Whoopsie-doodle

I totally forgot about writing blog posts for a couple of days there... I'm actually kinda surprised - but not that much really.  First off, Saturday was a big day in that we went out shopping.  The whole family.  Does not happen much, so it stood out.  My wife needed to get another Wii Balance Board because our original one stopped work.  I think it may have died of loneliness, but that's just a suspicion.  It was weird because it hadn't been used for some time and then it ceased to work.  So we had to get that, and I had to get some drum pad silencers for my Rock Band drums after Friday's Rock Band at my sister's.  Next we went to Best Buy and I got Rock Band 2, after convincing myself that it would work with the Rock Band instruments.  Then the whole family got inline skates.  

I'd had a look at some inline skates a few weekends back, as my wife has a growing interest in skating.  I thought would be nice for everyone to get them so we could go out all together.  Plus I never owned any and it looks like fun.  Apparently I shouldn't go out when it is even a little damp as that gums up the bearings.  So far, that isn't an issue as I haven't even attempted to go about yet.  I got some hockey inline skates, ending up with Nike Bauer's because the toe box for the Mission's are way too narrow.  The Bauer's have a huge square thing, matching my need for a small skate but with adult toes.  Or something to that effect.

Anyway, we headed home and I had to try out Rock Band 2 to see if I'd wasted my money or what.  Turns out that no, I had not.  I proceed to play for the next 4 hours or so, with my oldest son joining me on guitar.  It was an excellent time.  The Rock Band 2 port for the Wii brings it more in line with what is done on the Xbox 360 and PS3 with customizable  characters, online play and downloadable content.   Needless to say, I was quite pleased.  And then there was Sunday morning...

Sunday morning dawned and we had some time where we could play Rock Band until it was time to go for the family lunch at my aunt's.  We went for lunch and got back around 5:30pm.  My eldest son and I sat down, picked a set of 3 songs to do and off we went.  I broke the bass pedal on the third note.  Because I'd been given one of the older Rock Band original pedals, this one didn't crack or weaken - it snapped cleanly in the exact spot my original weakened.  It was pretty tough, but I played for a couple more hours.  The pedal worked if you weren't too energetic and held your foot in the right place.

This brings us to today.  I needed to get a better replacement for the pedal, so I started calling around to some of the gaming stores.  I found what I wanted at one and got them to hold it for me.  Seems the Rock Band 2 pedal has a metal reinforcing plate and otherwise is the same.  Well, that's what I wanted, give the way the first two pedals were damaged.  And only $25 to boot!  I picked that up and a second guitar so that we could get a full four-person band going.  Rushed home and I was able to put the new pedal to the test.  It worked really well for me - the metal plate made things really solid and movement easier.  It makes less noise because it is more solid - the spring doesn't bend funny when you move it faster.  The other neat thing is that this pedal came with a double-bass aggregator, which allows you to plug two pedals into the drum kit.  Don't really need that yet, but the possibility is now there for me.

Whoa, postage!

First off, it 'twas a good game. Mainly because the Canadian based team won. I do appreciate the commentators pointing out that Ontario could support another team easily as there were 6000 people in the parking lot in Buffalo to watch the game outside. And who would want to watch such a game. Tied by Buffalo in the last 7 seconds. Nice goal but ridiculous timing! Sheesh! Ottawa won with a nice faceoff play early in the 2nd OT. Definitely there is something to be said about certain hockey traditions, like sudden death overtime. I like the idea that games during the regular season have a bounded time, as playing every few days for 82 games is tiring on its own. But sudden death OT is one thing I like about the time when things matter, i.e. the playoffs.

Andrew Potter's column in this weeks Maclean's was another example. Mr. Potter wrote of the honour in hockey - letting honourable people resolve their differences without outside interference. The entire episode seems absurd - things get said in the heat of competition. If something occurred on the ice, the officials on the ice should have dealt with it. Otherwise, let it go and move on. If attention is brought to bear in this manner, it does nothing to solve the problem, if it so exists. The participants should agree to a framework that defines unacceptable behaviour, discourages such behaviour and then move on. That is, if something is "bad", make a rule, enforce the penalties and leave it at that. Funny how in part of being "sporting" is to ignore and move past tenuous and even blatant rule violations. The definition I like is that all participants agree to avoid infractions and don't sweat the occasional hiccup. I guess that is the aspect of "political correctness" that has always grated on me - the incessant flogging of an infraction. I agree that there are ways to engage in discussion that do not denigrate anyone, which would be the main thrust and purpose of "political correctness" as I see it. The ability to move on has been suppressed and parliament interfering in sport because of a (possible) frustrated utterance is absurd.

Guess I've been holding off a little too long on that one... Nothing brings out the big words like pregnant debate... Or lack of debate? Now I'm not sure as it is getting to far past my bed time. Still, it was a good game. Buffalo owned the first, Ottawa played better in the second and third. I'm still amazed that they were able to push the one-goal lead for almost 10 minutes at the end of the third. They were able to keep the puck in Buffalo's end for most of that time. Buffalo's drive and skill got them that tying goal, but still - good hockey.

The Quick and the... Interesting?

Alright, I've been promising and promising that I have some special content up my sleeves (Where does George W keep his armies?? In his sleevies!), however this isn't it. Just a warning post - gonna throw on a bunch of short and hopefully interesting things and get to bed. The weather isn't supposed to be good tomorrow and I want to make it to the gym. Company chocolates make my waist feel like... a vast waste land, complete with its own navel battle ground.

Managed to get some stuff done around the house, including the moving of "Christmas tree" into "Christmas south" - the basement. We have enough room now we don't have to dismantle the tree, so we won't. So much easier - except for the fake needles everywhere. Got in a pretty decent nap and actually watched some football. Darn bloggers keep talking about it, figure I should watch it a bit. Made me realize something about the United States, or maybe "North American" sports. The most popular sports in the US are football and baseball, but I don't have anything to back that up. I believe they are the top two, but next is probably basketball. Watching football made me realize what baseball and football have in common - they are both run by the coaches/managers.

Someone explained to me once why they loved baseball - it was all in the statistics and strategy of the game. To fully appreciate the game, you had to understand what the manager was doing and it was an intricate game of chess, combined with bursts of athletic skill. Football is much the same - the coaches play an abstract game of analysis, statistics and rule-knowledge. That is why people that are unfamiliar with the game see it as bursts of activity followed by long periods of waiting. Football requires a lot of skill, athletic ability and endurance - more so than baseball I'd say - but there are several levels at which the game can be played. But both baseball and football are long periods punctuated by incredible athleticism and skill. Those short bursts stand out and pull the viewer in. The true aficionado looks at the plays, the scouting work, the preparation by the coaches and key players - truly a different level.

I'll contrast this with other team sports like hockey or soccer - they have systems devised by coaches and the coaches make adjustments, but each game has its own flow. To be played well, the players must be able to make adjustments, improvise and watch their teammates. The coaches create a framework to start from, but this isn't usually what is witnessed during the game. The coaches are there to watch how things are evolving and to keep the players focused on the correct aspects, keep them motivated and change the players if necessary. In this way, the coaches are more observers than in football or baseball.

After writing that out, I think basketball falls into the hockey/soccer model, being the other top professional team sport in North America.

That was a little off track of what I was going to say, but I'm not going to toss aside a good idea. I'll have to illustrate my contention that hockey and soccer and the same game another time.