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

Bernard Lee hit the poker scene when he finished 13th in the 2005 World Series of Poker main event and got paid $400,000 for his efforts. He got a lot of air time during ESPN's broadcast of the event as his wife was having surgery, but still wanted him to go to Vegas to play. While playing in the tournament, he kept a photo of her and his kids at the card table and in every crucial all-in hand, he would tightly clench the photo of his family as his good luck charm, often yelling out in triumph when he won the hand. Since then, he's dedicated more time playing poker, and won the 2006 World Poker finals at the Foxwoods casino and has lifetime poker winnings around $800,000. He regularly writes a column for ESPN.

I decided to send him an email just to say I like the column he writes, mainly because I feel we play a very similar tight, solid style. I also mentioned I'll be playing at my first World Series tournament in June, and I asked if he had any advice he can give me for a tournament rookie both excited and nervous to be heading down. The very next day, he wrote back and offered to call me so we can talk in person. Awesome! I gave him my # and he wrote back asking what times would be good to call and I said evenings would be great.

Bernard called me two weeks later this past Thursday night at around 10:30pm. He sounded somewhat tired, and I remember reading he was playing in Los Angeles for a World Poker Tour event the next day so I really appreciated the time he took to call, although he first said sorry for taking this long to contact me.

He asked if I read any poker books and I mentioned I've read about a dozen or so, including the books by Dan Harrington and Phill Hellmuth. Hilarious that I said Hellmuth's book wasn't that great, to which he replied it was "junk" which sort of made me laugh inside. He said Harrington's Vol 1 book is excellent, and recommended I read TJ Clouthier's No-Limit and Pot-Limit championship book. He said he reads it before a big tournament and keeps it at his bedside, which is hilarious because for the two years I borrowed that book from Alex, I'd read a chapter or two before heading to sleep as it is one of my favourites.

For the tournament itself, he said he's going to be in Vegas for a ten day period and will be playing in the exact same tournament I'll be in! He told me he expects about 2,000 or so participants, and he recommended I take the time a day before to visit the Rio (this is the casino that is hosting all the World Series events) to watch a tournament in play so I don't get overwhelmed by all the bright lights and spectators that seem to watch your every move. Bernard also told me, while trying to explain he doesn't want to sound like a peddler, he's going to be teaching a 3 hour poker class the day before our tournament and if I'm interested I can participate. He was upfront and said it isn't free; $200, but he also said if I'm the only one that shows interest he'll take me on at the same price as he charges upwards of $1000+ for a private lesson. He also said if he busts out first, he'll come by to see me play and be a coach from the sidelines. Sweet! Bernard seemed genuine and very enthusiastic about the whole thing. He mentioned he has a number of people he contacts by email, some that want to be full-blown pros with the appropriate bankroll, others such as myself with just one shot at a dream and he respects that. Either way, he said he'd like to meet me in person and to contact him a couple of weeks before I head down to Vegas.

Bernard also talked about how the World Poker Tour has recruited him to be a teacher at their WPT "Boot Camp", where players pluck down several thousands of dollars to be taught by pros and he is also on a Boston radio station Tuesday nights doing a show about poker. He told me he's going to start officially calling himself a pro once he plays at the $10,000 buy-in Main Event tourney as right now he still holds down a full-time job.

I will likely take part in his class the day before the tournament...the experience I think will be worth it and having a pro on your side can only help. Not too many people know who Bernard Lee is, but he is very well respected in poker circles, and maybe once he earns that "sweet piece of jewellery" as he calls it, a WSOP bracelet, more people will pay attention.

The conversation ended with his cell phone cutting off, but he called me back quickly saying it's probably a sign he should be heading to sleep. I thanked him for the phone call, wished him luck at the WPT and told him he made my day with his call.

Vegas can't come too soon!

"I enjoy all meats from our cultural stew"

- Homer Simpson

John convinced me to give pho a try, so we headed over to Tu-Doc (not sure if I spelled that right) to sample some. The menu didn't have too much variety as all of it was beef, meat balls, tripe and brisket cooked medium rare or well done. And you know what? It actually wasn't half bad! The bowls were super big and loaded with rice noodles and you could add as much bean sprouts, basil, lemon grass and different sauces to it as you liked. Adding lime juice also gave it a nice flavour. It's good if you don't want to have a big dinner and it's pretty cheap, too.

