In light of lack of popular demand, this blog is breathing its last.
If a blog is not read, is it really a blog?
If a blog fails to elicit comment, is it really read?
If it is read and still fails to elicit comment, should it be written at all?
If a blog is like a personal editorial, and anyone can be an editor, what are we left to edit?
Let's go make some content.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
A New Poll
An open question for those still reading:
What is the difference between a blog and a personal website?
Is it a matter of scale, or substance?
Please answer - creativity will be rewarded.
What is the difference between a blog and a personal website?
Is it a matter of scale, or substance?
Please answer - creativity will be rewarded.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Our Pennant Winners
The World Series is about to begin.
I don't go in for pomp and ceremony, so I haven't watched the pregame or the anthem or the announcing of the lineups.
Not very interesting. Leave the show for the Super Bowl. The World Series is about the game.
In the next 4-7 games, some players will create reputations. Some will lose them. Some will reinforce them.
It'll be exciting.
Another thing that's exciting is planning a wedding. But that's also pretty stressful. I have a lot more riding on this than on the World Series. I can simply watch the World Series and enjoy the process. I won't get to enjoy the wedding for another 11 months or so.
I'll keep you posted.
I don't go in for pomp and ceremony, so I haven't watched the pregame or the anthem or the announcing of the lineups.
Not very interesting. Leave the show for the Super Bowl. The World Series is about the game.
In the next 4-7 games, some players will create reputations. Some will lose them. Some will reinforce them.
It'll be exciting.
Another thing that's exciting is planning a wedding. But that's also pretty stressful. I have a lot more riding on this than on the World Series. I can simply watch the World Series and enjoy the process. I won't get to enjoy the wedding for another 11 months or so.
I'll keep you posted.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Out with a Whimper....or Less
In the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, the Atlanta Thrashers had the right of deciding who goes first. Passed up by the Atlanta braintrust were future regulars including, the Sedin twins (taken 2nd and 3rd by the Canucks), Martin Havlat (26, Ottawa) , Mike Comrie, David Tanabe, Barret Jackman, Henrik Zetterberg, Ryan Miller, and a host of guys who produced a limited impact in the game or no impact at all.
Probably not the best year in which to own the number 1 pick. But at the time, I'm sure the Thrashers headmen were thrilled to bits to call out the name of Patrick Stefan.
Today, Patrick is 27 years old. To his NHL credit, are 455 games, 64 goals and 124 assists. 188 points. That works out to about 34 points a year, in an 82 game season (something he managed once). Not bad from a 4th line forward. Not so hot for a former Number1 who should have been in his prime. Unless he changes his mind (and even if he does, there would be no guarantees), that will be as much as he does as a professional hockey player. On Sunday, October 7, Patrick Stefan announced his retirement.
Few noticed.
Probably not the best year in which to own the number 1 pick. But at the time, I'm sure the Thrashers headmen were thrilled to bits to call out the name of Patrick Stefan.
Today, Patrick is 27 years old. To his NHL credit, are 455 games, 64 goals and 124 assists. 188 points. That works out to about 34 points a year, in an 82 game season (something he managed once). Not bad from a 4th line forward. Not so hot for a former Number1 who should have been in his prime. Unless he changes his mind (and even if he does, there would be no guarantees), that will be as much as he does as a professional hockey player. On Sunday, October 7, Patrick Stefan announced his retirement.
Few noticed.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Election Day Aphorism
Last week I was walking with an old friend who has been going through a difficult phase in life.
Among other things, we discussed politics and how this friend, who was once very active politically, is no longer so.
I asked why, trying to find a possible connection between previous involvement and a general state of well being, and non-involvement and depression. In response, my friend said that a epiphany came connecting a disconnect with internal needs and too much connection with local needs. With that realization, my friend left the political spectrum and began to focus those energies into internal healing.
And today is provincial election day. In spite of the general tone of this post, I will vote. More so for the referendum than for any actual candidate. I am registered in a riding with a very strong incumbent who has not experienced any recent scandals of magnitude that would lessen his current grip on the area.
There are only two sources of political thought that have any true import: internal and global. All other measurements of locality: municipal, provincial/regional/state, federal are only stepping stones on our own paths to making things right.
Nietzsche once said something to the effect that the infinitely small is just as hard to grasp as the infinitely large. Maybe that's why we tend to ignore the real importance of our true political feelings and spend so much time on the more graspable regional stuff.
Then again, I am a a middle child, striving to contain myself.
Among other things, we discussed politics and how this friend, who was once very active politically, is no longer so.
I asked why, trying to find a possible connection between previous involvement and a general state of well being, and non-involvement and depression. In response, my friend said that a epiphany came connecting a disconnect with internal needs and too much connection with local needs. With that realization, my friend left the political spectrum and began to focus those energies into internal healing.
And today is provincial election day. In spite of the general tone of this post, I will vote. More so for the referendum than for any actual candidate. I am registered in a riding with a very strong incumbent who has not experienced any recent scandals of magnitude that would lessen his current grip on the area.
There are only two sources of political thought that have any true import: internal and global. All other measurements of locality: municipal, provincial/regional/state, federal are only stepping stones on our own paths to making things right.
