Troubles for Mike Milbury

The ballad of Mike Milbury is an interesting one, I honestly have to say he's the American version of Don Cherry. They are both former Bruins head-coaches believe it or not, and both played in the NHL. (Of course, Cherry only played a single NHL game) They both are a little radical with their views sometimes when it comes to the studio between periods, but I think Cherry is much different. Cherry is a celebrated part of HNIC, some love him, some hate him. If the Leafs aren't the focal point of HNIC broadcasts anymore, Cherry is still there. Over the years, he may have said many things that have thrown his followers off the bus, let's have a look...

and he's had many other shining moments of controversy, none of which haven't made me laugh. We've heard about the french, the europeans, even what he thinks of Air Canada & VIA for threatening to cancel their NHL sponsorship after the Pacioretty-Chara hit. ("What a phony they are!") Now we turn to Mike Milbury, let's see his shining moments

I find Cherry to be a little old-fashioned sometimes with his viewpoints, but polite? He's certainly more polite than Milbury. Remember the Cup Finals in 2010 when Roenick started to cry? Milbury still didn't seemlike the most heartwarming person towards him, and his comments are quite heartless in general sometimes. NBC tried their best to get a good Cherry-like figure on their broadcasts, it definately hasn't held up. Now with Milbury's alleged incident with a 12-year old at a hockey game, I think this is NBC & CBC's opportunity to say "hey, you're done." Of course, if the CBC has kept Cherry this long, you never know with Milbury, he could be there yapping away for years. Maybe he'll replace Cherry on Coach's Corner someday.

Then of course, CBC did get rid of Dave Hodge quite quickly...

The Battle of Alberta

Jerome Iginla leads the Flames with 11 goals this season

Saturday night was Oilers @ Flames on Hockey Night in Canada, and the first Battle of Alberta I’ve watched in its entirety. Iginla had 2 goals, one of them an empty net, in Calgary’s 3-0 win over Edmonton. Being more of an Oiler/Nugent-Hopkins fan, I was a bit disappointed, but it was an exciting and scoreless game for the first 33 minutes. The two teams seemed pretty evenly matched until midway through the second period, when the shots were announced in favor of the Flames, 24-11. That’s when Tom Kostopoulos scored from right in front of the net, on a power play caused by his stick getting slashed by Gagner. Despite the surprise from the commentators that Khabibulin wasn’t playing, Dubnyk did a pretty good job, making 31 saves. (He had quite a good retro-like mask too)

I think I have to say from the standpoint of a Leafs fan in the Eastern time zone, the battle of Alberta is THE NEW battle of Ontario. For one thing, CMU’s dorm cable for some reason gets the Montreal feed of CBC instead of Windsor or Toronto. (I don’t know why) So on Saturday at 7p.m. I’ve recently ended up with the Montreal game, unless of course they’re playing the Maple Leafs. Toronto doesn’t even play on every Saturday night anymore. The west coast HNIC games are pretty much my version of Saturday Night Live. It’s a sneak-peek into the Western Conference, which I don’t see much of besides the Red Wings and whoever they’re playing from out there. So whoever it is playing, Vancouver, Edmonton, or Calgary, I usually really enjoy watching it. And if it’s any of these Canadian teams playing one of the others, especially Calgary & Edmonton, it’s a BIG deal. Even if I’m only tuned in a little while, it’s something I don’t get to see very often. Plus, since I hope to someday call play-by-play for hockey games, Mark Lee is one commentator I love to hear, even more than Bob Cole at this point. A hybrid sound of Lee and Cole is what I hope to someday sound like.

It’s an exciting time in Edmonton, great young players like RNH, Hall, Eberle, Paajarvi, and a better start than they’ve had in the past seasons. A playoff spot is possibly on the way.

The Travel Box

Ahhh yes, the semester of Fall 2011 is over. It's been almost an entire month since anything's been posted on this blog, I didn't have any time or energy to find something to put together. But now I'm home on Christmas break for an entire month, plenty of time now...

This was the first semester I had my car up at college with me, basically meaning I was doing all packing & loading to come home by myself, up and down a flight of stairs about 15 times until I had an entirely full car. (And I drive a Buick, I took home A LOT of stuff) It took about 45 minutes or so, but I was glad to at least have complete control of the handling of my stuff down some stairs and at the curb. Ever have someone help you with loading/un-loading a car, and you purposely give them things you don’t mind them carrying? (Pillows, laundry, etc) Then you grab the luggage items you NEVER let anyone else lay their hands on, just to make sure it’s safe?

Yep, for me it’s a 10x10x8 cardboard box. I remember packing for my freshman year at CMU, and I found this box. There couldn’t be a more perfect size for small items that aren’t electronics, cords, or CD’s. It usually includes: 1) My 80’s alarm clock/radio, 2) My most recent journals, 3) A Langenscheidt’s Pocket Dictionary, 4) Whatever book(s) I’m reading for leisure, currently “Travels With Charley” by John Steinbeck, 5) A photo album, and 6) A picture frame, (in the bottom left of the box in this picture) currently holding a photo of me on a long Dryden, Mich. bike ride in 2010.

