STACKHOUSE SOAPBOX (Yorkton This Week Feb 1)

The story about the Alberta woman who was badly beaten in an elevator at a resort in Mazatland, Mexico has garnered a tremendous amount of media attention in Canada.  Mexican officials have wasted little time making an arrest and, as normal in Mexico, paraded the accused in front of the television cameras so we can all see who this guy is.  I suppose we can all rest easy now and head back to Mazatland for a holiday, if so desired.  Not so fast.  There are stories of police corruption in Mexico and I can’t help but be skeptical and wonder if this guy actually did it or is he a scapegoat picked up off the street to ease the fears of potential visitors.  I’m not sure we will ever know.  For the most part, I still feel trouble finds you if you go looking for it.  However, all things being equal I think my next holiday will not be in Mexico.

The soccer team my son plays on, the U-12 Yorkton United Bulldogs, won the gold medal at a tournament in Regina over the weekend.  There are some really talented boys on that squad.  More importantly, they are coached extremely well by Andy Wyatt.  Andy is a lawyer in Yorkton and most of us should know that a lawyer’s spare time is pretty much non-existent; but  Andy still finds time to do this.  Here’s a public thank-you on behalf of the parents on Andy’s team for making a big sacrifice to mold our children into being, not only, better athletes but also better human beings.

We had some down time in Regina on Saturday; so Matthew and I took in the Titanic exhibit that is on from now until March at the Saskatchewan Science Centre.  Matthew, being 10-years-old, is interested in the Titanic, but not so interested that he will stop at every station and read up on the significance of certain artifacts.  In fact, he was most interested to see if the person’s boarding pass that he received when we came in was a person that ended up surviving or not.  If you have, even, a passing interest in the Titanic then this exhibition is something that you absolutely must see.  My favorite story is about a man who didn’t get on the ship because he got abducted and was taken to Egypt, where years later he would escape.  Turns out, he was a perfume dealer and his friend grabbed his satchel and got on the Titanic, thinking the Dealer would show up at the last minute.  Well, the friend was lost at sea and the satchel sunk to the bottom of the ocean, only to be recovered.  The Dealer, years later, got away from his abductors and was re-united with his perfume; which 100 years later still has a scent.

Gas in Yorkton on Monday morning was going for 109.9.  In Regina, it’s 115.9.  In Roblin, it’s 98.9.  Global News ran a story Monday morning about the gas prices in Regina and Saskatoon and a not-so-brilliant customer said he’d still fill up happily if it cost 140.9.  If I was a supplier of vehicle fuel, I would, instantly, raise the price to 140.9 and then inch it up from there to find the breaking point.  If we are going to be dumb enough to admit we’d pay even more without blinking an eye then why not?

Saturday night, I was in Weyburn to watch the Red Wings play the Nipawin Hawks.  The game was excellent with the Hawks winning 5-4 in overtime.  However, the Wings opted to use the first and second period intermissions to auction off jerseys.  Now, I think it’s a good idea to auction sweaters at a game because you have a larger audience than what you would at a year-end banquet.  But, intermissions are not the appropriate time.  Do it after the game.

We are now hearing Sidney Crosby may have been playing with a broken back.  Meanwhile, I become less interested in the NHL with each passing week.  Every night when I try to re-interest myself because I’d like to be a fan, I see more reports of concussions and cheap shots.  Basketball looks better as a winter sport to follow at this point for me.  How do you miss a broken back?  If I was Crosby, I’d ask out of Pittsburgh right away.  Between a misdiagnosis and making him play while concussed, it just isn’t a safe place for him to be.  You also have multi-millionaire players shooting down a division realignment that makes perfect sense just because they might have to fly another thousand miles or so over the course of a season.  Boo hoo.  You also have gazillionaire owners about to say the current collective bargaining agreement doesn’t work for them, despite the fact the owners were the ones that got everything they wanted in the last collective agreement.  Here’s to hoping they wipe out another season.  There are no good guys in hockey anymore.  Pick your side.  Greedy owners, spoiled players.

Nice person mentions this week to David Malinowski, Justin and Kim Enge, Kent McMann, Sandy Zielinski, Trevor and Elizabeth Hove, and Marty and Amy Sveinbjornson.