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

Tampa Bay really, really wanted to land Andrej Meszaros. At a reported 6 year, $4 million a season deal they signed him to, I have to wonder what the thinking was over at Lightning brass when they already had proven d-man Dan Boyle under contract for $6 million a season but shipped him off to San Jose earlier this summer. They could have held on to prospect Alexandre Picard and veteran Filip Kuba, the two players they sent to the Senators, and after training camp trade for the players they didn't want anymore.

But it's such thinking that perhaps makes me realize my incompetence in NHL logic and forces me to work a desk job. In any case, the Sens also picked up a 2009 1st round pick in a draft said to be the deepest in years, and I have to give kudos to GM Bryan Murray for getting a good return for Meszaros. No question, he is the best player in the deal, but Murray certainly didn't feel Meszaros is ready to be the #1 d-man for his team. Tampa Bay is strong up front, but if you just consider salaries, they think the 22 year-old Slovak is their #1 defenceman, from whom you cornerstone their back-end. I simply don't think he's ready for that sort of responsibility at such a young age and coming off of average seasons, and the Lightning are taking a huge gamble on this deal. But if he's the next Niklas Lidstrom, hey, they won the deal hands down.

I actually feel a lot better about Ottawa's defense then I did just a few days ago because acquiring two new defencemen gives Ottawa plenty of options. Philips, Volchenkov, Smith and Kuba are pretty much locks to be on the roster opening night. So the final two spots will spruce up some healthy competition between Picard, Brian Lee, Christoph Schubert, Lawrence Nycholat, Brendan Bell and Binghamton's Matt Carkner. Knowing there are players behind you nipping at your heels wanting a spot will no doubt push these players to be their very best. At least in theory.

In theory though, communism works, so we'll just have to wait for the start of the season to see how they do. This is probably the biggest Sens shakeup in the off-season in quite some time, and hopefully the core group and the new guys will mesh well and produce a contender for Sens fans.

All has been quiet the last few weeks in Sensland, but an article by The Hockey News that has been picked up by many "rumour" sites has made many Sens fans today discuss the look of the defensive corps of the Senators when opening night hits. It's starting to look like Andrej Meszaros might play for a different team after a rumoured offer sheet of $5 milion a season has been put forward by an unnamed team (some saying the Tampa Bay Lightning).

Of course, it's all just rumour and nothing more at this point, although Meszaros' agent offered a "no comment" when asked about the situation. But if there is really such an offer on the table, Ottawa would be stupid to match it and Meszaros would be stupid not to take it.

Players have to take into account their careers are very short and I don't blame them for wanting to maximize their salary. Every team though in a salary-cap environment has to be smart when they hand out contracts and they can't simply hand out a blank cheque. Especially when a player has shown potential, but not much more than that.

Meszaros had a pretty bad year last year and his sophomore year wasn't much better. So GM Bryan Murray has to weigh that in while at the same time realizing he's only 22 years old and has a lot of skill to be an all-star. But it's just potential right now, and a lot of teams have signed players to crazy contracts based only on this potential, and this is a good example of it.

If there's a $5 million a year offer on the table from another team, the Sens would receive a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick as compensation. As much as you may not want to see him go, I think Ottawa would be foolish not to accept it. And I also think that these draft picks could be very valuable to acquire a different player in trade.

Murray's reported offer of $3.5 million a year is very reasonable when you consider that's what #1 Ottawa d-man Chris Phillips makes while his partner Anton Volchenkov makes about $1 million less. He has to keep cap space open for trades and injuries so I don't think Murray is doing a bad job here.

But, there's not much you can do when another team is willing to overpay.

I'm not so sure about this project. I really like Oliver Stone's work, JFK and Natural Born Killers are two of my all time favourites, but do people really want a movie about George W. Bush now? I think it's too early. Some say the upcoming election will help box office but I think if people are bombarded with Republican vs Democrat stuff on TV and the news, how eager will they be to have to pay for it at the theatre? Hard to say...in the end I just want a good movie, so hopefully it'll deliver the goods when it comes out October 29th. And hopefully Stone can get back to his Academy award winning form that has eluded him lately.

