Goalie Masks.... Past and Present

The 5 All-Time Greats

It is the opinion of this publication, and hundreds of other journalists out there, that these 5 players are the greatest of all time.

In no particular order,

Lou Gehrig

Seasons 17
Games 2164

AB 8001

Runs 1888

Hits 2721

HR 493

RBI 1995

BB 1508

SO 790

BA .340

OBP .447

SLG .632

Key Stat: 8001 At bats, only 790 Strikeouts, and 1508 walks. 9.8% of the time he struck out. Compared to Barry Bonds who strikes out 15% of the time, Reggie Jackson 26%, Ken Griffey Jr 18%.

Babe Ruth

Seasons 22

Games 2503

AB 8398

Runs 2174

Hits 2873

HR 714

RBI 2217

BB 2062

SO 1330

BA .342

OBP .474

SLG .690

Key Stat: Obviously Home Runs. Awe at the amount of walks, a .342 BA as a power hitter, and .474 OBP. Remember, these are CAREER stats. But get this, The Sultan of Swat averaged a home run every 8.5 at bats.

Mickey Mantle

Seasons 18

Games 2401

At Bats 8102

Runs 1677

Hits 2415

HR 536

RBI 1509

BB 1733

SO 1710

BA .298

OBP .421

SLG .557

Key Stat: For every 6.5 at bats, the Mick hit a home run. It is the belief of this publication that Mickey is the greatest of all time. Which is where this argument usually begins. A below .300 avg in the hall. If Mickey wasn't drunk 90% of the time, and was healthy, we believe it would be his records being broken, not the Babes.

Willie Mays

Seasons 22

Games 2992

At Bats 10881

Runs 2062

Hits 3283

HR 660

RBI 1903

SB 338

BB 1464
SO 1526

BA .302

OBP .384

SLG .557

Key Stat: Not listed. The 'Say Hey' Kid had an incredible fielding percentage of .981. Compare it to these three men known for their defense; The Wizard, Ozzie Smith .978, Iron Man Cal Ripken Jr. .977 and 12 time gold glover Roberto Clemente with .972. Players that played with Willie said you'd never see him dive for a ball, cause he'd already be under it.

Ty Cobb

Seasons 24

Games 3035

At Bats 11434

Runs 2246

Hits 4189

Doubles 724

Triples 295

HR 117

RBI 1937

SB 892

BB 1249

SO 357

BA .366

OBP .433

SLG .512

Key Stat: All of them. I added a few stats to Cobb's list because he was good at everything. A few things I will point out though. Cobb's numbers, as I have said before, set the standard for the hall. Both him and Ruth were in the first class inducted into the hall. Also, Cobb only has 117 HR in his career. Rumour has it, the press told him he couldn't hit home runs. That day he went out and hit three, just to show he could, but Cobb repeatedly said that he hit for average. One more thing, 357 strikeouts in 24 seasons. Lets put that into perspective. The most strikeouts in one season by a hitter is Adam Dunn with 195, and Bonds sits at 3rd on the list with 189. Go back... 357 over 24 seasons, Barry Bonds, 189 in ONE.

These players are listed in no particular order, but it is to the belief of this publication that if Mickey Mantle played a full and healthy career, he would be the greatest of all time. Furthermore, this board believes, healthy or not, there has never been a greater player than Mr. Ty Cobb.

Please feel free to make an argument for a player you believe should be on this list, or someone that should not be listed here.

2007 All-Star Game

The 2007 All-Star game, as opposed to the last few years, was both dramatic and exciting. An emotional crowd to honour one of the all-time greats - Willie Mays. A well deserved honour, for he, in my opinion is one of the 5 greatest. Which has always been a debate. And I will debate those 5 on a future post. For today I dedicate the post to this years All-Star game. The American League, using it's power, and relying on the home run to win this years mid-summer classic. There was also a bit of history that was made. Ichiro Suzuki hit the first ever All-Star, inside-the-park Home Run. Here's a good trivia question for the future, who did Ichiro hit it off of?