The best part? Everything always seems to fit. There’s always the right amount of stuff to make it work. I’d hate to know what I would do without this box. I have massive laundry bags for clothes, obviously a backpack for all my schoolwork, a nylon bag I use for small electronic things (CD’s, camera, phone charger, some cords, etc), then boxes for my desktop computer that I transfer back and forth at the start/end of each semester. This 10x10x8 box is perfect for everything else. Wouldn’t let anyone else carry it…

Who's proud to be a Chippewa?

The student section as it appeared right before the 3rd quarter started.

Am I dissapointed in CMU's lack of school spirit among current undergraduates? Yes, but it was fairly cold out. Nevertheless, I'm utterly dissapointed in this whole thursday-night-in-november-game thing...what a waste of money on CMU's part. Thursday night game + 35 degrees outside = Nobody shows up. I picked up CM Life and was enraged to read that the attendance for last night's game was 12,127. WTF? What a joke, here's the front sideline. Do you see 12,000 people? Neither do I, and the stands on the back sideline (the ones we're on) had wayyyy less. I know I'm showing pictures from later on in the night, but the opening kickoff didn't look much different.

Start of the 3rd quarter

This looks more like the crowd we drag in for the preview show at the end of band camp. Not only was nobody there, but from a marching band perspective, it was much too cold. Coming from a clarinetist, bitter cold temperatures like this kill a clarinet player's hands, because we have to cut the fingers off our gloves, so we can actually play our instrument. (We have the most complex keys) You bump your hand into something and it feels like you took an axe to it. Performing pregame looked ridiculous, with steam bellowing out of the mouth of every Marching Chip as we marched. Another sad note from a perfromer's standpoint, it's nice to have an audience when you do halftime. It's too bad more folks weren't there to hear Moves Like Jagger, and Salute to America's Finest.
And the fact that the game was on ESPN, every quarter was drawn out as far as possible, with a commercial break for every 4 minutes of play or so. Game time was 7:30, and was done at about 11:30; I just wanted to go home and sleep before my 8a.m. friday class.

A night like this is one I would rather forget. I always question/badger/interrogate anyone who says they're not coming back to the Marching Chips next season. Now I see some reasons why. When people say it's time consuming, I then ask them in return "what else are you going to do?" Okay, well I could've done a ton of productive things on a thursday night; instead I was at a football game where the marching band outnumbered the number of normal fans there. It was quite an epiphany I had thursday night, as I parked my car and walked back to my residence hall...For the first time since 2007, I asked myself..."Why am I doing this?"

So that's what it takes to get my 14-year-old perspective back out, a thursday night game in November. I'm glad I don't feel that way at all today. I will be with the marching band all four years (or more) and loving all of it. Plus, I did actually enjoy myself last night, cheering and talking with my clarinet friends. (Whenever someone got injured, me & another guy compared their number to that of someone on the Maple Leafs or Red Wings...e.g. When #28 went down, "Oooooh there goes Rafalski!")
I do have to warn CMU though, while I'll be at the home games, if you keep up this 3-8 style record and pay ESPNU to televise your thursday night games in november, this is what your games will look like. All your students will be at Wayside, Bluegrass, Tallgrass, Main St, the bars in downtown, and keeping warm in the dorms. There's no incentive for them to go if they can't even tailgate...great job Central, you killed your fanbase.

A kickoff in the 4th quarter

It'd be a shame if CMU-Toledo next friday is like this. That's the game where we do our student show, which includes *Forget* You by Cee-Lo Green, and Party Rock Anthem!!! Sure hope there's more than just the bleachers to perform to, because they don't pay much attention.....lol that'd look kind of stupid, a marching band just playing to an empty stadium. IT COULD HAPPEN.

Time to prove if they're legit

7-0. Seven to Nothing. Ouch.
I didn't see the Leafs game on Saturday night, I was actually playing in 2 different ensembles at CMU's Band-O-Rama, one of which was the marching band...of course, what did I miss? All I needed to see was the score when I got home, and it tells the whole story. The Leafs once again couldn't beat Boston, even though their record is far superior to Boston's right now. Kessel got no points against his old team, and Seguin got a hat trick...same old story as the last two seasons, Toronto just can't figure out how to beat Boston, whether it's a curse or not, it sure is damn annoying...
Toronto currently sits with a record of 9-4-1, and 2nd in the Eastern conference. Kessel still leads the league in goals and points, so you could say that the loss is merely a small ding in the armor. I would love to say so, I mean there's good reason to, you started Scrivens and watched a horror show in net because of it. (Though I am proud of his performance last Thursday against the Blue Jackets, where he picked up his first NHL win)
But James Reimer is out, and who knows when he'll be back...plus, now Connolly is out, so Toronto's taking a hit here. Is this the end of their great start? Can the Leafs purge through this tight spot right now and keep up the good work? We're all at the edge of our seats waiting to find out. This game against the Panthers will likely give us some answers.

Goodbye to Andy Rooney

Andy Rooney died Friday at 92 years old, just one month after his final spot on 60 Minutes. Though it was sad to see him sign off from television for a final time, it’s certainly devastating to know he has now officially left the face of the earth. A man with such unique remarks and topics for his portion of the show, I will never forget the inspiration that was Andy Rooney.

