And the Winner Is...

Not me. Yep, I came out second best and as the old saying goes, "2nd Place is the first loser."

What are you talking about?!?! you are all probably wondering. Well, it's about a job. Some of you may have heard that I applied for a new job which was to be the Executive Director of the Saskatoon and District Soccer Association. It was a job that I would have loved. Dealing with soccer leagues and situations on a daily basis. Working out of the new soccer centre. It would have been great. However, on Wednesday I got the call saying thanks for coming out (ok, it was a lot nicer of a phone call). The end result was that they decided to hire internally instead and promote Jason from the position of Technical Director to Executive Director. Of course that opened up the Technical Director job, which they asked me if I wanted to apply for it, but that is not quite what I am after.

So am I disappointed? Yes and No and here's why.

Yes I'm disappointed because:

• I think I would have done a great job
• It would be great to be doing soccer on a full time basis
• I need a full time job come July 31st

No I'm not disappointed because:

• I still have dreams and ideas I want to pursue and if I had been given this job I would have had to put them on hold
• I don't know if I'm ready for an actual "office job" yet as I really love my current job
• I won't have to back out or figure out how to do my current job and the new one (I told them I didn't want to leave my current employer out in the cold so close to the event day and would want to try to do both jobs until July 31st)
• I can now go back on unemployment after July 31st if I need to
• I think Jason who they hired will do a good job

There are probably lots of other reasons I thought of before but can't think of now as well. So although it would have been a great job and I would have loved it and given everything I had to it, I guess God wants me to be focusing on something else...I just have to figure out what that is now.

A Tale of Two Teams

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times. That pretty much summed up our Tauro season. Starting off with 0 wins and 4 losses we knew we needed some changes. A couple key additions to the team and we were on the road to success. So successful that we made it to the final game of the playoffs (yes, we beat the Moonwalkers 4-1 in the semi final to advance to the final). It was time to once again face Dandylyon (pronounced dandy-lee-own).

It seemed that this past season certain teams "owned" certain teams. There were some teams we always beat and there were others that we always struggled against. Dandylyon was one of the teams that we always struggled against. In our two previous encounters we managed to get up 2 goals and then they would end up coming back and beating us. We never had trouble with some of the top teams in the league including AC Milan and the Hawks, but Dandylyon always gave us trouble. We needed to break this trend.

The game came down on Thursday night at 8:15pm. As the players checked in their player cards with the referee Tauro FC suddenly got a break...Dandylyon's best player and the top goal scorer in Men's Division 3 forgot his player card at home and was relegated to watch the game with the fans. Tauro FC had a full bench with everyone there, including two previously injured players. Things were looking good until Steve realized he was hurt too bad to play and Jeff Peters knew he could not play a regular shift. This left our bench with basically two lines and the odd extra person. But we werent' concerned as we had just played our semi-final game 20 hours before with only 11 players.

The game started with a rush as Dandylyon stuck to their game plan of finesse passing and control. Right off the hop our goalie apparently grabbed the other teams shirt when he got too close to the net and the referee yelled at him to let go. Little did we know how much of an effect that innocent little play would have on the game.

The game was rough and our team was getting pounded by them as they hit us to the ground, took us out in the box and had their keeper knock our forwards to the ground. Our bench was screaming for some penalty shots, but the only response was a "play on" by the referee. The referee had decided to just let us play and was not going ot call a lot, especially since he said he could have given our goalie a red card for grabbling the opponent's shirt. This now meant our team was going to have to take the abuse from the other team.

The game was hard fought, but suddenly Dandylyon broke through our outside defense, slipped into the middle of the box unguarded and pounded a shot into the bottom corner of the net. 1-0 Dandylyon. The Tauro players spirits were down, but no one was giving up yet. The Tauro team continued to pepper the other team's goalie with shots, but it was to no avail. Their goalie was playing phenomenal and it would take a lot to put one by him. The halftime whistle sounded and the teams retreated to their benches.

As the guys threw out some thoughts on the game, Isaac our goalie stepped up and gave a rousing half time speech. We were playing these guys hard and they were scared. Forget about the score, keep playing our game and we will put one in. With goose bumps and shivers rivetting through their bodies the Tauro FC players gave a roaring "1-2-3 Tauro" cheer for the final time this season.

The second half started out strong and Tauro once again had the pressure on. Still down 1-0, the pass came across the middle of the field to the far left side to the talented feet of Robin Dalshaug. With a quick look up he found his mark and with a change up left footed shot it was a 1-1 game when the ball went into the corner out of the goalies diving reach! The Tauro bench and fans were ecstatic and the momentum had changed.

