I'm off for a few days of rest and relaxation. I think I'm going to visit Mike...from Canmore.
*Please somebody get the joke!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Absolute Poker is Great
The other day I found an offer online where you can get $100 free dollars (real money) on Absolute Poker. So I followed all the detailed steps and finally after about 4 days I finally got $50 free dollars (the other $50 you get after you play 500 raked hands). So now I have a free $50 to play poker online.
Tonight I decided to really play some poker. I had just cleaned up my office and decided to play a bit. I only had $50 so I play low limits so I don't lose it all in case I run bad. I sat down at a 6 person $0.10/$0.20 limit holdem game. I couldn't believe how bad the players were. I started with $2.00 and ended up with around $6.50 when I left. The only reason I left is that I decided to enter a $2.00 10 person sit and go tournament. I was playing both tables at first, but once the tournament got down to 6 players I stopped the cash game and focused on the tournament. The players in the tournament were better, but I still ended up winning first place for a payout of $9.00!
Of course I immediately went back to the same cash game table as before and sat down with $2.00 again. Now about 45 minutes later I am sitting with $8.05! A neat profit of $6.05. It's already 11:53pm right now and I know I need to go to bed, but these guys are just giving their money away it's extremely hard to leave. But alas, I am going to go to bed now. Hopefully I will be able to find these donkeys* when I log on again next time.
*Donkey is a poker term for a bad player
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
No Longer Unemployed`
I'm not going to be unemployed much longer. Technically I still am unemployed because I haven't signed any type of contract yet, but I verbally have a new job. TrojanOne, the company I worked for while doing the Hbc Run for Canada, is going to hire me full time. However I don't want to start until Sept 4th so they were fine with that. That way I can enjoy unemployment and also a little bit of vacation before starting work full time again.
I'm going to be the Field Marshall for part of the western region. This will basically include Saskatchewan and Manitoba but it may extend a little further into Alberta or so. I'll be working out of my home office so I still won't have to commute to work! The fun part is that they will provide me with a laptop, pay for my internet and also provide me with a Blackberry. I'm exicted about that!
I'll keep you up to date on any cool promotions I am working on. Currently I'll be doing some events promoting Frank's Red Hot Sauce in some bars in Saskatoon. I don't actually do the events, I just supervise them and make sure they go well. It sounds like a pretty sweet job!
I'm going to be the Field Marshall for part of the western region. This will basically include Saskatchewan and Manitoba but it may extend a little further into Alberta or so. I'll be working out of my home office so I still won't have to commute to work! The fun part is that they will provide me with a laptop, pay for my internet and also provide me with a Blackberry. I'm exicted about that!
I'll keep you up to date on any cool promotions I am working on. Currently I'll be doing some events promoting Frank's Red Hot Sauce in some bars in Saskatoon. I don't actually do the events, I just supervise them and make sure they go well. It sounds like a pretty sweet job!
Health Update
For those of you who read this blog for the health updates, this one's for you:
Platelet count on Monday August 21: 17,000
"Is that a good thing?" you may be asking yourself. The answer is NO. That is not a good thing.
Removing my spleen was suppose to solve the problem but unfortunately it hasn't. I was scheduled to go see the Specialist on Wednesday afternoon where we were going to do some tests to see if I had an auxillary spleen that is removing platelets. But since my count was so low on Monday I received sudden call from his office saying that I was now scheduled for 3 days of IV Gamma Globulin again. So I'm going to spend the next three mornings haning out with the nice nurses in Day Medicine while they pump me up with blood product again. I'm assuming my spleen test is still happening in the afternoon so I may just spend the whole day in the hospital. It will be a good chance to catch up on some sleep!
So that's the update. I'm pretty sure my soccer playing days are over for a while until we get this sorted out. I am bruising quite badly all the time and after the soccer games I look pretty bad so it's probably best I don't play for a while.
Platelet count on Monday August 21: 17,000
"Is that a good thing?" you may be asking yourself. The answer is NO. That is not a good thing.
Removing my spleen was suppose to solve the problem but unfortunately it hasn't. I was scheduled to go see the Specialist on Wednesday afternoon where we were going to do some tests to see if I had an auxillary spleen that is removing platelets. But since my count was so low on Monday I received sudden call from his office saying that I was now scheduled for 3 days of IV Gamma Globulin again. So I'm going to spend the next three mornings haning out with the nice nurses in Day Medicine while they pump me up with blood product again. I'm assuming my spleen test is still happening in the afternoon so I may just spend the whole day in the hospital. It will be a good chance to catch up on some sleep!