Nietzsche once said something to the effect that the infinitely small is just as hard to grasp as the infinitely large. Maybe that's why we tend to ignore the real importance of our true political feelings and spend so much time on the more graspable regional stuff.
Then again, I am a a middle child, striving to contain myself.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Blue Jays Regular Season Review
The Jays finish another decidedly mediocre plus season and the word in the press has it that changes will not be taking place. A little shuffling of the coaching staff, and that's that.
Mind you, the coaching staff needed some work on it. Especially from the position of hitting coach. He may have helped Aaron Hill maximize his potential, and I certainly hope that Aaron does not forget the lessons that he has learned.
It just seemed to me that most of the other players, from the injured Vernon Wells, to the injured Troy Glaus (well, they were all injured at one point or another, weren't they?). Far too often, a Blue Jays batter would swing on top of a pitch, missing it completely. I know I only returned to Canada towards the end of June and I can't comment on the season's first three months, but outside of Hill and , at times, Matt Stairs, I never saw an actual "approach" taken by any of our men at the plate.
The coaching shuffle will not be enough to save this team. As I understand it, both Gibbons and Ricciardi are in their last year. It's time to bite that bullet and begin afresh.
Gibbons, among other faults, cannot construct a working lineup. We all know that Wells was playing hurt the entire season and that affected his hitting. His power was markedly sapped. Yet his ability to get on base without swinging has never been great - why bat him leadoff? What actual benefit did the Jays glean from having Vernon swing at the first pitch and ground it weakly to 2nd? OK, without power, he had minimal benefit to the middle of the order. But without discipline, he has NO benefit to the top. If he needed to play, he should have been batting around 6th or 7th.
I won't delve more into the minutiae of what went wrong, but I will make some suggestions about what they can start to do right.
Get rid of Glaus, Johnson, Thomas. They bring a marginal package to the table and might be able to bring back more useful pieces if dealt astutely. The Jays could use Lind over Johnson, and Stairs in place of Thomas (Stairs should never wear a glove again, though).
Don't touch the pitching. Don't let Chacin back in unless Litsch bombs.
Work on baserunning. Offensively and defensively. The statistically minded community (to which I have a loose affiliation) preaches the harm a stolen base gives when successful under 75% of the time. I think that is true, but misses a prime element to thievery. When a team is either totally unwilling to run outside tactically necessary situations, the opposing team can safely ignore the threat and focus more on other aspects of fielding, improving their glove game. Stealing bases is a risk with a low payoff, but it is unfortunately a tactical risk to not run either. Aaron Hill, for example, stole home against Andy Pettitte. Yet he only attempted 7 thefts all year. Why not more? Rios was good 17 times out of 21. He should have ran double. Wells' injury was to the shoulder. So why did he only attempt to steal 14 bases?
Conversely, we need to be able to defend against the steal. The Jays only threw out 24 would be thieves in 2007 (least in the AL), while allowing 134 (only 2 behind the league leading Yankees, who also threw out 20 more). That stat alone probably can be said to have cost the Jays a few wins.
If we can't run, they don't need to worry about it and can hold their defensive ground more often. If we can't stop the run, they will take bases at will. Part of the defensive problem lay with Gregg Zaun and his string arm. He is a very good catcher in that he is marvelous at blocking the plate and does a creditable job at handling the young pitching staff. A bit more of Curtis Thigpen next year will probably help out a bit. Pitching coach Brad Arnsberg (who kept his job, last I checked) needs to pound it into the heads of McGowen and Burnett (among others, but especially them) that they need to work on holding the runner a bit better. Their slow deliveries are giving extra steps on the bases to the opponents.
It's hard to talk/write about the Blue Jays without mentioning the two elephants in the division. I say that the Blue Jays, managed properly, can also be a team of elephants. We can do better. We need to do better.
Mind you, the coaching staff needed some work on it. Especially from the position of hitting coach. He may have helped Aaron Hill maximize his potential, and I certainly hope that Aaron does not forget the lessons that he has learned.
It just seemed to me that most of the other players, from the injured Vernon Wells, to the injured Troy Glaus (well, they were all injured at one point or another, weren't they?). Far too often, a Blue Jays batter would swing on top of a pitch, missing it completely. I know I only returned to Canada towards the end of June and I can't comment on the season's first three months, but outside of Hill and , at times, Matt Stairs, I never saw an actual "approach" taken by any of our men at the plate.
The coaching shuffle will not be enough to save this team. As I understand it, both Gibbons and Ricciardi are in their last year. It's time to bite that bullet and begin afresh.
Gibbons, among other faults, cannot construct a working lineup. We all know that Wells was playing hurt the entire season and that affected his hitting. His power was markedly sapped. Yet his ability to get on base without swinging has never been great - why bat him leadoff? What actual benefit did the Jays glean from having Vernon swing at the first pitch and ground it weakly to 2nd? OK, without power, he had minimal benefit to the middle of the order. But without discipline, he has NO benefit to the top. If he needed to play, he should have been batting around 6th or 7th.
I won't delve more into the minutiae of what went wrong, but I will make some suggestions about what they can start to do right.