Tauro didnt' let up and only a few minutes later a second goal was sniped into the net giving Tauro the 2-1 lead. Dandylyon was looking down, but definately not out. Then the unthinkable happened and a Dandylyon player tripped our defender and was sent to the box with a yellow card and a 4 minute penalty. Tauro's hopes were high as they now had a power play and a chance to take a 2 goal lead. But nothing materialized. Even down a player Dandylyon dominated short handed and the Tauor offense was barely able to keep the ball out their own net. As the power play ended Sheldon thought to himself that if they can dominate while shorthanded, we definately can't let them get up a player.

Not about to let that happen the Tauro players, now back at even strength, sent a long high pass towards the keeper. The ball bounced off the wall, their goalie played it away but couldn't quite clear it. As the scramble continued Kurt Manz found the open net and headed the ball in for the insurance goal and it was 3-1 Tauro with 7 minute sto play.

7 minutes, but if felt like an eternity. Both teams battled hard while Tauro played smart to keep their 2 goal lead. Until the unthinkable happened. Kurt Manz, a Tauro striker, jumped in front of the goalie to block his throw and the yellow card was up. A 4 minute penalty with only 4 minutes left in the game. Sheldon's nightmare had come true. On the power play Dandylyon played aggressive and were going to use all 4 minutes of the penalty to try and get back in the game. Barreling down the left hand side their striker burst past our outside defender and sniped a shot to the top inside corner where our goalie did not even see it coming due to the screen. 3-2 Tauro with 3minutes left.

The Tauro defense was playing ferocious and there were all sorts of legs in the box. But it only took a small hole and just like that the Dandylyon striker put away the tying goal into the bottom corner of the net. 3-3 with 2 minutes left. The battle raged on and the only thing racing through Sheldon' s mind was "please don't let them score the go ahead goal." Luckily our player in the box was let out for the last minute of the game and though the pressure was intense, the final three whistles blew and regulation time was over. But it couldn't end in a tie!

Stay tuned for the penalty shots story and actual video footage of the penalty shots!

Close But No Cigar

(I really have no idea how that saying came about. Does anyone else?)

So tonight I was sitting at home alone. Shiela had been called in to work, there was no small group and my new soccer coaching season hasn't started yet...so I had some free time. Now my online poker bankroll has been on the rough edge lately. I had taken $5.00 and worked it up to around $135. Then things went downhill. I started losing a lot of $5.00 heads up games and the next thing I knew my bankroll was down to $11.00! Needless to say I lowered my playing limits back to the $0.02 -$0.04 limit Texas Hold 'Em game with the occasional game of $2.00 no limit. So since my bankroll is so small, I can't afford to enter any tournaments...so I'm looking for free ones.

I found this one tournament that was a little different than most. Usually in a tournament the winners win money or else a seat into a bigger tournament. But this tournament was giving away 2 tickets to the April 16th NBA Miami Heat game plus $2500 in expense money to the top two finishers and it only cost 700 player points to enter. So I did...along with 775 other people.

I decided to play very tight this tournament and see how far I could last. It didn't go well. I was playing very few hands and was getting blinded to death. Finally, I was down to 900 chips and managed to win a hand with three people in the pot. That pushed me up to 2500 in chips and things turned around. I kept playing tight and eventually I worked my way up to 50,000 in chips! I was in 10th place overall and was loving it.

Unfortunately as the tournament went on I lost out ona couple hands. One big one was when I had QQ and the flop came A X X. There were four people still in the hand and I figured one of them had an Ace. However, no one bet big on the flop so I bet a couple thousand. Two of them called. The turn was another Ace. I didn't like that. The player to my right bet around 5000 and I went into the think tank. I could reraise him here to see if he's bluffing, but I was down to around 25,000 in chips and the blinds were 800 and 1600. I finally folded as did the other player. Then 2 hands later I held Ace 5 offsuit in the big blind. There were two raises in front of me and I again had to think about this. I was pretty sure someone else held an Ace and my 5 kicker was very low and I was out of position. I folded. The flop came A X 5. I almost cried as I would have surely doubled up there.

In spite of those hands I was still doing well and I made it to the final 2 tables which meant there were only 20 people left. I was dealth A 10 offsuit on the button and I raised aroudn 5000. I was called by 3 others. I forget what the flop was but I had a gutshot straight and ended up calling all in because I only had round 7000 left anyway. I lost and was finished in 18th place.

So althought I won't be going to Miami this Sunday, I was pumped with my overall performance. If I could finish in 18th place in a regular money tournament online I would be doing pretty well (that means I finished in the about the top 2%). I'll have to keep playing these free tournaments and hopefully next time I'll be off to sunny ol Florida!

Playoff Game Update

Our Tauro FC playoff game has been rescheduled to Wednesday April 12th at 11:00pm. I bet I can guess how many fans are going to come out and watch!

