When I shower in the mornings, I have made a habit of listening to the little blue shower radio that adorns the nozzle head. There were two items of interest to me this morning as I was rubbing the half-depleted bar of Irish Spring over my stubbled head...
The Hockey Lockout
I don't know nearly enough about all of the issues regarding this tragic circumstance to sway my partisanship fully one way or the other. I can say with nary a hint of uncertainty that I feel not a whit of pity for the players, any of the players, that have been locked out and are not getting paid. (Well, maybe a twinge for the newer players on the low end of the salary spectrum who really, truly, honestly want to play for the love of the game. Both of them.) The NHL definitely needs a salary cap. I realise this is not the only issue on the table, but it is quite obviously the stickler. I won't bother to venture my opinion on the wages earned in other professional sports leagues in North America. Not enough time.
Except the CFL. The minimum wage in the CFL is $30,000. I make more than some CFL players. Unless you're one of the few marquee players, they actually have to get full time jobs in the off-season. OR, coordinate their practice and season schedules with their existing full time jobs. Now there's a league of pros I can respect and would even go so far as to say, hey, don't these guys perhaps deserve a little more than what they're getting given the rigours they put their bodies through, ostensibly for the love of the game?
And now I hear this morning that more than 730 of the poor, deprived locked out NHL players will be receiving lockout pay. In the order of $10,000 per month. PER MONTH! That's four months of CFL minimum salary right there. And these NHL players are getting it as compensation for not playing. Hell, I'd be willing to not play hockey for less than that. I'd not play hockey for $5,000 a month. Maybe even a paltry $1,000. I'm doing it for free right now! For whatever other reasons Gary Bettman may be (deservedly) criticised, I laud him and the owners for the strong front they have presented to the NHLPA. Something is definitely rotten in the state of Denmark.
And secondly...
The Democratic Vote
It was demonstrated in the recent Alberta provincial election the overwhelming importance to get your complacent ass up off your chesterfield, turn off the tv for half an hour, and go and place a large graphite 'X' beside the name of the individual whom you think represents the political party with the platform that most closely resembles your own political ideals. (Yes, I realise that's an oxymoron.)
King Ralph's conservatives were a shoe-in from the word, 'Huh?' That was never in doubt. I voted for my local Progressive Conservative representative. Certainly not from being a staunch supporter of Mr. Klein. My vote is a 'lesser of two weevils' sort of thing. I vehemently disagree with many of his views. I do, however, respect a man who has done as much for the province as a whole as he has, as well as the fact that he hides little of his ugliness behind a politic veneer. That's rare.
And this election's voter turnout was the lowest since 1983. Only about 43% of eligible voters made the effort. And that made a huge difference in one Edmonton riding. The Progressive Conservative incumbent was beat out by his Liberal opponent by a narrow margin. A very narrow margin. In fact, that margin was only three votes. (3, III, trois, 00110011) (That last was binary.) It was 5,017 votes to 5,014. The incumbent has called for a judicial recount, which result will be final. But how many supporters, I wonder, are now kicking themselves for not taking the time?
After bearing witness to the recent mess that was the US presidential election, I am impressed with how organised our system is. In all the elections I have participated - federal, provincial and municipal - I have never spent more than half an hour in the voting process. I walk into the local school gymnasium cum ad hoc voting emporium, have a line drawn through my name on the list, get directed towards the appropriate ballot box, wait briefly in line to be handed a folded sheet of paper with names on it, mark an 'X' beside one or more as appropriate, stuff said paper into large plastic bin, go home, have dinner.
If your democratic choice is not to vote at all, I can respect that. Seeing no redeeming qualities, or at least not enough, in any of the candidates putting themselves forward to represent you in the political arena, it is your right to elect not to elect. But if you would rather watch The West Wing than get involved in real life political decisions, that I have a hard time to countenance. Voter apathy certainly had a huge potential impact on one particular Edmonton riding this past Monday.
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