All in all, it was a surprisingly exciting game to watch. Now only if the Bluejays could win some games and maybe we'll be able to take advantage of home field advantage.

Looks can be deceiving...

Straight as an arrow, and this is what she does now? No, I've never done anything of the sort. What does she appear to be holding?

Not TOO far off....

My predicition for Prince was way off... but my hometown hero did great. Props to Alex for getting probably a little more recognition then he thought he was gonna get. All the way till the final round no one picked Rios. Shame on you ESPN.

Congrats goes to Vladdy for putting on a show. 503 feet - WoW

HR's, MVP's and more HR's

Too hard... not to talk about baseball, especially at this time of year.

Three Topics: Career HR's, Homerun Derby, Early MVP predictions.

Career HR's

As of late, when you watch the baseball highlights your hearing how many career homeruns a guy has hit, everytime he jacks one. Especially when A-rod, Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. hit one.

It's pretty cool to see someone reach 500, and 600 homeruns, but when they are 20 away from 600, who cares? This whole Barry Bonds HR chase has gotten out of control. Yes I think A-Rod will most likely break the record that Bonds set, but not soon.... Are we gonna hear how many homeruns A-rod has in his career everytime he jacks one? I don't care. You can tell me that it's his 30th this season. That's fine. But for his career? Too far. When they reach a milestone like 600 or 500, thats fine, but until they get close - shhhhhh. The only chase thats worth the hype is the Bonds chase. And it's too bad that Griffey didn't have a healthy career, cause out of all the big power hitters that have a chance at Aaron's/Bonds soon to be record, it's Griffey Jr. that I wish could hold the record. He's got a sweeter swing, a competitve attitude, and seems like a good guy.

Homerun Derby

Although I will be cheering for my hometown favourite:

I think Cecil's son is going to win it.

Early Favourites for MVP:

AL: Justin Morneau

Yes, a repeat. I'm not picking him cause he's Canadian, but no one has been more valuable to their team than Morneau. The only exception may be Guerrero on the Angels. Morneau, at the end of the first half is 3rd in RBI's and 2nd in Home Runs, with a modest .295 BA - which is sure to rise in the 2nd half. And you can't say A-rod here, cause what has done for the Yankee's? He may have won a few games for them with timely hitting, but is he THAT valuable to them? If he was, and all the other stars on that team are, why are they where they are in the standings? Hence my pick for back-to-back MVP's - Mr. Justin Morneau

NL: Matt Holliday

Got to be Matt Holliday. Just look at his stats, and thats enough said. And don't give me that Coors Field bullshit - he's got good numbers period.

BA .341 (good for 2nd - 1pt behind 1st place)

RBI 69 (good for 3rd)

Hits 122 (1st)

Doubles 30 (3rd)

HR's 15 (tied for 8th)

numbers... nuff said.

Russell Peters, All Roads lead to Brampton

http://

God bless you Russell Peters. 15,000 people, two nights in a row, ACC Toronto. F'n hilarious. All new material too! With of course, the classic... 'somebody gonna get a hurt real bad'. If you haven't heard him yet, check out this clip - it's probably one of his best bits. A comedian not as harsh or political as the racy Chris Rock, but pokes fun at all the racial stereotypes. To quote the Toronto Star, 'it was as though the audience was just waiting for him to make fun of their ethnic group next.'

