In The Pressbox

They call me Mr. Baseball

I wasn't always a hockey guy.

Sure, I've always loved Canada's game, but when I was a kid, baseball was my favorite sport. And my favorite team? Do you even have to ask?

The Toronto Blue Jays, of course.

Born in 1983 in Toronto, I was the perfect age to enjoy the dominant Jays teams of the late-80s and early-90s. My baseball hero was third baseman Kelly Gruber, but I had plenty of love for the other great players the Jays had back then. Roberto Alomar, Joe Carter, Devon White, Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor, Tom Henke... those teams were stacked with talent.

I was lucky enough to take in at least eight Jays games a year back in those days, and some of my fondest childhood memories are of my Dad and I heading downtown on the GO Train, with our baseball gloves in hand just in case any foul balls made it all the way up to the 500 level. They rarely did, so before the game we'd head down to field level and try to pick up some grounders during batting practice. I know a baseball is a baseball, but when you're a kid, there's no thrill like catching a 'Major League' baseball.

Of course I played the game too, but I never really excelled at it and I eventually gave it up to focus on hockey. But I always had fun when I played, and coming back to the sport in some form has always been on my mind.

I never thought it would take me 12 years, but better late than never right?

Last Thursday I played my first game in the Mixed Community Church 3-pitch baseball league at Wladyka Park in Port Hope. It's not exactly like your traditional baseball, of course, but you hit the ball with a bat and catch it with a glove, so it's close enough for me.

With my 12-year layoff to deal with, I don't expect to set the world on fire with my first season back on the diamond. I doubt there are any Gold Glove or Silver Slugger awards in my immediate future, let's put it that way. That said, I do hope to go yard at least once this season.

Most of all, I'm looking forward to getting back out on the field. There's no better place to spend a summer's night.

Would you like fries with that?

I have... extensive experience in the quick service industry. Fast food, to the lay man!

For a total of four years during and after college, I worked at a Wendy's in my home town of Ajax. When I lived with my parents in Midland for a year, I worked at the local A & W. So I know my way around a fryer and I flip a mean burger.

Those skills served me well today, as I took part in the annual "McHappy Day" at McDonald's. Some food proceeds went to Keystone House, and "local celebrities" (that's me, of course... quit laughing!) were welcomed for one hour 'shifts'. Other "celebs" included Lynda Kay of Northumberland United Way and York Bell-Smith of Star 93.3, among a host of others.

I started my shift at 12:30, smack dab in the middle of what we in the business call "the lunch rush". I was handed a spray bottle and a cloth and sent out to wipe down empty tables and welcome customers. And welcome I did.

Then I went behind the counter to help take orders and pour drinks. If you wanted a coke at McDonald's on Burnham St. from about 12:45 to 1:00 this afternoon, I was your man!

Then I settled into the fry position, a spot I knew well from my Wendy's days. With the help of my McDonald's teacher, I shook off the fry-getting rust and started filling up mediums and larges with aplomb. That's right, aplomb.

I made sure to use my unique 'back stage pass' to learn the inner workings of the McDonald's machine and flip a few burgers. All I've got left is Burger King and I will have hit for the burger cycle!

I'm happy I left the fast food biz, but for one hour, it was nice to go back and say hello.

Let's just talk about ME right now...

I was scoping out the website of local radio station Star 93.3 and saw that each member of their broadcast crew has a little biography page with a survey that tells you more about them. It's a cool idea so I thought I would lift it for my blog! Without further ado, here's a few things you never thought to ask/needed to know about me!

1. What is your favourite word?

    HERO.

2. What is your least favourite word?

    DID. Because of all these people who say they got their hair DID. Annoys the crap out of me!

3. What turns you on [creatively, spiritually or emotionally]?

    Great works of fiction, movies and video games. Fantasy worlds. Super heroes!

4. What turns you off?

    Morons. There are an endless supply.

5. What sound or noise do you love?

    Natural - flowing water. Man made - anything a guitar can do.

6. What sound or noise do you hate?

    Nails on anything. Or the Toronto Maple Leafs goal song.

7. What is your most embarrassing moment?

    One time in college I walked into the wrong class room and got half way into the room before I realized it. Everyone was staring at me because it was a class full of girls. They were all attractive though and they gave me plenty of smiles, so it wasn't that bad!

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

    The obvious one is pro hockey player (goalie for the Habs!) but that dream has passed me by. The other big one is an author. Also super hero, secret agent and ghost buster.

