Is that the Toronto Make We Laughs, Maple Leafs or Maple Leaves?

Hockey is far away from being a favourite sport of mine, but I must wade in when a professional franchise in that game that can not get the plural form of Maple Leaf singular right should be questioned in ever getting its boat righted, Toronto is that sinking Titanic, one some could argue has been sunk circa 1967, the last year they had been to and won their esteemed Cup.

Only today did Scotty Bowman finally pull his trigger, joining family on the Chicago Blackhawks as their senior advisor, this after spending the past several years working as a special consultant for the rival Detroit Red Wings, as well as being turned down by the Maple Leafs and their owners Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, who instead have now decided to hire Ron Wilson as their new head coach.

No wonder a couple of its die hard fans have been sulking about the office, chatting around the watercooler about why the American Olympic Silver Medalist is the boss now behind the bench, rather than a Canadian Stanley Cup Winner, fact remains Toronto knows it can just be the status quo in their sport, as their paying demographic here in the Great White North is willing to keep shelling out for its past tradition, not any kind of future glory, making everyone still being pulled along real parts of the Make We Laughs.

Grey Bruce gets their Cattlemen ready for Prime Time Performance in Owen Sound

With only three days to go before it starts, Prime Time Performance of Owen Sound seems to have the foothold on as it enters August, separating the champs from the chumps, the contenders from the pretenders, the best from the rest as its Coach Chris Cubitt makes some magic happen up at the Victoria Park Fairgrounds three nights a week four weeks straight.

It would seem the Grey Bruce Owen Sound Cattlemen, an expansion franchise program I originally was in on helping grow in 2003, is getting on board as its partner in bringing a brand new tradition of excellence to our community up here. And just like the Olympics, Prime Time Performance will use this 30 day high performance speed camp to introduce and help in developing an unmatched powerful explosiveness, acceleration and change of direction through different training modules such as functional strength, pro agility and multidirectional and linear speed and acceleration through mobility, movement and posture, with such a supercharged program towards increased peak power output coming home, the best results for local football or rugby, baseball or softball and track athletes is just around the corner. Being one who profitted from the knowledge and expertise of Triple Cee in other areas of sport, I can personally say he is without a doubt worth the upgrade, as he takes it back down to its most basic and grassroots level of training one can get.

Coming from such hardcore training, one can easily make either the comeback or get into the next level of sport for complete success within it, something which makes the difference in a region such as this being competitive in a sport like football at the provincial or national level, as I would still believe the Grey Bruce Cattlemen wish to be in the not so distant future, hopefully the same thing which can help get them right there in time for the next round of expansion in coming years.

More things change the more they stay the same in the Northern Football Conference

I played for the Sault Ste. Marie Storm, now the Steelers, as a wideout, kick, punt and missed field goal returnman during the 2000 and 2001 seasons, in both the provincial Northern Football Conference of Ontario and Canadian Senior, today Major now, Football League as it has become since, a quality league that had younger but fast Canadian university football and older but experienced Canadian professional football players all playing together in the summer, from late May to late August. Way back then, the Storm and now Steelers were just starting to grow into the likely dynasty program it currently is up north there in the Soo, we had a hot little hand at 5-3 throughout our playoffs, just before getting stomped on in the 2000 NFC championship final game 38-3 down at Ivor Wynne Stadium against the 7-1 Burlington Oakville Longhorns. So a plan was hatched that we young turks of the Sault would roll straight through into the playoffs with reckless abandon without cause to fear anyone, right past everyone and this same time next year win that championship outright from the Longhorns, boy did we have another thing coming.

After starting off the 2001 playoffs on the right foot, by smoking the 3-5 Spartans of Sudbury 41-0 in the quarterfinals, we expected to hear that 8-0 Oakville would be ejected from the playoffs, thus giving us the automatic semifinal win and thus a free ride into the NFC championship final game against the winner of the 6-2 North Bay Bulldogs at 7-1 Mississauga Wolverines semi. The Longhorns, you will see, had played all but their last regular season game with an ineligible and thus illegal American named Robb Hatchett-Foxx, a former CJFL, OFC and NFC player who according to the league, used his deliberate malicious behavior to knowingly deceived his club into those 7 games. That now said, he simply was banned for 5 years, club fined $500 without having to be forced to forfeit those ill won games that kept them in the playoffs, which allowed Oakville to spank us again on their home turf 31-0.