Almost two hours of laughter. Welcome Home Russ. "All roads lead to Brampton"

Toronto Transportation System

Driving in this morning (June 12, 2007), there was a huge fire at a recycling plant alongside the 407 toll highway in Brampton. From the west-end of the GTA, thousands of commuter's got back-logged on the alternate route of the 401. Well, today at least, the 401 was playing as the alternate. This post comes in light of our transportation system here in Southern Ontario, and surrounding the GTA. As a West-end resident, my daily commute to Mississauga (just west of Toronto), has increasingly got worse. What normally would be a 15 minute drive on a Sunday, turns out to be 45 minutes to an hour - at best - during the week. With the growing traffic, the growing suburbs and the growing number of cars, why is the government not making it more accessible for commuters? I would take the GO train in, but there isn't a stop even close to where I work. Even with a bus transfer, I am looking at about the same amount of time for my commute. So why would I start using the GO train? I'm sure the majority of workers in the GTA travel right into downtown, but there is a large core of people that work in industrial areas of Brampton, Mississauga, Oakville (yes Oakville), Markham, Pickering, Oshawa and Newmarket. Where is the transit for these people? Also, a lot of these jobs have higher turnover rates - especially in manufacturing - and many workers are being forced to move closer to their jobs just so they can keep them - rather than make a two hour commute from west-end to east-end or vice-versa.

I was talking to a few people about this, and they said there are lots of places in North America with this problem, just look at LA. Thing is, LA could do a lot better with ground rail, but that's about it, they can't build a subway system because the lay of their land with all the faults that lay beneath them. But whats with Toronto? We have a subway system, but who does that serve? Unless you live right on the line, or relatively close, your fucked. 3 stinky buses, and two transfers later, you finally made it to the subway line. Then probably more transfers once you get to your subway stop.

Now I've been to London, England in the last few years, and their subway and train system is disgusting (as in good). You can get to virtually any point in the city via subway or rail connection (including the manufacturing belts). Granted the cars are packed, but isn't that what you want? More affordable, faster and cleaner for the people of your city. Yes, London is a lot older than Toronto, larger, and has had that much more time to build their subway system, but why can't Toronto start to at least plan this sort of infrastructure?

The money? How much taxes do we pay a year? How many more people are moving out of the city into new homes being built in new and growing suburbs like Milton and Whitby. New houses = more money via taxes.

In light of the horrible fire that happened this morning, and the traffic that it created, the city and the province has to take a good hard look at our transportation system. Expand the subway lines, make more of them, and when you start getting out to the suburbs, add some more connecting rail lines. It should be possible for people in the Kitchener/Waterloo area and Oshawa/Whitby area to easily, and quickly commute to either end of the city.

Recycling Plant Fire = Commuter Nightmare

London Tube Map

The Intricate Toronto Subway System

f o c h e s p o r t s: What Does Barry Bonds Breaking Hank Aaron's Record Mean to You - Austin LaRoche's Response

f o c h e s p o r t s: What Does Barry Bonds Breaking Hank Aaron's Record Mean to You - Austin LaRoche's Response

It's a numbers game

So the controversey continues....

Should Barry Bonds be elected into the Hall of Fame?

I'm not going to argue that he's a cheater. I'm not going to argue that he shouldn't be inducted because of steroids. And I am not going to argue he shouldn't be inducted because he's a bit of an asshole.... ok ok... he's severely mis-understood.

My arguement here is going to be by comparison, and one very good question.

If Ty Cobb finished his career this year, would he be inducted into the Hall of Fame? OF COURSE he would right? His numbers are disgusting. In fact, he's one of the originals, one of the reasons the Hall of Fame was built. He was, as they say, a trend setter. He was one of those players that set the standard of who should be considered Hall of Fame worthy.

Has anyone seen the movie Cobb? Or read his autobiography? He was a prick. And everyone knew he was a prick. But could he ever play baseball.

Hence, lies my arguement. I do not think that Ty Cobb would be inducted into the Hall of Fame if he was to retire this year with the same numbers he retired with years ago. Why? Cause he was a jerk. It would be seen as un-ethical. That he achieved those numbers by cheating - not by taking steroids, but abusing the beautiful game of baseball. Starting fights, jamming his spikes into second baseman, etc etc. Look at Pete Rose. I've been to the Hall of Fame, and the only place that Mr. Rose exists in there, is under the Career Hits list.... at number one..... 4256. Exactly 1277 hits more then the closest active player - Craig Biggio. He's not in the hall because of gambling. If he played in Ty Cobb's time, guess who else would be in the Hall of Fame. Guess who else would be in the hall if they were players at Cobb's time?