I'm Off for a While

No need to check back on this blog every few minutes just itching to read the latest post because I'm letting you all know in advance that I will be away in Regina for the weekend at the Regina Sport and Recreation Show. I'm going down to promote the Hbc Run for Canada!

See you all when I get back.

P.S. If anyone is thinking of breaking in while I'm gone rest assured that my landlord who lives upstairs has been informed that no one should be in our house this weekend. And yes, he has a shotgun behind his front door. And a baseball bat. And I heard he's buying a pitbull on Friday to keep as a watchdog.

Take the Lead - Movie Review

Last night Shiela and I along with her friend Sheena and (I just blanked and forgot her name, sorry!) went to see the movie Take the Lead. "What!" you may say, "that movie isn't even in theatres yet!" To which I reply "You are correct." However, when you have free passes to a premier showing of the movie you get to watch it a little bit earlier.

Yep, I got some free tickets to go see this movie before it hits the big screen on Friday. For those of you in Saskatoon, keep your eys on the Planet S magazine because that is where I received my free tickets. All I had to do was go down to their office on Tuesday at 12:00pm and they handed out free double passes to the movie to everyone there. The guy was giving me a little bit of a hard time for talking loud (not surprised are you Pam) in a joking manner and so he gave me two double passes afterward.

The movie was ok. It's basically about this dance instructor who decides to help out an inner city school by teaching ballroom dancing to a bunch of kids in detention. It's sort of a mixture of Dangerous Minds and Sister Act. The kids however are into hip hop dancing and so the two music styles clash with each other and they need to learn to work together.

The dancing in the movie was pretty good. If you are into ballroom dancing you would love it. I thought there could have been a lot more hip hop dancing and was a little disappointed in that. The problem with this movie was that it didn't pull at the heart strings enough. You never really felt all that sorry for the inner city kids and their lives and actually the problems never really get solved. I also thought the ending was very weak and the only good part about the ending was that it ended with hip hop dancing.

I'd give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. However, if you are into dancing a lot you would have rated it a lot higher. I preferred movies like You've Been Served because their dance moves were way cooler! But overall the moview was a good watch and since I paid nothing to see it I can't really complain.

Heads up: Planet S and Rock 102 will be giving away free movie passes to two more movies in April. Next week they are giving away tickets to Scary Movie 4 and later in April to the movie The Rocket (which I think is about the hockey player Maurice Richard). So read your Planet S magazine (free almost anywhere in the city) to find out when to go pick up your tickets.

A True Playoff Game

The two teams took to their sides in the first round of the SDSA Men's Division 3 playoffs. It was the 3rd place Hawks vs the 6th place Tauro FC to see who would advance to the next round and push forward to the final coveted Championship Trophy.

It was a defensive battle off the start with both teams playing tight and a little slow. The chess match ensued until Rob Hydomako cruised down the left side of the field, beat an opponent and sniped a sharp angle shot into the far top corner to put Tauro FC up 1-0!

The Hawks didn't back down and a few minutes later a long chip pass was sent to an attacking forward. The forward flicked the ball forward towards the goal and his attacking midfielder ran forward onto the ball. The Tauro FC defensemen Sheldon Mathies didn't follow his man as he though the keeper would get the ball. The keeper thought Sheldon would get the ball. Needless to say it was an open shot at point blank range and the score was 1-1. (Sidenote: it was Sheldon's fault for not marking his man...never leave your man in front of the net!)

The halftime came and the Tauro FC guys were gasping for breath. Having just played in a co-ed soccer tournament all weekend a number of the players were worn out. But Isaac Hayes, the Tauro FC keeper, came in with a rousing half time speech to get the boys fired up! Tauro FC came out flying in the second half and when Robin Dalshaug passed the ball from the corner right in front of the net Kent Worthington was there to put away the go ahead goal.

But the lead didn't last long as the Hawks weren't about to give up. In a mad scramble of legs near the net a Hawks player managed to get off a shot and went into the bottom corner of the net just out of Isaac's diving reach.

With 3 minutes left to play it was time to give it one last push. Player/Coach Sheldon Mathies put Kurt Manz into a midfield position (he normally plays striker) in order to give us more attacking power. Suddenly a quick transition and a pass from Rob sent Kurt hurting towards the opposing net. Fighting off a defender that was right on his side, Kurt got a step on him and fired a shot into the back of the net. The Tauro FC bench went wild, but there was still 2 minutes to play.

And the Hawks weren't about to give up. Pushing all 5 men forward the Hawks were on the attack. Our Tauro FC played strong team defense and though the pressure was intense, the final 3 whistles from the referee were blown and Tauro FC advance to the next round of playoffs on Monday April 10th at 8:15pm with a 3-2 victory!

