Calm down, it’s only a game isn’t it? Isn’t it?

This ain’t your daddy’s back yard scrimmage

A day after my beloved hockey team, The Washington Capitals forgot to show up for their game seven against The New York Rangers and end up being bounced, I woke up with allergy symptoms.   As I sniffled and wiped my teary eyes, my three-year old son looked at me with an air  of understanding and said, “Daddy, I know the Caps are now out of the playoffs but don’t worry it’s just a game”.  Well I’ll be dang!  Out of the mouth of babes…

Well son, sorry to blog it to you but it ceased being ‘just a game’ a long time ago.        When professional athletes are paid more than the real professionals who save lives and educate world leaders, it is not just a game.  In fact, I am not sure if it can even be called a game anymore. ( Maybe a business franchise, a team of thugs, a gang or a group of rich spoiled brats won’t be that far off but your dad never said that and there are a lot of good teams out there and a lot of athletes are also good law abiding citizens).

Son, just last year, downtown Vancouver was laid waste, buildings were  burned, looted and vandalized,  all because their team, The Vancouver Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup finals.  Read it all here.  People were hurt, son.  Human lives were disrupted.  Perhaps they didn’t get the memo that it was just a game.

Last year alone,  within the space of a few months, three hockey players died.  Two were from suicide and the other from drug overdose.  Son, I should not be telling you all this gruesome stuff at your tender age but it’s reality, not a game.  People don’t need drugs to play a game.  I could also tell you about the NFL and NBA where the players travel with armed posses and engage in illicit activities.  Drugs use is rampant, not that you would know what rampant means.

My boy, remember how daddy’s blood pressure soared to dangerous levels as he watched the playoffs? That’s serious stuff, son.  Serious stuff.

Snakes and Ladders is a game, hide-and-go-seek is a game but when it comes to pro sport, it’s ‘not just a game’ my little one.  Now excuse me while I go blow my nose.

Related articles

• Daddy and the hockey game (caramieandtheboyz.wordpress.com)
• ‘It just feels different’: Caps, Rangers talk Game 7 (aol.sportingnews.com)
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/16/vancouver-riots-2011_n_877924.html

The weird world of sports

As a big Hockey fan and an even bigger fan of the Washington Capitals, it was interesting to note the firing of their head coach Bruce Boudreau, this morning.  The same guy who just only a few years ago, was good enough to best the other coaches and win the Coach Of The Year Award. The same coach who with his last win a couple of games ago, became the fastest coach in NHL history to reach 200 wins. (201-88-40).  So we can bet our houses that he would be picked up within 24 hours by some lucky team.

Apparently, Boudreau  had lost the support of his team. Whatever he did was not working, so unfortunately, he was the fall guy as all coaches are when their teams are failing. I am not sure why this is so.  If a student continually fails to live up to his or her potential, the teacher is never in any danger of losing his or her job.  Even though in some cases, the level of tutoring provided at schools are surely reasons for some heads to roll in that department…but that’s another take.

In a league, and also a world, where athletes are extremely overpaid, I think holding same athletes to some responsibility for their performances would not be a bad thing.  Why should the peon have to pay because an overpaid athlete suddenly thinks he’s too rich to give two hoots about playing up to his potential?   They are signed to these outrageous contracts that is not performance based, so why should they risk their health when they could just coast and still pick up their fat pay cheques?  I still say ALL athletes should be paid based on how they perform.  This means that their contract should be reviewed each season and made to reflect their play.

Personally, I also think it is preposterous that someone playing a sport gets paid in the hundreds of millions.  Their job, if one can call it that, does not cure cancer or any ailment for that matter.  Unlike an educator’s, it also does not shape a child to become the next president, scientist or doctor.  In a normal world, a doctor and teacher would probably be high up on the pay scale, enjoying the respect that their careers should garner.  Unfortunately, we are not living in such a world so we will continue to watch a rich brat running up a down a hardwood floor while bouncing a ball, complaining to the ref whenever another rich brat invade his personal space. What a picture!

Related articles

• You: Bruce Boudreau Fired: Washington Capitals Look to Dale Hunter for Guidance (bleacherreport.com)
• Caps Fire Coach Boudreau; Replaced by Dale Hunter (abcnews.go.com)
• Washington Capitals Owner Thanks Bruce Boudreau In Blog Post (tracking.si.com)

Jets take off

Yesterday was the Winnipeg Jets’ first game.  It came with the expected fanfare.  The Prime Minister of Canada, the NHL Commissioner and other dignitaries including Don Cherry all showed up to add their star power to the Biggest Show In Town.  Unfortunately, that was where it ended and the Jets came out flat and cruised to a rough landing at the sticks of the Montreal Canadiens.  The score was 5-1 and deservedly so.  I hope that this game is not a sign of things to come. For now, I will blame it on the jitters.

