Bills 28, Jets 9

The Wilson Hockey League, which plays outdoors on winter Thursday evenings at Otter Creek rink - and has done so since 1996, has seen many players come and go over the years. Some have played for years then moved away or hung them up entirely and some have played only once or twice as guests. Last week, on the day after Boxing Day, the WHL welcomed its best known guest player ever, a former NHLer and well know TV hockey analyst. I am leaving his name out in order to best preserve any chance that he might join us again. I realize that readership of this blog is not big but I want to play it safe. Plus, I can say lots of other stuff about him without risk of him ever seeing it. Not that what I am going to say would displease him.

On the contrary, here's what I saw. This was a player whose role when he played in the NHL was that of part enforcer, part checker, part general toughness and grit. No fan would have perceived him as a high skill player at least not in comparison to his pro colleagues. Yet, some 15 or so years after his retirement from the NHL, he is a supremely skilled hockey player compared to the rest of our lot (and we have some decent players, myself NOT among them) whose stick-handling and passing was a pleasure to watch and a thrill to be part of. He hit me with several perfect passes, most of which I managed to screw up but I did thankfully follow through on one. Nice guy too. And it sure seemed like he had fun. He is welcome back any time.

I've seen a couple of good films recently. Life of Pi earned 4 stars from the Globe and Mail, and deservedly so. It is a visually rich (and worth seeing in 3D) interpretation of the Yann Martel novel and, with the help of CGI, a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker seemed very real to me. A couple of days ago, I saw the new Tarantino film, Django Unchained. The D in Django is silent as Jamie Foxx sometimes points out before blowing peoples head off. I loved it but I'm a big fan of Tarantino. I realize that not everyone is and I completely understand that. This film features another stellar performance by Christoph Waltz, the Austrian actor who Tarantino brilliantly cast in Inglorious Basterds. The Globe gave it only 2 and half stars and this mystifies me. If Life of Pi was worth 4 (and I would probably have given it 3 and half), then this film, although different in every way, deserves the same. Both are worth seeing.

Well, the Bills finally beat the NY Jets yesterday, although they waited until it did not matter and the only real result was that the Bills now draft 8th overall instead of higher had they managed to lose. Unfortunately, 6 of the 7 teams drafting ahead of them also need a quarterback so perhaps it's time to trade up like the Redskins did this year to get Robert Griffin III (who lead his team to the NFC East title last night). Ralph Wilson is 94 years old and he alone will decide the fate of GM Buddy Nix and head coach Chan Gailey. My best guess is that both will be gone and, if that is the case, could Bill Polian be headed back to One Bills Drive (as has been rumoured)?  If he is, he has the credibility to attract a quality head coach but the ongoing uncertainty over the ownership situation and the fact that the Bills have done it on the cheap through their 13 years out of the playoffs could keep the top tier candidates away. Ralph Wilson will have about 5 weeks before he sends out season ticket renewal invoices. My bet is that there will be a new GM and coach in place by then. I guess change and renewal helps to get people like me to pay up. I would any way. The Bills are still in the National Football League after all.
    

Dolphins 24, Bills 10

Brad Barker of Jazz FM was in the TVO studio last week with Steve Paikin to try to explain some of the genius of Dave Brubeck, American jazz master who passed away earlier this month. Brubeck was a true musical star - which is unusual in the world of jazz which has always produced brilliant players who mostly toil in total obscurity. Barker explained to Paikin that Brubeck's innovative time signatures set him and his quartet apart from most other music we know - often popular "blues based" music - as he pushed the limits of progressive jazz. Time signature refers to the number of beats per measure. Blues based music is easy foot tapping or dancing music because its time signature is often in 4/4. Most casual music listeners are fully aware of that time signature without knowing it. The Brubeck quartet's best known piece "Take Five" (which was written by Brubeck's long time saxophone player Paul Desmond and is from the 1959 album Time Out) is written in a 5/4 time signature. Other time signatures he used included 6/4, 9/8 and 13/4. Brubeck was a serious professional musician who did not drink or take drugs. He always wore a shirt and tie when playing. He was a musical giant. As Barker said, when you listen to Take Five, it just makes you feel good. I am happy to have learned a little more about Dave Brubeck last week. And I purchased Time Out so that I can feel good anytime I want.