It's pretty safe to say most of the mainstream entertainers: actors, actresses, musicians and the like, tend to be liberal and can be fairly vocal when voicing their political opinions.

I really think though, in my humble opinion (or IMHO), that they should just keep their mouths shut.

Take the latest "scandal" involving Madonna's music video that incorporates Presidential candidate John McCain in a montage where he is being compared to Adolf Hitler amongst others. His election rival, Barack Obama, is portrayed in a positive light, as Mandela and Gandhi are shown in clips alongside the Democratic hopeful.

I just sort of rolled my eyes when I heard this. Madonna has every right to express herself and so be it if she decides to roll this video during her concerts. But is it going to hurt or help Obama's chances?

If anything, I think this gives McCain more sympathy from undecided voters. Regardless of what you think of McCain (and I don't want him to be the next President), it's a cheap tactic to compare him to Hitler, as no one in their right mind really thinks of him of being that evil.

I equally cringe when Hollywood types announce their endorsement of a liberal candidate. Aside from the fact I don't think many will change their political opinions because of who Al Pacino voted for, I do think it gives the middle-class right wing mother and father a reason NOT to vote left. We are bombarded by things such as tales of rampant drug use and sexual scandals coming out of Hollywood, then these same people tell us to vote Obama. Yeesh. The types of voters you want to go after are the church-going families who have a sense of moral righteousness, and they comprise a LOT of the United States. Whether you agree with their beliefs or not, bottom line is having Charlie Sheen tell you who to vote for isn't going to win any of them over, and instead drive them further away.

Hollywood should just smarten up and shut up. They're doing more harm than good.

I'm pretty hammered right now...I'll post this video instead of trying to write anything that makes sense. Runs just under 4 minutes and contains profanity! Chris Rock is da man!

I shall observe the tenants of Tae Kwon Do: Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, Indomitable Spirit

I shall respect my instructors and seniors

I shall never misuse Tae Kwon Do

I shall be a champion of freedom and justice

I shall help build a more peaceful world

I shall kick the ref's ass for disqualifying me for enforcing the rules during the bronze medal match at the Olympics:



Which part of the student oath did I make up? Hmmmm....

- Beijing 2008 is drawing to a close. I really didn't care for it much at the beginning but as time went on, I found myself looking up results and tuning it in on the TV when I had some spare time. Canada doing poorly at the start may end up being the best thing that could happen to Canadian sports, as I'm pretty sure there will be more pressure put on the Feds to provide more funding for athletes, especially with Vancouver 2010 just around the corner. Over the long haul this might result in more medals for Canadian athletes for future Olympics.

- Wrestling has the stupidest rule to decide a tie: If the score is tied after the three rounds are finished, the individual who got the last point wins the match. What!? What about, how's this for an idea, having a TIEBREAKER, where the first person to get the point after the allotted time or whatever actually wins!?! Canada got screwed out of a bronze medal for that very reason.

- I read a very nice article in the Sun about how the organizers of table tennis will force all female competitors to wear short skirts to attract more viewers. I don't know, call me old-fashioned, but I think if you're broadcasting a sport, it should be about the sport. If you need scantily-clad athletes to draw any attention, you should just scrap it. I think these sort of sideshow regulations cheapens the sport in question and also discourages otherwise talented athletes to participate because they are self-conscience about their appearance.

- Those Chinese gymnasts are under 16 folks: Just look at them. Aside from that, at least two Chinese gymnasts were registered under Chinese sports lists as being born in 1993 and 1994 several years in a row, but all of a sudden their birth date is 1992 according to the Associated Press. Some don't quite understand the age rule but the reason is the human body isn't designed to take all the twists, flips, contortions and high impact manoeuvres at such a young age 24/7...it's going to affect their body development later on in life.