Advance forward seven years later, while just two years ago, the 2-6 Mega City Maddogs were penalized two games for using an ineligible player named Dave Brown on the eligibility issue of not reporting his playing status, but the Maddogs remained in the playoffs as the 3-5 Quinte Panthers did not meet financial obligations, I still decided to stay out from the game due to illness, but also this back of the head feeling that games were decided in boardrooms and not on the field where they belonged. Now, both the 6-0-0-1 Sault Steelers and 1-6 North Bay Bulldogs are involved within a fiasco that a player of theirs named Todd Seely was ineligible as he played a year with the Bulldogs, then played in the Alberta Football League for 6 years before rejoining the NFC with the Soo, then a decision as well that 2-4 Toronto Raiders were late with their players fees and had become ineligible for the playoffs with North Bay replacing them instead, both fiascos may I add could result in a playoff boycott this year then split up of the provincial conference next into a North and South for a real football civil war. For the love of the game of football, I hope cooler heads prevail to make the NFC and the CMFL itself quickly into a better on field product tomorrow, rather than slowly into a worse than bush league quagmire it has sadly become today.

Cycling is Rotten in the State of Denmark

First a hero during summer secondary school for myself, the Eagle from Herning Bjarne Lykkegård Riis, took both the Danish Road Racing Championship and Tour de France, on his way to dominating the sport that year. Cycling, for the Danish people, had finally become a daily source of pride, as the podium in Paris finally became a regular spot for the Danes, now the very top spot was theirs, as Riis had finally ended Miguel Indurain's consecutive winning streak of half a decade. However, even this joy was shortlived, just as much so as the Eagle's early forced retirement in 2000.

Doping allegations soon arose in the sport, a performance enhancing drugs crisis just after his victory, gave way to a new inside game nickname, Mister Sixty Percent as allusion to a high red blood cell or hematocrit count level, an obvious indication of erythropoietin usage. Though never actually testing positive while riding, medical researchers and police believed and speculated that he was part of the peloton of sinners who took part, since no outright denial but rather an "I have never been tested positive" statement took place. Seven years later, Riis finally came out clean, issuing a confessing statement admitting to growth hormone, erythropoietin, cortisone and other banned substances for about five years, which sadly included that 1996 Tour de France victory, bought and injected himself, with coaches turning a blind eye to it.

Meanwhile that very same year, another generation of Danish cyclist began to get hit over the subject, as Michael Rasmussen or the Chicken from Tølløse wore the yellow jersey leading in the 2007 Tour de France. Rumours of him violating internal code for his team were rampant, instead of being in Mexico with his family, an former professional rider then retired said he had seen Rasmussen in Italy instead. Now with his contact terminated, the King of the Mountains was no more, despite his denial of the accusation, with news that the Danmarks Cykle Union suspended and then banned him from the future Union Cycliste Internationale World Championships and Olympic Games for missing his mandated doping controls and failing to to report his whereabouts during the missed time, with further bans unrelated lasting until 2009.

Now continuing on, the next generation of cycling Danes, Peter Riis Andersen, who threepeated as Danish Mountain Bike Champion and himself was on the way towards the Tour de France in the future and into the Olympic Games currently, again the erythroipoietin being the substance tested positive on. Andersen was immediately expelled from the Olympic squad, his team had booted him off, with his admission coming early this morning, depressed, dejected and teary eyed, saying he mainly felt under pressure after one long string of bad results in his sport. In order to raise his own level for the Olympics, felling in his body the artificial stimulant boosting his overall performance, he lower his own standards, but as he does say, though it is cowardly to cheat in sport, but it is even more cowardly not to admit it.

So here we are today, Cycling is rotten in the state of Denmark, from Riis to Rasmussen to Andersen, we have to question ourselves and the sport we love every summer around now. Replacing Andersen will be his permanent rival Jakob Fuglsang, as the leader of the game amongst Danes quite like Kim Eriksen to Riis in years past, so finding other national heroes will not be the problem. Rather it will be keeping them each of them away from tempting banned artificial blood stimulating boosters, keeping them clean but strong enough to finish the race at their peak and in top place, a old fashioned secret towards a solution could be hard work and extreme training with no room for error in such a game that sometime ends with such reckless abandon.