So that's the update. I'm pretty sure my soccer playing days are over for a while until we get this sorted out. I am bruising quite badly all the time and after the soccer games I look pretty bad so it's probably best I don't play for a while.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Wise Words from Dr. Seuss
Be who you are and say what you want, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
I found this posted on this guys website a while ago and finally decided to steal it. I really like that saying, especially when you are an opinionated peson like myself. I often don't outright say what I am thinking because I don't want to get people upset. I'm more of a diplomat in that regards. Now, those of you who know me may think that I'm lying through my teeth because I always say exactly what I feel. To you I say, no I don't. You can ask Shiela and I can assure you that I rant and rave about things a whole lot more at home than I do in public. Although I often state my own thoughts and will sometimes say things to get people going, it is usually done in a joking manner and I do try to be sensitive to people's feelings and opinions so I don't hurt them. I'm sure that I have hurt people in the past which is not good and I don't like doing it.
I think I do a pretty good job of just being me without trying to change too much to what people around me want me to be, but I do think I will stand up for my own thoughts and opinions more than I used to. Keeping the peace is good, but sometimes a good debate or argument is needed. Like I always say, if you dont' stand for something you'll fall for anything.
What about you? Do you act like you want or do you conform to be what people want you to be? Feel free to leave anonymous comments.
Great Camping Trip
This past weekend we had a great time camping. Shiela and I only arrived at Jackfish Lake around 9:00pm but we had sent our tent up ahead of time and our friends had set it up for us. Friday night was great as we sat around the fire, chatted and drank some Coke.
Saturday morning Ben and I woke up at 6:15am to hit the links. This was a big day as the golf trophy was on the line. This was also going to be the first round of golf where I used my driver to tee off with. For the past 4 years I only used my 3 iron because my driver always sliced too bad. But I went to the driving range on Thursday and 40 balls later I had it hitting down the middle.
By the middle of the second hole Ben and I were both pretty wet from the misty rain. We were about to head to the clubhouse to wait it out when it stopped so we kept going. I was down 4 or 5 strokes at one point but managed to gain two strokes on two separate pars to bring me within 2 strokes after 9 holes. The back nine went well for me (especially when I drained a 30ft putt for par on a par 3) and I managed to win the trophy by 3 strokes. My score of 104 is nothing to write home about, but for my 2nd full game of the season I was pretty happy.
We then went back for lunch and spent the afternoon lounging around as it was decent weather. We made it down to the beach area around 3:00pm and ended up playing some Bocce ball and then, of course, some soccer.
As we went back to the camp for supper we realized we may need the tarps up to protect us from the rain. now I won't get into it now, but rule number one with tarps...NO STICKS! It really annoys me when there are sticks holding up the tarp. Setting up the tarp is a strategic part of camping and in my mind there is no need for a stick to hold up the middle if you set it up properly. We also did some boating in the evening as the sun set and you can see me about to go tubing in the picture at the top.
Sunday morning we did some more boating and then people started to leave. Shiela and I decided to stay another day since we weren't working on Monday and the weather was suppose to be really nice. We had a great time enjoying the sun and also the peace and quiet of our campsite.
Overall it was another great camping weekend even if it was a little rainy and cold at times. I'm already looking forward to next year's camping weekend on Aug 17-19, 2007.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Bad News Flash
Since my surgery I've been having trouble breathing at times. Whenever I played soccer or ran I would be out of breath extremely fast and panting to catch my breath. I thought I might just be really out of shape, but the thing was that I played soccer 3 weeks after my surgery and wasn't panting that much. It only started to happen after I stopped the prednisone. I went in for some x-rays and some other radioactive tests to see if there was a blod clot in my lung. That was two weeks ago and I've heard nothing so I figured I must just be out of shape. Until now.
Well, actually the bad news is a little different. I went to get my blood checked yesterday as I hadn't gone for a month since my last results were around 450,000. However, I just got off the phone with the Specialist's secretary and was told that I need to go in to get a complete blood work done tomorrow and the Specialist wants to see me. I then found out my platelet count was at 21,000. Not good!
Well, actually the bad news is a little different. I went to get my blood checked yesterday as I hadn't gone for a month since my last results were around 450,000. However, I just got off the phone with the Specialist's secretary and was told that I need to go in to get a complete blood work done tomorrow and the Specialist wants to see me. I then found out my platelet count was at 21,000. Not good!
No winner...except the Tauro team
So nobody guessed the right answer to yesterday's trivia question. I should have given more notice as it was pretty last minute. The answer is: Caronport High School (there was a big hint in the post before that where I talked about my high school reunion)
But we did have a winner yesterday. Our Tauro FC soccer team. We played against Fulchester United and their team only showed up with 9 players (for those unfamiliar with soccer you play with 11 players) so we had at least a 2 person and sometimes 3 person advantage over them. We dominated the game and ended up winning something like 5-1. It was a huge win as our Tauro FC soccer team has been struggling as of late. Even though we were up players, we played amazing and definately deserved to win. Hopefully that will be a big turnaround point for us.
