Which School?

Wow, hasn’t the year gone by fast? For being the new, leaders and having a lot of weight on all of our shoulders, I think that I have done very well. We had sixteen kids in our class at the beginning of the year, but ended with seventeen, with the great addition of Fabian. We are going to be the last grade 8 class in middle school because of the new changes, making our grad a last too. I have also experienced personal changes, like getting ready to move to a new school.

Now from my experiences at both of the schools I’ve been at this year, Waterloo Collegiate Institute and St. John’s-Kilmarnock School, I’m not sure what I want to do, stay here with all of my friends or go to a school with the highest ranking in Waterloo and Wellington District School Boards. Of course I would love to stay at SJK because there a lot of my friends are there, but at WCI there will be a lot of kids that I already know from hockey, lacrosse or other sports so they are even there. In academics, WCI is very highly ranked and rated also have full AP and pre-AP programs in math, science and English while having pre-AP at grade 10 and 11 and AP at 12 in French. They have an English learners program and a magnet strings program bringing kids from across Waterloo and Wellington Regions. SJK has the distinction of being a private school and having very low teacher to student ratios, except that there aren’t that many kids here, not letting them offer more full-time programs like technology, media and wood shop. But there are some perks to having a small class: more teacher-to-student time and there is less potential to have distractions.

Now I know that I have already made the choice to go to WCI, but what would you have done if you where in my position and could go to any school you wanted to go to? Would you have stayed at SJK or left? Why? But I know that I already made mine but your life may be completely different than mine so its your choice.

Please leave your answer in the comment boxes below, and this week I commented on Andrew’s Blog.

The Social Network 'Take-Over'

Now usually, I go home, after track or soccer practice, and have dinner and get going usually to a sporting event, game, practice or dry land, so when you asked me how much I use social-networking sites, I would have to say that I probably use them the least out of class. So, as you may have already noticed, I don’t go on Skype, Facebook or MSN much, considering that I don’t have a Twitter account (yes Cassie I’m telling the truth!!). This week’s topic is on how social-networking has ‘taken over people’s lives, and they’re face-to-face social skills are diminishing.’ NOT! Mine is the opposite.

But when you think about other kids using these sites more than I do the one problem that comes to my mind is that I cannot communicate with other kids unless I go on to Skype or MSN. Well calling or texting works too. So this can create another problem, kids with parents that won’t let them have these accounts can only call or find them face-to-face and talk that way. But this problem has the same outcome as the first point I mentioned, face-to-face social skills are diminishing.

So, is the real problem the kids with the accounts or is it the parents that will not let their kids have the accounts. I think it’s the parents because it doesn’t matter if any one person has a Facebook, Twitter, Skype or MSN account both of the problems above will occur. So parents should just let their children have a MSN account so they can communicate with everybody.

I commented on Aureon's Blog this week.

Field vs. Box Lacrosse

This year is will be my third year of playing lacrosse, but when I say lacrosse most of you think of in an arena, short stick lacrosse with cross-checks and no-slashing. But there is this other thing called field lacrosse where some people of the field have 6 foot long stick and you can slash like crazy if the ball is 9 feet away from you. But I still don’t know all the tips and tricks of field yet, because this is my first year. So from two years of experience in box and four weeks of field experience, I’m going to try to compare the two sports.
Now when I first started field lacrosse, I didn’t know a thing about it other than thinking it was the same rules, basically, as box. But was I wrong! There are ten guys on the field versus the six on the floor and if you’re within nine feet of the ball, you can do pretty much anything to the person your beside. Now, being a big kid, I love the rule of pretty much cranking anybody, even without the ball, but some little kids are dirty so its not very pleasant, and I like having a full football field to run around on. So there are some of the differences between box and field lacrosse.
But box I think box is still much better and more awesome than field because… ah because… I don’t know but its just more fun, I guess its because it has that hockey atmosphere and you guys know how much I love hockey so there! And stop bugging me about it! Sheeeesh!
This week I commented on The Answer: 42's Blog on Xbox Failure.

A Blog on Blogs!

Back in grade 6, we had to write five journals each term, and I was struggling to get two paragraphs done on a ten-paragraph assignment. Now I’m in grade 8, although I do think blogs are a better idea than journals, but the problem is you need a lot of ideas! And I’m out of them! I’ve written about poverty, different quotes, about life, YouTube videos and all the way to funny bones and the NHL playoffs (which by the way are in full swing each night!). So, without further ado, I’ll start on my blog on blogs.