I don’t think I ever saw the connection between Andy Rooney and I until he was about to retire. I’ve always reveled in the opinions/careers of older men such as Rooney, Regis Philbin, Larry King, and I’ll even go as far to say my Grandpa, and his witty humor. Watching Andy Rooney’s portion of 60 Minutes, I felt sympathetic for the guy, but always got a kick out of it. His 2-3 minute spot would feature him complaining about something, and he never ran out of stuff to talk/complain about. I would sit at the kitchen table and impersonate his old, high-pitched voice, but yet have decent respect towards him. Whether it was girl-scout cookies, or the newspaper, Rooney was talking about it, even if the relevance of the topic didn’t even factor in. (There was even an episode where he highlighted a nasty email he received from a viewer of his show)

Here’s where I realize I can compare myself to Rooney. I had a You-tube show in high school that I called The Jinjo Show. (If you must, go check it out) It revolved around me occasionally answering questions from viewers, complaining about the Maple Leafs, and having a main topic that I complained about. I feel like if The Jinjo Show had ever made it to television in some way, shape or form, it would look like Andy Rooney’s spot on 60 minutes. I feel like I will basically be Andy Rooney when I’m 70+. I think I can live with that, actually if that’s what might happen, I look forward to it.

Standing up for my subculture

The images of Northern Illinois' football team running through a Toledo pre-game show have me disgusted beyond belief. The fact that Jamaal Bass is only recieving a one-game suspension is ridiculous. I'm waiting for the article where it talks about the marching band member with the broken nose, suing Bass and winning. I've never been more pissed off at a football team than I am now. Not only did NIU show hardly any class when they came up to CMU on Oct. 1, now they blatantly run through a marching band.
I know that most people are saying that the "poor little marching band" is defenseless, and all the band members beg to differ from that...well, I beg to differ those who beg to differ. Besides a tuba, trombone, tenor sax, falto, etc; how does any band kid stand a chance against a charging 300 lb. football player? NIU running through the band is like stomping on flowers, you damage instruments, noses, legs...it's just something you don't do. It's certainly not the Cal vs. Stanford game, I mean the game hasn't even started. Is the game on the line? No...Plus, of all things, NIU was IN Toledo, on Rocket turf. I would understand the mindset of the NIU players if Toledo's band come to perform on the road and took too long, but IT'S NOT YOUR HOME FIELD!!! Come on NIU, have some class next time you head into an opposing team's stadium. There's a reason it says "GUEST" on the scoreboard, I certainly hope the University of Toledo's athletics department doesn't invite NIU back to play in the Glass Bowl any time soon. Michael Wilbon on PTI even said "What kind of tough guy are you to hit a guy in the band?" Tony Kornheiser's reaction to that made me sick....
And so there you have the rant of a fellow marching bander. Maybe this has to do with the fact that I'm in the process of joining Kappa Kappa Psi!!! I feel quite proud, and can't wait to become a full-fledged brother.

Goodbye October

So finally the Halloween festivities are coming to an end and fall can continue the way it should be, a focus on cooler weather, and colours abundant. Enough with all this “spooky” crap and decorations going up in every residence hall, especially the ones on my floor. (They always end up staying until mid-November too) I haven’t had a legitimate Halloween costume since I was 11, and haven’t trick-or-treated since 2008…I’ve been fairly far-removed from the holiday since. Being in college, I now just think of it as a weekend that has a ton of good parties.

Alas, October is over, along with all the good things that went along with it. So long to the marching band practices that were a nice, moderate temperature, and all the bike rides, cause those won’t be so bearable once the rain/snow picks up and the temperature drops. Hard to believe, but it’s already week 11 of 16 in this fall semester, time sure flies….I guess that means goodbye to the good part of the semester…

One thing that I sure hope doesn’t die in November though, is the Maple Leafs. 7-3-1. I am honestly blown away. Kessel has 18 points in 11 games, still leading the league. I wish I had been able to catch the Leafs-Pens game Saturday night, and watch Sundin return to the ACC and receive a standing ovation.

And well, all of us Leafs fans knew the announcement would come one of these days. Sundin’s number 13 will be honored by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and raised to the rafters on Feb. 11, 2012. I sure hope I’m at least tuned in to that game, can’t imagine anything else I would want to do that Saturday night. Sundin was my favorite player, and one of the greatest to play in Toronto. I owe it to myself to watch the ceremony live, it’ll be about the best thing that’s happened in the ACC since Mats was actually PLAYING THERE!

With my confidence for the Leafs at a peak right now, I’m also astounded when I look over to the West and see Edmonton on top of the entire conference!!! I think the Oilers have surpassed the Red Wings and have become my new 2^nd favorite team. With guys like Nugent-Hopkins, Hall, Eberle, all such young guys, I can’t get enough of this underdog-type team pull through and start out 7-2-2! THANK GOD the Oilers stayed in their right mind and kept RNH up in the major league, imagine, sending your top scoring player down to the minors? Imagine the outrage the entire city would have!

Let’s hope November has some good things in store. My birthday is coming up, that’s at least one. I don’t think I’m doing no-shave-November though, Nov. ’09 and ’10 were probably enough…

Certainly won't be anymore mornings like this...Friday, Oct. 14

The Interview

Saturday, October 21^st, 2006.

