Sometimes I wonder why I stay in Cranbrook....

Sometimes I wonder why I stay in Cranbrook nine years after retiring from a fantastic teaching position at College of the Rockies here. I was totally immersed in my work at the college so never really became a part of community life, and in retirement have more or less been an observer rather than participant in the local scene. Yesterday, once again I "stumbled when I saw" to borrow my favorite line from Shakespeare's 'King Lear.'

I headed out for my afternoon walk towards downtown planning to make a stop at the Pharmasave drug store. I started to feel a bit light headed, but made it to Pharmasave, refusing to admit to myself that I had a problem. I made my purchase and was chatting away with Diane, the pharmacist, and Andrew, the manager.

Diane suddenly asked me if I was all right as I had broken into a sweat, and then my legs gave out and I headed for the floor. Andrew apparently grabbed me and broke my fall. There I was sitting on the floor with Diane and Andrew looking after me. They wanted to call 911 but after a glass of water and about 15 minutes regaining my wits, I felt OK, and managed to walk home.

They did insist that I call my doctor which I did and have just arrived home from seeing him. Looks like I suffered some kind of virus attack that sure came on quickly and seems to have disappeared. I have to take it easy of course, but am feeling so much better.

And Diane and Andrew contributed so much to how much better I feel today. I am a strong believer that people show up in our lives at exactly the right moment for a good reason. In fact I think I could write a book on the subject. First, they looked after me in a moment of crisis when in one of those moments, my life changed from a guy out for a walk to collapsing on the floor, and secondly, I won't be so quick to wonder why I am here in Cranbrook.

Thanks Diane and Andrew. By the way, Andrew's brother Ben Rutledge is a member of the Canadian Gold Medal Rowing Team in the Beijing Olympics.

A not with a bang but a whimper week!

I had high expectations that last week would result in news from the political and sports worlds worthy of much commentary, but by its end, with all apologies to T.S. Elliot for the misquote: "This is the way the week ends not a bang but a whimper."
TYPICALLY CANADIAN
On Parliament Hill, the possibility loomed of a summer election as Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff made noises that he would bring down the minority Harper Conservative government in a vote of confidence on Friday by having the Liberals join the New Democats and Bloc Quebecois in voting against the government.

Such was not to be as Harper and Ignatieff held a couple of face to face meetings and in typical Canadian fashion decided to appoint a committee to look into Employment Insurance changes and report back in the Fall. Both, of course took credit for the compromise, but what about those who may have benefited from EI changes now.
BALSILLIE BID QUASHED
Meanwhile, a judge in Phoenix, Arizona, squashed Jim Balsillie's plans to buy the National Hockey League Phoenix Coyotes saying there wasn't enough time to get the deal done for the 2009-2010 season, and move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. So for the moment NHL Gary Bettman can relax but Balsillie says he will be back.

As an observer, I predict that the Phoenix Coyotes mess is the tip of the iceberg for the NHL. Other teams are in deep trouble, and Bettman won't be able to keep his leaky hockey ship afloat forever. Stay tuned.
WHIMPERING WINGS
Still with hockey, rather than let Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoy their Stanley Cup victory, the media kept alive a totally nonsensical story about Crosby not shaking hands with Detroit Red Wings player(s). Gordie Howe finally stepped in and said to lay off and give Crosby a break already. Whimpering Wings!
PAMPERED PLAYERS
And in Ottawa Dany Heatley goes public about wanting a trade ostensibly because he wasn't getting along with Cory Clouston, the new coach of the Senators. Apparently Clouston put Heatley on the second power play unit. I know Cory from the years he spent in Cranbrook as assistant and head coach of the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League.

He is a great coach who is absolutely committed to the game and his players, and yes, he is demanding but no more on others than he is on himself. I hope pampered players like Heatley get their just reward -- a trip to the minors for a year or so.

For sure the dog days of summer are with us!

Totally relaxed on nostalgia trip during Game 7 of Stanley Cup Final

For those readers who may recall how calm I always was on the bench in my years with the Chapleau Intermediate "A" Huskies, and Chapleau Midgets, you will know that I was totally relaxed while watching Game seven of the Stanley Cup finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. Not likely! I am not a huge fan of the present National Hockey League, but once I decided to cheer for the Penguins, I was right into it, bringing back memories of games won and lost going back 60 years or so in the history of Chapleau hockey.

And the Penguins and the Red Wings did not disappoint. It was anybody's game right up to the final buzzer with Marc Andre Fleury making another fantastic save with less than six seconds left to give the Penguins the cup by a score of 2-1.

Between periods I ignored the pontificating of Don Cherry who is one the major reasons why I don't watch NHL hockey, and shook my head when league commissioner Gary Bettman had to make a comment about saving the (Pittsburgh) franchise while presenting the cup to Sidney Crosby, the Penguins captain. It was neither the time nor the place for Bettman to subtly raise the Phoenix Coyotes issue, as nobody really cared about it.

I could just as easily have been cheering for the Red Wings as Detroit holds fond memories for me in the years that I was a daily newspaper reporter and editor. But I chose Pittsburgh, more out of nostalgia than anything else, for it was there that I was introduced to the reality of the American Dream and met the best of the best in the American people.

As a kid I spent some summers in Pittsburgh with my Mom where we went to visit friends of my parents from World War II days. Iven and Arlene Nichol came to Canada after the war started and Iven was a flying instructor with my Dad as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. After the United States entered the war, Iven returned home and joined the US military. After the war, Mom wanted me to know their friends even though my Dad was killed on active service in the RCAF in 1943, and off we would go to spend time with Iven and Arlene and eventually their family of six girls as Iven climbed the corporate ladder. For a time Pittsburgh was like a second home to me, and then we followed them to Stamford, Connecticut, where Iven commuted to New York City as a senior executive. In the midst of Game seven of the Stanley Cup I had a rush of memories from more than 50 years ago, and am so thankful to my Mom and Iven and Arlene for letting me have a real taste of American life.

In 1968 I was at the Chatham Daily News as a reporter and editor, arriving shortly after the race riots that devastated parts of Detroit. But in 1968 the Detroit Tigers were in the World Series, and I was assigned to accompany the late Reyn Davis, one of my best friends ever and surely among the greatest sports writers of the 20th century, to games in Detroit. On our first trip to Detroit both of us were shocked at the damage done from the race riots -- we saw another side of life in the United States and itwas ugly indeed. Quite an experience for a kid from a village in Northern Ontario and for Reyn who was from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Reyn went on to the Winnipeg Free Press where he was named the best hockey writer in North America by the University of Missouri School of Journalism and is also a member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

As you can see it was quite a night for me as I watched Game seven, full of nostalgia really, and not just about those hockey games won and lost. But if NHL games were as good as that one, I would really be getting excited again.