overthere

In reality, the NHL Players Association was one of two sponsors. And the players played hard, very hard. Anze Kopitar is a fine player. Chara used to be one. Hossa used to be great, now he is useful. Kimmy is right. Team Europe was a major surprise.

I was pointing out the utter hypocrisy and politics of convenience in Quebec...... 'over your head like a 747'. Why would any care about treating any sewage anywhere then, just a needless expense? It all just flushes away anyway. Having been to Valdez(a town in Alaska by the way, not the ship) several times, fished there , and eaten a lot of seafood from the very healthy and thriving fishery in Prince Wiliiam Sound-I'd have to conclude you have no idea what you are talking about. And why stop at trillions?

I don't think the money matters so much for this tournament. This was a preemptive PR strike, a means of showing the IIHF and the IOC that they are not the big dog or the only show in town, and that the NHL and NHLPA can create major around the game buzz on their own . And in that, it succeeded. It was successful enough that not going to the next Olympics is now a viable option and very likely. And the IOC knows that a winter Olympics without mens hockey is much diminshed, and one thing the IOC does not need not is more crap on their already full plate of crap. As much as everybody hates Bettman, he has kept his job for so long because he has made money for most owners.

The win they clung to last night was huge......guaranteed them a game after today. They will need another big outing from their starter, Sanchez. And who will close for them? Osuna and Grilli will likely be on the bench, Benoit still out..... Likely they will have to turn to Biagini and Cecil to finish up, assuming the Jays are still in the game and Sanchez is pitching 6 or 7 innings. Options are a bit scary: Loup, Barnes, Repara and it gets worse from there... If they lose and play a tiebreaker Monday, will it be Stroman or Liriano? Both did pretty well to finish the year, though neither are dominant pitchers. If they win and play in the AL wild card game on Tuesday in Texas, Estrada should be available, then Happ on 4 days rest, then Sanchez on four days rest. It could be worse. Mariners are now out. Unfortunately Boston has the tie breaker edge over Cleveland, so Boston wants to win the game today to get/keep home field advantage.

Every few years the white people take out their Chiefs and replace them with new Chiefs, we call these events ' elections'. In short order those new white Chiefs start the plunder again. Would you deal with the First Nations Chiefs separately, or at the same time as the White Chiefs? Keep in mind that all the money starts with the White Chiefs.

No, but they will be adding some of that 8 billion liters of fresh, steaming sewage from Montreal to the concrete. Oh wait, first they have to get the turd tsunami out of the St Lawrence River. Never mind.

Nope. Alcohol abuse is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself

This is all getting too complicated and, of course has been much too expensive for some time now. Can't somebody tell me in simple steps how to steal my entertainment from the Internet?. I like HBO, the premium cable channels, and live sports. Don't need CBC or any mainstream networks. Thank you in advance.

Um, where have you been snoozing? The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has already begun, and this poor soul has been added to the list. Or will be. Wouldn't the standard autopsy performed on persons who die unexpectedly determine the course or very existence of an investigation by police?

I hope that crushing loss last night does not hurt them badly....... They are still in an OK position as of today, but now they have to win some games against two very good teams to close out the season. Marcus Stroman has to pitch the game of his life tonight. Was it 1989 when the Jays floundered in the final week and got caught by Detroit? Lets hope history does not repeat itself. Tonight might be the very last time that Toronto Blue Jays fans see Encarnacion and Bautista in Jays uniforms at home. If so, thanks for the memories.

Yes, Steve was wholly responsible for the global recession that crippled nearly every country on the planet except Canada and Australia. It was part of his Secret Agenda. I recall headlines from that time of Harper being lauded by British and German leaders of the day for his economic leadership......... But history gets rewritten in just a few years.

Osuna cannot come into games and give up hits and runs. And he has done both lately. So has Grilli. BoSox will use their second stringers. That does not mean they still cannot beat the Jays. It would be very easy for the Jays if the Boston series did not matter, but Detroit can easily run the table with their weakest schedule. If the Jays magic number is three they need to win 3 of the next 5.....against good teams. The Jays have a great chance to get home field advantage, but it won't fall into their laps. We have seen countless examples of 'nothing comes easily' for this team in 2016. This is no different.

The Jays are well placed to get a wildcard spot, but they have the toughest schedule of the teams chasing them- Baltimore and Tigers. The Tigers get Cleveland who have shut it down already, and Atlanta who are terrible. The Tigers could easily run the table. Baltimore has two with the Jays and 3 against the Rays. The Jays have 2 more against Baltimore and then 3 against the unbelieveable BoSox. The Jays have gained some breathing space, but they are far from a lock just now. Getting home field for the wild card matters, Baltimore has the best home field record in the AL East. The BoSox are already ptiching their mutts, but of course right now they could pitch underhand and win games 14-13. Agree on pitching. And on Loup. The Jays bullpen has been a bit scary lately. Osuna..... yikes....

I wonder what the TV ratings are for the WCH in Canada? And how is Rogers going to do in this and coming years? They have staked a massive amount of money on owning NHL rights, and in promoting events like the WCH. It was very interesting to see the expensive ads during the WCH that has stars telling us to watch them play in the WCH, then play in the NHL. It was rumoured that Rogers lost a bundle of dough last year despite a full court press on broadcasting the NHL, can they sustain that for several more years?