Be the Best You Can Be and then Better

If you are Canadian or American, you will remember either the Canada Fitness Test, Jump Rope for the Heart or the President's Physical Fitness and Sports Challenge and their doomed test day for those under the age of 13, a day that Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson and Prime Ministers Trudeau and Mulroney have made some past youth feel become infamous. Way back in elementary school, days in which the body fat percentage was always under 7, I got the Award of Excellence and that sweet Prime Minister's Certificate that comes with it for being tops in the class in all of its seven events, being the under 7.7 second 50 m dash, under 11:21 minute 2.4 km endurance run, under 11.4 second 10 m shuttle run, over 200 cm standing long jump, over 39 push ups and flexed arm hang, over 59 sit ups and speed curl ups along with chin up or hand grip. Now, even if you could not get the Big Red Patch and its accompanying signed parchment by the PM and his Minister of State's Youth, Fitness and Amateur Sport, you still had a shot at the Gold, Silver or Bronze patches, but I want to speak with those who only got the pin for Participaction or participant badge in the States for a moment.

What had been done to you, lots of you from those who have since contacted me, was indeed wrong. No government, group or collective should force a dreaded activity or service upon an individual when they do not want that activity or service, especially when involvement within eventually will bring about involved without later on in their lifetime, something that is so negative to anyone who participated, that any form of physical activity makes them sick. You were quite wronged back then, however do not expect a formal apology and settled monetary compensation for the stress, trauma and torture you suffered through during your horrendous ordeal. Instead, just get even, by using that ghastly experience to motivate you into become a better person, through body, mind and soul, then once you have become the best you can be, work even harder to better that personal best mark you have set for yourself!

Instead of making the dire past test day a pesty tax on the head and heart, unless you are that 60 year old Swede in the public service announcements who loves to beat up 30 year old Canadians, such as one of which will live life in infamy for you, bring up that pent up fear deep inside, make it truly a best personal friend, then you can overcome it by actually bettering it once and for all. Finding, gaining and maintaining your peak mark in physical fitness, without the assistance of any kind of performance enhancing substances, then maximize past the plateau you may be stuck at, to where you will find your own big sky of prime time performance, a kind of performance that keeps notching up, just as you get there. Today is the day to seize the power of change, the war against the overweight, obese and fat lifestyle our world has become starts right here and right now, but it begins through ourselves individually, not by the hand of the ruling collective, the only question left is, are you ready to rumble, rock and roll too?

The Newest Frontier

This election battle royale between Democratic Illinois Senator Barack Hussein Obama II and Republican Arizona Senator John Mccain represents America's Newest Frontier towards progressive change, but that change America can believe in, may become that mistrust it will perceive in. America loves a war hero, Mccain can easily follow in the footsteps of war hero presidents George Wahington, Andrew Jackson, William Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses Simpson, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight David Eisenhower, thus conceding the White House to the Republicans for a third straight time, following the last war time president George Walker Bush Jr. and his predecessors George Herbert Bush, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Harry Truman, Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, William Mckinley, Abraham Lincoln and James Madison. But each from their own ideologic perch, will try and gain the edge in hype by trying hard to be like the only war hero and war time president in American history, John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Kennedy, for both men, represents two separate and different things, ideas they need to make their campaigns win, yet past their own ideologic spin, he actually represented each symbiotically and equally, a heroic free market industrialism by commerce building incision favouring the rich for Mccain and a hopeful fair commonwealth redistributivism by welfare building taxation favouring the poor for Obama. Yet each man, with campaigns progressively stepping up their push and pull, will instead aim at America's military failures in the South East and North West regions of Asia, to weaken the other candidate, with Obama connecting Mccain to Vietnam and Mccain doing the same with Obama to Arabia, making this possibly the dirtiest presidential election in American political history.

This uncivil political war may just throw Americans off elections and politics altogther for the long term, with an eternal fight between red and blue, right and left or conservative and liberal that will not be issue oriented and can not solve the big problems with real solutions that are demanded for, of and by the people, such an election will split the people up to a point where the partisan becomes personal, that will then extrapolate challenge from the word change and polarize any message out of the ideal hope into hype.