April Fools!

Well, for those of you that didn't catch on yet, the previous post was just an April Fool's joke! It worked even better than I thought it would...a lot of people fell for it and my phone was ringing off the hook (ok, maybe just a few calls). Sorry to anyone who had a heart attack after reading that...please email your medical bills to ifellforit@aprilfools.com to have them fully paid for.

See you again next year!

It's Sad to Say Good bye

Shiela and I have been keeping a secret for a while that I couldn't post. I really wanted to, but just in case it didn't work out I didn't want everyone to know. And no, we're not pregnant!

Shiela and I are moving to Abbotsford, B.C.

There, I said it, it's out there! Man, it feels good to get that off my chest! I know this may come as a shock to many of you, but here's the reason for the move. Many of you know that I have wanted to start up a new business for a long time...it's been a dream of mine. I finally just found out that I have been granted a franchise license to open a Dippin Dots in Abbotsford, B.C. I originally had applied for a license in Saskatoon, however the company would not grant it. They said that Saskatoon was not a big enough market, especially since no one eats ice cream for at least 6 months of the year. In Abbotsford you can eat ice cream year round which means a much larger demand and a whole lot more money!

This was not an easy decision for Shiela and I. Shiela loves her job here in Saskatoon but realizes that starting my own business has always been my dream and she has agreed to quit her job and try to find another EMS position in Abbotsford. It will most likely mean more schooling, but she is ok with that. She has decided that since she has to go back for more schooling anyway, she is going to get her Paramedic schooling right away. That way she will be one level higher up and can work in a lot more places.

We are definately going to miss Saskatoon. We have a lot of friends here and will miss them dearly. I know I am also going to miss all the poker games I have with my friends...thank goodness for the Internet. We've given our notice to our landlord and the plan is to be in Abbotsford by April 15th.

Anyways, it's late now and I need to go to bed soon. I have a big soccer game tomorrow morning at 8:30am. We entered a co-ed team into the Just For Kicks tournament and we play on Sat at 8:30am and 3:00pm. Then once more Sun at 8:30am. If we move onto the playoffs we'll play some more yet!

Ok, so good night and Shiela and I just want to say we love you all (our friends that is, any random strangers reading this that may not exactly apply to you in the same way). Feel free to leave any comments in the comments section!

Update: Click here for more details.

Any Simpsons Fans Out There?

If you are a fan of the Simpsons then you need to check this out. It's the Simpson's opening except it is done with real people, not cartoons.

Check it out by clicking here!

Hockey Goalie Training Video

This is the funniest and best hockey training video I've ever seen. I can't link directly to it, but click here and it is posted on Dave Carey's blog. You'll love it, I promise!!

I think this is how the Calgary goalies train! Go Oilers!!

Fight Night!

I was at the soccer centre Sunday night and saw that Arsenix and Eclipse United were playing their game. I was there to watch Shiela play but I wandered over to the other game for a bit and watched. I obviously didn't stay long enough.

With 10 minutes left in the game someone received a yellow card. That player went to the box, but then two other players who looked like they were just goofing around suddenly slapped (or hit) each other and all hell broke loose! The guy in the box came running out and started throwing punches. Both benches were cleared. The Arsenix goalie came running down from the opposite end of the field to get involved and started throwing punches. Apparently there was some vicious moves as guys were getting their heads slammed into upcoming knees, etc. One guy for sure left bleeding with a badly ripped jersey. The game was abandoned and both teams left the field. But it didn't stop there! The Arsenix guys walked on the outside of the field to the Eclipse dressing room, grabbed one of the players by the throat and threw him up against the wall.

Someone eventually called the police ( I have no idea where SPI Security was that night) but I didn't see them talking to anyone so I don't know if anyone was laying charges. There were a total of 5 red cards given out and I'm sure they will all get 6-7 if not more game suspensions. They can pretty much kiss at least a 1/4 of their outdoor season goodbye.

And where was I during the fight? On the other side of the facility drinking my butter caramel smoothie from Tim Hortens and watching our Tauro FC girls clean up on yet another team. It was a great game, but definately not as good as a fight. Oh well.

UPDATE: The rumor mill is buzzing and last night I heard that one of the players actually punched the referee in the face! If that is true that guy will be suspended for a couple of years!

Yep, I'm a Goon!

For those of you that follow our Tauro FC Men's team you'll notice that we are on a new kind of streak...a red card streak. Yes, I admit it, I was one of the ones that got a red card. Actually, I received 2 yellow cards which equals a red card.

