Last night at 1:15 AM Atlantic Standard Time is one of those times of my life that I will probably remember for a long time, one of those "Where were you when it happened?" moments. That was the time of Barack Obama's speech in front of hundreds of thousands of people in Chicago.
Obama became the first black man to be elected president of the United States. I think this really marks a turning point in US history, given that nation's record of slavery and systemic racism against minorities.
Obama's victory makes the old adage that "anyone can become President" ring truer than ever. I think Obama's status as a black man who was not descended from people who were taken in the slave trade made it possible for him to ascend to America's highest office. He was not a direct product of colonial slavery even though he has lived with its after-effects his whole life.
My greatest fear of this election before last night was that the "shadowy men" who have run the US for the past 8 years would somehow rig this election as they have the last two, with voter fraud in 2000 and blatant fear-mongering in 2004. What last night's assembly in Chicago showed me and the rest of the world was that Obama's message resonates with Americans and his quest for the White House would not be denied.
As most people probably feel this morning, I am hopeful for the next 4 years. With Democrats in control of the executive and legislative branches of the government, they can make real progress toward repairing the debauchery of Bush Jr.'s reign.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
From Jon Hamm's appearance on SNL
Don Draper's Guide to Picking Up Women
• Step 1:
When in doubt, remain absolutely silent.
• Step 2:
When asked about your past, give vague, open ended answers.
• Step 3:
Have a great name.
• Step 4:
Look fantastic in a suit.
Look fantastic in casual wear.
Look fantastic in anything.
Sound good.
Smell good.
Kiss good.
Strut around with supreme confidence.
Be uncannily successful at your job.
Blow people away everytime you say anything.
Take six hour lunches.
Disappear for weeks at a time.
Lie to everyone about everything.
Drink and smoke constantly.
…basically, be Don Draper.
Mad Men is the best show on TV. If you haven't seen it yet, try to catch up. Season 2 just ended. Unfortunately, we will probably have to wait until next summer for Season 3.
• Step 1:
When in doubt, remain absolutely silent.
• Step 2:
When asked about your past, give vague, open ended answers.
• Step 3:
Have a great name.
• Step 4:
Look fantastic in a suit.
Look fantastic in casual wear.
Look fantastic in anything.
Sound good.
Smell good.
Kiss good.
Strut around with supreme confidence.
Be uncannily successful at your job.
Blow people away everytime you say anything.
Take six hour lunches.
Disappear for weeks at a time.
Lie to everyone about everything.
Drink and smoke constantly.
…basically, be Don Draper.
Mad Men is the best show on TV. If you haven't seen it yet, try to catch up. Season 2 just ended. Unfortunately, we will probably have to wait until next summer for Season 3.
Monday, September 8, 2008
2008 NFL Season is over
for the Patriots, unless they can hire a new QB, pronto. Tom Brady's knee injury in the first quarter of yesterday's season opener was the latest in a string of injuries to key players (Giants' Osi Umenyiora, Colts' Jeff Saturday, maybe Titans' Vince Young, and just a matter of time for Chargers' Shawne Merriman), that will put this season's NFL predictions on the garbage heap, along with recently-retired Daunte Culpepper.
Culpepper's retirement letter made me think that he is gunning for the NFLPA's Executive Director's job, recently vacated by Gene Upshaw's death. Culpepper represented himself for the past two years, with pitiful results. Even though Culpepper said in his letter that representing himself was "an invaluable experience", I think it was more of a de-valuing experience. Culpepper's stock went down big-time after his 2005 knee injury. It should be mentioned that Culpepper was a go-big-or-go-home QB, with tremendous stats and athletic ability but also 94 interceptions and an amazing 93 fumbles in 92 career games. That, plus his recurring knee problem as well as his decision-making problems (interceptions and he ended his 2007 season with a hamstring injury that he incurred after challenging a teammate to a footrace during a practice midway through the season), have finished his career in the NFL.
Enough about Culpepper. Brady's absence on the field will be huge, galactic even. The pros and amateur pundits alike were thinking the Pats would go all the way this year, not 19-0 mind you, but that they would win it all in February. And why not? Almost all of their best players are back again this year, and the Kirk-Spock duo of Brady and Moss would tally another couple dozen TD's on their way to dominating the AFC East and their conference before beating whatever team the NFC could throw at them (let's say the Cowboys).
Pending Brady's MRI results, all the speculation of what could have been is blowin' in the wind. If Brady is out for the season, our predicted 13-3 season will be 10-6 at best and maybe worse than that. Brett Favre may actually bring the Jets to within striking distance of the division title, if the Bills don't have anything to say about it. As for the Dolphins, even with Pennington at QB and Parcells running the show, they are still last year's Dolphins. 'Nuff said about the Fish.
While Matt Cassel had the game of his (second-banana) career and proved himself competent enough to hold off the Chiefs, his success said more for the supporting cast than for his own ability. His bomb to Randy Moss from inside his own end zone was a good play, but watch the tape and you will see Moss slow down for at least 10 yards to make the catch. Ditto for the TD pass to Moss at the back of the Chiefs' end zone. Anyone but the 6'4" Moss with his golden hands would not have been able to pull down that pass to score.
The next scoring drive showed that Sammy Morris still has what it takes and that Laurence Maroney is one of the best jukers out there. I was surprised that Maroney's normally-effective straight arm, even applied twice to the Chiefs' Safety Jarrad Page, failed to get him to the end zone.
The defensive stand at the end of the game, when Belichick actually called plays from the sideline to save the game showed that Bill is not just a pretty face.
Moss, Maroney, and Morris, along with Wes Welker and the aging defensive and offensive lines, will have to step up enormously to salvage the Pats' season, especially with such a big question mark in the QB spot.
Culpepper's retirement letter made me think that he is gunning for the NFLPA's Executive Director's job, recently vacated by Gene Upshaw's death. Culpepper represented himself for the past two years, with pitiful results. Even though Culpepper said in his letter that representing himself was "an invaluable experience", I think it was more of a de-valuing experience. Culpepper's stock went down big-time after his 2005 knee injury. It should be mentioned that Culpepper was a go-big-or-go-home QB, with tremendous stats and athletic ability but also 94 interceptions and an amazing 93 fumbles in 92 career games. That, plus his recurring knee problem as well as his decision-making problems (interceptions and he ended his 2007 season with a hamstring injury that he incurred after challenging a teammate to a footrace during a practice midway through the season), have finished his career in the NFL.
Enough about Culpepper. Brady's absence on the field will be huge, galactic even. The pros and amateur pundits alike were thinking the Pats would go all the way this year, not 19-0 mind you, but that they would win it all in February. And why not? Almost all of their best players are back again this year, and the Kirk-Spock duo of Brady and Moss would tally another couple dozen TD's on their way to dominating the AFC East and their conference before beating whatever team the NFC could throw at them (let's say the Cowboys).
Pending Brady's MRI results, all the speculation of what could have been is blowin' in the wind. If Brady is out for the season, our predicted 13-3 season will be 10-6 at best and maybe worse than that. Brett Favre may actually bring the Jets to within striking distance of the division title, if the Bills don't have anything to say about it. As for the Dolphins, even with Pennington at QB and Parcells running the show, they are still last year's Dolphins. 'Nuff said about the Fish.
While Matt Cassel had the game of his (second-banana) career and proved himself competent enough to hold off the Chiefs, his success said more for the supporting cast than for his own ability. His bomb to Randy Moss from inside his own end zone was a good play, but watch the tape and you will see Moss slow down for at least 10 yards to make the catch. Ditto for the TD pass to Moss at the back of the Chiefs' end zone. Anyone but the 6'4" Moss with his golden hands would not have been able to pull down that pass to score.
The next scoring drive showed that Sammy Morris still has what it takes and that Laurence Maroney is one of the best jukers out there. I was surprised that Maroney's normally-effective straight arm, even applied twice to the Chiefs' Safety Jarrad Page, failed to get him to the end zone.
The defensive stand at the end of the game, when Belichick actually called plays from the sideline to save the game showed that Bill is not just a pretty face.
Moss, Maroney, and Morris, along with Wes Welker and the aging defensive and offensive lines, will have to step up enormously to salvage the Pats' season, especially with such a big question mark in the QB spot.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Doctor Hot Tub
So I was sitting at the Mic Mac Bar & Grill with my friend Dave, relaxing after working on the house that I am renovating. Dave was telling me about this recent experience when he was sitting in a hot tub in Calgary. Two young women get into the hot tub and one starts complaining about her boyfriend. After a while, Dave offers some advice. The women thank him, and then a married woman gets into the hot tub (how big is this thing, anyway?). She gives the young woman the same advice as Dave did. I thought this would be a great idea for a show, "Doctor Hot Tub", like Dr. Phil, but in a hot tub. I am publishing this now, in case someone else wants to take this idea. You read it here first!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Not getting older, just getting better?
Philson graduated from high school and is planning his departure to SMU residence. I totally support his decision to move into residence to get the full experience of university. I am sure he will come back home on weekends to fuel up with food and to do laundry. Oh, and maybe to see us!
The fact that I have a child who is now a man makes me think of my own mortality. I have to face the fact that I am actually middle-aged, something my body has been telling me for a few years, but my mind refuses to acknowledge.
Meeting my Grade 10 science teacher the other day made me think about my place in my life. He informed me that I am the same age as he was when he was my teacher. Huh. That really put things into perspective for me. I didn't think he was really old back then, but I remember that I considered all of my high school teachers to be quite aged at the time. The fact that there are probably just as many still working as there are retired should tell me something: they weren't as old as I thought they were.
I guess I still have some viable years left. However, watching one child -- and next year another -- fly the coop is making me take stock of my life. Am I where I want to be? Am I as happy as I can be? What are my regrets and can I do anything to make sure I minimize any future regrets? These are questions a man asks himself as he stares the age of 39 down the barrel.
The fact that I have a child who is now a man makes me think of my own mortality. I have to face the fact that I am actually middle-aged, something my body has been telling me for a few years, but my mind refuses to acknowledge.
Meeting my Grade 10 science teacher the other day made me think about my place in my life. He informed me that I am the same age as he was when he was my teacher. Huh. That really put things into perspective for me. I didn't think he was really old back then, but I remember that I considered all of my high school teachers to be quite aged at the time. The fact that there are probably just as many still working as there are retired should tell me something: they weren't as old as I thought they were.
I guess I still have some viable years left. However, watching one child -- and next year another -- fly the coop is making me take stock of my life. Am I where I want to be? Am I as happy as I can be? What are my regrets and can I do anything to make sure I minimize any future regrets? These are questions a man asks himself as he stares the age of 39 down the barrel.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Rainmen join PBL but will we see any familiar faces?
The Rainmen have made some announcements lately regarding their league status as well as the whereabouts of some of the marquee players from last season.
As expected, we are now part of the Premier Basketball League (PBL). Unfortunately, none of the stars from last year will be returning.
Getting paid is a real issue with these guys. They really aren't paid a lot and they have bills just like the rest of us. Expecting someone to drop everything for a 3-month, 20-game season may prove difficult. At least with the 36-game season, there was a longer time frame to drop your life and move to Halifax.
I guess we should remember that minor leagues are stepping stones for athletes. Our team was in a league that is just like many other leagues around the world and I get the feeling that players tend to bounce around, depending on the schedules of the various leagues. They are just trying to make a living and have to go where the jobs are.
I would be surprised if we see anyone come back from last year's team and until we get into the D League (and maybe not even then), we probably won't have many returning players who aren't Maritimers.
Unfortunately, Lewis has proven that he cannot develop young players, so local talent may decide to go elsewhere rather than waste time sitting on the bench.
In my opinion, we need a local coach who has ties to the universities that will draw recent grads to our team. Once we get our version of "Coach K" who is a draw for athletes to play for him, then we might be able to count on having some consistency to the roster.
As expected, we are now part of the Premier Basketball League (PBL). Unfortunately, none of the stars from last year will be returning.
Getting paid is a real issue with these guys. They really aren't paid a lot and they have bills just like the rest of us. Expecting someone to drop everything for a 3-month, 20-game season may prove difficult. At least with the 36-game season, there was a longer time frame to drop your life and move to Halifax.
I guess we should remember that minor leagues are stepping stones for athletes. Our team was in a league that is just like many other leagues around the world and I get the feeling that players tend to bounce around, depending on the schedules of the various leagues. They are just trying to make a living and have to go where the jobs are.
I would be surprised if we see anyone come back from last year's team and until we get into the D League (and maybe not even then), we probably won't have many returning players who aren't Maritimers.
Unfortunately, Lewis has proven that he cannot develop young players, so local talent may decide to go elsewhere rather than waste time sitting on the bench.
In my opinion, we need a local coach who has ties to the universities that will draw recent grads to our team. Once we get our version of "Coach K" who is a draw for athletes to play for him, then we might be able to count on having some consistency to the roster.
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Great Scientific Experiment To Prove God Exists
The scientific experiment to prove God.
The experiment is to abdicate your internal throne.
The result is when one either enters Heaven or doesn’t enter Heaven.
The time frame of the experiment is our life, until the point of death when our soul goes to enter Heaven or not.
Abdicating your internal throne is truly giving up, not asking what alternatives one can take to resolve a problem.
By merely asking about alternatives, one assumes that one keeps reign over one’s internal throne. How can I get results to this problem while not giving up power over my self?
Not giving up power over one’s self is a very thinly defined state.
We can deceive ourselves by thinking we are giving up, but we really aren’t. God knows our hearts and minds, even if we don’t.
Our motivation is the key. We can feel good about ourselves when we do good for others – altruism. Like a balloon (or virginity), one prick and it’s gone. Again, God knows our hearts and minds. He knows our motivation for our actions as well as our feelings. Why do we do things for others? Why do we do good works? Is it for the glory of God our Father in Heaven? The minute we think that we are better than someone else because of our good works, we have wasted the eternal gift that God has given us. Our faith is not true, because our works are for our personal good feelings about ourselves, and not given in thanks to God.
Scientific experiment: Giving up and giving to God, i.e. Dropping a drinking glass.
Dropping a drinking glass is when we accept Jesus. By living a “good” life, we still drop the glass. Whether the glass drops and hits the table or continues further equates to going to Heaven or continuing lower to Hell. Until the glass stops falling, both experiments appear (to our narrow view, both in width and depth of time due to our finite wisdom, scope of vision and lifespan) to having the same result: the glass is dropping, much like the law of gravity. Both a person who has given up their life to Christ and a person who leads a “good” life can have an enjoyable life here on earth while they are alive.
It is only when we die, i.e. the glass lands, that we discover the result of the experiment. If we truly abdicated our internal throne, the glass lands on the table (Heaven). If we did not truly give up our life, the glass does not land on the table and our soul does not enter Heaven.
Is God provable by science? The scientific experiment is our life. We cannot know the result before we die. As we cannot know what happens after someone else dies, we cannot know their result of their experiment. Science is proven by repeatable and quantifiable results from testing. The test is our internal life, not our external works. The external works are the glass falling, which can be the same for someone who has truly abdicated control over their life or someone who has not and who judges themselves as “no worse” than the other guy.
When we judge ourselves relative to other humans, we are erroneous, since all humans are fallible and all fall short of perfection.
The Beatitudes tell us of a typical person who abdicates their internal throne. People who are humble and meek, etc. do not typically receive rewards on this earth. Jesus said they will receive their reward in heaven.
Is Heaven full of “vagrants”? Maybe. Those who have nothing may be less prideful of themselves, rather than those who have many possessions or who have achieved many “things” in this life. The recognition that we receive from other people can cloud our judgment of ourselves and may cause us to re-take our internal thrones.
Pride is the sin.
Remember the young prince who asked Jesus how he may follow Him and was given the response to give away all his worldly possessions and follow Jesus. The love of money and possessions was greater than his love for Jesus, and so he did not abdicate his internal throne. His pride of his possessions and achievements got in the way of giving up his throne.
We may not think we are prideful, but it is that last little bit of internal pride and judging oneself against other imperfect humans that is the example of pride. One may have self-esteem, but like the Pharisee thinking he is better than the tax collector, we can fall victim to our own pride. The tax collector’s view of himself as a sinner who is not worthy is the correct example of abdication of one’s internal throne.
The vast majority of the time, we find God when we are plumbing the depths of despair. This is when we have used up our resources and our personal power and we do not get the results we want or expect. This is when many of us ask for help or guidance from God our Father. This is equivalent to worldly children who seek assistance from their worldly parents. As parents, we give our children life and we teach them rules to live by. Then we set them off to live their lives, with their free will. We hope that our children make the right choices and honour their parents and themselves. At some point, the children fail, usually spectacularly, and then they ask for help from the parents. Any advice or answers that we may give as parents may be either accepted, denied, ignored or misunderstood. These 4 responses are what we as God’s children give to God when we pray to Him and ask Him for help.
We may hear and understand His message to us and then choose to ignore the advice. We may hear and understand and choose to heed His words to us. Thirdly, we ignore his message because it doesn't fit in with what we want. Finally, we may not understand His answer to our pleas or we may not hear what He is saying to us because we don’t take the proper amount of time to listen.
If we do not hear or listen to God, we may still choose a path that leads to the same result during the experiment, i.e. the glass still falls during our lifetime, the same as it would if we obeyed His commands, but when the glass hits, it will not hit the table (Heaven). Our result of the scientific experiment is a failure, but we don’t know it until the experiment (our life) is over. People living a “good” life may not exhibit any worse results, either in material wealth or outward appearances, during their life than someone who has given their life to Christ, but the final result of the experiment is drastically different.
If we do not abdicate our internal throne, then we are not truly conducting the experiment in the proper manner and we cannot expect the final result to be duplicated from someone who has given their life to Christ. Remember, the experiment lasts from when we are given the chance to surrender our life to Jesus until the moment our souls arrive at the Pearly Gates and we stand before St. Peter to see if our name is on the eternal roll of names.
The experiment is to abdicate your internal throne.
The result is when one either enters Heaven or doesn’t enter Heaven.