- I didn't think it was possible, but here it is: a North Korean shooter was caught using a banned substance and lost his two medals he won in the 10 and 50 meter air pistol competitions. What could he take to help him with shooting? Propranolol, which apparently reduces trembling. It doesn't matter what sport or hobby it is, people will just cheat until the day they die.

Most people are paying attention to the Olympics right now and not so much on a tournament that won't get started for another two years. But after witnessing the 2007 U-20 championships and the possibility of getting an MLS franchise in Ottawa, it made me think about Canada's chances on the world stage of soccer. No team has represented Canada at the World Cup since 1986, a very long time ago. What are the odds this time that can change?

Turns out Canada has, according to many sports journalists, one of the best teams they've assembled in some time, and have a legitimate chance to make it to South Africa in 2010. Only three teams representing CONCACAF (North & Central America as well as the Carribean) can participate, with the chance of a fourth team depending on a series playoff with the 5th placed South American team. As it stands, 12 teams remain in CONCACAF qualifying and Canada is grouped with Mexico, Honduras and Jamaica, considered the toughest out of the three groups.

So two teams out of this group will advance after each team plays each other twice, and Canada only managed to tie Jamaica 1-1 in front of a sold-out Toronto crowd in their first match. It was an exciting game with a lively crowd, capped by many near misses by the Canadians who had an unfortunate goal scored on them to only get one point for a draw. Canada does need to get some points against Jamaica as well as Honduras, as Mexico is considered the giant and should advance with little problems.

Consider the SBP archives your Canada 2010 World Cup qualifying headquarters. I intend to watch every match (had to hunt a little for it last night, it was on Sportsnet Pacific) and report on how they do. You can see the talent on the field, and if they had a few bounces go their way last night they would have easily had the victory. Hopefully they'll tighten it up and advance to the final six.

- My work has it's own intranet server where the home page has a "picture of the day" submitted by an employee. It's all well and fine, except about 90% of the photos are lame, lame, lame. Everyone sends pics of their frickin' pets! I don't need to see a closeup of your schnauzer, thank you. I like original pictures, like my colleague Derek who submitted a photo of him holding a 72 oz steak he had to finish within an hour to get it for free (only could get 1/2 way through though, but he tried!). Now that's art!

- What's up with global-warming deniers? Should they be labelled the same as those who think the holocaust never happened? Even if it's just "coincidence" that temperatures are rising and has nothing to do with the way we harm mother nature, is it a bad thing to ask people to recycle, walk instead of taking a car or using energy efficient appliances? I mean, if it won't affect climate levels, it should at least make our air, land and water cleaner.

- Played the last two games of summer Ultimate on Sunday and our team fared quite well, we were unanimous in thinking we played our best effort all year that day. I actually felt very good out on the field the last few weeks and the only thing that I changed that could have helped me was Gatorade. Yup...I'd been bringing plain old water every game but during the last month sports drinks have been getting the call. A performance enhancement substance perhaps?

- Scott was very cool (well, he's always cool) to lend me Call of Duty 4 for the 360, and let me tell you, the game is awesome! One thing that helps make the game more involved is how chaotic it can get. There were many times guns were blazing and noises were coming from all sides that it was very difficult to distinguish your allies from the enemy, and a few times I took down friendlies in the heat of battle. I can only imagine how easily this could happen in real life.

Couple of funny exchanges at the wedding on Saturday:

Me: Hey Dave, great to see you. Remember those University classes we used to take?
Dave: Um, yeah.
Ben: Yeah, we would talk Simpsons and had to contain our laughter before the professor would throw us out. Remember that?
Dave: Actually, no, sorry no I don't remember that.
Ben: Really? It was more than just one class, we took three classes together I think. You don't recall?
Dave: I'm sorry Ben, I really don't remember that. But...I was dropping a lot of acid at the time.

