vancouver canucks

Protest or not to protest

Mike Cluett

As many of you out there who know me, know Im a big Leafs fan. I’ve talked about them ad nauesem with everyone over the last little while, especially since the beginning of the season.

Let me give you a bit of history. I was once a Habs fan!

*Collective gasp*

Yes indeed. In my younger years I was what you called a Habs fan. My dad grew up watching the Montreal Canadiens on CBC week after week playing against his HATED Maple Leafs. Yvon Cornoyer, Serge Savard and other Habs were heroes in our house. My dad grew up on Rocket Richard and other all time greats and his enthusiasm was infectious to say the least.

My favourite Hab at that time was Guy Lafleur. Number 10 could do no wrong. He bolted up the ice on the right wing so fast, the defensemen didn’t see him coming. Goal after goal I was impressed by both him and other players like Larry Robinson and Steve Shutt.

I don’t really know when it happened or what game it was on Hockey Night in Canada but they were playing the Leafs and I happened to notice this amazing goaltender by the name of Mike Palmateer.

 

Now, at that age having someone famous named “MIKE” was pretty darned cool, so I watched the game intensely. Save after save he made had me open my eyes. Ian Turnball and another all time Leaf fave of mine Daryl Sittler caught my eye and before I knew it…I was a LEAFS FAN!

To my fathers dismay I made immediate demands for a Leafs jersey with the number “29” for my Christmas present, and with the help of my aunt who worked at Maple Leaf Gardens (God I miss that place) Santa had one under the Christmas tree that year. I was a convert.

Now with my criticism of the team in the last few years, and my growing admiration of the Vancouver Canucks (my west coast fix for hockey) I’ve been asked, am I going to convert from a Leafs fan to someone else.

Let me tell you I would have to put aside a fair amount of money for therapy if I was going to do that. Good or bad, I cheer them on. Sometimes quite loudly as my screams of horror and dismay were heard throughout the house with the game against Atlanta earlier this week. Pat had to call down at times to tell me to keep it down as I grumbled and groaned at each missed play and even worse when I saw Pavel Kubina jump out of position YET AGAIN which leads to the oppositions goal scoring totals.

It’s not as bad as that … yet.

I feel that given the Leafs ownership situation and their apparent inability to do ANYTHING about the current state of the team, I need to do something. Goal tending isnt really an issue here. Toskola is a good goaltender and so is Raycroft. Im one of the few fans out here that think Andrew Raycroft should be given more of a chance than he has. Instead the braintrust at the Leafs Nation HQ decide by coin toss it seems, who is to go in net on a nightly basis. No chance of building momentum is there. Bryan McCabe isnt the problem either. Sure hes overpaid. $7 million plus a year? Who’s to blame for that? Surely McCabe isnt. Oh ya, like anyone out there would turn down that salary.

“No really John Ferguson Jr….I’m not worth that. Please pay me $2 million.” You would accept it and you know it.

Defense is the problem. Its inconsistent and at times, non existent. Players are out of position, they seem tired and run down and God forbid they have a lead going into the 3rd period as the gas tank seems to be on “E” at the start of the 3rd.

So what does a fan do?

I don’t buy tickets to games…that’s a fact. I cant afford to take a mortgage payment to take the family to the ACC for overpriced beer and bad seats to cheer them on. The odd time I buy some merchandise for Anthony or get it as a gift. So I cant really hurt them in the pocket book now can I?

I could call all the radio call in shows and complain but when the topic of discussion is the Leafs the lines are full and everyone squaks ab0ut them anyways…so I cant help out there.

I can do something though. I can say, enough is enough. Why should I as a Leafs fan put myself through 60 minutes of hockey that only ends up in heartbreak at the end of the night. Why should I take the time out of my night, sit back and watch Kubina run around the ice like a moron, get out of position and give the other team a chance for a goal?

So I think I’ve decided to stop watching the games until they give me a reason to watch them. I picked a hard night to do it, what with the Leafs playing Pittsburgh and who doesnt want an opportunity to see the best player in the NHL in Sidney Crosby play.

I had thought about it long and hard after the last Atlanta game that saw the Leafs fall in a shoot out loss. They did, to their credit, keep the game close. But in order for them to be a playoff contender, they need to win those games. Ottawa has a tendency to either kill their opponents or at the last second pull out a victory and get TWO points instead of settling for ONE point with a tie or an overtime loss.

Last year the Leafs missed the playoffs by one point. That one point could have been earned on a number of occasions in games that they were supposed to win or should have won.

They seem to be falling into the same trap this year with their record so far.

So, I dont know if I will be able to hold off tonight and NOT tune in. We’ll have to see. It’s hard to go cold turkey, but I’ll give it a try.

Im NOT resigning my Leafs fan membership just yet. It would take a bit more of this to get me to think about that. Until then, I just plan on watching hockey, with my focus going to the Vancouver Canucks. We’ll see about that team. SOMETHINGS gotta give here.

