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

What a great concept...the idea that telemarketers can no longer call you up to peddle a credit card with an 21.5% interest rate or getting informed that you've won a trip to Florida so long as you attend a "brief" meeting that peddles timeshares. All you have to do is register your phone number, and you can do so by clicking here.

Now it isn't perfect. You can still get calls from newspapers selling subscriptions, charities, any business where you've had dealings with in the last 18 months, political organizations and marketing/polling firms. And you need to renew your request to be kept on the list every three years. But still, if I think about all the telemarking calls I've gotten in the past, most of them are about signing up for a new credit card or switching to a different phone provider. So if they're no longer allowed to call you up for that, I'm all for it.

But going further...those automated phones with the two second "pause" before you hear a live person lessened the nuisance for me somewhat. If I don't hear anyone after I say "hello", I usually hang up knowing full well a computer just dialed me up. So at least I'm not talking to someone trying to peddle me their junk.

It will be interesting to see how many less phone calls we'll get from this list.

The Luke Richardson signing (a two-way deal, at the league minimum) may not seem like a big deal, but to me it reveals a much bigger problem with the way Senators management and coaching view the defensive corps of the Ottawa Senators.

No one, myself included, thought Richardson had much of a chance to make the team, especially when you consider he was a healthy scratch during the playoffs and he enters the league this year as one of the older players at age 39. Yes, he provides veteran leadership and can be a great mentor for the younger players on the team, but he can provide all those intangibles in some form of coaching or front office capacity.

What this signing means to me, is that it illustrates the lack of faith the Senators have in their young defensemen they have either drafted or acquired via trade, or perhaps even with the more veteran guys they have now like Christoph Schubert.

The home-and-home games they played against the Montreal Canadiens over the weekend were eye opening. Losing 5-0 is never a good thing, while the headline I did not want to see in today's paper, "Pizza Line Reunited", well, was the headline I read regarding their 3-1 win Saturday night against a depleted Canadiens lineup. There was much talk before training camp started about how they needed to get their scoring from different lines to have a better chance at winning, and already they have to reunite Spezza, Heatley and Alfie in the pre-season? This isn't a good thing.

On a positive note, the Ruutu-Bass-Neil line has the potential to be the best energy line in the NHL. They won't put up a lot of points, but their crash-and-bang style can wear out their opposition and they might be able to lure opponents into taking more penalties than they'd like.

We shouldn't look too much into the pre-season, after all, Ottawa finished 7-0 last year and that didn't mean a whole lot after getting swept in the first round of the playoffs. The real season gets started after one more pre-season game on Thursday, and they'll follow that up with back-to-back matches against the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the regular season. With anticipation, and some trepidation, I look forward to tuning in this Saturday for their first game and of course seeing who will make the final roster cut leading up to it.

That's what she said...

For what translates into roughly $1500, you no longer need to fear falling if you get to the position where you can't get up.

The Sens had a very strong lineup with only a few regulars scratched while the Philadelphia Flyers opted to sit most of their first line players (Richards, Carter, Gagne, Timonen) and the Senators put on an expected strong showing despite winning only by a margin of 3-1. Coach Hartsburg was keen on figuring out who can run the power play on the point, giving Brendan Bell, Brian Lee and Filip Kuba most of the ice time when they had the man advantage. Bell looked good in the offensive zone, but he made a lot of Redden-type giveaways in his own end (one that allowed the Flyers to score the first goal). I'm guessing he'll be the 7th defenceman once everything is said and done. Alfredsson played his first game with Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette. They seemed to mesh well together however Chris "Hands of Stone" Kelly can't really be counted on to score too many goals, so he'll have to be the guy to jam the front of the net and grind it out along the boards which he was average at tonight. Jesse Winchester scored his first goal of the pre-season by shooting towards heavy traffic and getting a lucky deflection, but nonetheless still showed promise as Spezza and Heatley's linemate.

I got concerned seeing Gerber let in the first shot of the game and he seemed to have a lot of deer-in-headlight moments where he had no idea where the puck was. But, he did get some good bounces and maybe with his new mask, he can channel the force to make sure the puck hits a post or crossbar a couple of times. Man, I am really crossing my fingers he won't stink it up this year. When he's on a roll he's excellent, but consistency has always been his problem. I'm hoping already being anointed the #1 goalie will allow him to concentrate on his goaltending.

So the Sens have two more games before heading to Sweden. In less than 10 days they'll be playing the first regular season game and I'm getting excited for it, even more so than tonight's season premiere of The Office.

Hard for me to criticize something that combines the Sens and Star Wars...