Myra: Ben you are a very nice guy, and I can't believe you're single. If polygamy was legal in this country, I'd ask you to come join me.
Me: ...
(Trust me, she sounded just too 'matter of fact' to make me think it was a joke at first although I'm sure it was!)

The first few days at the Olympics were pretty trying for Canada. No medals, nothing but excuses and stories about athletes achieving "personal bests" which seemed very distant from what the rest of the world was doing. But, just a couple days later and all of a sudden Canada is doing okay, and as I write this Canada has won nine medals and are in the top 20 worldwide.

Just before that, I had the thought, as did some of my other friends...now into our 30s, there's no way we can train and be ready for a 100m dash or a 42K run (well we can do it, but, we can't exactly finish in world class times). So what can we do?

We can shoot things!

Whether a clay pigeon or a bullseye target, how difficult can it be, really? I read an article about how a Canadian woman in her 50s participated in Beijing in women's trapshooting after 30+ years of competition. And didn't Geena Davis come close to making the USA archery team a few years ago?

That's the ticket...SBP with a gun. Or bow. What do you think, should I give it a, ahem, shot?

I have no idea why our ears looks so big in that last picture, but no worries. Good times! Congratulations Ben & Calista!

I was reading an article about how a Swedish wrestler got so upset with the judges at his event where he lost in the semi-final to the eventual gold medalist, he got off the podium and threw down his bronze medal, saying all he wanted was gold so his Olympics were a failure. He also said he would quit the sport as he was so disgusted by the horrible judging.

I didn't see his match, and I have no idea if his complaints are justified. But I was thinking: wouldn't it have been hilarious if it was a Canadian wrestler who acted this way? Five days without medal, we finally land a bronze and we then throw it away. I bet all of Canada House would have rushed the stage and dove on the medal to retrieve it.

Must be pretty sweet to be from a country where medals aren't too hard to come by.

I've been screaming, dying, for something ANYTHING hockey/Sens related to talk about. After Antoine's Vermette signing, there's really not much else going on. We have to sit back and wait to see if Andrej Meszaros will re-sign with the team before camp starts. Some free advice for Andrej: Don't sit out. Don't ruin your reputation if you feel your contract isn't big enough. Your unrestricted free agency rights are coming to you very soon, but for now, the Sens are calling the shots and your negotiating power will diminish if you get the reputation of a whiner. And don't forget, your solid rookie year has been overshadowed by your last two seasons of sub-par performances.

So the pre-season schedule has been released. Here's when the Sens play:

Sep 20, 2008 vs Rangers

Sep 22, 2008 @ Rangers

Sep 24, 2008 vs Flyers

Sep 26, 2008 @ Canadiens

Sep 27, 2008 vs Canadiens

Oct 2, 2008 @ Frolunda (Sweden)

Yup...ummm...yeah...indeed, how about that local sports team? Man, I don't know how many more baseball highlights I can take. The NHL season can't get started soon enough.

A recent entry on Forts' blog brought back memories of a B-movie quality title called Army of Darkness, the third entry in the Evil Dead series. Released back in 1992 with four years of video store experience under my belt, this was probably one of the first films where I witnessed from start to finish a true cult following after a dismal performance at the box office. Cheesy acting, special effects, dialogue...what's there not to like? Even today, hopes of a part four are clinged to by fans and the now 50 year-old star of the picture, Bruce Campbell, doesn't dismiss the possibility. In the interim, he's releasing a movie this year called My Name is Bruce where he is mistaken for his movie character Ash and ends up having to fight real-life deadites in his home town. May or may not be good, but for now, let's compile some fun quotes from Army of Darkness:

"Maybe, just maybe, my boys can pull this off. Yeah, and maybe I'm a Chinese jet pilot."

"Hail to the King, baby."

"First you wanna kill me, now you wanna kiss me. Blow."

"Gimme some sugar, baby."