9. What profession would you not like to do?

    Any kind of yellow journalism (i.e. who is Lindsay Lohan dating this week?)

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

    "Hi, I'm God. I hear you've been looking for me."

11. What is your favourite thing about working at Northumberland News?

    I was asked to be a guest judge at Rib Fest. Nuff said!

Hockey fans or fanatics?

Following is my most recent column for our newspaper. I'd further address the decline of my Habs, but I can't think of anything else to say!

I was watching hockey Wednesday night.

I’m a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, so I had my eyes glued to the TV set for their ill-fated playoff series against the Boston Bruins. The Habs were swept in four straight games. As I watched Game 4, I was obviously disappointed, a little surprised and maybe a touch angry that my favorite team was being so unceremoniously expelled from the Stanley Cup dance. But what really got me thinking were the actions of some of my fellow ‘fans’ who were lucky enough to be at the Bell Centre for the game. As the season drew to a close, a chorus of boos could be heard throughout the arena. Goaltender Carey Price bore the brunt of the abuse, as mocking cheers rained down on him when he successfully stopped the puck after surrendering four goals.

The whole mess got me thinking about what it means to be a fan. It seems obvious, but we watch sports and root for teams to have fun. That’s why we choose a team to support in the first place. We don’t drag ourselves down to a Blue Jays game muttering about how there are better ways to spend our time. We go because we enjoy going. It’s fun.

But sometimes fans become something else entirely. Sometimes passion goes too far. Riots in soccer stadiums are one example. People booing and jeering the very athletes they came to cheer for is another. How does something that’s meant to be fun instead fuel us with anger and hatred?

This is where we leave fan territory and enter the land of fanatics.

A fanatic is defined as someone with “excessive and often misguided enthusiasm for something”. To me, that includes people who pick fights with someone because they’re wearing a different jersey, launches garbage onto a playing surface or spews venom at athletes that don’t meet their ‘expectations’.

I’m not saying fans don’t have the right to voice displeasure from time to time, but it should be measured, and fair and constructive. It should never be hurtful or mean spirited. And if the displeasure the fan feels compromises the fun they’re supposed to be having, it’s time to step back, take a deep breath and get some perspective. If you don’t, you risk becoming just another fanatic, and you’ll find your team causing you more grief than joy.

I’m proud to call myself a Habs fan. I would never want to be a Habs fanatic.

Hockey heartbreak

I guess sometimes the pundits have a point!

So despite my inspired rallying cries last week, my Habs have been outclassed by the Boston Bruins in their opening round series. After a heartbreaking and crippling loss in game three at home last night, my boys are now behind 3-0 in the best of seven series.

As fans of any sport will tell you, the 3-0 deficit is pretty much game over. With the rarest of exceptions, teams just don't come back from that. Rebounding from three losses with four straight wins is next to impossible.

Now, nobody in the world would be happier than me if my Habs were to pull a miracle out of their hats and make an unprecedented come back, storming past the Bruins all the way to the Cup.

But this hasn't been our year for miracles.

Playoff fever

Forgive me, but I'm having a hard time staying focused at work today.

The NHL playoffs started last night, though they really begin tonight when my Montreal Canadiens head to Boston to open their Eastern quarter final series against the heavily favored (well, completely favored actually) Bruins.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. It goes without saying, or at least it should, that I will be in front of the TV, fully decked out in my Habs gear (including Carey Price jersey, wool tuque and big fluffy slippers) for the big game.

With 82 games in the regular season, even the most devout fan is going to miss a few. I'll readily admit that I skipped a few Habs games this year, mostly those involving sunbelt teams that nobody cares about (sorry Gary).

But this is the playoffs. And real fans don't miss a second of the action in the playoffs.

Playoff hockey is faster, tougher, just plain better. Just the thought that Lord Stanley's Cup waits at the end of the race is enough to ratchet up the intensity of the games ten fold, and each win secured brings a team one step closer to glory.

16 wins is what it takes to lift the Cup.

Here's hoping my team earns its first tonight.

It's ON

This is one year when I won't be making NHL Playoff predictions.

There's something about rooting for a low ranked team (one that all the "experts" consider to be dead in the water before the first puck drops) that makes one want nothing to do with predictions, prognosticators and/or fortune tellers of any kind.

