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

We'll get 'er done this Tuesday.

And sorry for the profanity. I try to avoid that in my blog.

Happy Halloween!

There was a window of time when Daniel Alfredsson was rumoured to be shipped off after a disastrous start to the 2006-07 season. The Sens were losing, Alfie had scored only one goal (an empty-netter) in the span of a month and heads were going to roll if things didn't turn around. The deal apparently in place would have had Alfredsson shipped off to the Los Angeles Kings for Craig Conroy. Thankfully for Senators fans cooler heads prevailed and Alfie wasn't going anywhere and Ottawa went on to their most successful season in their modern franchise history. Alfie became the first European captain to reach the Cup final and established himself as a premier player with his exceptional play.

It's rare in pro sports with free agency, salary caps, owner impatience and demanding fans for an athlete to remain with the same franchise that drafted them from the beginning. With today's announcement of Alfredsson's four-year contract extension worth $21.6 million with a no-movement clause, this pretty much ensures Ottawa has locked up their most prolific and recognizable player until the end of his playing career. There aren't too many players who can say the same thing: Steve Yzerman, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic and Mike Modano are just a handful that have remained with their team from the beginning. You truly have to be a special player to be a part of this group.

Alfredsson has grown to become my favorite Senator of all time and I'm personally glad to say my choice of player on my Sens jersey was a correct one (we'll forget the Todd White debacle). This is a great day for fans of the Senators and I hope this type of team loyalty will be a trademark of the team for years to come.

Sens 4 Life!

I've always questioned the mentality of most Americans when they head to the voting booth. Despite the high levels of crime and poverty and the low quality of accessible health care and education to the under-privileged, they consistently vote for the party that ensures nothing changes from the status quo. As I've said before, Americans have endured the worst President in history for the last eight years but the last poll I've read shows 44% would still vote for McCain. It is really mind-boggling. Sure, Obama still has the lead by 6-8 points, but that's really not all that much if you stop and think about it. The recession, Iraq, oil, debt, health care...Bush has dropped the ball on every major issue since 2000 but 44% still want more of the same! Isn't the definition of insanity doing something the exact same way and expecting a different result?

Having said that, maybe it's not the fault of the average American voter. I watched this Youtube video showing how Fox, one of the largest media outlets in the United States, pretty much "infects" the news that is presented to the American people and that it would be pretty easy to be swayed by their "journalism" if you don't bother to go out and do some of your own research. It runs just over three and a half minutes and is definitely worth looking at to see a very real force working against Barack Obama. (Oh sorry Fox, Barack HUSSEIN Obama).

I got this catalogue in the mail Friday (not sure how they got my name, never bought anything from these people) but I guess they couldn't stop the presses from sending it out with this outdated message on the cover...

After witnessing Ottawa stink up the joint for the fourth time in the row (four straight losses for the first time since 2001) and now sit 14th place in the Eastern Conference, is it okay for me not to feel so great about my Senators?

I just don't quite understand how they can be playing so bad. Yeah, there were changes: new coach, new players in, old players out, but at the same time there are still a number of players (twelve) who were on the roster when the Sens made it to the Cup final just 16 months ago. I mean, 16 months isn't THAT long ago, is it? All of the alleged "locker room poison" have packed their bags and should no longer be a distraction.

I noticed a trend with new contracts and stinking it up. Fisher is on the first year of a six year deal averaging $4.2 million a season and has no points in six games. Antoine Vermette made $1 million last year and now makes over $2.5 this year, and has one measly goal in 8 games.

The best line last night in the 3-2 loss to the Leafs was the fourth line of Dean McAmmond, Shean Donovan and Jarkko Ruutu. The Pizza line, talent wise, is better than anyone on the Leafs roster but if the effort isn't there and you're leaning on Donovan to score goals, it doesn't really matter and the game is pretty much over.

So, last year the Sens were on a tear immediately out of the gate and were 15-2 to start the season. They bombed the 2nd half and were swept out of the playoffs.

This year they're starting off on life support and don't look like they can win a game, much less put together a streak to put them in playoff contention.

Is it time to blow it up and rebuild a la Leafs, in an attempt to land John Tavares?

Or is this just smoke and mirrors and we'll see them peak later on the season, when it matters more?

For now, 1/10th of the way into the season, I'm not going to throw in the towel just yet. Give me another 10 games first and we'll see where my Sens are at.

At first, it spots the camera, but doesn't know what to do. But watch as it appears to get closer to the camera...without actually moving! Crazy! (Well not really, but kinda cute though).

