JohnF

Sadly yes, but at least it didn't make me foam at the mouth. JF

Okay. I admit I'm a Leafs fan. Have been since I was a kid so I have lots of experience, something like close to 60 years actually. My first sweater was the blue with the maple leaf and then my Mom, or was it Santa Claus, thinking I needed variety in my clothing, got me a Hawks jersey, sox and even a toque (no helmets in those days) to wear on our outdoor rink. Truth was that out of the six teams playing then my next choice woulda been the Bruins. Chicago came somewhere just south of Detroit for me, ahead of NY and the Habbies. (Leaf fans couldn't love the Habs). I was polite and wore the black & colourful on our rink but for special occasions it was always the blue and white. Visiting my cousin in W'loo was always cool cuz Dickie Duff had relatives living on their crescent so sometimes we got to play road hockey with him or just say hello. Seems to me a lot of the arguments pro and con the Leafs offered here are more than a little tempered by personal hates and likes and only slightly based on facts although lots of "facts" are offered as supposed support. Problem with facts and data is that it all can be worked a bit to serve the arguer's purpose. Facts never lie - yeah, right! It's all in the presentation. Being a fan means sticking with your team through thick and thin but is it necessary to be rabid about it? Things have certainly been thin for us Leafs fans lately but hey, we have a few good moments too. One thing we've got that a lot of you who cheer for front runners don't is the chance that one day our boys will actually recover from the cellaritis and really give us something to cheer about. Be fun to see how many more Leafs fans are created then. As for the Kessel abuse, the trade was only his fault in so far as Burke wanted him and perhaps the Bruins had given up on making a worker out of a cherry picker. I suspect he's playing the game he grew up playing, floating around the fringe looking for open lanes to holes in the goalie. I don't know if he understands any other game. He is what he is. Ya gotta admit he's got a pretty lethal shot when given an opening and he can dipsey doodle with the best of 'em in the offensive zone but he doesn't really like to mix it up in the slot or offer much on the backcheck although he's been getting a little better in that dept. As for the rest of the Leafs they're for the most part a pretty young raw bunch with lots of talent but not much on ice leadership (i.e. maturity). Hopefully Burke can trade for some mature leadership in the form of a first line centre and a few others. The defence can probably work it out if the front end starts to produce consistently and help with the two way play. Kaberle is most valuable as a trader if he agrees to it. Too bad about Kommisarek (sp?) but with that great honkin' contract who's likely to want him in a trade? Mebbe he'll respond to some mature leadership on the ice. We know he can play better. He has before. Take the C away from Phaneuf and let him concentrate on his game. Perhaps the added responsibility is a distraction. Get a leader as a first line centre and put the C on him or even on Beauchemin. Between the pipes I wouldn't mind seeing Gustafsen (sp?) get traded and Reimer brought up to play with Giguere. Then when the minors produce some more goalies like Reimer Giguere becomes a decent trader. I think Wilson and Burke have proven their ability in the past but have bitten off a pretty big chore with the Leafs. Dunno if anyone could do much better with what they were handed. But for now I'll just enjoy watching the kids scramble on the good nights and commiserate with them when they flop. We've only got one way to go and winning will happen sooner or later. JF

Sometimes the salesmen have to buy into the party line. It's hard to sell something you don't or can't believe in. It's tough for a salesman to hear the truth laid out calmly and rationally. It's much easier to ignore a wild-eyed ranter. Hopefully his confidence will be a tad shaken now and he'll be asking some tough questions of the service department. JF

I think it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't thangs. My cousin bought a one year old Expedition and when it was going off warranty he bought the extended warranty for it. He's more than got his money back in the first year. I bought it one time on a car I'd had since new and it was a waste of money for me. Didn't have a thing go wrong. I was debating about buying out my leased Pilot a couple of years ago and asked a Honda service guy his opinion on the extended warranty. He said I'd probably be wasting my money given the low mileage and great condition of my vehicle. Apparently it really was in great condition as I heard from my dealer that it sold for more than the residual at auction to another dealer. Mine wanted to buy it himself but wouldn't pay that much. I didn't buy it myself because I couldn't make a deal ahead of time and was told I was crazy to pay the residual for it. In hindsight mebbe I shoulda. One interesting thing the Honda guy said was that he'd found the company to be really good at covering certain stuff out of warranty including some very high ticket items, depending I suppose on the apparent treatment the vehicle had had. You Honda owners keep that in mind. No guarantees from me but worth a shot if you have an after warranty problem. Costs nothing to ask. I know other companies have unpublished exceptions on the books. A buddy of mine in Louisville got new front spindle and brake assemblies with a few hundred thousand miles on his big Ford pickup. I think it was a 250 series but not certain. Another of our dive buddies who used to work in Ford's R&D clued him in to it one day when we met up in Ohio. The thing I remember most about that truck was the big ole hogleg he kept under the driver's seat. JF

