The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Saying goodbye to Bryan Smolinski meant a new 2nd line centre for the Ottawa Senators had to be found for the 2006-07 season. Not being a big fan of Smolinski, anyone else would be pretty much an upgrade, but it looked like Ottawa didn't have much to choose from. Before camp started, it looked like it was going to be one of two players: Antoine Vermette or rookie Alexei Kaigorodov. Why didn't anyone think centre Mike Fisher would have a shot at such a position?

It seems Fisher's defensive assignments hasn't given him a lot of chances to show his offensive upside. Fisher continues to improve year after year, and it wasn't perhaps until last season where he was consistently assigned to play with quality linemates: in this case Peter Schaefer and Martin Havlat. A lot of the time he would play with the "pluggers" of the squad so his chances of putting up points were minimal, but he was presented with a situation where he can show what he can do at both ends of the ice.

The end result was his best season: putting 22 goals & 22 assists in 66 games. A solid +23, he was also nominated for the Selke award for best defensive forward. He finally got noticed around the league what he can do.

Coach Bryan Murray decided to give him a chance to play this pre-season with the team's best player, Daniel Alfredsson, and the results have been staggering. He's in the top 5 for pre-season scoring, and the words "Kaigorodov" and "Binghamton" have now become synonymous.

This isn't to say I expect Fisher to score 50 goals and put up 100 points. But I do expect him to be a much bigger contributer to the club and I expect him to succeed. With Jason Spezza expected to put in 100+ points for the season and Fisher a contender for the Selke trophy, that's not such a bad 1-2 punch down the middle. We'll see this season how it pans out.

Mia and Ellie's first day at school. Jason & Gen will have a brother and sister for them very soon (I'm just tired thinking about that).

One thing I always give credit to actors for is whether or not a comedy is any good, I'll always appreciate those who will do anything for a laugh. And for Johnny Knoxville & the gang, they take that probably too far for their own good.

This isn't a movie that I can really recommend, I mean, there are too many scenes that just outright revolted me. I had to literally look away from the screen because I was so grossed out, and I don't want to type out the scenes in question because it might make you throw up.

However, a lot of the scenes involving physical pain made me laugh. It doesn't really make sense, for example you got a scene where these morons are on a teeter-totter while a bull is ready to maul them. And when the bull is successful and they get run over and slammed against the ring boards...damn, that's funny! They're in pain! They're rolling on the ground asking for medical attention! Why do I find this amusing?

Anyway, I should probably apologize for giving money to fare like this, but, I had an alright time. It's probably not worth a full price admission...but probably worth a free download from torrents.

I'll go see something more meaningful and worthwhile next time, promise!

Song in the head: "Ring of Fire" Johnny Cash
Current X-box game: Doom 3

Hysteria Deluxe Edition. Someone out there likes me.

Since its debut, Hysteria has sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, including 12 times platinum in the U.S., making it one of the best-selling albums of all time and earning a prestigious Diamond Award in 1999. The Diamond Award recognizes sales of over 10 million, a feat not many bands and only a handful of British artists have been able to achieve (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Eric Clapton). The blockbuster album spawned six smash hits--the Top 10s “Love Bites” (#1), “Pour Some Sugar On Me” (#2), “Armageddon It” (#3) and “Hysteria” (#10), and Top 20s “Rocket” (#12) and “Animal” (#19). Produced by the renowned Mutt Lange, Hysteria was a milestone that expanded the boundaries of the hard rock album by redefining pop and metal.

Disc One of the Hysteria – Deluxe Edition brings together the original album and the studio b-sides “Tear It Down,” “Ride Into The Sun,” “I Wanna Be Your Hero” and “Ring Of Fire.” Disc Two collects the live b-sides “Elected,” “Love And Affection,” “Billy’s Got A Gun” and the medley titled “Rock Of Ages” (which includes parts of the classic rock anthems “Not Fade Away,” “My Generation,” “Radar Love,” “Come Together” and “Whole Lotta Love”)--all recorded in concert in Tilburg, Holland in July 1987--and also “Women,” recorded live in Denver the following year. The remixes are extended versions of “Animal” and “Pour Some Sugar On Me”; The Nuclear Mix of “Armageddon It”; Orgasmic Mix of “Excitable”; and The Lunar Mix of “Rocket.” Disc Two also features another studio b-side, a humorous version of “Release Me,” credited to Stumpus Maximus & The Good Ol’ Boys.

Walking down Laurier every day after work amazes me how so many people manage to get parking tickets.