In the US, the National Rifle Association took a full week to comment after the Newtown shootings. But for those of us hoping that the organization shoots itself in the foot as often as possible, it was well worth the wait. NRA spokesman Wayne Lapierre held a press conference to explain that "the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun". Lapierre also called for the posting of armed federal agents in all schools and went as far as to say that if that idea seems crazy, "then call me crazy". As Lapierre was making his statement, a gunman in Ohio shot four people in an apparent random act. Whether or not the timing was by design is not clear but on Twitter, someone commented in "defence" of the NRA: "you try holding a press conference at a time when there isn't a mass shooting going on. Its just not that easy." The good news, it seems to me, is that Americans seem more and more to be rejecting extreme views such as those of the NRA and its most recent position about armed guards in schools. In the long term, these views will become more marginalized and this should pave the way for meaningful gun control in the US. Not soon but eventually.

It's Christmas Eve. I am sitting in the warm cottage looking out over the just barely frozen lake. I was able to get in 2 hours of skiing yesterday through 8-10cm of snow which is not really enough for skiing but too much for mountain biking. There is a crusty frozen layer on the ground which helps keep the skis off the rocks as I move through the forest. The ice on the lakes is too thin to ski safely on and the ice on the beaver pond to the north of the road probably is thick enough but is flooded with slush at the surface. This is the shoulder season I guess. It's about a month late based on a 100 year average.

My Christmas shopping is done. It consisted of the purchase of a crown roast of pork from Upper Cut Meats at the St. Lawrence Market. It sits in the fridge ready to be transported to St. Catharines tomorrow for our family dinner. I made a batch of apple/ginger jam a couple of weeks ago and I made my second annual cash donation to the Daily Bread Food Bank through the Sounds of the Season website. That's it. A jar of jam and knowing that I donated to the food bank is all anyone is getting for Christmas from me. And the pork roast too. Happy Holiday everyone!

The Bills close out another sad season on Sunday December 30th at Ralph Wilson Stadium against the New York Jets if anyone cares. I do because I am trying to get rid of my tickets for it.

Seahawks 50, Bills 17

David Frum was doing the rounds on CBC radio this morning as I drove to Muskoka. I heard him speaking first with Matt Galloway as the reception faded then to Wei Chen about 45 minutes later. He feels that the gun control issue in the US is so sensitive that it probably can not be dealt with by elected politicians in the current highly polarized environment. If the President were to initiate gun control legislation, the NRA and the Republican party would dig in and success would be virtually impossible. He is hopeful, however, that a citizens group could succeed in building a broad, non-partisan consensus in the US around this issue which could then lead to legislative changes down the road. He used the example of Mothers Against Drunk Driving which was able to effect significant change in the 1980's not only in law but in creating full public consensus for stronger laws and stiffer punishment around drinking and driving. The difference in this case is that there is no organization which speaks for the constitutional rights of drunk drivers the way the NRA does for American gun culture.

Yesterday at the Rogers Centre, the Buffalo Bills gave up points Gangnam Style (sorry, had to use it) as they clinched their 13th consecutive non-playoff season and their 8th straight losing season. Chan Gailey is now officially on the hot seat and Bills management probably realizes that bringing him and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick back for a fourth season would alienate a significant chunk of the fan base and put a serious dent in season ticket sales. Unless something remarkably positive takes place over the final two games, it seems likely that a new head coach and quarterback will be headed to Buffalo in 2013.

PSY took the stage at halftime yesterday and performed his signature (and only popular) song, Gangnam Style. He is a good showman with a catchy Korean charisma (from the alliteration department) and a commanding stage presence. I don't know what he was paid, but for four and half minutes work, it's probably pretty lucrative for him. May he ride it as long as he can.