I dived at my heaviest. Just needed more lead to get my fat ass down. I doubt I'll do much diving again though. I was getting too silly for an old fart. Silly diving is for youngsters. Fishing is much safer and cheaper. JF

Actually you'd hardly recognize me now. Size 36 pants, size large shirts etc. I'm a mere shadow of my old self. Convalescence is a lousy way to diet. I now have a closet full of size 40 pants and XL/XXL jackets & shirts. My wife has always said I buy too many clothes. Now I know what she means. JF

Us super sized guys shouldn't wear Holstein ot Hereford colored jackets. JF

I have broad shoulders. JF

Now you're finding out why I've been reduced to watching the Food Network whilst convalescing. I've learned to sprinkle salt from high above the dish and to add a little butter to the olive oil to put a nice shine on the sauce. The alternative is reruns of NCIS. The only live tv I watch is the Maple Leafs and some nights the live part is up for debate. But at least I haven't found myself watching Tyler yet.

Dunno. Is it much less than what you buy at your local shop? JF

Aren't the big box stores just a sign of the times? How often right here on OFC do we see posts asking for tips on where to get the best prices on gear, boats and motors? How is that supportive of the local small retailer? The majority of surviving (even succeeding) local retailers are probably part of a buying collective for purchasing power and better pricing. That's already a move in the direction of consolidation under a major label. I can understand why employees and owners of small retailers are upset at the idea of the Walmarts moving in but for every one of them how many locals are pleased to have greater selection and cheaper prices? I'm afraid it's a losing battle. JF

With all the bad talk about Walmart I'm amazed anyone goes to work for them. What am I missing? JF

Here's some more Matt with a writeup about the band. JF

Here's a few songs by my son's band Frontier Index. http://www.myspace.com/frontierindexband He plays bass. JF

Every one of you has probably heard my little brother play. He worked on the HNIC theme for years as well as the Canadian Olympic TV coverage. Till he told me I didn't even realize there were guitar lines in the HNIC theme. He has often written and performed the background music for the Olympic athlete cameos you see on tv. When someone wins something he'll get a call in Stratford asking for the music for the vid asap. He works straight thru until it's done and dubbed on the vid, then he sends it to the network electronically for play. He also runs a small studio recording other artists. Hit the play arrow and wait for the file to buffer. This is just a sample of his guitar playing. Look up Ali Matthews for more of him accompanying her. He also does a lot of her recording and production as well as accompanying her when she does tv or live hows. JF

There seems to be a lot of interest in music from the members here. We already know that there are some very talented musicians in our midst but what about the others who are too shy to share their music or who have talented family members doing some recording? My own family is quite musically inclined but I'm at the weak end of that chain. Not that I'm tone deaf or anything but I gave up the banjo in frustration years ago. If you hear some of my family's stuff you'll understand why. Is anyone interested in posting samples for the rest of us to enjoy? Ice reports seem to be slowing down and it's still a few months till soft water is with us again so let's do a little bragging. JF

I've only watched 'em a few times on tv. I can't figure out how they don't just explode when they land after some of that big air they get. They look so flimsy. JF

Got an equally good one for ya. Try hanging sticks of bologna in a smoking tree every morning 5 days a week for a summer. I think there were something like 5 big bungs of bologna or other cold cuts on each stick. The tree was like a framework metal box about 3 1/2' by 3 1/2' square and 5' high hanging from a roller track. The framework really forced you to reach to get in to the centre. It was like doing heavy curls for 4 hours. I forget how much a large cello bag of bologna like Schneiders makes weighs but multiply by 5 and you have the stick. JF

Doesn't work that way. You're too busy reacting to be scared. I witnessed exactly the same thing not far from there on the 401 17 years ago. That truck crushed my van. Mine was the first of 11 vehicles to be hit. I was so high on adenalin I felt nothing. I had 4 18 year kids with me. JF