"Well hello Mr. Fancypants. I've got news for you pal, you ain't leading but two things right now: Jack and shit... and Jack left town."

"Well that's just what we call pillow talk, baby!"

"Now listen up, you primitive screwheads. This...is my BOOM stick!"

"You found me beautiful once."
"Honey, you got real ugly."

I also discovered this Old Spice ad with Bruce Campbell on Youtube...not sure if you caught it but a lounge act involving Duran Duran is always a good idea!

Canada produces the best athletes in the world that carry a stick and puck, but everything else, it's hit or miss.

I've read articles where, at the 2008 Olympic games, Canadian organizers are hoping for a "top 16" finish.

There's the cry of a champion.

In fairness, I think almost everyone doesn't think Canada to do all that well medal-wise in Beijing. Expectations are low, with only a couple of legitimate gold-medal contenders (contracts that to American swimmer Michael Phelps who's expected to win eight gold on his own) and the thought if a few athletes have a breakthrough showing (read: do better at their sport now then they ever have leading up to the big show) maybe Canada will do better than expected.

Is it time for Canada to change its attitude towards sports?

Everyone always points to funding the Canadian government DOESN'T provide. Almost every industrialized nation spends a healthy amount on their athletes but Canada is the red-headed step child in this area. The thinking behind it, from my understanding, is that spending on sports would cause spending on more important things like education and health care to slide. We have priorities, after all. But is this really true?

I mean, if you look at places like Australia, France, Great Britain...no one there has a problem getting access to health care and they have a good haul of medals so far. So why does Canada have to be different? The American NCAA system produces world class athletes at a phenomenal rate but at a sacrifice to affordable education for the average student, but as mentioned, this doesn't have to be the case here.

I'm sort of "meh" on the Olympics as many of you know. But maybe the main reason is that it's just hard to watch the athletes you're cheering on when you know there's little chance of them actually succeeding. Sure, some will say just being there is an accomplishment and you should be proud of the athletes regardless, fine.

But c'mon, there's a reason why they hand out medals at the end.

There is nothing more maddening that calling an automated telephone operator when you're trying to get some customer service. Voice prompt this...punch in your number that...sorry I didn't hear you, can you please repeat your request? And then when you finally a reach a live person, they ask EVERY question you already answered to the computer, making a complete waste of the 15 minutes you've already spent on the phone.

Now I have to give Rogers credit for what happened yesterday, as I usually just complain about their customer service. See, my internet was down (I'm not going to applaud them for that, read on!) and after a few hours, I decided to call, dreading doing so because it can be so hard to reach a live person. Anyway, there was a voice prompt (which changed from a male to female voice from the last time I called) and asked me to describe the problem. So I said, "Internet connection problem." And get this...I WAS PUT THROUGH TO A TECHNICAL SERVICE SUPPORT PERSON IMMEDIATELY! No waiting or putting on hold, one ring after the prompt and someone picked up and was willing to help. Turns out my entire street was down and he offered to send an automated call when the service was back up. Done. I did get that call later and it was all good.

So imagine that...you call when you have a problem and someone is there to help. What a concept!

20 years ago…when I was just a wee lad of 13, having completed grade 7 and my first experience in French immersion, awkward as many of us were in our first years in high school. Many people say they can remember where they were when they first heard the news Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings. I can’t quite remember it that well, but I do remember one thing: I was pissed.

At the time, I was what I would refer to as a reasonable, level-headed hockey fan. My favourite team was the Montreal Canadiens, followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and pretty much any Canadian hockey team that was still in contention in the playoffs. So when the Habs were knocked out each year (exception being their 1986 Cup win) I’d usually cheer on the Oilers to defeat an evil American opponent (usually the New York Islanders). And of course, we all knew Wayne Gretzky as the best and most famous athlete Canada has ever produced. It was hard not to like the guy.