Most of my friends know I don't really watch prime time TV. My 56" television was purchased mostly for Sens games, DVDs and the odd poker program that airs in the afternoon. But since I've been stuck indoors for over two weeks now, my sister insisted I give The Office a try and started me off with their season 1 DVD which is only 6 episodes. I figured, hey, a couple of hours, no big deal, and I can now say I've given it a chance.

Well, I thought it was hilarious, and immediately needed to see how the series continued. So Kylie brought over season 2 and I was happy to see their were 4 discs in the set; tons of episodes to watch. And I enjoyed all of them. The characters are fantastic, the humour comes at you in both over-the-top and subtle forms and of course, the parallels you draw to your own cubicle hell add to the fun. So after getting through season 2 today, I immediately began downloading season 3 and hope to have that and season 4 done before the season premiere on Thursday.

Now that last statement is something I have not uttered in...well, maybe forever. The start of the NHL season is all I usually care about, but I'm actually planning ahead and making sure I tune in so I won't miss a thing. Hopefully the show will continue to be as good as it is now, and that I won't cancel any future social outings because I can't miss an episode of The Office.

The top video runs for 90 seconds while the 2nd one is a 4 minute & 30 second long spot that promote Microsoft and feature Jerry Seinfeld with Bill Gates. Apparently, this was phase one of a new ad campaign that was supposed to counteract the Mac vs PC ads run by Apple. Just two weeks after their release, Microsoft has pulled the plug on these ads (I never actually saw them on TV, just on Youtube). They claim it was all planned and not due to the lackluster response to the commercials. I watched both of them and call me stupid, but I just don't get it. They're trying to be different that's for sure, but they don't come across as funny, just intentionally weird & obscure. If you have time to watch, tell me: what do you think? And do YOU get it?

Well, still being stuck in my confined 610 sq ft space for what will be another full week is no fun, but having some NHL hockey to watch certainly helps pass the time, at least for a few hours. So the Sens won their first game of the pre-season 3-2 against the New York Rangers. Ottawa only had maybe 7-8 players that will likely play in Binghamton this season, the only notable scratches being Daniel Alfredsson, Chris Kelly and Anton Volchenkov. But, seeing as they have their first regular season game in just two weeks, it made sense for new coach Craig Hartsburg to see how the new line combiations will work.

The Senators played fairly dominantly to open up the game and looked far and away the better team. But it was difficult to gauge how much chemistry they have right now, as the parade of penalties ruined any flow the game was trying to establish. Special teams dominated most of the night which takes away a lot of the ice time of the rookies to show what they can do.

It was a very physical contest, with guys like Jason Smith and Jarkko Ruutu showing why they were signed by Ottawa by playing their gritty styles. Christoph Schubert looked very good playing solid D all night while throwing lots of hits.

This was the first experiment with newcomer Jesse Winchester playing alongside Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza, and he did not disappoint. He didn't register a point, but he created a lot of chances and wasn't afraid to get his nose dirty, playing with more edge than his finesse-style linemates. Hopefully he'll continue to play strong, as having the scoring spread out with Alfredsson on a different line gives the Sens much needed scoring depth.

It's only a pre-season game, but it was great to see them get the win and add to the anticipation of opening night of the regular season.

- It occurred to me today that the Sens will have their first pre-season game tomorrow against the Rangers, and in only two short weeks, they'll be in Sweden to play back-to-back games against the Penguins to kick off the NHL season. I am really excited about this, even for a pre-season game. I actually wasn't going to watch it initially as I had a wedding to go to, but...

- I really thought I was over the 'pox. Back to work Monday after a two week hiatus, and was looking forward to it after being stuck by myself with no visitors outside of a couple of visits from my family since last week. "One more week" said the doctor today. Nooooooooo! Apparently, I'm still contagious, and it's possible some of the remaining spots on my body could get worse if I'm not careful. Overtly cautious? Maybe, but, doctor's orders. This blows.

- Here's a story you may not find interesting at all, but if you were there you'd be looking on in amazement. A few weeks ago, I was in line at the grocery store in the express lane. This old guy in front of me had 10 boxes of bran flakes in his cart (perhaps by itself that's sort of interesting) and asked the cashier, a girl about 18 years old, if he could have paper bags instead of plastic. She went to the next cash to get one (that's right, one) bag for the 10 boxes, and it was an event watching her try to open it up. She kept on taking the bottom "square" of the bag and basically just kept on shifting it side to side, after just opening it half-way from the top. Seeing this idiot trying to do something as simple as open up a bag, and failing, was as funny as it was sad. For some reason, she was against throwing her whole arm into the bag to open it up. Anyway, she ended up ripping it, went back to get some more and if memory serves the old guy just bagged everything himself. She truly couldn't fight her way out of a paper bag...

