bigugli

All the leafs woes begin and end in the front office. Both the current ownership, and Ballard, have ruled the team with a singular perspective. The only thing that matters is profitability. They don't, need to be contenders, need the cup, need to play well, need to pay well. For nearly 50 years the Leafs have been a middle to bottom of the pack team, and they are still one of the most, if not most, profitable franchises in the league. Fans are stupid enough to pay $200+ for a seat at the ACC. Spend $2-300 in merchandising every year. Why does anything at Leaf central need to change. The fans continue to pay blindly, and the shareholders are happy.

And a page from the wisdom of Harold. A little dirt and controversy to keep people talking, is always good for business.

What a nail biter! Right to the last few seconds. I'm so glad they settled down.

The scowl on Tretiak's face. Priceless.

Team Canada is having a bout of "Torontoitis" !!!!!!!! All of a sudden the discipline got lost. Bad penalties to take with the Russians.

Intense first period. The first 2 1/2 minutes was WOWWWWWW!

Typical dirt hockey by the Russians.

Every year, during early and late ice, we get the same result from a few fishermen or sledders.

Even if you do go out on early and late ice, there are a few safety measures we can all follow. Float suits, picks, spud, or staff.

The kids paid for theirs on the 20th. Nada so far.

Isn't that kind of like saying a Canadian variation of maple syrup?

We have our share of rednecks here in Canader ya know. Some of the fellas I grew up with make Gomer and Goober look sophisiticated.

Just figured it was a redneck variation on the Alabama rig.

Whoo-Hee! I smell a good old fashioned OFC barn raisin' in the makin' here!! Come one come all (especially if you're Mennonite or Amish!), let's git er done!!

If'n I git started by the end of the month, me and the Conestoga waggin should git thar by June.

Watching those Trackers take off & land on Bonnies flight deck was something I never tired of.

 

Very repetitious but the skill of those Air Wing pilots landing those planes on the small deck in rough seas was just unbelievable.

And they used to have to do it blind at night and in heavy fog. There would be some nasty prangs on deck at times.

I spent alot of time working alongside the Bonnie Bruce.

 

That was an age ago now. I still remember when they beached my uncle. All his skills and qualifications were deemed worthless in the civilian world. Despite the fact that when the weather got really nasty, civil aviation would need his help to talk the planes in.

Light snow in the morning. Freezing rain since 1pm.

This weather is just a little too reminiscent of the crap we used to see during a Nova Scotia winter.

A good blow would give you 1-2' of snow from the north, then the wind would shift bringing warm air from the gulf current, and that brought freezing rain and rain, followed by another dip and more snow. Was normal to be stranded 2-3 days along the eastern shore. They lifted my uncle by chopper to get him out on the Bonnie the one time.

All I can say is Drats! and double Drats!!! It shoulda bin me. LOL. What a trip to be on.

Guess I better start dropping a few hints at my son about booking you as a guide for some great far off destination

These days you get thrown in jail for the kinda things we, as a community, did on New Years Eve.

Judy wanted to go to a big bingo hall for New Years Eve. Had a nice evening together, but it seems the Mrs has lost her "horse shoe"!

Good to see a report from you. Some nice crappie.

Sorry to hear life took a wrong turn. It does sound like you're on a new path, and in the long run, that's a good thing.

Anybody here into the Yorkville sound. Listening to a scratchy old tape of Vanilla Fudge.

Yer a lucky guy, Brian. I needs to wait another couple of years before I get to enjoy any of that.

I used to have them back in the 70's. Gold weedless Williams and weedless Johnson silvers were great for pike in thick weeds.

I have two very important goals. Every year, there is the goal to fish 10 new bodies of water.

The better goal is to get out and go fishing with as many OFC members as I can this year.

I know of a couple of lakes like that in the Minden area. I'd focus on the outer edge of the weed lines in a bay or by an inflow from a creek or stream. Second spot would be to fish any ledges you know of.

We didn't do rinks as a kid, I grew up in Pelham Township, Niagara in the midst of fruit farm country. Ponds were the ice surface of choice, used for irrigation and filling of sprayers . One farm even supplied benches for changing skates. I didn't skate on artificial ice in a rink till I was 19 and went to University in 69.

Nothing like good old pond hockey. Learned to skate, and play hockey, at the farm pond. When there was a heavy snow the one neighbour would come over on his lawn tractor and plow the pond for us. One rink for hockey. One rink for skating. I sure missed that when we moved to Toronto.

totally get ya.

in 20 years when our olympic team sucks there will be a huge push to build outdoor rinks and arenas lol

In 20 years hockey will likely be smothered in bubblewrap as well.

Merry Christmas, all

Hyvvaa Joulua

Back in the late 70's we used to put together a public rink in Scarborough. Sat on lands held by the school and the city park. We'd go out late in the evening to scrape it, flood it, do minor repairs. All was good.

Then one fall the community association received notices from the school board and the municipality. There were complaints from folks neighbouring the park. Therefore the rink could only go up if certain conditions were met. Such things as providing mandatory adult supervision on the ice. Portable chain link fencing with a locked gate for when there were no adults available to supervise. $10,000 security deposit to be left with the municipality. That was the end of the rink, the playground fund and the association.

You try and do good and end up getting pissed on by bureaucrats and politicians.