The year is 2010. 8 years after the 2nd biggest win in Canadian hockey history. (Number 1 is 1972.. no question about it). 8 years later....yet almost the same scenarios.
And I`m sure I`m not the only one having a case of deja vu all over again. 8 years ago I was 11 years old and watched the Canadian men`s hockey team win the gold medal in a dramatic way. Their first in 50 years. Dramatic as hell.
Now I`m 18, and I`m having flashbacks to Grade 5 again. Here are some of the similarities that have been noticed.
-Canada was expected to win at the beginning of each tournament:
Even though Canada was not `ranked` first(Russia was), they were everyone`s choice to come out on top this year. And that`s the way it usually is at international hockey tourneys. Back in `02, it was no different as the team from Canada was widely expected to win from the beginning. In other words...PRESSURE!!!
-Canada barely beats a shit team in the Round Robin...panic ensues:
In `02, Canada is lucky to escape with a 3-2 win over talentless Germany in the round robin. In`10, Canada is lucky to escape with a 3-2 shootout win over almost talentless Switzerland. And each time, the fans went nuts and completely ripped the team.
-Canada loses to a great team in the round-robin and hope looks bleak:
In `02, Canada is embarrassed by a gold medal contender, Sweden, 5-2 in the round robin and people question whether this team can compete with these elite teams. In `10, Canada loses to the United States 5-3 in a round robin game, and again the questions about the team pop up.
-Canada`s starting goaltender becomes a sieve and costs them dearly.
In `02, Curtis Joseph starts the Sweden game and showed us all what happens when you`re the starting goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs, which he was at the time. Joseph gets yanked in the next game for Martin Brodeur and the rest is history. Ironically in `10, Brodeur is the one who embarrasses himself by diving around and shooting pucks to the other team. Brodeur gets yanked in favour of Roberto Luongo and the rest is history?
-Canada`s star power forward plays like garbage
Eric Lindros and Joe Thornton...what more can I say?
-Canada plays a surprise team in the semi-finals.
In `02, Belarus somehow managed to sneak into the semi-final before Canada manhandled them. Now Slovakia is ABSOLUTELY NOT Belarus, but nobody expected Slovakia to be in this position either.
-Canada USA final
As I`m writing this, America is drilling Finland 6-0, so it`s safe to say that, barring a Slovakia upset, it will be the `02 gold medal game all over again.
Now with all these similarities, there`s one more interesting occurrence in `02 that could potentially happen in `10. The home team loses the gold medal game. In `02, the US lost 5-2 in Utah and here we are, 8 years later with Canada playing at their arena in Vancouver. Which similarity will we add to this list on Sunday?
Will Canada win gold just like they did in `02 or will they blow the game at home just like the US did in `02?
Friday, February 26, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Listen up reader, it's my history with theatre
As the first year CreComm students embark on their mini-theatre unit in Creative Writing, I thought I'd take a look back at my history with theatre.
Now, considering two of my biggest interests are sports and rock music, it wouldn't be a surprise if theatre was not really a priority in my life.
And it still isn't really a priority, but for an 18-year old who loves Metallica and watching grown men run around after a football and beat the crap out of each other , theatre has actually been a pretty big part of my life the last 3 years.
Grade 11 was where it began. In our english class, we were required to attend a few performances at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. Upon hearing the news at the beginning of the year, there were mixed reactions from myself. The only "theatre" I had seen before that were high school plays which I only enjoyed because we got to get out of class for 2 hours to go watch them.
But we were going to see the "big boys and girls" of theatre. And they didn't disappoint.
Out of the 4 plays I saw that year, Our Town, The Importance of Being Earnest, Fiddler on the Roof, and Shakespeare's Dog, I actually enjoyed myself thoroughly not only because we got out of school, but because of the humor involved in these plays. Minus Our Town which was more of a serious play, the other 3 were all sprinkled with a significant touch of humor. For some reason, I always pictured plays as being serious events with people speaking in British acccents while the audience cried throughout. Not the case.