- At the Fox theatre in Detroit, Def Leppard is doing a concert prior to the Detroit Red Wings home opener against the Leafs and everyone in attendance will watch the game on a big screen after they perform. One of the songs they mentioned would be played was a song called "C'mon C'mon" which the band says they can picture being played in every hockey arena in Canada and the United States. Someone like me should be pretty excited about it, except the song blows, much like their new album. When I went to their concert here in Ottawa a few weeks back, it was the first time I saw people leaving during the encore because they elected to play a track off their new album no one heard of. Oh well, at least they played Photograph!

This leaked photo is what may be the Senators third jersey to be released this season and let's just say I'm not a fan of it. First, if you're going to use the letters design like the New York Rangers do, have the full name on it. They're not called the Ottawa "Sens" much like there is no chance Montreal would put "Habs" on the front of their jersey. It's just a nickname and nothing else.

Furthermore, the "down to up" design is just confusing. Even the Ottawa Sun poll added a third choice in their poll when asking readers if they like it: Yes, No or "Who are the SNES?" Bad, bad design.

Did you notice there's a colour missing? Gold. The colours of the Senators are red, black and gold, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be included.

Finally, who decided to use rental player Martin Lapointe to put on the back? In any case, I really hope this isn't the true third jersey and they'll be coming out with something else.

Many say it's a long shot, and with Montreal, Vancouver, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Portland and St Louis amongst others putting their names in the hat in an attempt to land a Major League Soccer franchise, the odds don't look so good for Ottawa to be one of the next two cities chosen to start the 2011 season.

But, it's definitely intriguing to say the least. And the though of a brand new soccer stadium that could seat up to 30,000 spectators is something that I would welcome, for the most part.

I naively thought that the Eugene Melnyk camp might be working together with the Minto group trying to bring back the folded CFL franchise to revitalize the downtown area by modernizing Frank Clair Stadium or by developing some other central location. But apparently they haven't really spoken to each other and are pretty much on their own. The plan of Melnyk is to build the stadium adjacent to Scotiabank Place and already I'm thinking Ottawa still hasn't learned anything from the mistakes of the past, namely no one enjoys the drive to the west end of the city to see a game. Because it's professional hockey, we do it anyway, even in the dead of winter knowing 45 minutes of bumper-to-bumper traffic awaits us at game's end. But does soccer have enough drawing power that fans won't mind this sort of inconvenience?

Maybe it does. But, the more lingering question is can something non-hockey related survive in this market? Having 2,000 fans attending Ottawa Rapidz games is enough to keep it afloat, and that's not much to ask for. However, any MLS franchise needs strong attendance (20,000+ on average) to survive, and the appeal of something new (a new soccer team AND a new stadium) will likely be enough to draw the crowds in the short term. The question is if they'll stay for the long haul.

Ottawa did a very good job as one of the host cities of the 2007 U-20 World Cup and attendance was very strong. Will these same people attend MLS games? Melnyk is gambling they will, and we'll find out before the end of October if he's successful in his bid to land a franchise in Ottawa.

I thought being stuck indoors might inspire me to write some more entries on the ol' blog but I have been finding it quite difficult this week. I guess without much conversation with my peers, the hamster doesn't run quite as fast.

I've played a few freerolls on Pokerstars to help pass the time instead of movies, and let me tell you something, if there's a break for sale that you know of, please lead me to it because right now I can't buy one. I decided to then see if there were any WSOP episodes on TV and there were, broadcast in HD glory so I watched some more of that to pass the time, reminding me a little of how my style of play can sometimes breed a tad of success. One thing that was mentioned by one of the commentators was how Doyle Brunson had his own Myspace page so I took a look at it. He had a really gorgeous shot of Hong Kong at night that I thought I'd share with you here. Click on it to get a bigger view:



Isn't it gorgeous? I mean, the lights make it look so great. It looks a bit like Coruscant for all you Star Wars geeks out there.

Doyle blogged about how he knows all these billionaires who were able to fly him around in these private jets and thus got that great photo-op you see. Disappointed to read he wants McCain in, then again he's 70 years + and from Texas so perhaps that shouldn't be all that surprising.

So what's the point of all this? Not sure. I'm pretty sure though I'll be "clear" by the weekend and I can sustain some human contact for more than 2 minutes without having to worry about infecting anyone.

