Tiger Cats out, Marauders in
Looks as though the Tiger-Cats are out and the Marauders are in, quite the season of Canadian football here in Hamilton and at Mac, but what do you expect, even if you lose badly at the professional level, you have the amateurs ready to pick up the slack and hey just look what is happening over at the City of Champions (who could have ever thunk it)?
This city has the Hall of Fame and its Museum to rest back on during the off-season at 58 Jackson Street West (luckily have been part personally of three displays down there for the AKO Fratmen of Windsor way down south, the Sault Storm/Steelers way up north and the hometown Steel City Ironmen right here in Hamilton-Wentworth or Halton-Niagara), so fans don't fret upon the season that is, think about the season to be and alleviate all worries until training camp opens up again at McMaster University's new Alumni Field then onto the start of the Canadian Football League's pre-season once more in the spring-summer!
As McMaster plans on going 5-0 this weekend with a win against Queen's and their Golden Gaels (or is that Golden Girls), things are looking great for them at the current, another Yates Cup win in the cards with only OUA arch-rivals WLU Golden Hawks (Laurier defends its Vanier without its offensive co-ordinator Stefan Ptaszek, who is now the head coach for Mac for its new dynasty years) and UWO Mustangs (Western tries to go back to the future with its now new old offensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall, who was the head coach for Mac for its old dynasty years) standing in the way. Even Guelph near the end of the schedule at home could present some problems, as it was almost one year ago this week at the beginning of October, that the Gryphons picked off passes by the sack-attacked Mac quarterback Jon Behie, whose three interceptions away at Alumni Stadium some say lead to the eventual dismissal of Marcello Campanaro. If they can continue the tradition of excellence Mac has consistantly shown in the past, a Yates Cup win is there, then on to playing what looks to be the Manitoba Bisons for the Mitchell Bowl in Ivor Wynne Stadium, laying out some revenge for the 27-6 2001 Churchill Bowl loss at Winnipeg CanadInns Stadium and finally clean up plate with a Vanier Cup victory against Rouge et Or de l'Université Laval out in Saskatoon, who have already won 2 of the last 3 or 3 of the last 7, thus giving Mac its first shot since it lost 10-9 by one point to the Alberta Golden Bears at Toronto's Varsity Stadium in 1967 - sounds fair eh?
Hamilton Blackberries purges Pittsburgh Penguins
Word around this burgh has the Penguins of Pitts coming to Hammytown, Copps Coliseum could be home to super Mario Lemieux, Marc-Andre Fleury and Sidney Crosby, though a preseason game here in Hamilton with those Penns was left only half empty, or perhaps for Research in Motion chairman and co-CEO Jim Balsillie, it was half full, in any event, expect to see a Hamilton NHL franchise here before Balsillies buys out the AHL Bulldogs and a Calder Cup for them too as they are going to need it!
Conservative Pac-West versus Liberal Atl-East divide Canada
Canada is now as divided as the United States politically, thanks in large part to the political polarization of the populis, just as we have now completed our final journey into it up here to the North. You are either one of us - a Red state in the Majority as a Republican or one of them - a Blue state in the Minority as a Democrat, change the colours around, make Republican Conservative and Democrat Liberal and replace state with province or territory and you could be speaking of the Great White North politically with ease. Yet with a Minority Government, one could forgive another's deeply-felt belief that this continuance of polarization which the high Tories seem to believe will come in handy at the present, will return as it has in the past to the currently lowly Grits in the future and kick them in their keyster once more for good measure.