Of course, it wasn't all experimentation tonight. Headed over to PÜR afterwards and ordered a Nutella crepe. They spread that chocolate all over it and folded it in half, topped it with powdered sugar and a side of whip cream. Good thing I had V8 and salad for breakfast and dinner, because I'm not sure if I could get away with that dessert otherwise...

25 years have passed since the 8 game Canada-Russia series that had an ending only the best story tellers could have written. Previously tied contests actually made a game 8 the difference maker. Canada was playing in hostile enemy territory. A final goal scored in the dying minutes of play. The hatred between the two teams was seen and felt on the ice. Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak, who was deep in the trenches during these battles, wants a new series to be played for a new generation of hockey fans. It would be nice if it could be recreated, but I simply don't think it's possible.

Forget the fact that there's still no player transfer agreement between the NHL and Russia. The Russians HATE the NHL right now, feeling they have not been fairly compensated for all their talent heading to North America. What if they could come to an agreement, even if it was tomorrow. Could the magic be recaptured?

The plan would be to play the series in August. First, NHL owners aren't terribly concerned about things such as a new Summit Series "for the good of the game". They fear their best players will be injured. They don't want them to miss training camp, and the players themselves won't likely give it their all, either. What if they don't have a contract? Would a broken leg in game 2 affect their chances of getting re-signed? Maybe it would.

Do they players real hate each other like they did in 1972? No, they don't. Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are buddies. Do you think Crosby will give a bruising check to Malkin if his head was down? I doubt it. It may turn into a glorified exhibition.

The players aren't in top game shape after having the summer off. Sure, the players constantly train and don't arrive to camp out of shape (well, at least if you're name isn't Tkachuk) but we're not getting them at their best. The 1972 series had this problem, but the raw emotion more than compensated.

Call me cynical, but I just don't think it's going to happen, and if it does, I think we'll be disappointed in the end result. Unless there's something in it for the players to motivate them to win...is good ol' patriotism enough for them to give us a good series?

I think they would just use it as a warm-up for the 2007-08 NHL season.

A couple of nights ago, John introduced me to the world of Facebook, a website where people "connect" with others based on school, region, employment etc. or just by chance. It appears to be primarily used by college and university students, but you do get the occasional 30 something (like myself) who decides to sign up so he can peruse the site and see what it's all about.

Thing is, the site is pretty dangerous. It is amazing how many personal details people are willing to put up and the amount of pictures of themselves and their friends all can see. Their birthdates, what school they attended, where they're currently working, phone numbers, schedules of their plans. It is a stalker's dream.

I like to browse through it to see if they are any old friends I haven't caught up with in ages to see how they're doing and what they look like and it's completely harmless. But I'm a harmless person, and not everyone else is.

Why do I concern myself about this? Guess it's something to write about...

For the last couple of years, my morning breakfast Monday to Friday would comprise of a 500ml carton of chocolate milk. For lunch, I'd usually head over to Subway and order a footlong roasted chicken caesar sub. On occasion (well, always), I'd order three cookies with it. And that was breakfast and lunch.

I'm a little more paranoid about my health now, and my eating habits didn't comprise of too many vegetables. So for the last few months, I changed it up a bit. And still head to Subway at the same time!

Breakfast I get a can of V8, which is the equivalent of three servings of vegetables according to the label. Lunch, I still head to Subway, but no more sandwiches. I'll pick up either a grilled chicken SALAD or a subway club SALAD (ham, turkey, roast beef). Doing this eliminates the five feet of bread I used to eat each week. Just think about...bread...five feet of it! That's a lot of yeast and wheat.

At first, I'd still be hungry, but slowly my body adjusted. And although I may not look all that different, knowing that I consume a lot more vegetables than before makes me feel a whole lot better.

And that's my new SBP diet. (Dinner, on the other hand, hasn't changed all that much!).

Playing at the World Series, if I last for as long as I hope, could require me to play three days until 2am. As part of my "training" (well, whatever), I thought it might be an idea to see what the effect of an energy drink might be in case I start feeling sleepy as the night winds down. There's nothing like playing terrible cards when you're half asleep.

So I tried my first can of Rockstar, distributed by the good people of Coca-Cola. It tastes sweet and goes down pretty easy, and while I don't necessarily feel more alert, my eyes feel like they've widened although I don't look any more awake then I normally do. But maybe I'll stay up until 3am tonight.

I'll try Red Bull as well and see how I feel after that.

Hmmm...is sort of like using steroids for poker?