Only poker geeks like me can truly appreciate what happened in this hand at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event. A true nightmare for the person holding the 2nd best hand in this situation (and not just because he has to play against a guy wearing a wife-beater).

I'm not sure how to take this...a few of my friends who have called or emailed are really interested in knowing what my cesspool-of-disease face looks like during this whole ordeal. I actually don't want anyone to see me right now; my sister did come by with groceries and even then I put on my ball cap and had the bill pulled down low enough so you couldn't see the worst part of the damage. It wasn't so long ago I actually looked normal, just like you! Below is a photo Scott took before we picked up his arcade cabinet in Toronto on Sunday:


Notice I'm smiling...Scott was just about to buy me a chocolate milk! You might also notice some feint red bumps on the ol' noggin. I thought they were just pimples but I was mistaken. Fast forward to today:



The 'pox beard is growing strong and I have to say it appears no more blisters are forming. My body is still pretty covered though, and there's no way it'll be gone by the start of next week. Looks like more time stuck indoors is in the cards.

So what have I done during all this spare time? Can you say, "Three hour epic films!"? That's what I started out with anyway. This is what's been on the DVD player to this point:

Lord of the Rings I
Lord of the Rings II
Lord of the Rings III
Braveheart
Godfather II
Nixon
The Thin Red Line

This got to be a little heavy, and towards the end of Thin Red Line I decided it was more pretentious than real, that the camerawork and score that I adored when I first saw it no longer compensated for the drivel uttered by the way-too-many characters in the film. I guess every soldier can narrate in a style Shakespeare could be proud of, but pondering life's meanings in "poetic" fashion by grunts with a grade 9 education...I guess I was starting to get grumpy. So I put these on:

Family Guy: Blue Harvest
The Simpsons Movie
Borat

And seeing that it is the anniversary of 9/11, I just finished up with Fahrenheit 9/11.

Oddly enough, I haven't had any desire to play any 360 after finishing Call of Duty 4 a couple of weeks ago. I guess I'm looking for something new to play, and The Force Unleashed won't be out until next week.

Do any of you have a "sick" movie, something you like to watch while ill? I'd appreciate suggestions.

When the announcer is shocked that Canada somehow managed a bit of offense during the game, that's a pretty good indication of how good their opponent, Mexico, is seen, as well as gives a good indication of how horribly outplayed Canada was despite only losing 2-1 tonight in Tuxtla, Mexico. That score is probably too flattering; it was like someone lifted one side of the field up so that the play could only be contained in one end zone. I'm not sure why I subjected myself to it after just 10 minutes of play, maybe I was hoping to be witness to a miracle of some kind: Canada hasn't beaten Mexico on their home turf in 50 years of FIFA qualifying.

So now three games have been played, three games are left, and Canada sits with a measly one point and the reality that a 2010 World Cup berth was really nothing more than just a pipe dream. Two of their starters got their second yellow cards of the round meaning they'll miss the next qualifying game to add to their already mounting problems. Mathematically, they're still in it but once you start mentioning that fact how good are your chances? Ah whatever...hey Mexico, see you at the hockey rink and it's no problem for us to bring you skates if you don't have any ya bunch of jerks!!!

This is actually a not too bad picture of my current state, as I really look about ten times worse if you saw the marks on my forehead and sides of nose. I haven't bothered to shave, since I don't want to scab anything in the process. So I might have a full beard going when it's all done. Anyway, I don't think I'll put up any more shots because I really really look gruesome at the moment.

I woke up Sunday morning with the upper half of my body broken out in red blotches. It's about as cool as it sounds. They didn't hurt or anything, but definitely didn't look too pretty. I still ventured out to Toronto and back with Scott so he could pick up his sweet arcade cabinet (he'll post some pics on his blog shortly) but I still felt bleah as I did for most of the weekend.

So I visited the doctor this morning and get this, he thinks I have chicken pox! I'll know for sure once the blood tests are done, but in the meantime, I'm supposed to consider myself infected and contagious. And it can take as long as three weeks to get rid of the virus!

I have absolutely no idea where I could have gotten it, haven't visited any daycare centres or anything. Man, what a crappy way to start the week.

Back-to-back bleah days for your truly. Last night I didn't even bother heading out and tonight I'm still a fixture in my apartment. You know that feeling after you lie down, when you get up you get this excruciating headache that won't go away? That's what I got. Feel somewhat sluggish to.

BUT...SBP still does what SBP says, and tonight Canada had to make some headway in World Cup Soccer qualfying in a match which was seen as pretty much a must win against Honduras. You might recall Canada just managed a tie against the Jamaicans and they cannot afford to squander points when it's predicted Mexico will be one of the two teams that advance. A win on home soil is a must.

