There was an incident at the Shell on Smith Street in Yorkton on Monday. Whoever is responsible better thank his/their lucky stars that there is a democratic law that allows you to be dealt with through our lenient court system as opposed to turning you over to friends of the victim.
Don't think it's lenient? How about this case in Winnipeg where a teenager killed a taxi driver by crashing a stolen SUV into the vehicle and the teen was, subsequently, sentenced to a pathetic two years. That sentence was further watered down last week when the judge agreed to convert the remaining time to 'open' custody. That means extended absences from jail. "From everything I have heard, you are continuing to progress well. You have made a serious mistake but that doesn't mean it has to continue affecting you for the rest of your life," says the judge. I wonder how the family of the victim, who happens to be gone forever, feels about that statement. What's more frightening is that I'm aware of, at least, one judge who doesn't personally feel as though criminals should be punished at all because the bad deed is done and there's nothing you can do to change the past.
The judge thinks concentrating on trying to ensure it doesn't happen again is more important. Oh boy.
Jackass star Ryan Dunn was killed in a fatal automobile accident on Monday. The Jackass style humour doesn't do anything for me, much to the surprise of many who think they know me fairly well. The last photo posted to Twitter by Dunn shows him with a couple of buddies drinking what could be alcoholic beverages.
The Boston Bruins are probably a one hit wonder when it comes to Stanley Cup champions. I can't imagine too many folks picking them to repeat. Tim Thomas is going to act his age someday and the stars won't be so nearly aligned next year. Pittsburgh had to play without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin; so they weren't a force at all. Had Chicago not squandered the first three games in the Vancouver series, you have to think they would have been a formidable foe.
To put things into perspective, 53.8% of all Canadians watched game seven of the Stanley Cup finals last week. In the United States, that number drops to 2.8%.
As a Boston Red Sox fan, I'm quick to come to their defense when someone says there is no difference between the freewheeling spending New York Yankees and the BoSox. First of all, the Yankees have paid over $200 million in luxury taxes, while the BoSox have paid $17.5 million.
Secondly, Adrian Gonzalez is playing this year at $6 million before his extension kicks in next year.
Yankee first baseman Mark Teixeira is at $20 million a year and hits a hundred points less than Gonzalez and isn't likely to drive in as many runs. Furthermore, he doesn't deliver in the clutch the way Gonzalez does either. And, finally people easily forget that while Boston added Gonzalez and Carl Crawford during the offseason; they also cut loose Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre. So, yes they added some high priced talent; but they also parted company with some too. The Yanks just add, add, add.
I got a chance to see the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday night as they opened up the preseason against the Edmonton Eskimos. The wind was nuts and it started to rain midway through the fourth quarter, so I'm not sure how much evaluating could be done. For me, I'm looking to see if the offensive line can hold off Father Time for one more year and whether or not the defensive line improves enough to afford Darian Durant more time to make plays. There are some battles at receiver, but I believe Cary Koch is going to step up and Jason Clermont will catch more balls and that should alleviate the losses of Andy Fantuz and Robb Bagg. I'd like to see Hugh Charles on the field a bit more often, even if it comes at the expense of Wes Cates.
I've been asked a couple of times by folks wondering how they get listed as a nice person at the end of my column. The answer is simple: I arbitrarily make the call! However, you can always send me an email to mikestackhouse@hotmail.com if you think someone deserves a quick mention. For this week, nice person awards go to Heather Prosak, Rae Carlson, Mike Jakubiec, Perry Chandler, and Darcy Zaharia.