And the next year, our English class attended 4 more plays at the MTC. Pride and Prejudice, Medea, Jitters, and The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead. With Medea being the serious out of the bunch, the others featured more humor and more enjoyable moments.
In January of that year (2009), I was given a great opportunity from my english teacher to participate in a blog for the upcoming yearly Playwright festival which would feature the works of Arthur Miller. The blog, along with about 5 or 6 others, would be seen on the MTC website. Rob Ring, the director of the festival, told us straight up not to review the plays. It was more of a blog to discuss our thoughts and feelings. And so that's exactly what I did. I entitled the blogs "Kevin's Random thoughts on......" and proceeded to ramble on about the things which went through my head during each performance I attended. And I don't think it was a disaster. Rob Ring told me he enjoyed the concept of my blog as did a few others.
And when CreComm attended In the Chamber earlier this year, I knew what to expect. I knew that there would be students bitching and moaning and falling asleep. I had seen it happen in high school. I knew the plays might not be the most exciting things in the world. I had sat through some of those before.
I'm not saying I'm a theatre expert. In fact, I'm far from it. But I've sat through enough plays during the last couple of years to confidently say that theatre is something that I will always be willing to check out and attend.
Whether it's the acting, the humor, the props, the music, I have never walked away from a play without having learned something about theatre. And as long as that keeps being the case, I will always attend when I get the opportunity to.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Who are you calling a TwitFace?
TwitFace = Twitter and Facebook.
Does that work? Can we officially call someone who has profiles on both of these social media sites a TwitFace? I`m probably the only one chuckling now but that`s fine.
Anyways, I use 'em both.
I was introduced to Facebook in summer of '07 and Twitter in spring of' '09.
Here's a few things I have noticed from each site.
Facebook
-I consider a friend someone who a) I've talked to more than once in my life b) Someone who if I run into them on the street, I can stop and say hi to them
That's not how Facebook friends works.
They suggest friends in the top right corner who they think you might know. I honestly don't care if this person has 30 mutual friends. If I don't know them, I'm not adding 'em. But that doesn't stop others. I've always wondered why you would accept a friend request from someone you've never talked to. Oh, we added each other on Facebook now, I guess we're friends. Doesn't make sense to me.
- I hear they're good, but one thing that grinds my gears is all those updates about the many different Facebook games and activities. Especially those new ones where others get to answer questions about you.
Q: "What's Kevin's favourite food?" A: "Idk.... probably pizza."
No, you idiot, it's nachos. Now stop answering questions about me.
Or how about the ones who play Mafia Wars and Farmville all day. Oh, someone built a horse stable. Oh, someone's at Level 278. Did I add these people?
- You gotta love some of the groups that are created. So many times when looking at a group name I say to myself, "Hey, I think the same way" or "Hey, that's happened to me before!"
Examples include: The "Dion Phaneuf takes it up the ass from Pierre McGuire" group, The "James Hetfield is God" group, The "David Beckham sucks" group and many other brilliant creations.
-Ah yes, the classic Facebook battles. Does anybody else get really excited when there`s a status on Facebook where two people keep telling each other off? And then another friend (the third man in) comes in to defend her friend and then all hell breaks loose before it will suddenly stop when everybody stops commenting. Damn, it was just getting good.
Twitter
- You`ve got 140 characters to make your point, so get to it. I love the 140 character limit. Leads to easy-to-read statuses and some really funny ones as well. Stops everyone from posting lyrics to songs that I don`t really give two shits about, as well as other overly long statuses that put me to sleep faster than a soccer game does.
- Following celebs is really cool. I don`t follow too many notable personalities but the ones I do usually post quite often. Mike McIntyre, Bill Simmons (ESPN writer), Jay Onrait, Kenton Larsen. A Twitter celeb hall-of-fame if I`ve ever seen one.
- I have gotten quite a bit of news from Twitter in the past few months due to other followers or friends links and comments. Good thing? Bad thing? I`m not really sure.
