Sunday tradition

Funny how much of a genius I think I am until about halftime of the 1 o'clock games, where I'm most likely ripping up my Pro Line ticket while cursing the name of the team that had no business being up like three touchdowns. Friday consists of me listening to various "experts" in the media choosing their locks and upsets and week after week I find myself buying into why the Lions will pull off the upset, or how the Pats are going to blow up the other team. There's also the excuses of how I would have won my ticket if Team A's Quarterback didn't throw a pick to Team B in Quarter C. Throw in fantasy football, trash talking your friends about how their team is going to lose this week and a shit load of junk food and you have yourself a tradition you are obligated to follow every week from September to February.

Observations about my summer

- Having a full-time day job has completely changed my sleep cycle. I can't stay up into the wee hours of the morning or sleep past noon anymore, even if I try.

- After abusing the shit out of the free coffee machine at work with daily double shots of espresso, I am damn near immune to the effects of caffeine.

- This town is A LOT more boring than I ever gave it credit for.

- I have the same love/hate relationship with the Blue Jays as I do with the Leafs.

- I'm horrible at sports.

- Public transit continues to piss me off.

- Doing nothing all day is sometimes a good thing.

- I rarely have interesting things to say

Fuck you GO Transit.

I pay 142 bucks a month for a GO Transit pass so I can get to school (Pickering to York University and vice-versa), which is pretty bullshit as it is, but I have to deal with nonetheless. Today from Pickering, I took the Eastbound train to Ajax. During the 5 MINUTE ride, I am approached by an employee checking tickets. Cool, he's doing his job, although he totally missed the dude that was standing next to me that booked it to the next cabin as soon as he saw that he walked down the stairs to check tickets. So he finally gets to me and asks to show me my ticket. I show him my pass and he examines it, taking a lot longer than usual. He then asks me for some ID. Thinking nothing of it, I take my driver's license out while asking him, "Uhh...why?". While taking down my information he informs me that my pass is only valid from York University to Pickering and that I need to purchase a ticket to ride from Pickering to Ajax. What the fuck? I pay 142 bucks a month and you're telling me I have to pay another 7 bucks a day for a 5 minute train ride? Now THAT is some fucking bullshit.

Now I've had other problems with GO Transit before, but since I tend to let shit slide, I just deal with it. Some examples that come to mind are:

1. The buses and trains are NEVER on fucking time. Not once in my life have I ever got on the GO running on schedule. This has fucked me over way too many times.

2. The disgusting state of the buses. I expect it from the TTC (which is surprisingly cleaner), not from GO.

3. The lazy/stupid/rude employees. What about driving a bus or punching tickets gives you the self-entitlement of acting like a fucking douche? It seems every employee I deal with doesn't have any correct information or any information at all when I inquire about something. Not to mention the piece of shit drivers who refuse to drive a bus when I'm the only one on it. I don't fucking care if you feel like a taxi driver, do your fucking job. Also, when it's like -20 outside, and you're still waiting to leave, LET PEOPLE ON THE FUCKING BUS! I'm freezing my ass off while you sit and read/eat/sleep in a warm bus that doesn't leave for another 20 minutes. Thanks asshole.

Now I can expect a hefty fine in the mail because I refuse to spend another 7 dollars for ONE stop on the train.

Fuck you GO Transit.

Fuck you Jason Bay.

Seriously. I hate you now. I was a fan of you when you were a very good, yet kind of under-the-radar outfielder playing for the shitty Pittsburgh Pirates. Even with NO protection at all in an awful lineup, you put up good numbers. And the best thing about it was you (were? are? whatever...) CANADIAN. In a game dominated by Americans (and more than a handful of stars from other countries), it was nice seeing one of few Canadians having success in the MLB. Hell, I even still kind of liked you when you went to the HATED Boston Red Sox. Then you go and get an American citizenship. Why this pisses me off, I have no idea. Whatever, you live there, I probably shouldn't care, but for some unknown reason it makes me dislike you very much. So whatever, we don't need you. This guy is better anyway...



Yes this is old news. But it got me thinking. How many players have I disliked just because they were on a TEAM that I didn't like?

Manny Ramirez - Hated this guy's guts when he played on the Sox. Some of my fondest baseball memories include going to Jays games and sitting in the 100 level left field seats just to rip on him the entire game. There was no doubting that he is one of the best players to ever play the game, but because it was helping the shitty Red Sox, it made me want to sock him in the face (no pun intended?). He gets traded to L.A. and suddenly the cocky, childish and frequently lazy Manny that I grew to hate, suddenly becomes likeable because hey, that's just Manny being Manny.

Dany Heatley - Big fan of this guy as soon as he came into the league. When you win rookie of the year, and then score 41 goals in your sophomore season, it's hard not to like a guy. I was even gonna get his name put on the back of my Team Canada Jersey. Looking back on it, I'm glad I didn't. He got traded to Ottawa after the whole vehicular homicide thing and the hatred began. Every time the Leafs played the Sens this guy seemed to give them fits. In fact, he still does it. Now he's demanding a trade because he doesn't get along with the coaching staff. And not just a straight-up trade, which Ottawa has reportedly granted him, a trade to a team that he approves of. What a cock. Now this dude has gone from a guy I'd want stitched on the back of my still blank 2002 Team Canada Jersey (still the best one if you ask me) to a guy I don't even wanna see on the national team in 2010. Fuck you Dany Heatley.

