Odds 'n' Ends

Try as I might, I can find no single overwhelmingly exciting subject to post about today, so I'm going to just go with the random musings idea. Hope that's ok with everyone; if not, well....yeah, I've got nothing.

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Foggy day in East York as seen from our balcony

Terrifically foggy day here in East York. Makes me feel like I'm in the Maritimes and that's never a bad thing. I sense that the East Coast is where I am destined to wind up in life; for some reason, a lot of people in my family seem to feel that pull later in life and nothing in our lineage really explains why. Sarah and I have often spoken of resettling in Halifax; if we still desire to live in a city once we leave Toronto for good, it seems the most likely candidate. I'd still like to get to someplace smaller, but we may have to do that in stages. In any event, it's quite a wonderful view from our balcony - and the lush Spring-like smells are especially captivating to our cat as well. Now if we could just get that guy with the RC car in the parking lot right below us to run out of power we might actually have a completely idyllic situation.


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Today is Jackie Robinson Day in major league baseball. It's the anniversary of the day he played his first game as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1947, helping to begin the integration of baseball after years of it being an all-white game at the major league level. On the 50th anniversary of the historic event, in 1997, Jackie's number was retired "in perpetuity" from the majors in general, meaning no player would ever again be allowed to choose the number 42 for his uniform. 7 years later, in 2004, Jackie Robinson Day was proclaimed to be an annual event and every year thereafter the sport honours one of its greatest-ever heroes on April 15 of each season. For the past four seasons - including today - all players, coaches and managers in every game wear Jackie's #42 in his honour for one day only. It took a long time for baseball to get this right; now they seem to fully understand the significance of what this remarkable man did for the game.

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I am not, however, quite as proud of my other favourite sport at the moment. I don't know what was in the air last night but I don't think I have been as disgusted with an evening of NHL playoff hockey since the days of the Broad Street Bullies (Philadelphia Flyers) back in the mid-'70s. It didn't matter what game you turned on, it didn't matter who you were cheering for, the fighting, head shots, terrible calls, hissy fits, coaching manoeuvres and just out-and-out filthiness was absolutely beyond the pale. As a result I watched about 10 minutes in total from all the games and I still felt like I needed a shower afterwards. This is a very slippery slope and if it isn't something the NHL starts to take seriously - and immediately, especially the disgraceful uber-violence - the sport is in serious danger of eating itself. If I had a young child I wouldn't let them watch any of the games these days. That's how bad it's become. As a player and coach myself, I am sickened by the state of affairs in the NHL right now. For the next little while at least I am going to content myself with just checking the scores of the games after they take place until this nasty streak has abated.

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That's it for now. Off to marinate some wings for tonight's dinner. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!