The Super Bowl had a story book ending on Sunday as Aaron Rodgers led the Green Bay Packers to victory. Rodgers was also named the MVP. I remember watching the NFL Draft in 2005 and being amazed, first of all, that the San Francisco 49ers passed on him to select Alex Smith with the first draft pick overall. If that wasn't bad enough, 23 other teams took a pass on Rodgers, including a number of teams who have nothing short of a dumpster fire at quarterback in 2011. Miami took Ronnie Brown, Minnesota chose Troy Williamson, Carolina selected Thomas Davis, and the Vikings had a second chance and opted for Erasmus James. You could also make a case for Chicago, Cleveland, Tennessee, and Arizona to take Rodgers. None of them did. The Titans wasted their pick on Pacman Jones. The Rodgers story gets better. After ripping up high school, there wasn't a university anywhere that wanted him. It took two years of owning community college before someone took notice. Rodgers also comes across as such a likeable guy, you can't help but look at him and be happy to see him reach the pinnacle of NFL football.
The difference in television programming from Canada to the United States is showed in the two promos I saw on Sunday afternoon. In the middle of all the American commercials that aired during the Super Bowl, I got a dose of what The Chicago Code might be like. Call me interested, so I'll set my PVR. Meanwhile, during a Hockey Night In Canada telecast, CBC pumped up some splatter called Dragons' Den. Oh boy. Once again, our tax dollars hard at work.
Some people say the signs of a good economy are prices at restaurants. I saw an American ad for a fast food chicken sandwich at $1.29 during the Super Bowl. I can only imagine this similar sandwich in Canada would be $3.29. Therefore, we are doing really well!
Boston's Daniel Paille gets a four game suspension for a blind side hit. Teammate Andrew Ference speaks up and says these types of hits are exactly what hockey needs to rid itself of, and then the entire hockey world condemns Ference for going against his teammate. How quickly, the rest of the Bruins seem to forget their best player, Marc Savard, may never play again after being the victim of this kind of a hit. Ference is a whistle blower and, likely, not popular within his room. Still, his comments were 100% correct.
Saskatchewan Roughriders wide receiver Andy Fantuz has signed a contract with the Chicago Bears. For this, we should be happy that someone like Fantuz could use the Riders as a springboard to reach the highest level of play possible for a football player. All too often, CFL fans get caught up cheering for their own team that they forget the league is really a minor league. I can't imagine finding a football player anywhere that would look you straight in the eye and say he'd turn down an NFL contract to stay in Canada to play.
Memo to the person driving a truck with a dog in the back with the temperature of -38 (with windchill): it's cold even for a dog! Sure, a dog has fur; but remember that pooch doesn't have a winter jacket and do you think you'd enjoy it a whole lot sitting in the open box of a truck in that kind of a temperature? Please use better judgement.
Speaking of tax dollars, can we please, please, please abolish the CRTC? Their recent attempt at putting the screws to the Canadian public through user based billing for internet usage smacks of 'friends in high places' or a 'scratch my back and I scratch yours' philosophy.
Thankfully, the federal government is listening to Canadians and is going to overturn this atrocity. At the very least, the person in charge at the CRTC (he doesn't deserve to have his name mentioned) should be relieved of his duties. You could go through any number of decisions the CRTC has made over the last 20 years and, easily, come to the determination that this is simply a patronage organization that caters to the big guy.
Nice person mentions this week to Karen Stevely, Angus Vincent, Jennifer McNab, Sherry Grunert, and Brad Burke.
