Begging for a Playoff System!

As we begin to reflect on our Tiger Cats suffering another heart-breaking elimination from the CFL playoffs, our attention turns to NCAA football, the most unpredictable, intense, exciting and entertaining football of its kind.  The NFL for all the flawlessness they show can't be as entertaining and riveting as College football and this season has become probably the most exciting in a long time, as two non-AQ schools and a certain PAC-10 team are all redefining conventional wisdom.

Right from the get-go, the BCS system of ranking and seeding is still taking a hit and with good reason.  There is no objective method to rank teams other than having a playoff system in place to actually give it legitimacy.  The problem with the BCS system lies in its inability to truly gauge how one team would truly play the other on a neutral field.  Furthermore, there are conferences that get a free pass to the bigger bowl games, and also get a bigger chunk of the money, regardless of the outcome.  And in the end the BCS system is more about the money than it is about finding the undisputed champion. 

It's an exclusive club, which unlike March Madness, has a well-defined criteria.  The seeding system for the national tournament is performance based and not subscriber/conference based.  After all, the bowl game is the game that determines not just the victor, but who gets the pie and how much of it.  It's the moment that assess your program and the bigger the bowl, the bigger the payout.  Once again, it's the money.

There really is only one way to determine which is the better team.  Put them on the field and see what happens.  There is no alternative and no system of speculative statistics will be able to substitute that.

The BCS is really a poor attempt at hiding the most prevalent weakness with the college football system itself.  There are so many teams and such diverse levels and forms of play and even worse, not enough time to truly find the champion.  There are leagues that have a defined championship format in which conference finalists and champions are crowned, advancing to represent their conferences all the way to the final.  Of course I won't be completely disingenuous, dismissing the fact that there are more than 20 conferences, each having a certain level of play.  The only solution to this problem is to promote and relegate teams to higher and lower level conferences, which means having a affiliation system.

In the end, there should be at least 16 or 32 teams to start the playoffs and they are the ones who should be guaranteed a berth in a bowl game.  The conference championship game is played starting in December and from that point, we have a ladder.  The defeated teams go to the smaller bowl games and the winning teams advance to the bigger bowl games.  And in the end, there should be a draw to determine what role the respective bowl games will play.  So the Citrus, Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton and Rose Bowls would be used to host the four quarterfinals and two semi-finals, leading up to the National Championship.

So what will this mean?  For one thing, it means that a certain college that thinks they're too good to be in a conference should start considering joining one, especially one that espouses the level of play they delude themselves to believe they can perform.  It means a lot of work in putting the colleges into conferences they belong in.  It could even bring up a level of intensity that people have been crying out for.  It is more likely that it will start with 32 conference finalists, leading to regional playoffs, to have one undisputed East champion and one undisputed West champion facing each other for the national championship.  It may not be perfect, but it will certainly be better than the monopolistic, exclusive and subjective system already in place.

The Tea Party Hangover - What Happened?

So now it's sunk in... 

The astroturf "Tea Party" movement has taken the House of Representatives and luckily the Senate majority remains intact for the Democrats.  And we're back where we started from 1994.  So what will happen next?

Why don't we start with what happened first?  So yes, the Republicans took control over the House of Representatives and will continue to do Wall Street's bidding and a lot more Republicans will go unpunished, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito, both of whom lied to congress during their confirmation process and were determined to allow corporate money to be used to fund election campaigns, paving the way to this.  And we could also go into how people appointed by GWB were parachuted into positions within government agencies, with intent on sabotaging the Obama presidency.  Nobody discussed that.  Then we could even go into how news has been replaced with spin and facts have been replaced with opinion.  And we could go into how television stations played 25 minute commercials on election day to compel people to vote against their own interests, which will never be fulfilled by the GOP, let alone a con man.

One thing is for sure.  The natives are restless.  They are angry and they don't know who to direct their anger to.  They conveniently forgot that two years ago, the bottom fell out of the economy, banks fell and people lost their retirement savings.  They forgot who made this all possible.  They even forgot how this started and now we know that it may never end if the Republicans have their way with all three branches.  And when one channel continuously broadcasts propoganda favouring one partisan ideology over another and reports the news with that same partisan slant, ensuring that any news that could reveal flaws in that ideology of choice is supressed, what is the populace to do?  When you are told what and how to think, what are you to do?

Yes, Obama didn't make many friends, but unlike his predecessor, he tried to get both parties on board.  His opposition didn't do anything constructive, but block anything that came from the Democrats.  They became the party of No.  They didn't share their ideas on how healthcare could be reformed there.  They brought out snazzy labels like "Socialized Medicine" and even characterized the president to be a Nazi.  They began spreading lies about "death panels" and anything else to ensure that the Democrats lose the midterms. 