Nintendo did right by not trying to compete in the overpriced Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 markets, and rather offer an alternative way of playing video games at a decent price tag. Plus, it was definitely cool they included a game with your system in the purchase price. When was the last time that happened?

Scott invited me over with some other buddies to try Bowling, Tennis, Boxing, Baseball and Golf (all on one CD) with using the Wiimote (very clever name) and "nunchuk", and boy is it a hoot. You don't move a joystick, rather you mimic real life movements with your arms/hands as you try to accomplish different tasks. Boxing is ridiculous, as you try to dodge and throw punches for three rounds. It's almost a workout...after two games I was almost sweating. And it was fun, which is what the Wii is all about.

People who don't normally play video games seem to like it. The games are easy to learn and get you off the couch as you wind up to throw a baseball, or take some practice swings before you take your approach shot to the green.

My only complaint is that the response time may not be as fast as you'd like, but it could be to do with the positioning of the sensors (Scott has his TV fairly low to the ground) but it's minor. I really got a kick out of the Wii, and, hmmm, I'll resist the urge to buy....for now! :)

PokerStars Tournament #45175167, No Limit Hold'em Freeroll Super Satellite 2868 players $3000.00 added to the prize pool by PokerStars.com Total Prize Pool: $3000.00 Target Tournament #45174927 100 tickets to the target tournament

Tournament started - 2007/03/21 - 18:30:00 (ET)
Dear Photograph17,

You finished the tournament in 377th place. A $5.00 award has been credited to your Real Money account. Congratulations! Thank you for participating.

Well, for a tournament that cost me nothing to enter, winning $5.00 isn't bad. So I took that $5.00 and entered a $4.00 + $0.40 180 person tournament to see how far it could take me. Well, a dry run of cards towards the end didn't help and I was severely short-stacked. With the blinds $75/$150 and holding $1005 chips, I pushed all-in with big slick, Ace-King. There were two others in the pot. The flop came 5-6-Ace. Nice! The betting between the other two continued. The next card was a Queen, which I didn't like. The other hole cards were turned over and to my horror, one of the other players was holding pocket Queens and made a set. A King on the river didn't help me beat it and I was gone. Finished 67/180. Oh well....thaaaaaat's poker!

David Fincher departs from the gore and shock of Seven and moves to the more dialogue-driven but still gripping story that is Zodiac, a roughly 2 hour and 45 minute feature about the real life story of the search for the serial killer known as the Zodiac. Communicating to newspapers and police precints using a crosshair as his signature, he demands his letters be published and reveals details of the murders only the true killer would know.

The events take place in the late 60s through the 70s in northern California, and Fincher's attention to detail to have the feel of the era come across on the screen is flawless. The audience is educated on the difficulty of co-ordinating efforts of different police forces: a simple task such as exchanging photographs of crime scenes ("Do you have a telefax? No, we don't. How about mail? Ok, you should get it sometime next week...) demonstrates how difficult it was to obtain leads, evidence and draw connections to each crime.

The cast is excellent, working with a well-written script that is perhaps packed with too many facts that causes it to slow down towards the ending. Still, Robert Downey Jr. as the journalist Paul Avery who was threatened by Zodiac, Jake Gyllenhaal as the cartoonist (yes, cartoonist) obessessed with finding the identity of Zodiac, and Mark Ruffalo as the lead detective in the killings stood out as my favourites among many.

I did get the feeling some of the audience, particularly the teenager/early 20s crowd, was perhaps getting a bit restless and was looking for more thrills that a movie such as Silence of the Lambs may provide. The opening sequences depict the first murder of a teenage couple parked in a secluded laneway certainly do grab your attention, as does the stabbings of another couple enjoying some time alone near a lake. While otherwise it may be lacking somewhat in the thrills department, knowing that we were witnessing a true life event made it more engaging for me, more than seeing blood could do. There's something about a movie that's depiciting real life events, knowing that what took place on screen actually happened, captivates me more. Especially, as with Zodiac, when it is well done.

I pre-ordered the new Nine Inch Nails album through the Itunes music store (you get to download their first single, Survivalism, to hold you over until the release date early April, which on a side note I think is terrible) and I'm already regretting it. And not just because of the quality of the first single.

A few months ago, I tried converting all my songs that are automatically put into a format Apple has rule over, I think called AAC, into standard MP3 format which uses less memory than AAC. It took some time, but I realized when it was over, I had all my songs in duplicate instead of just one file, and my Ipod mini was trying to put both on the player...not good. So I had to manually go into Itunes and delete every 2nd song in my folder (as fun as it sounds).