Life changing moments

Mike Cluett

Just a quick update on the last post I made about the lights going in on Thompson and Yates…its been delayed. They have completed some of the work but still a lot more to be done. The information I was going on was a posting by Regional Councillor Colin Best on (one of my favourite sites) Hawthorne Villager

So as more details come in on this, I’ll post a further update.

And for those who don’t know, Pat and I found out a few weeks ago that we were expecting NUMBER 2 in the baby department. Anthony has just turned 7 so to go through this all over again, is almost like doing it for the first time. Both Pat and I are quite excited and today was the day we made our journey to downtown Toronto for the ultrasound.

With the birth of Anthony, Pat had developed a very good relationship with her doctor and has chosen to have the baby at Women’s College Hospital. A little out of the way mind you, but the care she got during the last pregnancy was outstanding, and its all about her comfort isn’t it?

So this morning we got up bright and early and made our way to downtown Toronto. I don’t know how many of the readers of this blog do this on a daily basis, but let me tell you something…you have MY respect. I couldn’t see anyone do that drive every day back and forth even if I did live just outside the big smoke…it would drive me nuts.

I did come up with a few ideas (controversial as they may be) for the city of Toronto to raise funds and decrease the dependence on raising taxes of his constituents. I don’t know exactly how it would all work, but you could make the Gardiner Expressway a toll road, similar to the 407 where all funds generated would go to an infrastructure account to improve the roads in the city.

Now many of you out there who commute to Toronto daily might not like that, but it makes sense. The majority of the roads that are heavily used in the city are driven on by people who don’t live in Toronto. I didn’t say the idea would be LIKED by everyone now did I? More on that coming up in another post.

There’s one more Toronto related item Id like to bring up and that’s the Maple Leafs and what a sorry state they’re in at this moment. They’re doing very poorly and no one can deny that, not even the most rabid of Leafs fans out there…it’s BAD. The situation wont get any better just by having guys / fans like myself complain that its bad. The only way its ever going to get fixed is if the ACC stopped selling out. HOW can that happen? The fans who wait in lines for standing room only tickets for all hours, and people who spend HUNDREDS of dollars just to go to a game, will have to say enough is enough and STOP going to games.

There are some bright spots on the Leafs offense including Sundin who is having an amazing start to the season. Andropov shocked almost every Leafs fan out there with the season hes having so far. There is more than that but those are the 2 main shining lights.

The duds of the team can be combined in one word…defense. Mainly idiots like Kubina who have YET, despite his years playing hockey, figured out hes not a forward but defense. He jumps out of position so many times during a game, I’ve lost count and when he does realize hes out of position, POOF…. Goal! He’s not the sole reason for the defense corps woes but he does need some help.

So far this year, my “teams” aren’t doing so well. The Leafs…the Vancouver Canucks…the Ti-Cats…and the San Fransisco 49ers. I have been doing what I can to help keep the faith.

All things being said, with all the problems we face on a daily basis, with work, with sports, with politics, and with everything else. None of it seems important when you’re looking at the screen of an ultrasound and seeing the beating heard of your unborn child.

The Fix was In

Mike Cluett

 Does anyone else out there think the fix was in last night on American Idol?

Now before I continue, Im one of THOSE guys who like to make fun of the shows my wife watches. Pat enjoys every episode she can of American Idol and other reality based shows.

Heck, even I like a few. The Apprentice, The King of Cars, and some of the Surreal Life series can get me hooked.

But this dude is crazy funny. He cant sing a lick, hes got a voice to drive you nuts and most people couldnt wait to see him go. Then along comes the internet and sites like www.votefortheworst.com being pushed to the moon by Howard Stern and others.

Pat isnt fanatic about the integrity of the show and likes a good laugh now and then but I think she was getting a bit ticked off with the whole keeping Sanjaya while ME on the other hand LOVED the fact he stuck around week after week. Call it morbid sillyness.

As I came home from a Milton Walk of Fame meeting last night, I could hear that everyone was in bed and most of the lights were out. Before I could get my shoes off, Pat whispers from the top of the stairs….”Honey, he’s gone!”

For the last few weeks hes escaped the bottom 3 of eviction and others who were perceived to have more talent were being voted off. THEN all of a sudden, hes off. Clips of Simon Cowell were all over the place with a big smile on his face. He knows now he wont have to quit and Sanjaya wont be the American Idol.

Someone had told me though, the producers of the show have written in print so small it takes a team of lawyers hours to see, that they reserve the right to disqualify votes from the totals if they feel or have evidence the votes were mechanicially generated instead of by individual voters.

Hmmmmmmmm. For the last few weeks he has been nowhere near the bottom for eviction and now, all of a sudden, hes gone.

Smells fishy. But thats an ivestigation for another day.

