Some Thoughts over the Weekend

The above picture says it all, really. On Sunday, I watched Manchester United absolutely destroy Arsenal by the score of 8-2 at Old Trafford. Wow, 8-2, that’s like a hockey score right there. Let’s start with United. Complete performance from the team, every attacking player was firing from all cylinders. Rooney had two pinpoint accurate free kicks along with a penalty for his hat-trick. Young had two outstanding shots bending straight into the side of the goal, breathtaking stuff. But I thought the critical moment of the match came when Arsenal were awarded a penalty while United were up 1-0. Up stepped Robin Van Persie, he shot the ball near the bottom-left of the net and United goalkeeper David de Gea bent down low to make the stop. It can be argued that Van Persie took a poor penalty shot, but that was a good save.

As for Arsenal, I’m not going to repeat what so many of the media have already said about Arsene Wenger and his squad, though I am getting pretty sick of constantly hearing about their problems. The media have always talked about it since near the end of last season. I don’t need to be repeatedly reminded about how Arsene needs to spend money and trying to get more experienced players and strengthen their depth. I already know this.

Switching gears to UFC last Saturday night, there is no denying the dominance of Anderson Silva, who retained his Middleweight title by beating Yushin Okami in the second round. After watching that fight, I kept thinking to myself “Who next?” Who can possibly stop this guy? I don’t think anyone can right now.

Apparently there was also the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night? Umm…I didn’t watch it. It's pretty much a costume party nowadays...

That’s all I got to say…

Random Thoughts 7: The “Earthquake” Edition

As I was writing tonight’s blog, apparently there was an earthquake that struck the east coast of the United States and was felt up here in Canada. The earthquake measured 5.8 on the Richter scale. I personally didn’t feel any kind of tremors, but other people did. I pulled out my phone to check the reaction on Facebook and Twitter. On Facebook, it was your typical annoying overreaction from a few of my Facebook friends. But on Twitter, when I clicked on the “#earthquake” hash tag on the Trending Topics list, I saw people acting like it were the end of the world going on. There were also people not making a big deal of this and posting pictures of the devastation (see the picture above), but generally the media was making a bigger deal than it actually was.

Here’s my message to those making a massive deal about this earthquake. Stop being such a pussy about it and man the hell up. If you want to take precautions after the earthquake struck, then do so, but don’t go around acting like the world is going to end, or the rapture was coming, or some other stupid shit. The west coast is used to this, and they pass this off as nothing. Maybe the east coast should do the same.

There was also some sad news that came yesterday, where opposition leader Jack Layton has lost his battle with cancer and passed away. He was an extremely likable guy, who had the best interests of lower and middle class Canadians, as well as Canada as a whole. He will be missed.

I planned to write up a post yesterday about trying to understand the hate and abuse on football (soccer) officials by supporters, but I had difficulty trying to present my argument. The thing that sparked me to try to write that was when I went to see my cousin’s soccer game on Saturday. In my opinion, the referee called a fair game, apart from a couple questionable calls. But that didn’t stop the other parents taunting the referee and the linesman and hurling abuse at them for calls that didn’t go their way.

It’s always the same story whenever I go see any kind of footy match. The supporters don’t like a decision the ref has made, then they taunt the ref for the rest of the match. Sometimes it is justifiable, but other times the things these people say is just mean. You know what I would like to see, I would like to see a random supporter picked at random to ref a match. I bet that the person wouldn’t have a clue. Referees are trained to ref matches, supporters are not (unless the supporters are all trained referees), and although the referees don’t see everything that goes on in the match, the officials have a better judgment than the supporters. Nowadays there are the advancements in technology designed to help the referee make the correct decision, but the human element of football will always be there, no matter what.

Random Thoughts 6: The “Niagara Falls Tragedy” Edition

Over the last couple days, I have been reading the story about a student from Japan who visited Niagara Falls. She climbed over a railing to get her picture taken, and when she tried to climb back, she lost her balance and fell into the Niagara River, and then she got swept over Niagara Falls.

It is a tragic story indeed, but I don’t exactly feel compassion for her. The reason why I don’t feel compassion for her was because she hopped the barrier in order to get a picture. The barrier between the water and land isn’t there for style; it is there for safety reasons and to prevent people from falling into the water. Everyone understands this.  If you hopped the barrier in order to get a picture or any other reason, you’ve effectively waived your safety rights and anything that happens to you while over the barrier at Niagara Falls is not the responsibility of anyone but yourself. I don’t understand how anyone could be so stupid, but this story is still tragic nonetheless.