After all was said and done, later I realized I deleted BOTH files of songs for a few titles, including a couple I had downloaded and paid for off Itunes. The funny thing is, you can try to download it again from the Itunes store, and it keeps a record of all the songs that you downloaded from them before, but it won't let you do it again for free. You gotta pay the regular 99 cent price one more time.

If I had just bought a regular CD from HMV, I wouldn't have had this problem.

I pre-ordered the NIN album rather hastily but I won't do that again. If it's a recording I'm really looking forward to, it's nice not to have to worry about losing it due to computer or human error.

I think there will be day where everyone will just have one big hard drive hooked up to your TV, computer & stereo, and all your songs, videos & games will be kept on it. Convenient right? But what happens when you spill your Coke all over it? Do you start from scratch and "rebuild" your library? That can get quite expensive.

There's still a place for hard copy.

Either that or just download it illegally, I guess.

On my way for some Stuby's action, the ol' TJ wouldn't get going. I MSN'd Marc, and like a knight in shining armour, arrived in his new Rabbit complete with jumper cables and boosted the Jeep and all seemed good. Unfortunately, after I finished lunch the Jeep wouldn't start up again. Alex told me the taxi companies will boost your car for a flat fee, so I called Blueline and they sent someone over. It took several tries, but it finally started. The cabbie said it's either my alternator or battery but he thought it was the battery since it was fairly old and look run down. The boost cost me $25.

I had actually left the interior light on in my car which is what drained the battery, and it occured to me I haven't driven my car in over a week. Walked to work like usual, friends drove me to Ultimate, Milestones, 300, Zodiac and my St Paddy's day party yesterday.

It's an expensive convenience.

I love holidays (well, even if ones like these don't get you a day off), I can get away with one phrase, one pic posts!

Just got in from St Hubert's and Zodiac. Will write more tomorrow. Well, it's already tomorrow, so technically I didn't do a Friday post, I guess my claims of being a DAILY dose of SBP are all lies. Sue me!

- SBP

p.s. Nice choke job Leafs against the Caps!!! (Sorry Stan, the Leafs fans at work have come out of hiding when they noticed back to back victories this weekend could land them 8th place).

No matter who wins in this year's playoffs, everyone will point to the winner and say this team had the most heart, the most passion, the most desire, etc and deserved to win the Stanley Cup with no questions asked.

But the thing is, I'm of the opinion that pretty much every team in the NHL wants to win the Stanley Cup. And while there may be a handful of players that just want to cash their paycheques, I'd say 95% of the players have the desire and passion to go all the way and win it all.

Take last year's playoffs. Edmonton and Carolina played really hard. Did Carolina really have that much more desire to win it? No. I think Edmonton wanted it just as bad. Just like I think Buffalo, San Jose, Anheim, Calgary, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Montreal, Detroit, New York, Ottawa and all the rest of the teams that made the playoffs last year wanted it really bad, too.

Montreal won the first two games against Carolina in the 1st round of the playoffs, but when they lost Saku Koivu to injury from a high stick, it was over. It was an unlucky, accidental mishap that happened, and Carolina capitalized.

How fortunate were the Hurricanes when the Buffalo Sabres only had 2 regular defencemen suit up for game 7 of the Conference Final?

Or how about goalie Dwayne Roloson getting injured and the Oilers having to rely on backup Jussi Markkanen for the remainder of the Cup Final?

Some say these things don't make much difference in the grand scheme of things, and maybe they don't. But my point is, the teams are so close in their skill levels, where tons of games are decided in overtime with a result that could have gone either way, with lots of series ending in seven games, there's so little to divide the bad from the good that maybe luck plays more of a role than we think. Put it this way: If one of Anaheim, Detroit, Nashville, San Jose, Vancouver, Buffalo, New Jersey or Ottawa won the Cup, would anyone consider it an upset? No. And I just named off half of the teams that will compete for the prize this Spring!

It really is difficult to win, and expectations are high on all these teams. But really, most of the teams aren't that much better than the other. It's just a question of which pucks crosses the goal line for one team and which puck hits the post for the other.

