YORKTON THIS WEEK (May 8)

Longtime Yorkton resident Murray George was kind enough to drop off some old Yorkton newspapers he found last week and there was one newspaper from 1972 that I skimmed through and I was shocked to learn there wasn’t a single article in there written by Calvin Daniels.

Some of the stories and classified ads are fascinating.  For instance, there is some poor soul (he likely won’t ever come forward and admit to this) out there who traded in his 1968 Ford Shelby GT500 Cobra for a Datsun.  I think the Shelby, today, is worth $100 000.  I don’t need to tell you what a Datsun goes for.

There are some advertisements in there from companies that still exist today.  Although, I’m not sure if Marlo Shore would appreciate a phone call from me asking if my hard water problem can still be solved for $4.50.

And, we’ve come full circle in the restaurant industry as Mr. Mike’s (one of Yorkton’s newest restaurants), actually had an ad for charboiled steaks for $1.89.  This particular Mr. Mike’s was located at Broadway Park Plaza and, no, I didn’t own that Mr. Mike’s either.

I also found an article about how the government of the day bungled the potash industry.  Opposition MLA Allan Blakeney charged that ‘hundreds of men are out of jobs, towns are suffering because of unemployment and lack of business, families are being forced to sell their newly bought homes and losing their savings.  It is a record of unbelievable bungling’.  Times have changed.

Last Monday I was depressed as I got out of bed and saw upwards of 20cm of snow on the ground.  This Monday, I see everything is pretty much gone and there is hope of a camping season starting on May Long Weekend after all.  Of course, our economy depends on things drying up quick too because the agriculture industry is sure to take a beating from the winter that wouldn’t end.  Let’s cross our fingers that it stays warm with minimal rain for the time being.

I fell off my chair last week to see how little amount of attention a CBC job posting got from mainstream media when it was advertised they were seeking a host from applicants were were ‘any race but caucasian’.  Imagine if the word ‘caucasian’ was replaced with any other ethnic group under the sun.  The casting agency said the job posting was an accident (crock of dandelions) and that they were looking for a cast of diversity.  I’ve never understood that either.  If you ended up with a cast of, predominantly, African Americans because they were the best qualified, then I don’t have a problem with it.  As soon as you advertise ‘equal opportunity employer’, I feel it’s a form of racism.  Just hire the best qualified regardless of skin color or ethnic background.

Many years ago I was turned down for a CTV sports job in Regina because the news director said they needed to hire a minority female to maintain ‘equal opportunity employer’ standards.  I was told, point blank, I was better qualified.  Sounds real fair doesn’t it?  It was then and there I knew I needed to get back into radio where nobody can see you!

I wrote an article on my blog last week and stand by my remarks that NHL players are using their equipment as weapons more than to protect from injury.  I think there should be less equipment and that would change things enough that you wouldn’t have to be, constantly, studying how to make the game better.  Smaller gear would mean less cheap shots (you would probably break your arm sticking up an elbow like Andrew Ference did last week).  It would also mean less blocked shots so more pucks get through to the net, and less equipment on goalies means more net to shoot at.  It almost sounds too easy doesn’t it?  The irony of it all is that the word ‘safety’ will be used to defend the armour worn today.  But, I think you would be safer with less. 

Dave Hodge said it best.  He says it should be okay to hit but not okay to hurt.  I couldn’t agree more.

I can’t thank the NHL lockout enough for helping me go into being a fan of the NBA with such an open mind.  I haven’t found a team to be passionate about yet, but I can tell you watching the likes of Stephen Curry in the first round Golden State victory over Denver was very entertaining.  On Sunday, I tuned in to Kevin Durant putting the Oklahoma City Thunder on his back and leading them from ten points back in the second half to defeat Memphis 93-91 in game one of their West Conference semi-final.  I’ve heard it said you can’t beat NHL playoff emotion, well NBA playoff emotion is up there too.

Nice person mentions this week (and this is a shot in the dark because these are names of people I found in the old newspapers) to Merv Martinuk (auto sales), Verne Clemence (newspaper writer), Glen Swanson (soccer player), Norm Roebuck (U of S Alumni Association), and Eliza Doolittle (‘My Fair Lady’).