That was 5 years ago today. An anniversary that I remembered was coming up only about a week ago. But it immediately rang out with significance and nostalgia. I was in 9^th grade, and my Social Studies teacher assigned a big project, or at least one that seemed daunting to me at the time. Coupled with our textbook lessens of World War I/the Great Depression/World War II, we needed to interview someone, age 55 or older, and ask them 20 questions relating to their life/the world at the time/how it affected them. Right off the bat I didn’t want to do the assignment, I was fairly shy at the time and didn’t know any seniors that well.  From what I can remember, I think the interview had to be in person. So right off the bat I had to scratch my Grandpa off the list, as he was 5 hours away in Toronto, and I was in Southeast Michigan. The idea of using him for the project seemed like a great idea, but didn’t look like it was going to happen.

It was October 14^th, and I was watching the Maple Leafs play Calgary on HNIC. (The game where Sundin scored his 500^th NHL Goal) When I told my mom that I would totally interview Grandpa if I could, she remembered that she was visiting friends in the Toronto area next weekend. Sure enough, it was going to happen, I was actually going to Toronto next weekend, and getting dropped off to spend a day with my grandparents, all by myself, and to get this project done the way I wanted to. I was really excited.

That morning of the 21^st in Toronto, my Grandpa came in his big ’85 Buick and picked me up from another relative’s home, and soon there I was. Sitting at the dining room table with my Grandpa, I had him fill out some permission form or something, I almost thought he’d get annoyed and not want to be interviewed with how much there was to fill out! Finally, with my camera charged, full memory stick with 22 minutes of space, I set it down in the middle of the table, faced it at the wall, and pushed record.

I asked 20 questions, the first 5 or so were about growing up in Poland and what it was like, the next 5-10 were about World War II, (and his part in it, serving in the Polish army) and what followed the war for him. The last 5 were questions about culture/war that had taken place over the past 50 years or so. The interview was about 19 minutes, and I learned a bit about my Grandpa that I didn’t know. It opened my eyes to the fact that he served in World War II. WORLD WAR TWO. I think I had much more appreciation of my family history after that, and more drive to learn about my entire family tree. Another fun fact, I learned his name is actually Zdzislaw. (A Polish name) At the time I thought the interview was one of the coolest things I had ever done.

Little did I know there would be another project later in the school year, in the same class, about World War II specifically. We had to pick an event from World War II and present about it, so I chose the Invasion of Poland. When we visited Toronto as a family in April 2007, I had a interview with both my Grandma & Grandpa about the Invasion, and life during the first few years of the war. My Grandpa lived only a few kilometers from the border the night of the invasion, and said tanks rumbled right through the town overnight. The next few days for him were the beginning of his German education…My Grandma worked on a farm in Germany during the war, and after the war was in the Red Cross with the Polish Army. Both of them immigrated to Canada after the war, and met in Toronto.

That interview was not even 7 minutes, but incredibly in-depth compared to the original interview back in October. I had learned such valuable stuff because of those two projects. Whenever it’s October 21^st, I always think back to my grandparent’s house, and the stories they had to tell…

Phil Kessel

I have almost no time to talk right now, but all I have to say is this.

This makes me feel quite accomplished. Phil Kessel currently leads the league in goals and points. 5 goals and 8 points in THREE GAMES! For this very brief time, let's celebrate the fine performance done by Phil Kessel. WOOHOO. The Leafs are 3-0-0 because of him!

Also, congrats to Nugent-Hopkins on the hat trick on saturday night. Glad you're putting on a show right off the bat.

As for the jets, I see your 0-3-0 start and hope you get the ball rolling sooner or later. The fans might only put up with so much losing. (But of course, they put up with a lot of it back in the 80s and 90s)

Franson starts tonight!

Cody Franson, seen here in a Predators uniform, will start with the Leafs tonight.

Although at CMU today it’s our much anticipated Homecoming game against Eastern Michigan, I’m also anticipating tonight’s game with the Leafs against Calgary. It’s been an entire week off from hockey for Toronto, and now we finally get to see Franson, and MacArthur hop on the team! My only question to the Leafs is this, if you’re sticking Franson on defence for tonight, you’re taking Gardiner off, correct? I sure hope so.
Toronto’s defence line SHOULD look like:

Phaneuf-Schenn-Komisarek-Gunnarsson-Franson-Liles

Now that’s a pretty solid bunch right there, lots of experience. Anybody who thinks that one of these defenceman doesn’t deserve to play is out of their mind. For one thing, Gardiner’s a rookie, a ROOKIE, that has played two NHL games. Why would someone at the Toronto Star write that people want Komisarek out of the lineup? Take out Komisarek, and Toronto’s defence is back to the level it was just at without Franson, 5 good defenceman. Simple as that, I don’t have much faith in Gardiner yet, whose idea was it to stick him on the ice as soon as he got here anyway?

Whatever happens, I’m excited to see MacArthur back after his suspension that he didn’t deserve. Get ready for the Kulemin-MacArthur-Grabovski line!

Modern Rock 91-5, where music begins

So it turns out I’m on the radio.

On Wednesday nights from 11-1, I’m on the air for WMHW Modern Rock 91.5, based out of CMU’s BCA department. I basically sit in the studio for two hours, take requests, select songs for airplay, and do talksets. My job on-air is basically the guy that comes in between songs and says something like:

“Modern Rock 91-5, where music begins. Hello again everyone, Justin here, playing all your favorite Modern Rock hits. Right now it’s (band name) with their song (name of song), on Modern Rock 91-5.”
And I’ll do that every ten minutes or so, and record it using an SD card. It’s not a paid position, (nor should it be, the computer hypothetically can run the show by itself, and does overnight) I’m just on there like several other jocks just to get the experience. So far it’s been very enjoyable, of course I have to give up my Wednesday night, but on Thursdays I have no class so I don’t mind at all. In the journey of my Broadcasting major, this is a great way to gain some experience on-air, and of course, it’s always fun to tell your friends you’re on the radio, and have them listen to you.