The first yellow card I derserved. The ref called a passback on our team when I clearly played it to our keeper off my thigh. Anyways, the ref made the call, I turned around and yelled "No way!" and then I kicked the ball away that just happened to be at my feet. As soon as I kicked it I knew I had a yellow card. After serving my 4 minute penalty I went back out there again with no incidence. But on my very next shift another player and I were battling for the ball along the boards and no one had possession. I flicked the ball past the guy but he shielded me and passed the ball about two feet away from the boards to his player. As his player went by I stepped out to try and steal the ball, missed, and hit the guys leg. The guy yells (but he always yells whenever you touch him) and immediately the ref gives me a yellow card. Again, I said "You've got to be kidding!" but then I just left it at that and left the field. I figured if I yelled at the ref I would probably just get an extra game suspension or something. So I'll admit that second yellow was a foul, but honestly, there was way worse stuff going on and it did not deserve a yellow card. Oh well, I had to miss one game in which we killed the other team 5-1 or something.

What a Great Day

My birthday has now come and gone and I've decided to do a blog of the day to show you how I spent it:

7:30am - Wake up and decide to go back to sleep

7:58am - Shiela wakes me up and brings me breakfast in bed. It consisted of pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, eggs and V8 splash. It was awesome!

8:15am - I opened up a gift from Christy and John (no they weren't here, but they sent it from BC). It was a nice Canadian Olympic t-shirt from Hbc. It fit perfectly and I love it!

8:17am - I opened up my birthday presents from Shiela. She gave me a Coca Cola napkin holder (which I used as a money holder for my poker game that night), a coupon for a massage, a Dealer button (which I've needed for a long time) and a coupon that entitled me to buy the new Daniel Negraneau DVD that I wanted (she couldn't find it online, and actually I couldn't either but I know it's there, so I'm get to find it and buy it).

8:20am - I get up and shower

8:45am - I head to the computer to start "working" for the day. My "work" for the day was going to be playing poker online.

8:45am - I read the online birthday card from Kurt and Kendall...it was great!

8:48am - I read the birthday greeting from Janelle Baerg...thanks!

9:30am - My grandparents phone to wish me a Happy Birthday

9:45am - My mom phones to wish me a Happy Birthday and I find out that someone crashed their truck through the large window of the Hepburn Co-op! I thought that only happened in the movies!

9:58am - I log out of Party Poker where I've been playing Omaha high low all morning...I'm up $5.00.

10:00am - Shiela and I head out to do whatever we want...which is go look at the Olympic clothing at Hbc.

10:35am - Shiela loves all the clothing they have (and if you haven't seen it you need to check it out, it's really nice stuff) and I make a mental note for her birthday

11:15am - Make our way to Soccer Locker to spend the $60 gift certificate I received almost a year ago and haven't spent yet.

11:19am - Rob at soccer locker tells me they are just unpacking all their new stuff and so if I come back in a few days they will have a lot more stuff. He said not to worry about my gift certificate expiring since he knows me. I leave happy and will come back in about a week.

11:34am - Shiela and I are in Superstore to buy snacks for the poker game that night

11:57am - I drop Shiela off at home and go read the paper at the library.

12:30pm - I make myself some Chunky soup for lunch and head back to the computer to play some more poker

1:20pm - I've lost $25 playing poker online...I'm debating whether I should stop

1:21pm - I switch over to playing no limit hold 'em and buy in for $10.00

1:33pm - I've now lost that $10.00 and decide it's time for a nap

2:30pm - Larry phones to say he can't make it poker. I get up and play some more poker.

3:30pm - I just won a sit and go tournament and pocketed $17.50. I'm also playing in a free tournament but doing badly.

3:45pm - Decide to clean the house for the poker tournament tonight. I put my tournament status to "post and fold"

4:15pm - I play a few hands in the tournament and am knocked out. Oh well, its was free.
4:17pm - I enter another sit and go tournament for $5.00
4:22pm - I'm knocked out...not a good showing. I shut off the computer.
5:00pm - I head to KFC to pick up my birthday supper...I bought the Fun Bucket and yes, it was a lot of fun to eat.
7:00pm - Poker tournament starts and I lose a lot of chips to Shiela in the very first hand (what was I thinking drawing to a low straight). I'm worried I will get knocked out early.

8:00pm - I won a couple big hands and am back in the game.

9:00pm (circa) - Colin is knocked out of the tournament first when Ben Lim's King kicker was higher than Colin's as they both had a pair of Queens.

9:20pm - I forget the order of who was knocked out when, but in the end it was just Gramps and I.

10:00pm - Gramps and I are the final two...Gramps has few more chips, but it's pretty equal.

10:05pm - I'm getting nothing for cards and am losing chips. I win a couple hands but can't pull ahead.