The power of the internet is a big, big thing. Its something that will only get bigger and more prominent in our lives as time goes on. We better get used to it.

This concludes my first, and what will probably be my ONLY American Idol based post.

Its now al most time for game 5 of the Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars game. Let’s hope they win and get a rest before the next series. Ottawa Senators won *sigh* As a Leafs fan that holds no solice whatsoever.

GO NUCKS GO!

Back in the arms of Milton

Mike Cluett

Vancouver is now up 3 games to 1 against the Dallas Stars and what could be the final game of the series on Thursday is coming up fast. If the Canucks win, they move on in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Whoo hoo!

There’s a Canada Day Committee meeting I have to attend Thursday night so I hope its over before the game starts.

It’s days like today that remind me why I love this town.

I’m out on the road most days as a sales representative visiting customers and doing a lot of driving. Most of my customers are in the GTA and Mississauga specifically.

There are many intersections in Mississauga that you need to be very careful in and some you almost need an increase in life insurance and a security detail to get you through. One of those intersections is Dixie and Shawson, just north of the 401. What a mess. HUNDREDS of trucks flying through, congested traffic and many near misses can be observed in just 5 minutes near this place. I had that opportunity because I was running low on gas and decided to use the Husky gas station on the corner.

The sun had just begun to start shining (finally eh?) and off came the overcoat. With the car in plain view I realized the ol’ PT needed a wash. This Husky location has a car wash so while paying for the gas I got a basic. That’s all fine. Go to line up for the wash and find a car parked in the lane with no driver. An older gentleman came running up saying he entered his code and the door wouldn’t open so we waited for the manager to come. And waited. And waited.

He finally came by and after a few visits inside to see if he was coming back out, I decided I didn’t want to bother waiting anymore. I went to the cashier to get a refund for the wash, and got my cash back, seeing how I wont be by this area for some time and I’m not going out of my way to come THERE for a car wash.

While waiting I noticed something interesting on the receipt that they were still charging 7% GST on the car washes. Doing some mental math and grabbing my ever present calculator, it confirmed that the GST charged is 7% instead of 6%. The Conservative government in Ottawa recently reduced the GST by 1% and this should have been fixed by the retailers MONTHS ago.

Needless to say, Ive sent an email to the head office to make sure this problem gets fixed right away.

I traveled along to Courtney Park Blvd to find my regular Tim Horton’s, grab a double double, and go home. I get into the drive through, which at this time was moving, made my order and slowly moved up. Three cars ahead of my someone had a problem with their Iced Cap and found time to debate the cashier on how bad it was and “chatted” with management, all the while holding up the line. After about 5 or 6 minutes of this, people behind us started honking and getting restless. I’m normally very patient with these things and I didn’t chime in. That’s not to say I didn’t feel TEMPTED! HAHA.

On my way back to Milton, knowing full well the 401 traffic would be nuts I made my way around to go home via Derry Road. Its normally a very good alternate route to get back into town. I was enjoying the breeze from the open windows and having the warm air flow through the normally closed up car when I approached “favourite” intersection number 2. Mississauga Road and Derry Road.

Here I find a large truck in the middle lane stopped, with signal lights first flashing right change of lane, then left. As it inched forward ever so slowly the vehicle in front of me was trying to find what lane the truck DIDNT want to get into. Finally the truck made his choice and went from the far left turn lane over 3 lanes of traffic to turn right onto Mississauga Road. The truck narrowly missed about 4 or 5 cars as they did this almost causing a few accidents behind them.

Just let me get home to Milton I thought to myself. Drove along Derry Road, up over the 407, through past Trafalger and the warm welcome view of the all the new homes and the 4 lanes of Derry Road. I feel very familiar with all these homes and the streets seeing how only a few months ago, I spent what felt like every waking moment knocking on the doors in the last municipal election campaign.

It may seem over dramatic and all but its nice to appreciate what we do have in Milton. Although some of the roads aren’t completed and we have to spend a few extra minutes in the backup along Thompson Road in the evenings or waiting for an advanced light on Laurier (which I understand is now working going north…going south I’m not too sure). But compared to where I was today, its heaven.

That’s just one of the reasons I love this town.

Go Canucks GO!

Mike Cluett

Well, its over. The Leafs won a must win game on Saturday night against the Canadiens in what can only be described as GAME 7 in the Stanley Cup final. Emotional roller coaster to say the least.

That leaves the other team Vancouver Canucks to help keep me rivited for the duration of the playoffs. With an amazing goaltender in Luongo and a motivated group of guys like Naslund, Sedin twins and more, it looks like it will be a good run.

Look out for Pittsburgh though as the “karma” seems to be with them after getting Gary Roberts (who the Leafs COULDVE had, but Im not bitter) and Larouque coupled with Mark Recchi to help protect Sid the Kid and Stall… they might actually make it far this year.

GO NUCKS GO!