I think today as I am unemployed I will get a few things ready for the camping trip coming up. I also need to buy new tires for our car as ours are pretty bad. I am golfing at Jackfish lake this weekend and so I am thinking I may hit the driving range today and work on my swing so I can beat Ben again and keep the trophy. What trophy you may ask? I'll post about it later when I can post a picture with it.
But we did have a winner yesterday. Our Tauro FC soccer team. We played against Fulchester United and their team only showed up with 9 players (for those unfamiliar with soccer you play with 11 players) so we had at least a 2 person and sometimes 3 person advantage over them. We dominated the game and ended up winning something like 5-1. It was a huge win as our Tauro FC soccer team has been struggling as of late. Even though we were up players, we played amazing and definately deserved to win. Hopefully that will be a big turnaround point for us.
I think today as I am unemployed I will get a few things ready for the camping trip coming up. I also need to buy new tires for our car as ours are pretty bad. I am golfing at Jackfish lake this weekend and so I am thinking I may hit the driving range today and work on my swing so I can beat Ben again and keep the trophy. What trophy you may ask? I'll post about it later when I can post a picture with it.
Tuesday, August 8, 2006
Free Movie Tickets
I have a free double movie pass to give out to the first person who can answer this trivia question:
What is the name of the high school I graduated from?
First person to give me the right answer in the comments section will win a free double movie pass to a movie called Bon Cop Bad Cop. It is a premier showing on Wed Aug 9 at 7:00pm at Pacific Cinemas in Saskatoon.
Rules:
1) First time winners only (that's everyone)
2) You must be able to attend the movie on Wed night in Saskatoon
Good luck!
What is the name of the high school I graduated from?
First person to give me the right answer in the comments section will win a free double movie pass to a movie called Bon Cop Bad Cop. It is a premier showing on Wed Aug 9 at 7:00pm at Pacific Cinemas in Saskatoon.
Rules:
1) First time winners only (that's everyone)
2) You must be able to attend the movie on Wed night in Saskatoon
Good luck!
Reunited with the Class of '96
This past Sunday I went to my 10 year class reunion down in Caronport. Originally I was on the planning committee and we had a great 3 day class reunion all planned out. However, after telling everyone about it not a lot of people were going to attend. We then scaled it back to a one day affair and I basically had no part in planning it. But a great thanks to Tara and Janice who put a lot of work into it.
The reunion was a great time! I loved it a lot! We had about16 or so people from my class attend along with their significant others and children. It was really great to see everyone again and see what has all happened with them since graduation. There were a lot of laughs and tears (ok, nobody cried, but we did laugh a lot!) It was also really great that some of our old teachers came by including Mr. Appleby, Mrs. Hall, Mr. Reed, Mr. Guenter, and Mr. Frostad. It's funny because I'm sure that to them we are just another class of students (I don't mean that in a bad way it's just that they see so many kids over the years I'm sure it's a blur sometimes) but to us these teachers are people we will never forget. So it was great that they took so much of their time to come hang out with us and walk down memory lane.
We started off the reunion around 12:00pm with a BBQ. I was put on BBQ detail along with Tara's husband and it started out ok. But then we lit the BBQ's and it all went downhill for me. Mike was doing great and the hotdogs were turning out fine. However after I brought in the first round of burgers I made a joke to Tara that they might not all be cooked (and I'll admit I was a little unsure) and so I got booted outside to re-cook them all. Then the funnier part is that suddenly Mr. Appleby was out there talking to us and pretty soon I was no longer BBQ'ing. I found out that Tara had sent Mr. Appleby out there to relieve me of my duties. I was completely fine with that as I'll admit I am not a great BBQ'er and I really just wanted to chat with everyone anyway.
After the BBQ we went on a tour of the school and all the changes. Since I went to school at Caronport there were lots of changes as basically the entire town is part of the school. The biggest change was to the cafeteria. Those students that go there now are extremely lucky at the amazing selection of food they get. There are three stations for them to choose from every day. One if a pizza station where they have 3 kinds of pizzas all the time. Then they have the grilled station where they will have things like grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, rueben sandwiches, etc. Then they have the classic station where they will serve lasagna, pasta, or other main course meals people are used to. Then they have an international station where you can make your own stir fry and things like that. It's unbelievable. Then they still have a deli bar, a dessert bar and all the beverages you can eat. Actually, everything is all you can eat. Very different from before.