One thing that I can see shifting because of my time at 91.5 Wednesday nights, is my taste in music. For the past couple of years I’ve been a massive fan of bands from the 80’s, like OMD, New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode; and some others. Although that was pretty much the only thing for a while, I’ve slowly ended up liking a lot more stuff once I started hearing it. So I guess being on-air's good for that too.

If you ever want to listen in, here's a link http://www.wmhw.org/modernrock/home.html

I'll be on there Wednesday nights until early December, when I go home at the end of the semester. Take a look!

Crawford Rd tunnel

Ahh yes, mid-October in mid-Michigan…fall colours and for some reason for the past week, beautiful weather in the high 60’s-mid 70’s! (And it’s OCTOBER of all things) On CMU’s campus, everything certainly looks a lot more beautiful, but signs are seen even more across all of Mount Pleasant.

Here’s what Millpond Park looked like a few days ago…

But of course, the most scenic spot in Mount Pleasant by far, is a spot I don’t think most people on campus know about. If you turn north onto Crawford Rd from Pickard on the outskirts of town, you drive/bike under a sea of orange, yellow, light green, red, and brown.

But the most beautiful spot is just south of the entrance to Mission Creek Park, a tunnel formed by all the trees along the side of the road, covering the road with shade for a stretch of about 300 feet or so. Looking to the left & the right, you would think you’re in a forest, and you certainly don't feel like you're near a city like Mount Pleasant.

It’s now a fall tradition, on my bike rides, I detour my route up Crawford Rd between Pickard & River as much as possible, while it looks so nice. I had only a single midterm this week, and that class won’t meet the rest of the week because of it. Now my Wednesday & Friday morning between 9 and noon is empty. Time for more bike rides!

Season Preview part II

Now that the first game is over and I’ve had time to think things over, let’s go a little more in depth, and be a little more critical.

First order of business, hats off to the Leafs on the 2-0 win last night, I had to miss the second period due to a meeting, but I saw the Phaneuf goal, with an assist by Kessel. THAT WAS EXCITING!

Though Toronto did pull through quite well, they had some AWFUL play in the 1^st period, and gave the puck away in their own zone maybe, what, 5 or 6 times? How they got away with playing like that I haven’t the slightest idea. I wish guys like MacArthur, Connolly, Kadri, and of course Orr, were playing last night, the Leafs line-up seemed incomplete. Here’s hoping they’re stronger when they play the Senators tomorrow night…

Second of all, since I forgot to mention it yesterday, one thing I’m not looking forward to watching is this “new NHL.” I’m completely against what Shanahan is doing right now; he’s over-policing the league’s players and ruining a key component of the game. I support everything Don Cherry said last night in Coach’s Corner, especially the part about Scott Stevens. Hey Shanahan, how many games would Stevens get for the hit on Lindros in 2000? Or all his other big hits?

Hey Shanahan! How about this hit from the 2010 NHL Playoffs?

Turns out Sutton got suspended NO GAMES AT ALL! NOT EVEN ONE! You’re telling me Sutton could be gone for a month for THAT? Ridiculous, if players didn’t skate with their heads down, these “headshots” wouldn’t happen. The fact that there was NINE suspensions by Shanahan in the PRESEASON makes me really disappointed. MacArthur being one of them had me really worried the Leafs would be dead on offence.

Overall my focus this year is ultimately going to turn to how the game is played, and how physical it is. Just like Cherry said, if everybody’s gonna play like they did in the first period of Leafs & Habs last night, who’s gonna pay $175 for those tickets? Just wait for a nasty headshot/touch-icing to be the turning point, then hitting will be GONE. That’ll be a sad day...Believe me, I LOVE HITTING AND FIGHTS. Here's hoping Shanahan somehow loses his support for his job and has to give it back to Colin Campbell.

2011-12 NHL Season Preview

So it's once again that time of the year where the NHL season is starting and I get excited. Unlike previous years, my life as a college sophomore has pretty much taken control of my mind, so the preseason & regular season have snuck up on me. I have a little whiteboard in my room, where last year I wrote down team records, and until October 7th, counted down the days until the Leafs' home opener on there as well, starting at 30 days or so. This year there's been none of that. It's already week 7 of classes and I can't believe it's already October. Time sure flies when you're busy/maybe having fun.

So now I feel obligated to make a 2011-12 NHL prediction, even without knowing how to weigh teams as well as I have in the past. ESPN sure put in their fair share of predictions, with their "experts" putting their hopes in teams like Vancouver, Washington, Chicago, San Jose, and Pittsburgh. (Surprised to not see much for the Bruins) If I had to pick a team to win the cup, well........I don't know. It's probably toughest for an "expert" to predict a Stanley Cup caliber team, scanning the entire 30-team league for ONE champion is obviously difficult. I honestly don't want to pick one this year, in fact, I won't!!! I like teams like Philadelphia, the Rangers with Brad Richards, and Los Angeles with Drew Doughty & Mike Richards. If Crosby gets back, then I think Pittsburgh could head to the Finals, and if San Jose gets their act together in the playoffs, they've got a great fight to put up in the Finals. But for the fun of it, I'll just say the Winnipeg Jets will win the 2012 Stanley Cup! That'd be nice.....

