Still on this Predators to Hamilton thing... It's been suggested that to ensure that attendance stays low so the Predators can get out of their lease with the city of Nashville, they can do a couple things: raise the prices of tickets to an insane amount of money, or put the crappiest team on the ice possible so no one comes to watch.
If the latter turned out to be the case, wouldn't that be quite the credibility problem for the NHL? Thinking about this possibility got me thinking that I've seen this somewhere before... then it hit me. The movie Major League. You remember that one... it has Charlie Sheen as the "Wild Thing". The owner of the Cleveland Indians wanted to move them to Miami (this was before the Florida Marlins) so she got rid of all the good players and got a bunch of nobodies. Life imitates Hollywood, I guess. I'd go see Major League 4: Ice Cold.
I say important things of importance
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Hamilton Predators
Hey look, I found my blog! I was wondering where that went.
So anyway, the following topic is one which I've been following with great interest over the last few weeks, but I wasn't sure of what to say about it. I'm still not, but there's a post-shaped void in my blog that needs to be filled.
I'm sure by now, we've all heard the news that Jim Balsille (CEO of RIM and generally filthy rich) has almost finalized a deal to purchase the Nashville Predators... a team that is quite good, but is ripe for relocation because of poor attendance. Right now, barring a bunch of tickets being sold in Nashville (unlikely), it looks like a foregone conclusion that the team will move to Hamilton. Hamilton, a city that been baited with the prospect of having an NHL team many times before. This potential move has been discussed a great deal, especially on Prime Time Sports, which I listen to frequently. Most people think another NHL team in southern Ontario will thrive with a base of hockey fans and corporations that are basically shut out of being able to go see Toronto Maple Leaf games.
I'm here to tell you that it won't be the grand success that some are making it out to be.
Of course, I think a team will be able to operate and stay afloat, but it just won't be a smashing success... and I'll tell you why.
Let's go back to December when Balsille was about to purchase the Pittsburg Penguins, which eventually fell through, but the word on the street was the his intentions were to move the team to southern Ontario... initially, the speculation centreing around Hamilton. But then the speculation started to change, and since this guy's done a bunch of stuff in Waterloo (keeping RIM here, doing things with the university, etc), the new rumour was that he wanted to actually have a team somewhere in K-W. Personally, I thought, "Yeah right... it'd be cool, but no chance". Eventually, the Penguins deal fell through and that was that... until the Predators deal came along.
Since the Predators could easily be moved as their lease would be easy to get out of due to attendance, speculation was flying much more than before on the team being moved to S. Ontario. But this time, the bulk of the speculation focused on K-W. It's at this point I made my mistake... I bought into the rumours of a NHL team in town here in Waterloo, and I got excited about the prospect. Well, then the deal with Hamilton came to light and I thought, "I'm not going to switch allegiances for a team in Hamilton". And that's when it struck me, and this bring me back to my point about how a team in Southern Ontario won't be a huge success... If I won't switch loyalties to a team in Hamilton, what's to make someone who's not from K-W root for a team here if this was the final destination. The answer is... nothing. This area is full of hockey fans, but they already have their favorite teams, be it the Leafs, Red Wings, Canadiens, Sabres, Senators, or miscellaneous. The only core fans a new team here can hope to get are the ones in the actual city the team moves to.
So, Hamilton... have your NHL team... you'll do alright. But you can't count on hordes of fans coming from Waterloo Region, Brantford, London, Mississauga, etc.
Of course, maybe I'm just bitter that the impossible dream isn't going to become a reality.
So anyway, the following topic is one which I've been following with great interest over the last few weeks, but I wasn't sure of what to say about it. I'm still not, but there's a post-shaped void in my blog that needs to be filled.