When the trade was announced, the first person this awkward 13 year-old snot-nosed kid pointed a finger at was Gretzky’s new wife, Janet Jones. Yes, that no-good Hollywood actress wannabe did not have Canada’s best interests at heart when she married Wayne. Instead, she was nothing more than a no-talent, gold digging skank and I couldn’t believe Wayne was letting her dictate his life (Janet, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry. I saw you decked out in Roots Canada clothes every Winter Olympics cheering on your husband and were probably one of Canada’s biggest supporters, even though you are American). Of course, I had no basis for these accusations, other than what rumours circulated in the media (local TV and newspapers; there was no internet at the time!) and it ended up just revolving around what it usually revolves around: money. Oilers owner Peter Pocklington had an opportunity to make tons of dough by trading Gretzky, and still have a competitive club at the same time. Years later, he says he regrets it, but like many old, rich white men, it’s hard to believe them when they speak.

Anyway, some say this trade ended up being an overall good thing for hockey and the NHL, as more teams play in the United States and participation seems to have increased in their general population. To an extent, maybe, but I argue this trade actually weakened the sport in the country where it mattered most. Soon afterwards, Winnipeg and Quebec City would see their franchises move to the States. We started hearing of the term “small market” to describe Canadian franchises as expansion loomed, something fans never heard of before. Hockey started to have dollars and cents dictate everything, and during the late 90s-early 00s, Canadian hockey fans outside of Toronto had to endure countless rumours of their team being moved to cities that simply didn’t care about hockey. Things rebounded eventually, but still, with games being played in front of half-empty arenas in places like Atlanta, Phoenix, Florida…maybe if Gretzky stayed put perhaps we’d still be talking about the Jets and Nordiques, and maybe Hamilton and Halifax would be on the NHL map.

Gretzky still recognizes how important hockey is to Canada, and continues to selflessly volunteer his time for Hockey Canada & various charities in his home country and always talks about how much he missed Edmonton when he was dealt. He didn’t have much say in being traded on August 9, 1988, and I’m sure if there was something he could have done to have stopped it, he would of. He knew that, while humble in all the gifts he was given as a hockey player, Canada lost a bit of its soul that one day in Canadian sports history.

- A fun weekend lined up for SBP. Saturday night we got my main man, Georges St Pierre, in his first title defense since his historic win in Montreal, along with Brock Lesnar making his 2nd UFC fighting appearance. Sunday, it's a music double bill at Scotiabank Place, with Billy Idol and Def Leppard taking the stage. What else can you say except, "Nice!"

- I picked up The Orange Box for my Xbox 360, and for $40 it is one sweet deal. You get three episodes of Half Life 2, a puzzle game called Portal which is extremely addictive, and an online game called Fortress 2 (don't play online though so I haven't given that a try). I love the first person shooters so this was definitely a nice pick up.

- How many people do you know would substitute for an Ultimate game on a Monday long weekend? SBP, that's who. Unfortunately, it's also a reflection on how much spare time I have. Don't be shy to get in touch with me if you're up for something.

- Anyone going to bother tuning in to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics at 7am tomorrow? Me neither. By the way, about one-third of the Canadian athletes feel the same way and won't be attending the ceremony

- Speaking of the Olympics, this is likely the first time I won't bother watching any of it, even though it was mentioned to me it might be worth it just to watch in HD. It's been said many times before, but the fact that it's being held in Beijing where journalists are told what they can and cannot say & do, where half the factories are shut down and half the cars are being told to keep of the roads because the pollution is so bad, is a reflection of how corrupt this whole "process" is. I sincerely hope the Olympic committee has learned it's lesson and won't considering a country like China hosting it again.

- Greyhound had to pull an advertising campaign where it's tag line was something along the lines of "Have you ever heard of bus rage?" Bad timing.

- Sick of the Mats Sundin saga? The guy had since April to make up his mind on what he wanted to do. What's taking him so long? Just make up your mind already. Even Steve Yzerman chimed in, saying if you have doubts just play otherwise you'll regret it. Agreed.