Living in Michigan I obviously know my Red Wings as well. It'll certainly be a different year, and very likely the last for the captain Nicklas Lidstrom. Holmstrom & Bertuzzi are also on their way out sooner or later, at the ripe ages of 36 and 38. I'm excited to see Conklin back in goal for the Wings, as well as seeing Commodore & Ian White (former Maple Leaf) sign on. It's just a question of will this Wings team still be able to play as a team, like they have for the past 5 seasons? Lots of new/young faces either from other teams, or from the AHL. Detroit regardless shouldn't have any problems making their 21st postseason, but when they meet a team like the Sharks in the 2nd round again, if it happens, they once again won't get any farther.

And ahhhh yes…the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ever since I’ve been a decent fan, (right after the lockout) the Leafs have never made the playoffs. That to me is the goal above all things for Toronto right now, get some playoff hockey back in the ACC! Just like the start of last season, Toronto has a good line-up and some things going for it. I’m excited to see Reimer as the primary starter, hopefully he’ll be just as strong as he was in his 20 wins from last season, a team record for a rookie goaltender. I’m looking forward to the addition of Connolly, Lombardi, Franson, Liles, and just in the last few days, David Steckel (even with him being the guy who hit Crosby on New Year’s Day, but whatever, I guess we can look forward to some good headshots…RIGHT?). The Leafs seemed a bit more beefed-up then previous years. Some new faces, but ones I already know will be great, Kessel, Grabovski, Kulemin, Phaneuf, Schenn, and MacArthur are all here. It should be a great season, and if things go well, I can see Toronto slipping into the playoffs with 7^th or 8^th place. You’ve gotta hope, but hey, last year I predicted the Leafs would finish 10^th. They finished 10^th. MAGIC I TELL YOU! Even with this “hope” of mine, I’m just excited to get the season underway again, I just love following Toronto regardless of their record, it’s another source of entertainment in my college life, which by January or February gets a little sparse. Hockey’s there to fill the void.

And to watch Orr & Rosehill pound guys into the ice, like so!!! Hopefully Orr will be back on the roster soon enough...

Either way, I’ll be tuned into the home opener against Montreal tonight at 7pm EST, cheering for the blue & white as usual. I’ll have my Sundin jersey on, and maybe my Kessel sweater over top of that. Depends on how cold it is outside when I walk to a meeting afterwards, and how the game’s going.

My Leafs Vintage Hockey sweater, which I got customized with a big "81" last fall. Definately worth the $14 per number, I had always wanted to do that to it!

Even in Mount Pleasant, MI, there's still Canadians floating around somewhere....I FOUND THEM!

Journaling: The Number One Stress in College.

If there’s anything I wish I could improve in college, it would be having more time to do things. With classes every two hours on Monday-Wednesday-Friday, and then Marching Band, things get a little stacked up. I still go on bike rides in the evening, I keep up on my Facebook, Twitter, and Google+; and then I’ve still got some sort of reading/homework to do. I’m also someone who journals everyday, (a diary for those of you who call it that) and that usually takes place right before I go to bed. So consequently, if everything else I’m doing pushes my bedtime really late, like 1:00 or 2:00, then I sometimes put off journaling the days’ events since I’m already pretty tired.

Honestly, and interestingly enough, out of everything that can stress me out in college, putting off journaling has to be the Number One stress creator for me. Journaling everyday has been something I’ve done since August 2007, with the exception of a few long summer trips, a day or two every 6 months, etc. So basically I’m holding myself to the tradition of recording everything that happens in my life. Of course, I didn’t have even close to this amount of stuff going on in my life when I started journaling at 14. No social networking besides YouTube, it was my rookie year in High School marching band, I only had 2 or 3 core friends, and no one else. (Oh, and of course, Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night) As I’ve gotten busier and busier, I’ve still somehow held onto this journaling thing for 4 great years.

The problem is obvious; my brain can only hold so much detailed information. If I hold off journaling for another day, I’ve not only got that day to write about still, but I just went through a whole other day, that I also need to process in my mind & write about. If this cycle continues – and recently it’s been happening a lot – I end up reaching the point where I’m at overload and have to cough up everything from the past week, as best as I can remember. It’s the biggest pain, trying to describe a day that was 5 or 6 days past, and needing to take about 5 times as long to write it down, compared to if you had just done it on that night. Not only that, but getting behind makes me feel like I’m missing out on the “present” of my life, since my mind’s desperately trying to hold on to the memories of the past couple of days.

Then I have a day where I’m in catch-up mode, spending much of my free time in the afternoon/evening getting back up to pace, journaling the last couple of days as best as I can remember. It’s also a setback from the writer’s perspective; when you journal on time, you might be able to write about a page or two for that specific day. If you get behind, and try to catch-up a few days later, you’re getting about half the length in your journal entries than you would’ve originally gotten. An epic 5 page day would now be about 2 pages.

So, funny story for everyone out there, getting behind on journaling is the absolute reason why I get stressed in college. Then finishing homework, grades, and stuff like that follows, ONLY when I’m behind on my journal entries. It’s an interesting cycle to say the least.

