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Six and a Half Events at the Guangzhou Asian Games – Part II

Monday, December 6th, 2010

After the blast that was sepatakraw and field hockey, I knew that I needed more.  The games were only around for two weeks, and when else would I get the chance? I mean, I don’t exactly have plans to move to London for 2012, or Rio for 2016.  So I set out for more tickets, unavailability be damned!

November 20 – Football (aka Soccer)

After trips all over the metropolis, I decided to settle close to home.  I knew that there was a football match at the Tianhe Sports Centre, a short walk away from my house. I had heard that most soccer tickets were pretty easy to get, unless China was playing of course. Just to prepare myself for the game, and to decide on a teach to cheer for, I checked out who was playing.

It was the Women’s Semi-final. Korea vs. Korea.

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Six and a Half Events at the Guangzhou Asian Games: Part I

Friday, November 26th, 2010

Asian Games: Coming to a Super Nova Near You!

Note: I know things have been quiet/boring on this front…my apologies as usual.  Here is a post from Lost Laowai that I just made about my trip to the Guangzhou Asian Games…enjoy!!!!

The 16th Asiad is winding down here in Guangzhou. I’ll be honest, first I was excited about the event, then angry at all the construction, then angrier that I couldn’t get tickets, then excited again, then confused, then hungry, and finally back to excited. Now I find myself sad that they will be ending soon, and plotting my trip to Korea for the 2014 version of the event!  I was lucky enough to take in six and a half events over the past two weeks,.

For all the issues they had planning, and running this event. I can say from my own experiences as a spectator, it was fantastic, and the city and country should be pretty darned proud.

What experiences you ask? Well just read on to find out!

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Some Possible Changes to the All-Star Game

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

The big news in the hockey world this week has most certainly been the changes made to the NHL All-Star game.  They have done away with the old East vs. West format, or the failed North America vs. The World experiment, and instead gone to a much different idea.

Today, I’m going to look at this propsed change, but also a few other ideas that could work to make the mid-season shinny game a bit more exciting.

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2010-11 Predictacular: Western Conference

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

Well it’s time to go to the left side, where things are always interesting.  Last year this team had the two biggest surprises (Colorado and Phoenix), the biggest bust (Calgary), the biggest playoff collapse (San Jose, but really, what else is new?), and the Stanley Cup Champion.  Now this year, the champs have been retooled, last years surprises look to prove themselves, and of course the Red Wings look to reclaim their spot as top dog.  Add in the fact that the San Jose Sharks are sure to collapse in a new and exciting way, and we’ve got ourselves a very interesting few months ahead in the West.

And it should go something like this…

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2010-11 Predictactular: The Eastern Conference

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Well it’s that time of the year again for the bold and daring hockey predictions for things to come! I continue today by looking at the Right Coast.  This conference tends to be a bit more conservative and easier to predict that the West.  However, last season they ended up with a 7-8 matchup in the Conference Finals.  Also some teams like the Lightning and Leafs had some pretty big roster overhauls.  So there are certain to be some surprises coming out this year.  But I think that it’ll shake out like this…

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2010-11 Predictacular: Individual Awards

Friday, October 8th, 2010

It’s the most wonderful time of the year ladies and gentlemen!!!  That’s right, the NHL season is just underway! I’ve been like a kid in some kind of a store recently, getting so incredibly excited.  In the coming days I’ll be posting my predictions for the season, starting today with a look at the major NHL awards.  This is mostly so I can look back months later and claim to be right in the unlikely event that I’m right (note: if following that link, only look at who the Eastern Conference Champion is predicted to be, nothing else).

So if I’ve linked back to this in the future, then congratulate me on being right, if there are no incoming links to this, then never speak of this again.

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On Kovy — Chapter II

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

This just doesn’t end, does it?  It looks like all of the drama surrounding Ilya Kovalchuck’s massive $102 million contract is back for another season, making this one of the more tumultuous off-seasons ever.

In case you haven’t heard, heard an independent arbitrator has ruled in the NHL’s favour and has voided Kovalchuck’s insane contract for cap circumvention.  As a I said a few weeks ago, it’s about time that the NHL stepped in on these contracts.  I can’t say that I’m particularly surprised or stunned by the news, but what shocks me is the fact that the league has said that they will be looking into other, already registered contracts, namely those of Roberto Luongo, Marc Savard, Marian Hossa, and Chris Pronger.  This my friends, has the potential to get ugly, very, very, ugly.

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On Kovy

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

It looks like everyone spoke to soon about Ilya Kovalchuk’s mammoth contract with the New Jersey Devils. The NHL has rejected his 17 year, $102 million contract because of cap circumvention. All I can say here is, what took them so long?

Precedent was set for this kind of front-loaded, stupidly long term contracts last year with Chris Pronger, Marian Hossa and Roberto Luongo’s long term contracts. In all three cases the contracts start out huge but taper off very rapidly, and takes them all past their obvious playing days.

While this may not seem like a big deal, it is something that really shouldn’t be allowed. In all cases the Devils, Flyers, Blackhawks, and Canucks all are creatively getting around the cap. They are signing these player for longer than they will play, knowing full well that they will retire before the contract runs out. Once the players retire, they still get paid but their salary does not count against the cap.

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Why Not Canada?

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

One of the more interesting things to circulate both TSN and The Globe and Mail last week was the six-part, multi-platform story where they investigated the possibility of Canada adding a seventh NHL team, title Why Not Canada?. They looked at four potential locations for franchises including Winnipeg, Hamilton, Quebec City, and a second team in the Greater Toronto Area.

If you did not get a chance to either watch it on Sports Centre, or read it, I highly suggest that you do it now. It was a very interesting and intelligent look at the different locations and went beyond the “We Want a Team Here” and looked at the building, corporate support, legal issues, and regional demographics.

After it was all said and done, they seemed to be high on the possibility of a team in either Winnipeg or Quebec, and not so much on adding a third team to Ontario. As much as I would love a team in Southwestern Ontario, or in Toronto, I think that I understand the situation now.

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Deal or No Deal: NHL Off-Season Edition

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

For all of the talk and rumours going around about big name trades this off-season, there really hasn’t been that much.  Sure Nathan Horton, Jaroslav Halak, and Jason Arnott were traded, but after that there hasn’t really been all that much to be honest.  I think that in the coming days this will change.  The key figure holding everything up right now is Ilya Kovalchuk.  The Kings and Devils are actively pursuing him, with rumblings of the Islanders, Flyers, and Rangers having interest.  After he gets signed, I think that a number of dominoes will start falling and some potentially big names will be on the move.

Let’s have a look at the big names that are in all of the rumours…

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