-Obviously a wider audience than Facebook with virtually anyone being able to become your friend. But do I want that wide of an audience following me? Yeah, that`s fine. As long as members of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization don`t see me criticizing their lame-duck franchise. (On second thought, I probably do want them to see that)
-Weird, I only know about 4-5 people from my high school graduating class at Windsor Park last year that have Twitter, yet all 115-plus of those students are on Facebook. Sadly, I believe that my community of Windsor Park likes to creep on people a little more than the average neighbourhood. Twitter has no pics of you on your vacation or pics of the latest party. Windsor Park says no thanks.
So, as we are in the midst of our CreComm PR proposal, the question arises as to what strategies we can use to our advantage with Facebook and Twitter.
For Facebook, the best way to get the word out is to create a group and to send it out to everyone you know. Most people have anywhere between 200-600 friends and it`s a sure bet that some people will join the group as well as some of their friends who may see the group on their news feed.
For Twitter, you can really spread the word by targeting those who you know may be interested in your message or product and who may be willing to follow you back. You can use little words (called hashtags) that match up with your message. Others search for that same word, find you, and as John Madden says , BOOM!.... you`ve got 5 new followers.
So there`s my thoughts on Twitter and Facebook. Now excuse me while I get back to building my farm.
(LOL, I know, lame ending)
Does that work? Can we officially call someone who has profiles on both of these social media sites a TwitFace? I`m probably the only one chuckling now but that`s fine.
Anyways, I use 'em both.
I was introduced to Facebook in summer of '07 and Twitter in spring of' '09.
Here's a few things I have noticed from each site.
-I consider a friend someone who a) I've talked to more than once in my life b) Someone who if I run into them on the street, I can stop and say hi to them
That's not how Facebook friends works.
They suggest friends in the top right corner who they think you might know. I honestly don't care if this person has 30 mutual friends. If I don't know them, I'm not adding 'em. But that doesn't stop others. I've always wondered why you would accept a friend request from someone you've never talked to. Oh, we added each other on Facebook now, I guess we're friends. Doesn't make sense to me.
- I hear they're good, but one thing that grinds my gears is all those updates about the many different Facebook games and activities. Especially those new ones where others get to answer questions about you.
Q: "What's Kevin's favourite food?" A: "Idk.... probably pizza."
No, you idiot, it's nachos. Now stop answering questions about me.
Or how about the ones who play Mafia Wars and Farmville all day. Oh, someone built a horse stable. Oh, someone's at Level 278. Did I add these people?
- You gotta love some of the groups that are created. So many times when looking at a group name I say to myself, "Hey, I think the same way" or "Hey, that's happened to me before!"
Examples include: The "Dion Phaneuf takes it up the ass from Pierre McGuire" group, The "James Hetfield is God" group, The "David Beckham sucks" group and many other brilliant creations.
-Ah yes, the classic Facebook battles. Does anybody else get really excited when there`s a status on Facebook where two people keep telling each other off? And then another friend (the third man in) comes in to defend her friend and then all hell breaks loose before it will suddenly stop when everybody stops commenting. Damn, it was just getting good.
- You`ve got 140 characters to make your point, so get to it. I love the 140 character limit. Leads to easy-to-read statuses and some really funny ones as well. Stops everyone from posting lyrics to songs that I don`t really give two shits about, as well as other overly long statuses that put me to sleep faster than a soccer game does.
- Following celebs is really cool. I don`t follow too many notable personalities but the ones I do usually post quite often. Mike McIntyre, Bill Simmons (ESPN writer), Jay Onrait, Kenton Larsen. A Twitter celeb hall-of-fame if I`ve ever seen one.
- I have gotten quite a bit of news from Twitter in the past few months due to other followers or friends links and comments. Good thing? Bad thing? I`m not really sure.
-Obviously a wider audience than Facebook with virtually anyone being able to become your friend. But do I want that wide of an audience following me? Yeah, that`s fine. As long as members of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization don`t see me criticizing their lame-duck franchise. (On second thought, I probably do want them to see that)
-Weird, I only know about 4-5 people from my high school graduating class at Windsor Park last year that have Twitter, yet all 115-plus of those students are on Facebook. Sadly, I believe that my community of Windsor Park likes to creep on people a little more than the average neighbourhood. Twitter has no pics of you on your vacation or pics of the latest party. Windsor Park says no thanks.