The Numbers don't lie - if they are jerk's, liars, cheaters or not.

Career Numbers

Games Hits HR RBI AVG SLG OBP

Ty Cobb 3035 4189 117 1937 .366 .512 .433
Pete Rose 3562 4256 160 1314 .303 .409 .375
Babe Ruth 2503 2873 714 2217 .342 .690 .474
Barry Bonds 2913 2880 746 1957 .298 .608 .444

The numbers don't lie. Bonds has played fewer games than Cobb and Rose, and is only a few points below Rose (the Career Hits Leader) in batting Average.

I think, regardless of who they are, what they've done, and if they've cheated or not, if you've produced, and they let you continue to play ball, then you belong in the Hall. If Ruth played today, he might even be questioned. All the times he's probably been caught drunk driving? He'd be in Jail. When he played, the police would bring him home!

All I'm trying to say is, all of these players broke the rules. If Cobb and Ruth are there, then Bonds and Rose belong as well.

Like I said, the numbers don't lie.

If your name was in the dictionary, what would it mean?

Ryan : A person with a sixth sense for detecting the presence of goblins

Damn straight, I've never had a problem with goblins yet.

http://www.quizgalaxy.com/quiz_83.html

Roger Clemens a yankee....

Who does this guy think he is? Joe DiMaggio?
Sheesh... how lame is this video? I want to throw up.

Afghan Tsunami

Did anyone pack an umbrella?

Go Raps Go

Congrats to Sam Mitchell on Coach of the year. And here's to the Toronto Raptors. Hope that they show Vince Carter and the rest of the Nets what a real team can accomplish. You know the kind of team that puts money aside and plays because they care.

The NIN game

Trent Reznor.... Genius. Not just because I'm a fan of NIN, but because the man is a genius. The music he produces is genius - which is up to debate with some people, because I guess its an acquired taste, but the way he is releasing his new album.... *wow*.

It all started with a tour T-shirt. While touring Europe, on the back of tour T-shirts there were dates - like a regular tour shirt, but there was a hidden code on the back with the dates and cities. If you notice, some letters are lighter than others, which put together a phrase. If you put a 'dot com' (.com) on the end of it, you get a website.

I'd also like to point out though, that he doesn't call this a marketing ploy. He isn't doing this to try and get people to buy his album. When reading all about this, its hard to believe that, thats not what he's really trying to do. After researching a bit more, and reading article upon article about this game he has created, I now believe him in that he isn't trying to get more people to buy. If you like the music, your going to buy it. Just because you may get hooked on his game, doesn't mean that all the sudden your going to be a NIN fan. I just think that it basically gets people excited, and intrigued by the whole thing. It's cancerous. I've told friends all about this, and they are now all interested in it. Trent Reznor is an artist, and whether that be in music or via internet, he's producing an artform. This time, with a different agenda, and a different meaning.

If you get caught up in the whole thing, your opinions may change, and his harsh view of the world in 15 years is pretty messed up. None-the-less, its all pretty cool, and all very interesting to get invovled in. If you want to try and solve all the puzzels, start with anotherversionofthetruth.com . If you want to just view some of the stuff, and see what its all about, visit either nin.com , or wiki NIN, and go from there. There are phone numbers, posters, and tonnes of websites. Rolling Stone Magazine just put out an article describing this very thing. As well as Alan Cross of 102.1 the edge, in his blog, more than once references the whole year zero game.

Anyways, aside from being a big fan of nails, I just wanted to put it out there, that he's changing the way fans interact with their favourite artists. In a time when one hit wonders are the best thing since sliced bread, and all the record companies care about are number one hit singles, there are still some artists that create, produce and release a true art form. If your not into it, thats cool, but at least respect the fact that there are still people out there that really care about music, even after they've won a grammy, and sold millions of records world wide.