After the tour we went back to the Nelson centre for more chatting and we ordered pizza for supper. Then the fun began. Everyone was heading to the courtyard to roast marshmallows and make smores, but a few of us wanted to play some basketball for old times sake. So one of our teachers let us into the gym and got us a nice ball. I thought it was going to be 2 vs 2, but apparantly basically everyone wanted to play and there was no one at the fire at all. We had a really fun time and played a best of 3 series to 21. Fortunately my team won 2 out of 3 and will remain the champs for the next 10 years. I hadn't played basketball in like 2 years so I was pretty rusty (and out of shape) but I did have a few awesome moments. The first was when I drained a fade away jump shot to win the first game. Then in the 3rd game I was up top and the moment the ball was checked to me I shot the 3 and nailed it. Then I did the exact same thing again later on! I was extremely pumped...the only bad part was that Shiela my wife was guarding me and she didn't like the fact that I could drain 3 pointers over her.
We then all went to the fire and made smores, etc. Finally around 12:00am the only people left were all of us staying at Janice and Brents' for the night so we headed out there along with Andrew and Michael for some poker action and to go to bed. The poker was great, especially when my pocket 6's hit a 3rd six on the flop and 3 of went all in. I won when I ended up with a full house and busted out Shiela and Larry. I played a little heads up against Brent but then walked away ahead around 6 dollars. (I know, we play very low stakes)
That was the weekend! I will post some pictures later on but I just dont' have my camera with me right now. It was great seeing everyone and definately made me realize I need to stay in touch with people more.
The reunion was a great time! I loved it a lot! We had about16 or so people from my class attend along with their significant others and children. It was really great to see everyone again and see what has all happened with them since graduation. There were a lot of laughs and tears (ok, nobody cried, but we did laugh a lot!) It was also really great that some of our old teachers came by including Mr. Appleby, Mrs. Hall, Mr. Reed, Mr. Guenter, and Mr. Frostad. It's funny because I'm sure that to them we are just another class of students (I don't mean that in a bad way it's just that they see so many kids over the years I'm sure it's a blur sometimes) but to us these teachers are people we will never forget. So it was great that they took so much of their time to come hang out with us and walk down memory lane.
We started off the reunion around 12:00pm with a BBQ. I was put on BBQ detail along with Tara's husband and it started out ok. But then we lit the BBQ's and it all went downhill for me. Mike was doing great and the hotdogs were turning out fine. However after I brought in the first round of burgers I made a joke to Tara that they might not all be cooked (and I'll admit I was a little unsure) and so I got booted outside to re-cook them all. Then the funnier part is that suddenly Mr. Appleby was out there talking to us and pretty soon I was no longer BBQ'ing. I found out that Tara had sent Mr. Appleby out there to relieve me of my duties. I was completely fine with that as I'll admit I am not a great BBQ'er and I really just wanted to chat with everyone anyway.
After the BBQ we went on a tour of the school and all the changes. Since I went to school at Caronport there were lots of changes as basically the entire town is part of the school. The biggest change was to the cafeteria. Those students that go there now are extremely lucky at the amazing selection of food they get. There are three stations for them to choose from every day. One if a pizza station where they have 3 kinds of pizzas all the time. Then they have the grilled station where they will have things like grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, rueben sandwiches, etc. Then they have the classic station where they will serve lasagna, pasta, or other main course meals people are used to. Then they have an international station where you can make your own stir fry and things like that. It's unbelievable. Then they still have a deli bar, a dessert bar and all the beverages you can eat. Actually, everything is all you can eat. Very different from before.
After the tour we went back to the Nelson centre for more chatting and we ordered pizza for supper. Then the fun began. Everyone was heading to the courtyard to roast marshmallows and make smores, but a few of us wanted to play some basketball for old times sake. So one of our teachers let us into the gym and got us a nice ball. I thought it was going to be 2 vs 2, but apparantly basically everyone wanted to play and there was no one at the fire at all. We had a really fun time and played a best of 3 series to 21. Fortunately my team won 2 out of 3 and will remain the champs for the next 10 years. I hadn't played basketball in like 2 years so I was pretty rusty (and out of shape) but I did have a few awesome moments. The first was when I drained a fade away jump shot to win the first game. Then in the 3rd game I was up top and the moment the ball was checked to me I shot the 3 and nailed it. Then I did the exact same thing again later on! I was extremely pumped...the only bad part was that Shiela my wife was guarding me and she didn't like the fact that I could drain 3 pointers over her.
We then all went to the fire and made smores, etc. Finally around 12:00am the only people left were all of us staying at Janice and Brents' for the night so we headed out there along with Andrew and Michael for some poker action and to go to bed. The poker was great, especially when my pocket 6's hit a 3rd six on the flop and 3 of went all in. I won when I ended up with a full house and busted out Shiela and Larry. I played a little heads up against Brent but then walked away ahead around 6 dollars. (I know, we play very low stakes)
That was the weekend! I will post some pictures later on but I just dont' have my camera with me right now. It was great seeing everyone and definately made me realize I need to stay in touch with people more.