So, as we are in the midst of our CreComm PR proposal, the question arises as to what strategies we can use to our advantage with Facebook and Twitter.
For Facebook, the best way to get the word out is to create a group and to send it out to everyone you know. Most people have anywhere between 200-600 friends and it`s a sure bet that some people will join the group as well as some of their friends who may see the group on their news feed.
For Twitter, you can really spread the word by targeting those who you know may be interested in your message or product and who may be willing to follow you back. You can use little words (called hashtags) that match up with your message. Others search for that same word, find you, and as John Madden says , BOOM!.... you`ve got 5 new followers.
So there`s my thoughts on Twitter and Facebook. Now excuse me while I get back to building my farm.
(LOL, I know, lame ending)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Crappy Predictions: The Life and Times of Kevin Hirschfield
Here's a recap of my bold predictions I made in my Super Bowl Preview and the predictions have confirmed the fact that I am an idiot and know nothing about football.
Bold Prediction 1- Peyton Manning will throw an interception.
I'm proud to say that I called this and, unfortunately for the Colts, it will most likely be the defining play of Super Bowl XLIV. I always said Brees would have the better game and he looked absolutely flawless setting a Super Bowl record for most completions.
Bold Prediction 2- Joseph Addai rushes for 100 yards and 1 TD.
Addai owned the first half but in the second half, the Colts decided to stop feeding him the ball. He ended up with 77 yards and 1 TD. I'll give myself half a point.
Bold Prediction 3: Shockey shits the bed and a) either fumbles, b) unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, c) couple of dropped passes, d) screw over my fantasy team (wait.. he already did that)
Wow, the predictions go downhill from here. Shockey decided to score the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl after a regular season in which he had 3 touchdowns all year.
Revised Bold Prediction 4: Roger Daltrey`s voice cracks brutally during the "Won`t Get Fooled Again" scream.
Can't believe I wrote off Roger. The guy is almost 66 years old and he still can belt out the notes like he did 40 years ago. Plus, the Who don't even tune down their instruments so the singer can hit the high notes like most older bands do. This prediction embarrasses me the most. Sorry Roger.
Bold Prediction 5: Bush or Roby comes up with a 50+ yard return at one point.
The Saints return game was non-existent. I don't even think there was a 25-yard return at one point.
Bold Prediction 6: Garrett Hartley shanks a field goal
Colts 30, Saints 27
MVP: Manning( just because it's already pre-determined)
Colts Lose, Brees MVP.
So I made 8 predictions and 2 of them were right.
I considered completely shutting down this blog after my horrific performance but opted against it. And honestly, that's what so cool about sports. You can't predict what's going to happen. If you could predict everything, what would be the point of watching if you knew everything? So I'll hang my head low after this performance, but I'll bounce back with a venegance.
Super Bowl 2011.....I'm coming for you.
Bold Prediction 1- Peyton Manning will throw an interception.
I'm proud to say that I called this and, unfortunately for the Colts, it will most likely be the defining play of Super Bowl XLIV. I always said Brees would have the better game and he looked absolutely flawless setting a Super Bowl record for most completions.
Bold Prediction 2- Joseph Addai rushes for 100 yards and 1 TD.
Addai owned the first half but in the second half, the Colts decided to stop feeding him the ball. He ended up with 77 yards and 1 TD. I'll give myself half a point.
Bold Prediction 3: Shockey shits the bed and a) either fumbles, b) unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, c) couple of dropped passes, d) screw over my fantasy team (wait.. he already did that)
Wow, the predictions go downhill from here. Shockey decided to score the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl after a regular season in which he had 3 touchdowns all year.
Revised Bold Prediction 4: Roger Daltrey`s voice cracks brutally during the "Won`t Get Fooled Again" scream.