A night of planning for my Vegas trip at Milestones ended with a decision to check out 300 at the cinema. This will be quick, as I really need to get to sleep, so here goes:

This movie is silly. I mean, there's quite a few scenes that come across as humourous and I'm not sure if that was the intention of the director. The violence and blood are just way too over the top, I found myself laughing at the beheadings because it came across as so ridiculous. The CGI can be quite poor. It displays the battlefields and soliders well enough with a yellow hue to give it that historical/comic book feel, but the blood looks like dirt and dissipates just as quickly.

The dialogue is also ridiculous. Every speech is trying to be epic and they like to yell a lot, speaking in cliches about dying for glory. And I don't know if this is very p.c. of me to say, but the costumes were quite gay. The mighty Spartans were bare-chested donning red capes complete with fur speedos. If they can construct swords, spears, shields and battle helmets, certainly some chest & leg armour might be a good idea? And when you see the King Xeres (I have no idea if I spelled that right and I'm too tired to look it up on Wikipedia), well, he's got a gold speedo, and he doesn't feel the need to wear a shirt, either.

They also have this modern rock guitar score, which is completely out of place for the few hundred B.C. time period the story is supposed to take place and is really distracting. The battles scenes have too many MTV quick cuts to my liking as well, but that aren't too long so you don't quite reach for the bottle of aspirin right away.

Anyway, I don't think there's really anything memorable here, and waiting for DVD is certainly an option. I hear they're planning a sequel, so let's start the jokes: shall we call it 301? 300 2? 400? 3000? .....

Ok, it's not the fact that it's $10.95. I hold down a job, and can afford it. But, where does it end?

My Sens have about 65 games on free tv out of 82, which is pretty good. For the future though, is there a guarantee that number will stay the same? I mean, if the Senators said to its fanbase there'll be five pay-per-view games per year and no more for future seasons, I'd be ok with it. But what I'm afraid of is that we'll get a situation like the Vancouver Canucks market, where there are about 25-30 games on PPV. That's a considerable amount. And if PPV really catches on, whose to say won't continue on in the playoffs?

But here I am, Tuesday night, wanting to watching a Senators game and the power to press a few buttons on my remote control to do so. Does my decision to buy it really matter that much in the grand scheme of things?

I hate PPV.

I'm sure many a Sens fans are claiming the sky is falling after yesterday's 4-3 OT loss. Pffff, whatever. Once again, the Senators over the span of the 8 game regular season series proved they were the superior team while the Leafs are desperately clinging on for dear life as they try to make the post-season.

The Senators were 5-1-2 against Toronto. They lost only once in regulation in those eight games. The other two were last night's overtime game and a shootout loss.

Senators outscored Toronto by a margin of 30 goals to 20.

Yesterday's game was the first time this season Ottawa didn't beat Toronto at the Air Canada Centre. The Leafs have been plagued by their inability to win at home (while surprisingly holding a decent road record).

Maybe this is the turnaround the Leafs were looking for. And for my Sens, a little struggle before the stretch just might make them a little more battle-hardened before playoff time. Last season, they entered the third period holding a lead for just under 50 games that they played, and they only lost two of those times, both in shootout/overtime. No adversity to speak of whatsoever. The struggles they've faced this year will make them better when playoffs arrive.

So enjoy last night's victory, Leafs. The Sens have bigger fish to fry.

I got me a pretty sweet deal to sneak in to watch the Sens-Leafs tilt last night. Kylie gave me a call and told me a co-worker had a pair of 200 level tickets with a face value of $140 each that she was willing to part for $200. That's still a little pricey for me, so I said I'd take both for $100, thinking she'd probably say no and it doesn't hurt to ask. But she accepted, and I got to go! Now, Rick was telling me via email he was going to his in-laws to watch the game on pay-per-view on their new 50" plasma TV so he couldn't go, but no less than one minute later Erin emailed me saying Rick could go see her parents alone and she'd take the ticket! Too funny. Anyway, Rick was sick as a dog anyway so he stayed home and I went with Erin.

I've commented to my friends at Sens games that one of the worst promotions they run in-between whistles is the Esso car racing contest, where contestants pick a coloured car and they watch an animated "race" on the jumbotron and the winner gets a prize. There's zero skill involved and the outcome is already pre-determined. Well, yours truly got selected to play, and knowing full well the "blue" car wasn't going to win at a Sens-Leafs game, I picked the red car to win and, sure enough, it did! I won $100 in Esso gift cards and got the ol' mug on the video screen for all to see. Combined with the Sens 5-1 spanking of the Leafs, all in all, a good time!

