Football Duty For God, Queen And Dominion

Team Canada Football came a calling, asking if I was interested towards joining up to workout and play for the senior national team, to help promote and foster international play of the Canadian Amateur Football game. Though still here at Redeemer for exams, I will be following their spring and summer tour which starts in Kentucky, which eventually has them play Team USA in Washington, NY PD/FD in New York City then end it with their Can-Am Bowl in Toronto. This final game, I would guess that it would become the continental qualifier for the World Cup in 2011, which Canada seems to have been slow to draw at.

I noted while down in Montana this summer, watching American football with my late grandmother and other family, that Canada did not have an international entry in the World Cup of American Football. Watching the Championship Final live from Kawasaki did not seem right, as the International Federation of American Football repeat champion Team Japan seemed to just roll over Team USA, with only a Yankee overtime win keeping them from a threepeat. This is something I would imagine could not happen with a Team Canada participating therein, even though IFAF General Secretary has now stated that neither Canada nor Mexico applied to qualify for WCAF 2007, giving Team USA direct qualification rather than just an invite.

So, it also sounds as though WCAF 2011 will include two Pan American clubs, as Team USA is now the world champion, which shall be either Mexico or Canada. If the NFL Under 19 Global Junior Football Championships since 1997 have been any indication, Team Mexico won the first two against Team Europe and then lost the next one to Europe, Team Canada then wins one against Europe, until Team USA beats Canada four times until finally Canada beats the USA thrice. So of course, it would be an honour and duty to eventually take up the invite, play for the senior national team. However, despite playing in a couple football championships at the midget, high school and junior levels, the last couple years of full academics and null athletics can not be ignored. Therefore, I will start training with intent to play for a Team Canada Football tour and international Can-Am Bowl championship in 2009 or 2010 then onto the qualifying game into WCAF 2011, for God, Queen and Dominion!

The Next Greatest One After

So Team Canada wins another World Junior Hockey Championship, with it over I look back at the greatness Wayne Gretzky, like his idol Gordie Howe, really was in the sport of hockey, really the closest next great one to him will always be Mario Lemieux. Now I am sure I can be attacked, especially as I am not quite the fan of hockey as others are, though I have always been cheering for the Detroit Red Wings to bring home the Stanley Cup to Hockeytown since I was a kid, glad now Danmark has a national team for play later in the Olympics. But ever since Eric Lindros, a player who phobia of Sault Ste. Marie I myself clearly misunderstood at the athletic level, I have questioned all successors to GWG's crown. Alexandre Daigle, Jason Spezza and Sidney Crosby would all follow in the years to come, John Tavares now and whoever is next. What I think people are missing is that qualities Gordie, Wayne and Mario had, today have been lost forever, tomorrow can never gain these missing elements, which is why the next greatest one after likely will never be. Just a thought I had while standing in at goal, during a traditional family Boxing Day shinty hockey game in the comfortably cute Keady Community Centre, with a 1972 Team Canada Summit Series jersey on, Team USA beanie above and atop it a Viking helmet for Team Danmark.

Caucus and Primary Time Again

Before we enter Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, without having an "I have a Dean Scream Dream", I just want to say that in all three of the first caucuses and primaries, John Edwards will lead the Democratic caucus with 39%, with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tied at 30% plus Dennis Kucinich taking 1%, while Mike Huckabee will lead the Republican caucus at 37%, with John Mccain and Mitt Romney tied at 31% plus Ron Paul taking 1%. It really is too bad a third party couldn't be strong enough to make their own third choice for various state caucuses and primaries, perhaps Unity '08 should have brought the Reform, Green, Constitutional, Libertarian and or the other independent third parties together to form a united common front to both of the Big Two, making it the Bigger Three. Well, not for this year, but perhaps later, this little thought outside the box may happen, perhaps even lead to a common ground agreement between the 5 plus separate federal political entities in the not so distant future. Or else I would ask all Americans to expect more dry showdowns such as these, with the likely disinterest to boot from them, for many years to come.