Hmmm, it's 30C outside, the humidity is making everyone sweat, the sun is beating down on our skin...better BREAK OUT THE SCARVES!

If it's fall, winter, maybe even spring...okay, you want to look fashionable, by all means, put on your scarf (if you're really uppity, maybe you'll choose only ones made of silk).

But many are taking it too far. A couple of weeks ago while at a pub, a newcomer arrived at our table after walking down to meet us, and the first phrase out of her mouth was, "It's really hot out there!" So of course, because I have no idea what the latest fashion trends are, I say, "Well geez, why are you wearing a scarf!?" This is when it was explained to me it's fashionable to wear one in scorching heat. Huh? What? Who cares?!? It's summer people! When you have to sacrifice fashion for comfort, it's a waste of time. Do yourself a favour, save your scarf for winter, bare your neck, and enjoy your summer!

I think you might have to endure a commercial before this clip, but after re-visiting the hilarious Triumph visit to the Attack of the Clones premiere line-up in New York City, I decided to check to see if Triumph is still producing comedy, and indeed he is. Some funny lines here from the 2008 Comic-con in San Diego.

(video removed)

And check this clip out. It's a slightly amusing parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Conan O'Brien. AND THEY STEAL MY BIT! Let's see if my friends can figure it out:

(video removed)

Before:



After:



Once again, Rob comes through with the dishwasher installation. "It's easy to do buuu-ddy!" as he pulls out his blowtorch. Whatever you say; it's done. Thanks again man.

Most of my friends know I'm not much of a drinker. I'd grab a chocolate milk before a Bud light. Sometimes, I get grief for it but overall, most respect my decision. Anyway, I'm going off on a tangent, because I didn't want to talk about me!

In Ontario, you can't go to the corner store to go buy a 6-pack as only licenced vendors have the right to sell alcohol. Originally, I thought both of these franchises: The LCBO and the Beer Store, were all controlled by the Ontario government. While some might say it should be in private hands, I don't have a problem with the way booze is sold in the province. The main reason is that alcohol, being a very lucrative & profitable venture no matter where you go, benefits its citizens here since all profits go back to the province to pay for hospitals, schools, roads, etc. Instead of Bill Gates using the money to buy another condo in The Turks & Caicos Islands (remember them?), it makes more sense to me to build another hospital.

But guess what? This isn't all true. Maybe you're aware of it, but I certainly wasn't until recently. The Beer Store is owned by Brewer's Retail Inc. The shareholders of this corporation are as follows:

Labatt: 49%
Molson/Coors Brewing: 49%
Sleeman: 2%

Now this is a pretty sweet deal if you are one of the owners of The Beer Store. I mean, you get to mark up your prices at every level of distribution. Labatt and Molson sell the most beer of any brand to start, and how big a chance does a microbrewery have in topping their sales when their competition are the ones responsible for selling their product? In addition, their only retail competition is LCBO, however, selection isn't as good and prices are pretty much the same.

There are some good things to come from this set up, for example, being under provincial scrutiny they have one of the best recycling programs for any retail chain, taking back almost 100% of all packaging needed to sell their product. And some argue that by having limited means to acquire alcohol by having higher prices, it helps curb alcohol consumption. Is it fair to say we'd have more alcoholics if it cost just $10 for a 24 pack of Blue? Probably.

But...I just have a problem with this scenario because there is no competition and really, unless you're close to a provincial border, you really have no choice in the matter. I think the LCBO could compete against any private retailer, and as I mentioned before, the benefactors are hospitals and schools so I think many would definitely take that into consideration when they choose where to shop. The way most beer is sold, it's simply a monopoly, and I'm not sure how much the province benefits when all proceeds from sales are headed back to the shareholders of Labatts and Molson's.

And that's my two cents during this long weekend.