Get rid of Glaus, Johnson, Thomas. They bring a marginal package to the table and might be able to bring back more useful pieces if dealt astutely. The Jays could use Lind over Johnson, and Stairs in place of Thomas (Stairs should never wear a glove again, though).
Don't touch the pitching. Don't let Chacin back in unless Litsch bombs.
Work on baserunning. Offensively and defensively. The statistically minded community (to which I have a loose affiliation) preaches the harm a stolen base gives when successful under 75% of the time. I think that is true, but misses a prime element to thievery. When a team is either totally unwilling to run outside tactically necessary situations, the opposing team can safely ignore the threat and focus more on other aspects of fielding, improving their glove game. Stealing bases is a risk with a low payoff, but it is unfortunately a tactical risk to not run either. Aaron Hill, for example, stole home against Andy Pettitte. Yet he only attempted 7 thefts all year. Why not more? Rios was good 17 times out of 21. He should have ran double. Wells' injury was to the shoulder. So why did he only attempt to steal 14 bases?
Conversely, we need to be able to defend against the steal. The Jays only threw out 24 would be thieves in 2007 (least in the AL), while allowing 134 (only 2 behind the league leading Yankees, who also threw out 20 more). That stat alone probably can be said to have cost the Jays a few wins.
If we can't run, they don't need to worry about it and can hold their defensive ground more often. If we can't stop the run, they will take bases at will. Part of the defensive problem lay with Gregg Zaun and his string arm. He is a very good catcher in that he is marvelous at blocking the plate and does a creditable job at handling the young pitching staff. A bit more of Curtis Thigpen next year will probably help out a bit. Pitching coach Brad Arnsberg (who kept his job, last I checked) needs to pound it into the heads of McGowen and Burnett (among others, but especially them) that they need to work on holding the runner a bit better. Their slow deliveries are giving extra steps on the bases to the opponents.
It's hard to talk/write about the Blue Jays without mentioning the two elephants in the division. I say that the Blue Jays, managed properly, can also be a team of elephants. We can do better. We need to do better.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Close the Door Behind You
So here we are. Today is moving day.
Last night, my father helped me to move a couch (of the fold-out, really heavy variety) from a cousin's garage into the apartment. He's a real trooper. Lots of heavy lifting and the closest he came to complaining was saying, "sometimes it's better to just pay someone 50 bucks to do it for you." I didn't think there was much point in mentioning that it would probably cost more like $200. I just assured him that this was the heaviest piece and that tomorrow (today) my younger brother promised to help and that everything would be lighter.
As for tonight, the bed remains the same, but the roof changes. The walls will be different. The view, until now from below, will be from above. Far, far above. Looking down on Mount Pleasant from the 20th floor.
There are, of course, other things of note; Tonight we go and pay our respects to Jeremiah, as he prepares to embark on the longest journey of his life - spending two years with his Colombian bride in Bogota. If we still have any energy afterwards, we may even check out Nuit Blanche.
A few sports notes to finalize this blog: The baseball season is almost over and it's second season is nearly upon us. The AL is set, beyond seeing who plays who. The National league, on the other hand, only just found out who the first two entrants would be last night, with the Cubs and then the Diamondbacks clinching their places. As for the other two slots, I would personally prefer to see the Phillies and the Rockies make it, but Phillies and Padres would be fine as well.
Cubs over the Indians in the World Series? That would be fun, eh?
Finally, the NHL regular season starts tonight with the European schedule. With one door closing, another one should be opening.
Have a great weekend,
Ryan
Last night, my father helped me to move a couch (of the fold-out, really heavy variety) from a cousin's garage into the apartment. He's a real trooper. Lots of heavy lifting and the closest he came to complaining was saying, "sometimes it's better to just pay someone 50 bucks to do it for you." I didn't think there was much point in mentioning that it would probably cost more like $200. I just assured him that this was the heaviest piece and that tomorrow (today) my younger brother promised to help and that everything would be lighter.
As for tonight, the bed remains the same, but the roof changes. The walls will be different. The view, until now from below, will be from above. Far, far above. Looking down on Mount Pleasant from the 20th floor.
There are, of course, other things of note; Tonight we go and pay our respects to Jeremiah, as he prepares to embark on the longest journey of his life - spending two years with his Colombian bride in Bogota. If we still have any energy afterwards, we may even check out Nuit Blanche.
A few sports notes to finalize this blog: The baseball season is almost over and it's second season is nearly upon us. The AL is set, beyond seeing who plays who. The National league, on the other hand, only just found out who the first two entrants would be last night, with the Cubs and then the Diamondbacks clinching their places. As for the other two slots, I would personally prefer to see the Phillies and the Rockies make it, but Phillies and Padres would be fine as well.
Cubs over the Indians in the World Series? That would be fun, eh?
Finally, the NHL regular season starts tonight with the European schedule. With one door closing, another one should be opening.
Have a great weekend,
Ryan
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Turning of the Screw
Are my energies flagging? Last week was a short post, and this week promises a repeat performance.
It could be that three months under my parents' roof has drained my creative juice. It could be that the desire to excel at my new job has diverted my other driving forces. I think both share in the truth.
I am starting to feel more comfortable in the office. It is definitely a different setup from what I was used to in Israel, but I will succeed in what I was hired to do. I will.