The time frame of the experiment is our life, until the point of death when our soul goes to enter Heaven or not.
Abdicating your internal throne is truly giving up, not asking what alternatives one can take to resolve a problem.
By merely asking about alternatives, one assumes that one keeps reign over one’s internal throne. How can I get results to this problem while not giving up power over my self?
Not giving up power over one’s self is a very thinly defined state.
We can deceive ourselves by thinking we are giving up, but we really aren’t. God knows our hearts and minds, even if we don’t.
Our motivation is the key. We can feel good about ourselves when we do good for others – altruism. Like a balloon (or virginity), one prick and it’s gone. Again, God knows our hearts and minds. He knows our motivation for our actions as well as our feelings. Why do we do things for others? Why do we do good works? Is it for the glory of God our Father in Heaven? The minute we think that we are better than someone else because of our good works, we have wasted the eternal gift that God has given us. Our faith is not true, because our works are for our personal good feelings about ourselves, and not given in thanks to God.
Scientific experiment: Giving up and giving to God, i.e. Dropping a drinking glass.
Dropping a drinking glass is when we accept Jesus. By living a “good” life, we still drop the glass. Whether the glass drops and hits the table or continues further equates to going to Heaven or continuing lower to Hell. Until the glass stops falling, both experiments appear (to our narrow view, both in width and depth of time due to our finite wisdom, scope of vision and lifespan) to having the same result: the glass is dropping, much like the law of gravity. Both a person who has given up their life to Christ and a person who leads a “good” life can have an enjoyable life here on earth while they are alive.
It is only when we die, i.e. the glass lands, that we discover the result of the experiment. If we truly abdicated our internal throne, the glass lands on the table (Heaven). If we did not truly give up our life, the glass does not land on the table and our soul does not enter Heaven.
Is God provable by science? The scientific experiment is our life. We cannot know the result before we die. As we cannot know what happens after someone else dies, we cannot know their result of their experiment. Science is proven by repeatable and quantifiable results from testing. The test is our internal life, not our external works. The external works are the glass falling, which can be the same for someone who has truly abdicated control over their life or someone who has not and who judges themselves as “no worse” than the other guy.
When we judge ourselves relative to other humans, we are erroneous, since all humans are fallible and all fall short of perfection.
The Beatitudes tell us of a typical person who abdicates their internal throne. People who are humble and meek, etc. do not typically receive rewards on this earth. Jesus said they will receive their reward in heaven.
Is Heaven full of “vagrants”? Maybe. Those who have nothing may be less prideful of themselves, rather than those who have many possessions or who have achieved many “things” in this life. The recognition that we receive from other people can cloud our judgment of ourselves and may cause us to re-take our internal thrones.
Pride is the sin.
Remember the young prince who asked Jesus how he may follow Him and was given the response to give away all his worldly possessions and follow Jesus. The love of money and possessions was greater than his love for Jesus, and so he did not abdicate his internal throne. His pride of his possessions and achievements got in the way of giving up his throne.
We may not think we are prideful, but it is that last little bit of internal pride and judging oneself against other imperfect humans that is the example of pride. One may have self-esteem, but like the Pharisee thinking he is better than the tax collector, we can fall victim to our own pride. The tax collector’s view of himself as a sinner who is not worthy is the correct example of abdication of one’s internal throne.
The vast majority of the time, we find God when we are plumbing the depths of despair. This is when we have used up our resources and our personal power and we do not get the results we want or expect. This is when many of us ask for help or guidance from God our Father. This is equivalent to worldly children who seek assistance from their worldly parents. As parents, we give our children life and we teach them rules to live by. Then we set them off to live their lives, with their free will. We hope that our children make the right choices and honour their parents and themselves. At some point, the children fail, usually spectacularly, and then they ask for help from the parents. Any advice or answers that we may give as parents may be either accepted, denied, ignored or misunderstood. These 4 responses are what we as God’s children give to God when we pray to Him and ask Him for help.
We may hear and understand His message to us and then choose to ignore the advice. We may hear and understand and choose to heed His words to us. Thirdly, we ignore his message because it doesn't fit in with what we want. Finally, we may not understand His answer to our pleas or we may not hear what He is saying to us because we don’t take the proper amount of time to listen.
If we do not hear or listen to God, we may still choose a path that leads to the same result during the experiment, i.e. the glass still falls during our lifetime, the same as it would if we obeyed His commands, but when the glass hits, it will not hit the table (Heaven). Our result of the scientific experiment is a failure, but we don’t know it until the experiment (our life) is over. People living a “good” life may not exhibit any worse results, either in material wealth or outward appearances, during their life than someone who has given their life to Christ, but the final result of the experiment is drastically different.
If we do not abdicate our internal throne, then we are not truly conducting the experiment in the proper manner and we cannot expect the final result to be duplicated from someone who has given their life to Christ. Remember, the experiment lasts from when we are given the chance to surrender our life to Jesus until the moment our souls arrive at the Pearly Gates and we stand before St. Peter to see if our name is on the eternal roll of names.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
All-Star game and possible league merger
Here is a good article on the All-Star game. While Eric didn't get the MVP that he was hoping for, it sounds like he played very well. Good job Eric!
The end of the above article mentions a few possibilities for next year, including a PBL/CBA merger and the handful of Northeast teams who may join it, including Vermont, Manchester, Montreal and the Rainmen. I guess this is assuming the attempt to join the D-League doesn't work out for us right away. I am somewhat surprised that Quebec wasn't part of the list of teams that may go to the merged league. Maybe the author forgot about them.
The end of the above article mentions a few possibilities for next year, including a PBL/CBA merger and the handful of Northeast teams who may join it, including Vermont, Manchester, Montreal and the Rainmen. I guess this is assuming the attempt to join the D-League doesn't work out for us right away. I am somewhat surprised that Quebec wasn't part of the list of teams that may go to the merged league. Maybe the author forgot about them.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Good luck to Eric and a potential Moncton rival team?
Congrats to Eric for still having the opportunity to show his stuff at the ABA All-Star game, even after the Rainmen have officially left the ABA. I am happy that he is going to see some of his family. They are really supportive of him, as evidenced by the fact that his extended family actually commented on the Herald website a few months ago when it had a story about Eric. I thought it was pretty cool that Eric's family keeps track of his career here in Halifax. Have fun Eric, I hope you get selected as the game MVP!
In other ABA News, Joe Newman is looking at the silver lining around the cloud of the Rainmen leaving the league.
In this news story, Newman is quoted as saying that this "opens the door for an ABA team in Moncton."
While I agree that Moncton is probably the right-size market for an ABA team, I shudder to think that another Maritime entrepreneur might get involved with the ABA. If our D-League hoop dreams don't work out, maybe a Moncton PBL franchise would work well for us, as a ready-made rival for Halifax. You heard it here first!
In other ABA News, Joe Newman is looking at the silver lining around the cloud of the Rainmen leaving the league.
In this news story, Newman is quoted as saying that this "opens the door for an ABA team in Moncton."
While I agree that Moncton is probably the right-size market for an ABA team, I shudder to think that another Maritime entrepreneur might get involved with the ABA. If our D-League hoop dreams don't work out, maybe a Moncton PBL franchise would work well for us, as a ready-made rival for Halifax. You heard it here first!
Short post about the Rainmen
I like Mr. Levingston’s plan to approach the D-League to see if we can join, with the fallback position of joining another league if it doesn’t work out with NBADL. In my previous post, I laid out a SWOT analysis of the Rainmen joining the D-league.
I read somewhere on OSC that PBL and CBA are merging and that the ABA team from Texas has already been playing as Dallas in the CBA, so it sounds like the scenario of the Rainmen joining another league other than the D-League is quite likely. However, I agree with the ambitious plan of talking with the D-League, because you don't get anything if you don't ask.
The NBADL will be impressed with Mr. Levingston and his organization, but if the league doesn't have plans to expand to the Northeast and if there are no other teams in the area that are ready and/or willing to join the D-League for next season, then we will probably join the new PBL/CBA merged league. The bottom line is the Rainmen need other teams in the Northeast to be part of whatever league we eventually join, to make it viable in the long-term.
I read somewhere on OSC that PBL and CBA are merging and that the ABA team from Texas has already been playing as Dallas in the CBA, so it sounds like the scenario of the Rainmen joining another league other than the D-League is quite likely. However, I agree with the ambitious plan of talking with the D-League, because you don't get anything if you don't ask.
The NBADL will be impressed with Mr. Levingston and his organization, but if the league doesn't have plans to expand to the Northeast and if there are no other teams in the area that are ready and/or willing to join the D-League for next season, then we will probably join the new PBL/CBA merged league. The bottom line is the Rainmen need other teams in the Northeast to be part of whatever league we eventually join, to make it viable in the long-term.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Wow! Big news for the Rainmen!
In his press release, Mr. Andre Levingston announced that the Rainmen have left the ABA effective immediately and are not participating in the playoffs. This was great news and the timing was a bit of a surprise, although not really when one thinks about the expense that travelling to Quebec for the playoffs would have been, especially when it was pretty much written on the wall that the ABA had let the Rainmen down so many times that it would be almost absurd for us to stick around.
Furthermore, Mr. Levingston informed the press that the Rainmen would be looking into joining the NBA D-League. You don't have to go too far into my blog to see that I have been hoping for this for some time.
I really think the Rainmen will be a good fit in the D-League, despite some potential obstacles. Why? Here is a quick SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis:
- Erie, Pennsylvania was just announced as the latest D-League expansion team for the 2008-09 season. The Erie metro area has a population of 281,000. The Halifax metro area has a population of about 385,000. I think we can support a D-League team if the owners in Erie think they can make a go of it, in a much smaller city than Halifax. Ron Sertz, the director of basketball ops in Erie, seems to be the man behind minor-league sports in Erie. From what I can tell, Mr. Levingston seems to be making connections with guys who are the Ron Sertz’s here in Halifax that are obviously crucial to a professional team’s success in a small market like ours. STRENGTH. The Rainmen front office has learned a lot from this year’s experience and the population of Halifax can and will support a brand name like the NBA.
- To get a sense of what ticket prices may be like in the D-League, here is a link to the Erie franchise.
The prices look to be about 50% higher than what our tickets were in Halifax this season. Erie will have eight different seating packages available, from “Hollywood Seats” and “Courtside Suites” to “Endzone” and “Corner” seats. I think slicing up the arena in so many categories is a smart way to provide the opportunity for fans of all economic means to enjoy the game. OPPORTUNITY. Here is a chance to really fill up the Metro Centre, with a variety of price points which create demand for premium seating and give more people a chance to afford bringing their whole family to a game with the lower-cost seating choices.
- I really like the Season Ticket Holder Privileges part of the Erie ticket price program and I really hope the Rainmen have something along those lines next year. OPPORTUNITY. There is so much that can be done in terms of promotion next season. While ticket prices may be higher than when we were in the ABA, the product will be better.
- I just realized that the Rainmen intro montage with the piano music and shots of the Rainmen is the same music and concept that the NBA used in their Where Amazing Happens campaign. Coincidence? Can’t be. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. STRENGTH. The NBA will have to be impressed with the Rainmen organization.
- In terms of players returning next year, that will likely depend on a few factors such as which league we will be in, who the coaching staff will be, how many roots the players have made here i.e. girlfriends, and of course pay levels. We can’t expect the players to put the rest of their lives on hold if the pay is not commensurate with the commitment to come to Halifax to work. THREAT, assuming we want at least some of our players to return. I think we know who we want back!
- NBA Commissioner David Stern stated in 2005 that he planned to expand the league to 15 teams and to develop it into an NBA farm system, with each D-League team would have 2 NBA affiliate teams. Recently announced expansion teams in Reno, Nevada and Erie, Pennsylvania make it 14 teams. WEAKNESS. If the NBA is not receptive to opening up the Northeast, we can’t make them. The NBA already closed down 2 of its teams in the southeast when they decided to expand the league westward. Does the Northeast fit into their plans?
I figure the NBA will not expand too quickly, they have a very valuable product and diluting it too much by expanding the D-League without strict control over who gets a team is risky for them. This ain’t Joe Newman’s ABA! A total of 11 D-League teams have either folded or moved in the league’s 7 seasons. Considering the nature of minor league sports teams, this is a pretty respectable retention rate. By comparison, here is the Wikipedia entry for the ABA.
Check out how many teams are in the league this year and how many are defunct or have left for other leagues. Interestingly, the Rainmen are already off the list of this year’s teams.
- I will repeat my concern over the lack of D-League teams in the Northeast US. Erie is only 93 miles from Cleveland, who appears to be their NBA affiliate. Erie will be the closest D-League team to Halifax and it’s over 500 miles away from Boston, let alone Nova Scotia. Unless the D-League expands into the Northeast in a meaningful way, our team’s travel costs will be exorbitant and so will our competition’s.
WEAKNESS. This may or may not be a problem, depending how many other Northeast teams are able to make the jump to the D-League. However, the answer to that question may be that no other teams can or will do it.
- A lack of nearby teams and therefore higher costs will translate into higher ticket prices. What is the magic price point for Halifax fans? I don’t know, but I’ll bet that a price any more than $20-25 for an average seat will be perceived as too expensive. THREAT. If prices are too high, the fans won’t come.
Hmmm, pretty even SWOT so far, with 2 of each category. The Strengths and Opportunities seem to be fairly well-identified items that relate to the Rainmen’s existing organization, while the Weaknesses and Threats arise from unknown factors such as what will happen with ticket prices, who will be our competition and can we afford to travel beyond the US Northeast to play? If details on these latter issues become known, then this analysis can be firmed up to show whether or not the D-League is viable for the Rainmen.
Furthermore, Mr. Levingston informed the press that the Rainmen would be looking into joining the NBA D-League. You don't have to go too far into my blog to see that I have been hoping for this for some time.
I really think the Rainmen will be a good fit in the D-League, despite some potential obstacles. Why? Here is a quick SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis:
- Erie, Pennsylvania was just announced as the latest D-League expansion team for the 2008-09 season. The Erie metro area has a population of 281,000. The Halifax metro area has a population of about 385,000. I think we can support a D-League team if the owners in Erie think they can make a go of it, in a much smaller city than Halifax. Ron Sertz, the director of basketball ops in Erie, seems to be the man behind minor-league sports in Erie. From what I can tell, Mr. Levingston seems to be making connections with guys who are the Ron Sertz’s here in Halifax that are obviously crucial to a professional team’s success in a small market like ours. STRENGTH. The Rainmen front office has learned a lot from this year’s experience and the population of Halifax can and will support a brand name like the NBA.
- To get a sense of what ticket prices may be like in the D-League, here is a link to the Erie franchise.
The prices look to be about 50% higher than what our tickets were in Halifax this season. Erie will have eight different seating packages available, from “Hollywood Seats” and “Courtside Suites” to “Endzone” and “Corner” seats. I think slicing up the arena in so many categories is a smart way to provide the opportunity for fans of all economic means to enjoy the game. OPPORTUNITY. Here is a chance to really fill up the Metro Centre, with a variety of price points which create demand for premium seating and give more people a chance to afford bringing their whole family to a game with the lower-cost seating choices.
- I really like the Season Ticket Holder Privileges part of the Erie ticket price program and I really hope the Rainmen have something along those lines next year. OPPORTUNITY. There is so much that can be done in terms of promotion next season. While ticket prices may be higher than when we were in the ABA, the product will be better.
- I just realized that the Rainmen intro montage with the piano music and shots of the Rainmen is the same music and concept that the NBA used in their Where Amazing Happens campaign. Coincidence? Can’t be. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. STRENGTH. The NBA will have to be impressed with the Rainmen organization.
- In terms of players returning next year, that will likely depend on a few factors such as which league we will be in, who the coaching staff will be, how many roots the players have made here i.e. girlfriends, and of course pay levels. We can’t expect the players to put the rest of their lives on hold if the pay is not commensurate with the commitment to come to Halifax to work. THREAT, assuming we want at least some of our players to return. I think we know who we want back!
- NBA Commissioner David Stern stated in 2005 that he planned to expand the league to 15 teams and to develop it into an NBA farm system, with each D-League team would have 2 NBA affiliate teams. Recently announced expansion teams in Reno, Nevada and Erie, Pennsylvania make it 14 teams. WEAKNESS. If the NBA is not receptive to opening up the Northeast, we can’t make them. The NBA already closed down 2 of its teams in the southeast when they decided to expand the league westward. Does the Northeast fit into their plans?
I figure the NBA will not expand too quickly, they have a very valuable product and diluting it too much by expanding the D-League without strict control over who gets a team is risky for them. This ain’t Joe Newman’s ABA! A total of 11 D-League teams have either folded or moved in the league’s 7 seasons. Considering the nature of minor league sports teams, this is a pretty respectable retention rate. By comparison, here is the Wikipedia entry for the ABA.
Check out how many teams are in the league this year and how many are defunct or have left for other leagues. Interestingly, the Rainmen are already off the list of this year’s teams.
- I will repeat my concern over the lack of D-League teams in the Northeast US. Erie is only 93 miles from Cleveland, who appears to be their NBA affiliate. Erie will be the closest D-League team to Halifax and it’s over 500 miles away from Boston, let alone Nova Scotia. Unless the D-League expands into the Northeast in a meaningful way, our team’s travel costs will be exorbitant and so will our competition’s.
WEAKNESS. This may or may not be a problem, depending how many other Northeast teams are able to make the jump to the D-League. However, the answer to that question may be that no other teams can or will do it.
- A lack of nearby teams and therefore higher costs will translate into higher ticket prices. What is the magic price point for Halifax fans? I don’t know, but I’ll bet that a price any more than $20-25 for an average seat will be perceived as too expensive. THREAT. If prices are too high, the fans won’t come.
Hmmm, pretty even SWOT so far, with 2 of each category. The Strengths and Opportunities seem to be fairly well-identified items that relate to the Rainmen’s existing organization, while the Weaknesses and Threats arise from unknown factors such as what will happen with ticket prices, who will be our competition and can we afford to travel beyond the US Northeast to play? If details on these latter issues become known, then this analysis can be firmed up to show whether or not the D-League is viable for the Rainmen.