Ok, parking tickets...who cares? But it seems no matter how much warning people get, they still manage to get tickets and don't understand how they got caught.

Here's the deal...there are signs above the parking meters that clearly state no parking between 3:30 - 5:30pm. The reason is simple...traffic. People are going home, and they want the streets clear so there can be four lanes of traffic going through unimpeded.

Aside from the signs, there's a local fellow who sees everyone get these tickets. So he made up his own flyer and made copies of it, and put it on the front windshield of every car illegally parked telling them of the by-law. He usually distributes them once every couple of weeks. He also made these "mini" flyers and taped them to the meters themselves, but usually they're removed within a day.

My point of all this? I'm not sure. It just amazes me that the City can count on a steady stream of revenue from these tickets just from this one street alone. When will anyone learn?

I'm going to play X-box now.

I have been playing non-stop X-box since buying the system a few weeks ago. Almost every game I played growing up as a kid: Exciting Hour, Black Tiger, Karate Champ, Double Dragon, The Simpsons, Bubble Bobble, Street Fighter 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, just to name a few...are all at my disposable. A lot of the games hold up quite well today surprisingly, although the graphics and game play of today's games probably have today's kids wondering how we can enjoy playing something like Ms. Pac-Man.

I had a day off from work and played for about eight hours. Yikes! This trend will obviously (hopefully!) stop once the novelty wears off, but for the meantime it's pretty awesome. Thanks to Scott for getting me all hooked up with stuff...my social life wouldn't have suffered without you!

First, thanks to Kim for taking me to the game.

Now, on to the game.

One word can sum up the 1st & 3rd periods: Lazy. They were really just going through the motions. It is hard to play well during these meaningless contests (not so meaningless, of course, for those trying to make the team) and it reflected on the ice, as the players with the big money contracts: Redden, Spezza and Heatley, were simply going through the motions. The players looking for jobs were trying, except for Russian Alexei Kaigorodov.

This guy didn't look comfortable, and he certainly didn't look like a player who minds getting his nose dirty here and there. He is going to have to turn it up quickly if he's going to suit up on October 4th. He did pick up one assist, but it was the work of his linemate Denis Hamel that made it possible.

Hamel has scored 4 times in the two games he's played, and in my view it's making it easy for the coaching staff to have Kagairodov play in Russia for the 2006-07 season. Hamel has been languising in the AHL for some time now, but he's improved every year, scoring 56 goals last season. He's also a mature 29 years-old, unlike the culture-shocked, young 23 year-old Kaigorodov who doesn't know how to speak English.

Another "battle" emerging in the pre-season is who will play with Spezza and Heatley on the top line. Patrick Eaves seemed to be a lock, but Murray experimented with Antoine Vermette on the left side last night, and played well. Both Eaves and Vermette were aruguably two of the better players last night so Murray will have a tough decision to make. Of course, if Kaigorodov doesn't pan out, it might leave Murray no choice but to put Eaves on the 1st line, and put Vermette in between Peter Schaefer and Daniel Alfredsson on the 2nd line.

One more thought: Saw a Heatley jersey last night, except the name "Heater" graced the back of the sweater instead of his full last name. What can I say: I liked it!

Nice job putting it together, Bandit.

That pic you see is a letter for my discount card from the good people at Canada Post, after the clerk suggest I apply for one since I shipped off stuff frequently enough from my Ebay sales. "You'll just have to make up a business name for yourself." Hmmm...business name, eh? Well there you have it: SBP Enterprises. So far I've made just over $400 selling my old stuff off Ebay. Let the good times roll!!

You gotta love Chris Pronger.

Athletes, like other celebrities, not only have to deal with the criticism they get when they don't perform well at their chosen professions, they also are harassed about their personal lives when stories surface everything isn't up to snuff. The public has an insatiable appetite for this stuff, and while I'm not a guy who reads the National Enquirer, sometimes it can be fun to read about so-and-so athlete getting loaded, arrested by 10 cops and offering a billion dollars to get released.

Anyway, the fans of the Oilers weren't too pleased when Pronger wanted out of Edmonton. The reason is actually flattering for Chris: They like him and think he's a terrific hockey player. They thought the five-year contract he signed meant he'd be here for awhile.

Now it's quite odd for #44 to be leaving after falling just one game short of the Stanley Cup, so why exactly did he request a trade after such a memorable season? There were tons of rumours circulating about him: they involve other girlfriends, knocking up rink rats, and I believe a journalist was mentioned as a potential lover of Chris. By the way, he's married and has two kids.