I'm sure by now, we've all heard the news that Jim Balsille (CEO of RIM and generally filthy rich) has almost finalized a deal to purchase the Nashville Predators... a team that is quite good, but is ripe for relocation because of poor attendance. Right now, barring a bunch of tickets being sold in Nashville (unlikely), it looks like a foregone conclusion that the team will move to Hamilton. Hamilton, a city that been baited with the prospect of having an NHL team many times before. This potential move has been discussed a great deal, especially on Prime Time Sports, which I listen to frequently. Most people think another NHL team in southern Ontario will thrive with a base of hockey fans and corporations that are basically shut out of being able to go see Toronto Maple Leaf games.
I'm here to tell you that it won't be the grand success that some are making it out to be.
Of course, I think a team will be able to operate and stay afloat, but it just won't be a smashing success... and I'll tell you why.
Let's go back to December when Balsille was about to purchase the Pittsburg Penguins, which eventually fell through, but the word on the street was the his intentions were to move the team to southern Ontario... initially, the speculation centreing around Hamilton. But then the speculation started to change, and since this guy's done a bunch of stuff in Waterloo (keeping RIM here, doing things with the university, etc), the new rumour was that he wanted to actually have a team somewhere in K-W. Personally, I thought, "Yeah right... it'd be cool, but no chance". Eventually, the Penguins deal fell through and that was that... until the Predators deal came along.
Since the Predators could easily be moved as their lease would be easy to get out of due to attendance, speculation was flying much more than before on the team being moved to S. Ontario. But this time, the bulk of the speculation focused on K-W. It's at this point I made my mistake... I bought into the rumours of a NHL team in town here in Waterloo, and I got excited about the prospect. Well, then the deal with Hamilton came to light and I thought, "I'm not going to switch allegiances for a team in Hamilton". And that's when it struck me, and this bring me back to my point about how a team in Southern Ontario won't be a huge success... If I won't switch loyalties to a team in Hamilton, what's to make someone who's not from K-W root for a team here if this was the final destination. The answer is... nothing. This area is full of hockey fans, but they already have their favorite teams, be it the Leafs, Red Wings, Canadiens, Sabres, Senators, or miscellaneous. The only core fans a new team here can hope to get are the ones in the actual city the team moves to.
So, Hamilton... have your NHL team... you'll do alright. But you can't count on hordes of fans coming from Waterloo Region, Brantford, London, Mississauga, etc.
Of course, maybe I'm just bitter that the impossible dream isn't going to become a reality.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
On My Way To Riches
Finally, for the first time since... ever, I won money at the horse track last night. I won BIG too! I think I came out about $4 ahead after all was said and done. I owe it all to my new strategy of... nah, I'm not gonna say... I don't want you all to move in on my new source on income.
Canada's Wonderland
Last Thursday I went to Canada's Wonderland with Joel. I witnessed first hand the gloriousness of going to an amusement park on a weekday in May. Besides a 20 minute wait for The Bat and a 15 minute wait for Thunder Run, everything was basically a walk-on (or at the most only waiting for 2 rides). Foolishly, we went a little hardcore in going from one ride to the next... without waits in line, we got wiped out really fast and left the park at around 4:30. But by early afternoon, we had ridden everything.
The company who owns Cedar Point now owns Wonderland after buying all the Paramount Parks. One would hope that some new construction would be on the way for Wonderland. While it does have a nice variety of rides, it lacks some super-spectacular rides.
The company who owns Cedar Point now owns Wonderland after buying all the Paramount Parks. One would hope that some new construction would be on the way for Wonderland. While it does have a nice variety of rides, it lacks some super-spectacular rides.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Driver's Ed
Last night, a brief but nasty storm inevitably left a couple traffic signals on flash mode.
Pop quiz, hotshot: If you're approaching a traffic light that's flashing yellow (amber) do you...
a) proceed through the intersection with caution or
b) treat the intersection as an all-way stop?