While going through my old blog entries, I came across this one written in November of 2005 that discusses WWE superstar Eddie Guerrero's passing. For some reason, it did not end up on the blog. I want to post it now, especially in light of the recent death of Bam Bam Bigelow, who's autopsy report released this week shows he had cocaine and anti-anxiety drugs in his system. Former wrestler Mike Awesome died at age 42 just two weeks ago by hanging himself. It's something worth talking about as the death toll is way too high in professional wrestling:

It still bothers me that someone as young as Eddie Guerrero passed away. This is too common a theme in pro wrestling...guys dying young. Whether it's a stunt gone wrong inside the ring, or a tragedy outside it, Eddie's premature death won't t be the last. The question most people are asking now is not "Is this finally the end of it?" but rather "Who will be the next to go?"

Being a successful pro wrestler isn't all glitz and glamour. It's a very difficult life that takes a toll on yourself, physically and mentally, and on your loved ones. Unfortunately, the attitude from WWE owner Vince McMahon is pretty much my way or the highway. Wrestlers take their health into their own hands in attempt to make sure their spot isn't taken by someone else. If you're a mid-carder and get hurt, it is not uncommon to be sent your walking papers while you're trying to get better. Take wrestlers Test (Andrew Martin) and Matt Hardy. While both guys were recovering from injuries they received IN THE RING, DOING THEIR JOB, they were fired. What kind of message is this sending to the guys in the locker room? The message certainly isn't "Take care of yourself", the message is indirectly saying: Take the pain pills. Don't opt for surgery, do a quick rehab instead. Wrestle with herniated discs and don't call in sick. Doing so will result in your termination.

What reward is there for guys like Test who give their 100% night in and night out to the point of being hospitalized, only to be told "See ya later" ?

Another drawback of this life is the time spent on the road. You're pretty much travelling to a different town every night, or spending all 24 hours of your day taking connecting flights back to your home so you can spend a scant few hours with your family, then head back to work for days or weeks at a time. Kurt Angle did a rather disturbing promo a couple of weeks ago on RAW where he talked about not seeing his daughter born or taking her first steps, and that his wife left him because he was on the road all the time. He did this to try to get the crowd to boo him, but it was somewhat reserved booing he received because the audience isn't that stupid. They know it's a tough life on families so the promo didn't go over very well and just left the fans feeling uncomfortable. It turns out Angle's wife DID in fact separate from him a few months earlier and wasn't making any of this up. Some people can handle this relatively OK, but others can't. It's normal for the guys to go out for a few drinks after a show, but sometimes it doesn't stop there. A few drinks becomes many drinks, and wrestlers get to know insider contacts for other stuff, whether it's pain killers or recreational drugs they want. Too many guys have taken this path because their pain, physical or mental, is simply too much to bear.

You might argue no one makes their choices but themselves, but I say no one has any intention of becoming a drug addict. No one has the intention of not being able to handle missing their family for long periods of times. A lot of guys think they're different, that they can handle it and they won't be the next Eddie Guerrero, but you honestly don't know until you get there yourself. Is there a task you thought you could undertake but ended up not being able to do it? Of course there is. If you were told missing the next few weeks of work would result in losing your job, but taking 6 or 7 pain pills a day could put you through it and you could still perform to earn your $250,000 a year pay cheque, would you say no?

The alarming death rate of wrestlers cannot be ignored. There is no union (and Vince McMahon wants it to stay that way). There is no pension. There is no worker's compensation. You are pretty much at the mercy of Vince when you are injured. No question, the salaries WWE pays when you ARE getting paid can be quite good, and I'm sure Vince thinks this compensates for all the other benefits the wrestlers do not receive. But there is no amount of money that can compensate for the loss of life the industry has endured or the hardships it has placed on families. Unless you are one of the top draws: the Hulk Hogans, the Rocks or Steve Austins of the company, you fear for your job at all times, and you fear if you can take care of yourself and your family if you can no longer work. I'm not sure what the answer is to this problem, perhaps a union could help solve some of these problems, but if there's anything certain, the status quo is not working.