The story I believe comes from a source we'll call...Pants. Pants told me that Pronger did in fact have a girlfriend who lived in Edmonton. His wife found out about it, and, just before the playoffs started, moved out of Edmonton with the kids back to St. Louis. Pronger's wife basically told him their family needs to move out of the city or she's divorcing. Pronger asked for a trade to a mutually agreeable place once the playoffs were finished.

So why am I bringing this all up? Well, Pronger just blew a gasket after reading about all these rumours. Just for the record, I find most people blow their gaskets about this stuff when what they read is true, or partially anyway. "I've heard all the nasty stuff, about all my girlfriends ... that I've got more kids than I started with. I must have six kids out there," blasted Pronger. "It started off with I slept with so-and-so, and I'm having kids, then it moved to my wife sleeping with some of my teammates." Essentially, he's denying everything he's ready. But what did Chris say about his experience in Edmonton?

According to the Sun: "He said he liked the city and loved the competitive fire of the team."

So why did he leave after recently signing a long-term contract?

"He just wanted to live elsewhere."

Yeah right. See, you don't have to comment, but if you're going to give us a horrible answer like that, we're going to think either the rumours are true or that you think you're too good for the city you played for.

November 28th is Anaheim's first game in Edmonton.

And how about that Tie Domi? Domi has a warm place in many hearts of the fans of the NHL. But for me, he was a dirty, underhanded player who loved dishing out cheap shots whenever possible.

I remember the elbow he gave superstar defenceman Scott Niedermayer in the 2001 playoffs when only a few minutes remained and the game was essentially over for the Devils: Behind the play, unprovoked, and a deliberate intent to injure. Luckily, he would be ok and return next game, while Domi got a suspension for the rest of the playoffs and the first few games of the next season.

It wasn't long enough. At least I'll have the pleasant memory of Brian McGrattan busting his nose last season that dropped him like a sack of potatoes. Domi, you might be an alright guy off the ice, but as far as I'm concerned, you won't be missed.

Done for strictly money making purposes, the Buffalo Sabres unveiled their new jersey over the weekend, and, yeesh, me no like. I don't mind going back to the blue and gold colours like they used to have, but that "Buffalo" logo looks like it was painted by a blindfolded Andy Warhol.

One thing they did right that isn't show in this picture, is that on the front of the jersey on the upper-right hand side, they'll put the player's numbers there. This is a great idea and I think it will probably catch on with the rest of the league. I'd be happy to put a #11 opposite the 'C' of my Alfredsson jersey.

Too often, beginners don't bet out their big hands when they hit a flop that strengthens their hands significantly. Certainly, if you play a hand like Ace-King and the flop comes A-x-x, you'll bet your pair of aces, and more than likely you'll take down the pot with that bet. It's not a monster hand, but you probably are winning so you take it right then & there without much of a fight.

What if that Ace-King you played was suited, say, in diamonds? And what if the flop came 3-8-Q...all diamonds. That's an unbelievable hand you just made: A nut flush. The normal way to play it would be just to check and see if anyone would try to steal it from you. You want to portray weakness so you're hoping you can build a pot by inducing someone else to bet. It's not a bad play at all, most players would take this route. But what if you try to bet out at the flop instead?

What you're trying to do here is distort the strength of your hand by betting out. Most players will likely NOT give you credit for having the nut flush for the aforementioned reason: You want to check to show weakness and try to induce someone to steal when you've made a monster hand. Most people who bet out a flop of the same suit are betting to "protect" a hand. In the above example if someone held Ace-Queen, they'd want to bet to see if their pair of Queens are good and if they can take it down right there. Someone with an overpair, such as Kings, will likely come along for the ride, too, and pay you off handsomely. A lot would think you are holding just one diamond and might try to raise you thinking they are pricing you out of a drawing hand.

But even if they don't have a hand and they fold after you bet, you might consider turning over your hole cards and "advertise" what you have. "Advertising" is revealing your hole cards to the other players when you don't have to. If you show them you bet out at a nut flush, subconsciously they might think, "Wow, this guy loves to bet his big hands! Whenever he bets he must have something." This helps give you more credibility later on in the game when you make continuation bets after a pre-flop raise when you miss the flop. The idea in that situation is by betting out, you're hoping the opposing player will remember how you played your previous monster hand and will reluctantly fold their medium pairs.

This technique is also effective against aggressive players who bet and re-raise hand after hand. If that's the way they play, bet into them right away and they'll build the pot for you. Extremely tight players will likely fold, but loose, aggressive players can pay you off, especially if you conjure up a little "Hollywood" and act like you're reluctant to bet.