Maya and I got the apartment. We move next weekend. We still have to go in and sign the lease, but that is a matter of formality more than anything else.
We have secured a good portion of our future furniture, only lacking a kitchen set (table, 4 chairs) and some plates, bowls...
We do need to buy electronics, however. We're looking into getting a new PC. Although the cost is a little bit more prohibitive, we have been seriously considering joining the I-revolution and buying a Mac. If anybody out there reading this has any first hand knowledge and can provide me with a valid comparison, please do so. Soon.
In other news, hockey pooling is under way again. The baseball (regular) is winding down and the first true face-off is almost here. I had my Yahoo draft today - my star attraction is Joe Thornton - and I have promised to join my good friend, Rafi, in a pool of his own design and to help out at the draft of another. My mind is already gearing towards rethinking hockey value forming statistics.
I guess that's all for now.
I am still,
Ryan
It could be that three months under my parents' roof has drained my creative juice. It could be that the desire to excel at my new job has diverted my other driving forces. I think both share in the truth.
I am starting to feel more comfortable in the office. It is definitely a different setup from what I was used to in Israel, but I will succeed in what I was hired to do. I will.
Maya and I got the apartment. We move next weekend. We still have to go in and sign the lease, but that is a matter of formality more than anything else.
We have secured a good portion of our future furniture, only lacking a kitchen set (table, 4 chairs) and some plates, bowls...
We do need to buy electronics, however. We're looking into getting a new PC. Although the cost is a little bit more prohibitive, we have been seriously considering joining the I-revolution and buying a Mac. If anybody out there reading this has any first hand knowledge and can provide me with a valid comparison, please do so. Soon.
In other news, hockey pooling is under way again. The baseball (regular) is winding down and the first true face-off is almost here. I had my Yahoo draft today - my star attraction is Joe Thornton - and I have promised to join my good friend, Rafi, in a pool of his own design and to help out at the draft of another. My mind is already gearing towards rethinking hockey value forming statistics.
I guess that's all for now.
I am still,
Ryan
Sunday, September 16, 2007
A Few Days Off
Not much to report for now, really. As Rosh Hashana just passed, I had two days off from work. In most circumstances, that would be a good thing. But for now, when I am really trying to get myself adjusted to my new workplace, the timing is bad. I think (I hope) I had a breakthrough on Wednesday, but I won't find out 'til tomorrow.
The baseball season is winding down and the hockey season is getting ready to start. I really would love to find a challenging group of fantasy players to do a pool with. I really miss that stuff. And I would love to put my working theories to the test.
Before I sign off, I should say that Maya and I will find out if we have the apartment by Wednesday. Wish us luck.
I remain,
Ryan
The baseball season is winding down and the hockey season is getting ready to start. I really would love to find a challenging group of fantasy players to do a pool with. I really miss that stuff. And I would love to put my working theories to the test.
Before I sign off, I should say that Maya and I will find out if we have the apartment by Wednesday. Wish us luck.
I remain,
Ryan
Sunday, September 9, 2007
A New Schedule
My re-acclimation continues in full swing.
Some of you may have wondered as to the cause of my recent absence.
Is no news always good news? No, but in this case, it mostly was.
My job search has reached fruition and I have been working as a Proposal Development Manager for four days now. Tomorrow marks day five. It is with an IT company (they'll remain nameless for the purposes of this blog) and the office is located in the heart of Toronto's financial district.
Very exciting stuff.
Just about two weeks ago, I responded to an ad on Craigslist for the position and within 2 hours, the Senior Project manager of the company called me. We spoke for half an hour or so and arranged to meet formally on the upcoming Monday for an interview. The interview went well, both the oral aspect and the written test. On Wednesday, he called me back to offer me the position and last Tuesday I began.
Which all leads to help explain my new blogging schedule. As work will keep me a lot more busy than my previous commitments in keeping track of baseball statistical analysis could, I will not be able to blog as frequently as I sometimes did. I will make strenuous efforts to write at least once a week from here on out.
This week brings us to the Jewish New Year. To those of you who are so inclined, I wish you a very happy and healthy Shana Tova!
This is a great time to look back on the last 12 months. I experienced great joys (my marriage - however legal, returning home to Toronto, a new job, good memories), some deep sorrows (the loss of my grandmother a few weeks ago, and the recent news of the much-too-young passing of my mother's cousin Robynne Neugebauer, as well as the bitter-sweetness of leaving my other home, Tel Aviv) and now look forward to continuing the challenges that await me in the upcoming year (full adjustment to our new life- we're already searching for our own apartment, planning a more festive and traditional wedding celebration, who knows what else.)
To those of you who have grown accustomed to seeing me on MSN or on Yahoo frequently, I must apologize as I no longer frequent those netwaves. I'll log in once in a while from home, but I stay away during regular work hours. I'll try to stay in touch through this channel, and I'm sure you can manage to find a way to reciprocate.
Until then, I remain yours,
Ryan
Some of you may have wondered as to the cause of my recent absence.
Is no news always good news? No, but in this case, it mostly was.