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Rainmen Belong in the NBA D-League.
Chris Parsons recently posted on his blog Section 23 that the Rainmen's average attendance in this inaugual season was just over 1,800 fans per home game.
A couple of months ago, I speculated on the finances of the Rainmen as well as the possibilities that lie before us in terms of other leagues for next season.
I am certain that joining the D-League would propel the Rainmen to another level altogether. We would easily have a minimum of 1,000 more fans at games just from the association with the NBA. Haligonians need a brand name before they commit to anything and the NBA name would do the trick.
As for scheduling, I’ll bet the NBA wouldn’t take any mess from WTCC in terms of getting weekend games, which would probably make it a realistic goal to have an attendance average of 4,000+ fans.
By the way, I am still willing to join in any fractional ownership that is offered to the public, as my finances allow. I think it would be amazing to own a small fraction of a pro basketball team, especially one that is obviously so well-run as the Rainmen. However, Mr. Levingston is an entrepreneur (as I am) so I figure he would likely rather reap the benefits of his risk-taking and hard work, and I can appreciate and respect that.
By the way Chris, I can believe both of Mr. Levingston’s quotes that you mention. At the start of the season, the break-even may have been 2,000 fans. By the time we lost the Daily News and started flying in replacement players from California and Atlanta, I am sure those costs increased substantially.
Here the official website that summarizes the D-League Team Affiliation System.
The D-League teams are affiliated with one to three NBA teams. Most have 2 NBA teams who are “permitted to assign players in their first or second seasons to the D-League.”
From the NBADL official site, there are 65 players in the D-League who have NBA playing experience and there were 18 call-ups this season.
It seems like this league is a good chance for players to get to the big show and a chance for fans to see developing players before they go on to superstardom.
As I mentioned some time ago on this blog, a natural NBA affiliate team for us would be the Toronto Raptors, considering Mr. Levingston’s past association with someone from that organization as well as being the only Canadian team in the NBA. Since the NBADL typically has more than one NBA affiliate per team, I suggest our other affiliate team should be the Celtics.
Nova Scotia has long had a connection with New England, with generations of people moving back and forth over the past couple hundred years between here and “the Boston states”. Most hockey fans in Halifax who are more than 20 years old are either Montreal fans, Toronto fans or Boston fans. Boston’s proximity to Halifax makes it a good second choice as an NBA affiliate team, especially since we get a lot of our TV cable channels from Boston.
Plus, how exciting/potentially profitable would it be to have NBA exhibition games here in Halifax to kick off our season, like we currently have with the NHL hockey games? Just some food for thought.
Of course, all of this is predicated on the idea that we may someday join the NBADL.
A couple of months ago, I speculated on the finances of the Rainmen as well as the possibilities that lie before us in terms of other leagues for next season.
I am certain that joining the D-League would propel the Rainmen to another level altogether. We would easily have a minimum of 1,000 more fans at games just from the association with the NBA. Haligonians need a brand name before they commit to anything and the NBA name would do the trick.
As for scheduling, I’ll bet the NBA wouldn’t take any mess from WTCC in terms of getting weekend games, which would probably make it a realistic goal to have an attendance average of 4,000+ fans.
By the way, I am still willing to join in any fractional ownership that is offered to the public, as my finances allow. I think it would be amazing to own a small fraction of a pro basketball team, especially one that is obviously so well-run as the Rainmen. However, Mr. Levingston is an entrepreneur (as I am) so I figure he would likely rather reap the benefits of his risk-taking and hard work, and I can appreciate and respect that.
By the way Chris, I can believe both of Mr. Levingston’s quotes that you mention. At the start of the season, the break-even may have been 2,000 fans. By the time we lost the Daily News and started flying in replacement players from California and Atlanta, I am sure those costs increased substantially.
Here the official website that summarizes the D-League Team Affiliation System.
The D-League teams are affiliated with one to three NBA teams. Most have 2 NBA teams who are “permitted to assign players in their first or second seasons to the D-League.”
From the NBADL official site, there are 65 players in the D-League who have NBA playing experience and there were 18 call-ups this season.
It seems like this league is a good chance for players to get to the big show and a chance for fans to see developing players before they go on to superstardom.
As I mentioned some time ago on this blog, a natural NBA affiliate team for us would be the Toronto Raptors, considering Mr. Levingston’s past association with someone from that organization as well as being the only Canadian team in the NBA. Since the NBADL typically has more than one NBA affiliate per team, I suggest our other affiliate team should be the Celtics.
Nova Scotia has long had a connection with New England, with generations of people moving back and forth over the past couple hundred years between here and “the Boston states”. Most hockey fans in Halifax who are more than 20 years old are either Montreal fans, Toronto fans or Boston fans. Boston’s proximity to Halifax makes it a good second choice as an NBA affiliate team, especially since we get a lot of our TV cable channels from Boston.
Plus, how exciting/potentially profitable would it be to have NBA exhibition games here in Halifax to kick off our season, like we currently have with the NHL hockey games? Just some food for thought.
Of course, all of this is predicated on the idea that we may someday join the NBADL.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Disappointing end to the Rainmen's regular season
Well, we lost to the Atlanta Vision, 131-126. We joined the ranks of the Georgia Gwizzlies and the Bahama Pro Show as the only teams that Atlanta has beaten this season.
Last night’s game reminded me of how our team played at the start of the season: letting themselves get boxed out when a few simple drives to the hoop would shut that mess down fast. It was almost as if a different team played this game, compared to Friday’s game as well as the last few games.
Coach Lewis must have found the single-offensive-play coach’s manual that he used before March. I wish whoever hid it on him would have burned it, instead.
Leaving the 2 ABA All-Stars on the bench for the final part of the game is senseless. Giving the ball to the player with a 21.9% 3-point ratio — the lowest on the team except for Dipp, but I won’t drag him into this — when you are down by 10 and need three-pointers is ridiculous. How about Brian, who is on fire the last couple of games and is 39.4% on the season for 3-pointers? How about Akeem the Dream? He is only shooting 55.6% from beyond the 3-point line, so I can see why we wouldn’t feed him the ball. Come on!
Speaking of Dipp, I feel sorry for the opportunity that was wasted in having a young local player being left to rot on the bench, even behind the 13th player in some games. The humiliation of that is still sour in my mouth, I can’t imagine how Dipp and his parents feel. I suggest we look back in the news story archives from last autumn, when Dipp was signed. The photos and stories were filled with so much hope for the future. Now I suspect Dipp has more regret than hoop dreams because of this season. It is really too bad that he wasn’t given the game time to learn how to play at this level, especially when we were playing games that weren’t close, either winning or losing. That is when you give your learning players their playing time, not 60 or 90-second shifts at the end of the game. I would be surprised if Dipp returns next year. It would be really sad to see Dipp on another team who plays against us next year, as a reminder of what could have been. Maybe Dipp won’t make it to the NBA, but his potential was not touched this year.
If it is true that some key players won’t return if Rick Lewis is the coach next year, I think the decision of who to keep is a fairly easy one. There are plenty of ex-players in Halifax who could easily coach this team. I mean, we only have some of the best university teams in the country here in Nova Scotia. We saw some of the opposition’s player-coaches out-coach Rick Lewis in home games this year. There aren’t any university alumni who could use their actual playing experience on a high-level basketball team to help the Rainmen next year? How about Shannon and Daniel? I wish I knew how much input they had this year. I’ll bet it wasn’t as much as it could or maybe should have been.
Anyway, enough venting. Let’s give the Rainmen a standing “O” for the season and the efforts of the team as well as the front office. Best of luck in Quebec, I wish I could be there to cheer you on.
Last night’s game reminded me of how our team played at the start of the season: letting themselves get boxed out when a few simple drives to the hoop would shut that mess down fast. It was almost as if a different team played this game, compared to Friday’s game as well as the last few games.
Coach Lewis must have found the single-offensive-play coach’s manual that he used before March. I wish whoever hid it on him would have burned it, instead.
Leaving the 2 ABA All-Stars on the bench for the final part of the game is senseless. Giving the ball to the player with a 21.9% 3-point ratio — the lowest on the team except for Dipp, but I won’t drag him into this — when you are down by 10 and need three-pointers is ridiculous. How about Brian, who is on fire the last couple of games and is 39.4% on the season for 3-pointers? How about Akeem the Dream? He is only shooting 55.6% from beyond the 3-point line, so I can see why we wouldn’t feed him the ball. Come on!
Speaking of Dipp, I feel sorry for the opportunity that was wasted in having a young local player being left to rot on the bench, even behind the 13th player in some games. The humiliation of that is still sour in my mouth, I can’t imagine how Dipp and his parents feel. I suggest we look back in the news story archives from last autumn, when Dipp was signed. The photos and stories were filled with so much hope for the future. Now I suspect Dipp has more regret than hoop dreams because of this season. It is really too bad that he wasn’t given the game time to learn how to play at this level, especially when we were playing games that weren’t close, either winning or losing. That is when you give your learning players their playing time, not 60 or 90-second shifts at the end of the game. I would be surprised if Dipp returns next year. It would be really sad to see Dipp on another team who plays against us next year, as a reminder of what could have been. Maybe Dipp won’t make it to the NBA, but his potential was not touched this year.
If it is true that some key players won’t return if Rick Lewis is the coach next year, I think the decision of who to keep is a fairly easy one. There are plenty of ex-players in Halifax who could easily coach this team. I mean, we only have some of the best university teams in the country here in Nova Scotia. We saw some of the opposition’s player-coaches out-coach Rick Lewis in home games this year. There aren’t any university alumni who could use their actual playing experience on a high-level basketball team to help the Rainmen next year? How about Shannon and Daniel? I wish I knew how much input they had this year. I’ll bet it wasn’t as much as it could or maybe should have been.
Anyway, enough venting. Let’s give the Rainmen a standing “O” for the season and the efforts of the team as well as the front office. Best of luck in Quebec, I wish I could be there to cheer you on.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Rainmen burn Atlanta 134-118
Actually, the game was closer than that score indicates, until the Rainmen opened it up in the fourth quarter.
I am pretty impressed that Atlanta made the trip up here. I wasn't sure how good they would be, considering they have only played a couple of handfuls of games, and most of those against the weak sisters of the South division - Georgia and Bahamas.
Even though Atlanta's bags got lost in the flight, the players still showed up, wearing Team Canada hockey T-shirts with makeshift numbers made from masking tape on their backs. Before long, the tape starting peeling off, until we had to take the referee's word on which number player had fouled later in the game since only one or two players still had their numbers by half-time.
The Atlanta coach was very professional, introducing himself to the front table before the game and being the best-dressed coach we have seen in the ABA (sorry, Rick; you came a close second in coach’s wardrobe last night). So thanks Atlanta Vision, you helped the Rainmen finish their season and raised yourselves in my books, too.
Our team is firing on all pistons and at the right time too: as playoffs approach. Whatever the coaching staff have changed with the new lineup is working, especially for Brian. He is getting a lot more chances to put up uncontested threes and we are seeing his talent shine at last. While it helps that we are playing weaker teams lately, I think we have a good chance in Quebec, even against teams that have previously given us trouble on the court.
However, my pessimistic side is already thinking about how many/few players will be back next year. Just when we get the team we have been waiting for all season, it will be 9 months before we see them in action again. Given the pay levels for the players, I will not be surprised if a lot of them do not return next year, as life continues in the off-season and other opportunities — basketball-related or not — arise for our veterans.
I just want to say to the Rainmen, whoever reads this: thanks for a great season, you are all gentlemen and it was nice to meet you and cheer you on from the front row, behind RS Smooth. I hope to see you all again next season and in particular, I will keep putting up KD boxes for Kadiri’s blocks as long as he is in Halifax.
Best of luck tonight and in Quebec!
I am pretty impressed that Atlanta made the trip up here. I wasn't sure how good they would be, considering they have only played a couple of handfuls of games, and most of those against the weak sisters of the South division - Georgia and Bahamas.
Even though Atlanta's bags got lost in the flight, the players still showed up, wearing Team Canada hockey T-shirts with makeshift numbers made from masking tape on their backs. Before long, the tape starting peeling off, until we had to take the referee's word on which number player had fouled later in the game since only one or two players still had their numbers by half-time.
The Atlanta coach was very professional, introducing himself to the front table before the game and being the best-dressed coach we have seen in the ABA (sorry, Rick; you came a close second in coach’s wardrobe last night). So thanks Atlanta Vision, you helped the Rainmen finish their season and raised yourselves in my books, too.
Our team is firing on all pistons and at the right time too: as playoffs approach. Whatever the coaching staff have changed with the new lineup is working, especially for Brian. He is getting a lot more chances to put up uncontested threes and we are seeing his talent shine at last. While it helps that we are playing weaker teams lately, I think we have a good chance in Quebec, even against teams that have previously given us trouble on the court.
However, my pessimistic side is already thinking about how many/few players will be back next year. Just when we get the team we have been waiting for all season, it will be 9 months before we see them in action again. Given the pay levels for the players, I will not be surprised if a lot of them do not return next year, as life continues in the off-season and other opportunities — basketball-related or not — arise for our veterans.
I just want to say to the Rainmen, whoever reads this: thanks for a great season, you are all gentlemen and it was nice to meet you and cheer you on from the front row, behind RS Smooth. I hope to see you all again next season and in particular, I will keep putting up KD boxes for Kadiri’s blocks as long as he is in Halifax.
Best of luck tonight and in Quebec!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
ABA stands for Asinine Basketball Association
So now the excuse for why the Rainmen have to go to Quebec to see if they can go to Quebec is that the Halifax Metro Centre is not available on the required date. Is this the fault of the ABA or the Rainmen?
This is totally the league’s fault. The idea of a league is that there is is some central organizing body that handles little things like PLAYOFFS!
Surely, the teams who are still around were viable months ago when the playoff schedule should have been set up. A playoff schedule could have been made earlier than the same month as the playoffs are to be held.
As I have said before, if there was some minimum number of games that must be played to be eligible for the playoffs, like say 50% or 67% of a 36-game schedule (or whatever the schedule would work out to be, depending on the number of teams in each division and the overall league), then teams who do not meet that minimum don’t play after the regular season. This would get rid of the teams with a 10-1 or 1-7 record getting the chance to maybe beat teams that have played a full (or fuller) slate of games.
At the very least, the method of getting to the playoffs should be consistent. I suggest that there should be 2 conferences in the ABA: East and West. The top 4 teams from each conference who have played at least the minimum number of games go to the playoffs. Voila! The playoffs are set up!
Instead, the ABA makes each division up at the last minute (remember Boston was originally in the North division, not the Northeast?) because their original divisional plan collapsed with so many teams going under during the season. Then they devise a Machiavellian method of multiple-level preliminaries for each different division and include such powerhouses as 4-23 Maywood and 1-7 Georgia.
The ABA is nothing more than what the people on OSC say it is: a money grab for Joe Newman, who makes up the rules as situations arise. That is no way to run a league, or a business. A pox on the ABA!
This is totally the league’s fault. The idea of a league is that there is is some central organizing body that handles little things like PLAYOFFS!
Surely, the teams who are still around were viable months ago when the playoff schedule should have been set up. A playoff schedule could have been made earlier than the same month as the playoffs are to be held.
As I have said before, if there was some minimum number of games that must be played to be eligible for the playoffs, like say 50% or 67% of a 36-game schedule (or whatever the schedule would work out to be, depending on the number of teams in each division and the overall league), then teams who do not meet that minimum don’t play after the regular season. This would get rid of the teams with a 10-1 or 1-7 record getting the chance to maybe beat teams that have played a full (or fuller) slate of games.
At the very least, the method of getting to the playoffs should be consistent. I suggest that there should be 2 conferences in the ABA: East and West. The top 4 teams from each conference who have played at least the minimum number of games go to the playoffs. Voila! The playoffs are set up!
Instead, the ABA makes each division up at the last minute (remember Boston was originally in the North division, not the Northeast?) because their original divisional plan collapsed with so many teams going under during the season. Then they devise a Machiavellian method of multiple-level preliminaries for each different division and include such powerhouses as 4-23 Maywood and 1-7 Georgia.
The ABA is nothing more than what the people on OSC say it is: a money grab for Joe Newman, who makes up the rules as situations arise. That is no way to run a league, or a business. A pox on the ABA!
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tribute theme to Rainmen owner Andre Levingston
We need Isaac Hayes to record these lyrics to the "Theme From Shaft"! If Isaac isn't available, how about a great local band like The Metric System or The Mellotones?
Who's the dapper man
That rocks a fedora at all the games?
(Andre!)
You're damn right.
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his team The Rainmen?
(Andre!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out
With ABA madness all about?
(Andre!)
Right on!
They say this cat Andre is a bad mother--
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Andre!
(Then we can dig it)
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
(Andre Levingston)
Who's the dapper man
That rocks a fedora at all the games?
(Andre!)
You're damn right.
Who is the man
That would risk his neck for his team The Rainmen?
(Andre!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the cat that won't cop out
With ABA madness all about?
(Andre!)
Right on!
They say this cat Andre is a bad mother--
(Shut your mouth)
But I'm talkin' about Andre!
(Then we can dig it)
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
(Andre Levingston)
Curiouser and curiouser
I am feeling a bit literary today. The above quote from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" seems appropriate to the ABA Playoff SNAFU. Apparently, Joe Newman didn’t want the NCAA to have the most March Madness. I have personally set up playoffs that weren’t this complicated or ridiculous.
At least the Rainmen get to go to Quebec, at least for one game. I am sure they would have rather hosted that game for the revenue and not have the travel costs for a game that may be their only one in the playoffs.
I truly wonder who gets paid to make these decisions. Perhaps Maywood’s owner paid someone a bit extra to get his playoff game. Another literary quote, from George Orwell's "Animal Farm", “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
P.S. Congrats to Eric Crookshank for being named to the league All-Star team. Only the ABA would play an All-Star game the week before the playoffs, risking injury to their self-described All-Stars.