Kudos to Trent Reznor,

And thanks for all the great music!

p.s. my favourite site of them all is freerebelart.net - enter your name and number and follow the prompts. Pretty cool

RiP

Nadia Krumins. To a better place Grandma. Thanks for all your love, and especially our camping and fishing excursions. I don't think I'd be as out-doorsie as I am if it wasn't for you. But most of all, thanks for waiting for dad.

school these days

So I was thinking.... I didn't get into teachers college... but is that a huge deal? Only to me, cause apparently there aren't many positions that are available. I'm not too concerned. I used to hate my job, but I've learned to love it, and see some real opportunity here, so we'll see what happens. Besides, kids these days are bastards - AND I read yesterday they are taking the zero tolerence out of the schools... again, taking more power away from the teachers, and handing it to the kids. Apparently it infinges on the students human rights. What is with that? I wasn't scared of my teachers, but I did respect them.

experience Kosovo

I came here for my fathers business. Kind of hard to describe. A courier could have done what I am doing, but not in the time we needed. So three flights, and 16 hours later, I found myself in a UN controlled new country called Kosovo. In its capital, Pristina. I'm pretty sure thats the English spelling, but I've also seen it spelt Pristhina as well. Regardless, I went to the Canadian Consolate website for travel, and needless to say, it scared the shit out of me. I wasn't sure what to expect, and the last minute notice I was given that I was actually coming here didn't help the mind either. I read some other websites, from some other travellers, and that helped a lot. I arrived here a bit scared. There was a taxi driver that had my name on a sheet, so that was very helpful. I'm gonna bring you through my trip thus far, starting from the beginning....

I had to wait at Toronto International airport for my father to hand me a document, for which if I didn't have the original copy of, there was no point on getting on the plane. After I checked in, they said that I couldn't check my baggage, cause it was too late, and that I had to run to my plane. Well... I didn't have the document yet... the plane was scheduled to leave at 6:15pm Toronto time, and it was now 6:00. Waiting outside with one of my co-workers, to which I instructed, when my father gets here, he has to carry one of my bags, and run w/ me to security. At about 6:08, he came, and we raced..... I had never run to catch a plane, but this blog would make no sense if I didn't make it... I did! what a rush... I was on my way to Kosovo... so even though I was told I was going, it was still uncertain, cause I needed that document. It was a long flight... 7-1/2 hours.... I tried to sleep, but just couldn't get comfortable enough to allow my body to go to sleep. I got off the plane in London, England and tried to contact some of my friends there.... no avail, both were probably sleeping (sorry guys). I think it was 6:00am on the nose... we were one of the first planes to land at Heathrow. From there I had a 3-1/2 hour lay over, from which my plane was delayed another 20 minutes... no biggie. I got on the next plane headed to Vienna, Austria. Landed there, and then again, had to run to my next flight, from Vienna to Pristina, Kosovo. It was about a 2-1/2 hour flight from London to Vienna, and another 2 hrs to Pristina. When I found my gate in Vienna, there were about 12 UN guys, in full fatigue, on there way to Pristina with me. I started to worry right there, then I thought, don't let it bother you, its cool.... Being as tired as I was, didn't help my thoughts either... so I tried to sleep again, which I think I did... maybe 45 minutes or something.