It's also something you should do if there are three or more players in the hand. Likely someone also hit the flop so it makes sense to take the lead in betting. And if you see there are flush & straight draws out there and you made a hand such as two pair, it makes sense to bet so you can protect your two pair and make the others pay to make their flush or straight.

You also don't want to be predictable. If you're someone who leads at semi-good flops but always checks their monsters, you're too easy to read and good players can take advantage of that. Mix up your play a little and become a player who's more dynamic with their betting.

Mom is leaving today for Australia after about a 23 year wait in-between visits. Kylie and myself have pushing for her to go and finally she's leaving for two months and possibly extending it to three. Have a wonderful time while you're there mom, Kylie & I will both miss you while you're gone.

Training camp for all NHL clubs has just started, signalling the beginning of the 2006-07 season. With numerous articles on the Senators in the last couple of days, the excitement level has kicked off for me. Before my Sens officially start the new hockey year, 9 pre-season games played in 11 days will give coach Bryan Murray a chance to figure out the best line combinations and get the final roster ready for their opening game, which will be held October 4th against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Who's wears the 'A'? With the departure of big Zdeno Chara also came the loss of one of the leaders of the Ottawa Senators. Wade Redden will continue to be an assistant and Murray will not be lifting the 'C' off captain Daniel Alfredsson. Someone will have a chance to step up and become part of the leadership the team needs to look up to.
I think this is the time to reward Mike Fisher with an 'A'. Coming off his best season, he was one of the hardest working players during the playoffs and a nominee for the Selke trophy, he has seven years of experience under his belt and is ready to move his game to the next level. The alternate choice is Chris Phillips. He is expected to contribute more and will be given more ice time with the departure of Chara. I think Phillips should get use to this increased role before being given other responsibilities. I'd wait to see how he handles this before anything else.

Are the Sens a Stanley Cup favourite? The media pegged Ottawa as the favourite last year, unquestionably having the most talent: Spezza, Heatley, Alfredsson and Havlat providing the scoring, the best one-two punch on the blueline (Chara-Redden) and Hasek playing to form in nets.
I don't think we can rate them as the favourite this year. New goaltender Martin Gerber had one good season and not much else. We don't know how the loss of Chara will affect the blue line, and if new acquisitions Joe Corvo and Tom Preissing will be able to make up for it, substituting size & strength with speed & puck movement. Ottawa also doesn't have a strong left side up front. But, Ottawa still has plenty of firepower and guys like Vermette and Eaves will have a chance to continue their progress after coming off 20 goals seasons. 23 year-old Russian rookie Alexei Kaigorodov is slotted to play with Alfredsson and be the 2nd line center. The job is essentially his and his to lose over the next few weeks. If he can play in the NHL as hoped, Ottawa will be in contention, but probably not a favourite. Then again, as last season proved, every team that makes the playoffs has a solid chance of going all the way. Less pressure for Ottawa might be what the doctor ordered.

Now what? I'm be attending Friday's pre-season game against Buffalo and report as my blog readers expect. This is sort of a different year for the Senators. They always have high expectations placed on them, but not as high this time. The East doesn't seem to have a true #1 team that will dominate. That's ok, maybe it'll make my Sens work harder and give them a new look on the ice they need to capture Lord Stanley.

Last month, I tried to avoid cash and pay everything by swiping my debit card, just to see if my monthly spending would be reduced by not having cash on hand to buy stuff.

Well, comparing my previous bank statements didn't show much difference. And you DO need to have cash...paying your friends back or splitting a bill, taking a taxi home...some things you just need legal tender. And swiping a card for a $5.95 movie rental was just embarassing.

So in the end, the experiment for me showed little if any difference by carrying around cash, and a slight increase of a few dollars in bank charges. So I'll just go back to the way I was doing things.

Now where's my Nobel Prize?

The shootings at Dawson College brought make memories of Columbine High School and the Marc Lepine massacre from 1989. These acts of cowardice and needless violence affect us all. We try to come to grips as to what would cause these loners to go over the edge, how can they hate themselves and their fellow brothers & sisters so much that they are willing to brandish a gun and take another person's life?

I'm not sure if it's sick curiosity, but I decided to find Kimveer Gill's Vampirefreaks.com profile, a place that is a forum for the goth lifetstyle. Mostly to see what he wrote, what pictures he posted and what types of people he was communicating with. What was going through his mind the few moments before he decided to trek to Dawson College?