At least the Rainmen get to go to Quebec, at least for one game. I am sure they would have rather hosted that game for the revenue and not have the travel costs for a game that may be their only one in the playoffs.
I truly wonder who gets paid to make these decisions. Perhaps Maywood’s owner paid someone a bit extra to get his playoff game. Another literary quote, from George Orwell's "Animal Farm", “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
P.S. Congrats to Eric Crookshank for being named to the league All-Star team. Only the ABA would play an All-Star game the week before the playoffs, risking injury to their self-described All-Stars.
Sometimes I just have to shake my head
So the Rainmen will not get to host a playoff game en route to Quebec. Chris Parsons and I agree in the speculation that the New York area teams (Jersey and Westchester, who both cancelled games against Halifax) refused to travel to Canada if they won their preliminary games. If Montreal wins to face the Rainmen, maybe we should host the game anyway? The way I see it, the ABA should grow some and tell the teams that refuse to travel that they will forfeit the game, in regular season as well as the playoffs.
The playoff format, as reported by the ABA, was that the higher-seeded team would be the home team. The fact that 4 teams must play off to match up against the Rainmen tells me that we are the highest-ranked team of these 5, otherwise we would not get a bye in this preliminary round.
While the iconoclast in me says, “Yeah! Leave the ABA!”, the realist in me says, “If there are no other viable leagues that will have teams within a day’s travel by road, then it doesn’t make sense to cut off one’s nose to spite the face.” The PBL only has future expansion teams (Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo) that are anywhere near Halifax. The CBA’s nearest team is in upstate New York. The IBL has no teams east of Michigan. The USBL has a couple of New York teams, but the others are south and west of there.
Unless a group of Northeast teams makes a move, I don’t see how the Rainmen could make a go of it.
Other than the playoffs being a complete SNAFU and a couple teams cancelling away games on us, I don’t see how the ABA is ruining our enjoyment of the Rainmen. The haters will always find some reason to no attend the games, the ABA is the obvious scapegoat (and rightly so). Mr. Levingston and his team have gone above and beyond all expectations to bring a full slate of home games to Halifax, for which I am grateful, as possibly the first retail season ticket holder. Just look at the travesties that are some of the other teams in the league (those that are still existing). We Halifax fans are truly fortunate to have a committed organization like the Rainmen who have provided 18 entertaining games, along with the teams who filled in for lesser organizations who either folded during the season or refused to travel to Halifax.
While I sincerely hope that the Rainmen find a better league (fingers crossed for NBA-D League), I wonder if the problems of the ABA are symptomatic of minor professional leagues, like PBL, CBA, IBL, USBL, etc. The teams in these leagues play in small markets that cannot support a more expensive franchise. Quite often, the city population of these minor league teams is insufficient to really support a team, or the management skills of the team front offices is lacking. Neither of these seem to be a problem for the Rainmen.
The movie Semi-Pro is funnier because it is based on the facts of minor-league teams:
1. The team owner often has delusions of grandeur, e.g. the Corning Bulldogs and Georgia Gwizzlies
2. The owner does not has enough money to see the team through the difficult times, usually the first few years
In short, they are poor businessmen who don’t realize that professional sport is a business. Again, neither of these situations appear to be the case with Mr. Levingston. By all accounts, he is a self-made man who wants to help make a difference wherever he can.
I will continue to support the Rainmen and root for them, despite that they are in an abusive league. I hope they can get out of this relationship, because it hurts me to see them hurt. OK, that metaphor has gone far enough. Anyway, let’s show the Bahama Pro Show what a stadium full of fans looks like, while our guys proceed to dunk, lay-up and rain 3-pointers on the way to two victories to end the regular season.
The playoff format, as reported by the ABA, was that the higher-seeded team would be the home team. The fact that 4 teams must play off to match up against the Rainmen tells me that we are the highest-ranked team of these 5, otherwise we would not get a bye in this preliminary round.
While the iconoclast in me says, “Yeah! Leave the ABA!”, the realist in me says, “If there are no other viable leagues that will have teams within a day’s travel by road, then it doesn’t make sense to cut off one’s nose to spite the face.” The PBL only has future expansion teams (Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo) that are anywhere near Halifax. The CBA’s nearest team is in upstate New York. The IBL has no teams east of Michigan. The USBL has a couple of New York teams, but the others are south and west of there.
Unless a group of Northeast teams makes a move, I don’t see how the Rainmen could make a go of it.
Other than the playoffs being a complete SNAFU and a couple teams cancelling away games on us, I don’t see how the ABA is ruining our enjoyment of the Rainmen. The haters will always find some reason to no attend the games, the ABA is the obvious scapegoat (and rightly so). Mr. Levingston and his team have gone above and beyond all expectations to bring a full slate of home games to Halifax, for which I am grateful, as possibly the first retail season ticket holder. Just look at the travesties that are some of the other teams in the league (those that are still existing). We Halifax fans are truly fortunate to have a committed organization like the Rainmen who have provided 18 entertaining games, along with the teams who filled in for lesser organizations who either folded during the season or refused to travel to Halifax.
While I sincerely hope that the Rainmen find a better league (fingers crossed for NBA-D League), I wonder if the problems of the ABA are symptomatic of minor professional leagues, like PBL, CBA, IBL, USBL, etc. The teams in these leagues play in small markets that cannot support a more expensive franchise. Quite often, the city population of these minor league teams is insufficient to really support a team, or the management skills of the team front offices is lacking. Neither of these seem to be a problem for the Rainmen.
The movie Semi-Pro is funnier because it is based on the facts of minor-league teams:
1. The team owner often has delusions of grandeur, e.g. the Corning Bulldogs and Georgia Gwizzlies
2. The owner does not has enough money to see the team through the difficult times, usually the first few years
In short, they are poor businessmen who don’t realize that professional sport is a business. Again, neither of these situations appear to be the case with Mr. Levingston. By all accounts, he is a self-made man who wants to help make a difference wherever he can.
I will continue to support the Rainmen and root for them, despite that they are in an abusive league. I hope they can get out of this relationship, because it hurts me to see them hurt. OK, that metaphor has gone far enough. Anyway, let’s show the Bahama Pro Show what a stadium full of fans looks like, while our guys proceed to dunk, lay-up and rain 3-pointers on the way to two victories to end the regular season.
Friday, March 7, 2008
ABA 2008 Playoffs
Latest news on the playoffs from ABAlive.com
5 out of 8 teams will receive byes!?! OK... Anyway, the teams getting byes are Vermont, Manchester, San Diego, Texas Tycoons and the host team, Quebec.
Beijing has 5 players trying out for the Olympics, so they are not participating.
Unfortunately, the other 12 teams still in contention will have to battle for only 3 regional spots. No one said the ABA made sense.
Below are the respective press releases for each division playoff and my thoughts on them:
South Division
Three teams in the South division: West Texas Whirlwind, Georgia Gwizzlies, and Atlanta Vision. West Texas (3-6) will play Georgia (1-7) -- what a clash of the Titans!
The winner will go on to lose to Atlanta (6-2), who is pretty much guaranteed a spot, even though they have only played 8 games, beating such notable teams as the aforementioned Gwizzlies and the incomparable Bahama Pro Show (1-5, to be 1-7 after next week in Halifax).
I reiterate my protest that a team like Atlanta, who has so far played only 8 games of an 18-game season does not deserve to be in the playoffs against teams like Halifax, who have laboured to play as many games as possible.
West Division
Four West division teams:San Fran (5-10), OC (14-12), Maywood (3-23) and Long Beach (10-7) will play off to send their representative to Quebec.
My guess is that the doormats of the league -- Maywood, as if I had to say their name, which should be Maywouldn't -- and San Fran will fall to OC and Long Beach, who appear to be fairly good teams. Both OC and Long Beach have recently beaten higher-ranked teams, so they are both feeling good. Their matchup should be a good one.
Long Beach pretty much owns OC, winning all five of their matches this season, although the margins have been getting closer over the past few games. I'm going to say Long Beach goes to Quebec.
Northeast Division
Five teams from our Northeast division will play for the chance to play in Quebec. Jersey (7-10) will play Boston (8-16) and Montreal (8-17) will play Westchester (8-6). The winners of those games play off to see who will go against Halifax for the Northeast spot in the Awesome 8, or whatever they call it.
You may not remember Jersey or Westchester. They both cancelled games with us (which should have been forfeits for the record books, but I am not the league statistician).
Jersey appears to have a defensive game, with most of their opponents scoring an average of only 108 points per game. Unfortunately, Jersey has an average score of 103 points. They lost big to Vermont (but who hasn't?) and luckily they had First State to beat up on, to help Jersey's record with 4 of Jersey's 7 wins coming against the Fusion.
Westchester has beaten Jersey 4 out of their 5 matches of the season, with close scoring margins in 4 of the games (between 1 and 9 points), so Jersey is probably a weaker team than their record shows.
This is a bit of a toss-up, given the lack of exposure to Westchester or Jersey, but my guess is Jersey will win over Boston (Jersey did beat the Kebs, after all) and Montreal should beat Westchester. Montreal whupped the Phantoms in their only match-up this season, 130-96.
In the play-off, I think Montreal will win over Jersey, based on Montreal's record versus Jersey's record against common opponents, as well as Montreal's experience against a variety of teams, rather than Jersey's history of only playing a few teams who happen to be within an hour's drive, except for getting trounced in Vermont and Beijing. Come to think of it, maybe that's why Jersey doesn't travel much, they get destroyed away from home.
Our game against Montreal should be a good one. Even though they won the season series 3-2 against us, our team is by far the strongest it has ever been and we are riding a high of wins (assuming the Bahama Pro Show don't stack their team with Vermont players). If Montreal plays their scheduled end-of-season games in Beijing, I think they will lose to us in the playoffs, either because we will play better than them, or they will still be suffering from jetlag or depression after probably losing both games in China. Getting past Westchester will likely empty Montreal's gas tank, just in time for our well-rested players to run up and down the court against them on the way to victory.
So there you have it: we have a playoff game, probably at home, since the other teams are playing off to get to us, and probably against Montreal.
Looks good for us going to Quebec!
5 out of 8 teams will receive byes!?! OK... Anyway, the teams getting byes are Vermont, Manchester, San Diego, Texas Tycoons and the host team, Quebec.
Beijing has 5 players trying out for the Olympics, so they are not participating.
Unfortunately, the other 12 teams still in contention will have to battle for only 3 regional spots. No one said the ABA made sense.
Below are the respective press releases for each division playoff and my thoughts on them:
South Division
Three teams in the South division: West Texas Whirlwind, Georgia Gwizzlies, and Atlanta Vision. West Texas (3-6) will play Georgia (1-7) -- what a clash of the Titans!
The winner will go on to lose to Atlanta (6-2), who is pretty much guaranteed a spot, even though they have only played 8 games, beating such notable teams as the aforementioned Gwizzlies and the incomparable Bahama Pro Show (1-5, to be 1-7 after next week in Halifax).
I reiterate my protest that a team like Atlanta, who has so far played only 8 games of an 18-game season does not deserve to be in the playoffs against teams like Halifax, who have laboured to play as many games as possible.
West Division
Four West division teams:San Fran (5-10), OC (14-12), Maywood (3-23) and Long Beach (10-7) will play off to send their representative to Quebec.
My guess is that the doormats of the league -- Maywood, as if I had to say their name, which should be Maywouldn't -- and San Fran will fall to OC and Long Beach, who appear to be fairly good teams. Both OC and Long Beach have recently beaten higher-ranked teams, so they are both feeling good. Their matchup should be a good one.
Long Beach pretty much owns OC, winning all five of their matches this season, although the margins have been getting closer over the past few games. I'm going to say Long Beach goes to Quebec.
Northeast Division
Five teams from our Northeast division will play for the chance to play in Quebec. Jersey (7-10) will play Boston (8-16) and Montreal (8-17) will play Westchester (8-6). The winners of those games play off to see who will go against Halifax for the Northeast spot in the Awesome 8, or whatever they call it.
You may not remember Jersey or Westchester. They both cancelled games with us (which should have been forfeits for the record books, but I am not the league statistician).
Jersey appears to have a defensive game, with most of their opponents scoring an average of only 108 points per game. Unfortunately, Jersey has an average score of 103 points. They lost big to Vermont (but who hasn't?) and luckily they had First State to beat up on, to help Jersey's record with 4 of Jersey's 7 wins coming against the Fusion.
Westchester has beaten Jersey 4 out of their 5 matches of the season, with close scoring margins in 4 of the games (between 1 and 9 points), so Jersey is probably a weaker team than their record shows.
This is a bit of a toss-up, given the lack of exposure to Westchester or Jersey, but my guess is Jersey will win over Boston (Jersey did beat the Kebs, after all) and Montreal should beat Westchester. Montreal whupped the Phantoms in their only match-up this season, 130-96.
In the play-off, I think Montreal will win over Jersey, based on Montreal's record versus Jersey's record against common opponents, as well as Montreal's experience against a variety of teams, rather than Jersey's history of only playing a few teams who happen to be within an hour's drive, except for getting trounced in Vermont and Beijing. Come to think of it, maybe that's why Jersey doesn't travel much, they get destroyed away from home.
Our game against Montreal should be a good one. Even though they won the season series 3-2 against us, our team is by far the strongest it has ever been and we are riding a high of wins (assuming the Bahama Pro Show don't stack their team with Vermont players). If Montreal plays their scheduled end-of-season games in Beijing, I think they will lose to us in the playoffs, either because we will play better than them, or they will still be suffering from jetlag or depression after probably losing both games in China. Getting past Westchester will likely empty Montreal's gas tank, just in time for our well-rested players to run up and down the court against them on the way to victory.
So there you have it: we have a playoff game, probably at home, since the other teams are playing off to get to us, and probably against Montreal.
Looks good for us going to Quebec!
Rainmen and AUS Final 6
Good article by Chris Cochrane of the Herald about Mr. Levingston and the Rainmen’s contributions to the basketball community.
Although I can’t make it this weekend, I recommend everyone go to the tournament at the Metro Centre this weekend. It is a chance to see good local teams vying to be our regional rep at nationals.
Schedule:
March 7 Quarterfinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 8 Semifinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 9 Final game: 2 PM
The prices are ridiculously low: $48 for adults, $30 for students/seniors & $15/youth FOR ALL 5 GAMES! Prices for each day are $18, $12 & $6. This gets you both games on either Friday or Saturday, or the final on Sunday.
Here is the AUS website for full details:
Although I can’t make it this weekend, I recommend everyone go to the tournament at the Metro Centre this weekend. It is a chance to see good local teams vying to be our regional rep at nationals.
Schedule:
March 7 Quarterfinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 8 Semifinal games: 6 PM and 8:15 PM
March 9 Final game: 2 PM
The prices are ridiculously low: $48 for adults, $30 for students/seniors & $15/youth FOR ALL 5 GAMES! Prices for each day are $18, $12 & $6. This gets you both games on either Friday or Saturday, or the final on Sunday.
Here is the AUS website for full details:
Rainmen Have Little Trouble Handling Quebec, 130-120
Really good game for the Rainmen, I think the recently-added players round out the team that needed more size and forwards. This momentum will serve us well in the playoffs, which are fast approaching.
Maybe someone should smack Brian on the nose before every game; he was the man against Quebec, draining 7 of 8 three-pointers. I like when he goes to the hoop too, because he usually draws a foul, which is like giving him 2 extra points.
Coach Lewis is improving with this new line-up, with good subbing all through the game, versus the 5-on, 5-off routine. Having more than a couple plays helps the team play better and is much more interesting for fans to watch. Plus, the guys win more games because they are not so predictable to defend.
Good passing, although a few got away. I truly think Jimmy’s experience as a Globetrotter is rubbing off on his teammates, with that great set-up bounce off the glass for Eric to absolutely crush into the net. Nice no-look passes and fast passing too, even though a couple errant attempts led to turn-overs.
Considering Quebec is a strong team, we seem to have little trouble with them, as shown by last night’s performance. Let’s hope we play them in Quebec City!
In other news, I was really disappointed by the DND turnout at the game. Considering the tickets were half-price or so, there should have been 1,000 more people there. Maybe it wasn’t promoted soon enough?
The entertainment is the weakest part of the evening, with between three (THREE!?!) and eight WG’s still performing their handful of routines and the lamest game I have ever seen of Keep-Away. That game has got to stop. I felt bad for the contestants, bad for the crowd and bad for me because I could have gone for a walk or something. I say bring back the Dizzy Bats and Oversize Trikes!
I will say it again: the WG’s need to start leading some cheers and distracting the opposition’s free throw attempts. Use those pom-poms, ladies!
Maybe someone should smack Brian on the nose before every game; he was the man against Quebec, draining 7 of 8 three-pointers. I like when he goes to the hoop too, because he usually draws a foul, which is like giving him 2 extra points.
Coach Lewis is improving with this new line-up, with good subbing all through the game, versus the 5-on, 5-off routine. Having more than a couple plays helps the team play better and is much more interesting for fans to watch. Plus, the guys win more games because they are not so predictable to defend.
Good passing, although a few got away. I truly think Jimmy’s experience as a Globetrotter is rubbing off on his teammates, with that great set-up bounce off the glass for Eric to absolutely crush into the net. Nice no-look passes and fast passing too, even though a couple errant attempts led to turn-overs.
Considering Quebec is a strong team, we seem to have little trouble with them, as shown by last night’s performance. Let’s hope we play them in Quebec City!
In other news, I was really disappointed by the DND turnout at the game. Considering the tickets were half-price or so, there should have been 1,000 more people there. Maybe it wasn’t promoted soon enough?
The entertainment is the weakest part of the evening, with between three (THREE!?!) and eight WG’s still performing their handful of routines and the lamest game I have ever seen of Keep-Away. That game has got to stop. I felt bad for the contestants, bad for the crowd and bad for me because I could have gone for a walk or something. I say bring back the Dizzy Bats and Oversize Trikes!
