If You See Kay's Blog: 2016

Saturday, December 10, 2016

The Trade (Six Months Later)

In June 2016, my beloved Montréal Canadiens made a controversial decision to trade its superstar defenceman/humanitarian P.K. Subban, despite his giving back so much to the city of Montréal. It was an unpopular decision among many fans, myself included, inspiring memories of the infamous (and near-fatal) decision to trade Patrick Roy in December 1995. Many fans lost their minds, and there were many articles about it written, including one on AllHabs.net for which the author reached out to fans via Twitter and I was quoted as saying, "it's easy to think about the players, but these trades speak more about management. We fans will talk about this trade for years and years, it is how most will gauge (Marc Bergevin) as a success or failure."

First stop in Montréal

That next month (about 2-3 weeks later), I visited Montréal for my first time ever. Old news in the hockey world often lingers in Montréal, so it was still very fresh in the minds of fans and residents. It put a black eye on the trip for me since I am a huge fan of Subban, and visiting the P.K. Subban Atrium at Montréal Children's Hospital was on my must-see list for the visit. On the plus side, Tricolore Sports (their team shop in the Bell Centre) still had Subban's merchandise priced at 50% off when I arrived, so I bought a Subban 76 shirt for 7.50$ (CND). More importantly, The Trade itself did nothing to sour my overall enjoyment, and even while I was there, the team announced an affiliation with a new minor league team in Laval (replacing the displaced St. Johns Ice Caps team playing in Newfoundland), so I witnessed the news shift away from The Trade to something more positive. I even got a first-hand dose of the infamous Canadian humour as the going joke was that, after allowing for traffic, the commute to games in Laval would be about the same as that to St. Johns.

December 4th in Los Angeles

Fast forward to Sunday, December 4, 2016, it was the 107th birthday/anniversary of the Montréal Canadiens organization, and they were visiting LA during the 50th anniversary season of the LA Kings. I found the lure of tickets irresistible, so I drove out at 4:30 a.m. to arrive about three hours before game time. The news of "The Trade" was mostly a footnote on a successful season. Montréal Canadiens had another strong start, going 9-0-1, thanks in large part to the strong play of newcomers Alex Radulov, Andrew Shaw and (lo & behold) Shea Weber himself. Shortly after parking at the STAPLES Center, I came across Marc Bergevin (General Manager) with a small entourage. I asked the guys in the back if he would mind my asking for a photo op, and they assured me that he had been stopping for others, so he probably would unless they were too tight on time. Therefore, I got a quick picture taken with the man responsible for "The Trade."

December 10th in Arizona

The next weekend, my mom was visiting from Tulsa. She wanted to go to an outlet mall, so we went to Tanger Outlets at Westgate Entertainment District (which includes Gila River Arena, where the Arizona Coyotes play). While she was shopping, I decided to visit the team shop inside the arena, and I heard the clerks say that they were closing at 3 p.m. I asked whether there was a game that night and immediately remembered that they were against the Nashville Predators, the new team of P.K. Subban. Coincidentally, I had chosen to wear my Subban 76 shirt for this shopping expedition, not remembering that he would in town. After I left the team shop, I saw where a small crowd of autograph hounds were stalking the Predators, laying in wait. I myself waited in the background to see whether my mom would text me that she was done shopping first or if Subban would exit the arena after morning skate. As evident by the second picture, it was the latter!

In the span of one week, I had gotten pictures taken with the key players in "The Trade," which many analysts are calling a win/win as both teams have seemingly improved, and both players are now in organizations that utilize their talents best.

Saturday, November 12, 2016

What The Trump?!

Trump shaved Vince McMahon's
head at WrestleMania 23.

Have you ever seen a future President shave someone's head in person? Come next January, I will be able to say that I have. After a year-long spoof, Donald Trump was elected as the President of the United States in the most controversial President Election in its 240+ history as a nation.

In the wake of the Brexit vote, my department head at work was posed whether Donald Trump had a similar chance of winning the presidency (keep in mind, this was back in June). His response was as thoughtful, diplomatic, and intelligent as you would want in a boss, and he effectively said that it would be hard to trust our polls because many voting for Trump would not admit that they will vote for Trump.

