I’m not sure I’ve ever been as turned off by federal politics as I am now. We have a Liberal party member starting a Twitter account to attack Vic Toews on a personal level as a means to protest his on-line surveillance bill. And, we also have an allegation the Conservatives were making bogus telephone calls during the last election to prospective voters. I’m assuming this is an attempt to get non-Conservative supporting people to actually not vote at all. I’ve always said if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to complain. But, I am very close to not voting during the next election. Which poison do I pick?
The producers from the television show Canada’s Worst Driver, apparently, have come or are coming to Yorkton to see if they can find a possible contestant. I have news for them. They can bring the entire crew and film the entire show with contestants from nowhere BUT Yorkton. Heck, one of the events can be how to escape the Gallagher Centre parking lot following a Yorkton-Melville SJHL playoff game. Of course, you could also find most of your contestants at this same game.
Last week’s news story about a couple of SaskTel employees, fired for drinking and socializing on the job and also telling ‘mistruths’ about the incident garnered a lot of attention. The two employees were awarded their jobs back by an arbitrator. We can argue all day long about whether or not these individuals deserved to be fired; but my favorite part is that we are so politically correct we can’t accuse someone of lying. “Hey, you told me a mistruth.” Meanwhile, it appears as though there was a difference of opinion as to whether or not these employees were on company time. I’m unsure as to how this can be a grey area. Either you are working or you are not. I don’t think I’ve ever worked a job where I was unsure as to whether or not I was on company time and I worked in broadcasting for over thirteen years. It doesn’t get any greyer than broadcasting because the hours are not regular or consistent.
Our family went bowling on Sunday (really great entertainment to do with your family for pretty much no money, by the way) and our four-year-old daughter did something I am not sure I’ve ever seen before. She rolled (using the term loosely) the ball towards the pins and the ball hit the pin, but the pin stayed upright and the ball started coming back toward us. I call that negative velocity. Maybe the term ‘negative velocity’ means something else; but I only took one year of Physics and don’t remember 90% of what was in class anyway…
I am becoming more and more a proponent of paying professional athletes based on performance. If you look at golf, tennis, and racing you will notice that those that win are paid the most money. Why can’t this be the case in hockey, baseball, basketball, and football? Players should get a certain amount for team win and those that are superstars should get more based on individual statistics. The contract Edmonton gave to Ales Hemsky is a joke. $5 million dollars a year for the next two years. This year, Hemsky has 5-goals in 51-games. $1 million per goal. Outrageous. And, the Oilers are pretty much a last place team to boot, so it’s not like even one of those goals was key to the team’s success. Here’s to hoping they strike or are locked out again.
I wonder if Randy Moss had been paid based on team wins and personal touchdowns if he would’ve developed the reputation of being a quitter like he did. All of a sudden, the phrase players often use when they say, “I want to go somewhere that has a good chance of winning,” would actually mean something.
Running back Arian Foster just signed a new contract that will pay him more money by halftime of week one than he made all of last year.
It, probably, seems like I’m speaking out both sides of my mouth; but I do think athletes should be able to earn whatever they can command. Baseball is starting up again and I hear casual sports fans bemoan a ball player earning $20-million a year to swing a stick. I have no issue with the cash. If you are producing, then get what you can from your team owner. Baseball isn’t the only entertainment profession where ridiculous amounts of money are given to stars. What was Charlie Sheen making before he was sacked from Two And A Half Men? What does Tom Cruise make per movie? What’s Jon Bon Jovi taking home after each concert? I seldom hear complaints about that. But, guess what? Sheen, Cruise, and Bon Jovi are also all paid based on performance.
More good concerts are coming. Nickelback is in Saskatoon in May; Bryan Adams goes to Regina in June, and Iron Maiden is in Winnipeg in July. Simple Plan is going to Moose Jaw in August.
Here’s my favorite quote of the week: “I hate when I go to hug someone really sexy and my face hits the mirror.”
Nice person mentions this week to Glenn Herperger, Ashley Campbell, Brent Haas, Chuck Tysowski, and Karen Hansen.
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