I will say it again: the WG’s need to start leading some cheers and distracting the opposition’s free throw attempts. Use those pom-poms, ladies!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Agony of Defeat
That old clip that started off The Wide World of Sports has a new challenger. Be sure to listen to the audio, especially the commentator.
Friday, February 29, 2008
This Just In: The Owner of The Georgia Gwizzlies is Cwazy!
I think the Gwizzlies owner is delusional. Check out this news item on ABALive.com:
GEORGIA GWIZZLIES PROMISE BETTER EFFORT NEXT TIME
26-Feb-2008
Macon, GA — The Georgia Gwizzlies were soundly and fairly defeated on Sunday by the Atlanta Vision at the Gwinnett Center by a wide margin.
“We commend the Atlanta team’s effort, their leadership and management. They are very good,” stated team owner Embry Malone. “But we will do better next time and we will be prepared when the playoffs begin. We have quite a few games left to turn it around and we will. We want to get to the Championship Playoffs in Quebec.”
Playoffs?!? You are 1-7!!! Either Malone knows something we don’t (like well-placed funds to a certain CEO ensure a playoff spot), he is trying to get fans to come to the last three games, or he is just nuts. If anyone from the Blue Conf. - South Div. is going to the playoffs, it would be the team that just beat you by 51 points. You know: the 6-2 Atlanta Vision (whom I railed against a few days ago as being unworthy for the playoffs because of the tiny amount of games they have played, when I saw a fan-generated playoff bracket online). Atlanta is 7th in the Power Rankings, Halifax is this list on by the skin of our teeth at #15. Georgia is not even mentioned on this list, nor has it ever been on the Power Rankings list this season.
The Gwizzlies have three games left! I think the owner mistakenly inserted the words “quite a” before the more accurate “few” in his statement. All three games are against the West Texas Whirlwinds, who don’t seem to be much of a threat, with a 3-6 record. Of course, to a 1-7 team like Georgia, they may be too much to handle. Head for the cyclone shelter, Auntie Em!
GEORGIA GWIZZLIES PROMISE BETTER EFFORT NEXT TIME
26-Feb-2008
Macon, GA — The Georgia Gwizzlies were soundly and fairly defeated on Sunday by the Atlanta Vision at the Gwinnett Center by a wide margin.
“We commend the Atlanta team’s effort, their leadership and management. They are very good,” stated team owner Embry Malone. “But we will do better next time and we will be prepared when the playoffs begin. We have quite a few games left to turn it around and we will. We want to get to the Championship Playoffs in Quebec.”
Playoffs?!? You are 1-7!!! Either Malone knows something we don’t (like well-placed funds to a certain CEO ensure a playoff spot), he is trying to get fans to come to the last three games, or he is just nuts. If anyone from the Blue Conf. - South Div. is going to the playoffs, it would be the team that just beat you by 51 points. You know: the 6-2 Atlanta Vision (whom I railed against a few days ago as being unworthy for the playoffs because of the tiny amount of games they have played, when I saw a fan-generated playoff bracket online). Atlanta is 7th in the Power Rankings, Halifax is this list on by the skin of our teeth at #15. Georgia is not even mentioned on this list, nor has it ever been on the Power Rankings list this season.
The Gwizzlies have three games left! I think the owner mistakenly inserted the words “quite a” before the more accurate “few” in his statement. All three games are against the West Texas Whirlwinds, who don’t seem to be much of a threat, with a 3-6 record. Of course, to a 1-7 team like Georgia, they may be too much to handle. Head for the cyclone shelter, Auntie Em!
Two in a row for the Rainmen, 124-95 over the Maywood Buzz
Nice to see everyone getting lots of time on the floor again tonight. Eric was a beast with 18 boards. Rebounds are so crucial and they seemed easy to get against Maywood. Two of our highest-scoring games and surprise, surprise! We have a ton of rebounds in both matches.
I wasn’t as impressed this evening as I was last night; it seemed like we started the game with the same old routine of sending Eric in low to muscle his way around. After we got warmed up, though, it was a game similar to last night. I liked how the guys who came off the bench actually opened up the point spread. Way to go!
Unfortunately, these two games were such runaways that the crowd was practically silent for most of the game, eerily so for a moment. Mavs Gillis the announcer started a few cheers; I think it is good that he starts them every once in a while, it saves my voice. The canned “De-fense” recording does bother me, though. That seems like forcing a cheer.
Speaking of cheers, we need names for the new guys. I heard Chris yell out “JT” for James Tyler. I was thinking Sweet Baby James, a play on his name being so close to James Taylor as well as the whole Baby Shaq thing. We could cheer “Sweet” when he does well. By the way James, if you read this, don’t be so hard on yourself if you miss a free throw. Just keep focused and try your best again next time.
Akeem “The Dream” is obvious. I like the concept of “his brother Jon”. The Clark Brothers. OK, that’s just too silly after all.
Jimmy Twynan. Being an ex-Harlem Globetrotter and a video game character should give us lots to work with, but I am at a loss. I tried “Dyn-O-Mite!” tonight (Jimmy Walker - “Good Times”), but it didn’t sound nearly as good when I said it as it had sounded inside my head. Back to the drawing board. Maybe I should just do what I did at the start of the season for the other players and just go ask them what they would like to be called.
One thing I love about my seats is the close proximity to the action. I am so glad I didn’t buy floor seats. We have a small community going on our side of the court, with other loyal fans as well as actual contact with the DJ, the press and even Rainmen front office folks.
Any word why Brian and Dennie did not play tonight?
Finally: I think the Weather Girls should shake their pom-poms (their actual pom-poms, guys) behind the net when the opposition is taking free throws. You see all sorts of fans in other leagues do that kind of thing. That has to be much more distracting than a few people booing. This would mean the WG’s would have to switch ends every quarter, just like the players, and not just kneel down on the floor behind the net.
Furthermore, I think the fans would be more likely to cheer if the WG’s led some cheers. Not all of the cheers, but every once in a while. If the WG’s had more than just a handful of moves, then fine, we can accept they are dancers and they are entertaining us. However, since they appear so infrequently and yet they are at the game all night, why not lead some cheers? At least stay on the sidelines to make your presence known? And why are there only 5 WG’s left? Is there some internal strife or are the girls just moving on from this gig?
This home stand is great for fan morale! I am disappointed that there are only three games left in the season. We are seriously considering a road trip to Quebec for the playoffs. Who else is in?
I wasn’t as impressed this evening as I was last night; it seemed like we started the game with the same old routine of sending Eric in low to muscle his way around. After we got warmed up, though, it was a game similar to last night. I liked how the guys who came off the bench actually opened up the point spread. Way to go!
Unfortunately, these two games were such runaways that the crowd was practically silent for most of the game, eerily so for a moment. Mavs Gillis the announcer started a few cheers; I think it is good that he starts them every once in a while, it saves my voice. The canned “De-fense” recording does bother me, though. That seems like forcing a cheer.
Speaking of cheers, we need names for the new guys. I heard Chris yell out “JT” for James Tyler. I was thinking Sweet Baby James, a play on his name being so close to James Taylor as well as the whole Baby Shaq thing. We could cheer “Sweet” when he does well. By the way James, if you read this, don’t be so hard on yourself if you miss a free throw. Just keep focused and try your best again next time.
Akeem “The Dream” is obvious. I like the concept of “his brother Jon”. The Clark Brothers. OK, that’s just too silly after all.
Jimmy Twynan. Being an ex-Harlem Globetrotter and a video game character should give us lots to work with, but I am at a loss. I tried “Dyn-O-Mite!” tonight (Jimmy Walker - “Good Times”), but it didn’t sound nearly as good when I said it as it had sounded inside my head. Back to the drawing board. Maybe I should just do what I did at the start of the season for the other players and just go ask them what they would like to be called.
One thing I love about my seats is the close proximity to the action. I am so glad I didn’t buy floor seats. We have a small community going on our side of the court, with other loyal fans as well as actual contact with the DJ, the press and even Rainmen front office folks.
Any word why Brian and Dennie did not play tonight?
Finally: I think the Weather Girls should shake their pom-poms (their actual pom-poms, guys) behind the net when the opposition is taking free throws. You see all sorts of fans in other leagues do that kind of thing. That has to be much more distracting than a few people booing. This would mean the WG’s would have to switch ends every quarter, just like the players, and not just kneel down on the floor behind the net.
Furthermore, I think the fans would be more likely to cheer if the WG’s led some cheers. Not all of the cheers, but every once in a while. If the WG’s had more than just a handful of moves, then fine, we can accept they are dancers and they are entertaining us. However, since they appear so infrequently and yet they are at the game all night, why not lead some cheers? At least stay on the sidelines to make your presence known? And why are there only 5 WG’s left? Is there some internal strife or are the girls just moving on from this gig?
This home stand is great for fan morale! I am disappointed that there are only three games left in the season. We are seriously considering a road trip to Quebec for the playoffs. Who else is in?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
That's What I'm Talkin' About!
The Rainmen played the first game of a double header against the Maywood Buzz last night. The Rainmen took away any sting the Buzz may have inflicted, with a 145-97 victory. The first quarter of the game was unbelievable. We were finally living up to our name, by "raining threes". We put up some monster numbers, including shooting over 50% from the field, over 40% for threes, and an incredible 79 boards, which is almost double the per-game average so far this year. While Kadiri was his usual defensive giant self, I was pleasantly surprised by Jon Clark's double-double performance. One more point for Kadiri and he would have joined Jon and Eric in that club for the night.
I liked how the rebounds were spread out fairly evenly among a number of Rainmen, showing that our team is playing well defensively under the net while still getting the chances to score big points.
It looks like this is the team we have been waiting for all season. Hats off to the front office for putting together a good mix of players and talents along with some size that we needed all along.
Sending Brian in to the hoop was a nice change from always making Eric do it. Brian was able to pull some fouls, which is almost like adding the points automatically. There were relatively few penalties called (especially against the Buzz, it seemed), which made the game go faster. Liberally subbing in our guys tired the Buzz players very quickly, which is always a nice advantage for us to have for home games.
It was great to see Kadiri get some blocks, a few baskets, as well as a three pointer. While the box score shows that he had only 3 blocks, he sure made a huge difference in the game, mostly for his strong rebounding skill. We put up the KD boxes for Kadiri's blocks last night. I guess we were also counting his defensive moves that caused the shot to be short or off-target. And to be completely honest, I put a box up for Kadiri's three-pointer, too. Here's hoping I get the chance to put a whole bunch more of them up again tonight.
James Tyler performed well with the second-most defensive rebounds (behind Kadiri) and even a few tip-ins. It was interesting to see him pass the ball out to the perimeter in the first half, but then start going for his own points in the second half. This shows some depth in the coaching strategy (yes, I said it), that we aren't just running the same few plays every time.
The Rainmen must have passed the ball around the perimeter more in the first half of this game than in most other complete games. The result was a lot of uncontested three-pointers, with a higher-than-average success rate. It was very exciting for me as a fan to watch fluid motion plays rather than the static Play #1 pick-and-roll. I was shocked to hear Coach Lewis call out "Four! Four!" I didn't know we had a fourth play! Anyway, excellent performance all around.
Congrats for putting the second stringers in for some meaningful time in this game. They showed us fans that they belong on the team. I just wish we had subbed them in for more time in earlier games, to give them experience, although to be fair most of the guys now on the bench weren't on the time a couple months ago.
I have to say that I finally understood what some people have against the 13th man rule. Tonight it was embarrassing to see the Buzz completely stop so the 13th man could take three shots at a layup. I was glad they had a monster dunk after that. Another disappointment was the number of fans there. I hope we get a better shot at weekend games next year.
Let's have a strong finish to the season on the way to Quebec! Go Rainmen!
I liked how the rebounds were spread out fairly evenly among a number of Rainmen, showing that our team is playing well defensively under the net while still getting the chances to score big points.
It looks like this is the team we have been waiting for all season. Hats off to the front office for putting together a good mix of players and talents along with some size that we needed all along.
Sending Brian in to the hoop was a nice change from always making Eric do it. Brian was able to pull some fouls, which is almost like adding the points automatically. There were relatively few penalties called (especially against the Buzz, it seemed), which made the game go faster. Liberally subbing in our guys tired the Buzz players very quickly, which is always a nice advantage for us to have for home games.
It was great to see Kadiri get some blocks, a few baskets, as well as a three pointer. While the box score shows that he had only 3 blocks, he sure made a huge difference in the game, mostly for his strong rebounding skill. We put up the KD boxes for Kadiri's blocks last night. I guess we were also counting his defensive moves that caused the shot to be short or off-target. And to be completely honest, I put a box up for Kadiri's three-pointer, too. Here's hoping I get the chance to put a whole bunch more of them up again tonight.
James Tyler performed well with the second-most defensive rebounds (behind Kadiri) and even a few tip-ins. It was interesting to see him pass the ball out to the perimeter in the first half, but then start going for his own points in the second half. This shows some depth in the coaching strategy (yes, I said it), that we aren't just running the same few plays every time.
The Rainmen must have passed the ball around the perimeter more in the first half of this game than in most other complete games. The result was a lot of uncontested three-pointers, with a higher-than-average success rate. It was very exciting for me as a fan to watch fluid motion plays rather than the static Play #1 pick-and-roll. I was shocked to hear Coach Lewis call out "Four! Four!" I didn't know we had a fourth play! Anyway, excellent performance all around.
Congrats for putting the second stringers in for some meaningful time in this game. They showed us fans that they belong on the team. I just wish we had subbed them in for more time in earlier games, to give them experience, although to be fair most of the guys now on the bench weren't on the time a couple months ago.
I have to say that I finally understood what some people have against the 13th man rule. Tonight it was embarrassing to see the Buzz completely stop so the 13th man could take three shots at a layup. I was glad they had a monster dunk after that. Another disappointment was the number of fans there. I hope we get a better shot at weekend games next year.
Let's have a strong finish to the season on the way to Quebec! Go Rainmen!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Volume Corrected To 15° Celsius
Here is a letter that I sent today to Peter Duffy, a columnist for Halifax's Chronicle-Herald. Let's see if anything comes of this.
Mr. Duffy,
I realize that this letter is about a subject that is somewhat tangential to the point of your article, "I fear our hearts have hardened," but would you write an article about the scam that is "volume corrected to 15 degress Celsius"?
No one ever complains about this,although it seems that any time the price at the pump goes up by more than a few cents, there is a flurry of e-mails trying to call for an organized day of not buying gas as a protest. Of course, anyone who doesn't buy on that specified date probably fills up either the day before or the day after, so no real change is made in the gas companies's sales figures, but that is another matter.
This CBC Marketplace report told the story in 1999:
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/pre-2007/files/cars/gasprice/
For some reason, even though this issue received national press with that CBC Marketplace story, it is forgotten in this time of the U.S. of going to war to keep the supply of oil coming from the Middle East and Canadian soldiers dying in Afghanistan, ostensibly for peace and democracy, but originally we went there to get Osama (remember?).
http://thetyee.ca/Views/2006/10/06/Afghanistan/
That is another issue for another letter, and certainly a very important one compared to the relative minutae of this letter. However, the effect of volume corrected gasoline amounts to Canadians paying $655,000,000 ANNUALLY for gas they never receive.
The central question is why is gas corrected to 15 degrees Celsius? It is to standardize volume when retailers sell it to unsuspecting consumers. However, the standard of 15 degrees Celsius is beneficial to the retailers, while Canadians are paying for gas that never makes it into their vehicles.
Here is a link that shows Halifax's average temperature.
http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N44W063+1202+0017800G2
As you can see, at 6.6 degrees, our annual average is nowhere near 15 degrees Celsius. Other than in July and August, our monthly average temperature doesn't even pass 15 degrees.
Well, one may ask, what about Toronto, with its hot summers? Surely, they must have a much higher average annual temperature that would make the 15°C standard a reasonable one? Nope. The average annual temperature in Toronto is one full degree higher than Halifax, at 7.6°C. Even the Big Smoke has only 4 months that average higher than 15 degrees.
So what does this mean to the average consumer?
This website shows the effect of temperature on gasoline:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~taaaz/AZgas.html#HOW%20GASOLINE%20IS%20SOLD%20IN%20CANADA
A quote from that website: "Gasoline volume changes approximately 0.125% for every 1°C change in temperature"
Therefore, a 60 litre weekly fill-up at Halifax's average monthly temperature of -4.9°C in February costs the consumer an extra $1.77 per fill-up, at today's price of $1.179 per litre.
Calculations:
15°C standard minus -4.9°C average = 19.9°C difference
19.9°C times 0.00125 per °C change in gas volume = 0.024875, or about 2.5%
60 litres per fill-up times $1.179 per litre = $70.74 cost of fill-up
$70.74 times 2.5% = $1.77 extra because of volume correction to 15°C
Given our 6.6°C average annual temperature and assuming we drive the same every month for the whole year, the rip-off for a consumer who fills up with 60 litres every week amounts to $38.62 per year.
This takes into account the 2 months of the year that our average monthly temperature is above 15°C.
While this doesn't seem like much, it is flat out theft. We are paying for gas that we never receive!
Transport Canada says there are "About 13.2 million automobiles accounted for 78 per cent of all vehicles in 1995. Some 3.4 million trucks of all types made up 20 per cent of the total. The remaining two per cent of vehicles consisted of 319,000 motorcycles and mopeds and 64,000 buses."
http://www.tc.gc.ca/pol/en/Report/anre1996/tc96_chapter_10.htm
Assuming there has been no growth in these figures and assuming each vehicle uses 60 litres per week (trucks use more, small cars use less), the total larceny adds up to $655,883,460! (Total of 16,983,000 vehicles @$38.62/year)
Could you write a story about this government standard that rips off Canadian consumers? Everyone I talked to about this fact didn't even know that it made a difference in how much money they spend at the pumps. It is a story that gets swept under the rug because the government is the biggest single benefactor, since they earn about half of what we pay for gas in the form of taxes.
This Industry Canada website,
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/mc-mc.nsf/en/lm01094e.html
shows the government's complicity, explaining it away because other countries use 15 degrees as their standard and we have used it for natural gas and propane for decades. Well, we used to think the earth was flat too! Just because a standard has been used for a long time doesn't mean it is right to do so.