The definition of blogs, on Dictionary.com, is an online diary; a personal chronological log of thought published on a web page. But what I think a blog’s definition should be much simpler, a way to express what you like, what you don’t like and the things in between. If you have read most of my past blogs, they either relate to those things or, they are an assigned one that didn’t go so well (sorry!). But if you look at any blog on the web, read the first blog and the newest blog, you will see major improvements in the writing. So blogs can trash things, blogs can praise things, but sometimes they can be both, traisers (or is it prashers?? I don’t know you comment on the better one).

So there it is, a blog on blogs. Now that can be a confusing title, but trust me wasn’t it a good, successful, entertai… ah never mind, was it good or not. Just comment, Wyatt!

This week I commented on Will's Blog.

So yes this may be a bit late to predict the second half of the Conference Quarterfinals, but I’m going to do it and make it just worthy of all of the series going on already (although all the series were 1-1 after two games). But the Western Conference is just as wacky, wild and weird as the Eastern, maybe even worse. But you’ll find out in the next one to two months. Thus here are my picks for this week/round.

First with the disappointing first placed San Jose Sharks playing the usually eight placed Colorado Avalanche, I think that the Avs will win in six games because I don’t think that San Jose has a playoff worthy team, yet. They need tougher, more physical, third line type guys because in the playoffs those guy get a lot more minutes.

Next with a divisional rivalry seeing the second placed Chicago Blackhawks facing off against the seventh place Nashville Predators, in this one I see the Hawks winning in six. I think that the Hawks will win because of the opposite reason above, they have gritty, tough and physical third liners that will sit the whole season to play twenty plus minutes of ice time a night. Also, I don’t think the Preds will win this series because they are inexperienced in the playoffs and are a very young team.

Thirdly, we have third place Vancouver Canucks team playing the sixth place LA Kings team that was supposed to be bidding for Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin’s rights at the end of June. I think that the Canucks will win this series in six because they dominated the Kings this past season going 3-1-0 against Wayne Gretzky’s former team. Same as above in the Preds, the Kings are very young, example Drew Doughty, just twenty-one years of age.

Lastly, the Cinderella story Phoenix Coyotes facing the team underneath them the fifth placed Detroit ‘Beast’ Red Wings and in my opinion the most exciting and exhilarating series in the first round. I could see either of these teams taking it in seven, but I’m choosing the Yotes over the Wings because they have gone thru a lot, bankruptcy, maybe a new home, and still come close to the first place team in the Conference and I think they can keep going. And I think the Red Wings are a bit old and lacking in youthfulness (is that even a word?).

So in conclusion, I do believe that these series will be long be they may just kick the youth back in you when the team your rooting for scores in triple overtime, game seven.

I commented on Lizzie's Blog.

Every single April 16 NHL teams start out hoping for a chance to win the Stanley Cup, or for some teams just win a series. This year both of my teams that I usually cheer for, Toronto and Calgary, are out. So in this blog I’m going to predict what is going to happen in the playoffs, that’s right all the way thru to the Finals.

So let’s start in the East. The President Trophy (most points in the Regular Season) winning Washington Capitals are facing the 8^th placed Montreal Canadiens, I think that even thou with a 2-1-1 record each, Washington will come out on top in five or six games. I think this mainly because of their finess, intensity and all around, they are probably the most exciting team to watch. Oh ya, they’ve also got the Alexander Ovechkin.

For the 2^nd vs. 7^th Matchup, I believe that the New Jersey Devils will get upset by the Philadelphia Flyers in a six game series. I think that the Flyers will win because they have dominated the Devils every time they played them in the season ending with a 5-1-0 record against them.

In the 3 vs. 6, I think that the Boston Bruins will win a couple of early games, because of being hot coming into the playoffs, but then the Sabers will win it in a weird and wacky seven game series.

Now for the final series in the Eastern Conference First Round, I think that the 4^th seeded Pittsburgh Penguins will take the series in six games from the Ottawa Senators, falling behind at first but winning four straight quickly like the Bruins vs. Sabers series.

So there are my first round Eastern Conference Series picks for me, next week I will predict the Western Conference first rounds. I’m just going to come out and say it, I think that although the Eastern Conference will be cool to watch, I think that they will not win the Stanley Cup. Now I won’t reveal my winner just yet. Comment at the bottom please about my picks.

I commented on Brendan’s Blog this week.