My job search has reached fruition and I have been working as a Proposal Development Manager for four days now. Tomorrow marks day five. It is with an IT company (they'll remain nameless for the purposes of this blog) and the office is located in the heart of Toronto's financial district.
Very exciting stuff.
Just about two weeks ago, I responded to an ad on Craigslist for the position and within 2 hours, the Senior Project manager of the company called me. We spoke for half an hour or so and arranged to meet formally on the upcoming Monday for an interview. The interview went well, both the oral aspect and the written test. On Wednesday, he called me back to offer me the position and last Tuesday I began.
Which all leads to help explain my new blogging schedule. As work will keep me a lot more busy than my previous commitments in keeping track of baseball statistical analysis could, I will not be able to blog as frequently as I sometimes did. I will make strenuous efforts to write at least once a week from here on out.
This week brings us to the Jewish New Year. To those of you who are so inclined, I wish you a very happy and healthy Shana Tova!
This is a great time to look back on the last 12 months. I experienced great joys (my marriage - however legal, returning home to Toronto, a new job, good memories), some deep sorrows (the loss of my grandmother a few weeks ago, and the recent news of the much-too-young passing of my mother's cousin Robynne Neugebauer, as well as the bitter-sweetness of leaving my other home, Tel Aviv) and now look forward to continuing the challenges that await me in the upcoming year (full adjustment to our new life- we're already searching for our own apartment, planning a more festive and traditional wedding celebration, who knows what else.)
To those of you who have grown accustomed to seeing me on MSN or on Yahoo frequently, I must apologize as I no longer frequent those netwaves. I'll log in once in a while from home, but I stay away during regular work hours. I'll try to stay in touch through this channel, and I'm sure you can manage to find a way to reciprocate.
Until then, I remain yours,
Ryan
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Sabermetrics and Hockey
It seems that I will have some very exciting news to share soon, but for now, I will keep you in suspense.
Today, I wish to bore you by writing about sabermetrics and how they could be applied to the great northern game of hockey. What do you mean that only 20% of the best teams actually play in Canada? What percentage of all NHL players in history were born in the Southern hemisphere? What percentage received their hockey training down there? It's a Northern game.
Sabermetrics, is the term coined by any advances to the statistical research in baseball, as made by the group named SABR (The Society for American Baseball Research.) As stated in their home page, "Our mission is to foster the study of baseball past and present, and to provide an outlet for educational, historical and research information about the game."
While one may not always agree with the results, I feel that the process is even more important and should be watched by other avenues to further their understandings of their own industries. There should always be room to question the perceived norms of any industry and to try to understand more about what you do and why you are doing it.
Sticking with the baseball beginnings of this segment, last summer I was planning with a very close friend to attend a baseball game. A few days before the game, I was visiting him and his wife and he mentioned how excited he was to be going to the game with me, as I understand baseball better than most and he could learn more about the game by my side. I was touched, but decided to qualify his own knowledge before setting out. Basically, I told him that baseball knowledge can be given three distinct levels of understanding. The first, most basic level of understanding would be the casual spectator who knows what an RBI is and how that measurement is counted. The second level of understanding, and probably the median for most fans of the game, is in knowing who is leading the league in RBIs at any given moment. The third, higher level of baseball understanding comes with the knowledge that the RBI is essentially a meaningless statistic.
With that in mind, let's move on to hockey. Over the last few years, living in Israel, I have been almost completely isolated from the game I grew up with. Short of knowing which teams won the Stanley Cups, I was clueless.
I have always felt that hockey statistics had done a poor job of measuring what was happening in the game and were not able to tell the story as neatly as a baseball box score did. Of course, as most of my baseball research has occurred in the time I was away from hockey, my thoughts were never crystallized. The only measurement I could pinpoint that was wrong and had a method for correcting was team efficiency with the power play (it works on the defensive side as well.)
Generally speaking, under the scoring and penalty minute keeping of a hockey game, would be the power play efficiency ratio. In the form of a fraction. The team may have gone 1/5 on the power play. This means that they were a man (or more) up five times (for an unspecified period of time) and they scored a goal in one of those occasions. What does that tell me? Next to nothing. Lets say that in a given game, two teams (for our purposes, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens) both were 1/5 on the power play. Does that mean that they were even with the advantage? Not nearly.
The majority of penalties are for a duration of 2 minutes of game time. Some penalties are of the 5 minute variety, but in most cases, they are given out for fighting and to one member of each team, thereby negating any potential advantage. So if each team was 1/5 on the power play, that would mean that they each scored one goal in the space of up to ten minutes. Knowing that the penalized player can return to the ice when a goal is scored, the power play is shorter when the advantaged team succeeds. Therefore, a successful power play is a shorter power play.
Sometimes, such as when the team with the advantage loses one of their own players to penalty, the power play is negated. This shorter power play is not successful, but it still counts. Why not simply count a team's power play efficiency by how many goals they sored for the amount of time they had the advantage, instead of how many times (regardless of how long each time was)? I believe that this would give us a much better idea of which teams were better on the power play and which teams killed penalties better - and by how much.
To this end, in the upcoming season, I will track a number of teams, game by game for power play and penalty killing efficiency to see how they stack up to the standard measurements. I'll keep you posted.