Favre along with Packers and Vikings will hurt

I watched that big city flash New York interception by the Giants in overtime against Brett Favre and the Packers of Green Bay on an icy Lambeau Field in January, had been saying to others all season long that it would be his last, yet in the deep pit way down in my stomach, I felt as though this interception that ended up going for a touchdown on his last pass, like his first interception that ended up going for a touchdown in his first season with the Atlanta Falcons, just could not actually be it.

Sure enough then, Favre struggled with the decision, only weeks after making his retirement official and public. The City of Green Bay and the Packers itself seemed to also struggle with it, as they left their greenhorn rookie quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, as the apparent starter for the next season, despite his lack of experience being Brett's backup for the past three seasons. A-Rod not being in the cards seemed to be a good bet, until Favre unretired himself with talk since early July, but Ted Thompson, the general manager, and coach Mike Mccarthy, the head coach, gave neither an unconditional release or any executive commitment of his role within the orgnaization, leaving him both high and dry for the upcoming season. I personally think everyone involved messed this one up pretty bad, Favre here for retiring too early before his mind had caught up to his body, Packers here for not preparing the club with a more experienced quarterback to replace both Favre and Rodgers properly here with, therefore a forgive and forget one season comeback situation is definitely in order here. But, we must also now add to all this, a possible tampering charge against the Minnesota Vikings, the Packers' own National Football Conference North rival club, with an originally planned retirement of Brett's number 4 jersey at Lambeau Field on September 8 for the first week of the season. So, was Favre planning to play his last year with a different club, like the Vikings, just as he spent his first year with the Falcons? Perhaps this was that extra change he needed to get charged up, for the new season of his new career, as everyone needs to get their game on someway and everyone if different in that!

Perhaps he can not forget that last pass interception, just as I or many others can not, one that cost him a trip and possible victory in the Super Bowl. And like his first pass in the professionals, he did not want to leave off with an interception ending for a touchdown, as it would likely haunt any past Most Valuable Player and future Hall of Famer in their nightmares to come. I just hope Favre, the Packers and Vikings can peacefully solve their collective problems going into this upcoming season, or each will be individually hurt by this unmitigated fiasco as it has been.

Cuba and Castro right about International Olympic Baseball

The Cuban Olympic Committee, Baseball Federation of Cuba and Fidel Castro are quite right about International Olympic Baseball and the ridding of it at the Games by 2012, though I do not believe it truly is because the United States has been shut out in the medals for two Olympics, a bronze in Atlanta and a gold in Sydney, while Cuba has taken a record three golds and a silver in 2000, I do believe that it likely has something to do with the professional Major League Baseball itself.

Their help in eliminating Baseball from the Olympics, and thus real International play, will actually hurt the game, not just financially, but as well as popularity. A game in which its masters, these again being Major League Baseball, American League, National League, Major League Baseball Players Association and its Commissioner and Executive Director, actually killed the amateur Baseball World Cup by literally neutering the International Baseball Federation, in favour of their own professional World Baseball Classic, one can not imagine just how the Olympics came to its conclusion of ending its own relationship with the sport. As basketball, hockey and other team sports gain prestige from their inclusion within, baseball will find the world's cold shoulder from being without, something America does not really need right now, in the exact times we live in.

A pal of mine, Chris Cubitt, is right in saying that he believes team sports do not belong in the Olympics anymore, as the day of them being a part of an individual athlete's showcase are gone. But, if the International Olympic Committee are not following this strategy to a tee, systematically getting rid of all team sports on the world stage, then we have to know that getting rid of America's favourite sport in athletics can only hurt America's favourite agenda in politics, that being democracy. Which is why I believe Cuba and Castro are on the right track, in saying baseball should remain, or all others should go as well, bringing the archetypal Olympiad games right back to ancient Greek city of Athens where it belongs.

High standards for Canadian university football all star player

A Canadian university football all star player was found guily of trying hard to bring the game up to new higher standards, now before people immeditately go back to Wilfrid Laurier University running back Derek Medler or University of Western Ontario wide receiver Matt Baxter for recent on drug induced suspensions but no sanctions by Canadian Interuniversity Sport Football, Sport Canada or Athletics Canada, the illegal substance of choice in this case was not letrozole, metabolite or cocaine, rather it was a recreation one, marijuana.