"You know that feeling you get when a thousand knives of fire are stabbing you in the heart?"
- Homer Simpson

"I felt like a thousand knives of fire was stabbing my insides"
- SBP

I've been scared a few times in my life, most of the time the sensation passing as I either fast forward the movie I'm watching or punch the guy in the head who jumped from behind the curtain. But there was one day I was so scared I thought I was going to die.

Picture it: Ottawa. Early 2005. I was minding my own business when it started. It initially felt like someone grabbed one my organs and just squeezed really hard. It last a few seconds, then subsided. But it returned again. What on earth was it? Initially, I thought it could be food poisoning. Back in 1998 while traveling Australia, I woke up in a sweat from so much pain. I walked to the local chemist (pharmacy) which was closed and promptly hurled behind the store after almost starting to cry because it seemed no help was coming and the pain was so unbearable. After speaking to a few people the next day, we figured it was likely food poisoning. So it sort of felt like that, but much, much worse.

After about 15 minutes it went away again so I thought it was over, but it returned with a vengeance (like Die Hard 3) and wouldn't stop. It was like, well, a thousand knives of fire stabbing my insides. And what was scary, was that I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME. I tried lying down, walking around, splashing water on my face...these remedies may sound stupid, but what else could I do? I literally thought I was dying. And when that thought ran across my head, I kept thinking to myself, "What have I accomplished in my life? How have I made the world a better place? Will anyone remember me when I'm gone?" The pain was that bad. Not wanting to call an ambulance to pay the service fee for pick up (we're aren't 100% socialized in Canada), I called my mom up to take me to the hospital just up the street, and it turned out to be nothing more than kidney stones.

I got a 2nd round of the 'stones a couple of years later but since I recognized the pain all too well, the fear of death didn't overtake me and I was not wondering if my legacy on earth would be remembered. But geez, that moment in 2005: I don't think I'd wish that upon my worst enemy.

New York does it. Chicago does it. Los Angeles does it. Why not expand to allow a second franchise play in the exact same city in the exact same sport in the exact same league? In this case, the sport is hockey, the city is Toronto and the league is the NHL.

Toronto is the NHL's crown jewel when it comes to fan support and revenue. Even though they haven't won a championship in 41 years, the building is always sold out and merchandise sales never stop. Is there room for another team for Leafs fans to support?

This whole idea became an issue when an anonymous NHL governor stated the league was looking into expansion by placing another team in the same area the gold standard of NHL franchises is located (from a money perspective, anyway). With the salary cap and revenue sharing, owners are starting to pay attention that it actually matters whether or not a team is pulling in money. It took awhile, but the NHL is starting to see the logic that you want to have teams where fan support is strong. There's a reason why the NHL has opened up the season in Europe the last couple of years, with the recent Penguins-Senators contests in Sweden selling out in a matter of hours. The thought of having teams across the Atlantic is something they'll ponder for the next few years.

Having said all that, I just don't think the Toronto Maple Leafs would ever want to share their precious market with anyone, and I don't blame them. There is absolutely nothing to gain by having to share the same fans & building and seeing the money land in the hands of another owner. Greed trumps all.

I also don't think the league can court expansion. Instead, it would have to move an existing franchise that's struggling with ticket sales such as an Atlanta, Florida or Washington instead of risking further watering down the product by having 31 teams. The red tape to move a franchise, as experienced by Canadian entrepreneur Jim Balsille, is quite the obstacle in itself.

It also doesn't help the Canadian dollar is now hovering at the 80 cent mark, and the economic uncertainty is putting most industries in survival mode. Business owners are bracing themselves for what they think will be reduced revenues and how they'll survive the doom & gloom many are predicting.

This doesn't mean I don't think more teams in Canada is a bad idea. Quite the contrary: Three teams in Ontario could work, as well as revisiting Winnipeg & Quebec City. But for now, I don't think we'll see much change, much less a second team in Toronto.

"Let's get ripped!"

- Freeze

I'm not even a football fan, but it didn't matter. Buffalo LOVES their football, even without a Superbowl championship on record since their inception in 1960. I couldn't get over the tailgating: the amount of vehicles, BBQs, beer and of course, fans, that make the experience on its own worth going to the game for. Hopefully we'll have another trip like this in the near future. Thanks to Alex for driving and being the mastermind behind the whole operation! (You might notice I'm in none of these photos, but trust me, I was there!)

After several months of planning, a bunch of us are loading up in Planford's mini-van and taking off for a Buffalo Bills road trip to spread beer-fueled mayhem. I don't even like football, but they say the atmosphere at the tailgate parties are tons of fun. So we'll see how it goes. Looking forward to it!