Last weekend, I got suckered into seeing Final Destination 5 by my cousin. It is also worth noting that I also got suckered into watching Final Destination 4 by that same cousin. So we went to see Final Destination 5, and if you’ve seen 1 through 4, this was pretty much no different. It had your typical gore, had a couple entertaining bits as well, but for the most part it was a forgettable movie. It was exactly what I expected.

Going to see that movie lead me to another thought, I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to horror movies. What I mean is, I like to watch horror movies that actually make me feel scared and terrified, with suspense and will haunt me in my dreams. Nowadays, a lot of these mainstream horror movies are all about gore and how disgusted they can make the audience feel. I’m no expert on horror movies, but I think that nowadays, the benchmark on the mainstream horror movies made these days is blood and gore, and not the sense of proper fear that made horror movies popular in the first place. That’s how I see it at least.

That’s all I got to say. I would usually have more to say, but my head is in the clouds right now.

Random Thoughts 5: The “England Riots” Edition

Pretty saddening and crazy scenes over in England right now. There were widespread riots going on in cities such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Bristol. These riots stem from police shooting and killing a man in Tottenham. A peaceful protest was planned a couple days after the shooting, but it turned violent and the rioting began in Tottenham, and in the days that followed, spread across London, and then England.

First off, I want to say that I do not sympathize with these rioters because their actions are simply inexcusable and that I hope that they are arrested and punished to the full extent of the law. But there have been contributing reasons why these people have started to riot after that police shooting, such as tensions between the youth and law enforcement, poverty, and high unemployment. Many consider the police shooting a breaking point of the relationship between the considered “lower class” and the government, and now these people want to act out against them. Other rioters simply saw this as an opportunity to go get some free stuff. No matter what reason, this rioting needs to stop. This person sums it up best.

I also wasn’t impressed with the lack of police presence in stopping these riots. The initial response from law enforcement should have been a more aggressive one, but in this time and age, even police need to be careful of their actions, or they will be scrutinized by the media. Their response should have been firm, but not excessive. What I mean is, use the force necessary to bring down the rioters and arrest them, but don’t go overboard, such as this. Even with all this said, they are trying their best.

Next thought, this one is pretty random (hence the title). I was once good friends with this girl in elementary school, and we still kept in touch in high school. After that, I didn’t hear from her again. She was an exceptionally bright and intelligent girl, but she does make the odd dumb decision here and there. A while back, I talked with another of my good friends from high school (who is also good friends with her) and he mentioned something about her in one of our conversations. So I asked him how she was doing, and he told me about a party that he went to with her and all their friends. He told me that she had multiple boyfriends since she started going to university and has started to drink heavily. He also informed me that she has often had arguments with her parents regarding her “freedom”.

Mind you, this all happened around a year and a half to two years ago, so this could have all changed, but I’m still shocked that she was drinking heavily and apparently been with more than a few guys. When I was friends with her, she was always this goody-two-shoe, pure girl that wouldn’t think of doing anything wrong, and when I heard about all this from my other good friend, I didn’t realize how a good girl like her could turn so bad. I’m not saying drinking is bad, most of us do it, but the part that shocked me was the guys she apparently has been with. I don’t keep in touch with her (she removed me as her Facebook friend), but I wonder what she is up to now…

Random Thoughts 4: The “Casino Dreams” Edition

I went to Casino Rama yesterday, hoping to pick me up some extra cash. It didn’t work out that way. The casino tables kicked my ass up and down the casino floor and it only enforced a valuable lesson for me, don’t ever go to the casino, because most likely, your money will run away from you.

I’ve had a few of my friends from home and university talk to me briefly about their BlackBerry mobile phone, and I always ask them this question. Why did you get a BlackBerry? And for most of them, the answer is this…”Because it is Canadian”.

That is the dumbest answer anyone can give me. Why the hell would you go out and buy something simply because it was invented in the same country that you live in. It won’t have a noticeable effect on that country’s economy, so why? Personally, I think someone should go out and buy something, mobile phone or whatever, that is going to give them the most benefit and that he/she would be happy with (that’s how I have my Android). If someone wants go get a BlackBerry because it would be have the most benefit to them and make them feel the happiest, then go for it. But I don’t want to hear that “I bought a BlackBerry because it’s Canadian” shit. Those people would be better suited to living as sheep, than actual human beings.

