Unfortunately, Sunday's Grey Cup game was a dud and the halftime entertainment was worse. I don't mean to pick apart someone's well thought out brainchild, but Gordon Lightfoot doesn't excite anyone who isn't a shut-in at a nursing home. That means, his target audience is not attending the Grey Cup or even watching on television. But, I suppose when the committee organizing the celebration saw they had an opportunity to get the same musician for Grey Cup 100 that they had for Grey Cup 1, who could pass that up? As far as Justin Bieber goes, I think Canadians are way too mean to him. He is, tremendously, successful and if he were a female Olympic athlete in the sport of trampoline, we'd be incredibly proud. Having said that, Bieber's legions of fans are all between the ages of 8 (I know this because my daughter loves him) and 9. Again, not a target of the Grey Cup crowd demographic. This should be a very simple decision. Find a main stream, up tempo, country act as well as a similarly produced hard rock band and there you have your halftime show. I would suggest Paul Brandt, Charlie Major, or Michelle Wright for country. Hedley, My Darkest Days, Nickelback, Tragically Hip, Bryan Adams, and Rush come immediately to mind for rock. Yes, I know some of these have already performed in the recent past, but this is Canada. We just don't have the same list to choose from that our American counterparts do. Let's just get closer to 2012. Enough Burton Cummings and Trooper. Bieber will be great in 2033, although Chad Kroeger could take Lightfoot's spot in 2033 and still be 25 years younger than Lightfoot is today. Wow.
I have been a member of the press for over fifteen years and I will be the first to admit the media doesn't need to be coddled like they are with refreshments and freebees at certain sporting events; however I'm also going to be the first one to say, publicly, that while the new Horizon Credit Union Centre in Melville is a wonderful place for hockey, it's a nightmare for broadcast outlets. The press box, quite frankly, is a barebones luxury suite; which is to say it's way too deep and not nearly wide enough to accommodate media members. GX94 and Melville Advance sponsor the booth, so they should get first crack at it. Well, they get the only crack because there is no room for anyone else after that. Should the Mils ever stop their losing streak and go on a playoff run, they will have serious issues as far as where to put people. I figure if they make it to the league final, they will have nowhere to put the Access 7 broadcast crew, the visiting radio announce team, the Leader-Post, the SJHL Director of Officials, or the SJHL President. Furthermore, I think they are kneecapped in Melville from bidding on any major Hockey Canada events simply due to a lack of space to put media and special dignitaries. I'm not an architect, but the only solution I see is designing a press box that drops from the ceiling above the the players' benches. Yes, it will cost money.
A few people have complained to me in recent days to write in my column about snow removal in Yorkton, so I will do that. The City of Yorkton deserves a gold medal as far as snow removal is concerned. I travel all over the province and there isn't a municipality anywhere in Saskatchewan that even comes close. I know that's not what the few of you who have commented to me want me to write, but that's the truth. And, no I am not sucking up after last week's anti-7th Ave North potential closure piece. I like to think I call it as I see it. Praise where praise is deserved, criticize where criticism is warranted, and eat plenty of crow when the soapbox is dead wrong.
Just when you thought television couldn't get any worse, then comes along a program on TLC called Extreme Cougar Wives. It's exactly as you are imagining. TLC, by the way, has some of the most interesting programs on tv, but they also produce some of the largest pieces of garbage ever designed for broadcast.
One of the more enjoyable nights for me over the course of a year is the annual Troyanda Ukrainian Dance evening held in late November. For me, it's a chance to see the 'non sports crowd' in Yorkton. It was held over the weekend and if someone was there who didn't have a good time, then I'm sorry but you don't know what a good time is.
If anyone ever experiences the vacation I have had in the last few weeks recovering from a double hernia surgery and wants to talk about do's and don't's; I have plenty to share as far as the don't's are concerned. The one big 'do' is 'listen to your doctor'. My ears, sometimes, fail me. Make sure yours are working perfectly. And, we are lucky to have an expert like Dr. Corne Schoeman working in our community.
Nice person mentions this week to Bob Parker, Geoff Gray, Carol Nagy, Julie Chapman, and Cyndy Mundt.