Can't believe I wrote off Roger. The guy is almost 66 years old and he still can belt out the notes like he did 40 years ago. Plus, the Who don't even tune down their instruments so the singer can hit the high notes like most older bands do. This prediction embarrasses me the most. Sorry Roger.
Bold Prediction 5: Bush or Roby comes up with a 50+ yard return at one point.
The Saints return game was non-existent. I don't even think there was a 25-yard return at one point.
Bold Prediction 6: Garrett Hartley shanks a field goal
Not only was he 3 for 3 on field goals, but he made them all from over 40 yards, a Super Bowl record.
Colts 30, Saints 27
MVP: Manning( just because it's already pre-determined)
Colts Lose, Brees MVP.
So I made 8 predictions and 2 of them were right.
I considered completely shutting down this blog after my horrific performance but opted against it. And honestly, that's what so cool about sports. You can't predict what's going to happen. If you could predict everything, what would be the point of watching if you knew everything? So I'll hang my head low after this performance, but I'll bounce back with a venegance.
Super Bowl 2011.....I'm coming for you.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Extra-Large Mega-gigantic Super Bowl Preview
Here it is folks, the extra-large-mega-gigantic and any other adjective you can think of Super Bowl Preview.
Super Bowl XLIV (44 for those of you roman numeral illiterate) will feature the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. The 2 top teams in the NFL this season record-wise. (I'm convinced that my team, the Chargers would have beaten the Colts had they not choked in the second round because we had no run game and had a kicker who looked like he had seen a ghost, not that I'm bitter or anything.)
Anyways, lets take a look at the teams and players that make up the Colts and the Saints and who I think will make the differences Sunday.
(This is NOT who I think is the better player. This is who I think will have the better game on this given day due to matchups and other factors.)
QB- Peyton Manning is one of the top 5 QBs of all-time. But just like Brett "The Pickman" Favre, Manning has the tendency to force the ball in there to go for the big play shown by his 16 INT'S this year, the most he's thrown since 2002. And he has to face a secondary who may not be the greatest coverage-wise, but they are a bunch of ball-hawks, 26 INT'S this year. Meanwhile Drew Brees is always as cool as a cucumber back there, and he won't have to worry about Dwight Freeney rushing at him because Freeney is not at 100% and should be contained quite easily. Remember last week when Mark Sanchez looked like Joe Namath in the first half against the Colts secondary? Well Drew Brees is closer to Namath than Sanchez and he's gonna be picking apart this secondary, possibly throwing for 300 yards. I think Brees throws for 2 TDS and 0 Ints, while I think Manning will throw his 2 TDS but mark my words, Peyton will have that one 250 mph throw that he tries to force in, only to have Darren Sharper cut in front of the reciever. Hopefully for the Colts, it doesn't happen in crunch time. So who has the better game? Brees by a hair.
Bold Predcition 1: Peyton Manning will throw an interception.
RB/OL- This may be the determining factor in who wins this game. We have 2 run defences who have been inconsistent all year, but the Colts have stepped it up in the playoffs. Ray Rice of Baltimore, 67 yards. Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene of the Jets, the #1 rush attack in the league... Greene left the game injured, while Jones had only 42 yards. Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush will have a hard time rushing against this underrated rush defence. Meanwhile Joseph Addai and Donald Brown go up against a brutal Saints rush defence and when Manning gets a little nervous about that Saints secondary, he can dump it off to Addai or Brown. Plus, they can follow that veteran Colts O-line right to the endzone.
Bold Prediction 2: Addai rushes for 100 yards and a TD.
WR/TE-
Bold Prediction 3: Shockey shits the bed and a) either fumbles, b) unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, c) couple of dropped passes, d) screw over my fantasy team (wait.. he already did that)
Let's take a halftime break.
The Who
Never have I looked forward to a Super Bowl halftime act this much. We won’t get into how legendary the Who are, but simply put, the 4 original members of the WHO were one of the top 3 lineups to ever hit the rock stage. Maybe I’ll devote a future blog on that, but for now, let’s focus on the present. 2 of these members have passed on since then, and only Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend remain. So what can we expect? Well obviously a kick-ass performance. But how about setlist-wise. The acts usually get between 10-15 minutes to perform. This gives the Who time for 2 or 3 songs. But they're playing two... and here's why.