Grin and ‘bare’ it?

Ladies: Rocco Grimaldi requests you cover up for God

By Greg Wyshynski

I respect Rocco Grimaldi, the California kid that the Florida Panthers selected in the second round of the 2011 draft and is going to play for North Dakota this season. (Where he could be rookie of the year in the WCHA.)

I respect that he’s a role model for young players, who see a 5-foot-6 forward on a path to the NHL. I respect that he’s a devout Christian who uses social media to preach what he believes, even if his candor may have scared off some teams at the draft.

I respect that, in the end, Grimaldi views faith as a way to affect positive change in someone’s life and in society, which is a view I imagine places him in the majority in the United States.

What I don’t respect, however, are Twitter rants that espouse Puritanical nonsense about how women need to cover themselves lest their feminine curves tempt men.

Rocco wants to know, ladies: Are you honoring God with those jeans that make your butt look great?

Here are Rocco’s observations about the female form from his Twitter feed (@RGrimaldi23):

There’s a thin line between “ladies are too scantily clad these days” and “God wants you in a potato sack because your brothers can’t help themselves,” and Rocco ran through it. I mean, to each his own, but in my eyes this entire request veers uncomfortably close to the asinine “she was asking for it/look how she was dressed” denouncement women have had to battle for decades.

Rocco moved on to the fellas after that:

“Guys, when did sleeping with every girl u can make u a man? Anyone can lay with a woman. And don’t blame the women for how they dress. Don’t say it’s because they want attention. Don’t blame ur “curiosity” or that u just wanted a little taste of what it would be like. Women are not an object for playing with. Sex is a gift from God. We have made it idolatry by how we use it. We blame the women for what they’re wearing, we blame the media for what they’re producing, but we never blame OURSELVES for how WE’VE twisted God’s gift to only glorify ourselves. WE are the men and WE are to blame. God put US in charge of this earth so WE are the ones who need to man up and lay down our lust. Don’t fall into that temptation. If you don’t do this, you may be a boy for the rest of ur life #ManUp“

So, in summary: Women should cover their boobs and ask if God approves of their outfit in case it unfairly tempts men, but men only have themselves to blame if they’re tempted sexually.

Huh, weird … you usually never see contradictions in religious dogma …

Like I said: I respect Grimaldi, immensely, for having this level of candor and using his modicum of fame for what he believes is his mission on this rock. I follow him on Twitter, and 98 percent of what he writes reads like an inspiration poster in a Christian greeting card store. Please don’t misconstrue this as some attempt to silence him.

But his comments about women are the kind of sexist, archaic thoughts that cloud the positive impact of faith. As a (lapsed) Roman Catholic myself, it’s a constant struggle: You believe there are aspects of religion that are undoubtedly beneficial, but they’re constantly overshadowed by clunky views on sex and gender that repel people and open up the entire community to ridicule.

I hate to make this into Dan Ellis Part Deux, but it’s the same principle: The messages Rocco Grimaldi shares have value, if not to me or you than to someone else. His heart’s in the right place with the comments about men; his comments about women drown them out.

His best argument against the objectification of women was to objectify them. We can’t give an “amen” to that.

s/t to Minnesota Slim for the tip.

Related: Florida Panthers, Hockey Fans

Let’s cut straight to the chase.  Do I think women objectify themselves? A resounding YES!  Women are, for some reason,  seeing an increasing need to bare skin in order to get noticed.  I am not saying that all women who wear a nice mini dress/skirt are begging for attention but do you really have to let it all hang out to look good?  If you are out at a function and spend every minute trying to pull your dress down to cover your undies, then it is too short.  If your breasts are falling out of your bra and posing a risk of eye injury to the person you are talking to, then your bra is too small.  Come on, it’s common sense. When you go to a restaurant, you don’t know what the food looks like until it is served.  There are no hints or displays in the window, so why do you feel the need to preview your body to the world?

Women, I agree wholeheartedly with Rocco’s sentiments.  Cover up, it leaves more to the imagination and gets you the respect you deserve.  No woman should be objectified or taken advantage of due to their clothing or lack of clothing but women, for the sick preys out there, why give them that fuel?  Just my take.