Stephen Harper understands the Pac-West Cons versus Atl-East Libs game, just as George W. Bush understands the South-West Reps versus North-East Dems game, they keep to their own constituents, make the home-town voter happy but work towards getting the gains through government payoffs, projects or subsidies in the first years of their office term as they come yet willing to lose them in the last years of their office term if their voting core feels disillusioned by these unprinciped actions in their leadership, just to be re-elected again without a broader consensus of support outside of their own ideological clique. These two twins in the 2000s, just as the 1990s were for Jean Chrétien and Bill Clinton by actions before them, Brian Mulroney's 1984 and George H.W. Bush's 1988 (both winning over 50% of their popular and over 75% of the electoral) before them and onward and soforth, stuck to this winning mantra like glue. But changes have begun to show, Chrétien won on soft minorities thanks to the Bloc, Reform and Alliance parties, like Clinton won his elections with under 50 percent (average of 42.5% of vote) of the national popular vote, unlike Clinton didn't have a high urban-low rural electoral college vote to remain their watchdog rebalancing the final talley. The effect both Lucien Bouchard's and Gilles Duceppe's Bloc Québécois, Preston Manning's and Ross Perot's Reform Party and Stockwell Day's Canadian Alliance had on the votes in both countries can't be ignored, forcing the mainstream status-quo to think twice about how they run their campaigns, to a point where they no longer commanded the attention of the majority of the populis, is huge, let alone the agenda of these governments once elected as Bouchard/Duceppe, Manning/Perot and Day/Harper would later show. A change whose very sole mission is to give people a chance at a choice in their collective and individual futures, one which the Independence, Progressive, Green, Libertarian and Constitutional parties of the fringe have picked up successfully to the the South since 1998, whereas only the Greens have continued in the North after the merger of the Alliance, Reform's failed project of the grassroots, in 2004.
Will either of our two differing nations within the North America union understand the need for a Purple state, province or territory, a region that understands the political system well enough to know intuitively that electing RepubliCrats or LiberCons will give you the same results everytime. Third parties always bring change, change can be bad or good, but I would argue bad change is easier to remove that the bad status-quo, as change always changes, the status-quo always simply remains the same, therefore change can eventually change into good change. We need some good change, we need a third party, which is principled and competitive, to bring us some good change from the bad status-quo, if not changed, we may very well subject ourselves to long-term political polarization of the populis, which in the short-term, has created minor regional disparity and could grow into major regional separation between these two twin colours in their respective countries within the union.
09.11.01 - 09.11.06 : םולש سلام : Shalom, Salaam, Peace
Half a decade ago, Tuesday, September 11, 2001 -- a date which again will live in honest infamy -- an unofficial war began between the extreme Islamic terrorists of the United States of Arabia from the Persian Gulf (or Cradle of Humanity) and the moderate Judæo-Christian loyalists of the United States of America from the middle of North American (or Cradle of Society). This unofficial war has created guerilla and regular armies of warriors on both sides, understandably ready for any kind of campaign as it comes, however I challenge the permanent status of this hopefully temporary situation we have now witnessed exit from the surreal and enter into our reality, and pray faithfully for its end and a successful peace by all involved parties to follow. From all the way over there in the Middle Eastern states in Arabia to near to home down there in the Mid West states of America, we must all remember that the 5th Chapter and 9th Verse of the Book of Matthew says "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (though it neither be of the Hebrew Tanakh nor the Muslim Quran, I hope this open-minded statement is still universally acceptable by those on both side for the absolute truth it holds) which is something we should all just simply think, act and do as one people as soon as possible humanly and humanely, Shalom, Salaam and Peace.
Great Dane Redeemed
So, in the large scheme of life, we started out as Great Dane Rebuilt ('77-'97), then we entered into Great Dane Reloaded ('98-'05) and now we have become the Great Dane Redeemed phase of 2006. This is to complete the unfinished smaller academic side of the larger scheme, without it, the finished parts such as athletics could not individually amount to anything, therefore collectively amount to nothing without full completion. My focus continues to be on the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences such as Political Science, History and Classics, but I have also realized that theologic and religious or the faith and belief studies are just as important in our life, culture and heritage as the family tradition each one of us most cherishes uniquely to oneself.Where better in Canada, more specifically Ontario, can one get this kind of education, which though higher also allows for forward-thinking and open-mindedness, than Redeemer College and McMaster University, which I truly feel will be our twin towers of academic power in this province in the years ahead. To show just a simply measure of this as proof, Redeemer's University President Dr. Justin Cooper froze tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year at the current level of $11,082 and the Board of Governors or Regents extended the freeze to food and housing fees at the current level of $5,166, which is very encouraging for those independent students such as myself in these usually academically unperquiste times we live in today.Dr. Cooper's address at the Opening Convocation on Wednesday, September 6th at 10:00 am in the campus auditorium was quite heart-felt, speaking on being "Rooted and Established in the Love of Christ", as well as once more very open to all who were welcomed to attend. While speaking on change, progression and looking forward to the future, I could only think of the societal changes I myself am beginning to see in our culture of today past the academics and how they will cause an effect of difference none of us could have imagined even one year past. For some positive, others negative, but for me, just interest in seeing how everyone will cope with the future change and how we as a people can harness its power, use it properly and make sure it eventually works for we the people.