Yesterday also marked the sad conclusion to the ill-fated "Bills in Toronto" series. When it was announced in early 2008, I thought that it would be hugely popular and highly successful in this, North America's fifth largest market. So obviously did Rogers Communications. That's why a friend and I jumped on the chance to pay more than $3,500 for two 500 level tickets to all eight games in the series. It ended up being only seven games and I can't recall the total amount of the rebates we received after the first year. I do remember that the face price of the tickets to the two games in 2008 was $255 and the same tickets yesterday had a face price of $95. Even with the steep price reduction, there were significant chunks of empty seats in the top corners of the 500 level for yesterday's game. So, what is the lesson for the Bills and for Rogers? First, the Bills relationship with Toronto is not the same (or even close to being the same) as the Green Bay Packers relationship is with the city of Milwaukee - the example that Rogers probably looked to when the idea was conceived. And, Toronto is home to many NFL fans but not as many fans of the Buffalo Bills as Rogers had assumed. And, the Rogers Centre atmosphere, even if it were sold out, is so different from that of Ralph Wilson Stadium that it is barely comparable. If the Bills in Toronto deal is renewed, Rogers and the Bills will have to come up with a different way to promote and sell the games in the Toronto market. The league is probably not pleased with the take-up of these games in Toronto but if there is any organization in North America which is capable of harnessing its marketing machine to come up with a way to make these games more compelling, it is the National Football League itself. If the NFL can't help to figure out a way to make it work, then it simply can not be done.

Rams 15, Bills 12

Last Thursday, the six candidates running to replace Dalton McGuinty as leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario and serve, however briefly, as Premier, assembled in the TVO studios at Yonge and Eglinton for a "debate" which was moderated by Steve Paikin. I watched the entire hour and here's my take: First of all, there are three candidates who should really not be there at all as they just take away time from the other four. Charles Sousa, Harinder Takhar and Eric Hoskins, a few more of us know your names now but, honestly........ Of the four top tier candidates, Glen Murray impressed me the most. He seemed best able to speak from the perspective of the party and its need for a teamwork and a collective approach - regardless of who wins the leadership. The former Winnipeg mayor, former head of the Canadian Urban Institute and most recently the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities is a thoughtful and well-spoken urban affairs advocate and generally an impressive guy. I was trying to picture each of the four candidates up against Tim Hudak and Andrea Horwath in a televised election debate and Murray looked to me like the one who would best handle that. I like Kathleen Wynne but, as a current and long time member of the government, she will not be able to distance herself from the McGuinty legacy in a credible way. Sandra Pupatello is aggressive and confident but I"m not sure that she can handle Hudak in a campaign. Gerrard Kennedy, after losing his federal seat to Peggy Nash last year, seems to want to apply for any and all available Liberal leadership jobs. He is a decent guy but looks like someone who would end up as opposition leader after Hudak wins a majority.

Regardless of who wins, it will be extremely tough for the provincial Liberals to win yet another election unless Hudak self-implodes with some crazy policy like having prisoners pick up garbage in chain gangs along our roads. Wait, he did that last time..... This time, I suspect that he will make no such radical promise and he and his party have done a good job over the past several months in releasing a broad set of policy directive "white papers" on a range of important topics. More recently, he has re-cycled the "beer in corner stores" idea and taken shots at the LCBO and their new fancy stores built at taxpayer expense. These messages play well. He pointed out that when you leave Ontario in any direction - to Manitoba, Minnesota, Michigan, New York or Quebec, you will enter a jurisdiction where you can buy beer and wine in corner stores and grocery stores. So, why not have this in Ontario too? I'm not sure that there is a good answer. The election in the spring is going to be Hudak's to lose. He is fully capable of doing just that but I'd be surprised not to see him as Premier before the summer. And as a Toronto resident, and depending on what happens with the mayor's office, the prospect of having Stephen Harper in Ottawa, Tim Hudak at Queen's Park at Rob Ford at City Hall is about as depressing a scenario as I can imagine.