Strangely enough, this Ontario Ministry of Revenue website,
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/bulletins/gt/gas1_2003.html
says in plain language that volume corrected gas is different from non-volume corrected gas. The reference is about 3/4 of the way down the page, under the heading "Ambient Temperature Allowance". Apparently, when the government talks about tax revenue, it makes sure it collects all the money it feels is due.
Thanks for reading this message. I hope you write an article about this issue. $655,000,000 is a lot of money. Canadians shouldn't have to give it to oil companies and the government with no say in the matter.
Best regards,
Phil Kempton
UPDATE: Mr. Duffy responded to me message to him with an e-mail of his own. I won't publish it here, because I didn't ask him if I could, but he seemed to take interest in the isue I had brought up, and said he would keep the information for potential future use. Maybe it was a form response to a reader submission, but I would like to think that Mr. Duffy was sufficiently intrigued to pursue the story on his own.
Mr. Duffy,
I realize that this letter is about a subject that is somewhat tangential to the point of your article, "I fear our hearts have hardened," but would you write an article about the scam that is "volume corrected to 15 degress Celsius"?
No one ever complains about this,although it seems that any time the price at the pump goes up by more than a few cents, there is a flurry of e-mails trying to call for an organized day of not buying gas as a protest. Of course, anyone who doesn't buy on that specified date probably fills up either the day before or the day after, so no real change is made in the gas companies's sales figures, but that is another matter.
This CBC Marketplace report told the story in 1999:
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/pre-2007/files/cars/gasprice/
For some reason, even though this issue received national press with that CBC Marketplace story, it is forgotten in this time of the U.S. of going to war to keep the supply of oil coming from the Middle East and Canadian soldiers dying in Afghanistan, ostensibly for peace and democracy, but originally we went there to get Osama (remember?).
http://thetyee.ca/Views/2006/10/06/Afghanistan/
That is another issue for another letter, and certainly a very important one compared to the relative minutae of this letter. However, the effect of volume corrected gasoline amounts to Canadians paying $655,000,000 ANNUALLY for gas they never receive.
The central question is why is gas corrected to 15 degrees Celsius? It is to standardize volume when retailers sell it to unsuspecting consumers. However, the standard of 15 degrees Celsius is beneficial to the retailers, while Canadians are paying for gas that never makes it into their vehicles.
Here is a link that shows Halifax's average temperature.
http://www.worldclimate.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?ref=N44W063+1202+0017800G2
As you can see, at 6.6 degrees, our annual average is nowhere near 15 degrees Celsius. Other than in July and August, our monthly average temperature doesn't even pass 15 degrees.
Well, one may ask, what about Toronto, with its hot summers? Surely, they must have a much higher average annual temperature that would make the 15°C standard a reasonable one? Nope. The average annual temperature in Toronto is one full degree higher than Halifax, at 7.6°C. Even the Big Smoke has only 4 months that average higher than 15 degrees.
So what does this mean to the average consumer?
This website shows the effect of temperature on gasoline:
http://www.users.qwest.net/~taaaz/AZgas.html#HOW%20GASOLINE%20IS%20SOLD%20IN%20CANADA
A quote from that website: "Gasoline volume changes approximately 0.125% for every 1°C change in temperature"
Therefore, a 60 litre weekly fill-up at Halifax's average monthly temperature of -4.9°C in February costs the consumer an extra $1.77 per fill-up, at today's price of $1.179 per litre.
Calculations:
15°C standard minus -4.9°C average = 19.9°C difference
19.9°C times 0.00125 per °C change in gas volume = 0.024875, or about 2.5%
60 litres per fill-up times $1.179 per litre = $70.74 cost of fill-up
$70.74 times 2.5% = $1.77 extra because of volume correction to 15°C
Given our 6.6°C average annual temperature and assuming we drive the same every month for the whole year, the rip-off for a consumer who fills up with 60 litres every week amounts to $38.62 per year.
This takes into account the 2 months of the year that our average monthly temperature is above 15°C.
While this doesn't seem like much, it is flat out theft. We are paying for gas that we never receive!
Transport Canada says there are "About 13.2 million automobiles accounted for 78 per cent of all vehicles in 1995. Some 3.4 million trucks of all types made up 20 per cent of the total. The remaining two per cent of vehicles consisted of 319,000 motorcycles and mopeds and 64,000 buses."
http://www.tc.gc.ca/pol/en/Report/anre1996/tc96_chapter_10.htm
Assuming there has been no growth in these figures and assuming each vehicle uses 60 litres per week (trucks use more, small cars use less), the total larceny adds up to $655,883,460! (Total of 16,983,000 vehicles @$38.62/year)
Could you write a story about this government standard that rips off Canadian consumers? Everyone I talked to about this fact didn't even know that it made a difference in how much money they spend at the pumps. It is a story that gets swept under the rug because the government is the biggest single benefactor, since they earn about half of what we pay for gas in the form of taxes.
This Industry Canada website,
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/mc-mc.nsf/en/lm01094e.html
shows the government's complicity, explaining it away because other countries use 15 degrees as their standard and we have used it for natural gas and propane for decades. Well, we used to think the earth was flat too! Just because a standard has been used for a long time doesn't mean it is right to do so.
Strangely enough, this Ontario Ministry of Revenue website,
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/english/bulletins/gt/gas1_2003.html
says in plain language that volume corrected gas is different from non-volume corrected gas. The reference is about 3/4 of the way down the page, under the heading "Ambient Temperature Allowance". Apparently, when the government talks about tax revenue, it makes sure it collects all the money it feels is due.
Thanks for reading this message. I hope you write an article about this issue. $655,000,000 is a lot of money. Canadians shouldn't have to give it to oil companies and the government with no say in the matter.
Best regards,
Phil Kempton
UPDATE: Mr. Duffy responded to me message to him with an e-mail of his own. I won't publish it here, because I didn't ask him if I could, but he seemed to take interest in the isue I had brought up, and said he would keep the information for potential future use. Maybe it was a form response to a reader submission, but I would like to think that Mr. Duffy was sufficiently intrigued to pursue the story on his own.
Unsung Hero - Kadiri Richard
I am a big fan of Kadiri Richard. I bought Kadiri's jersey (and waited for it to arrive since there weren't any in stock when the jerseys were first sold). Two games ago, I brought boxes of Kraft Dinner (KD) to string up in front of my seats for each block he made, only to see him have no blocks for that game against Quebec. I found that the Rainmen played zone defense for at least the first half, and then an ineffective man coverage in the second half when Quebec capitalized on drawing defenders away from the net and then scoring. This doesn't give one a lot of chances for big blocks.
In my haste to get to the game against Vermont, I forgot the boxes, but I will bring them to the rest of the games. I didn't miss much of a chance to string them up, since KD only blocked 2 shots. Most of our defense in that game was in the form of grabbing the ball after the shot, hence the 34 defensive boards for the team.
It seems like Kadiri has never really been used to his full potential, with Eric being chosen as the man to take the ball in to the hoop. Watching Kadiri's highlight reel shows that he is certainly capable of driving hard and I have never really understood why he has been relegated to a largely defensive role with almost no opportunity given to him to score unless the opposition's defense breaks down. Maybe it is the Rainmen's small offensive play list that leaves Kadiri out in the cold. He has too much talent to simply be a 15-to-20-minutes-per-game player. Looking at his stats, he has rarely played more than half a game and his stats prove that the more time he has on the court, the more effective he becomes, with rebounds and blocks.
Having said that, his attitude -- both on the court and the bench -- is excellent. No one has a bigger smile when the Rainmen are winning (remember those days?), when a teammate scores an impressive basket Kadiri is right there congratulating him, and no one is more imposing when KD gets his scowl on to intimidate an opposing player. As the Rainman who starts chants nearly as much as Chris, Dunc and I do, Kadiri is almost as valuable to the team on the bench as he is on the court. I simply think he has more to contribute than he has been given the chance to show us.
In my haste to get to the game against Vermont, I forgot the boxes, but I will bring them to the rest of the games. I didn't miss much of a chance to string them up, since KD only blocked 2 shots. Most of our defense in that game was in the form of grabbing the ball after the shot, hence the 34 defensive boards for the team.
It seems like Kadiri has never really been used to his full potential, with Eric being chosen as the man to take the ball in to the hoop. Watching Kadiri's highlight reel shows that he is certainly capable of driving hard and I have never really understood why he has been relegated to a largely defensive role with almost no opportunity given to him to score unless the opposition's defense breaks down. Maybe it is the Rainmen's small offensive play list that leaves Kadiri out in the cold. He has too much talent to simply be a 15-to-20-minutes-per-game player. Looking at his stats, he has rarely played more than half a game and his stats prove that the more time he has on the court, the more effective he becomes, with rebounds and blocks.
Having said that, his attitude -- both on the court and the bench -- is excellent. No one has a bigger smile when the Rainmen are winning (remember those days?), when a teammate scores an impressive basket Kadiri is right there congratulating him, and no one is more imposing when KD gets his scowl on to intimidate an opposing player. As the Rainman who starts chants nearly as much as Chris, Dunc and I do, Kadiri is almost as valuable to the team on the bench as he is on the court. I simply think he has more to contribute than he has been given the chance to show us.
Friday, February 22, 2008
A flurry of thoughts on the Rainmen
Here are some posts that I put on Chris Parsons's fansite about the Rainmen, with some minor edits and additions for context.
On Rick Lewis's coaching ability:
If a game is lost with 12 minutes to go, try subbing in the guys who wish they could play enough so they might actually make a difference. Being down 20 points going into the fourth, against Vermont no less, means that this leaves 12 minutes for our bench warmers to get some real time, not the garbage 90 seconds that Lewis deigns to give them.
Rick Lewis seems like a nice enough fellow and gives good interview on the Q, but proper player utilization, gametime decision making and clock management are not his fortes. Maybe he could be the PR talking head for the team, but please can we have a different head coach? How about the 2 assistant coaches? Give them a crack at running a game or two. Why not? At least they know the players and their respective strengths and weaknesses. We may have next year’s coach already on the payroll and I don’t mean Rick Lewis.
On Halifax vs. Vermont:
Looking at the box score of this game, it seems like it was the Lantrice and Eric show. Fine, they are supposed to be our best scorers, but 2 guys can’t match up against 5. Looking at the amount of time the starters played makes me cringe. Of course we ran out of gas! Eric played all 48 minutes of the game! Lantrice, Brian and Ferg got a combined 15 minutes off! Lewis treats his backups like they were made out of glass and he doesn’t want to risk breaking them by taking them out of the wrapper and actually playing them.
On the rest of the season:
I was looking forward to watching the Rainmen whup the Maywood Buzz (3-21), but now I think we’ll be lucky to split the games with them.
I highly doubt the Bahama Pro Show will come all the way to Halifax, considering they only have 6 games under their belts, according to the ABA website (if that site can be trusted). The Bahama website is current as of November 2007, so no help there.
I admire Mr. Levingston for trying to finish the season off without missing any home games, but it seems that just as the Rainmen are getting some PR traction in Halifax, our team is collapsing on the court. I hope we can finish off the season in a strong way, to bring our record closer to .500. Luckily, we have a home stand of games with only Vermont being a clear favourite against us. I would love to see us take at least 4 of the 6 games to end the season.
On the Rainmen's recent additions to the team:
I am glad they sell programs at the games, it’s hard to keep track of our players. Is this common for ABA teams or is Mr. Levingston trying to find the right mix, even as the end of the season approaches? The two new additions sound promising, we certainly can’t do much worse.
James Tyler is listed on a basketball recruiting website as 7′1″ and 360 pounds!!! That’s heavier than Shaq, although he is also 16 years younger than the Diesel. In fact, his nickname was/is “Baby Shaq”.
I hope his weight doesn’t make him too slow. If he has some speed, he will definitely make his presence known on the court. Another website shows his strengths as: “Low Block Scorer” and “Rebounding”, while he needs to improve as a “Finisher” and his “Intensity/Passion”. This site also mentioned that Tyler “got serious about basketball and shed some weight, thus opening up his low post game.” Some other sites list Tyler at 310, 320 and 330 pounds, respectively.
As for Akeem Clark, a few years ago he was praised as being one of the U.S. best 3 point shooters. Interestingly, Booyer and Clark were on the same USBL team Gary Steelheads and were activated at the same time last year. In addition to being teammates on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis team for a year, they were also together on the Black Hawk East Junior College team in 2002. Either they were separated at birth and are karmically connected, or James is one heck of a salesman at getting Akeem on his team. Hopefully Akeem can stay healthy and contribute to the Rainmen this year, unlike Booyer, who was released again due to a chronic leg injury after playing only 5 games for the Rainmen.
On the 2008 ABA playoffs:
I just found this 2008 playoff tree, reportedly from the Manchester Millrats.
Apparently we will be playing the Atlanta Vision, in Georgia. The top 4 teams (Vermont, Beijing, Manchester and Texas) get byes, as does the host team Quebec. 4 California teams as well as Atlanta and Halifax make up the rest of the roster. For some reason, there is no 10th seed.
I don’t think a team (Atlanta Vision) that has played only 8 games should be in the playoffs. The Atlanta Vision have beaten the Gwizzlies 4 times, the Bahama Pro Show twice and lost to Beijing twice. That’s it. That is their whole season so far, with 15 games cancelled. The Vision will play the Gwizzlies 3 more times and Bahama once more. So we get to play a team that has played a total of 3 other teams, while Mr. Levingston and the rest of the Northeast division, who have worked to provide as complete a schedule as possible, are penalized by not advancing to the playoffs.
edit: Apparently the link above was a bracket that another fan had made up, as his projection of how the playoffs will go. It is not an official playoff bracket. Read the entry below to see that this fan playoff bracket is the best info that we have so far on the playoffs, since no one, not even the CEO of the league, is giving the answer of exactly how the playoffs will be seeded or played.
Here is correspondence between a Rainmen fan and Joe Newman, the CEO of the ABA.
This just shows that Newman has no idea how the playoffs will go. In a real league, the format would be set well in advance, with teams — and fans — knowing ahead of the end of the season whether or not they will be in the playoffs.
Having most of the teams fold or play incomplete seasons messes up the seeding, but there should be a rule that teams must play at least 50% of their scheduled games (50% is the absolute lowest, it should probably be higher, like 67% or 75%) to qualify for the playoffs. Otherwise, a team like the 6-2 Atlanta Vision who are only successful at beating up on the Gwizzlies (1-7) and the Bahama Pro Show (1-5) would get in while a team that actually plays different teams, including ones that are better than they are, gets the shaft.
The fact that the league CEO doesn’t directly respond to a fan’s e-mail is disappointing. The fact that there is no apparent clear-cut rule on which teams will make the playoffs is disturbing. I smell a rat in the state of Denmark, to mix my metaphors.
On the Rainmen's end-of-season home stand and another blast at Halifax's newest free tabloid, Metro:
I think the new guys may be the key to rounding out our formerly guard-heavy team with some big offense. Will Lewis’s program fit them in to actually make a difference? That remains to be seen, but we will have a half-dozen chances to see it, over the next 3 weeks.
I read this Metro article on the Rainmen. Chris and I consistently write longer passages on rainmenblog.wordpress.com than that 178-word footnote. Other than talking to Mr. Levingston for a couple of sound bites, the reporter did less research than Chris (or I) do for most of our posts. While I am pleasantly surprised that there is even local news in the paper, the length of the piece shows what I said about the tabloid’s editorial slant towards stories that can be read in 30 seconds or less.
On Rick Lewis's coaching ability:
If a game is lost with 12 minutes to go, try subbing in the guys who wish they could play enough so they might actually make a difference. Being down 20 points going into the fourth, against Vermont no less, means that this leaves 12 minutes for our bench warmers to get some real time, not the garbage 90 seconds that Lewis deigns to give them.
Rick Lewis seems like a nice enough fellow and gives good interview on the Q, but proper player utilization, gametime decision making and clock management are not his fortes. Maybe he could be the PR talking head for the team, but please can we have a different head coach? How about the 2 assistant coaches? Give them a crack at running a game or two. Why not? At least they know the players and their respective strengths and weaknesses. We may have next year’s coach already on the payroll and I don’t mean Rick Lewis.
On Halifax vs. Vermont:
Looking at the box score of this game, it seems like it was the Lantrice and Eric show. Fine, they are supposed to be our best scorers, but 2 guys can’t match up against 5. Looking at the amount of time the starters played makes me cringe. Of course we ran out of gas! Eric played all 48 minutes of the game! Lantrice, Brian and Ferg got a combined 15 minutes off! Lewis treats his backups like they were made out of glass and he doesn’t want to risk breaking them by taking them out of the wrapper and actually playing them.
On the rest of the season:
I was looking forward to watching the Rainmen whup the Maywood Buzz (3-21), but now I think we’ll be lucky to split the games with them.
I highly doubt the Bahama Pro Show will come all the way to Halifax, considering they only have 6 games under their belts, according to the ABA website (if that site can be trusted). The Bahama website is current as of November 2007, so no help there.
I admire Mr. Levingston for trying to finish the season off without missing any home games, but it seems that just as the Rainmen are getting some PR traction in Halifax, our team is collapsing on the court. I hope we can finish off the season in a strong way, to bring our record closer to .500. Luckily, we have a home stand of games with only Vermont being a clear favourite against us. I would love to see us take at least 4 of the 6 games to end the season.
On the Rainmen's recent additions to the team:
I am glad they sell programs at the games, it’s hard to keep track of our players. Is this common for ABA teams or is Mr. Levingston trying to find the right mix, even as the end of the season approaches? The two new additions sound promising, we certainly can’t do much worse.
James Tyler is listed on a basketball recruiting website as 7′1″ and 360 pounds!!! That’s heavier than Shaq, although he is also 16 years younger than the Diesel. In fact, his nickname was/is “Baby Shaq”.