Montreal, always one of the better crowds, gave an electric atmosphere to a fun match. Canada managed to score within the first five minutes to take the early lead however most of the pressure relegated back to Canada's end after their goal. And although the reason why North Americans won't fully embrace soccer: the diving, came out in full force once Honduras got the 2-1 lead, the better team still won. It didn't help that one of Canada's players was thrown out for getting two yellow cards forcing them to play a man short for the latter stages of the game.

Commentator Craig Forrest went on and on about how Canada has no chance to advance without a win tonight. Canada has to play six games, two are done, two are against powerhouse Mexico, and the other two are on foreign soil. Not hard to see why he's so pessimistic, and who am I to disagree with an expert? But it's still really too bad. It would have been pretty cool to see Canada compete in South Africa.

Oh sweet...after canceling their scheduled March 2006 performance in Ottawa it's been confirmed Nine Inch Nails are coming back on November 11 this year: NICE! Now...is there ANYONE who'd like to go with me? Enough that you'd actually pay for your own ticket!? Drop me a line if you do!

Everybody knows a new President of the United States will be decided upon this November (yes, there's something about a Canadian election going on but really, the rest of the world isn't terribly concerned about that) and it is absolutely PARAMOUNT that Barack Obama wins the election. Yes, many are saying he'll run away with it and there's no chance a Republican can win after the last 8 years of George W. but if there's anything that history has shown is that you CANNOT TRUST AMERICANS TO MAKE THE PROPER DECISION.

So just in case an American happens to come across this, here's a summary of what happened in the last eight years under George W. Bush's reign. History will not be kind to him, and here's why:

- The Iraq war. No weapons of mass destruction found. No Bin Laden captured. Thousand of American soldiers killed and injured. Even more Iraqi civilians dead. All in the name of oil, not "terrorism".

- Skyrocketing oil and gasoline prices

- The horrendous response to Hurricane Katrina

- Nearly 50 million Americans still have no health insurance

- The sub-prime mortgage rate crisis causing thousands & thousands of people to lose their homes

- A US debt that is almost nine TRILLION dollars while still handing out tax cuts to the rich

Stop and think...what GOOD has come out of the Unites States in the last eight years? I can't think of anything. Is the world safer? Is the economy stronger? Has poverty declined? Sorry folks, the answer to all these questions appears to be "no".

I tell you something though, there is something about Barack Obama that cannot be ignored. He brings hope; a change in the way things have been. The belief that maybe he can be a great leader; the charisma of a Kennedy or Martin Luther King. This is someone special, and Americans have a chance to put him into power.

Please USA, don't blow this!!!

- For a sport that is considered international, it's no stretch that some of your players may not grow up where English is their first language. I think the LPGA's decision to force players to learn English just reeks of racism. If you can play, that's all that should matter. A translator for English audiences should be good enough, and I feel fans of the sport can sense charisma regardless of the language the star players speak, and in the end just want to see the best on the golf course.

- Regarded as the greatest fighter in UFC, Randy Couture is making his long awaited return to fight Brock Lesnar on November 15th. As much interest and star power this fight provides, the reality is Brock has won exactly one match in UFC and he's going to be destroyed. Lesnar needs more experience and wins to even have a chance against Couture. This fight is simply about making a quick buck for UFC owner Dana White.

- Walter "Killer" Kowalski died at age 82 this past weekend. He was a former professional wrestler for over 30 years and later trained some of the bigger names in the business like Big John Studd & Triple H. I mention this as there's always stories of wrestlers dying in their 30s and 40s; it's finally nice to see one of them living a full life.

- Saturday was pretty sweet...Kylie managed to get free tickets to the Carleton Ravens - Kansas Jayhawks (last year's NCAA champs) exhibition game, but what was sweeter was that they were for Eugene Melnyk's suite that was fully catered! NICE! We didn't take full advantage as we didn't know it was catered until we got there and had already had a full meal, but still, catered! It was actually a very close game, with the Ravens losing by a sole point. Is there a spot for the Canadian champs for the NCAA March madness tournament? I know little about basketball, and maybe it's a stretch, but from what I saw Saturday, Carleton could compete with colleges' best.

- Rather sombre mood at work today. Our receptionist Carole passed away last night and was the first bit of news we heard this morning. I would see Carole practically every day, and said goodbye to her like I usually do before the long weekend on Friday; little would I know that would be for the last time. Don't know the details, but it was sudden and completely unexpected. Just plain sucks, you know?