Own the Podium

The Canadian Olympic Committee's overly ambitious and unrealistic* "Own the Podium" program has failed. Despite Canada not finishing first in medal standings we still have a lot to be proud of.

While we currently have nine medals, Canada has 18 athletes who finished in the top five of their events. That makes 27 Olympians placing in the top five. I believe that this is a great achievement. In addition, this does not give credit to the accomplishments of athletes in contests between Olympics. (i.e. World Cups). We must also remember we have strong contenders in a medal events still to come - curling, hockey (Women's anyway), and speed skating. Another point infrequently mentioned is that since the 1988 Olympics Canada's position in the medal standings has improved with each Olympics:

1988 - 5 medals; 13th
1992 - 7 medals; 9th
1994 - 13 medals; 7th
1998 - 15 medals; 4th
2002 - 17 medals; 4th
2006 - 24 medals; 3rd

Being an Olympic athlete requires a tremendous amount of determination, focus, dedication, and diligence. Our athletes train day after day, year after year, and sometimes we are quick to scrutinize as we watch lazily from our couch. They should be commended for representing Canada and giving it their all.

GO CANADA GO!!


*Since the start of the winter Olympics in 1924 only four host countries have ranked first in medals standings. The Swiss held a three-way time for first with Sweden and Norway at the 1948 Olympics.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so I thought I would share my thoughts on this "special" day. First, I believe that every day is an opportunity to express our appreciation and affection towards people we love. We should not designate one day for such a large purpose. Secondly, I feel that much of the gifts we give are just motions rather than well thought out ideas. Flowers, candy, and dinner are dandy but also predicable. Why not be creative, spontaneous, and mix things up. Buy her something she actually enjoys or something she has hinted to. Create a homemade card or poem, photo album, coupon book, or serenade which are much more personal and sentimental. Another reason I don't like traditional gifts is the idea that material items can express our feelings towards others. Actions speak louder than possessions. Make breakfast together, go skiing, or take in a hockey game.

Happy Valentine's Day!

New Year's Resolutions

"Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us" - Hal Borland

I have never been big on making New Year's resolutions. I think there are two reasons why. First, self-improvement should be a continual process. Change and growth can begin whenever we choose, why wait for a new year to begin? Secondly, most resolutions are not well thought out, defined, or committed to.

This year is different, I am setting out some resolutions. Goals are more achievable when written down, specific, and made known to others. Hence the reason for me sharing my resolutions:

Exercise - workout three times a week

Student loan - half paid off by end of the year

Travel - I know it is vague but it will depend on money and work.

Blog - at least 25 posts

Build on relationships

Write at least 35 letters for AI

Eat healthier

Purchase new car (a newer used car that it)

Feel free to post your own resolutions under comments!

Winter Wonderland

Winter is officially here in Saskatchewan. Despite its annually appearance it somehow catches people off guard. People loathe winter, despite the fact that they have lived here their entire lives, and for some it brings out the worst. My advise is to embrace the season! Live each season as it passes; take in the sights, sounds, tastes of each. To ease the winter blues I have come up with the twenty best things to look forward to this winter.

20. Snuggling up with a great book
19. Star gazing
18. Beginning December 22nd the days are getting longer
17. Mid-Winter Celtic Festival - Feb. 5th and 6th
16. A mug of hot chocolate
15. Hosting a beach theme party
14. Mid-Winter Blues Festival - Feb. 25th -27th
13. Baking
12. Kona-fest - Regina's Winter Festival
11. Warming up by the fireplace
10. Sleigh rides
9. Winter picnics
8. Winter Olympics in Vancouver Feb. 12th - 28th!
7. Festiv-Ale - Over 200 beers to sample! Sounds delicious! It is the same weekend as the Celtic festival so you may want to take that Monday off.
6. Hot tubbing
5. Christmas
4. Beautiful scenery - soft white snow, hoar frost, holiday lights (makes for great photo opportunities!)
3. Game nights - cards, classics, or Carcassonne with the family or friends.
2. Sledding
1. Downhill skiing

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.