So I'll be back on the blog after the weekend to give you a report. And hopefully there will be a Bills win to discuss!

"Stephen Harper wants YOU...to vote for the New Democratic Party"

- Peter, SBP's semi-bro

That pretty much sums up how Stephen Harper became our Prime Minister, eh? Just under 38% of the vote picked Harper which means by about a 2-1 margin (sort of like in poker when Ace-King faces Queen-Jack) Canadians aren't really interested in Harper being in charge. Meh, I guess this is how politics works, though. But really, is much going to change even if Dion won? Harper released his "Six-point economy plan" and he doesn't say if he's raising or lowering taxes, if he's going to raise or lower interest rates or if he's going to tighten financial regulations even further after seeing what the United States has gone through. He basically plans on attending a lot of meetings, but hasn't disclosed what his goals are going into these meetings or what specific topics are going to be discussed other than a general "the economy". One of his points is to re-open Parliament in the Fall, but isn't that something they do already? Just a lot of hot air; guess he might need to take off that sweater to cool down (zing!). But politicians usually keep everything close to the vest anyway and Dion would probably be saying similar things.

Moving on, no one wants to see another election until 2012 at the minimum. This election ended up having the lowest turnout in Canadian history (59.1%) and no doubt the fact we've had three elections in the past four years contributed to voter indifference.

Once the NHL season is over and the 2008/09 Stanley Cup champions are crowned, it will be an interesting summer to say the least when the salary cap figure is released and all 30 teams try to figure out how to balance their budgets for the upcoming year.

Gary Bettman and the NHL do not like admitting this, but the main reason the salary cap has ballooned from $39 million in 2005 to this year's $56 million is that the Canadian dollar has been very strong, even sometimes surging past the U.S. dollar, all while Canadian rinks have consistently sold out. It is a gate-driven league, and the pittance they get from American television doesn't compare to the revenue generated by Canadian fans, whose 6 teams account for 1/3 of all league revenues.

Now that the loonie is around the more realistic 85 cent mark (and actually might continue to go down) while everyone holds their breath looking at the TSX numbers, the fans might have greater priorities than buying NHL tickets this year (although that doesn't excuse the empty seats in Detroit for their Stanley Cup championship banner-raising ceremony. C'mon, your team won the Cup). And what that will likely mean is that next year will be the first season the salary cap will go down to reflect these realities.

Many in Ottawa were upset that GM Bryan Murray didn't land free agent Brian Campbell in the off-season, but he might end up looking like a genius when he decided not to give him $7.14 million each season for eight years. What would Ottawa do if they did sign him, while trying to retain Alfredsson as a "Senator for life", and at the same time trying to spend less in salaries because the cap went down? It couldn't be done. And this is the risk involved signing these free agents to these lengthy contracts at inflated rates: What will teams do, when most of them are already pressed near the cap, to reduce their payroll next year? Especially when you have the additional task of re-signing some of your star players? Free agents dreaming of signing that huge, lengthy fat contract might be in for a rude awakening. Most of them will still be well paid, but teams will (should) wisen up and be more conservative in their contract offers.

On a side note, I voted today, and I hope you did to.

I've already had 5 pieces of pumpkin pie over the weekend. Delicious!

Who would have thought I'd say that? I missed the beginning of their concert before the Leafs-Red Wings game Thursday so that meant missing this piece of footage showing lead singer Joe Elliot, in my view, desecrating the Stanley Cup. Even if you've never seen a hockey game in your life, surely you've seen a TROPHY in you life, no?

Anyway, most of you know I went to see the Sens-Red Wings game tonight. Bleah...Ottawa was outplayed and Gerber erased all memories of his great goaltending when he let in another softie with about a minute to go in the game. I sure did miss Alfie, without him in the lineup the Sens never can seem to pull out a win.

Check out this 35 second clip featuring 2008 World Series of Poker Europe main event winner Annette Obrestad. Someone gets one of their chips stolen! Can you spot it?