Funny Bones

If you could please take two seconds of your day and do this simple experiment it would make my day. So roll up your sleeve and keep your arm strait while touching your elbow. Now feel that nerve? That is called your ‘funny bone’. Now technically that’s called your ulna nerve, but a lot of people think that it’s an actual bone. So I want to interest you in some interesting facts about it.

When you put your arm down on the table and have a feeling like pins and needles are getting stabbed into your fingers, what actual just happened is that your ulna is trapped between your bone and the overlying skin, pinching the nerve ending the blood flow to your fingers. But don’t you think that it’s funny that a nerve with a funny name is nicknamed a funny name while the bone right below it is the humerus (humorous). But that isn’t the only pun that is used almost every day. If it’s raining someday, somebody in the world will say, it’s raining cats and dogs outside.

So what I want people to remember most from my blog, is that no matter whether it’s raining cats and dogs, or you hit your funny bone, that those technically can’t happen (although it would be pretty cool to see dogs falling from the sky), they are pretty awesome sayings and you should use at least 10 everyday7 this week. Ya know what that’s a dare. I dare you to use 10 puns every day this week.

This week I commented on I Like Cake (aka Will's) Blog.

Canada+USA vs. the World

Have you noticed in recent Olympic Winter Games, Canada has two gold’s and one silver and USA has one gold and two silver’s in women’s hockey? This year, they both will be competing in the Gold Medal game, guaranteeing them a gold or silver medal. Canada and USA have dominated the women’s ice hockey tournament, at the Olympic Winter games, with Sweden, with one silver and one bronze, and Finland, with two bronzes, are the only other two nations with medals. But I’m going to explain to you why this might be different, not in 2014, but in 2018 and 2022 by adding a women’s professional league. And also why this may not happen.

In the men’s tournament, Russia dominates with a 2-0-1-0 and has a GF-GA of 13-6 but, in the women’s tournament Russia is 1-0-0-2 and has a GF-GA of 3-19. A big difference. But I think that this might change along with the Slovaks and Chinese, joining in on the medal hunt. I also think that the one factor that would help women’s hockey the most would definitely be making a women’s professional hockey league. This is why we have men’s teams like Kazakhstan and Denmark trying to get to the Olympic Winter Games, because they have one, two or more professional players on their teams whereas teams like Canada, USA and Russia have all their players from professional leagues, either the NHL or the KHL.

It may be different in 2018 or 2022 in women’s hockey, but it could not happen possibly… If Finland, Sweden, Slovakia and Russia can improve, then Canada and the USA can improve, right? But Canada’s women’s hockey organizations are growing every year, with as many as 1,000 more girls joining this great ice sport. Canada and the US are still winning in the U-17, U-18 and Junior tournaments meaning that the next generation, will not be the changing of the guard, making other countries stronger and more competitive.

So, I think that unless other countries get better quickly or Canadian and American girls’ hockey comes to a standstill, Canada and the US are going to be the best for a long time. On the men’s side, from 1920-1952, Canada won every gold medal except one, and the year that they didn’t get the gold medal, the Great Britain team was mostly Canadians, 11 in total. So maybe it will take 10-20 more years for the teams to get to become more developed and more competitive in women’s hockey.

And questions or comments just leave them below! THANKS, WYATT!!

The Luge Accident at the Olympics

Last Friday, a Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashivili, died in a tragic luge accident at the Whistler Sliding Centre. He was coming around the sixteenth and last turn, when he lost control of his sled, hitting a wall and flying into a steel pole. He died later in hospital. This turn is called the Thunderbird turn because it’s the most dangerous and fastest corner in the track that puts 5 Gs of pressure on your body. But luge hasn’t been the only sport with crashes in it. The Snowboard Half pipe is bigger and the athletes get more air off these jumps. There is an athlete in a coma right now supposed to be competing with Shaun White for the gold. So, do you think, in Sochi Russia 2014, that they should make their sliding centre slower and less dangerous? Also, are the Winter Olympics more dangerous than the Summer Olympics?

The Sochi 2014 Olympic organizing committee already stated that they will make their sliding track less dangerous and slower than the Vancouver 2010 track. Do you think that this is right, or that this course should still be fast and dangerous, putting the sliders live on the line? I don’t think this is. We should think of peoples’ lives before we think of a cool fast show for the people to watch.

If you have been watching or listening to the news lately, or even not lately, that when you hear of somebody getting hurt through sport, it is a winter sport mainly that the athletes get hurt in. You don’t hear things like, ‘In the 100m Sprint Usain Bolt died in the last 20m of the run.’ No, you’re more likely to hear something like this, ‘In Short Track Speed Skating, 4 competitors crashed and all of them are seriously injured.’ Now I know that neither of those sound nice, but the second one would more likely happen, so in my opinion winter sports are more dangerous, more challenging and most demanding sports.

