YORKTON THIS WEEK (March 20)

Once again, I’m left scratching my head as to what the citizens of Yorkton would like to have in their community as far as entertainment is concerned.  It’s evident we are not a rock music community as numerous concerts have had to be cancelled due to poor ticket sales.  Now, I’m suggesting we are not a hockey town either as the Yorkton Terriers have failed to break the 1000 barrier for attendance through three games (although the 986 on Saturday is encouraging after two really small sized gatherings).  I don’t buy the fact that the games are too expensive.  Especially when very similar prices down the highway in Melville are yielding, in excess, of 1200 people a night in a community that is 1/3 the size of Yorkton.  Are you saving your money for the Melville series? Well, as of this writing there is no assurance you will see the Millionaires as they have slept through the majority of their games with Notre Dame and have to win a game seven on Tuesday night (last night as you read this).

Last year at this time, I chastised the players of the Yorkton Harvest for ‘quitting’ on their coach after an extremely disappointing finish to their regular season.  Well, now you have to give credit where credit is due.  This is a hockey club that got off to as woeful a start as they had a finish to last year.  But, the difference is that they stepped up and answered the call in a big way and I thought going into the playoffs, they had a chance to win the entire league. 

However, the Regina Pat Canadians have had their number all year and that’s who they drew in the first round and the Pat C’s won the best of five in the full five games.  Still, the Harvest have nothing to hang their heads over.  That was a tremendous run and there are several quality prospects for the junior ranks.   I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lynnden Pastachak, Dakota Odgers, and Ethan Bear all in the WHL this Fall.  Eric Meyer should be a Melville Millionaire and there is a nice group coming back.  To me, every team needs a guy like Turner Ottenbreit.   Turner may never be the best defenseman on his team, but the effort is second to none and he’s improved a ton just in the last year.  Further to that, Turner is a super kid who ‘cares’ and finding elite hockey players that ‘care’ is a lot harder than finding a big time scorer or some other player blessed with talent.  So, hats off to the Harvest.  And, hats off to their fans as I attended game two against Regina and there had to have been 500 or more in the rink.  That’s about triple their average crowd.  So, maybe we are a hockey community after all????

Do yourself a favor and watch the Jeff Gordon Pepsi Max ‘Test Drive’ ad on YouTube.  It went viral last week and some have speculated the whole thing is rigged.  Well, to me, it doesn’t matter.  It’s unique and fun.  Whether you like NASCAR or not, you have to tip your hat to a professional sports organization that really knows how to market itself.  You don’t need to like NASCAR to like the ad.  It has a wide ranging appeal.  Meanwhile, we have the boring National Hockey League generating interest by referring to injuries as ‘upper body’ and ‘lower body’.  Have you ever heard of anything more pathetic? 

I’d like to say the NHL could win me back as a fan, but I am really beginning to have my doubts.  On Saturday, I lasted half a period on Winnipeg and Toronto before turning the channel to W5.  And, I guess, I missed one of the better games of the year.  Apparently, the shootout went ten rounds or something too.  I don’t like the shootout.  Can you imagine the NFL employing a contest at the end of tie games to see which quarterback could throw the ball through a tire swing to determine a winner?

It wasn’t my intention, but this has turned into a sports column, so I apologize as I know a lot of people read for the non-sports content.  But, I’ll finish up with a remarkable story about a semi-pro hockey player who is facing charges after waking up drunk in a stranger’s home.  The woman woke up to the sound of her dog barking and discovered the guy passed out on the couch.  She asked him what he was doing there and he said not to worry about it.  Eventually, police picked him  up and the player said, “I just want to make sure you got me because I can’t walk and don’t want to fall.”  The incident happened in Texas, where had the woman’s husband been home, the player likely would have met his maker that night.  Isn’t drinking fun?

A recent study indicates people who are unable to detect sarcasm are more likely to suffer from dementia.  I’ve, obviously, met a lot of these potential  victims or else I’m not doing a good job dishing out sarcasm.

Nice person mentions this week to Kristina Nesbitt, Jason Hiduk, Kim Olfert, David Oryschak, and Debbie Sutherland.