The Democrats were once criticized for being a party of No without providing alternatives on how they would do things.  The Republicans got a free pass from the media this time around.  And this is what bothers a lot of us the most here.  Democrats are now continuously scrutinized and even shunned, while Republicans keep coming back.  It was the Republicans who ran their country into the ground and the Democrats who had to clean up their mess.  And so the Republicans have been granted another opportunity to destroy the country even more.

I suppose the question is how much longer will it be before the American people wake up, especially when it is taxpayers money going into the banks' coffers, rather than the taxpayers.  Our neighbour to the south is inching closer to a fascist plutocracy, under the guise of a populist movement, orchestrated by the wealthy and affluent and the corporate money flowing into the Republican coffers is the confirmation.  Unless something is done, we could be seeing the beginning of the end of the American Empire.

What is the Chamber's Purpose Anyway?

It's been on my mind for a long time now...

As some of you know already, I've been a member of the Chamber of Commerce since 2003, as the prinicpal owner of the IT consulting and personnel firm, RGX Systems.  I've always had some concerns about the Chamber as a whole.  And a lot of it starting to be well founded.

My biggest concern about the Chamber of Commerce is simply the thought that the organization is turning into a one-trick pony, constantly complaining about corporate taxes and any form of tax.  The Chamber has continuously avoided opportunity after opportunity to take the lead in advising their members to invest their profits into continuous improvement. 

What's their cure for the need to update production equipment and improve productivity?  They don't encourage investment in R&D.  They don't encourage companies to use their profits to buy new equipment.  They don't encourage them to retrain their employees to improve productivity.  They don't do any of this.  They simply lobby the feds for more tax cuts.  This is hardly a sustainable solution and only plays into the neo-con hands in their anarchistic vision of every man for himself, an antithesis to their phony espousing of Christian values.

The Globe and Mail declares that this apparently is our time to lead, but how does one lead without taking action or even taking risks.  You can't lead from behind and we certainly can't wait for others to act if we are to take the lead in anything.  And you certainly can't lead without taking some risks.  It's all about doing something different, unheard of.  It's about finding a greater challenge and overcoming it despite the odds.  By nature, Canadians have an aversion to risk, making it difficult to show the way, because nobody wants to assume the risks associated with taking a new direction.

Which brings to the question that has been on my mind for a long long time:  When will the Chamber start looking beyond taxation and start inspiring so-called business leaders to actually lead for a change?  Taxes are only part of it.  We need to have an adult discussion on the need to take some risks, to invest in us for a change and we need to start talking about how we can stop just doing it and start learning to do it better.
I would hate to think that the Chamber is a one-trick pony.  But in the end, when they do speak to the public, this is all we hear.

Victory Lap! The Third Man Won!

There are times when I would prefer to be proven wrong, but not this time.  Your favourite freelance writer in city affairs said this on May 15th about the possibility of Larry DiIanni entering the race:

...it could be a good opportunity for a wild card candidate to step into the scene and pull votes away from the both of them.

Votes were certainly pulled from the incumbent Eisenberger, who finished 3rd with 26% of the vote, while Larry DiIanni was 2nd with 28%.  Walking away with 37% of the vote is not the strongest mandate, but considering the quality of the candidates in the race, it will do.  So how did it happen?

Bratina had support from the rural areas along with the elder Hamiltonians.  He got support from disaffected supporters from both the Eisenberger and DiIanni camps.  From that point, he sailed away.

So what does this mean for the stadium?  The word is out that Confederation Park is coming back to the table.  We will have to see if that's the case.

So what can expect to happen as we head to the new year?  All that I hope is that Merulla and Bratina do not end up in a duelling e-mail game as they have recently done twice.  And will things get any better at City Hall?  That's too soon to say.  That would depend on the behaviour before the new session begins.

Did the right guys get in?  Perhaps.  Both Eisenberger and DiIanni were damaged goods and so the votes came as expected.  Unfortunately, no mayoralty challenger could get past Michael Baldassaro who got the fourth most votes.  While Edward Graydon has no regrets with the campaign he ran, bumps, bruises and all, perhaps Mr. Butani could let us know of his reaction to the results.

And now the question that really needed to be asked:  Was Eisenberger's endorsement from the Spec the kiss of death?  Not necessarily.  The early polling indicated intent and people had their minds made up before the vote anyway.

So in the end, things went as expected, but only where the mayoralty was concerned.  Challengers for the Ward Councillor seats had a tough time making any head way.  It did become the incumbents advatage where there were many horses in the race, especially Ward 3 and Ward 6, where Bernie Morelli and Tom Jackson won in their repective wards.  But things didn't work out for both Juan Pablo Bustamante and Bernard Josipovic, who couldn't even split their votes with Maria Pearson.  Not really a surprise, considering the ward they lived in.  The Fruitland vote just didn't come through for the two challengers.