SO, I was finally here, Pristina, Kosovo.... a tiny little airport, with UN everywhere. I never could have imagined ever visiting a place like this, anytime in my life. Thats when I started to think how lucky I was to experience this kind of travel. I got off my plane, and walked into the terminal.... rather than those walkways they have at all the other airports I've ever been to. I cleared customs relatively fast, and walked out of the building, looking for my sign. Now for a little airport, and maybe about 100 people total on my flight, and another plane leaving Kosovo, there must have been about 250 to 300 people outside the airport. SO many people waiting for loved ones, and so many people leaving.... just a buzz. It was something I had never seen, and kind of hard to explain. I was exhausted, and nervous. I found my driver, who was just a cabbie from the hotel, and he was very nice, and new a little english. On the drive to the hotel, and gave brief descriptions about the city. He showed me where the UN headquarters were, a huge bill board of Bill Clinton, on Bill Clinton Blvd. I found that a little amusing, cause I had this impression that Americans would not be liked here, for which I was completely wrong. Shows you how ignorant I am to what goes on in the world. No more than 6 years ago, there was a full blown war here, and driving from the airport to the Hotel, the fact that there was a war here was easily seen.

Thats where this gets really interesting. Again, not having a clue what to expect, my exhaustion disappeared, and wide eyes overcame me. I had never seen some of these things before. Beside very modern buildings, there were buildings that were in tatters. New buildings going up everywhere, pot-hole filled roads, and people everywhere. After reading all this stuff on the internet, I didn't expect to see so many people walking around. It seemed as though this was just another city, much like ones I have seen before. Keep in mind though, this is not an independent country.... yet, and still has much to do, to achieve independence. I went to sleep pretty early after getting to my hotel - the ONLY hotel in Pristina... very nice though. I found out early, that everyone that I have talked to have been very nice and accomidating. Again, everything seemed pretty normal, even after dark, I looked out my window, and the city was still bustling w/ people. There was a news reporter on a shorter deck of the hotel, that I could clearly see from my window. He was probably there, b/c in the morning of the day that I arrived, the Prime Minister of Kosovo had just passed away. A sad day I was told by my cab driver, for he was a big part of Kosovo's road to independence. There were meetings that were scheduled to start in Vienna this week, but no have been post-poned till february to morn the PM's death.

Needless to say, I finally got up and out of my room today (sunday) and walked around a bit. I got some pizza, for 1 Euro, which was delicious, and did not feel in danger at all walking around. This is a very beautiful place to visit, and I am thankful for my opportunity to come here.

The biggest thing I would say, is just the difference between the Western World, and then coming here and experiencing this sort of culture. Completely different. They value things differently, and thats what makes coming here so interesting and enlightening. At home, I have so much, and I don't think I even apreciate it 1/2 as much as these people apreciate what they have. It has only been 6 years after a war here, and it is already very modern here. And most people that I have met are very happy living here.

I guess, this is where I leave this blog... no real point, just a story of what I've seen so far, which I know isn't even 1/2 of it... I'm looking forward to going out and seeing more. So if you've ever wondered about coming here, do so, its worth it, and isn't as bad as what people may think.

cheers

long awaited update

Sitting here at work, on my break.... well yeah.. on my break, its been a crazy long time since I've posted. Not too sure if anyone reads, but meh, ah well, mindless words sometimes anyways.

I finally started to look into teachers college. Its been a year out of school, and to tell ya the truth I don't miss it at all. I only miss the good times, but my final year at Uni had a lot of weird and just unlucky moments if you will, so I've quite enjoyed my time out of the drama, and out of all the school work. Then again, I want to be a teacher, where I will forever surround myself with school work. But it feels totally different, cause this time around, I'm going to be helping people, instead of being the one who needs help. But by the time I reach teachers college, wherever it may be (here in Ontario, Australia or the UK) it will be NEXT Sept. So it'll be two full years out of school.

This move in my life will bring another big move in my life, the path to freedom, the path out of my parents house!! So if I get into teachers college in Ontario, I'll probably move there soon after acceptance. Just because being 26, I just want to be on my own again. My last year of Uni was the only year I didn't have any room mates, and although it got lonely sometimes, hockey night in Canada kept me company, and in the end, I liked it a little better than living in a house full of guys. There are pros and cons to both ends...

Anyways...
talk to ya soon
cheers

I Kicked his ass