Back in 9^th grade, our school had a presentation about Rachel Scott, who was killed in Columbine HS in 1999. It was Rachel’s Challenge, which had a few key points to it, but one of them to accept the challenge was to keep a journal. I had tried to journal before and never got into it very much, but the statistic they then threw at me got me very intrigued. They showed something on the projector, it said that 97% of the people that kept a journal in college would graduate. And sitting there, 13 years old in my junior high school, I found this stat to be ground-breaking. I don’t think I’ve ever gone through with all of Rachel’s Challenge, but the journaling part? YES. For the next 8 months or so after the presentation, my drive to journal consistently went off course, until my best friend showed me his journals one time. He had been writing in one on-and-off since he was SEVEN!  We read through it and watched his writing, his humor, his friends, and life in general progress. I was completely re-inspired by that night, and motivated enough to start over. August 8^th, 2007 was the start of my journaling life, and since then it has stayed put as a staple of my evening routine. What abuse I’ve given such a tradition lately! How can I let myself lose it?

In writing this blog entry, I realized that I can’t do without it. I mean come on, I’ve got to be part of that 97 percent!!! I’ve gotta get my mind on the present & near future, I mean hey, this Saturday the marching band’s heading down to East Lansing, for the CMU-Michigan State game! FIRE UP CHIPS!!!!!

Leafs fans should be treated better than this

Playing pond hockey in 2008

Living in Michigan and being a die-hard Leafs fan is a hard thing to do. First of all, you have to actually care, and try to follow them as best as you can. The only Canadian TV channel I ever get to watch is CBC from Windsor, meaning those games are almost always the only ones I will ever get to watch. To keep up, I do watch every Game-In-Six on the Leaf’s website, basically a highlight reel of the game, goals, fights, etc. Though I may only get to watch about 15 live games during a season, I watch ALL the Game-in-sixes. If you don’t call that die-hard, I at least call it passionate.

Second of all, you’ve gotta have the balls to openly be a Maple Leafs fan, and take all the shit that goes along with it. Going to high school with a Leafs jersey on would sometimes even be an unpleasant experience, especially during playoff season. In my time at grade school, I only saw ONE OTHER PERSON ever wear a Maple Leafs jersey/sweater, back in 9^th grade. The one time we both wore ours the same day, and stood next to each other in the hall, was likely one of the coolest things I had ever done. Sadly that guy moved away about a year later, so I was now the lone Leafs fan.

A few days ago, I got a facebook message from a friend still in high school, she walked into her Law & Society class and there was a kid with a Leafs jersey on. When I read this I literally yelled at my computer, “WHAT??? Nawwwwwwww, THIS IS NOT HAPPENING…….THIS IS AWESOME!!!” I’m telling you, this kind of occurrence doesn’t happen much. Hats off to that kid, he probably got a lot of hate, just like I did. Even the Pittsburgh fans gave me hate! And they’re already in metro-Detroit of all things. Why are you telling me Canada sucks when over half your team is made up of Canadian players? (Or European, which doesn’t constitute American either)

Third, and the most obvious, you have to continue to be patient, as I have. The first season I caught onto hockey was right after the lockout, 2005-06. The Leafs had been making the playoffs consistently until the lockout, since then everything went downhill. After two 9^th place seasons, Toronto started to fall apart. Players started to leave, most importantly Sundin, leaving me quite disappointed in ’08 when he sat out half the season considering retirement, then simply joined the Canucks for millions. 2008-09 and 2009-10 were sad years for the Leafs, not even a team captain, the only club worse than ours was the Oilers. (And I felt bad for them too) We didn’t make the playoffs in 2011 either, so that’s six straight years. Many years of saying “we’ll make it next year” have never amounted to anything.

My teenage years of being a sports fan mainly consisted of my team letting me down, year after year after year. Though I have also been a fan of the Red Wings, the passion isn’t there like it is for Toronto. I get sick of bandwagon hockey fans, ones that simply yell at the TV and tell the players to “GO THE OTHER WAY” and get all pissed off at the goalie when he lets in one goal. That pretty much describes half the Red Wings fans I know, sadly. Who knew that when you have a classy hockey team like Detroit, who’s been in the playoffs every season since the early 90’s, you’d spoil all your fans in the process. Well, if anything, I can proudly say that I’m still proud of my team, even when they suck. I still watch every Game-in six, every game I can catch on CBC, even when they get curb-stomped by Boston or Buffalo or the Capitals, I’m still tuned in, because that’s all I get to watch.

Which brings me to my point. Yeah, lookin’ at you Leafs TV. If you check out a good amount of NHL team websites, you’ll find that many of them carry their preseason games online, live stream, for free. For Toronto, one of the biggest hockey cities in the world, Leafs TV thinks it can monopolize even PRESEASON GAMES for Christ sake, and make you subscribe to Leafs TV Interactive to watch them. Their “freeview” feature is only available to LeafsTV customers, so it’s actually not even free.

