Saturday night, I was watching America's Most Wanted, and I started wondering who are Canada's Most Wanted. I, quickly, discovered a website with a number of unsavory types on it and I don't think anyone was from Saskatchewan. So, then I Googled for Saskatchewan Most Wanted. Nothing, except for the Crimestoppers page where there were two people wanted by the RCMP from around the Meadow Lake area. I wonder if there is such a list that the public has access to, or would it be something the public would take advantage of to see a list of people, pictures included, of those wanted in Saskatchewan or even people wanted outside the province who maybe believed to have set up a home here.
I never like to report based on rumors, and since I'm not an actual paid reporter anymore, here is a tip for those that do work full-time in the industry: find out if stories of all these box stores relocating to Yorkton are true or not. In the last month, I have heard from credible sources that there is another dough-nut shop coming to the west end of Yorkton, as well as a new department store, a relocation of a current department store, and a home renovation superstore is, supposedly, coming in as well. I wonder what else. I never understand the corporate bigwigs keeping such stories a secret. It's free advertising. Now, get to work reporters.
I learned something about kitchen appliance warranties last week. Apparently, you can buy an item that was unlucky going through the assembly line and has a few pieces that, constantly, break down. It can break down every month for the full year that it is on warranty.
The actual appliance will never be replaced so long as the part is always fixable and on the thirteenth month of something breaking, you are on your own. Buyer beware. Furthermore, if you buy an appliance that needs to be professionally installed, you have to pay to have it professionally uninstalled and reinstalled in order to have the warranty work done on it. Over and over again.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders hired Corey Chamblin as their new head coach last week. Chamblin has no previous head coaching experience, which I don't necessarily think is a bad thing, and came with an endorsement from Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, which fans seem to be drooling over. If Chamblin was as good as we suspect Tomlin says he is, then why isn't he on Tomlin's staff? Just a thought. That's not meant to be a negative comment, but rather for us as fans to recognize that until you sit in an interview room like Brendan Taman, you can't possibly know who is and who isn't a good coaching candidate. Taman targeted Chamblin last year and was overruled by the unqualified Ken Miller and we ended up watching the Riders go 5-and-13. I'll give Taman the benefit of the doubt here and say he made the right decision.
There is no concussion epidemic in the NHL despite head injuries to marquee players like Sidney Crosby, Claude Giroux, Chris Pronger, Jeff Skinner, Mike Richards, and Milan Michalek. I may have left a couple of players out. The answer is not to get rid of fighting or even clamp down on checks to the head, but rather the cheap elbows to the head and I feel, more than ever, that they have to allow more freedom to fight. Let the players police the cheap shot artists themselves. Sometimes a good beating is more effective than a two game suspension. I have also said for years that the armor these guys call equipment needs to be completely overhauled. It's not necessary to have elbow and shoulder pads the size they do. Gear down and you won't see players throwing themselves the way they do. If you have a modest elbow pad on and try to stick out your arm to hit a guy in the head, chances are you will break your arm. And, that's the way it should be. And, consider this: why do you need a great big fat elbow pad, but just a thin piece of plastic on your melon?
The Montreal Canadiens have now fired their head coach and assistant coach, but the guy who should be shown the door is their unlikeable General Manager, Pierre Gauthier. He's handicapped that franchise for years to come with 6-or-7 real bad contracts. So, even after he's long gone his replacement isn't going to have much better success.
Nice person mentions this week to Scott Keith, who's setting a record appearing here, as well as Andy Chipelski, Allan Mitchell, Yann Vivier, and Wayne Warren. On a final note, has anyone noticed Christmas doesn't always bring out the merry in a lot of people? Folks that I find really enjoyable 11 1/2 months of the year turn into something else altogether for the first couple of weeks in December.