10:15pm - I hold Jack, 7 and the flop comes 7, 10, 2. Gramps bets 400 and I raise 400 more. He calls. the turn is an 8. I know Gramps doesn't have the 10 so he either has a 2 or else some high cards. He bets 500. I count my chips and go all in. Gramps calls and turns over 2, 8 for two pair. The river is a blank and I'm done in 2nd place and win $10.00.

10:30pm - Everyone heads home and my birthday is done. What a fun day!

I'm really looking forward to the party on Saturday night!

It's Here!

It's finally here and it's already got off to an amazing start!! I won't blog about it a lot now because I'm going to post a blog tomorrow (hopefully) outlining my day. But so far Shiela brought me breakfast in bed and it was yummy!!!
And I can't wait for the big poker game tonight! (there are a couple seats left if you still want in!)

Big Day Approaching...Are You Ready?

It's only 2 more sleeps away. I thought I could just keep it low key and pretend that nothing was happening and it was just a normal day. Yah, right! That thought lasted about a milisecond. No way. I love birthdays and I can't wait to celebrate it!

This year I'm having a party on the Saturday after my birthday and we are going to do something that I love to do but am extremely bad at...curling! That's right, we are going curling and it will be a hoot! If you haven't been invited yet, don't worry...Shiela is doing the invitations and will be inviting people. She was actually going to do it this morning but got called in to work. So I figured I'd throw it up here on my blog to give some of you avid readers the heads up. So if you are my friend and we hang out on occassion, keep this Saturday night free as it's going to be a lot of fun!

Also, ON my birthday, that's Wednesday March 22,I'm going to have a poker night. It will be a tournament format that starts at 7:00pm and ends at 10:00pm (or really close to it). Texas Hold 'Em, $5.00 buy in but the fun is free! I hope to get quite a few people out so if you want to play some poker on Wednesday night leave me a comment on my blog and I'll save you a seat.

I've also decided what I want for my birthday, so if you haven't bought me a gift yet, feel free to choose from this list:

• 17" or 19" flat screen monitor for our computer
• Daniel Negreanu's new poker DVD (I think you can buy it at www.fullcontactpoker.com in the store section, but you might have to create a free account first
• a nice outdoor soccer ball
• Adidas casual shoes
• casual socks (not sport socks or dress socks...just casual socks)
• money to put towards my poker bankroll (feel free to transfer money online directly into my Paradise Poker or Poker Stars account if you want)
• nice athletic Adidas shirts at Athletes World (in Midtown Plaza they are in the back of the store on the bottom left hand side. I like both the white and the red ones)
• Tickets to any U2 concert
• A golf membership to a Saskatoon golf course
• new CD's (Christian bands would be great...not sure which ones...maybe a gift certificate would be good)
• Satellite radio (not sure why, but Warren has one and it sounded cool)
• Mike Caro's Book of Poker Tells
• Subscription to the magazine CardPlayer (it's a poker magazine)
• a Poker Tournament timer (probably need to buy this online)
• Gym membership to the Saskatoon Civic Centres (honest, I'll use it!)
• New VCR with remote control and the ability to program it (I broke our current VCR remote and so now we can't program shows and have to get up to fast forward the tapes. Ok, put away your violins but I'll keep the cheese)

Oh, the list could go on and on (actually, the truth is that it took me quite a while to think up all those things as I never really feel like I need anything)

That's it for now! I hope a lot of my friends can make it out to my party...Hurry! Hurry Hard!! (I'm going to be yelling that the entire time!)

I Met the Naked Man

I first received the email a few days ago. "I'm coming into the city on Wednesday. Let's meet somewhere." I read the email over again a few times. This man wanted to meet me. Alone. In the dark. No, wait, not in the dark as it will be in the afternoon. Phew. I emailed back,"Sure. Give me a call on my cell phone when you get into the city and we'll arrange a meeting." The plan was set.

I was out and about all day today cruising around and finding new places to put up posters to promote the best running event in the world called the Hbc Run for Canada. I was cruising down Arlington at around 1:30pm when my cell phone rang. I turned off the radio and picked up the phone, knowing who it was going to be. "Meet me at the corner of Louise and 8th at a place called Willy's." I didn't know which restaurant he was talking about and that gave me the willies, but I knew the location and headed on over there.

As I pulled up to Willy's I realized it was actually a place called Fajita Willy's. No problem, it was an open area, with lots of people, etc. As I stepped out of my car I glanced into the window and suddenly stared at the large "For Lease" sign in the window. The man was luring me to an abandoned restaurant. I quickly leaned back inside to find a weapon. Hmmm, what would work best. An old chocalate bar wrapper, an old coke bottle, or an old coke bottle. Ah, forget the weapon, how strong can a naked man be.