Marijuana, as you know is a tad lighter in Canada, though just as illegal here, one former Liberal Prime Ministers Chrétien and Martin were interested in its decriminalization, something that will not happen with Conservative Prime Minister Harper and his Brand New War on Terrorism, Weaponry and Drugs from the Same Old Mulroney one. The drug testing, which is conducted by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, is quite advanced, analytical finding even very minute traces of cannabis in the urine sample, provided the whizzinator and its truly infamous rubber penis is not in effect, this kind of rigorous testing will find you. The violation occurred during in competition doping control, during the CIS East versus West Bowl on May 10 this year at Mac's Ron Joyce Stadium right here in Hamilton, the athlete was then only given a sanction of a warning and reprimand with no period of ineligibility within the game.

Though it remains a prohibited substance on the list for the World Anti Doping Agency, I figure with the amount of political activist power behind the issue, Mary Jane will eventually find her way back into the forum of pleasure by the majority of people in this nation, especially as to how those leading have shown their love towards it, personally however I do think that the law is the law and we must obey every inch of it, or else what is there in the way of authority for us to continue keeping this society from absolute and authentic anarchy in the future.

Training for Speed, Strength and Power brings Excellence

An Allout Attack from Quebec Separatists to Alberta Secessionists upon our United Canadian Dominion

Autonomy is indeed one thing, but to advocate for all out separation and secession from a recognized nation state is dishonourable, dispicable and disloyal. A United Canada, with its ten strong provinces and three big territories, will not work if both Quebec separatists and Alberta secessionists continue to attack its very foundation. Understanding the problems that face both Quebec separatists and Alberta secessionists is key, solutions can only be found, however by working together and fixing them once and for all. At the core, Canadians need to understand their individual differences, yet still celebrate the commonality within their own community. All of us have a duty, to make this Dominion work for its people, no matter how they differ from one another, to our betterment in this world. Ontario, like those other united provinces and territories of Canada, should work to become more autonomous, sovereign and independent from the federal government and towards each others special traditions, histories and heritage, but must not lose the distinct Canadian stylized character we all uniquely hold within. As the house divided against itself can not stand, unity within must be commonly agreed upon through consensus or division will become rampant to its end without.

Live Freely and Die Faithfully

Quite sad note for Redeemer in the summer yet again, as Philosophy department chair and professor Doctor Theodore Plantinga had passed away on American Independence Day, he had been one of the founding faculty of Redeemer University College. Craig Vanderveen is brought to mind, after last year's quick tragedy, but all is not lost. Redeemer may no longer have both these fine individuals living freely amongst the commons, both of whom I was honoured to meet, greet and speak with during our time on campus, however we do know they died faithfully in service and together we all hope to meet again in the future.

Happy Dominion and Independence Day Weekend

Happy Dominion and Independence Day Weekend everybody!



Football Warrior Poet, a new breed of athlete whose only thing they thinking about is the game on Any Given Sunday, is off for the remainder of the summer to continue read, listening and doing the strongman, speed and weight training up here in the North, will leave weekly pic results at the Facebook with a post here or there at Blogger, see you all in September?

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You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That is, that is part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or to early you do not quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you do not quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our finger nails for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches that is going to make the whole difference, between winning and losing, between living and dying. I will tell you this, in any fight, it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know, if I am going to have any life anymore, it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what living is. The six inches in front of your face. Rocky. It is not about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. Never give up never stop believing and win. Back for one final round, the bell is about to ring because it aint over until it is over. Must Be The Money Prettyboy, House Of Prime Time Keeps On Ticking, Straight to My Feet. You look good, you feel good. You feel good, you play good. You play good, the pay is good. Youtube me over this hot song - Blood, tears, sweat, pain. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. In the trenches, training for months. I am like a prizefighter, dog, get your mind set, aint no Hollywood stunts. I am a rich hoodlum yeah. Blood, tears, sweat, pain. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. rap single track - Rob and Big 2 MP3 Making the Band 4 lyrics Going for Five.