Reality Check

Big Blue Arrives in Barbados after Miraculous Atlantic Crossing

BIG BLUE ARRIVES from Kelly Saxberg on Vimeo.

 ‘Big Blue’ arrived at Port Charles, Barbados on Friday March 4, 2011 after an Atlantic crossing that began in Agadir, Morocco on January 5.  Family and friends at the port greeted an exuberant and exhausted crew of 16.  The custom built catamaran became the first boat in its category to make the crossing. It is also the first time that a crew of 16 reached the finish line.

Cornwall Taxpayers Cannot Afford a $25,000,000 Hockey Sportsplex During Current Economic Crisis

In response to Sheila Tremblay’s letter to the Cornwall Standard Freeholder, in which she is critical of a  proposed $25M three-pad hockey arena, I would agree that there are a number of things "wrong with this picture."

 Ms Tremblay points to the fact that there is no money(or willingness to spend it) on existing recreation facilities in Cornwall such as children's swimming pools, when in fact, this would be taxpayer money well spent. Any public funds spent for recreational facilities for all children is the right thing to do for all kinds of reasons.

 The picture gets distorted because often we have special interest groups that demand something substantial, and then expect the City to go along with it. In the case of the multi pad arena, we have minor hockey leagues that need ice time, but proportionately, we have the elite, travelling teams playing up to 70 games a year, going to tournaments and hosting tournaments.

 

Hockey Violence Rears its Ugly Head

The Cornwall Comets hockey brawl on April 23, 2005 has created quite a stir in the community and has acquired the dubious distinction of being the most violent confrontation in 28 years of sport at the Civic Complex.

However, I remind readers of the Standard Freeholder that as a community, we reap what we sow. You may recall that soon after the Comets start-up, everyone was talking about the “fights” at the games. In a previous letter to this newspaper last Thanksgiving weekend entitled: ‘We Want More Fights in Hockey,’ I pointed out that that a well played hockey game should not need ‘fighting’ to attract fans.

In the Standard Freeholder at that time, there were three references to fighting, basically demanding that there be more fighting in Cornwall Comets games. The sports page, the editorial page, and even a Comets official laid it on the line back then. We want fighting in every game and not just one or two fights either! It seemed to be part of the marketing plan to attract more fans to the games.

Now, after the historic brawl at the Complex last Saturday night, the televised reports of the incident, and the ensuing police investigation, the April 26, 2005 editorial in the Freeholder condemns the game as “goon hockey” and “downright ugly.”

So, you can see what the cavalier attitude towards fighting has brought the team and the community. You cannot encourage violence on the one hand, and then condemn it when all hell breaks loose. You can’t encourage fighting one week, and then oppose it the next week.

I read Stephane Morin’s apology to the Cornwall fans for his part in the brawl. His comments are genuine and believable, but unfortunately he was the ‘enforcer’ who lost his head during the game. In his own mind he was just doing the job that he was hired to do.

There should be no question that fighting in hockey is not the way to go. Just look at the photos of the bench clearing brawl and I think you’ll agree. Is this the type of hockey that we want our children to emulate?

I am sticking to the position that I took last October. Keep violence out of the game, and let the fans enjoy the fast paced and skillful game that hockey has always been.

Encouraging fighting is to walk down a dark road. Last Saturday we saw what happens when the violence escalates. I hope the Comets organization and the media decide to take the high road next year to keep fighting out of the game.

American Public in Denial over Steroid Use

When sporting celebrities start getting honest with the public, all hell breaks loose. The truth of what really goes on in sport carries a sharp sting with it, and sometimes the pretensions and fabrications are exposed to an embarrassed public.

Such is the case with the revelations by Jose Canseco, alleging widespread use of steroids in baseball. Canseco claims that baseball players took steroids routinely routinely in the 80’s and 90’s, just ‘like a cup of coffee.’

Canseco has stared the problem of drug use in the eye, but the baseball world is still in a state of denial. One has only to look at the physiques of the big home run hitters like Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro to see that these hulks have had help along the way. Canseco claims that they, along with a majority of baseball players, use steroids because it greatly improved their performance.

However, the use of steroids carries many risks, including uncontrollable behavioural changes and mood swings, increased aggression, dependence and liver damage. People become addicted to these drugs like any other. Basically, it is a gamble to improve performance that may backfire at some point.

Steroid use is not breaking news. Many other sports, including those in the Olympics, have had steroid-using athletes. The main argument for the athletes, as Canseco explains it, is that the competition is so fierce, that the benefits of taking drugs are hard to resist. In some cases, it may make the difference between a celebrity career and a mediocre career.

When Mark McGwire was questioned before a congressional hearing, he refused to state if he took drugs in the past, and was not pressed for an answer. Canseco, however, implicated McGwire in his book for taking steroids. Take one look at the physique of McGwire and you’d wonder how he got that big without taking steroids.

The Americans are in a state of denial over steroid use. They would prefer to discuss a different subject. In a country where the use of pharmaceuticals is at record levels, and drugs like Ritalin and Prosaic and taken like candy, the United States uses more drugs than any other country in the world. They don’t like to admit it though.

The United States is also in denial about its attitude towards sex. In a country where Hollywood has been selling sex for years, where pornography is a billion dollar industry, where cable networks feature hard-core sex movies; there was a huge outrage when Janet Jackson exposed her breast on national television. It’s just more denial at work.

You can make the same argument towards many other aspects of American life such as its oppressive attitude towards another drug-marijuana. It’s all right for people to get relief from anxiety by taking heavy drugs like Zoloft and Valium, but if you get caught smoking a joint, you could spend the next few years of your life behind bars. More denial at work.

Steroid usage is a product of the modern pharmaceutical industry, and we have to accept this reality. Players have to be warned of the risks, but in the end, the drug policing and the doping squads will have little effect. The latest drug users are always one step ahead of the enforcers.

It’s time to review the current drug policies and establish something that is workable and fair. The first step is to admit that drug use is rampant, and that it is unlikely to change.

Time for a Reality Check!

Fighting in Hockey

Fighting has always been tolerated in hockey, but we’ve reached the unfortunate and perhaps inevitable time in the sport when the pundits are saying- we want more fighting! In the Thanksgiving issue of the Standard Freeholder there were no less than three references asking, no demanding that there be more fighting in Cornwall Comets games.

The sports page, the editorial page, and even a Comets official laid it on the line. We want fighting in every game and not just one or two fights either! This is a very sad state of affairs in local sport when spokespeople in the community appeal to these aggressive instincts. In an exciting sport like hockey, does it take a series of fights to attract enough fans to fill the arena?

I’m anxious to see how this redneck attitude filters down to the young hockey players. I can just hear the youngsters in the change room talking about who is the best fighter on the team. The minor hockey leagues will have to change their philosophy I guess, and start condoning “fighting”. If it’s so important to “be a good fighter” in senior hockey, then we’re going to have to get them ready, aren’t we?

What kind of a message are we sending to our young people with this kind of attitude? Teachers and parents talk about eliminating “bullying” in the schools that has apparently reached epidemic proportions, yet we are encouraging it in hockey. This kind of reporting is a shameful indictment on the future of hockey. A well-played game can provide lots of entertainment for the fans; I urge officials and writers not to sanction this negative aspect of the game