You may have seen the ads on television: The good people at Pokerstars are hosting a free online poker tournament where they want to send a group of 10 Canadians to the World Series of Poker. They host daily "turbo" events to a maximum of 3000 participants. Because it's turbo, well, let's just say you have to catch hands pretty fast. A regular live tournament with 3000 players would probably take 4 days...online and in turbo format, it'll take no longer than 90 minutes. The top 100 advance to round 2. There are cash prizes to win amounting to several thousand dollars, and first place wins a free seat to the $10,000 World Series Main Event, all expenses paid. Hey, it's a longshot, but it's free! So I'm going to write every hand that I play and update as I go along. Here we go:

J-10 suited, 5 limpers, I call. Two clubs with a ten, not bad. Two people bet 120 chips, I don't like my kicker so I fold...damn, I would have made a boat! They bet with ace high and a flush draw! Geeez...

Pocket 3s...I limp, bunch of callers...raise from the button. 9 to 1 to hit my set...I fold. Damn, would have made three of a kind! Geeez....

Tons of unplayable hands. Man, everyone's playing junk though...

POCKET QUEENS! All-in...called by...6-7? I guess they are suited. I take his chips. 1500 to 1940 in chips...

Alex is playing too...he gets whittled down when his K-Q and A-4 suited don't improve...that sucks pal.

25 minutes in and blinds are already 100-200, damn. I'm at 1790 in chips...

27 minutes in and about 1/2 the field of 3000 have departed...

K-4 in the big blind, small blind calls...flop 3-4-7, small blind checks and I go all-in as he only has 900 chips left. He calls with 6-3, I improve to two pair and take his chips! 2770 is my stack...

I have pocket deuces! Damn...someone is all-in. Fold...good thing I do, he has pocket Jacks.

A-J suited! Someone pushes...damn...good thing I fold, someone had pocket 10s and made a full house!

K-J in the big blind, two callers. Flop A-4-5. People play their aces! No sense in bluffing, fold. Down to 1995 in chips, and I'm the table short stack! Geez, turbo is crazy. Blinds are now 200-400.

4-5 offsuit is my latest holding. Cards please! 1000 people left. If you finish at least in 478th place, you win $5! Blind are up to 300-600, have to push when I get a hand...

A-10 suited, I push...no callers! Stack up to 3140...

Can't play the hands in the blinds and I'm down to 1970. Blinds are about to be up to 400-800!

I have pocket 9s in the big blind! Small blind limps in...I push. He thinks about it and calls with Ace-Seven. Not bad...I'm about a 70% favourite. Oh geez...he hit a jack on the river to make a straight while I have the sucker straight. I finish 605 out of 3000. Oh well, it was free! Thank the Lord REAL poker isn't this ridiculous....

The whole point of the 2004-2005 lockout year was to curtail salaries and put a cap system in place so big market teams like the New York Rangers couldn't spend money on outrageous contracts on players who don't deserve it, so in turn, the small market (read: Canadian) teams can retain their star players they develop and compete on an even level with their large market counterparts.

Or so that's the way my thinking goes.

So when the Oilers opted not to re-sign Smyth for what was reported to be a dispute over $100K a year, I stopped and thought to myself, "What star players are the Oil spending their money on that they had to trade Ryan Smyth away to the New York Islanders?"

The Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames are flirting with keeping under the cap level with their current payrolls. The Montreal Canadiens have lots of cap space although in fairness, they will likely reach that level if they attempt to keep Sheldon Souray. Anyway, the Oilers roster currently has only 1 player making $4 million, and that's goalie Dwayne Roloson. The next player makes $3.6 million and that's centre Shawn Horcoff.

Contrast that to the Flames, who have Jarome Iginla at $7 million and Alex Tanguay at just over $5 million. The Senators have Wade Redden, Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson making $6.5, $4.5 and $4.7 million each.

My point of all this? It seems some teams are interested in spending to field a winner, and it seems the Oilers do not fall in that category and have no ability to keep their star players. The cap system was put in place to help teams like the Oilers: a small market Canadian team who'd cry foul when the Washington Capitals would sign Jaromir Jagr to an $11 million a year contract. How can they possibly keep guys like Doug Weight and Bill Guerin when they can't afford to pay that kind of salary?

The cap supposedly solved that problem, but the Oil currently have zero stars on their roster and don't look much different than the pre-lockout era. With all due respect to Roloson, he had an amazing Spring last year and not much else. Hemsky, Horcoff and Pisani are not in the same league as the Hossas and Thorntons of the league.

Despite a trip to the Cup final, Mike Peca and Chris Pronger left Edmonton and play elsewhere. All that was left of marquee value was Ryan Smyth, who played with the Oilers for over 10 seasons.

Now that he's gone, what does an Oiler fan have to look forward to?

You know how sometimes I know I'm getting older?