His last journal entires don't tell much. He has one post where he jokes about having whiskey in the morning, his previous post mentions he's going to have eggs and toast for breakfast. Interesting as those posts were written the day of the shootings, as they are non-threating, they show no anger and certainly doesn't indicate he's about to go on a murderous rampage. Almost every post prior to that is the exact opposite.

He made a HUGE list of things he hates, and no one is spared. He even mentions "the world" and also says many times he's ashamed to be human. He talks about how much he hates bullies and goes on with similar rhetoric about jocks. He does seem to care about one thing: His VF (vampirefreak) girls. I'm guessing he chats with them from time to time, I didn't read enough entries to see if he actually met any in person. He posts results from different quizzes, one where he is told he has an "86% chance" of killing someone, another which states on the evil meter he is "pure evil". The photos of him holding his automatic weapons, knives and trenchcoat attire are very eerie.

I guess all this "investigation" is about one thing: looking for answers. We won't find them in this case, likely. Much like we still don't know why those kids at Columbine decided to take matters into their own hands and kill people, then kill themselves.

Was there anything anyone could do to stop him? Wasn't anybody reading what this guy was writing down and realizing he was a ticking time bomb? He was a young man obviously crying for help, perhaps so far gone that, at this point, any attempts to make him realize our lives are worth living would be fruitless. What was the event or events that made him feel this way?

We'll never know. Here's hoping another tragedy like this never happens again.

That's right, it has been one full year since my first written post on blogger. I actually posted two articles that day: one on the NHL and one on WWE. And then after that it was pretty poker-heavy for the rest of the month. But deciding to update here every day meant I also had to increase the number of topics to talk about, so I just made it so I can talk about anything I want. I wonder why the people at Google provide this free service; what's in it for them? It's not like there's ads or anything to make this a profitable venture (on the surface, anyway). But hey, it's nice once in a while to get something for free. So here's props to the people @ Google.

Anyway, I'll continue bloggin' if you keep on reading.

Peace!
SBP

Song currently in my head: "Sorry" by Madonna

Rick Dipietro hit the jackpot when he signed a 15 year, $67.5 milllion contract.

The New York Islanders are quickly becoming the laughing stock of the NHL.

Owner Charles Wang made millions as CEO of Computer Associates, but this proves that while you can make smart decisions in the business world, this does not automatically translate into good decisions for your "toy", in this case an NHL franchise.

A 10 year deal given to Alexei Yashin a few seasons ago proved that these high-cost, long-term deals are unnecessarily risky propositions with little benefit to the team. If you want to show commitment to a player, a five-year deal will suffice. Anything longer simply shows you have no business running a sports team, and you have no long-term vision in the realization salary caps and collective bargaining agreements will always be changing and these old contracts will be a hinderance to your team's future progress.

You pay a player based on past performance. At least with Yashin he was nominated for the Hart Trophy and consistently put up points a few seasons before his lavish deal. Dipietro has accomplished nothing. He's, at best, an ok goaltender. He hasn't won a playoff series (much less a Stanley Cup ring), no Olympic gold medals, no World Championships, no Vezina nominations...nothing.

So has Wang thought about what would happen if, say, Dipietro TANKS next year? You're stuck with his salary for the NEXT FOURTEEN YEARS! It counts towards your salary cap. You can't trade him; no one will touch this guy's contract with a 10-foot pole. Heck, GM Garth Snow retired over the summer and his contract is counting towards the cap while he's on the phone in a suit.

Now what motivation does Dipietro have to improve his play? He's been average, and gets a big reward for it. He can now sit at home and stuff his face with potato chips and he'll still get paid over $4 million a year!

I thought it was funny when Wang said if Dipietro didn't sign by Friday, he wouldn't play in the 2006-07 season. Um, somehow with this deal, I don't think that was ever a problem.

You wonder what the lockout accomplished. Looking at this deal, not a heck of a lot. But hey, here's to Ricky D. If someone is dumb enough to give you that kind of money, don't ask questions, just take it.

I remember a former co-worker of mine, Christian, telling me about a plane hitting the first tower of the World Trade Center. My first reaction was it must have been some small airplane who lost its course or control, and accidentally rammed into one of the buildings.

Some time had passed and then someone said aloud, "Did you hear another plane hit?" My next thought was the first collision was no accident, and then I asked myself, "Am I witnessing the start of World War III?" Everyone at my work immediately tried to get on the CNN website to find out more information, but the computers were overloaded and no one could get updates. Our TV in the lunchroom can't even get CBC, so we found a radio and tuned into CFRA. News that a "suspicious package" was found at or around Parliament Hill made everyone worry as our work is situated right downtown. We were dismissed from work around noon (not that anyone was working anyway) and I headed home, then drove to my mom's to watch the events unravel on CNN.