Until then,
I remain,
Ryan
Today, I wish to bore you by writing about sabermetrics and how they could be applied to the great northern game of hockey. What do you mean that only 20% of the best teams actually play in Canada? What percentage of all NHL players in history were born in the Southern hemisphere? What percentage received their hockey training down there? It's a Northern game.
Sabermetrics, is the term coined by any advances to the statistical research in baseball, as made by the group named SABR (The Society for American Baseball Research.) As stated in their home page, "Our mission is to foster the study of baseball past and present, and to provide an outlet for educational, historical and research information about the game."
While one may not always agree with the results, I feel that the process is even more important and should be watched by other avenues to further their understandings of their own industries. There should always be room to question the perceived norms of any industry and to try to understand more about what you do and why you are doing it.
Sticking with the baseball beginnings of this segment, last summer I was planning with a very close friend to attend a baseball game. A few days before the game, I was visiting him and his wife and he mentioned how excited he was to be going to the game with me, as I understand baseball better than most and he could learn more about the game by my side. I was touched, but decided to qualify his own knowledge before setting out. Basically, I told him that baseball knowledge can be given three distinct levels of understanding. The first, most basic level of understanding would be the casual spectator who knows what an RBI is and how that measurement is counted. The second level of understanding, and probably the median for most fans of the game, is in knowing who is leading the league in RBIs at any given moment. The third, higher level of baseball understanding comes with the knowledge that the RBI is essentially a meaningless statistic.
With that in mind, let's move on to hockey. Over the last few years, living in Israel, I have been almost completely isolated from the game I grew up with. Short of knowing which teams won the Stanley Cups, I was clueless.
I have always felt that hockey statistics had done a poor job of measuring what was happening in the game and were not able to tell the story as neatly as a baseball box score did. Of course, as most of my baseball research has occurred in the time I was away from hockey, my thoughts were never crystallized. The only measurement I could pinpoint that was wrong and had a method for correcting was team efficiency with the power play (it works on the defensive side as well.)
Generally speaking, under the scoring and penalty minute keeping of a hockey game, would be the power play efficiency ratio. In the form of a fraction. The team may have gone 1/5 on the power play. This means that they were a man (or more) up five times (for an unspecified period of time) and they scored a goal in one of those occasions. What does that tell me? Next to nothing. Lets say that in a given game, two teams (for our purposes, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens) both were 1/5 on the power play. Does that mean that they were even with the advantage? Not nearly.
The majority of penalties are for a duration of 2 minutes of game time. Some penalties are of the 5 minute variety, but in most cases, they are given out for fighting and to one member of each team, thereby negating any potential advantage. So if each team was 1/5 on the power play, that would mean that they each scored one goal in the space of up to ten minutes. Knowing that the penalized player can return to the ice when a goal is scored, the power play is shorter when the advantaged team succeeds. Therefore, a successful power play is a shorter power play.
Sometimes, such as when the team with the advantage loses one of their own players to penalty, the power play is negated. This shorter power play is not successful, but it still counts. Why not simply count a team's power play efficiency by how many goals they sored for the amount of time they had the advantage, instead of how many times (regardless of how long each time was)? I believe that this would give us a much better idea of which teams were better on the power play and which teams killed penalties better - and by how much.
To this end, in the upcoming season, I will track a number of teams, game by game for power play and penalty killing efficiency to see how they stack up to the standard measurements. I'll keep you posted.
Until then,
I remain,
Ryan
Monday, August 20, 2007
Shiva, AKA: Mi Ohev Otakh Yoter MiMeni
Shiva is a word derived from the Hebrew words Sheva (meaning seven) and LaShevet (the infinitive of the verb to sit.
It is the word given to the period that the immediate family of the deceased must spend in mourning.
Some aspects of the formal mourning include wearing a torn garment, symbolizing the rending of lives; Sitting in an uncomfortable seat, so as not to forget the connection between physical and spiritual pain; Hearty eating amongst family and friends as life must indeed go on.
The door of the home should remain open for the constant stream of well-wishers, there to help the mourner(s) accept the event.
The mourning period lasts for seven days following the funeral.
I won't go into the details regarding traditional prayers, as I understand those even less than I do the other symbols of mourning. By nature, I am not an overly spiritual person. At least, not in the religious sense.
Shiva is being held in my parents' home this week, following the passing of Rachel Gruber, nee Neugebauer, nee Yucha, who passed away last Saturday (August 18, 2007) in Israel, succumbing to a lengthy battle with breast cancer.
Even as she struggled over the years, everyone remembers my grandmother as a woman with an extremely sharp intellect and sense of humour.
Over the last few months, as her energy was dulling rapidly, I mourned.
I remember this past Spring, riding in the back seat of my Aunt's car in Israel, with my grandmother in front, singing along to a new song that caught her fancy.
She especially liked the chorus, that she belted each time it came up. She sang "Mi Ohev Otakh Yoter MiMeni." Who loves you more than I do?
I think most everyone who knew her could have sung that song for her.
She was interred yesterday in the communal cemetery of Kibbutz Shfayim hard by the Mediterranean coast, around 30 minutes drive north of Tel Aviv. She was buried next to her brother, who lost his life over 70 years ago while patrolling the Kibbutz on the lookout for potential trespassers.