My Dad had a farm equipment biz when I was growing up. When the balers were running and I was off school I'd hang out with Dad every day as he made his rounds servicing the equipment he sold. I loved climbing up on the wagon and stacking bales. I don't know how old I was but I must have been strong enuf. Then when he was servicing an elevator I'd either feed bales or help up in the barn. I guess it was fun because I eventually got to go home but I loved those summer days, eating sandwiches in the pickup and sharing lemonade out of a huge green and white Thermos with Dad. In my later teens I developed a serious allergy to hay and never got to do that stuff again. I missed it. JF

I'm no business expert but I suspect this is the result of a variety of motivations: 1. Buying up a strong competitor to regain market share 2. Offering choice for the consumer without actually surrendering market share 3. Cost savings thru maxing out production capacity of company owned facilites or thru volume discounting from suppliers 4. Getting greater share of product into individual retail outlets. i.e. a retailer may set a limit of 100 units or dollars for one brand but by adding brand names under the corporate umbrella the parent could get 200 units onto a retailer's shelves, hopefully at the expense of the competition. 5. Some parts and service interchangeability for corportate cost effectiveness JF

The other group who absolutely blow me away are the nurses. Anyone who says these people are overpaid needs to get out more. I know there are exceptions but damn - they amaze me as a group. I even had one who hung out with me one sleepless hospital night to talk about walleye fishing on the French. Another went foraging one night to find me a reading lamp when I couldn't sleep and didn't want to disturb my roomy by turning on the big light. But the great examples were the ones working in ICU in London when Steve was in a coma. They were beyond incredible. A couple even slipped in after their shift to keep us company when they shut off the machinery that last day (after he'd hung on for 39 days) and then stood there with their arms around each other crying. Tell me nurses don't care. But I'll shut up now. That's a whole nuther story and not what Ron first wrote about. His subject really deserves to stand alone. Sorry, Ron. JF

Nice post Ron. Too often we completely ignore the importance of support from friends and family. It's way more than helping with the chores or lending friends money when they're really in a bind. The value of strong emotional support is incalculable. We've all experienced it but did we all recognize it? Women are much better at it than men, and men tend to blow it off. Real men don't cry - yeah, right! Again, great post, Ron. And I like that you're not shoving the support down anyone's throat. Too often the folks who realize the value of emotional support become obsessed with forcing their help on others. Too often the others aren't ready for it or feel they don't need it and are offended by it. About a year after we lost our 18 year old an out of town acquaintance lost his in much the same way. Because of the way our family dealt with our loss some of his family came to me insisting that I basically get in his face about the way he was handling his situation. I refused. I asked them to tell him I'd be happy to talk with him or just listen but I wouldn't force it on him. He never called. He bought a Harley instead. That seemed to work for him. The truth is that no one can realy know what another person is struggling with, even when the situations appear to be identical. So it's the height of arrogance for anyone to assume that they can fix everything for everyone who's hurtin'. Just listening is sometimes all it takes. By the way. There's another side to this. I talked about the folks who push themselves into the situation. There are the other kind, those who avoid you because they don't know what to say or just can't handle the idea of you suffering. I saw this over and over again when Steve died. I finally started taking the bull by the horns with the folks closest to us and saying something like "Treat me normally. I'm not fragile or broken. We don't need to talk about Steve." That seemed to work for most of them. Sorry about the moralizing but it's kind of a hot button with me after some of the stuff my family has gone through with losing a son, losing parents (except my Mom who's going to outlive us all), cancer, and a few other minor hurdles. Anyway Ron. Again, great post. It's important (for us guys particularly) to be more aware and sensitive and willing to share others' pain. For any of you who want to see a great example of it, go to the chemo ward or ICU in any hospital and check out the volunteers giving up hours and days of their lives, usually retirement years to boot, to ease the suffering of others. It can be eye opening. JF

Protect your stars. Couple of good reasons. You lose a star and there goes your cap. But more importantly you want your stars to be able to do their thing uninhibitedly. That was something we learned way back in Peewee hockey. Why else have the bruisers on the roster - to protect the coach? On the other hand Doughty was doing his job too. I still remember a few times when folks were appalled that someone took a run at Gretzky but why should he be sacrosanct? But don't you love the stars who can take care of themselves - give it and take it? There have been a few. JF

Having a nice thick catalogue to peruse is a lot like staying at yer place. Your stuff just has fingerprints on it - and you probably have more line than any BPS store - and the dvds are already open and ready to watch without paying for 'em. JF