I hope his weight doesn’t make him too slow. If he has some speed, he will definitely make his presence known on the court. Another website shows his strengths as: “Low Block Scorer” and “Rebounding”, while he needs to improve as a “Finisher” and his “Intensity/Passion”. This site also mentioned that Tyler “got serious about basketball and shed some weight, thus opening up his low post game.” Some other sites list Tyler at 310, 320 and 330 pounds, respectively.
As for Akeem Clark, a few years ago he was praised as being one of the U.S. best 3 point shooters. Interestingly, Booyer and Clark were on the same USBL team Gary Steelheads and were activated at the same time last year. In addition to being teammates on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis team for a year, they were also together on the Black Hawk East Junior College team in 2002. Either they were separated at birth and are karmically connected, or James is one heck of a salesman at getting Akeem on his team. Hopefully Akeem can stay healthy and contribute to the Rainmen this year, unlike Booyer, who was released again due to a chronic leg injury after playing only 5 games for the Rainmen.
On the 2008 ABA playoffs:
I just found this 2008 playoff tree, reportedly from the Manchester Millrats.
Apparently we will be playing the Atlanta Vision, in Georgia. The top 4 teams (Vermont, Beijing, Manchester and Texas) get byes, as does the host team Quebec. 4 California teams as well as Atlanta and Halifax make up the rest of the roster. For some reason, there is no 10th seed.
I don’t think a team (Atlanta Vision) that has played only 8 games should be in the playoffs. The Atlanta Vision have beaten the Gwizzlies 4 times, the Bahama Pro Show twice and lost to Beijing twice. That’s it. That is their whole season so far, with 15 games cancelled. The Vision will play the Gwizzlies 3 more times and Bahama once more. So we get to play a team that has played a total of 3 other teams, while Mr. Levingston and the rest of the Northeast division, who have worked to provide as complete a schedule as possible, are penalized by not advancing to the playoffs.
edit: Apparently the link above was a bracket that another fan had made up, as his projection of how the playoffs will go. It is not an official playoff bracket. Read the entry below to see that this fan playoff bracket is the best info that we have so far on the playoffs, since no one, not even the CEO of the league, is giving the answer of exactly how the playoffs will be seeded or played.
Here is correspondence between a Rainmen fan and Joe Newman, the CEO of the ABA.
This just shows that Newman has no idea how the playoffs will go. In a real league, the format would be set well in advance, with teams — and fans — knowing ahead of the end of the season whether or not they will be in the playoffs.
Having most of the teams fold or play incomplete seasons messes up the seeding, but there should be a rule that teams must play at least 50% of their scheduled games (50% is the absolute lowest, it should probably be higher, like 67% or 75%) to qualify for the playoffs. Otherwise, a team like the 6-2 Atlanta Vision who are only successful at beating up on the Gwizzlies (1-7) and the Bahama Pro Show (1-5) would get in while a team that actually plays different teams, including ones that are better than they are, gets the shaft.
The fact that the league CEO doesn’t directly respond to a fan’s e-mail is disappointing. The fact that there is no apparent clear-cut rule on which teams will make the playoffs is disturbing. I smell a rat in the state of Denmark, to mix my metaphors.
On the Rainmen's end-of-season home stand and another blast at Halifax's newest free tabloid, Metro:
I think the new guys may be the key to rounding out our formerly guard-heavy team with some big offense. Will Lewis’s program fit them in to actually make a difference? That remains to be seen, but we will have a half-dozen chances to see it, over the next 3 weeks.
I read this Metro article on the Rainmen. Chris and I consistently write longer passages on rainmenblog.wordpress.com than that 178-word footnote. Other than talking to Mr. Levingston for a couple of sound bites, the reporter did less research than Chris (or I) do for most of our posts. While I am pleasantly surprised that there is even local news in the paper, the length of the piece shows what I said about the tabloid’s editorial slant towards stories that can be read in 30 seconds or less.
Friday, February 15, 2008
R.I.P. The Daily News
The Daily News was closed on Monday. While the suddenness of the event was shocking, with no final edition printed, it was plain to see why it happened, once the circulation stats were reported. The News only had 16,000 subscribers, versus over 100,000 for the Herald. To be fair, the News is mainly a Halifax paper, while the Herald has both metro and provincial editions. Anyway, the paper was losing millions of dollars, so what better way to solve that problem than to start putting out a free paper!?!
The company that owned the News has started producing a new tabloid, called Metro. There are a number of other cities in Canada that already have this paper, so the owners must think it will succeed here too, although a not-free paper that actually had local news stories and real reporters had failed.
I picked up the first Metro paper yesterday, just to see it. Wow, it is great for the vision-impaired! The font is the largest I have seen in a newspaper, with all sorts of white space between lines, wide margins, etc. I guess they have to somehow fill up the pages that aren’t full-page ads. I really dislike the sans-serif headline font.
The stories take about 30 seconds or less to read, which makes me feel like I am watching TV, instead of reading a “newspaper”. I was surprised to actually see current news stories as well as a few local items, but as I foretold, the paper was heavy with ads and downloaded fluff from national news providers. This will probably be the only copy of Metro that I ever pick up, unless one of my kids has a papier-mache project for school.
The company that owned the News has started producing a new tabloid, called Metro. There are a number of other cities in Canada that already have this paper, so the owners must think it will succeed here too, although a not-free paper that actually had local news stories and real reporters had failed.
I picked up the first Metro paper yesterday, just to see it. Wow, it is great for the vision-impaired! The font is the largest I have seen in a newspaper, with all sorts of white space between lines, wide margins, etc. I guess they have to somehow fill up the pages that aren’t full-page ads. I really dislike the sans-serif headline font.
The stories take about 30 seconds or less to read, which makes me feel like I am watching TV, instead of reading a “newspaper”. I was surprised to actually see current news stories as well as a few local items, but as I foretold, the paper was heavy with ads and downloaded fluff from national news providers. This will probably be the only copy of Metro that I ever pick up, unless one of my kids has a papier-mache project for school.
The Rainmen haven't made much progress this season.
The Rainmen lost 120-102 to the Quebec Kebekwa on Wednesday night. It was the worst game I have seen them play. There are a few new players on the team, replacing some guys who were among the first to join the Rainmen, and it doesn't look like Coach Lewis has worked them into his "program".
We lost the game because of our lousy defence and poor free throw shooting.
Re: percentage from the line. Eric had the majority of the foul shots and his percentage is the worst on the team, at 0.381. He didn't even do that well in this game, sinking only 5 of 14 (0.357).
I was surprised to actually hear Coach Lewis remind Eric to shoot off his fingertips. I thought that it would be unnecessary to remind him of this technique, considering Eric's experience and obvious talent on the court, but unfortunately he needs help. The angled spin that Eric puts on the ball is the ugliest free throw move I have ever seen, along with the almost non-existant arc that sometimes happens. I wish Eric would stop doing that. Quite often the sideways spin makes the ball rim out, when a straight backwards spin would cause it to go downward through the net. These are just observations from a non-professional. I have a lot of respect for Eric as a player and a person.
Re: Defence. Watching your opponent go uncontested for lay-ups time after time is ridiculous. Not getting rebounds (Except for Eric, who had a good game except for the FT%) is crazy. I see that the main difference between us being 8-16 instead of 16-8 is the lack of rebounding, both offensively and defensively. We can go-head-to-head with any team in this league, even the mighty Frost Heaves, but for some reason, Coach Lewis has drilled into the Rainmen's heads that all 5 players MUST be in defensive positions as soon as possible, regardless of the potential for boards.
Why not leave one guy under the net, or 2, if the opposition has strong defenders, to get that !#%$@ ball? With the exception of Eric's performance, our offensive boards are almost extinct. As others have said on this blog, we need more than one guy to consistently take it to the hoop and stay with it until that ball goes in. Defensively, we aren't too bad on some nights in keeping the opponents from scoring for the first few tries, but then the opposition draws our guys clear of the net, making that move that Chris referred to in his post , which leaves one guy open, who goes in uncontested. That happened way too many times in this game.
I am going to say it again, for like the fourth time: How about having someone in under the net to pick up the errant 3-point shots? If we had great shooters who consistently drain it, then fine, let it go and get ready on D, but our guys seem to have good nights and bad nights. I think it is imperative that the coaching staff actually coach each game as it unfolds and make changes as necessary. I know that seems to fly in the face of what is currently happening, but give it a try! Please!
I cannot believe that this lack of rebounding has not been observed by the owner Mr. Levingston, the coaching staff, or the players. Why do they let this keep happening? Guess what: if we score more points because of rebounds, we don't have to concentrate so much on having so many defenders in place, waiting for the opponents.
OK. Time to take my soapbox and go home. Good luck to the Rainmen in Boston and Vermont. We'll see you next week.
We lost the game because of our lousy defence and poor free throw shooting.
Re: percentage from the line. Eric had the majority of the foul shots and his percentage is the worst on the team, at 0.381. He didn't even do that well in this game, sinking only 5 of 14 (0.357).
I was surprised to actually hear Coach Lewis remind Eric to shoot off his fingertips. I thought that it would be unnecessary to remind him of this technique, considering Eric's experience and obvious talent on the court, but unfortunately he needs help. The angled spin that Eric puts on the ball is the ugliest free throw move I have ever seen, along with the almost non-existant arc that sometimes happens. I wish Eric would stop doing that. Quite often the sideways spin makes the ball rim out, when a straight backwards spin would cause it to go downward through the net. These are just observations from a non-professional. I have a lot of respect for Eric as a player and a person.
Re: Defence. Watching your opponent go uncontested for lay-ups time after time is ridiculous. Not getting rebounds (Except for Eric, who had a good game except for the FT%) is crazy. I see that the main difference between us being 8-16 instead of 16-8 is the lack of rebounding, both offensively and defensively. We can go-head-to-head with any team in this league, even the mighty Frost Heaves, but for some reason, Coach Lewis has drilled into the Rainmen's heads that all 5 players MUST be in defensive positions as soon as possible, regardless of the potential for boards.
Why not leave one guy under the net, or 2, if the opposition has strong defenders, to get that !#%$@ ball? With the exception of Eric's performance, our offensive boards are almost extinct. As others have said on this blog, we need more than one guy to consistently take it to the hoop and stay with it until that ball goes in. Defensively, we aren't too bad on some nights in keeping the opponents from scoring for the first few tries, but then the opposition draws our guys clear of the net, making that move that Chris referred to in his post , which leaves one guy open, who goes in uncontested. That happened way too many times in this game.
I am going to say it again, for like the fourth time: How about having someone in under the net to pick up the errant 3-point shots? If we had great shooters who consistently drain it, then fine, let it go and get ready on D, but our guys seem to have good nights and bad nights. I think it is imperative that the coaching staff actually coach each game as it unfolds and make changes as necessary. I know that seems to fly in the face of what is currently happening, but give it a try! Please!
I cannot believe that this lack of rebounding has not been observed by the owner Mr. Levingston, the coaching staff, or the players. Why do they let this keep happening? Guess what: if we score more points because of rebounds, we don't have to concentrate so much on having so many defenders in place, waiting for the opponents.
OK. Time to take my soapbox and go home. Good luck to the Rainmen in Boston and Vermont. We'll see you next week.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Blast From The Past
Here are my first attempts at blogging, on my Yahoo page a couple of years ago. I came across my old page and thought I would repeat the blog entries here, for posterity and a few laughs.
My up-to-date update is after the old blog entries:
"Entry for November 08, 2005
No rest for me! Running a business, co-ordinating construction of 2 houses, being a dad/stepdad to 4 boys, Scouting, choir, leading a Bible study... I need to find some time for myself.
Entry for November 09, 2005
Things are going well at the houses, although the drywalling at our house is taking longer than I anticipated. Just painting, flooring, cabinets, light and plumbing fixtures and trim to go!
Alistair's house is being framed now and it looks good to get it roof-tight for his next visit in 3 weeks. Everyone who asks if we will be in the house for Christmas isn't joking anymore - yikes! We will be in before Christmas: that is my goal. Of course, my original goal was to be in by Labour Day!
Entry for November 10, 2005
So the insulator's truck is in the shop, so he can't blow in the insulation in my attic. This means that when the guys walk on the roof trusses in the attic when they put in the insulation, they may crack the drywall compound that has been installed and my drywaller is warning me that this will be extra work for them to repair. The wind blew the gate into the drywaller's truck and broke off the passenger side mirror. He said don't worry about it, they will replace it with a part from the junkyard for $5 or 10.
Alistair's house progressed well yesterday, with half of the roof trusses put up. No work on it today (I think) because of windy, cold, rainy weather.
Long weekend tomorrow. We will be marching in the parade to the cenotaph with the Cubs and Scouts. Then we have the rest of the weekend off, just in time for me to paint the front door and install a new lockset, as well as replace the basement light fixtures to dress up the house a bit more.
Entry for December 22, 2005
Wow! Hard to believe it's almost Christmas! We aren't in the house - delay with the hardwood installer, so it will have to be in January. We dug out the Christmas ornaments from the rental storage room. Looks like I won't have time to empty it before the month is up - another $80 down the drain.
Alistair's house is coming along quickly. He will be done not long after us, I figure.
Anyway, here at the office late to finish up work before year-end. See ya in 2006!
Entry for April 03, 2006
So we are finally in the house! Keeping busy with finishing touches. I heard somewhere that it takes a year to build a house and another year to finish it. I can see why. We still have interior trim to paint, landscaping to do, and the back deck and balcony to build."
UP-TO-DATE UPDATE:
Still running the business. We have had some ups and downs, but last fiscal year was quite good. I guess that is what can happen when I am not at a construction site every morning!
Construction is complete, including my parent's house next door and my sister and her family on the other side of our parents. It is great to have everyone so close and yet we still have our privacy and our own lives.
Now I am Dad/Stepdad to 4 boys and 1 girl! Natalie was born on June 8, 2006!!! Philson moved in with us full-time on March 30, 2007!!!
I am still involved with Scouting, although only as a Trainer now. Cheryl is now our group's Registrar. We will probably go back as leaders when David and Natalie are old enough to join Beavers. I know our friend Margaret is waiting for us to come back as her replacement!
I am still in the choir at St. Peter's. We have been struggling a bit with the choir size, with a number of people over the past year or two, with fewer people coming in to replace them. I enjoy it and I enjoy singing praises to God, but I feel like we are only surviving as a choir and I am not sure what we can do to improve the situation.
I am not running the Bible study any more. Life just got too busy when Natalie was born, so I opted to not continue it for that year, which became this year too. I miss it, I know I need to get back into the Bible and while I know that leading a study is not the only way for me to do that, I also recognize that it was an easy way for me to take the time to do it. I need to put forth the effort to study the Bible for my own sake, other people will benefit from my doing so, when I have more balance in my life.
While I have found some time for myself lately, it has been fleeting and I feel guilty about doing it. Cheryl and I are slowly working our lives back to an acceptable balance, with our time together as a couple having been driven down to virtually nil over the past couple of years. We are on the same page and we both want the same satisfaction with our lives as a family and as a couple. It is nice to get back to spending some time together, just the two of us, even if it is only for brief moments at a time right now.
We have been in the house for almost 23 months. Since we moved in the house at the end of February 2006 (what happened to Labour Day 2005!?!), we had the back deck and balcony built. Still working on the interior trim painting, Cheryl has most of the main floor done. I slogged away at getting the yard ready for sods this summer and fall, but I ran out of seasonable weather. Looks like the spring for that project. I knew that if we moved in before painting the trim, it would be the kiss of death for getting that chore done. I guess I was right, after all. Oh well, onward and upward!
My up-to-date update is after the old blog entries:
"Entry for November 08, 2005
No rest for me! Running a business, co-ordinating construction of 2 houses, being a dad/stepdad to 4 boys, Scouting, choir, leading a Bible study... I need to find some time for myself.
Entry for November 09, 2005
Things are going well at the houses, although the drywalling at our house is taking longer than I anticipated. Just painting, flooring, cabinets, light and plumbing fixtures and trim to go!
Alistair's house is being framed now and it looks good to get it roof-tight for his next visit in 3 weeks. Everyone who asks if we will be in the house for Christmas isn't joking anymore - yikes! We will be in before Christmas: that is my goal. Of course, my original goal was to be in by Labour Day!
Entry for November 10, 2005
So the insulator's truck is in the shop, so he can't blow in the insulation in my attic. This means that when the guys walk on the roof trusses in the attic when they put in the insulation, they may crack the drywall compound that has been installed and my drywaller is warning me that this will be extra work for them to repair.
Alistair's house progressed well yesterday, with half of the roof trusses put up. No work on it today (I think) because of windy, cold, rainy weather.
Long weekend tomorrow. We will be marching in the parade to the cenotaph with the Cubs and Scouts. Then we have the rest of the weekend off, just in time for me to paint the front door and install a new lockset, as well as replace the basement light fixtures to dress up the house a bit more.
Entry for December 22, 2005
Wow! Hard to believe it's almost Christmas! We aren't in the house - delay with the hardwood installer, so it will have to be in January. We dug out the Christmas ornaments from the rental storage room. Looks like I won't have time to empty it before the month is up - another $80 down the drain.
Alistair's house is coming along quickly. He will be done not long after us, I figure.
Anyway, here at the office late to finish up work before year-end. See ya in 2006!
Entry for April 03, 2006
So we are finally in the house! Keeping busy with finishing touches. I heard somewhere that it takes a year to build a house and another year to finish it. I can see why. We still have interior trim to paint, landscaping to do, and the back deck and balcony to build."
UP-TO-DATE UPDATE:
Still running the business. We have had some ups and downs, but last fiscal year was quite good. I guess that is what can happen when I am not at a construction site every morning!
Construction is complete, including my parent's house next door and my sister and her family on the other side of our parents. It is great to have everyone so close and yet we still have our privacy and our own lives.
Now I am Dad/Stepdad to 4 boys and 1 girl! Natalie was born on June 8, 2006!!! Philson moved in with us full-time on March 30, 2007!!!