So all in all, some laughed, some cried and hopefully we all won...

CHCH is back...

...but could you please hire people that know how to spell???

So here I am watching the news at 11pm last night and what do I see?  I am watching a report on a cholera outbreak in Haiti and how things are going to contain this.  So what's the problem?

How about spelling?  Right there on the character generator, it says "CHORELA" and not "CHOLERA"!

It's great that the folks at Channel Zero have picked up this wonderful and unique television station that is CHCH.  But is it too much to ask you people to ensure that you remove some of the CanWest deadwood still lying around?

The Ward 2 Race is getting nasty!

...and guess who was in the crossfire.  It was none other than regular R4M reader, Edward Graydon.

That is the only possible explanation for what happened that Monday night when he was attacked by a volunteer apparently working for Shane Coleman, over of all things the guy riding his bike on a sidewalk in the dark without a headlight.  All this happened before the Mayoral debate which took place in the North End.

Undaunted, he showed up for the debate and it is now up to the voters to decide.

While such occurances are thankfully rarities, we all know how tempers flare when passion and exuberance can be easily mistaken for beligerance.  And with a race with 20 candidates, it's a crowded house there and a decisive victory is all but assured.  And that's why it is important for one of those candidates to stand out in that crowd, otherwise we will have a very messy election in Ward 2.  One thing is for sure.  The trash talking between Matt Jelly and James Novak was completely uncalled for and it's good that they mutually made amends.  Now the question will be how the voters will look at that incident.

It's crunch time and with less than a week to go, it's starting to look like Bob Bratina, with the support of the elderly and rural communities, is poised to become the next mayor of Hamilton.  But like they say in the NFL, you can predict the outcome of the game before it's played, but the win isn't awarded until the game is over.

I wish all the candidates the best of luck in the election and appreciation for having participated in the democratic process.  It's not necessarily rewarding to have lost, but having fought the good fight, you are all to be saluted!

In retrospect, I have no regrets for having backed out of this election, but I will be watching Wards 6 and 7, along with the next mayor and if I am not happy with what I have seen, I will run in 2014 most likely for councillor.  And being close to Upper Gage, I will seriously consider either ward, depending on who I want to challenge the most.

Another fine mess brought to you by the Conservative Party of Canada!

As our city finally agrees on the stadium location and now they have a couple of months to solidify the funding needed to purchase the land from CP and build the stadium there, we can move on to bigger things, like national politics...

Unless you've been under a rock over the last 48 hours, you know that the UN for the first time ever has denied Canada a seat at the Security Council table when it was on the ballot.  Every time our country has appeared on the ballot, our country has been elected until now.  So how serious is this?  Very.

What was even more puzzling was watching Harper having to beg and plead for a place at the security council.  I don't recall there ever being a time when a PM has ever done so.  To stand there and remind the UN of Canada's contributions, none of which his government has provided, was disingenuous and rightfully rebuked.

And I for one don't really like the idea of the Conservatives spreading their pogrom on the world, as they have done in Canada.  This is not the same Canada that stood under the watch of all our great prime ministers since William Lyon Mackenzie King.  This is a more hated country and with plenty good reason.  The people in charge have alienated us from the world and our reputation continues to slide every single day this government sits.  The Conservatives only want impose their ideology on the world, with a simplistic view that makes us less worldly than we once were.

There was a time when being a Canadian meant being a citizen of the world, but Conservative government with its continuous stoking of nationalism and endless echoing of jingoist views have made us a little more alien to the world.  It's as if they don't recognize us anymore.  We are now perceived to be a different country altogether because of actions taken by the Conservative government. 

There's something about changing a country that once fought to keep the peace and acted as an honest broker internationally, to a militarist country led by a confirmed chickenhawk with delusional visions of an old Christian-dominated, Islamophobic world order.  Getting in late in the game, cutting aid to African countries, criticizing the UN as a corrupt organization and taking more of an isolationist approach for the country doesn't help sell yourself either.  This debacle is owned by Harper's Conservatives, who epically failed to pin their loss on oppostion leader Michael Ignatieff, who rightfully observed that we really didn't deserve the non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council.

And perhaps all this was a set-up for something else.  After all, they need to score some cheap points as another apparent reason to deny Mr. Ignatieff a mandate to govern.  But let's just ignore Mr. Harper's own tinkering with a sitting government when he expressed his disappointment that Canada rightfully refused to participate in Bush's Iraq war to remove a Republican operative and bring chaos to the Middle East for years to come.  He expressed his disappointment in the Wall Street Journal.  So as the pot calls the kettle black, we are caught in the crossfire as usual, wondering whether or not we will return to the UN Security Council.

Of course we will be back at the table, but not with our current government holding the reins.  The time for reckoning is coming.  Let's hope it will be sooner rather than later.