Saturday, August 5, 2006
Enjoying Life
Life on EI is great. On my first day of EI I just hung around, ran a few errands and basically enjoyed not working. Then on Wednesday I went for a round of golf with a few guys. A few years ago a few of us bought a golf trophy and so each time one of us wins a round we get to sign the back of it and keep it until the next round. In the first 2 or 3 years I didn't win the trophy at all as my golf game was horrendous. Then, finally, last year I managed to win it two or three times. But my reign has ended as I lost the trophy on Wednesday when I shot a terrible score of 118. I hadn't shot that poorly since I first started golfing. Granted this was my first round of the season and so I wasn't really upset. I'm pretty confident I'll win the trophy back in the next couple of rounds. I also played soccer Wednesday night, but alas we got scored on twice before our goalie showed up and we just couldn't recover. We lost 4-2.
Thursday was a great day when my cousins and uncle and aunt came over for lunch. They have been living in Scotland for the last two years so it was great to see them again! We had a good lunch (which I made) and then swam in the pool for a while. It was lots of fun!
Friday I went out and got an oil change and started shopping around for tires. Our car needs new tires before winter but I think I'm going to buy them before we head out on vacation later this month. I also watched V for Vendetta at some friends home on Friday night (I know I'm a little behind the times on movies) and it was a great show.
This weekend I have my big 10 year class reunion! It should be pretty fun even though a number of the people I hung out with aren't coming. That's too bad, but it will be fun with the people who are there and also to see all the teachers again.
That's the update for now. I'll post again after the reunion...hopefully with photos!
Thursday was a great day when my cousins and uncle and aunt came over for lunch. They have been living in Scotland for the last two years so it was great to see them again! We had a good lunch (which I made) and then swam in the pool for a while. It was lots of fun!
Friday I went out and got an oil change and started shopping around for tires. Our car needs new tires before winter but I think I'm going to buy them before we head out on vacation later this month. I also watched V for Vendetta at some friends home on Friday night (I know I'm a little behind the times on movies) and it was a great show.
This weekend I have my big 10 year class reunion! It should be pretty fun even though a number of the people I hung out with aren't coming. That's too bad, but it will be fun with the people who are there and also to see all the teachers again.
That's the update for now. I'll post again after the reunion...hopefully with photos!
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Is Volleyball a Sport?
I've never really been into volleyball. I really enjoy playing it, the problem is that I just was never any good. I made the team in grade 7, but only because no one got cut. Then in highschool we never really had a boy's team so I never got good. Sometimes I found it frustrating that I couldn't play volleyball well because I'm an athlete and I don't like not being good at sports.
But now I'm starting to wonder how much of a sport volleyball really is. Take a look at this chart from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology:
But now I'm starting to wonder how much of a sport volleyball really is. Take a look at this chart from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology:
Notice anything interesting. They have labelled Volleyball under "Light Effort" when it comes to exercising! All the other sports on the chart are under "Vigorous Effort". They even have Raking Leaves higher up the exercise chart than Volleyball. That must be why I never could get good at volleyball...I like to focus on real sports!
So what do you think? Is Volleyball really a sport or is it just "light effort" like stretching and easy gardening?
(P.S. I phoned the Public Health Agency of Canada and they said they weren't able to put soccer on here because that is a little too extreme for the general public and they don't want people having heart attacks all the time)
I'm Free from the Man
I'm no longer working for the man because I'm once again unemployed...and loving it! I slept in today which felt great. I felt sorry for Shiela who had to be at work by 6:00am though. I'm really looking forward to being unemployed. I've already rented a video game (a poker game called Stacked) and so I'm going to be playing that a bunch today. Then I've got a tee time tomorrow morning and a soccer game in the evening. I think I will also go down to the Willows this afternoon and chip and putt a few balls since I haven't pulled out my golf clubs all year. Hopefully tomorrows game won't be too rusty.
Catch you on the flip side!
Catch you on the flip side!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Clarification on Previous Blog
I re-read the previous blog and thought I should delete it, but then decided to just leave it up as some people had already read it and I should probably just clarify what I meant.
I realized the previous post may have come across that I was excluding myself from what I was saying about working hard and having a passion for the game. Don't get me wrong, I am very much a part of this. When I was saying that "people need to step it up if someone gets after them" I was thinking of myself. If I misjudge a ball and it goes over my head, ok people make mistakes. If I do it again, I would hope that my team would get on my case and start telling me to judge the ball better and back up...and I hope I wouldn't get mad at them but realize that they are right. There are times out there where I get beat and I have stopped trying. When I am talking about people not giving up and hustling their butt to make up for mistakes, I am including myself in that because I know that I can improve on that a lot.