No one could have predicted this. Not even the most optimistic Leafs fan could ever think that tonight they would beat the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Detroit Red Wings, and on their home ice to boot. There is really no reason for the Wings to have lost. If you look at both teams' rosters, their past won-loss records and the experience of each team, Detroit is the clear favourite to win hands-down. So Detroit, here's a smattering of excuses I'm offering that you are free to use to explain why you lost to a team expected to finish in the bottom of the NHL:

- We're still feeling the effects of the long Stanley Cup run

- The Stanley Cup banner raising ceremony put our legs to sleep

- It takes a little time to find your legs at the start of the season

- There's parity in the league and this is proof of it

- We were looking ahead to our opponents on Saturday night, the Ottawa Senators

- We're still trying to find the right line combinations

- We have new teammates and they're still trying to blend in

- We flat out sucked tonight

Other thoughts on tonight's North American NHL season debut:

- Props to Toronto, they tried their hearts out and deserved to win

- As if Leafs d-man Jonas Frogren won't be referred to by yours truly as "Frogurt" for the rest of his career

- I was getting a little tired of the CBC commentators going on and on about how good the Red Wings are. Look, we know they're good, but comments like "at this point of the game they've usually outshot you 10-1" and "he probably missed the net on purpose to get the tip-in" got a little ridiculous. NO ONE MISSES THE NET ON PURPOSE!

- Who can complain about Def Leppard performing Photograph in-between hockey games? Didn't need though to hear Don Cherry endorse them by declaring he'd like some sugar poured over him.

- We're down to two choices for the new CBC hockey night in Canada anthem...I have to admit, it sounded a lot better on the big TV then on a computer monitor. Between the two, I like this one.

- Vancouver's pre-game tribute to Luc Bourdon was very classy

Here are the links for the final five choices you can vote for online:

Anthem #1

Anthem #2

Anthem #3

Anthem #4

Anthem #5

You have to watch the same 15 second Bell ad before each one which is slightly annoying.

What's up with the arrangements for each of the melodies? Do they really sound all that different? And I'm not sure if it's just my PC, but they sound "tinny", if that makes any sense. And I don't think any of them really drum up excitement/anticipation for a hockey game.

And is the synthesizer making a comeback? A-ha should have submitted an entry.

Anyway, I think they all stink.

I don't follow baseball all that much, but come playoff time I try to read up on who's winning what series and then root for the underdog. Or the team that hasn't had much success and tries in vain to achieve it. Enter the Chicago Cubs.

It might be a bit personal for me to list everything on a simple blog that needs to happen before I die so that, in my humble opinion, I will have led a happy & full life. One of those things is that my Ottawa Senators needs to have won the Stanley Cup at least once. Statistically speaking, it should happen once every thirty years but as we all know, there's nothing set in pro sports. Even the New York Yankees failed to make the post-season this year after usually being a gimme year in and year out.

So when the chance of a Cup slips by my Sens, I think no further than one of the oldest franchises in all of North American major league sports (maybe the entire world, but I didn't do that much research), the Chicago Cubs, to make me feel a little better about their playoff failures. This year will mark the 100th anniversary since their last World Series victory. ONE HUNDRED YEARS! Even the original Senators franchise had some Cup wins in the 20's and 30's to tide them over until today. The NHL, NBA and NFL weren't even in existence the last time they managed to take it all. And the last time they've made it just to the finals was in 1945.

The Cubs managed to make the post-season this year, but made little noise after getting swept by the L.A. Dodgers. The only memorable thing to have occurred were the four errors charged to the Cubs' infield, tying a division series record for most errors in a game. And really, that's something you'd rather forget.

So if your 49ers have done little, if your Leafs have faltered for decades, if you're sad the Clippers are still run by inept management, it could be worse, you could be a Cubs fan.

Getting 3 out of 4 points to start the season against the Eastern Conference Stanley Cup finalists is definitely a great way to start. The back-to-back games in Sweden showed some good signs but the results of game one likely put a few Sens fans in panic mode. The question that lingered over the summer and during training camp reared its ugly head, and it points to goaltender Martin Gerber.

I would say three out of the four goals in the 4-3 OT loss Saturday were pretty weak. The game itself didn't have a lot of flow and Ottawa was already in battle-from-behind mode when the first shot of the game, less than a minute in, fooled Gerber and gave the Pens a 1-0 lead. This was the third start, including pre-season, that Gerber allowed the first shot to be scored. The OT goal was another softee so coach Hartsburg decided to put Alex Auld in net to start game two. He dismissed any notion that it was due to Gerber's play.

Sure, Auld stopped 30 out of 31 shots in the 3-1 victory, but I don't know, I still don't feel comfortable with this guy. There were a number of times when he had no idea where the puck was or if he had stopped it. He positioned himself well to make the stops which Gerber was lacking the game before so if he can keep that up, maybe that's all he needs to do. But I say time and time again to anyone who'll listen, if Auld is so good, why didn't Vancouver, Florida, Phoenix and Boston try to keep him?