Next thought, I’ll start by saying this, you should be able to listen to any kind of music that puts a smile on your face, even though others might think that the music you listen to is garbage. I was raised on listening to the 90s club jams and Eurodance songs, and I keep noticing a startling difference between that kind of music, and the mainstream music you hear in the clubs today.

The mainstream songs of today are insanely over-sexualized. To be honest, this doesn’t offend me, nor do I have a problem with it, but I find it really annoying that almost every song I hear in the club is mostly about how the male music artist wants to fuck some female, or the other way around. The 90s club jams I listen to are hardly sexual, but rather about love, dreams, and have this sense of fantasy about them. What I mean by “fantasy” is, it is like I am in another world when I listen to these tunes.  These songs take me away from reality and they make me feel good whenever I feel down. It’s a rarity when the clubs play these jams, but I would be extremely happy if I hear them whenever I’m in the club. It takes you back to a time when club jams truly meant something.

The Toronto FC – Sportsnet Fiasco

Yesterday night, I sat down and flipped the channel to Sportsnet One to get ready to watch Toronto FC play Real Esteli in the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round. The only thing preventing me from doing that was that the baseball game was also on the same channel and it was going on. The baseball game had a rain delay, so it was certain that the baseball game would finish later than 10pm, which was the start time of the TFC match.  Sportsnet would air the TFC match on tape delay right after the baseball game ended.

I went on Twitter to see the reaction from TFC fans on what was happening, and the reaction was pretty vitriolic and hateful towards Sportsnet on their decision. I’ve seen “I’m never watching Sportsnet again” as well as “Fuck you Sportsnet” and I thought that was a bit excessive. The reaction of TFC fans was more emotional, rather than logical. My opinion on this whole Sportsnet thing is that I think they made the right decision in airing the baseball game in its entirety, and after the game was finished, they aired the TFC match in its entirety, even though it was on tape delay. My reasoning is this:

TFC fans, believe it or not, baseball has fans too. If I was a Detroit Tigers fan, watching the Tigers game on Sportsnet One and the game I was watching got cut off in the bottom of the 7^th inning to make way for soccer, I would be very angry, and I would be calling Sportsnet to let them know how I feel. If it was the other way around, meaning, a soccer game had to go into extra time and therefore cut into the start time of a baseball game on the same channel, then I’m 99.9% sure that channel would air the soccer game in its entirety. It doesn’t matter that the baseball game was considered “meaningless” by TFC fans and that the TFC match was considered important, or that Sportsnet was apparently being “anti-Canadian” by airing a baseball match featuring two American teams and not the Canadian soccer team. The fact is, there was a compromise, and unfortunately, some TFC fans took the decision the wrong way.

Another argument I want to address is this, “Sportsnet have 5 channels, Sportsnet Ontario, East, West, Pacific, and One. Why couldn’t they simply move the soccer game from Sportsnet One to one of the other Sportsnet channels?” By making this argument, people are making the assumption that everyone in Canada has access to all five of these channels, which simply isn’t true. Not all people in Canada have a digital box, and a majority of people only have access to one Sportsnet channel, depending on where they live in Canada. I don’t think most people from British Colombia who only have access to Sportsnet Pacific would be happy if they were forced to watch a soccer match featuring an Ontario team. An alternative for Sportsnet would be to air the TFC game live on Sportsnet Ontario, but it wouldn’t have been a good idea (or a good look) to replace the programming that was already slated to air on that channel.

For the most part, I was pretty disgusted with the reaction of TFC fans on Twitter, and I thought some people would be a little more understanding of the situation, instead of acting like spoiled children. Sportsnet is a channel for the sports consumer, not just the soccer consumer, and I think Sportsnet was just trying to satisfy both sets of fans. Most people found an online stream of the match, as did I. But if people didn’t have access to an online stream, they could have simply waited 30-45 minutes for the baseball game to end. TFC fans, it could have been much worse, the game could have been aired on Setanta, so be glad that you got to see the match, whether it was on an online stream, or on tape delay on Sportsnet One.