King for a Day

It seems that your parents really make it tough to have Birthdays past your childhood years. I mean, they make such a big deal of your birthday as a kid that it becomes almost impossible to match that joy year after year. But either way, I'm glad. Some of my best childhood moments came when my mom and dad surrounded me by all the friends I wanted to pick to be at my Birthday party.

Everyone came bearing presents, there was a ton of food and cake, and you had everyone you wanted to be there to share it with you. The moments are etched in my head where my father would be taking pictures, and my mother would be holding me around my belly kissing my cheek while I blew out my candles. My grandparents would call from far, far away and they always knew it was my birthday before I did. I got to open all my cards and some of them had a lot of money in them!! But mostly, all I could say is that I felt loved. -Very loved, and looking back, I was very lucky to have that upbringing.

There were other days of the year in my childhood, but March 9th was always mine, and my parents always made sure that I felt like a little Prince, or King for a Day. Of course, this day would only last so long, and I would go to bed being tucked in by both of my parents giving me kisses and asking me if I had a good day.

"It was perfect" I would say, and I would be still so excited that I would lay in bed thinking about my special day. It would take me hours to fall asleep, and when I woke up the next day, I felt another year older.

That's the way every birthday should be...

Birthdays are so special. They take all year to come around, and reward you with yet another year to look forward to. They make you feel special all day long. People wish you Happy Birthday, and even if you don't show it on the outside by downplaying your birthday, deep inside, you will always be a little kid again for the one day of the year where you got to feel like a King/Queen for a Day.

But now that I am older, some of that old magic goes missing. A birthday means yet another year that I creep towards 40. I don't feel my age though. I still think that I am in my mid 20's in the prime of my life, only not as stupid as I was back then.

But then I wake up today, and receive dozens and dozens of well wishes from everyone I know and love, and even from people I wouldn't expect to hear from that took the time to wish me well today. That really does a lot to touch a man's soul. -Even the most unemotional and untouchable man could not deny this.

So that brings me back to writing this, remembering all my family and friends on my birthday. I hear my parents voice on the phone wishing me Happy Birthday, and even though I am far removed from being their young son, I still get those goosebumps for all that they did for me. -For all that they sacrificed for me, so that not just for one day, but for everyday, I could feel like I was King for a Day.

So thank you all for the well wishes. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are great in my life. It never ceases to amaze me how many moments I have to draw from, and how many of you are there in these memories. Rest assured, that if you are wishing me a Happy Birthday, I could tell somebody a story about you. -Maybe not a stand up comedy act, but certainly something that has stood out in my mind that has touched me enough to remember about you. It may be small, it may be big. It may be short, or it could be multiple things I could go on and on about, but rest assured, it has been enough to touch me in my life to remember it. So even when you are not with me, I still have you there with me. That's the beauty of it! I can take you with me wherever I go, and I always do.

So thanks to all of you in my life. It's days like this that makes me realize how rich with love I am, and how surrounded I am by it.

It's just enough to make me feel like King for a Day...

The Bachelor, Jake and Vienna

Wow,

I don't remember ever seeing such a totally unanimous consensus about one thing on facebook like the status updates I was reading last night after Jake picked Vienna over Tenley.

Clearly, Tenley was the most adored one of the two that Jake could've picked to be his fiancée, but he went with the dark horse and picked Vienna whom most people did not like. It's odd that he chose Vienna though, considering that Jake himself is a quiet, family values modest kind of guy, yet he picks the girl who is most unlike him in almost every aspect.

And the people watching this show let him know it every chance they got.

The thing that I don't understand is why do we care?!

Every woman out there practically BLASTED out their disapproval about Vienna and how disappointed they were that Jake chose her. But this isn't a popularity contest, and we will never actually see or be involved in their lives together, so why is everyone upset? Why not be happy for Jake that he thinks that he has chosen his wife and that he is happy with that?

I'll tell you why...

-Because every girl out there watching this show can remember a time in their life when they "played" the role of Tenley. -The nice girl that didn't get picked. It's always the case with men and women, that the "Nice" person never wins, and that the sex kitten/bad boy always wins because they are always much more attractive in the "hunting" stage of the relationship.

My opinion is that this will last about 6 months before you will read in page 7 of the Tabloids that Jake and Vienna have mutually decided to go their separate ways.