So what is your opinion on this whole deal? Do you think that Sochi 2014 should make their sliding track slower and less dangerous or the exact opposite? Do you think that winter sports are more challenging, more demanding and, most importantly, more dangerous than summer sports? Please leave your comments and answers, WYATT!

Burke's Rights and Wrongs on January 31st, 2010

On Jan.31^st, 2010, the Toronto Maple Leafs received D Dion Phaneuf, F Fredrik Sjostrom and F Keith Aullie from the Calgary Flames in exchange for F Matt Stajan, F Niklas Hagman, F Jamal Mayers and D Ian White. The Leafs also acquired G J.S. Giguere from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for G Vesa Toskala and F Jason Blake. The general manager of the Leafs, Brian Burke, coordinated these trades. Although you may think Phaneuf and Giguere are pretty good deals, there are some areas they could have improved further. Such as why not to trade White away and why they should have received another player from the Ducks.

Ian White at the beginning of this season was their 6^th defensemen. Over this season and until this trade, in my mind opinion, and that coach of Ron Wilson’s, White has moved up to the 3^rd or 4^th spot. He is also one of the best penalty killers the Leafs had on defense. He has a great shot from the point gathering 9 goals, 26 points and a rating of +1 over 56 games. Instead of trading White, maybe they should have traded Garnet Exelby, Jeff Finger or Mike Komisarek to Calgary, because in my mind White is more talented than other defence they could have traded. Maybe this would have had helped our goaltending and we wouldn’t have to make that Ducks trade.

I don’t think that even the stellar play by J.S. Giguere in his first two games, earning two shutouts, makes his play equal to the likes of Jason Blake and Vesa Toskala. Now Vesa, he definitely isn’t equal to Giguere but Jason Blake’s play was definitely very close to calibre of J.S. So perhaps Saku Koivu or Kyle Chipchura should have been pulling on a Leafs sweater on February 2^nd. Also Jason Blake was a first or second liner so I think that a third liner or one of the second or third defensive pair should have been sent to the Leafs.

So if the Leafs got a defensive forward like Kyle Chipchura and had kept Ian White then their defensive game would probably have improved. Most of the criticism for the Leafs is coming from them creating big leads and then, in the third period, they lose the game by giving away goals or taking penalties. With the acquirement of Phaneuf and Giguere, they improved their defence while getting a big booming shot from the point.

Classes. You know that word. Some kids hate it. Some love it (If your one of those people call-me). Now I don’t mind some classes, but honestly I hate some. If I could change my schedule to anything I want it to be, it would be this:

First, I would make school start later, at 10 or 10:30 pm. But since I can’t just cut off 2 hours of classes I would take that two hours and put it at the end of the day. Now I know a lot of people who wake up Monday morning and are like, “School/Work! NOOOOO!” So I would make Monday something to look forward to. Next, I would make my school day to have five periods, each one sixty minutes long, with 65 minutes for lunch and recess, and finally between each period a five minute break, so I can get ready for my next class or just to talk and hang out for five minutes. Here is what my schedule would look like:

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
10:00	A	B	C	D	E
11:00	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
11:05	B	C	D	E	F
12:05	Lunch/Recess	Lunch/Recess	Lunch/Recess	Lunch/Recess	Lunch/Recess
1:10	C	D	E	F	A
2:10	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
2:15	D	E	F	A	B
3:15	Break	Break	Break	Break	Break
3:20	E	F	A	B	C
4:20	End of Day	End of Day	End of Day	End of Day	End of Day

That’s probably a lot to look at so here is something simpler, you pick your classes and put them in their own blocks. First, for me, I would delete some classes from my schedule right away, like LA, RK, History and Health. So my Blocks would be: A=Phys.-Ed., B= Math, C=Science, D=French, E= Geography and F=Spare. Now your classes may be totally different than mine. Also, you aren’t restricted to the number of classes you have, there is no mandatory amount of classes you would have. And you can double up on classes if you wanted.

In conclusion, if I wanted to anything to change my classes or my schedule, I would take out LA, RK, History and Health. Also, I would make the day start later, and have the ability to put the classes that I wanted wherever I wanted and have them whenever. If you want to comment on this blog maybe you want to tell me what classes you would have in what blocks.