I'll add more when I think of them, I'm going to bed. Peace.

Blah

So today after taking a quick bike ride to the bank, I noticed how uncharacteristically (this summer at least) nice it was outside. I decided to take a bike ride down the Harbourfront Trail. Now I do this the occasional time and typically stop at the park at the end of Liverpool, but I decided to go farther today because I had the time and wanted to see what the rest of the trail was like. Maybe 15 minutes later, my handlebar starts to get loose but I think nothing of it and ride on. Next thing I know, the handle bar comes out and I nearly nose dive into the concrete. I turn back, already dreading the LONG walk home knowing that I'm going to have to push the thing all the way back. That's when I discovered the front brake has decided to clamp down on the front tire and won't release...great.

One thing that made me feel a little better however, is the amount of people that stopped to see if I was okay and offer their help in fixing the piece of junk I was dragging with me. Even though I politely refused and assured them I would be okay, it was nice knowing that in the fucked up world we live in where crime, tragedy and basically negative shit dominates everything else, that some people actually give a fuck about someone else.

Maybe gestures like that really mean nothing and I make too much of it, or maybe I just appreciate them more, but we can all agree that everyone was more considerate of others the world wouldn't be as shitty as it is right now.

So next time a stranger opens a door for you, offers you a hand, anything, think about it.

Maybe some idiot will blog about it.

Random thoughts

So again, I haven't posted anything in awhile (maybe I should just stop saying that), frankly because there's been too much depressing shit going on.

Like I've said before, I typically couldn't care less when celebrities die, sure it's sad, but most of them haven't affected my life in any way. The past few weeks have been different. I've gone over the impact of Michael Jackson's death, but two other people stand out.

If you're a fan of NFL football, you know who Steve McNair was. Simply put, the man was a warrior on the field. Much like Michael Jackson paved the way for many black musicians, McNair did the same for not only black quarterbacks, but also an inspiration for players from small schools like Alcorn State with dreams of one day playing in the NFL, regardless of where they came from. In the year that the Titans were the AFC Champions, McNair was so battered with injuries that he couldn't even participate in practices. He toughed it out every week leading his team one yard short of winning the Super Bowl. Regardless of his personal life, it doesn't change the incredible player that he was and I hope that's what he's remembered for.



George Stroumboulopoulos: "Martin Streek (and David Bookman) are so important to this city, what they do for music ... Streek when he’s on the radio... quality wins. They believe in music. They are the snipers waiting by the window keeping everyone on their game. Because their music knowledge is impeccable, their passion is unrivaled and they’re not afraid to tell you. They understand how important a record can be to your life."

I'll admit that I rarely listened to Martin during live-to-air broadcasts on the Edge because I'm not really a big fan of the format. However, I'll never forget how Martin hosted the Thursday 30. Catching up on whatever was new, whatever was current, and the ground breakers with what personally I think was one of the best voices in radio was something I looked forward to every Thursday night. I'm sad to say that I never did take up his weekly invitation to everyone to swing on by the studio for some free Pizza Pizza and wings, but I wish I had now, if not just to meet the guy.



R.I.P Martin Streek, you will be missed.

Anyways, enough of the depressing stuff. The Home Run Derby is on right now. It'll help me momentarily forget about how much the Jays fucking blow right now. This is my pick to win the thing:



P.S. What is with this fucking garbage strike that's dominating the news lately? Do we really wanna turn into Buffalo?

Rome wasn't built in a day...

All of you calling for Brian Burke's head need to chill the fuck out. So he didn't sign the Sedins, Cammalerri, or Gaborik. A lot of other teams didn't either. I know every Toronto Maple Leafs fan is jonesing for the playoffs but in case you forgot that's not the goal for the upcoming season. We don't exactly have the cap room either even if it was. We're rebuilding right now, and I'm actually glad that we are. We haven't gone on a legitimate playoff run since 2002 and after 6 years (okay I'll give you 5 because of the lockout) of early exits from the post-season, or going on pointless runs down the stretch to try to squeak into the playoffs (resulting in a shitty draft spot), I'm glad management finally decides that we need to start over. It's the second year of the rebuilding project and the first off-season run by Brian Burke. He has a Stanley Cup on his resume, something this city hasn't seen since Lester B. Pearson was the Prime Minister (I couldn't think of anything else that happened in 1967, Expo '67 maybe?), so he's not stupid. If you need an example, look no farther than the 2009 Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. From the 2001-2002 season to the 2005-2006 season, the Penguins were beyond awful. The team was in serious financial troubles too (something we'll never have to worry about in Toronto), but the very next season they qualified for the playoffs. They lost in the first round, the next year they made the finals, and the season after that they were hoisting the Stanley Cup. Over all those years, they turned their horrible regular seasons into high draft picks, adding other players along the way.

So if you want to see the team sign some big name goal scorer (who'd come here now anyway?) and watch the the team either miss or just get into the playoffs and get bounced quickly by a better team, then I guess you have a good reason to complain.