When I see people that I know are in their 40s or so, yet I can still see the youth in them.

It's hard to explain. Like tonight, I'm playing Ultimate against a guy who's probably in his early 40s. He's got a gut, his hair runs along the back and sides of his head while the top is as a bald as an eagle. But I don't see him as old. It's like you look at his face and you can see the young adult that's still there.

In a slightly different comparison, I see a girl walking down the street and I figure she's 16 years old. Then you find out later she's actually 25. It's like no one looks their age or something.

Am I making sense?

As I was watching my Sens *cough* *cough* CHOKE tonight after blowing a 3-1 lead heading into the third period, throughout the game the announcers were going on and on about how the logo for the Chicago Blackhawks is the best in pro sports.

Can someone tell me why? I mean, what's so special about it? Is it any better or worse than the Washington Redskins logo?

March madness is here. The television networks, as they do every March, are hyping the "one and done" basketball tournament as millions upon millions of dollars are poured into this event (forget the fact colleges don't pass the profits onto students to lower tuition fees or the athletes themselves aren't seeing a dime for their efforts) and the audience tunes in year after year. I tried taking it in for the first time last year, and I won't do it again.

Basketball already has a problem with too much scoring, so each basket isn't all that meaningful. You see games finish 115-100, so over 100 baskets have been completed over the course of the game. One goal in hockey, one run in baseball or one touchdown in football has the potential of being all that's needed to win. This can sometimes mean no one really give their full 100% until the final quarter.

With NCAA, this is compensated by the high energy of the young players and there are a number of mistakes made that make for entertaining basketball. Problem is, it comes to a streaking halt when there's about five minutes remaining.

If your team has the lead, there' s no sense in trying risk scoring any more points. Instead, you try to purposely foul the other team so they can throw for one point on the free throw line. You then try to score another basket, and if you don't, you purposely foul the other team again once they get possession so they can try for a free throw.

Again and again, until time expires.

Does this make for an exciting game? No. And I don't understand how people put up with it. The final minutes of the game should be tense and exciting. But it takes about 30 minutes to finish 3 minutes of game time and any interest is lost and the channel is changed.

Well that's just me; everyone else stays tuned in. They don't need a new fan or anything, but just FYI, I won't be trying to watch anymore.

Al Gore's message of protecting the environment and preventing global warming will always come under fire from conservative and right-wing crackpots who wish to preserve the status quo and destroy Mother Nature as it's their God-given right to do so. So when it surfaced Al Gore has a $30,000 a year utility bill, well, that man is a hypocrite isn't he?

Gore can talk about the fact he uses solar energy, compact fluorescent light bulbs and other items that reduce carbon emissions. But that is a moot point, because the press concentrates solely on that $30,000 he doles out for juice. He's a rich man living a life of excess.

I would view Al Gore as a hypocrite except I can see right through this smear campaign and see what the press is trying to do: Destroy Al Gore's reputation and in turn, destroy his message of being more environmentally conscience and have a livable planet to leave to the next generation.

The message makes too much sense, so if that can't be discredited, the logical step is to attack the messenger. Unfortunately for Exxon executives, I think the majority of the world is too smart to buy into it and feels there is a strong need to have environmental issues addressed at the highest level.

Regardless if Al Gore is heating a 20-room mansion.

- I have no idea who these people are, but any site dedicated to writing about the enjoyment of cupcakes is ok by me! http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

- I've missed two days at work this week, including today. Feel bleah. Living on your own kinda sucks when this happens, because you're coughing and sneezing and you have to go out on your own to pick up some Neocitran.

- Went to the Hurricanes-Sens game last night w/Alex with an assist by Kylie for picking up the tickets for my birthday. Alex got the Bret Hart screwjob the last game I went to so I made it up to him. Not much intensity, but the highlight reel save by Emery towards the end was really sweet.

- My bathtub has stubborn stains that I can't get rid of. I would never have mentioned something like that 10 years ago.

- I am reluctant to call anyone on a whim asking if they want to do something, because I have no idea what to do

- My work's morale is starting to get low, although mine is fine. I have to try to stop their morale from affecting my own.

- I'd like to thank U2 from coming to Scotiabank Place in November of 2005 as it seemed to alert other high-profile bands of the existence of Ottawa for a small period of time. I'm asking them to come down again as bands like The Police, Killers, Madonna, etc. are opting to play as many as three shows in Toronto and skipping Ottawa altogether.

Peace!