-My reason for saying this? Well, I believe that Vienna is simply way too young, emotionally and physically. There is NO way a girl like her will wait patiently at home while her jet-setting pilot fiancée goes out to work for days at a time. She looks to me that she needs a lot of excitement, and attention, and I don't think that good ol' Jake is gonna be able to keep the home fires burning. Once that puppy love has ended, and Vienna discovers that there are no more Bachelor-esque dates planned with endless bottles of champagne hidden in steamy hot tubs, and rose peddles scattered on her bed with strawberries chilling on a plate beside her, I think she will realize that she wants more than Jake is going to give her.

Besides, Jake is too happy with the sex right now to complain!! C'mon, he has a 23 year old tiger in the sack with fake everything in all the right places!! This will last about 3-6 months depending on how much he can take, and then you will see ugliness rear its eventual head and start to peek around to see where it can start meddling...

And all the while, there is Tenley waiting on the sidelines talking about her "ex-husband" and how he hurt her waiting for her chance to love again. Poor Tenley... Will SOMEBODY PLEASE tell this woman that you DON'T talk about your EX every time it comes to your mind! That's called internal dialogue and it should remain there!! Stop letting this guy live rent-free in your head!! Move on and forget this anchor...

And if you want more about the whole Rozlyn thing, go to http://www.realitysteve.com/ He has been the premier Spoiler of this series from the very start, and he just recently interviewed Rozlyn for 2 hours and tells her story, minus the sex scandal tape of hers that had allegedly appeared...

But back to Jake and Vienna, why do all you women out there actually really care and get upset that Jake chose another girl that you wanted him to pick? 'Fess up and tell me. I told you the reason why I think it is so, so tell me YOUR reason...

I'm dying to know...

Canada vs USA in Men's Hockey

This puts me in a tough place to write about this game. I have many, many readers who hail from Europe, United States, and obviously mostly from Canada. I have always been outspoken about being a proud Canadian, and certainly this is no exception.

If you have read my blogs previous to this, you will see that I have been very critical of Canada's teams including women's hockey, and boys Junior Hockey. I have talked about running up the score, and being very arrogant as a nation of hockey lovers.

However, I do feel that we are the best nation of talent when it comes to hockey, but I still think that there is a way that we can be proud, and not be arrogant in letting the world know this.

And that way is simple...

WIN respectfully.

To the USA men's team, I tip my hat off to you for representing your country so well. Ryan Miller lead you a fantastic tournament of wins that nobody in the hockey world predicted but your Brass. Brian Burke, and Ron Wilson, you both did an excellent job of putting the right team on the ice. It took real guts to pick that team, but then again, Brian Burke has plenty of that. The man is an out and out hockey genius.

But let me get back to my point. To lose in hockey in Canada means anything less than the Gold Medal. Steve Yzerman had a thankless job of picking Team Canada because if he wins, he had the greatest talent to chose from, and if he lost, he picked the wrong team. A pressure cooker position to say the least. There were many armchair quarterbacks saying that we were too arrogant, and they were right.

When you become arrogant, you become sloppy. -You underestimate your opponent. You see it in every aspect of sports. You saw it with the Russians underestimating the 1980 Miracle on Ice USA team, you saw it with Mike Tyson losing to Buster Douglas, and you see it in many other aspects. And losing is a bitter pill to swallow when you are as good as you THINK you are, but you come up short. That's where a second chance will make you make ammends again, and you will see hunger in the eyes of your opponent once again.

And that's what Canada needed early in this tournament. A nice big kick in the ass, from taking every country for granted. That loss to Team USA was exactly what we needed to get back on track and send a message to everyone that working hard and keeping your mouth shut produces results quietly that speak for themselves. And then, nobody can accuse you of being arrogant.

Well, this Gold Medal game was much more than just a hockey game. In many ways, it was eerily similar to the 1980 Miracle on Ice Game in the Lake Placid Olympics. The USA has become such a good hockey team, yet they don't get the credit they deserve. Underdogs? Sure, but not undermined...

Being on home soil, this meant so much to Canadians. Hockey really is OUR game. You guys all play it in other countries, but you don't LIVE it like we do. In every other country, you have at least one other sport that means more to you. In Sweden, and Czech, you love Soccer. In the US, you can take a pick after Baseball, Basketball, Football, NASCAR, Indy car, Women's Volleyball. These are all more important to you than hockey ever will be... Russian hockey is a proud tradition, but it seems that the Russian players care more about themselves than being a nation of hockey players. Only Finland, I would say loves hockey as much as Canadians do exclusively.