Speaking of depressing, I did watch the entire Bills game yesterday. The defence could not get off the field on third down and also, here is a newsflash: we need a quarterback. With 3 games left, it's really about draft position now. The latest draft analysis I have heard says that there are, once again, several good quarterbacks available in the draft - although maybe not as highly rated as Andrew Luck or RG3 were. I just hope that Buddy Nix can pick the guy who will not be the second coming of JP Losman.

This weekend, we have the annual "who cares bowl" as the high-flying Seattle Seahawks (who beat Arizona yesterday 58-0) come to the Rogers Centre to play the Bills. The game will serve as the undercard for the halftime performance by PSY who will play a 10 minute version of Gangnam Style (I presume). Last week, I saw Leonard Cohen and Dave Matthews Band at the ACC so having the chance now to see PSY as well as an NFL exhibition game as an opening act is just about all I could ask for.

Bills 34, Jaguars 18

An email from Mary Ito arrived last Tuesday. The subject line was :"Join us Saturday at Lula Lounge". A few Saturdays ago, I was up early as usual, working on the computer and listening to Mary host CBC radio's Fresh Air. She invited readers to submit stories about dates gone wrong. So, I took a few minutes, submitted a story and hoped that she would read it on the air. She did not and I either missed her saying or forgot that she had said that she would select 8 lucky winners to join her and other CBC staff at Lula Lounge for dinner and evening of Salsa dancing. I know more about Salsa dancing than I did before Saturday (which was virtually nothing) and I enjoyed meeting everyone but I can't see myself taking it up anytime soon. For those who do this, it's hard to imagine a better place for it that than Lula Lounge. There were couples whose dancing skills were good enough for a TV show and the band was fantastic. It was an interesting peek into a world I knew nothing about. And Mary Ito is delightful in every possible way.

Here's my take on the Rob Ford saga: assuming that he is successful on Wednesday in his application for a stay of last week's order and assuming that his appeal of the same order in not successful in January (big assumptions but probably the most likely scenarios), rather than go the $7 million expense of a by-election, I firmly believe that council should exercise their right to appoint someone to hold the position on an interim basis until the regularly scheduled election in 2014. An argument could be made that it be Doug Holloday, the current Deputy Mayor and former mayor of Etobicoke. His more tempered personality and right-of-centre leaning could be considered an acceptable replacement for and extension of the Ford mandate. I have a different view as to who should be appointed and it may not be what anyone who knows me would expect. I would support the appointment of Rob Ford as "interim" Mayor. He won the election in 2010 fair and square and has the right to hold the office until 2014. Despite the existing law (which should and I expect will be changed to allow for judicial discretion), his actions and/or omissions were not serious enough, in my view, for him to be removed from office. His ideology, policies and demeanor in office are different things entirely and clearly are going to be key considerations for voters in 2 years time. Plus, appointing Ford, as I suggest, would shut the Mayor and his brother up about the "left wing witch hunt" and make them run for re-election on their record alone. Speaking of judicial discretion, it was interesting to see the reaction from Ford supporters who could not understand why the judge had no discretion in the application of the penalty of removal from office after finding that the Mayor broke the conflict of interest law. "What do we pay these judges for anyway?", they asked. These are generally the same people who support more mandatory minimum sentences for certain criminal offences. Like we have now, thanks to the Harper government.

On to some football now..........Mike from Buffalo, whose seats are next to mine in section 113 at Ralph Wilson Stadium, bought my tickets to yesterday's game. He also texted me a photo of the stadium during the game and it looked pretty bleak. Rain, wind and tens of thousands of empty seats. It looked like there were less than 25,000 actually in the stadium. I saw none of the game but had John Murphy and Mark Kelso on the radio for much of it. The Bills are now 5-7 with a mathematical but unrealistic shot and at a wildcard spot. The best news? Mario Williams has really picked it up and is beginning to play like something approaching the player they hoped he would be when they signed him in March.

Up next: the St. Louis Rams come to Orchard Park after a thrilling OT win against the 49ers yesterday. Up next for me: finding a buyer for these tickets.