History in the Making

For the first time in CFL history the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be playing the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup. I have a great deal of respect for these two talented and disciplined teams.

Let's consider the stats. On offense, Als QB, Anthony Calvillo, has completed 72% of his passes, threw twenty-six touchdowns and only six picks. Darian Durant executed 60% of his throws accurately, passed for twenty-four touchdowns and a league-high twenty-one interceptions. Montreal is first in the league for average yards passing a game (294) and second in average yards rushing a game with 120. Saskatchewan is fifth and sixth respectively in those categories - 259.6 passing and 109.6 rushing yards a game.

Defensively, Montreal gave up an average of 245.2 passing yards/game (first in league) while the Riders relinquished an average of 249.5 yards for fourth in the league. Rush defense is a different story. The Riders allowed 123.4 yards (avg/game) making them second last in the league against the run. Meanwhile the Als limited their opponents to only 75.1 yards (avg/game) which is the best run defense in the CFL.

On paper these numbers look daunting to Roughrider fans. However I feel Saskatchewan has four key weapons in which they can pull out a win against Montreal:

First, we must exploit our run game. Wes Cates was the only running back not to rush for 1,000 yards this season. Cates has 400 less all purpose yards and half as many touchdowns than he did last year. Paul LaPolice must incorporate more running plays into the offense on Sunday.

Next, our solid defense must influence the game. By pressuring Calvillo, hindering Montreal's run game, and shutting down Watkins and Richardson (who account for half of Montreal's receiving touchdowns), the Riders will keep this game in reach.

Saskatchewan will need to pull out some tricks from the playbook. Dressler had been involved in several sneak plays. In the West Final Armstead received a hand-off from Durant and threw a 42 yard pass to Bagg in the third. Such plays will keep Montreal's defense on edge.

"The thing you need to do is get your mind right and get ready to come out here and play football." This was Durant's mentality heading into the West Final. After the game he added, "I’ve been telling [the media] all week that’s it’s another game — seriously. I wasn’t nervous. I just went out there and played football, because when it all dies down, you have to play football for three hours." The Riders have been calm and focused in the last few games. They must play with the same mind-set in Calgary.

I'm looking forward to an exciting game of Canadian football! My prediction: Saskatchewan Roughriders 32 Montreal Alouettes 30

Human Rights Day

December 10th is a very special day for every single one of us. For you see on that day in 1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the UN General Assembly. It consists of thirty articles describing basic human rights and freedoms inherent for ALL people regardless of sex, age, identity, religion, sexual orientation, or nationality. Every December 10th we celebrate this immensely valuable document.

For the last six years Amnesty International has honoured the declaration by holding a Global Write-a-thon. Last year over thirty-six thousand letters were written by Canadian participators alone. Over twenty-thousand letters were written in each of the 2006 and 2007 Write-a-thons.

Does writing letters work? It sure does! It lets governments, businesses, and individuals know that covert and clandestine activities will not go unnoticed. Our letters are acknowledged, heeded, and answered. Governments respond to public pressure. Every year prisoners of conscience and others wrongfully incarcerated are released after Amnesty Write-a-thons. During the 2008 Write-a-thon, letter writers demanded to know the whereabouts of Jestina Mukoko, a human rights activist in Zimbabwe. Mukoko had been abducted by state security officials on December 3rd, 2008. Her whereabouts were released on December 24th, after persuasion from thousands of Write-a-thon letters. She remained in custody until March 2nd, 2009 when she was released on bail following three months of international pressure. In September of this year, the Zimbabwe Supreme Court ordered a stop to the prosecution of Mukoko after hearing that she was tortured in custody.

This year I will be writing ten letters from December 6th - 12th. I encourage everyone to take time to write at least one letter as a tribute to the rights we take for granted every day in Canada. If you wish to sponsor my letter writing or make a donation to Amnesty International please contact me. For information on and appeals for the 2009 Write-a-thon please visit http://www.amnesty.ca/writeathon/.

Remembrance Day

On June 28th, 1914 an assassination pulled Europe and the rest of the world into two major wars. World War One occurred nearly one hundred years ago, making it a distant memory. In July of this year Harry Patch, the last living soldier of WWI trench warfare passed away, leaving only three remaining World War One veterans alive. World War Two began seventy years ago, meaning anyone who served in it is in their eighties. We are quickly losing our living history - voices, memories, experiences, and sacrifices of veterans.

In World War One soldiers were faced with deplorable circumstances. They had to contend with disease, lice, frostbite, trench foot, mud, shell shock, and rats; along with the threat of being killed or maimed. British poet, Wilfred Owen, describes the plight of soldiers:

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till the haunting flares we turned our backs
And toward our distant rest we began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped, on blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Improvements in medicine, training, and technology eliminated some of these problems for soldiers in the second world war. Nevertheless soldier life was just as harsh. Weapons were larger, more modern, and more lethal. Soldiers also had to battle weather (cold winters in Europe and the heat in the South Pacific and northern Africa), diseases such as malaria, hunger, dehydration, and sleep deprivation as a result of frequent advances.

On Wednesday we will pause and reflect on those who sacrificed so much for our freedom. 60,000 Canadian soldiers were killed in World War One, another 150,000 wounded. In World War Two 42,000 soldiers were killed and 50,000+ returned home injured. The Korean War left 520 soldiers dead and 1600 hurt. 116 and 133 Canadian soldiers have died in peacekeeping operations and Afghanistan respectively.

During that time we must also pay respect to innocent civilians who also lost their lives as a result of world conflicts:
- the millions of citizens forced into labour in Germany and Japanese-occupied areas of Asia and the South Pacific.
- the hundreds of thousands of people living in cities of China, England, Germany, and Japan which were firebombed by either Axis or Allied air forces.
- Korean and other "comfort women" forced to become sex slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army.
- the six million plus Jews, homosexuals, disabled, Poles, Romani, and Jehovah's Witnesses murdered by the Third Reich.
- the 300,000 civilians killed by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Please attend a Remembrance Day service, donate to the Royal Canadian Legion, or reflect in your way and pay your respects.

Lest we forget.

Buy Nothing Day

This week I am introducing you to a challenge. On Friday, November 27th you cannot purchase anything. The task is that elementary; for twenty-four hours simply buy nothing. Sounds easy. Why don't you give it a shot.

The concept of Buy Nothing Day (BND) was created by Ted Dave an artist from Vancouver in 1992. It is a day to analyze our consumption. Adbusters has backed this idea year after year and today it is celebrated in dozens of countries. Participators may partake in credit card cut up, dressing up as zombie shoppers, swap shopping, workshops, and whirl-mart.

I believe most critics of BND are ill-informed of its objectives. Its purpose is not to put businesses or people out of work or create a generation of non-consumers. BND aims to inspire society. It encourages people to critique their choices, differentiate between their needs and wants, reflect on the convenience in which we live today, and appreciate how fortunate we are. It is a day of fasting and thanksgiving. For one day, promoters ask us to be engaged with those living around us rather than possessions. Friends, family, neighbours, and nature are all around us and sometimes overlooked. Most valuable, BND stresses that "consumerism creates pleasure but not happiness."

Please join me on November 27th and save your money. Get outside, go for a walk, visit friends, start a journal, or write a letter instead of shopping.

If you are up for another challenge don't buy anything the following day as this is when Europe celebrates BND.