Six Random Things

I got tagged by Daryl Cognito, owner of The Best Podcast In Calgary.  Check out Atomic Suburbia, then hurry back here.

Here are Six Random Things about me:

1.  I am still shocked to find myself living in a country whose goals for the Olympics are to finish in the top sixteen.  It takes some getting used to.
2. I graduated High School with Bob Costas.
3. I don't follow either of Canada's official sports, in either of Canada's official languages.
   
4. My curling team once scored an 8-ender.
   
5. I think that although it's just possible that Rick Mercer is not a jerk, he certainly does play one on TV.
6. I think "Little Mosque on the Prairie" is stupid, but I love "Corner Gas."

Tagging Barbra, Victor, John, Ron (and the other Ron), and Dean.

And now for the Rules.  Because of course there have to be Rules.  Eh?

1.  Link to the person who tagged you.
2.  Post the rules on the blog.
3.  Write six random things about yourself.
4.  Tag six people at the end of your post.
5.  Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6.  Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Curling, Lobsters, and Joan McCusker's Email

This is an old joke:

A man watches a lobster fisher throw three lobsters into a bucket. Concerned, the man approaches the fisher and asks if he isn't worried that the lobsters will climb out because the bucket has no cover.

"No worries," replied the fisher. "These are Canadian lobsters. If one starts to climb out, the others will pull him back in."

And that's how it is in Canada. In the US, we learn to recognize and celebrate success. In Canada, that would be bragging. It takes some getting used to.

Last week the Scotties Tournament of Hearts was held in Regina, Saskatchewan. That's the Canadian Women's Curling championships. The winner goes on to represent Canada at the Worlds next month. The opening of the week-long championships marked the ten year anniversary of the Team Canada gold medal win at the 1998 Olympics in Japan. The winning team hailed from Regina. They became national icons ("heroes" would, of course, be bragging) over night.


The team was skipped by Sandra Schmirler, who died just two years later at the age of 36, of cancer. The Sandra Schmirler Foundation keeps her memory alive. The remaining members of that team, Marcia Gudereit, Joan McCusker, and Jan Betker, continued to curl at a high level, but were not able to win another national or international title.

Joan McCusker is now a commentator for CBC's curling coverage. I wish I had Joan McCusker's email, because I think she could help me understand something about Canadians.

Colleen Jones, certainly one of the best Canadian women curlers, won six Canadian championships, two World championships, and a couple of mixed Canadian championships. She is bright, articulate, and gracious. (At least she was gracious to me when I met her, and I'm pretty much nobody.) She was a tremendous representative for the sport and for Canada, and yet Canadians belittle her accomplishments because she chews gum while she curls. I kid you not.

Kelly Scott curls at the same curling club I do. She began this year's Scotties as two-time Canadian champion, and was looking for a third consecutive title. She is a lovely person; polite, generous with her time, gracious, and kind of funny. She doesn't show much emotion on the ice. Still, there were posts on curling forums, articles in newspapers, and general talk among curlers that Kelly and her team "didn't deserve" another championship. Why? Because she has a squeaky, annoying voice when she calls a game.

Help me out, Joan! We all know that Sandra Schmirler is now practically revered for her curling success (Oops! There's that word again!) and for her good nature.

What was it really like out there after 1998? Did the general public say things like, "They don't deserve another win because Sandra did..." whatever Sandra did? Did people complain about her glasses? Did they criticize her style of play?

Well, there's a new Team Canada now, this one led by Jennifer Jones. She doesn't chew gum. Her style of play is more aggressive than Kelly Scott's and Colleen Jones'. She's tall and thin and blond. Let the snarkiness begin.

Talking To Themselves

Boing Boing has a post about Rick Mercer’s “Talking To Americans” joke.

Living in Canada, I often have the opportunity to see Rick Mercer's comedy. And I often pass it up.

Mercer can be funny and insightful, but the "Talking To Americans" bit, once just a segment on a half-hour program, then a series of one-hour specials, is nothing but the same joke over and over again. Americans are ignorant of Canada, but unhesitant to express opinions --- that's the joke. Ha ha.

Well, I get it. I get the joke. Ha ha. When can we stop hearing the joke?

I guess Canadians find the "Talking To Americans" joke funny because Canadians can't actually express an opinion, informed or not, without either prefacing the opinion with "Sorry" or adding "Sorry" to the end. It's that sort of passive-aggressive, snarky, stealth-opinion-expressing practice that makes Canadians seem unremittingly self-righteous, and at the same time timid, to Americans who must live among them. It takes some getting used to.

Running Up The Score --- Oh, Sorry!

Well, it seems that the Canadian Women’s Hockey Team beat home team Italy by the score of 16-0 yesterday. I saw the first few minutes. Canada scored five quick, unanswered goals. I went out. I ran errands. I came back later and saw the replay of the last period. It was 11-0 when the announcers started explaining how it’s not Canada’s fault that the score is lopsided. It’s not Canada’s intention to run up the score or embarrass anyone. No. It’s actually the fault of the United States of America. THEY are scoring goals, so Canada has to score goals in order to secure the home ice advantage in the game where the two teams will meet.

Canadian announcers apologizing to Canadians for Canada running up the score. It takes some getting used to. But you know, even Frank and Gordon quit playing when the score gets to 7.


Today, the women beat Russia 12-0. The announcers got off to an early start apologizing for the lopsided score, again explaining that no one wanted to hurt Russia’s feelings, but that the USA made them do it. This afternoon, an AP headline reads: “Canadians Defend Inflated Hockey Scores” and includes this, from the coach:

"That's definitely not what we're doing. We're just competing," Davidson said, adding that her team's goal is to reach the gold medal game — not humiliate anyone along the way.

"We definitely don't focus on the scoreboard. It's not about what the score is, it's about us moving the puck and making good plays. It's about success as a team. ... It is the Olympics, regardless of the score. These girls have worked hard to be here. I would take things away from our team, our opponents and everybody involved if we didn't compete as hard as we could."

The Canadian and USA women’s hockey teams do not like each other. I don’t really follow hockey and even I know that. The Canadians won a gold medal last time, in Salt Lake City. Hayley Wickenheiser, the team’s leader, appeared on (Canadian) national television claiming that Team USA had stomped on a Canadian flag in the USA dressing room.




USAHockey denied that happened. They certainly didn’t apologize for it.




It’s widely expected that Canada and USA will meet in the final, and compete once again for the gold medal, and has been since four years ago. I don’t know who to cheer for, and didn’t four years ago, either. I just can’t wait to see if anyone is able to run up the score. And if anyone apologizes.