So if anyone from our Tauro FC team read the previous post, please don't read into it that I think you don't like soccer and aren't trying. That was not the point and I am not trying to point out any individual players. I also am not excluding myself from any comments I made. My sole desire of that post was to point out that if we want to start wining games we need to be fired up together as a team with all cylinders firing, meaning EVERY player must give it everything they have for 90 minutes and work together as a team.
I'd love to hear any comments anyone has on this.
I realized the previous post may have come across that I was excluding myself from what I was saying about working hard and having a passion for the game. Don't get me wrong, I am very much a part of this. When I was saying that "people need to step it up if someone gets after them" I was thinking of myself. If I misjudge a ball and it goes over my head, ok people make mistakes. If I do it again, I would hope that my team would get on my case and start telling me to judge the ball better and back up...and I hope I wouldn't get mad at them but realize that they are right. There are times out there where I get beat and I have stopped trying. When I am talking about people not giving up and hustling their butt to make up for mistakes, I am including myself in that because I know that I can improve on that a lot.
So if anyone from our Tauro FC team read the previous post, please don't read into it that I think you don't like soccer and aren't trying. That was not the point and I am not trying to point out any individual players. I also am not excluding myself from any comments I made. My sole desire of that post was to point out that if we want to start wining games we need to be fired up together as a team with all cylinders firing, meaning EVERY player must give it everything they have for 90 minutes and work together as a team.
I'd love to hear any comments anyone has on this.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Passion...We Need You
Last night we played a game against SAL Engineering and we ended up losing 3-2. We scored within the first 3 minutes of the game. Then they scored a nice goal off a free kick and went up 2-1 when they scored on a breakaway. We managed to tie it up in the second half but a late header goal off a corner kick gave us the defeat. The first half was terrible. The second half was great and our team played hard. The problem is that we need to play that way for 90 minutes, not just 45.
It was too bad because that team was not good. We killed them the last time we played them. Some of us went for drinks after and talked about the team and I've decided to post one main thought that came up. There seems to be no passion in some of the players. Now this is obviously not everyone, but where is the fire in our team's eyes. When a player steps on the field it is time to go to war. If you get beat you need to bust your butt to make up for that. If you are continually making mistakes and someone starts to harp on you and tell you to step it up, don't get mad at them because they are right. You do need to step it up.
Playing well is about respect. When I coach my youth teams the one thing I want from them is to be competitive. I don't care if we win or lose the game, but I do care if we gave it our best and made it a game. Bad bounces and bad calls by the referee can cost you a game sometimes and you can't control that, so if you only base things on wins and losses it is not a fair picture. When our men's team plays a game, whether we win or lose I want that other team to know they had a game on their hands. That way they have respect for our team. It even goes down one more level to the individual player. If you want people to respect you as a player, you need to show some passion out there. You don't need to be an amazing player because if you show true passion out there and work your butt off, people will respect you.
Now for anyone on the soccer team reading this, don't get too caught up in whether or not you are one of the people I'm talking about. Honestly, I have no one in mind when I write that, it just seems to be more of a generic thing . I think our whole team needs to bond together, each player focusing on himself playing well, and this ship will turn around.
In order to turn the team around, I've decided (with input from the other people at Athena's last night) to change the focus of the team from wins and losses to something else. I guess you'll have to come out and watch next Wednesday night August 2nd at 7:00pm at Umea Vast (behind Lawson Heights Mall) to find out what that is!
It was too bad because that team was not good. We killed them the last time we played them. Some of us went for drinks after and talked about the team and I've decided to post one main thought that came up. There seems to be no passion in some of the players. Now this is obviously not everyone, but where is the fire in our team's eyes. When a player steps on the field it is time to go to war. If you get beat you need to bust your butt to make up for that. If you are continually making mistakes and someone starts to harp on you and tell you to step it up, don't get mad at them because they are right. You do need to step it up.
Playing well is about respect. When I coach my youth teams the one thing I want from them is to be competitive. I don't care if we win or lose the game, but I do care if we gave it our best and made it a game. Bad bounces and bad calls by the referee can cost you a game sometimes and you can't control that, so if you only base things on wins and losses it is not a fair picture. When our men's team plays a game, whether we win or lose I want that other team to know they had a game on their hands. That way they have respect for our team. It even goes down one more level to the individual player. If you want people to respect you as a player, you need to show some passion out there. You don't need to be an amazing player because if you show true passion out there and work your butt off, people will respect you.
Now for anyone on the soccer team reading this, don't get too caught up in whether or not you are one of the people I'm talking about. Honestly, I have no one in mind when I write that, it just seems to be more of a generic thing . I think our whole team needs to bond together, each player focusing on himself playing well, and this ship will turn around.