I was making my way up to the front of the door with the bag of "stuff" the man wanted. Suddenly a red truck screeched into the lot and came to a halt right in front of the door. I looked up just in time to see the man pointing at me with one finger and motioning for me to come into his truck. I was always told never to talk to strangers and DEFINATELY don't get into a strangers car (or truck), but what else could I do. The transaction had to take place and it looked like it was going to go down in the truck.

I got into the truck and the introductions happened quickly. I wanted to cut right to the chase, but the small talk started first. Oh, he was unaware that Fajita Willy's was closed when he asked me to meet him there. Phew. So this wasn't an elaborate plan to lure me to an abandoned restaurant. I finally made the transaction and handed him the bag I had. He took out some of the merchandise. "Not bad," he said. Then he reached into his bag and handed me the merchandise I was after. As I held it in my hands I could instantly tell his merchandise was not the same quality as mine, but I was expecting that. I mean, the brochures for our running event were made by a multi million dollar corporation and the brochures for his running event were made by a local community in a small town.

After the transaction was complete I talked a little more. "So you are from Eston," I began, "Were you one of the guys in the naked calendar?" Now for those of you who don't read the newspaper or listen to the radio or watch TV or take yearly vactions to the small town of Eston would probably not know that a bunch of older men decided they needed a fundraiser to raise money for a blood machine in their town. Every time someone needed certain blood tests done they had to drive an hour to Rosetown or Kindersley to get it done. So instead of that the town decided to make their own calendar of local naked men doing everyday things like riding a snowmobile, riding a riding lawn mower, etc. And yes, they were all naked.

"Actually, I was the one who planned the whole thing," the naked man informed me. I found out that this man initiated the whole calendar himself. He kept it very secretive the whole time and nobody knew they were even making the calendar until the day they released it to be sold. Even the men who were in the calendar did not know who the other men in the calendar were. So the entire town was extremely interested to find out which local men were in it. Word leaked out about the calendar and pretty soon it was all over the media, etc. and everyone knew about it. The naked man even said they were receiving money from people in the States who had heard about it. In the end they ended up raising about $29,000 for their cause which bought them their blood machine and a bunch of other things the town needed to.

It was pretty cool meeting the naked man behind all the other naked men of Eston. He is promoting an event in Eston called the Eston River Trek and is happening on May 13th. It looks like a great event and is actually very challenging...a lot more challenging than my 10K run. The Eston River Trek is actually a 40 mile walk along the river and surrounding landscape. You even have support vehicles, etc. to help you along the way. So click here to check it out...it looks like a lot of fun and if you live in Saskatoon and want a brochure let me know because I have some to give away for that event.

*P.S. At no time during my meeting with the naked man was he actually naked.

The Studio Experience

My big TV debut was about to happen and I didn't want to be late. I was suppose to be there at 11:45am for my interview and so I made sure I was early. I found a parking spot right in front of CTV and waited in the car until it was a little closer to 11:45am. So after about an hour and a half of waiting in the car I went inside (just kidding).

As I walked into the building I grabbed the door handle and pulled toward me. My arm shot back towards the door and I realized it was locked. I peered inside and saw a woman right there behind a desk staring at me. Our staring contest only lasted for about 2 minutes when I finally admitted defeat and looked away...luckily right to where the sign said that the door is always locked and needs to be opened up from the inside. I suddenly heard the buzzing and pulled the door open. This time it magically opened and inside I went.

I told the lady at the desk that I was there for the News at Noon interview and she told me to go down the hall and wait in the room until Jeff came and got me. Not being familiar with the building I started to venture down the hall looking for this "room" that I was suppose to "wait" in. I figured the first room I came to must be the one and so when I saw the first room I walked in. As I looked around I realized it was about as big as an airplane bathroom. "Man, hopefully there aren't a lot of other people here for interviews because I'm not sure how we're all going to fit in this room," I said to myself as I glanced around. I finally came to my senses and figured this can't be the room. As I squeezed on out the door I decided to walk a little further. Ah, sure enough, now this was more of a waiting room.

I walked in (there was no door) and sat down on the loveseat (do you still call them loveseats in a waiting room...seems a little too cozy for two strangers). About 1 minute later the room was getting pretty full as 3 people from a Native theatre company came in. I tried to make small talk but they pretty much all but ignored me. I was kinda surprised, but they just talked among themselves. "Oh well", I thought, "I've got better things to do," and I went back to staring at the wall. Finally another girl came in and her and I chatted until they came and got us for the interview.