A weird sensation was going through my body the entire day. You probably felt it, to. So many questions needed to be answered: Who? Why? What is this leading to? And of course we all wanted to find out if there were any survivors when we witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center and heard of the hijacked planes.

"We are all Americans", proclaimed French President Jacques Chirac at the time, alluding to the bond the industrialized & democratic nations share despite our differences of opinion on some issues. We all felt that this attack could have very well taken place on our own soil.

Times have certainly changed. After 9/11, nearly the whole world rallied behind the United States with unwavering support. But President Bush dropped the ball with his decision to invade Iraq, exploiting the 9/11 attacks for oil. Most of the world have now questioned the USA's intentions and leadership, and even their own citizens more and more see the decision to invade Iraq was a mistake. A recent poll mentioned in today's Sun showed that only 2% of Iraqi citizens feel the invasion of the USA was to liberate them from Saddam Hussein, while 75% feel it was to take control of the country's oil (they did not mention what the remaining 23% thought).

Anyway, I'm digressing a little with that last paragraph, but I'd be very interested to hear your stories & reactions when you first heard the news of the 9/11 attacks.

Towards the end of the OL SBP Invitational, the grinding out nature the game turned into started pounding my head. With the blinds as high as they were, every decision was huge. You were pretty much all-in or folding. Danny B., Dan P. and myself were the last three remaining from the original 10, all now in the money, fighting it out for that sweet bracelet and $100 top prize. Here are the key hands that led me down the path of glory!

With 900 chips left, 150-300 blinds, I moved all-in. Danny was quick to call with his A-K which had my A-Q suited dominated. But the flop had two queens in it giving me three of a kind, and I dodged a huge bullet. Luck was shining my way.

A turn for the worst came when I pushed 3000 of my chips into the blinds of 300-600. Danny called my pockets 4s with A-9. I thought he was going to be busted out after the first four cards were dealt until he hit a 9 on the river. I had less than a big blind left and thought I was done. The next hand I had J-3, not much to work with. Both Daniels called pre-flop. A Jack hit the flop and I had top pair, Danny bet out and Dan #2 decided to fold. Lucky for me, Danny was betting an outide straight draw and missed. I managed to triple up and still had a chance.

I moved in with A-8 and Dan P. called with K-10. Dan didn't improve and I had about a 1/3 of the chips on the table and was in contention again.

When the blinds moved to 500-1000 which was the cap, I pushed pre-flop withe Ace-Jack spades and Dan B. called with K-2 diamonds, a loose call but with the blinds as high as they were not the worst call, either. He didn't pair up and I also hit an ace on the river, knocking Dan B. out and making me virtually even with Dan P. playing heads-up.

The key hand not too long into heads-up action was PRESTO! pockets 5s. I pushed all-in and Dan quickly called with A-10. Two spades came on the flop with a five, giving me a set and putting me in great shape. The turn was the Queen of spades: Dan had to hit a Jack to make a straight to win. The turn was a Jack....of spades. We all thought Dan had won the tournament but it occured to me there were four spades on the board. Dan wasn't holding that suit, but luckily for me I was holding a 5 of spades, making my flush a better hand than his straight and leaving him crippled.

With few chips remaining in Dan's stack, we blind called the next hand which Dan doubled up, then the next hand I was dealt pocket 5s one more time. Dan called the few chips he had remaining holding Q-2, and he managed to flop two pair. The turn was a blank, but, you guessed it, another 5 came on the river giving me a set and winning the 2006 OL SBP Poker Invitational. Some crazy hands at the end, but lucky for me I was on the winning end.

Thanks so much to Kim for hosting, thanks to Marc for bringing his poker table, thanks to Alex & Kerri for bringing the healthy snacks, thanks to Holly & Danny for cutting their Calabogie trip short so they can make my tournament, and thanks to the other participants: Dan P, Jason and Susan (no cracked Aces with Ace-Ten this year!!!) for coming out, it was a lot of fun and we'll do it again!

You know all those times when you hear a song, bad or good (for some reason usually bad), it ends up stuck in your head and you can't get it out no matter how much you try? I remember my frosh week, the 2nd or 3rd night out and I was ripped. I got home late enough that the buses stopped running once I reached Gloucester Center, so that meant I had to walk home (about an hour). When I was trying to sleep once I got home, the combination of booze, fatigue and recollections of the night made it nearly impossible for me to doze off. The song by Rage Against the Machine, "Killing in the Name", was blaring in my head like I was still beside the speakers of Houlihan's (at least that's where the evening took place, I think).