In order to turn the team around, I've decided (with input from the other people at Athena's last night) to change the focus of the team from wins and losses to something else. I guess you'll have to come out and watch next Wednesday night August 2nd at 7:00pm at Umea Vast (behind Lawson Heights Mall) to find out what that is!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Victory is Ours!
This is my Under 11 Boys Gold (Division 1) team I coach. We are proudly (in a good sense) portraying our medals we won in the Mini Festival of Soccer. Sorry, what was that? What place did we get? Oh, we got 1st place and these are gold medals.
We only have 8 guys on the team now which is ok because at this age they only play 8vs8 and I usually bring up extra players from lower divisons to play with us. We did have 9 guys, but one of them moved to Edmonton but is coming back to play in the City Final. These guys on the team are phenomenal. If they were the same size as our Men's team I honestly think we would lose. They are going to be the future stars of Eastside Soccer. So far this season our record in league play is 9-0-3. We did lose a game in a tournament which devastated the guys, but we bounced back and still won the gold in the Eastside tournament.
The big City Final is this Saturday, July 29th at 8:30am inside the new soccer centre. We are playing Hollandia, the only team to beat us at all this year, and so it will be a big battle as we both fight for the Gold medal and be declared the Division Champions. Feel free to come cheer us on!
U20 World Cup in Edmonton - Want to Go?
It's hard to believe but Canada managed to win the privilege of hosting the U-20 World Cup in 2007. The games will be played across the country in places like Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Victoria, Burnaby and...Edmonton! Yep, only a quick 5 hour drive and you have the chance to watch some of the best youth talent from around the world! Many current soccer stars played in the U-20 World Cup before the actual World Cup. You don't think this is a big deal? Well, the U-20 World Cup is the second largest soccer event in the world...the only one bigger is the World Cup.
I know the games aren't until next July, but I have already bought my tickets...that is I've bought tickets for me and 16 of my closest friends. Yep, so far 17 of us have already bought tickets to go watch a double header game on Sunday July 8th in Edmonton. We are sitting in Section U (which is basically at center field) Rows 39-41 with between 6-8 people per row (that way we can talk to each other and not be all strung out along one long row).
But today is your lucky day...that's right because I actually still have 5 tickets left that are not spoken for. Do you want to come enjoy the fun on July 8th, 2007 in Edmonton? It's a double header game with Team Canada playing someone in the first game and then two other teams playing in the second game (we don't know who they are yet because qualifying is still going on, but I'm hoping one of them is either Brazil or England). The cost is cheap...for only $30.00 you get to watch two games of soccer! That's only $15 per game...that's almost cheaper than a Blades game and I can guarantee you this will be a whole lot better than any Blades game!
I only have 5 tickets left and I'm selling them to the first five people who contact me, so don't wait! Come enjoy the fun on July 8th, 2007 in Edmonton.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Free Stuff!
Don't you love it when you get something for free that you really like? I know I sure do and I've had my fair share lately.
A little while ago I received an item in the mail that looked like a card advertisement. I still read it and low and behold they told me that if I go test drive a car from where Shiela and I bought our Cavalier a few years ago, I would get a free IPOD Shuffle. It was almost too good to be true. So before the June 30th deadline I went on down to the dealership and test drove an SUV...I think it was a Torrent or something. They filled out the form and said I would get my IPOD Shuffle in the mail. And I did! I haven't figured out how to use it yet, but I have it!
The second free item came a few days ago. When the Toronto people were down for the Hbc Run for Canada they saw my cell phone I was using. For those that haven't seen it, it is a Nokia phone and is all taped up in the back because the battery kept falling out. Needless to say people make fun of me every time I use it, which isn't that often as it is aPay As You Go phone and I only put money on it when I will use it a lot. Anyways, one of the Toronto guys says he has a Sasktel phone back in Toronto from an old project they did and that he would send it to me for free. So about a week later I sent him an email to see if he was serious and he said he couldn't find the Sasktel phone anywhere...however he had a couple other phones and said he would send me one of those. So a week later I receive a package in the mail and there is a Telus cell phone in there. What a nice guy that Seamus is!
So yeah, now I have a new cell phone and a new IPOD Shuffle. I don't know if I will activate the cell phone or not. I don't need it right now and it seems like a waste of money to use the phone if I don't need it. But we'll see. I'm just waiting to see what else I am going to get for free!
A little while ago I received an item in the mail that looked like a card advertisement. I still read it and low and behold they told me that if I go test drive a car from where Shiela and I bought our Cavalier a few years ago, I would get a free IPOD Shuffle. It was almost too good to be true. So before the June 30th deadline I went on down to the dealership and test drove an SUV...I think it was a Torrent or something. They filled out the form and said I would get my IPOD Shuffle in the mail. And I did! I haven't figured out how to use it yet, but I have it!