I think it will go quite well for the Liberals overall. Why? Because it is unlikely that the project will get built. There have been enough delays that the investors have moved on to other sources and other projects in other countries. It is perfect for Trudeau. he can now pretend that he did everything he could, but outside forces worked against him. Now everybody will be mildly pissed off. If he had advocated for this project or any energy project, he would have had many people very angry. If he had denied the project outright, he would have had many people very angry. By approving a project this late, one that is unlikely to be built, he can walk that political tightrope indefinitely. Of course, that means a hard hit to a reeling economy, but as we know that is not any kind of priority. In related news, the USA continues to eat our collective lunch in the energy export business. The first US LNG shipments from Louisiana to Europe will dock in the UK today. We are such complete suckers and fools. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-27/first-u-s-shale-gas-arrives-in-u-k-as-ethane-shipment-lands

I think it will be back for at least one more time. The NHL/NHLPA want the international exposure. There just aren't many options for exposure, and they want to keep the game on the international stage. The World Championships are a flop financially and have second rank teams. THe NHl won't be going to the next Olympics in Korea in a fight over money with the IIHF and IOC. They will probably go to the 2022 Games in China, because money is never a problem in China- and China is up to the task of bullying the IOC anyway. It was never going to be a success anywhere except Canada anyway. Any slim possibility of the USA watching hockey ended when the American team crapped the bed early in the tournament. It was a very slim hope anyway, since the US sporets community is watching baseball pennant races and the monster that is the NFL at this time of year. The WCH organizers had a number of games scheduled in European TV prime time, but I don't know if they attracted an audience. The most telling signal is that in hockey crazy Toronto, they failed to sell out the building for the Canada-Europe game last night.

We have been hearing this for mantra 50+ years, and nobody can argue that adding value to exports is just a terrific idea for our economy. But while we are doing that, what is the point of abandoning those sectors of the economy that actually, in real terms and not buzzphrases, fuel our social contract? We make money as hewers of wood. Lots of money. We don't do so well selling other things to countries that do it better and/or cheaper than us.

It is public record that Trudeau has introduced obstacles since elected, and his statements of being a 'referee' are his, not mine. But do keep those pom poms waving, cheerleaders have a role too.

I don't know...... The Jays have conceded winning the division. Now they will want to get home field for the wild card game. But most of all, they have to manage their pitching to get one of Happ, Sanchez or Estrada pitching that game, followed by the other two starting in the first two games of the ALDS. Having the six man rotation might enable that better........Dickey and/or Liriano and/or Stroman may be part of fiddling with that battle order. If the first wild card gets locked up in the series against Baltimore, I can see Stroman/Dickey/Liriano all starting in Boston to finish the year. And which of Stroman or Lariano do you keep as the fourth playoff starter? And how best to manage the lineup to ensure either of them don't pitch until Game 3 of the ALDS ?

If only that were true. I don't doubt that the strategy is to delay delay delay, that has been the pattern for the last year with Trudeau on this and other files. With the pipeline file, he knows full well that endless delay results in the pipeline builders saying bye bye to Canada- an outcome that he thinks will have the least political cost to him. And he may well be right. It means he does not have to make a decision, and golly what can he do if companies choose to leave? Don't forget, Trudeau has said he sees himself as 'neutral', a 'referee'. It is quite an astonishing position for a Prime Minister to take. Exports of commodities like oil and gas are central to the health of the Canadian economy, and the PM has no opinions on them? The process reeks of Gerald Butts.

and in other news , pigs fly and hell freezes over. The Jays won yesterday on a squeeze play, then an opposite field, I won't swing for the fences, hit from Edwin. He might get $100 million over 4 years from the BoSox. The emergence of -finally- an offensive game other than selfishness at the plate is a big contributor to their recent success.

If you'd like a more interesting trip to Mexico, outside a resort...... I really enjoyed Merida and that area. The city itself is quite cool, and not mobbed with tourists. There are many good side or day trips from Merida. Progresso is an hour away on the Gulf, it is kind of cottage country on the ocean for native Meridians. Campeche is a very interesting World Heritage site a couple hours drive west, worth an overnighter or longer. Uxmal and Chichen Itza are not far, big Mayan sites. Palenque is a bit further, deep in the jungle and an interesting place. The easiest way to get there from Western Canada is to fly to Cancun and rent a car for a week, not expensive and in my experience driving in Mexico is no biggie. There is a modern freeway west from Cancun and it is about 3 hours to Merida. We doddled along, and spent the night in Vallodolid. From there we visited Chichen Itza and the nearby large cenotes.

Would you prefer that we just execute them here, or send them home for a 20 minute trial, followed by a shot in the back of the head?

First a Kenyan, now a Canadian. I bet you are proud of being so Diverse in the US.

Poor Justin. His 'social licence ' initiative is a monumental flop. He joins Notley in a major and failed PR exercise. Worse for him is that he cannot delay and 'consult' forever on pipeline decisions, as is the current policy, in the hope it will all just go away. He will have to make a decision, one that will piss off many people either way.. Either way, the lineups for selfies with him will get shorter. His instinct will be to approve Kinder Morgan, with countless new conditions to delay it as long as possible, hopefully so K_M will cancel it themselves.. It will piss off some Liberal MPs in BC, piss off some First Nations, but briefly appease the growing wall of hate building elsewhere in the West. He'll do all he can to delay Energy East forever, too many seats at risk in Quebec as always. In the end, the Quebec vote matters much more than the 4% of Canadians who are aboriginal. If only the world was less pragmatic. It is a fervent wish that somewhere, sometime n his career as PM he stops as Morneaus office and asks the burning question: "Bill, do we have any money? Any credit left?".