As I mentioned in last week's blog, CBS is televising the Super Bowl and CSI is on CBS. The 3 Who Songs that act as themes to CSI are Who are You, Bill O'Reilly......sorry, I mean Baba O'Riley... and Won't Get Fooled Again. I can just see the meeting now.
CBS EXEC: So you guys are playing these three songs and that's that.
PETE TOWNSEND: F--- you, you bloody bloke. We'll play whatevah we bloody want to!!
But these 3 songs would add up to 18 minutes and that's way too much time, so I believe that one song will be cut. Who are You. Why? Easy.... there's the famous line in the song," Aaaah, who the f--- are you!" How would that work on national tv. They can't skip the part, it's a staple of the song They can't have Roger singing, "Aaaah, who the heck are you!"
Bold Prediction 4: Baba O' Riley and Won't Get Fooled Again at Halftime
BREAKING NEWS: I Just found out they're playing a mashup of those 3 songs plus Tommy. This is a genius move. You just knew that CBS was gonna have them play those 3 songs together somehow. The only letdown is we won't be able to hear the whole 8-minute epic that is Won't Get Fooled Again, but we'll probably hear the part of that song with the famous scream.
Revised Bold Prediction 4: Roger Daltrey`s voice cracks brutally during the ``Won`t Get Fooled Again`` scream.
That's enough halftime talk... back to the game.
DEF/Special Teams- Yuck, these defenses are messy. The Colts have the better run defense, the Saints with the better pass defense. But as I mentioned earlier, the Saints have that ball-hawking secondary which will definitely make Manning think twice before he throws. I can't pick between these 2 defences, so special teams is crucial here in that, Reggie Bush or Courtney Roby have run back punt returns and kickoffs before for TD's. The Colts really don't have a return threat. Saints get the edge.
Bold Prediction 5: Bush or Roby comes up with a 50+ yard return at one point.
K- We have a veteran for the Colts in Matt Stover who has won a Super Bowl and a youngster in Garrett Hartley for the Saints who was suspended for the first 4 games of the season for using banned substances. Hartley's been consistent all year since the suspension, but do I trust a 23-year old kicker in his first Super Bowl, possibly in the rain, without his banned substances? I'll take Stover and his goofy kicking stance.
Bold Prediction 6: Garrett Hartley shanks a field goal
Commercial Break: Click here My favorite super bowl commercial ever.
The Verdict: Everyone's saying the Colts should win by 7-10 points. Not gonna be that lopsided. People are saying that they just can't see the Saints beating the Colts but, ultimately, it doesn't really matter what you see. Who thought the Cardinals would come so close to beating the Steelers last year? Not too many people. Who thought the Giants would shock the undefeated Patriots? Again, not too many. Basically, I'm saying this game will be close. Ths Super Bowl, for some, is a once-in a lifetime shot . Everyone's bringing their A game. Similar teams, similar offences, they're likely gonna match each other point for point. Peyton will not singlehandedly win this game by himself. Neither will Brees. Neither will Wayne or Colston or Bush or anybody by themselves. It will come down to that all important stat...Time of Possesion. Who can keep the ball long enough to keep the other team off of the field?
As I mentioned above, we're gonna see a lot more of Addai and Brown than we've seen the rest of the playoffs because of the mediocre Saints rush defence. And if the RB's can succeed, that's gonna be a giant chunk of clock eaten up by the Colts. And the other reason...who manages time better than Peyton Manning? As I said before, I think Brees will have the better game. But how can you not picture it.... Saints have just tied it up at 27...Colts get the ball at their own 20 with 1:50 left and 1 timeout...Manning drives them down the field and runs the clock down to 0:01. Cue Stover.
Colts 30, Saints 27
MVP: Manning( just because it's already pre-determined)
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