The second free item came a few days ago. When the Toronto people were down for the Hbc Run for Canada they saw my cell phone I was using. For those that haven't seen it, it is a Nokia phone and is all taped up in the back because the battery kept falling out. Needless to say people make fun of me every time I use it, which isn't that often as it is aPay As You Go phone and I only put money on it when I will use it a lot. Anyways, one of the Toronto guys says he has a Sasktel phone back in Toronto from an old project they did and that he would send it to me for free. So about a week later I sent him an email to see if he was serious and he said he couldn't find the Sasktel phone anywhere...however he had a couple other phones and said he would send me one of those. So a week later I receive a package in the mail and there is a Telus cell phone in there. What a nice guy that Seamus is!
So yeah, now I have a new cell phone and a new IPOD Shuffle. I don't know if I will activate the cell phone or not. I don't need it right now and it seems like a waste of money to use the phone if I don't need it. But we'll see. I'm just waiting to see what else I am going to get for free!
I'm in Full Swing Again!
Hi Everyone,
Man I feel like I have been gone for a long time...at least without blogging. In my last post I was just about to head off to Edmonton and help coach in the Rocky Mountain Cup with the U13 Provincial boys team. Our goal in that tournament was to get a medal and nothing less was acceptable. Our first game against Newfoundland went ok once we calmed down. When we went to BC we got scored on in the first 45 seconds of the game. We told our guys that if nothing else we cannot get scored on in the first minute. Well, we broke a new record and within 25 seconds we were down 1-0 to Newfoundland. Then suddenly it was 2-0. We finally turned it around and won 5-2.
Our second game was against Alberta North. It was like watching David and Goliath out there as those Alberta boys were big and out muscled us. We probably played our best game ever against them, but we just couldn't pull out the win. The highlight for me was when the head coach got kicked out of the game for saying something to the linesman and I got to take the helm for the final 10 minutes. We scored our only goal against Alberta when I was coaching! But we still lost 3-1.
That set us up for the bronze medal match against Manitoba. Again, we came out a little slow and suddenly we were down 1-0, but at least it took more than 25 seconds. Then they scored again, but luckily there was an early offside call that everyone had missed and so the goal was disallowed. That gave us the edge we needed and our guys went on to a 3-1 victory as we claimed the bronze medal!
Other than that, my job with the Hbc Run for Canada is winding down and I only have another 4 days of work. After that I'm unemployed again and I'm looking forward to relaxing in August (while looking for a job of couse!) So I'm going to be blogging on a regular basis now, catch up on my surgery stories and get back into some classic Fact or Fiction. Stay Tuned!
Man I feel like I have been gone for a long time...at least without blogging. In my last post I was just about to head off to Edmonton and help coach in the Rocky Mountain Cup with the U13 Provincial boys team. Our goal in that tournament was to get a medal and nothing less was acceptable. Our first game against Newfoundland went ok once we calmed down. When we went to BC we got scored on in the first 45 seconds of the game. We told our guys that if nothing else we cannot get scored on in the first minute. Well, we broke a new record and within 25 seconds we were down 1-0 to Newfoundland. Then suddenly it was 2-0. We finally turned it around and won 5-2.
Our second game was against Alberta North. It was like watching David and Goliath out there as those Alberta boys were big and out muscled us. We probably played our best game ever against them, but we just couldn't pull out the win. The highlight for me was when the head coach got kicked out of the game for saying something to the linesman and I got to take the helm for the final 10 minutes. We scored our only goal against Alberta when I was coaching! But we still lost 3-1.
That set us up for the bronze medal match against Manitoba. Again, we came out a little slow and suddenly we were down 1-0, but at least it took more than 25 seconds. Then they scored again, but luckily there was an early offside call that everyone had missed and so the goal was disallowed. That gave us the edge we needed and our guys went on to a 3-1 victory as we claimed the bronze medal!
Other than that, my job with the Hbc Run for Canada is winding down and I only have another 4 days of work. After that I'm unemployed again and I'm looking forward to relaxing in August (while looking for a job of couse!) So I'm going to be blogging on a regular basis now, catch up on my surgery stories and get back into some classic Fact or Fiction. Stay Tuned!
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Quick Update
The Hbc Run for Canada went well with nearly 500 people in attendance. It may be more than that but the official numbers won't be in for a while.
I can't write much because I'm off to Edmonton with the U13 boys Provincial team from Wed to Sunday as we are going to the Rocky Mountain Cup. We play Newfoundland in our first game. I'll be back to regular blogging sometime after July 10th.
See you all then!
I can't write much because I'm off to Edmonton with the U13 boys Provincial team from Wed to Sunday as we are going to the Rocky Mountain Cup. We play Newfoundland in our first game. I'll be back to regular blogging sometime after July 10th.
See you all then!
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