Anyway, the song currently in my head is "Shut Up" by the Black Eyed Peas. Someone took that as their chosen track on my team's Ultimate CD and I can't get it out of my brain. It's catchy enough, but kinda cheesy at the same time. Still, I'd prefer to get it out and have something else take its place right now.

Lots of talk about an expanding NFL lately, and their commissioner suggested an appropriate expansion might take place outside of the USA. With one of the largest populations in North America, Toronto would seem like a good candidate. But, even though I know little about football, I do know something about the Big Smoke to realize this won't happen.

Well, it could happen I guess, but in all honesty the citizens of Toronto have shown time and time again they don't care for anything outside of their precious Toronto Maple Leafs. 40 years have passed without a Stanley Cup, and they still flock to the Air Canada Centre and have sellout after sellout. Their loyalty is true.

But even though American-based sports leagues, like Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, have infilitrated the Toronto market, they have proven Toronto doesn't care much for them, especially if they aren't a winner.

NBA's Toronto Raptors were the talk of the town when they played their first season. However, average attendance has dropped by about 6,000 fans per game since their debut. The Raptors lose, and Toronto becomes as flaky as Senators fans.

Everyone across not just Toronto but Canada watched the Blue Jays when they won back-to-back World Series in the early 1990s. But since then, and perhaps resulting a bit from the sting of the baseball strike, no fans go to the ballpark to watch them anymore. Even now, when they have a competitive team and new ownership put more money in to get more talent, Rogers Centre is nearly always less than 1/2 full.

There's also talk the CFL would die if the NFL came to town, but in my view it's already dead. The Argonauts are winning Grey Cup championships, and a big yawn can be heard throughout the city.

When something new comes to town, interest is shown, but that flash-in-the-pan interest is trumped by indifference every time. NHL rules, and nothing else. Even the Leafs' farm team, the Toronto Marlies, can't draw good attendance. They bid for the World Junior Hockey Championships, but few actually watch their OHL clubs.

If somehow the NFL awards an expansion franchise to Toronto, there better not be one cent paid by taxpayers to build a new stadium, or upgrade the exisiting one (it's already been said Rogers Centre is too small). Ontario taxpayers were milked for it when it was first built, and it always makes me roll my eyes when these billionaire owners get "corporate welfare" to build their stadiums while people who get a higher tax bill like me don't see any benefits from it.

Sorry Toronto, stick to enjoying your Leafs and why not cheer for the nearby Buffalo Bills while you're at it? I hear they need all the help they can get.

Ok, the NFL started tonight. Woo-hoo. Go Steelers!

But my Ottawa Senators have some potential legal troubles, so I have no choice but to write about it. Former GM Marshall Johnston, who left the Senators in 2002, says he was owed money from the final year of his contract and hadn't been paid. Of course, this was all during the time when the Senators filed for bankruptcy and Eugene Melnyk entered the fray and bought them. With that being said, Johnston has tried to get the NHL (aka head honcho Gary Bettman) to settle the claim, the Senators objected and no money was coming to Johnston. However, this December the case will be heard in Ontario civil court as he has decided to sue them himself.

What makes this interesting is that this has never happened before. Commissioner Bettman is appointed to settle these problems internally. So if Johnston succeeds in his suit, we may see all sorts of cases being heard in court rather than being dealt with the NHL.

Johnston was an ok GM. He made the trade that brought Spezza, Chara and Muckalt for Alexei Yashin which is probably the best trade in Ottawa's history, and almost landed Vincent Lecavalier in a deal that would have sent Bonk and Salo to Tampa.

I can't imagine Johnston being owed that much, so I don't see why they just don't pay him. But I guess the bankruptcy may have voided that, and if you open that door maybe other creditors should be paid, too. We'll see what happens when the case is heard December 5th.

I'm so glad I'm white collar. A pencil pusher. A presser of buttons. I helped Dan & Holly move to their new place today, and I'm dead. Near the beginning, Alex & I lugged the washer and dryer to the top floor (who puts their major appliances on the top freakin' floor?!). The dryer wasn't too bad, but the washer did me in. I managed to lose my grip three times because I was sweating so much, and I also managed to cut my thumb on it. (Sorry Alex!). My right forearm couldn't handle keeping up a bag of feathers after that. Yeesh. Like I said, pressing buttons throughout your day to make a living is the way to go!