What a bunch of scumbags. I remember curling up in a blanket next to my desktop 2 years ago, eating a bowl of ice cream, watching the Leafs & Wings in a preseason game. They won it 5-4 in a shootout, had to be one of my favorite memories of the Leafs. What a shame that the Maple Leafs organization doesn’t give back to the fans. They’re the most valuable franchise in the NHL, at $505 Million, with an operating income of 82 million. Is there no room in the ACC for some love for the fans? Fans like me, who after following the team like mad, even when they’ve been mediocre the whole time, get shit on like this? A 2008 poll on all the teams of the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL finds Toronto ranked 121^st out of 122 in rewarding fans. And LeafsTV is now part of the problem. So fuck it, I guess I'll just go to Joe Louis Arena and see a Red Wings game for $30 a ticket, while Morbidly Obese Cats in Toronto continue to price the same type of ticket at over $200. Us fans can only do so much!

Beal City

So I never got to it since I've been a little busy with college stuff, but last week I did a ride to Beal City, MI. The whole ride was only 25 miles or so, but on my college bike - an 80's mountain bike with no suspension - you can't ride as efficiently as on the 7300. So in workout terms, it might've been just as good as a 40 miler on the 7300, I usually feel pretty drained after a long ride on the college bike.

As far as I know it's a 1988 Cycletech Novapro, and I can't find almost anything about this thing online. It's an 18-speed, with a bio-pace chain ring, and as far as I know, original chain & sprockets. The only thing I've altered while owning it is the actual seat, and replacing the tires & tubes. I doubt my dad ever rode it as much as I do, so it's in fairly good condition. The overall mileage for 2011, on both my 7300 and the Cycletech, is almost 3,000. WOO-HOO!

So far at CMU

So far Central has been quite a good experience, new classes, new people I know, and new adventures everyday. It turns out the FA is under a temporary restraining order, so classes have gone on without trouble. My favorite so far is a journalism course, required for my Journalism minor. One of the ongoing assignments is to write about a news article everyday, summerizing and giving a response. It's gotten me reading our campus newspaper, the Toronto Star, and the Morning Sun on a regular basis.
Our first home football game was awesome, the Chippewas beat SC State 21-6. As for the marching band, we rocked our first pregame & halftime of the season.
Being home for Labor Day weekend is almost a 'reward' so to say, for a well done first 2 weeks of the school year. I drove down to Ann Arbor to visit some good friends at U of M, and I'm even planning on checking out Big Bad Voodoo Daddy at Arts Beats & Eats tomorrow!

Marching Chips & the Faculty Association

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, due to packing up my things and heading back to Central Michigan University for my sophomore year. Fire Up Chips!

I spent the last week practically breathing marching band, once again a part of the Marching Chips. We were busy learning music & drill, all day every day since the 15^th. Last night was our preview show to all our parents and friends, from Kelly Shorts Stadium, a touching end to band camp, which last year I considered the “best week of my life.” Due to the focus on music that I’ve had, and all the new and old clarinet players I’ve been with constantly, I haven’t been very connected to the rest of the university. While I was spending my week memorizing music and high stepping down Jack Saunders Field, everybody else was spending time watching time run out on a deal between the University and the Faculty Association.

So here’s what the issue is for anyone not familiar. As explained to me, there are three associations of instructors at CMU: The Faculty Association (FA), the Union of Teaching Faculty (UTF), and the GSU, made up of graduate assistants. The UTF and GSU currently have contracts with the University. Contract talks between the University and the FA went on all summer, but nothing worked. It only ended with nothing resolved between the two parties, as we headed into another school year.

So at around 7:00 this morning, I wake up and come out of my dorm to see this. My jaw literally dropped.

There in front of me was every CMU teacher from the Faculty Association marching in a picket line, right in front of Warriner Hall. I never thought today would be so crazy, but it certainly turned out to be. All these FA teachers were on strike, and not in the classrooms. Thankfully it turns out that my classes at 8am, 10am, and 12pm all head instructors part of the UTF, so I was unaffected. Until of course my 2pm course where the teacher did not show up. She was also the only one of my instructors who didn't email me in the last few days to tell me to show up for class; so I wasn't all that surprised, but still dissapointed. At 4pm we had marching band practice, which our band director did not show up for because of his involvement in the FA. I was getting pretty restless with all the confusion of what would happen in the next couple days...

So I originally planned out a long editorial about this crazy day, and the looming threat of what's ahead. Then suddenly this afternoon, a court judge struck down the FA's illegal work stoppage, and temporarily ordered them back to work until friday. Pretty soon our band director came riding into practice on a bike singing a tune, not missing a chance at comedy. A sigh of relief came from dozens of us at the practice when it was announced, and another sigh of relief when it was on the local news. So at least for now, all my classes will take place...well that was a stressful first day of school....

It was quite odd seeing two instructors I had last year picketing on the sidewalks. I waved to both of them and wished them good luck. Isn't it a bad sign when the students are wishing the teachers good luck, rather than the teachers doing so for the students?

Either way, let's hope this kind of event can be prevented next time. (AKA Friday) George E. Ross just saw what can happen when the FA doesn't get a good contract deal, you get hundreds of picketing staff members and thousands of students who are missing a class from their schedule, wondering why their money is being wasted. Was I happy with this day at all? NO. I came here to get educated, not to have to wonder if I could actually take my class. Where has the "you get what you pay for" slogan been recently at this college? Students don't pay $20,000 a year to go here and yet not be able to have a class! I'm quite dissapointed right now, not only did teachers refuse to come to class, the university failed to make a deal with them. Stay tuned for more news on life at CMU...

Minecraft

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently, I've been a little busy

What better way to finish off a summer by not spending it outside!