Occasionally Wright

Obama's Face Shows Up In An Odd Place

As far as I know nobody else is talking about this (aside from a very brief thread on the Thrashers' message boards).

So can someone explain to me why the Obama campaign is advertising on the site of an NHL team? That in itself is odd enough as don't imagine many sports teams would risk alienating their fanbase by taking money from one candidate and thereby showing tacit support for that candidate and party. But what's really odd is that the team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Are there that many ex-pats living in Toronto that the Obama camp thinks it's worth their while? It's a big ad and it's in a prime location on the site so I don't imagine it came cheaply.

I first saw it more than 24 hours ago and I'm still scratching my head over it, so if anyone has any thoughts please chime in. And do campaign advertising/spending rules apply to advertisements outside of the US?

It's Almost Like Being An Athlete Again

By my recollection it was the first organized game of soccer I'd played in since 1997. Between now and then I played in one other game with no ref, shoes for goal posts, and about 20 people on the rock strewn field for each team. Even that was almost six years ago.

To say I was out of practice and out of shape going into tonight's game would be generous, but I held my own, didn't embarrass myself, and actually played a part in setting up the game-tying goal.

I'm playing as a spare in a 7-on-7 league where we use shortened fields (thank goodness) and no offsides. I have extremely limited ball skills, I can't steal the ball from a three-year-old and I have no idea how to head the ball. Fortunately I still have good speed (in very, very short bursts) and the opposition doesn't know that I have almost no ability to do anything with the ball if someone happens to get it to me. So I'm a good decoy. I can also stick with a streaking striker and prevent him from being open.

That's what I do now and that's what I did back in the mid-90's before I got kicked off my college rec league team for being bad for team chemistry. That's right- kicked off. The coach called it being cut, but who makes cuts a month into the season, right Gordon? One day I was on the team and the next the coach emailed all of us and said that "in the interest of team chemistry" he was cutting three of us. None of us were any good, but we tried hard. I guess they figured we were taking time away form the "stars" of the team that went winless in league play. And by winless I mean they routinely lost by half a dozen goals. Good thing they got rid of us scrubs though, or who knows what would have happened.

Now? Now I'm tired, sore, my lungs are still burning a bit, my ankle got stepped on, and I have turf burn on my knee. I feel awesome, and I can't wait to do it again next week. New cleats, new shin pads, new socks, and soccer under the lights on a top-notch field. I didn't realize how much I missed it.

Bye-bye Net Files

I figured it was time. I hadn't posted on The Net Files since February of 2006 and I could save $40 by pulling the plug on it, so it's gone. Naturally I backed up the file so I still have a digital copy of everything I wrote, but it was still tough to do. It was a good site, even if I didn't know what I was talking about half the time. It got me my current job, so the $40 per year that I spent on it was well worth it, but there just wasn't much of a reason to keep it alive. So The Net Files is gone from the intertubes.

Another Year In The Books

The 29th one isn't really that big if a birthday, and I'm not usually one for reflection, but the passing of another birthday got me thinking a bit.

A few years back there were two things I wanted to do by the time I was 30- get married and find a job I liked that I could actually consider a career.

Well, the wedding is just over two months away and my job has gone from being contract to full time, as of Monday. How much do I love my job? Well, every once in a while I forget how cool it is that I do what I do, and then I have weeks like this past one, in which I do something like cover and NHL and NBA draft and talk to a first-round draft pick.

Next up- a week of prospect camp. Woohoo! It's a hockey nut's dream. All those kids that people speculate about all summer long, asking "will he or won't he make the team?"- I get to watch them and talk to them.

What's This Football Stuff?

How much do I care about the results of the Super Bowl? Well, let's just say that I'm getting up for snacks and to change the laundry during the play so I don't miss the commercials.

Bud Light has already ripped off a Sleeman's commercial, though they did a better job with the concept. Sleeman's had the false fridge front at a party- Bud had a revolving wall to hide the whole fridge.

The Net Files

You may or may not be interested to know that I have revived my sports blog now that the NHL is about to be relaunched. Occasionally Wright will once again be sports-free as I ramble to myself about hockey, baseball or whatever else over at The Net Files.

Missing the Obvious

I wrote a very long post last night about ESPN.com analyst Chad Ford and his NBA draft commentary. I set the post to publish this morning. It's gone. Here's the gist of it:

Chad Ford couldn't figure out why the Charlotte Bobcats drafted Raymond Felton and Sean May last night in the first round when there were other players available who he thought were better. Well Chad, did you notice that Charlotte is in North Carolina? Did you know that Charlotte is filled with loyal UNC fans who would rather watch a good UNC team win a national title than watch a horrible expansion team tie for second last in the NBA? Did you know that Charlotte has huge attendance issues? You did? Well then, it shouldn't come as any surprise that Charlotte drafted two guys that played on UNC's championship team last year. They're winners, they're local, and they'll but people in the seats. It's really that simple. Your colleague gets it. Why didn't you?

Video Fun

It's Saturday afternoon, you're bored and you need soemthing amusing to watch online, right? Well, you've come to the right place.

For the three people that still haven't seen it- Store Wars.

For the disc golf enthusiasts or just plain curious- The Hyzernauts, a group of incredibly good and somewhat odd European disc golfers. I recomend Andrei on fire and Buddy Hyzer.

Finally, some Canadians pulling a fast one on an American sports reporter by telling them that they're part of the Canadian Olympic Hide and Seek team. I don't know how old this is but if I get bored enough I'll do some digging in football schedules to see where and when this was. Funny stuff. Think Talking to Americans by the people. Download canadian_hideandseek.wmv

UPDATE

I got an email from one of the guys in the video. The game was between Tulane and Louisville and took lace on December 4, 2004 in New Orleans. Louisville won 55-7. Cox Sports broadcasted the game so I presume it was their coverage.

Advantage Canada?

From CNN and Sports Illustrated:

"If winning is everything, British anthropologists have some advice: Wear red.

Their survey of four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens shows competitors were more likely to win their contests if they wore red uniforms or red body armor."

Even with that edge Canada still doesn't do so hot at the Olympics. Imagine if we had green uniforms...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

If you're a baseball fan you've probably read or at least heard of Moneyball by Michael Lewis. If you enjoyed it you'll want to check out his current article in The New York Times Magazine entitled 'Absolutely, Power Corrupts'.

With no NHL playoffs being played, the World Championships only being aired on TSN (which I don't get) and the NBA playoffs being, well, the NBA, baseball has become my sport of choice. Sure, the players are greedy multi-millionaires that make NHL players look like charity cases but when it comes down to it I just want a sport that plays it's games when it's supposed to. When the NHL can accomplish that I'll likely tune back in but until then the Jays are my team and I'm looking forward to the first sunny afternoon when I can go take in an Ottawa Lynx game. As much as I love a good hockey game not many of them have been good over the last few seasons, and a live baseball game (even a bad one) gives me an excuse to sit out in the sun for the afternoon while chowing down on peanuts and a hot dog. Now if only the Lynx had boiled Georgia peanuts instead of the second rate goobers they serve...