"Mi Ohev Otakh Yoter Mimenu?" Who loves you more than we do?
We miss you.
It is the word given to the period that the immediate family of the deceased must spend in mourning.
Some aspects of the formal mourning include wearing a torn garment, symbolizing the rending of lives; Sitting in an uncomfortable seat, so as not to forget the connection between physical and spiritual pain; Hearty eating amongst family and friends as life must indeed go on.
The door of the home should remain open for the constant stream of well-wishers, there to help the mourner(s) accept the event.
The mourning period lasts for seven days following the funeral.
I won't go into the details regarding traditional prayers, as I understand those even less than I do the other symbols of mourning. By nature, I am not an overly spiritual person. At least, not in the religious sense.
Shiva is being held in my parents' home this week, following the passing of Rachel Gruber, nee Neugebauer, nee Yucha, who passed away last Saturday (August 18, 2007) in Israel, succumbing to a lengthy battle with breast cancer.
Even as she struggled over the years, everyone remembers my grandmother as a woman with an extremely sharp intellect and sense of humour.
Over the last few months, as her energy was dulling rapidly, I mourned.
I remember this past Spring, riding in the back seat of my Aunt's car in Israel, with my grandmother in front, singing along to a new song that caught her fancy.
She especially liked the chorus, that she belted each time it came up. She sang "Mi Ohev Otakh Yoter MiMeni." Who loves you more than I do?
I think most everyone who knew her could have sung that song for her.
She was interred yesterday in the communal cemetery of Kibbutz Shfayim hard by the Mediterranean coast, around 30 minutes drive north of Tel Aviv. She was buried next to her brother, who lost his life over 70 years ago while patrolling the Kibbutz on the lookout for potential trespassers.
"Mi Ohev Otakh Yoter Mimenu?" Who loves you more than we do?
We miss you.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
A Quick Question
Late yesterday afternoon, I was walking with Maya in a trail very close
to my parents' house. Very green. Providing a hint at what Toronto
might have looked like 600 years ago.
The trail was remarkably clean once we got more than 100 yards from the road. However, within those 100 yards as an embarrassing abundance of trash. And like most trash, this trash was branded. Brands such as "Tim Horton's" and "McDonald's".
So my question is: What percentage of the world's garbage has been produced by McDonald's?
Follow-up discussion item: Maybe it is time the big brand chains stopped putting
their brand everywhere, if a quick scan of our trash heaps shows more
than a passing resemblance to our shopping malls.
to my parents' house. Very green. Providing a hint at what Toronto
might have looked like 600 years ago.
The trail was remarkably clean once we got more than 100 yards from the road. However, within those 100 yards as an embarrassing abundance of trash. And like most trash, this trash was branded. Brands such as "Tim Horton's" and "McDonald's".
So my question is: What percentage of the world's garbage has been produced by McDonald's?
Follow-up discussion item: Maybe it is time the big brand chains stopped putting
their brand everywhere, if a quick scan of our trash heaps shows more
than a passing resemblance to our shopping malls.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Baseball Blog
My recent absence from the blogging sphere has a number of reasons, some of which include baseball.
Those who know me know that I hold the game of baseball to be very dear to me and that, if asked, I will always be able to come up with something of interest and insight into the game and its history.
Many of you, even non-baseball fans, will be aware of the recent historical moment in the game; Barry Bonds breaking the all time home run record. He actually made the front page (a 3/4 page photo) of the Toronto Sun. This was big news.
There are many who are concerned about the implications of such a sacred record being held by a man enshrouded in the clouds of PED suspicion. They say the record is tainted. And if this most hallowed of records is tainted, well, then the whole game, the whole institution of baseball is threatened.
Bullshit.
Barry Bonds is on the front page of a Canadian newspaper. He was not playing a Canadian team (I know the Nationals used to play in Montreal, but that doesn't count), his accomplishment had no local flavour. I suppose he may have hit one or two of his now 757 against a Blue Jay pitcher, but not recently. Was it a slow news day? Possibly. Does this make great copy? Possibly. Is the question boring, dated and inconclusive? Probably. Most definitely. Whatever entered the body of Barry Bonds or other baseball players, professional athletes or private individuals, he did what no one else could do before him. He hit more home runs in his Major League Baseball career than anyone. Ever. For now.
There are those who profess to already waiting eagerly for Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols or someone else to break this record in 7, 8, 15 years. I think there is a good chance that will happen.
There are those who claim that Babe Ruth's old record of 714 was tainted for his not having had to compete against black baseball players. As if that was his fault. As if any MLB player before 1948 had to. Still, with that helpful push, no one neared his record until Hank Aaron climbed that mountain in the 70s.
Today, many people praise Aaron (and justifiably so) for managing not only to hit 755 home runs in is marvellous career, but also for his having done so under the ever present threat of the racist fans who could not bear the thought of a black man topping the immortal, the white, Babe Ruth. In continuing to provide round souvenirs for bleacher occupants, Aaron showed remarkable mental fortitude as well as baseball skill.