It's always like this in the NHL. Every year, the league itself and media outlets (especially in hockey mad Canada) tell us we need to be totally swept up in the playoff race, especially the one for the final few playoff spots. Five or six teams battle to the death for those seven and eight spots in each conference and the media eats it up. Then the playoffs come, and those same media outlets turn around and tell us our beloved seven/eight squad has no business even being in the playoffs and it would be better for everybody if we just didn't show up.

It's the hockey equivalent of a non-vite. You know. An un-vitation.

So it is this year with my beloved Montreal Canadiens, who slid into the playoffs in the 8th spot and drew the top ranked Boston Bruins as their first round opponent. Again.

These two teams have seen a lot of each other in recent years. We've met up in the playoffs in 2002, 2004, 2008 and now this year. The first two years the Bruins were heavily favored, just like they are now.  We won. Both times.

Last year, as the top seed in the conference, our team was favored (though not many pundits could bring themselves to "heavily" support the Habs). We won again.

Flash forward to this year, the 100th anniversary of my Habs, a year that has been turbulent to say the least. We've fought through injuries, scandals, a bit of bad luck and (yes I'll say it) our fair share of poor play to earn a spot at the playoff table. Now that we're there, don't expect the team or its fans (myself included) to be happy with scraps.

For all that it's a cliche, the playoffs truly are a brand new season and anything can happen. Now, if hockey was played on a piece of paper, the Bruins wouldn't even have to show up to the rink for game one tomorrow night. But before they take their preordained spot in the second round, there's the small matter of dealing with Saku Koivu. And Alex Kovalev. And Alex Tanguay. And Mike Komisarek. And Carey Price.

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it ain't over 'til it's over. And this hasn't even begun.   

Words fail me

As a writer by trade and by nature, I don't often rely on pictures to tell my story. I take pride in using the written word to convey my thoughts, feelings, emotions and beverage preferences.

But I guess sometimes, words really are insufficient. Some times, a picture really can do the trick.

So as I look outside  my window at a view that belongs on a Christmas card and check my calendar to make sure it's actually April, words fail me.

And I leave it to this picture to tell you how I feel.

Just a little rain

People seem to be afraid of rain.

Tomorrow's "Float Your Fanny Down The Ganny" race has been postponed due to today's heavy rainfall. Don't get me wrong, it's a legitimate concern. The river is running high and flowing fast right now and safety is the number one concern.

But all you have to do is look outside (or better yet, go outside) on a day when a downpour is on the torrential side and you'll see what I mean. People clinging to umbrellas with all of their strength, running full speed from one form of shelter to another. Not many people out in the first place!

Even today's kids, with all their nano technology and whatchamaha, don't seem to have much time for the rain. Not like kids did in my day!

(Yeah, it's depressing to think I already have a "day" to look back on)

When I was a kid, rainy days were for running through fields, sliding through mud and jumping in puddles! Rain was fun.

Sure I spent a few rainy days in the house reading books (another woefully unappreciated pastime) but there was always reason for excitement when the dark clouds started rolling in and the heavens started dumping on us.

Have you ever noticed how many intense, dramatic and action filled sequences in movies and television shows are set in the middle of a downpour? Shawshank Redemption. Matrix Revolutions. Spider-Man. Jurassic Park. You know why?

Because rain is beautiful! Rain is cathartic! Rain is cool! Rain makes your hair look awesome! Let me tell you, long hair looks suhweet in the rain. I know from experience ;)

So what I'm saying is, next time it rains, throw the umbrella into the trash and run for the biggest puddle you can find. The kid inside will thank you.

Spring in my step

When I look out the window these days, my heart leaps with joy.

Another brutal, punishing winter (albeit not nearly as brutal and punishing as last year's) seems to have passed us by and spring has arrived, and not just according to the calendar.

Now that I've said that the skies will probably open up and dump another snowstorm on us, but I'll take my chances.

There are things I will miss about winter. Christmas, my birthday, "the snowy majesty of a winter's morn", hockey season (mine, not the 20-games-too-long NHL season).

But whatever sting I might feel from those losses is soothed with the knowledge that they'll be back again someday, and by the fact that I'm ready to burn my winter coat and enjoy fresh air that won't turn my flesh to ice.

More than anything, I'm excited about the potential for the upcoming warm weather season. Time to spend at the beach, reading books in the sun, going for jogs around the town, play some road hockey!

Summer may get all the glory, but there's a lot to love about spring.