I thought it was a good non-answer at the time, but I failed to realize what he meant at the time. The Intolerant Left had already started pushing the country to the right in their indictment of anyone willing to weigh the merits of Donald Trump as a candidate, damning that open-mindedness as racist, sexist and bigoted. "End of story" as they were too fond of saying in their smug certainty. I was on Hilary's side, only because I wanted a female President. I was on board, but I was not a supporter because of which woman it was. I stayed away from the debates. I ignored almost all Trump supporters, although I did actively seek an intelligent argument for Trump as president that did not sound like racism, sexism, or bigotry, and I did find one. But, admittedly, I was not interested enough in the movement to keep up with his viewpoint.

Trump endorsed Jesse Ventura
running for President in 2004.

Throughout the election process, I had not seen Donald Trump as a serious candidate myself, but I was not anti-Trump either. Instead, I had been saying that if you hate Trump that you should vote for him because the unrelenting scrutiny accompanying that position would be the most suitable punishment for all of his smug opinions.

Aaaaand Donald Trump himself would know better than anyone else, because he had been one of the most outspoken critics of Barack Obama over the past 8 years, keeping the "birther" movement alive long after it was a relevant issue (not to imply that it ever was). Therein lies the first thing that I found to respect in Trump's bid for President. He was American enough to live up to the "if you think you can do better, be my guest" cliché (albeit, no one provided opportunity quite so simply).

Furthermore, I had been on record that a vote for Donald Trump was a vote for his Vice-President, explaining that if Trump were elected (very hypothetical in my mind at the time, but I'll stand by it now) that he would step down from the position after the pressure (or the undue stupidity that the media projects upon the role) would be too much for him. When the controversy regarding his tax returns started, I mused that if he were elected, then the dissenting populus could pester him over his tax returns in the exact same fashion as President Obama's dissenters (led by Trump himself) pestered him about his birth certificate. The irony of it all is quite delicious.

There is reality television, and then there is reality. It is unpredictable what kind of U.S. President that Donald Trump can make at this point, but I can see it going either way.

He could be a half-decent president, enacting several changes to the current status quo. He could take his business acumen and rework the nation's existing debts into better positions than they are through a bunch of politicians unaware how to approach such an endeavor.

Conversely, it took Republicans a little under six years to get President Bill Clinton impeached, so based on the potential rap sheet Donald Trump has (from sexual assaults to tax evasion), it may not even take four years for Democrats to impeach Trump.

As with everything, although it has never felt more accurate: time will tell.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Jersey Ark

I noticed recently that my hockey collection has developed a strange pattern that I think was entirely coincidental.

Aside from Montréal Canadiens, I have jerseys for Toronto Maple Leafs, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and Oklahoma City Blazers. While that may not be unique in and of itself, I have acquired two apiece of those latter teams: one white, one dark. If they could mate, then I would be the Noah of hockey.

My pair of Leafs jerseys were purchased together on eBay for $35 in May 2010. On the plus side, each one had a different logo and they were significantly different sizes. The larger white jersey is one of my favourite jerseys (aside from any Les Canadiens).

I bought my first Phoenix Coyotes jersey from a second-hand store called Savers in May 2012 before attending Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to watch the LA Kings face the Coyotes. Of course, the one I purchased was an old school "kachina" jersey, so I noted on Twitter how if you're going to bandwagon onto the home team, make it look like you have been there from the start! (For the record though, I was pulling for Kings that post-season.) Years later, I found a matching kachina jersey. As a result, I look like I have been howling for the Yotes since '96, but I was never a fan of the team until that 2012 run with Smitty in net.

My first Colorado Avalanche jersey was a Patrick Roy jersey in a sparsely bidded auction on eBay that I won for under $20 (pre-shipping). Not surprisingly, my second Avs jersey was another Patrick Roy jersey that I won for just over $20 (pre-shipping) because (as my Twitter bio reads) "I'm a Patrick Roy guy."

Last year, I started reminiscing about my first true home hockey team: Oklahoma City Blazers. I got their home jersey for a birthday in the late-90s. For over a decade, that and my red Canadiens jersey were the only two hockey jerseys that I owned. After finding a cheap OKC Blazers shirt for under $5 on eBay (free shipping), I soon followed auctions related to the extinct franchise and I found an away jersey for $20 (pre-shipping).

In addition to my other Montréal Canadiens jerseys, which include their traditional red and white versions, as well as their Centennial throwback to the Club Athletique de Canadien (CAC) jersey and more, I even bought a unique looking airbrush jersey of a scrimmage game face-off with all over print on the jersey. Not to be left out, today I found its matching (or opposing?) jersey in the same style with an unidentified winking Montreal goalie on it, which I immediately purchased for under $25 (free shipping).

After this latest purchase, I realized that my hockey jersey collection may be complete! I did not know that completing this collection was even possible.