Vince's Blog

In Case You Missed It



A play-by-play account of the Academy Awards: Oscars: A Blow-by-Blow.

Place The State

Where exactly is Iowa?

See if you know with the Place the State game.

The Ice Has Melted

The NHL is the first professional sports league to cancel an entire season.

Over the past decade, salaries have spiraled out of control, and with this the players have developed the same false sense of importance and bravado that plagues the other three leagues. It's that state of delusion that has lead to the end.

Ten years ago the NHL faltered by not cementing cost certainty and is as much to blame for where we are now. Dynamic inflation in player salaries over ten years gives the appearance that players are giving up their pay with a salary cap and rollback. In reality, it's money that doesn't exist and should never have been awarded.

The NHL tried to get back to reality in a very harsh way. While this may not have been the best approach, the NHLPA Did not want to face reality and very much needed a wakeup call.

Gary Bettman has delivered that call.

VOIP

If you have broadband, you should switch to a VOIP phone service. I've been using Vonage for four months now and I have no complaints.

I pay $14.99 a month for 500 minutes to anywhere in the US or home to Canada. You can also get unlimited calling for $25 a month.

It's groovy.

Ignis Fatus of the NHLPA

I'm writing out a big check to the NHL Players Association. It's a reality check.

The NHL is the least popular sports league of the big four. It derives the least revenue by far. There are a good number of people in the US who aren't even aware that the season is on hold. Yet, the players seem to think they have some sort of leverage.

Cash the check, fellas. You need some reality in your pockets.

If the NFL, the most popular US sport by leaps and bounds, needs cost certainty to maintain balance, the NHL needs about 75 times as much of it.

Reality is there will be cost certainty in the form of a salary cap in the NHL. It can be this year. It can be next year. It can be two years down the road. The NHL will have it and the NHLPA cannot do anything about it. You have no leverage.

If you won't accept a salary cap because it's good for the game, then accept it because you have no other choice. Accept reality.

How Old Were You When . . .

Nifty little website that puts you in your place.

Boy the Bear's Age Gauge

Thanks to M.A. for the find.

Quote of the Week

"What is the name of the memory book you just got me? It's a book about memorizing. It's a memory book. And it's awesome."

-Carmen Electra, speaking to a male companion when asked by the New York Daily News what book she was reading.

Plan Ahead

An asteroid expected to fly past Earth in 2029 will be visible to the naked eye.

It's a once-in-a-millennium event. And you may want to buy plane tickets now, as the flyby will be visible only from Europe, Africa and western Asia.

In slightly less exciting news, it's not going to collide with Earth.

Google Taking Over The World

Well, maybe not quite yet. For investors out there, there's a good report on the Googs' earnings report over at Complete Growth Investor.

Read it twice.

The 141 Day Death

The NHL made its final offer on Wednesday as a last-ditch effort to salvage the season. It was more than fair, with a focus on cost certainty based on league revenues, featuring both an upper limit salary cap and a salary floor. The deal would ensure the NHL's survival, as well as bringing small market teams up to respectable payrolls.

It took the NHLPA less than 15 minutes after it was presented to reject it.

It's clear the NHLPA is an organization where the few profit and sell out the many. The number of players who would be hurt financially by a team salary cap is greatly diminished by the number who would benefit by the salary floor and the even playing field for franchises across the table. If revenues are ever going to grow in this sport, more teams will need to be competitive. This will only occur once payrolls are more balanced and profits are shared.

The NHLPA is not facing the reality of the situation. The NHL is not going to survive without competitive balance and cost control. It's a fringe league as it is. It could vanish and 75% of the country wouldn't notice.

Since its clear the NHLPA will not do what's best for the sport, as well as its members, it's time to cut ties. Expect next season to open with replacement players, a major portion of them who will be former members of today's NHLPA.

The NHL will survive and eventually rebound. The NHLPA will have lost a great deal of money for its players and have gained nothing. All very pointless.

Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day was inspired by an old Scottish couplet:
"If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year."


Wiarton Willie

Not sure how this evolved into the ritual that it has become. Six different regions observe the event. Wiarton Willie, of Ontario, is pictured. He predicted he'd freeze to death in 1999, just a few days before February 2. They used a stuffed version in a casket until a new albino groundhog could be auditioned.

Here in the states, we usually think of Punxsutawney Phil of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. There is also a Brandon Bob in Manitoba, a Staten Island Chuck in New York, a Balzac Billy in Alberta, and a Gary the Groundhog in Kleinburg, Ontario.

Groundhogs are woodchucks, members of the squirrel family, marmots, sometimes called "whistle-pigs," because they emit a high-pitched squeal when nervous.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

About 700 pounds.

Take a Kayak to Europe

Or anywhere else. One of the niftier airfare search engines is Kayak.com.

Created by the co-founders of Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, Kayak searches numerous airline sites at once and lists the reults by price. It's very easy to use and finds good fares.

Give it a whirl.