Anyway, congrats on your new place guys. It looks great and I'm sure you'll love it. I'm going to bed now.

When we talk about 9/11, our focus tends to shift quickly to the tragedy of the two planes that struck the Twin Towers. Just under 3,000 lives were lost from what we now refer to as Ground Zero. The recently released World Trade Center took us to the ground of 9/11, depicting the many who tried to save the lives of others when disaster struck. United 93 takes us to the air, portraying in real time the actions of the brave & courageous passengers who prevented an even greater disaster from taking place many miles away from New York City. The power of film can be tremendous, and for viewers like me, reminded me of the loss of that hijacked plane that perhaps I otherwise might have forgotten.

Director Paul Greengrass, a relative newcomer to the Hollywood mainstream who gave us the superb Bourne Supremacy, gives us a "real" aura to the film by giving it a documentary feel to it. This was an excellent decision. We don't know the intricacies of the main characters of the film: we don't have the character who lost mom and dad in a car accident when they were 10 who's still mad at the world; we don't have another character recently released from prison who just found Jesus; we don't have another clichéd cardboard human being who just discovered the power of forgiveness. We see what feels like authentic people, reacting to the events in ways we would expect and perhaps not expect to. The picture does not rely on cheap, syrupy-sweet emotion to involve the audience.

The film starts with the hijackers preparing themselves for their suicide mission. As they board the plane and sit down, calculating their time to strike, we see their anxiousness and uncertainty of their actions. We will never know exactly move for move what happened, but the potrayal by Greengrass, again, seems authentic. These are not Die Hard terrorists oozing ego and machismo. These are men, regardless of the reckless disregard for the lives they want to take, that show fear & weakness but also undeniable strong faith in their mission.

A powerful moment in the film comes as the plane begins to descend, the passengers curled up on their seats, praying to God as the speed increases. At the same time, the hijackers can also be heard praying aloud. The question is asked: Are we all praying to the same One? Is there some sort of bizarre connection taking place that good & evil can share?

The final minutes of United 93 are perhaps some of the most intense and sad moments depicted on film that I can recall in recent memory. When the passengers charge the cockpit in attempts to stop the plane from crashing into the Capitol, I still had hope for them. Just briefly, you think to yourself, if they just had a few more moments, maybe they could also save not just the lives of those on the ground below them, but also themselves. You start talking yourself out of it though, because you then quickly remember the aftermath of this hijacking. But that's how powerful this film is.

As a closing thought, there are many who feel it is too early to be making films on 9/11. The families of the victims of United 93 all gave their support to Paul Greengrass to go forward with this movie and tell a story they feel needs to be told. If those families feel it is time, I don't need any other convincing. Simply put, this is a film every person must see.

Driving down King Edward yesterday, the welcoming of the University of Ottawa frosh begun, and it was a zoo. It took me 15 minutes to move less than 1km in my Jeep.

It's scary to think (for me anyway), that with the elimination of OAC, students are starting their post-secondary education so much younger. I was reading an article in the Sun where a few of the new students are as young as 17 years old. 17! I had zero idea what I wanted to do with my life at 17, a vague idea at 19 when I started my University career, and at 31, still kinda unsure of where my life is headed. I think maybe we're rushing the young to grow up too fast. By the time a 17 year old gets their undergraduate degree, they will be 21 years old and most will try starting their respective chosen careers. Do you remember what you were like at 21? Maybe I can just speak for myself, but I wasn't ready to settle down and start working 9 to 5.

And another thing...do students these days still bring a pen and paper to their lecture halls? It seems the trend is to bring your laptop, type furiously during the class, have your messenger hooked up and trade messages with other classmates (no more embarrassing notes being read in front of everyone I suppose). If the prof says something you're not familiar with, no need to interrupt the lecture, just google it and you'll get the answer in seconds.

On a slightly different topic, the one scent that reminds me September is here is the smell of new denim. Throughout my school years I'd always get a least one new pair of jeans in the fall, and its smell was the signal a new school year was beginning. Yeah, weird thing to say, but, it's true. I think I'm going to head over to Old Navy this week and pick up a new pair.

Not much else to add to that, except I'm taking your money TONIGHT!

It's kinda mean to celebrate failures but when it comes to the spoiled rotten American athletes of the NBA, I have to go out of my way to do so. They managed to take home the bronze medal in the World Basketball Championships, but quite frankly nothing less than 1st place for a team loaded with professionals should suffice. The teams battling it out for the gold medal, Spain and Greece, have a total of two and zero NBA players on their roster.

Way to blow it again, USA.

Anyone......anyone?