As they brought us into the studio for the show I was surprised at how small it was. There was just one camera guy and the little stage where the interview would take place was right beside their anchor desk. It' funny how different things look on camera. Jeff wasn't there so it was Jennifer doing the interview and Trish was also there to do the news. We all just sat against the wall and watched it all until it was our turn. I've already blogged about the interview so I'll skip that part. It was very nerve racking up on the mini stage which is part of the reason I stumbled over my words in the beginning of the interview. I felt like I did a terrible job and as I drove home afterward I wished I had told no one about it. Howver, over the course of the next few days people who saw it emailed me and said it looked good, so I felt a little more relieved.

The scary part was that my boss in Toronto wanted to see it. Now you have to understand that she has never even seen me before. I only interviewed with her over the phone and it was another lady from Calgary that actually interviewed me in person. So now she was going to see me on TV for the first time in an interview I was not proud of...I could feel the words "You're fired!" about to be thrown into my face again. I delayed getting a copy of it made, but on the day of our local snowstorm I decided to venture out and get a copy made. After nearly spinning the tread right off my tires and rocking to get out of numerous spots where I was stuck I finally shipped them the video so they would get it Friday morning.

Friday morning came and my boss didn't say anything. Friday afternoon came and went and I still hadn't heard from them. "Hmmm," I thought, "they probably are trying to figure out how to fire someone over the phone after they watched my interview." I forgot about it over the weekend and when Monday morning came around I waited some more to hear the feedback. Monday passed and I still heard nothing. "Ok, this is crazy, " I thought, "surely they've watched it by now." Finally, Tuesday afternoon I got my first feedback...they LOVED it! She had even shown it to the President of TrojanOne and he liked it too and wanted to be sure they showed it to the Hbc executives. Pheww! I wasn't going to be fired.

So everything turned out great. I've even spoken to some of the top Hbc guys/girls and they told me they liked the interview a lot too! All that worrying for nothing. Well, I really wasn't worried. I just expect so much of myself and so it would take a lot for me to believe that I did a really good job (there's a little inside knowledge into the world of Sheldon for you!)

I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry

Ok, so it's been a long time since I've blogged. I'd like to tell you it was because I was working on a huge project that will make me millions or I was off on some exotic location, but the truth is I've just been busy. Busy with what you may ask. Well, I don't know.

I'm not sure what I've been busy with. Maybe it was being at the CIS Track and Field Championships this past weekend. Maybe it was helping out for many many hours doing evaluations for the Eastside Soccer Association. Maybe it was finding out I'm going to have to have surgery. Probably a bit of everything. Needless to say I've felt very busy...but it sure has been fun.

I'll be blogging a lot more now as I try and catch up with the last couple weeks of my life on here. So stay tuned!

Moving up the Ladder

I decided to say yes. It was a tough decision and I weighed the pros and cons, but in the end I said yes. I am now the Under 13 Boys Provincial Assistant Coach.

The head coach who I work with in a weekly soccer clinic asked me to be his assistant as he is the head coach. My biggest fear is getting burnt out. Last year the indoor season burnt me out. I was coaching the Under 14 boys Silver team, coaching Bethany College men's team, attending numerous soccer clinics put on by the Eastside Technical Director and also attending weekly mentorship sessions. Now don't get me wrong, I loved it all, but by the end I really needed a break from soccer and I ended up not coaching outdoor soccer that summer.

But I think this year will be different. The training sessions for the U13 Boys Provincial team are on the weekend and are all in Saskatoon. (Sidenote: this is actually the U13 Boys Provincial North team. There is also a South team. I don't know why they do that, probably to give more guys a chance. However the head coach told me that our North team is a lot stronger than the South team. So strong, that the guys we end up cutting from our team will probably go down south and be starters for the South team.) This means I don't have to spend time away from Shiela travelling which is nice. I will also be coaching the U11 Boys Gold team for the outdoor season. The plan is to practice with them from 4:30 - 5:45 Mon - Friday with one of those days being a game day. And both of these seasons end at the end in the first week of July. So although I will be very busy for the months of May and June, I will get July and August off to chill out and enjoy the summer...especially since my job ends at the end of July. Maybe I'll just take all of August off...hmmm, sounds like fun!

The fun part of the U13 Provincial team is we get to go to a couple big tournaments. The first one is May 19 - 22 in Surrey, British Columbia. We will be taking a team bus down there and it will be a lot of fun! So for all my West Coast readers feel free to stop on by and say hi...I'll be the assistant coach with the Saskatchewan team. The second tournament is the Rocky Mountain Cup July 5 - 9th somewhere in Alberta. Those tournaments will be a lot of fun. Another little perk is that I will get a bunch of free clothing including a windsuit, shorts, shirt, golf shirt, and fleece. But overall I am just really glad for the experience to be able to coach these kids at this level. I know I will be learning a lot from the head coach and also just how to coach at that level. It should be a lot of fun!

So, is anyone going to be in the Vancouver area on May long weekend?