I am still involved with Scouting, although only as a Trainer now. Cheryl is now our group's Registrar. We will probably go back as leaders when David and Natalie are old enough to join Beavers. I know our friend Margaret is waiting for us to come back as her replacement!
I am still in the choir at St. Peter's. We have been struggling a bit with the choir size, with a number of people over the past year or two, with fewer people coming in to replace them. I enjoy it and I enjoy singing praises to God, but I feel like we are only surviving as a choir and I am not sure what we can do to improve the situation.
I am not running the Bible study any more. Life just got too busy when Natalie was born, so I opted to not continue it for that year, which became this year too. I miss it, I know I need to get back into the Bible and while I know that leading a study is not the only way for me to do that, I also recognize that it was an easy way for me to take the time to do it. I need to put forth the effort to study the Bible for my own sake, other people will benefit from my doing so, when I have more balance in my life.
While I have found some time for myself lately, it has been fleeting and I feel guilty about doing it. Cheryl and I are slowly working our lives back to an acceptable balance, with our time together as a couple having been driven down to virtually nil over the past couple of years. We are on the same page and we both want the same satisfaction with our lives as a family and as a couple. It is nice to get back to spending some time together, just the two of us, even if it is only for brief moments at a time right now.
We have been in the house for almost 23 months. Since we moved in the house at the end of February 2006 (what happened to Labour Day 2005!?!), we had the back deck and balcony built. Still working on the interior trim painting, Cheryl has most of the main floor done. I slogged away at getting the yard ready for sods this summer and fall, but I ran out of seasonable weather. Looks like the spring for that project. I knew that if we moved in before painting the trim, it would be the kiss of death for getting that chore done. I guess I was right, after all. Oh well, onward and upward!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Rainmen cut Williams, bring back Booyer
The Rainmen recently announced that Devino Williams, the teenage talent with the Rainmen's best 3-pointer stats, was released from the team, apparently for not displaying "the level of maturity to play professional basketball.", according to Coach Lewis on the Rainmen website. James Booyer, a 6'9" forward will be re-joining the team after spending the first few weeks of the season holding down one end of the bench because of an injured leg.
I wonder if there is some kind of internal deal with the players to keep a maximum of 10 players on the team? We definitely need more forwards and fewer guards, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction. While Devino is talented, we have other shooting guards who have more facets to their game. It also seems like Coach Lewis has favourites, and apparently Devino wasn’t one of them. From the first round of Booyer’s stay with the Rainmen, he allegedly is one of Coach’s favourites. How will this play with the rest of the team?
Having the players live in one house may be good for bonding as a team, but having the wrong guy in a house can act as a poison for morale. Was Williams that wrong guy? Was Booyer (in his original stint with the team)? One thing is for sure, the revolving door cannot be helping morale. Not knowing if you will still be with a team that has moved you to Halifax for a few weeks and then cuts you (Hardy, Gladden, and now Williams) must weigh on the players’s minds.
On the other hand, all of this speculation is just that - speculation. We fans don’t live in the house and we don’t really know how the dynamics run in that household. I just hope the core players are able to overcome this apparent obstacle of player turnover and finish the season strong. The wins will come if the players are happy.
I wonder if there is some kind of internal deal with the players to keep a maximum of 10 players on the team? We definitely need more forwards and fewer guards, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction. While Devino is talented, we have other shooting guards who have more facets to their game. It also seems like Coach Lewis has favourites, and apparently Devino wasn’t one of them. From the first round of Booyer’s stay with the Rainmen, he allegedly is one of Coach’s favourites. How will this play with the rest of the team?
Having the players live in one house may be good for bonding as a team, but having the wrong guy in a house can act as a poison for morale. Was Williams that wrong guy? Was Booyer (in his original stint with the team)? One thing is for sure, the revolving door cannot be helping morale. Not knowing if you will still be with a team that has moved you to Halifax for a few weeks and then cuts you (Hardy, Gladden, and now Williams) must weigh on the players’s minds.
On the other hand, all of this speculation is just that - speculation. We fans don’t live in the house and we don’t really know how the dynamics run in that household. I just hope the core players are able to overcome this apparent obstacle of player turnover and finish the season strong. The wins will come if the players are happy.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Rainmen need help
Along with other people who watched this game, I was puzzled as to why our mainstay players were not playing in their proven positions. I think Coach Lewis should leave the experimenting to when the Rainmen are ahead by 20-30 points, not when we are playing the strongest team that we have faced. When fans can recognize the individual players’s strengths, why can’t the coach? Our team should have established roles by this point in the season, not still seemingly trying out players in positions to see what happens. Having said that, we desperately need another forward who can drive to the net, not another low percentage shooter.
As we saw over the past couple of games, rebounds really matter. The game that the Rainmen won by 30 points had probably their highest number of boards, especially defensive, for the year. It was too bad that the Rainmen gave up on the rebounds so much against Vermont, especially since the Frost Heaves are not a team that gives up on a ball underneath the net.
Why do we completely abandon the chance for a tip-in on errant three pointers? If our guys were shooting better on the long shots, I would see the wisdom on getting back early for defence, but 33% (according to the Rainmen site) on three-pointers does not seem to me to be a high enough number to just let it go and hope for the best. I think Eric should be under the basket to add even more points to his total, he seems to be the best at finishing off shots already.
While this game was fun to watch, although ultimately disappointing in its result, I would say the brightest points of the double header were meeting the Vermont fans - who were very nice and were trying to convince us to come down to Vermont - and Darrell Dexter’s turn as the 13th man.
As we saw over the past couple of games, rebounds really matter. The game that the Rainmen won by 30 points had probably their highest number of boards, especially defensive, for the year. It was too bad that the Rainmen gave up on the rebounds so much against Vermont, especially since the Frost Heaves are not a team that gives up on a ball underneath the net.
Why do we completely abandon the chance for a tip-in on errant three pointers? If our guys were shooting better on the long shots, I would see the wisdom on getting back early for defence, but 33% (according to the Rainmen site) on three-pointers does not seem to me to be a high enough number to just let it go and hope for the best. I think Eric should be under the basket to add even more points to his total, he seems to be the best at finishing off shots already.
While this game was fun to watch, although ultimately disappointing in its result, I would say the brightest points of the double header were meeting the Vermont fans - who were very nice and were trying to convince us to come down to Vermont - and Darrell Dexter’s turn as the 13th man.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I just read that Halifax is #1 in fan attendance in the league! Wow! And we thought there weren’t many people showing up. Having said that, we can always do better.
Looking at the ABA Power Rankings of the Top 15 teams, it appears that only the lowly Maywood Buzz (1-15) are not on this list. The ABA says it will have 16 teams in the playoffs. Considering there are only 16 teams left, I think it’s safe to say that we are in the playoffs.
How bad do the Buzz players feel (other than because they are 1-15)? They are the only team in the league that is not listed on the Power Rankings. You would think the ABA would just list all 16 remaining teams now. What happens if more teams fold? Will they have a Top 14 list? Top 13 list?
Looking at last year’s playoff tree, I think we want to stay around the middle of the rankings to last longer in the playoffs. It looks like a typical #1 plays #16, #2 plays #15, etc. playoff.
If there are an odd number of teams, I think Halifax, as the #1 in attendance figures, should get any available first round bye as a reward (if there are an odd number of teams).
Looking at the ABA Power Rankings of the Top 15 teams, it appears that only the lowly Maywood Buzz (1-15) are not on this list. The ABA says it will have 16 teams in the playoffs. Considering there are only 16 teams left, I think it’s safe to say that we are in the playoffs.
How bad do the Buzz players feel (other than because they are 1-15)? They are the only team in the league that is not listed on the Power Rankings. You would think the ABA would just list all 16 remaining teams now. What happens if more teams fold? Will they have a Top 14 list? Top 13 list?
Looking at last year’s playoff tree, I think we want to stay around the middle of the rankings to last longer in the playoffs. It looks like a typical #1 plays #16, #2 plays #15, etc. playoff.
If there are an odd number of teams, I think Halifax, as the #1 in attendance figures, should get any available first round bye as a reward (if there are an odd number of teams).
The Rainmen Have Value
After this season, I think Mr. Levingston should seriously consider taking on some local investors and pony up the $1,000,000 to join the NBA Development League. That means 20 people at $50,000. That is chicken feed, to be part of the NBA Organization. As reference, the Raptors have a franchise value of $373,000,000 on revenues of $124,000,000 and operating income of $29,000,000 last season. This page on the Forbes website has more information. I like the Wins-to-player cost ratio at the bottom of the page, it gives us an idea if the payroll expense is really worth it, since wins and losses (and championships) are how we judge sports teams.
I don't know the Rainmen's revenues, but let's just say they only get their home game ticket sales and merchandise. If they average 2,000 people per game for 18 home games at $15/ticket, allowing for discounted tickets but also the floor seats, that is $540,000. Let's say they sell 2,000 mechandise items this season, at an average of $25 each, including replica jerseys. That is another $50,000.
I don't know how much sponsorship they have, or if it is even included in revenues. Most of the sponsorship appears to be in kind, like the Printing House, Daily News, Q104, Reebok, Physioclinic, The Westin. As a guess, let's say the total sponsorship is $300,000. I assume the Metro Centre keeps the concession revenues, to keep things simple. Based on the Raptor's value to revenue ratio, this makes the Rainmen franchise worth about $2,700,000, from $890,000 in revenues.
These figures are all just guesses on my part, I have no actual information on the Rainmen finances. I also assume that there is no economy of scale; in other words, a bigger company like the Raptors would probably have better profit margins than a new company that operates on a smaller scale, like the Rainmen. This is because fixed costs such as travel, salaries, venue rental, etc. are probably all a much bigger percentage of revenue for the Rainmen than for the Raptors.
If the Rainmen don't make as much as 24% income on their revenue (the revenue figures being complete conjecture on my part), then the franchise value would not be as high as the above figure. If their costs are $20,000 per game ($8,000 for venue rental in Halifax, say the same for travel costs for away games, $12,000 per game in salaries of players, coaches, staff), that means they have costs of $720,000 for a 36 game season. That leaves about $170,000 of around 19% of revenue, as income. Based on the Raptor's figures, that makes the Rainmen worth about $2,200,000.
I am guessing these figures are on the low side, but my point from this exercise is to show that the franchise has a value that could easily be supported with a local consortium with the current owners retaining 50% of the team to reward their risk-taking on starting the team, to enter the NBA Development League. Once the Rainmen join the NBADL, attendance will go up and that increased revenue will go toward the bottom line, although I figure player salaries will probably also rise, but probably not as much as the increased revenues from attendance and merchandise.
How about the Green Bay Packers model of local people owning shares, maybe for a part of the team ownership to raise money (it essentially acts as a bond to raise money)? Sell 2,000 shares at $500 each. I would definitely buy one of those, and I am sure most other season ticket holders would, too. Heck, I paid more than that for my 5 season tickets. What do you think, Mr. Levingston?
I don't know the Rainmen's revenues, but let's just say they only get their home game ticket sales and merchandise. If they average 2,000 people per game for 18 home games at $15/ticket, allowing for discounted tickets but also the floor seats, that is $540,000. Let's say they sell 2,000 mechandise items this season, at an average of $25 each, including replica jerseys. That is another $50,000.
I don't know how much sponsorship they have, or if it is even included in revenues. Most of the sponsorship appears to be in kind, like the Printing House, Daily News, Q104, Reebok, Physioclinic, The Westin. As a guess, let's say the total sponsorship is $300,000. I assume the Metro Centre keeps the concession revenues, to keep things simple. Based on the Raptor's value to revenue ratio, this makes the Rainmen franchise worth about $2,700,000, from $890,000 in revenues.
These figures are all just guesses on my part, I have no actual information on the Rainmen finances. I also assume that there is no economy of scale; in other words, a bigger company like the Raptors would probably have better profit margins than a new company that operates on a smaller scale, like the Rainmen. This is because fixed costs such as travel, salaries, venue rental, etc. are probably all a much bigger percentage of revenue for the Rainmen than for the Raptors.
If the Rainmen don't make as much as 24% income on their revenue (the revenue figures being complete conjecture on my part), then the franchise value would not be as high as the above figure. If their costs are $20,000 per game ($8,000 for venue rental in Halifax, say the same for travel costs for away games, $12,000 per game in salaries of players, coaches, staff), that means they have costs of $720,000 for a 36 game season. That leaves about $170,000 of around 19% of revenue, as income. Based on the Raptor's figures, that makes the Rainmen worth about $2,200,000.
I am guessing these figures are on the low side, but my point from this exercise is to show that the franchise has a value that could easily be supported with a local consortium with the current owners retaining 50% of the team to reward their risk-taking on starting the team, to enter the NBA Development League. Once the Rainmen join the NBADL, attendance will go up and that increased revenue will go toward the bottom line, although I figure player salaries will probably also rise, but probably not as much as the increased revenues from attendance and merchandise.
How about the Green Bay Packers model of local people owning shares, maybe for a part of the team ownership to raise money (it essentially acts as a bond to raise money)? Sell 2,000 shares at $500 each. I would definitely buy one of those, and I am sure most other season ticket holders would, too. Heck, I paid more than that for my 5 season tickets. What do you think, Mr. Levingston?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The Rainmen need to look elsewhere
The ABA is no place for a good team. This is evident by how many former ABA teams have been leaving the league to join other groups.
The more I learn about the ABA and what I observe as this season progresses, I hope Mr. Levingston is able to take steps to join another league next year. He and the other viable teams in the Northeast and North divisions should approach the NBA Development League, the Premier Basketball League, or the Continental Basketball Association.
Of these, the NBA D-League is the most attractive choice, and not only for the obvious brand recognition reason. The D-League has no teams in the Northeast area of America or any Canadian Teams. If the 6 teams in the Northeast and North divisions of the ABA could form a new division for the D-League, it could benefit both groups. The D-League would have viable teams who would relish the opportunity to be linked to an NBA team (or two) and they would also expand into a new geographical area. The teams would benefit from increased popularity from association with such a widely recognized brand of basketball as well as the stability that comes along with the NBA. I think a natural NBA team that the Rainmen could be the farm team for would be the Raptors.
If the NBA is not receptive, then there are at least 2 other options: The PBL and the CBA.
The Premier Basketball League is a new group of 8 former ABA teams that started playing their first season last week. I think the jury is still out on whether this would be an improvement over the ABA, if only because of the PBL’s newness. I think their growing pains would have to be done before considering a move there. Having said that, if the ABA provides no support to its teams and its reputation is actually hurting financially viable teams (like Halifax, Vermont, etc.), then this might be the only way to survive.
The Continental Basketball Association is also made up of mostly former ABA teams. This league seems to be very spread out geographically, but again, they have no representation in New England/Atlantic Canada. This year, there was a team in upstate New York and one in Pittsburgh, so even if only some of the ABA teams in question decided to join the CBA, there would be some competitors fairly close by.
Other professional leagues of note are:
- the United States Basketball League, which just announced the suspension of its entire 2008 season, because of so many teams folding. So much for that as an option.
- The new National Professional Basketball League, which starts this spring. This league is apparently based in the northeast United States, with teams in New York state, New Jersey, Connecticut, MAryland, Delaware and Virginia. As a spring league, the schedule for games would probably not interfere so much with Mooseheads games, meaning we could possibly have more weekend games. As we have seen so far this season, the weekend is when people come to the game. The NPBL season is going to be from March 1 to early June. This looks like an interesting alternative.
P.S. The former ABA Corning Bulldogs — now called the Elmira Bulldogs — will be part of this league. By the way, Corning is a town of 10,000 in upstate New York. It was the smallest town with an ABA franchise. It would be like Truro having a franchise, to put things into perspective. No wonder they only drew 80 people to a home game.
The more I learn about the ABA and what I observe as this season progresses, I hope Mr. Levingston is able to take steps to join another league next year. He and the other viable teams in the Northeast and North divisions should approach the NBA Development League, the Premier Basketball League, or the Continental Basketball Association.
Of these, the NBA D-League is the most attractive choice, and not only for the obvious brand recognition reason. The D-League has no teams in the Northeast area of America or any Canadian Teams. If the 6 teams in the Northeast and North divisions of the ABA could form a new division for the D-League, it could benefit both groups. The D-League would have viable teams who would relish the opportunity to be linked to an NBA team (or two) and they would also expand into a new geographical area. The teams would benefit from increased popularity from association with such a widely recognized brand of basketball as well as the stability that comes along with the NBA. I think a natural NBA team that the Rainmen could be the farm team for would be the Raptors.
If the NBA is not receptive, then there are at least 2 other options: The PBL and the CBA.
The Premier Basketball League is a new group of 8 former ABA teams that started playing their first season last week. I think the jury is still out on whether this would be an improvement over the ABA, if only because of the PBL’s newness. I think their growing pains would have to be done before considering a move there. Having said that, if the ABA provides no support to its teams and its reputation is actually hurting financially viable teams (like Halifax, Vermont, etc.), then this might be the only way to survive.
The Continental Basketball Association is also made up of mostly former ABA teams. This league seems to be very spread out geographically, but again, they have no representation in New England/Atlantic Canada. This year, there was a team in upstate New York and one in Pittsburgh, so even if only some of the ABA teams in question decided to join the CBA, there would be some competitors fairly close by.
Other professional leagues of note are:
- the United States Basketball League, which just announced the suspension of its entire 2008 season, because of so many teams folding. So much for that as an option.
- The new National Professional Basketball League, which starts this spring. This league is apparently based in the northeast United States, with teams in New York state, New Jersey, Connecticut, MAryland, Delaware and Virginia. As a spring league, the schedule for games would probably not interfere so much with Mooseheads games, meaning we could possibly have more weekend games. As we have seen so far this season, the weekend is when people come to the game. The NPBL season is going to be from March 1 to early June. This looks like an interesting alternative.
P.S. The former ABA Corning Bulldogs — now called the Elmira Bulldogs — will be part of this league. By the way, Corning is a town of 10,000 in upstate New York. It was the smallest town with an ABA franchise. It would be like Truro having a franchise, to put things into perspective. No wonder they only drew 80 people to a home game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