Wyatt

The CRTC

“Blue 22, Down, Set, Hut”

“Brady gets the ball from Koppen, back in to pass, pump fakes, throws, caught by Moss at the 40, dodges a tackle, makes it to the 50, the 45, the 40, he’s still running at the 30, the 25, the 20, the 10, TOUCHDOWN! THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!...

“We interrupt this program to give you an important message…” And your NFL Super Bowl presentation is cut off to show you a commercial, about a car or make-up! I mean com’on! If you haven’t noticed already I’m going to talk to you about why the CRTC should not interrupt programs because we need to broadcast Canadian things.

The CRTC stands for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and, unfortunately, is required in the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Acts. The CRTC, I think, should not be enforced by the law. I think if you want to broadcast Canadian things, we should have more Canadian shows like Flashpoint (based in Toronto), Hockey Night in Canada, and my local station carries Kitchener Ranger games. Now, those are Canadian shows. Maybe you should approach Jerry Bruckheimer (executive producer of all three CSI’s) or Shane Brennan (executive producer of both NCIS’s) to make a CSI: Toronto or a NCIS: Vancouver.

But maybe the CRTC is a good thing. The CRTC gives the local community, of the TV station, a chance to voice what they do and how they help the community. But maybe they should let us off the hook for the Super Bowl. If you have never seen, even one Super Bowl commercial then you should go to YouTube and type in Super Bowl commercial, and sit back and have fun. Maybe then you will agree with me that the CRTC should be illegal, not required by the law.

So in conclusion, I think that if the Canadian Government wants to get Canadian things out to the Canadian public, make Canadian shows. If you aren’t going to make shows like that, then either stop the CRTC or make some shows that have always had funny/meaningful commercials, let them air the funny commercials.

Who Would I Be.......?

This week I’m writing on if I could spend a day in the life of somebody I would probably be somebody who is athletic and contributes to the community, a.k.a. Roger Neilson. He was a great coach, rule-bender and started the idea of watching video tapes of games.

Roger Neilson was born June 16, 1934 in Toronto. He started coaching kids when he was just seventeen years old. His last game that he coached was in April 2002. That means that he coached for fifty-one years. Now although Roger Neilson didn’t win a Stanley Cup, he made it to the finals once and he made it to the Conference Finals three times. Now when Roger first started watching video I think that some people would have thought that he was crazy to do this. But nowadays, every team in the NHL uses video replay and almost every team in major junior hockey uses it. This is why I think Roger Neilson is one of the best coaches ever.

Now Roger Neilson didn’t just live in professional and major junior rinks he spent a lot of time in amateur rinks and even started his own hockey league. This guy didn’t only change the lives of all of the NHLers and kids that he coached. He taught kids and adults how to play hockey at his hockey camps. He used strategy to win hockey games. He shared his knowledge and love of the game by teaching coaching clinics. This is how he gives back to his community and the game of hockey.

So in conclusion, I think that I would want to be like Roger Neilson when I’m older, because he coached hockey, created/started the use of video review and gave back to the hockey community. While Roger Neilson never played professional hockey, he is remembered for his passion and devotion to the game and for his leadership and contributions to sport in general. Being a successful athlete is great but leading successful athletes is what I would like to do. Even though Roger died June of 2003, his sprit lives on in all of his hockey camps and every play that is reviewed.

So, What Does it all Mean?

China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world. Now why do I think they will become number one? Because China is teaching English in school, as a second language? No the reason for this is because of the sheer numbers in China. They estimate that there are 1 338 612 968 people in China today! In the next couple of paragraphs I'm going to talk to you about what this means.

The profound number of people in China could mean good things and bad things. The bad things could include increased rate of crime, more/bigger gangs and deadly fights. This may mean war for the countries surrounding and including China. This could turn out to become a repeat of the Rwandan Genocide. The good things could include more companies, more jobs and more produces. This would help the world get out of the global depression that we are in.

Even though Mandarin and Spanish are the most spoken languages in the World, English is still the most globally spread language. The Chinese are preparing their children to be able to speak the 'World' language (English) and one of the most common languages (Mandarin). China is also doing this because when you read English, you go left to right, when you read Mandarin, you go right to left, so it may be hard to learn something, backwards. This is why I think that China wants to learn English, now with their kids rather than later while being adults.

There was another quote I read that said, 'If you are one in a million in China, they are 1 300 people just like you.' So if one person knows English per million, in China, that means that there are 1 300 people that know English, and there are more than one person per million who already speak English. So in conclusion, I think that this means that China is just this huge that, in a few years there could be millions of rankings that are first in China, population wise.