If your country would've won this, it would've been great for about a week, and then you've forgotten it by the time Spring Training starts. In Canada, we would never forget it, and we would never have gotten over it.
So to win this on Home ice for the fans that can really appreciate it? You can't imagine how much that means to every single Canadian.

So please, understand. We love our hockey here. We even have it printed on our money! It's our passion, it's our love, and it's our game.

So please don't begrudge my nation it's Gold Medal in the sport that matter most to us. We really do appreciate the fact that you are out there playing hockey, and we don't undermine your talent and ability.

In fact, we love that you love the game of hockey like we do! But when there are other choices, and we stick with hockey, and most of your country goes to an alternative, it bothers us.

Are we arrogant about our hockey? Probably... But isn't every other country that is good at a sport arrogant about theirs? What about Soccer/Footie? There must be a couple dozen countries that are just as arrogant about their sport. England, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Holland, and the list goes on...

But mostly, this win inspires a Nation of people who just hosted a Winter Olympics and did a pretty good job of showing talent, ability, culture and kindness. So in taking my hat off to the Team USA, and congratulating our brothers to the South on a fantastic tournament, I am really being sincere. I would not want to lose to the USA, and it would hurt just the same as them losing to us. But maybe now you can appreciate why it means so much more to us, to let us have this moment. You have so many other options in sports, but only Hockey really unites my nation to come together like what we saw on Feb. 28, 2010

I also don't want to not mention Slovakia, because their Hockey team really showed what it was made of. They deserved the respect of everyone in the hockey world for their team effort. In fact, in many ways, I wish Team Canada would be like them. Play the game to win with a selfless team effort, and let the world judge you on that, and not what comes out of your mouth...

2010 Winter Olympic Games Won't be Forgotten...

To say that our kick at the Olympic can started off on the wrong foot would be an understatement.


There was the very tragic death of the Georgian Luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili which made a very fast sliding track already more suspect.

There was the lack of snow, the rain, the warm weather which proves to be a problem in every Olympics, but it seems that nature picks this year, and this 2 week period to send down a record high of temperatures that hasn't been seen in 100 years.

And this was just the beginning of the games before they had started...

Then you add the 2600 athletes, and their support cast, and throw in celebrities and media and now you are getting a taste of international ego that happens only at the Olympics when every nation is trying to flex their muscles.

As always, there were the stories of the great Human Spirit, the triumphs, and the letdowns that only Olympic pressure can bring. Canada had its share of these, with Alex Bilodeau, and Joannie Rochette taking the pressure in stride and focusing to win Medals in the face of it all.

But mostly, I was just resigned to be happy at the chance to watch my countrymen and women participate in our home Olympics and watch us unite together for 16 Days of Glory. No mention of politics, ethnic background, sexual orientation, or any other reason to divide a nation; it was all about the games and the healthy competition of how we as humans compete.

But more importantly, I think the world got a healthy dose of who we are as a nation. I think we were able to demonstrate how Canadians live, and who we really are. The opening and closing ceremonies did a good job of showing the world our beauty as a nation, and who we are that make up Canada, in its many diverse looks.

So, you'll have to forgive me for feeling a little sad that the party is over. However, that feeling is overpowered with a sense of elation that we had more gold medals in any Winter Olympics than any other nation in history. A sense of national pride comes over me, and I feel a great sense of hope. I don't know why I feel that way, I just know that I do. These Olympics won't make me healthier, make me more money, or change my life in a profound way that things like family, work or money will do to change you.

But in turn, it does something that all those aforementioned things do that could never be duplicated. It gives everyone around me, who is feeling the same way after seeing how our country came together for 16 Days of Glory, a sense of pride. If you weren't vindicated before these Games started about how great our country is, you feel that pride now. And no amount of money could ever buy that…

Now, we all go back to our regular routines, and go about our ways. But I will keep this momentum inside me a little while longer. It's just too good to let go of just yet. Thanks go out to all of those countless people who made this happen, known and unknown. To the athletes who came to compete and to the media who covered it and let us watch it from the comfort of our homes to cheer and forget everything else in our lives to have this moment of pride. But most of all, thanks have to go out to our country, that we all love and adore.

Well done Canada!!