So who starts the season opener against the Red Wings? I think to show confidence in their #1 they have to put Gerber back in, but we'll see this Saturday. I'm giving Gerber a three strikes and you're out policy, so he's got two left to step up in SBP's books.

I'm probably making it sound all doom & gloom and I shouldn't since they looked really good in their 3-1 win today and on the whole, Ottawa was definitely the better team than Pittsburgh in both games despite the game 1 result. Hard to believe just this past April, it would have been hard to give the Sens much of a chance at all to pull out a victory, but perhaps the locker room changes made in the off-season are already starting to pay off.

Some other positives was the team looked great on the penalty kill with Vermette & Kelly leading the charge (only 1 goal on 14 chances). Kuba (who had 4 assists in the two games) and Smith made their regular season Sens debut and made a good defensive pairing and the Pizza line carried the scoring without too many problems.

It's too early to tell if they can keep it up, but for now, they've giving Sens fans a reason to be a little more optimistic than the day after game 4 of their embarrassing sweep by the Penguins.

Quote of the game: "And Talbot was dropped just as bad as Kimbo Slice last night..."

I was discussing movies with some friends and we went over some flicks that had stellar casts. I mean, just absolutely STACKED. Perhaps at the time we didn't appreciate all the stars of the film in question, but in retrospect, trying to assemble them today would be impossible if they all took their asking price.

Immediately the movie that came to mind for me was True Romance. It was made back in 1993 and interestingly enough, the two main stars are perhaps the lesser of the entire cast. Here's a list of everyone who was in it:


Christian Slater
Patricia Arquette
Gary Oldman
Samuel Jackson
Dennis Hopper
Christopher Walken
Val Kilmer
Brad Pitt
Chris Penn
Michael Rapaport
Tom Sizemore
Bronson Pinchot (Yeah, it's Balki Bartokomous, but seeing him in a non-Balki role was kinda neat)
James Gandolfini

And Jack Black is even in a deleted scene playing a theater usher.

Anyway, perhaps for my generation, this lineup is pretty impressive and can't get much better.

Illusionist/stuntman David Blaine is one of the greatest entertainers in the world. I came across him by accident while channel surfing a couple of years ago and watched in amazement as he just kept on doing these amazing things. His mastery of illusion is second to none, and while many will claim they know how to perform his "tricks", I've yet to see anyone duplicate them.

Blaine grew up in a poor neighborhood and part of his charm is that he doesn't hesitate to bring his entertainment to the poor. He'll even bring TV cameras to the ghettos of major cities just so he can entertain a few people with his magic.

What else makes David Blaine special is that, after you see him dazzle audiences, you really get a feeling anything is possible. His magic just seems so real. The above clip runs less than a minute and is a good example of what he can do.

Having said all that...his most recent "drop of death" stunt that was on TV last week was pretty disappointing, although he showed up on Regis & Kelly the next day and admitted the trick didn't go as planned. But I still definitely look forward to seeing what he'll do next; he's truly a gift to the entertainment world.

I shook my head at the announcement that the Ottawa Rapidz, after just one season, is already filing for bankruptcy. They signed a two-year lease with the city and after talks for an extension collapsed, the owners of the Rapidz decided to pull the plug on the franchise.

I'm not going to claim I know why the negotiations broke down. My best guess is the city isn't really interested in keeping the stadium up and it will be demolished to make way for more condos or a shopping centre, as many city councilors have gone on about the land value of the area and what they could get for it.

I want to show, copied directly from the Can-Am league's website, how Ottawa did in attendance in comparison to the rest of the league:

Team	Yesterday	Total To Date	Openings	Average
Quebec		140,933	44	3,203
Brockton		132,785	44	3,018
Atlantic City		124,430	45	2,765
New Jersey		103,817	45	2,307
Ottawa		101,073	46	2,197
Worcester		90,127	43	2,096
Sussex		80,500	47	1,713
Nashua		69,995	45	1,555

As you can see, if you consider the brand of baseball (third tier, with no connection to Major League Baseball), the fact Ottawa finished dead last with a horrible team, and the weather was awful this past summer, Ottawa actually did better than many expected showing up in better numbers than the AAA Lynx, and was on par with the rest of the league. So the fans aren't at fault. The owners and city officials are the ones to blame here for failing to compromise or hiding their intentions on their desire to want the franchise to survive.

Something like this obviously isn't good for Ottawa's sports image (The Lynx, Ottawa Rebel, Renegades and now Rapidz are all franchises that have left within the last five years) and this might be another factor to hurt Eugene Melnyk's chances for an MLS team to play in this city.

Not the end of the world by any means, but it still kinda sucks.