The Game by Ken Dryden

Currently, I am reading a book. Yes, I am reading a book. This is my second novel this year, and the second novel since about high school. Even then, I am not sure that I finished any in high school. I do, however, read the newspaper daily, but it was my patience that was too short to read any books.

While in Toronto, I finished Paddy Mitchell's autobiography. I really enjoyed it and I thought that I might have been missing out when it came to reading books. On my second trip to Toronto, I ventured into a book store. I thought I might find a couple of titles that might spark my interest.

I picked out two books. By purchasing, I thought that would give me more incentive to read the books. I picked out a book about hockey and a book about politics (the governator to be exact). I am reading Ken Dryden's, "The Game" right now. I am about halfway through and noticing a few things about the types of players that exist.

The first type of player is Larry Robinson. In Ken's book, Robinson's attributes are such that he is an intimidation prescence without ever fighting. Robinson was more feared because he didn't fight, letting the imagination of his opponents cause the root of that fear. Robinson was a physical player that helped the Canadiens dominates in the 1960s.

The parallel I want to make is the resemblance in my mind to Chris Phillips. This is a guy that I don't ever recall seeing fighting. He is a strong and dominant player and I often make fun of him because he seems like an old man. Not old, as in beyond his prime, but old like he is respected and dominate presence on the ice. I noticed, when there is shoving, pushing and face-washing that occurs in scrambles, Chris is able to control the situation quickly. He grabs a man and the man relinquishes his anger, knowing that his attempts to release his anger against Chris would be fruitless.

Chris' talents are truly underated. Like Robinson, it took many years for people to realize his talents. His regular seasons have been boring. He seldom makes spectactular plays and receives points. On the other hand, more importantly, he rarely makes a mistake. He makes the others around him better. When it matters the most, Chris demonstrates excellence in the playoffs. He is more physical, jumps into the rush more often, and remains a rock on defence. He has scored some of the biggest goals in Sens history. (ie. Game 5 against Jersey in 2002)

Chris used to play along Zdeno Chara. Chara, a menacing, towering force, was considered a Norris trophy (best defenceman) candidate in his time in Ottawa. He subsequently moved to Boston; and ,although a top defenceman in the league, he has not yet performed to the capabilities he showed in Ottawa.

Next, Chris played with Anton Volchenkov. A slow-skating, defensive-minded player, Volchenkov had a break-out year while playing with Chris Phillips. There were many people that felt that Volchenkov should be given an award for his defensive skills. The Norris trophy currently rewards, generally, offensive minded defencemen. The tie-breaker is usually the offensive guy that shows that he is capable defensively. There is no award for an ivory (99 3/4% pure) defenceman.

In two years, two "Norris worthy" candidates that played with Phillips. It could be a huge coincidence, but I personally think it speaks volumes about Phillips. Often, people mention the fact that Crosby makes people around him better. They seldom mention that a defenceman will make his partner better. Chris does that. I'm hoping that this year Chris will be considered for the award.

Norm MacDonald - Great Carleton Grad?

For those unaware, Norm MacDonald is a comedic genious. In fact, comedy central named him one of the 100 most funny stand-up comedians of all time (#83). He was a cast member of Saturday Night Live, hosted the Norm show, and created one of my favourite movies of all-time, "Dirty Work".

I remember watching David Letterman one night and watching Norm MacDonald. To my surprise, he talked about his experience at the "Panda Games" in Ottawa. You see, back before I went to Carleton University, Carleton actually had a football team ,and an annual "Panda Games" would be held at Frank Clair Stadium.

The Raven's football team had disbanded in 1998, but Norm recounts a time when the rivalry between Ottawa U. and Carleton U. was very heated. It resulted in a contest at Frank Clair where fans from both schools would come and party. Norm, being on the David Letterman show, self-censored himself to describe how incredibly high he got off of "beer" (referring to pot instead of beer).

This is the first time I found out that Norm lived in Ottawa at any point, let alone attending my alma matter. Obviously, any time you find out that someone famous attends your school, you are somewhat intrigued by that fact. With a little bit of research, I found out that Norm attended Carleton's math program. Not as surprisingly, Norm had also attended Algonquin College and completed a diploma in broadcasting.

Norm passed up a career in math and decided to pursue show business. He went on to become the host of "Weekend update", a very popular skit on Saturday Night Live. His career success has made me wonder why he has not yet been nominated for an honorary degree from Carleton University.

First of all, most of these awards are given to academics. Great research and papers are usually the root cause of someone receiving an honorary degree from a post-secondary institution. There is usually pretige and honour that comes with these degrees. However, these degrees represent accomplishment and not necessarily academic accomplishment. Therefore, I believe that Norm qualifies.

For those that believe that an actor shouldn't be given an honorary degree, Dan Akroyd has received a special mention that he was a Carleton degree recipiant. Carleton is proud of the fact that Dan Akroyd went to their school, so they should be proud of Norm MacDonald too. From what I hear from people in Kingston, Akroyd is a pervert. He hits on hits more than half his age at the bar in hopes that they want to fool around with a ghostbuster.

Granted, Norm MacDonald hasn't done much lately. He's been playing a lot of professional poker ever since some of his shows got cancelled. This fact should not disqualify his accomplishments in his career, so hopefully Carleton will recognize this fact and give Norm MacDonald an honorary degree.

Disaster in Blackburn

There are two games to report today between the Mighty A's of Blackburn and the Blackburn Ball Bangers. First, before the report, a serious message of well-being goes out to the Ball Bangers' third baseman (Derek?). The third baseman was seriously cut across the wrist during last night's game on an innocent looking play at third base. He was rushed to a medical clinic, and we hope for his speedy recovery. (Initial reports have indicated that there should be no nerve damage and the bleeding was limited.)

The second game between the A's and Ball Bangers was called due to the fact that the Ball Bangers no longer had enough players to continue. Their injury forced the stoppage of play in the 4th inning with the A's holding a solid 6-0 game. Will Lowe had started a gem, and Eric "Pedro" Sanchez had hit a dinger. Unfortunately, their performances will not be recognized as the game never became official. The BMFL will have to review its constitution to see if the game can be replayed, or that the game is defaulted to the A's.

The first game was a well fought battle. With a final score of 5-1, the A's never got to put away the Ball Bangers. The A's started the game really aggressive on the base pads. Speedster Dave Millette was able to use his legs to wheel quickly around the bases on some defensive miscues by the Ball Bangers. Dave managed to score before the 2nd batter was finished at the plate, despite only receiving a single himself.

Despite the poor denfensive start, the Ball Bangers were able to keep the A's bats quiet through most of the night. Without aggressive base running later on in the game, the A's may have struggled to even reach five runs. The A's have earned nearly 8 runs per game this season, and a commendable performance was rendered by Derek Dumond. Derek managed to hold off the A's heavy lumber during his first start of the season. Derek pitched a solid 5 innings.

The A's now prepare for the annual Blackburn tournament. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend or report on this tournament as I will be in Toronto for a prep course. I'm sure the A's will do fine and hopefully they can improve on last year's performance.