If you said a), congratulations and thank you. If you said b), you are like all the other drivers I saw on the road last night. Learn the rules, people! You're mixing this up with when the power is out completely and there are no lights on. I driving along Univerisity Ave, and the lights at Seagram (the entrance of UW) are on flash. There's about 10 cars in front of me, and they all come to a complete stop while we had the flashing yellow, even though there was no one waiting on Seagram. Then a car came to a stop on Seagram and the people in front of me stopped and let him go first. Quite frustrating... there's wasn't that much traffic, so he'd only have to wait another 10 seconds.
Treat it like a (non all-way) stop sign.
Don't believe me? Take a refresher course from the Driver's Handbook.
Pop quiz, hotshot: If you're approaching a traffic light that's flashing yellow (amber) do you...
a) proceed through the intersection with caution or
b) treat the intersection as an all-way stop?
If you said a), congratulations and thank you. If you said b), you are like all the other drivers I saw on the road last night. Learn the rules, people! You're mixing this up with when the power is out completely and there are no lights on. I driving along Univerisity Ave, and the lights at Seagram (the entrance of UW) are on flash. There's about 10 cars in front of me, and they all come to a complete stop while we had the flashing yellow, even though there was no one waiting on Seagram. Then a car came to a stop on Seagram and the people in front of me stopped and let him go first. Quite frustrating... there's wasn't that much traffic, so he'd only have to wait another 10 seconds.
Treat it like a (non all-way) stop sign.
Don't believe me? Take a refresher course from the Driver's Handbook.
Monday, May 14, 2007
The Second Season
Most of us have been taught that there are four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. But I'm here to tell you that all of you have been misled. In a vast conspiracy of misinformation with the intent to confuse the general population, a four season universe has been forced upon us. I don't fully understand the motivation for the conspirators... profit, perhaps... power, maybe... women, you never know... free candy, most likely... but whatever the reason, I'm here to blow this thing wide open. Prepare yourselves, for I have seen the truth! It struck me today... there are only two seasons: Hard-top and Soft-top. And today marked the first day of Soft-top.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Im Iliterit
I made a big step towards reducing the waste in my apartment. I cancelled my subscription to the KW Record. Truth is, I wasn't really reading it everyday (except for the comics) and it piled up really fast, which made my trips down to the recycling room more often than I want. The bonus is that the Record is offered online in full in pdf format for a 1/4 of the cost of delivery. So, I may go with that... since it goes so well with my tallscreen monitor.
This is riveting stuff here, folks.
This is riveting stuff here, folks.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
New Toy!
After almost a year of reading reviews, researching features, and deciding if I actually want to spend money, I finally bought myself a new video camera... A Canon HV20. This particular model is a high-definition camcorder. It took me a while to realize I should go with the HD instead of the SD... and I'm not disappointed. I got to test it out this afternoon at a BBQ at Dan and Faith's. It's about 2 minutes of recording meat on the grill and a baby being humourously fed. But the image is spectacular. Unfortunately, I don't have the firewire cord to get the clips onto my computer or the necessary harddrive space... yet. So, there's no sample to show you and you'll just have to take my word for it. Now all I need are some good ideas to use it for.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Shaun Of The Dead
Anybody?
(May 3 update) It's been located
Monday, April 30, 2007
Double TP
Are you pondering what I'm pondering?
Instead of buying the usual noname 2-ply toilet paper, I went out on a limb and bought the noname 2-ply DOUBLE ROLL toilet paper. It would seem to me that this roll would last twice as long as the other stuff. But it's so very hard to tell. I haven't taken a stop watch to it yet. I must find out whether or not I'm getting the biggest TP bang for my TP buck.
I feel a totally scientific experiment coming on.
Instead of buying the usual noname 2-ply toilet paper, I went out on a limb and bought the noname 2-ply DOUBLE ROLL toilet paper. It would seem to me that this roll would last twice as long as the other stuff. But it's so very hard to tell. I haven't taken a stop watch to it yet. I must find out whether or not I'm getting the biggest TP bang for my TP buck.
I feel a totally scientific experiment coming on.
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