He may no longer hold the record, but his place cannot be forgotten. Which brings me back to the man of the hour, Barry Bonds. If it isn't ARod, or Pujols, someone will surpass his final tally. Most likely in his lifetime. Those doubters and fear mongers will celebrate the day. I hope that the day will come at least five years after Bonds has already taken his last angry hack at a hanging slider. When his bronzed bust will be on display in Cooperstown, upstate New York. When we can remember what he accomplished with the benefits of hindsight.
I think the less venomous writers out there, remembering how much good copy Bonds provided them, will be able to mark the passing of his total with kind words for the man, who required an enormous amount of internal fortitude to continue hitting home runs in the face of such relentless, tormenting criticism. Through continuous questioning of the validity of his achievements, he continued to achieve.
Mr. Bonds: Congratulations on a job well done.
Back to local matters. Staying with baseball. Several hours before the Bonds blast, I was in attendance at the Toronto brand of baseball played at the sugar container formerly known as the SkyDome. The Jays were beaten soundly by the Yankees, 9-2. There are so many bad things I could say about Toronto Blue Jays baseball right now.
The natural starting point would be the middling level of performance. But I don't care to go in that direction. I prefer to write about the atmosphere.
The SkyDome was built so that the local nine could play even on cold and rainy days. The roof would close and the game could go on. If you have never been to a game with the roof closed, I don;t recommend that you start. If the day is wet, sell your tickets. Or just stay home. Sitting inside, the the top up is unbearable. The only A/C vents are located in the hallways outside of the seating area. In the seats, it is hot, stuffy, and rather smelly. Very hard to concentrate on anything, much less the intricacies of the game.
If that wasn't enough, the brandedness of the dome is staggering. Every square meter of the dome is advertising something. Every announcement was brought to you by.... Every aspect of the game had a prefix that you could find on the TSE. That game was supposed to be about ALS awareness. It turns out that ALS lead us in the 7th inning stretch. I don't know that anyone was actually aware of it, though.
ALS has no logo. What can we do to downplay the corporate hounding of the beautiful game of baseball? My wife claims that this is not the way it is in Wrigley. (A little ironic, no - the connotations of the name itself).
How about one game a year without corporate propaganda? Just one game played with an old-fashioned feel. No announcements that are unrelated to the game itself. No flashing ads. The open sky above you. Oxygen. Hotdog and beer. Baseball.
Until that happens, I will remain,
Ryan
Those who know me know that I hold the game of baseball to be very dear to me and that, if asked, I will always be able to come up with something of interest and insight into the game and its history.
Many of you, even non-baseball fans, will be aware of the recent historical moment in the game; Barry Bonds breaking the all time home run record. He actually made the front page (a 3/4 page photo) of the Toronto Sun. This was big news.
There are many who are concerned about the implications of such a sacred record being held by a man enshrouded in the clouds of PED suspicion. They say the record is tainted. And if this most hallowed of records is tainted, well, then the whole game, the whole institution of baseball is threatened.
Bullshit.
Barry Bonds is on the front page of a Canadian newspaper. He was not playing a Canadian team (I know the Nationals used to play in Montreal, but that doesn't count), his accomplishment had no local flavour. I suppose he may have hit one or two of his now 757 against a Blue Jay pitcher, but not recently. Was it a slow news day? Possibly. Does this make great copy? Possibly. Is the question boring, dated and inconclusive? Probably. Most definitely. Whatever entered the body of Barry Bonds or other baseball players, professional athletes or private individuals, he did what no one else could do before him. He hit more home runs in his Major League Baseball career than anyone. Ever. For now.
There are those who profess to already waiting eagerly for Alex Rodriguez or Albert Pujols or someone else to break this record in 7, 8, 15 years. I think there is a good chance that will happen.
There are those who claim that Babe Ruth's old record of 714 was tainted for his not having had to compete against black baseball players. As if that was his fault. As if any MLB player before 1948 had to. Still, with that helpful push, no one neared his record until Hank Aaron climbed that mountain in the 70s.
Today, many people praise Aaron (and justifiably so) for managing not only to hit 755 home runs in is marvellous career, but also for his having done so under the ever present threat of the racist fans who could not bear the thought of a black man topping the immortal, the white, Babe Ruth. In continuing to provide round souvenirs for bleacher occupants, Aaron showed remarkable mental fortitude as well as baseball skill.
He may no longer hold the record, but his place cannot be forgotten. Which brings me back to the man of the hour, Barry Bonds. If it isn't ARod, or Pujols, someone will surpass his final tally. Most likely in his lifetime. Those doubters and fear mongers will celebrate the day. I hope that the day will come at least five years after Bonds has already taken his last angry hack at a hanging slider. When his bronzed bust will be on display in Cooperstown, upstate New York. When we can remember what he accomplished with the benefits of hindsight.
I think the less venomous writers out there, remembering how much good copy Bonds provided them, will be able to mark the passing of his total with kind words for the man, who required an enormous amount of internal fortitude to continue hitting home runs in the face of such relentless, tormenting criticism. Through continuous questioning of the validity of his achievements, he continued to achieve.
Mr. Bonds: Congratulations on a job well done.
Back to local matters. Staying with baseball. Several hours before the Bonds blast, I was in attendance at the Toronto brand of baseball played at the sugar container formerly known as the SkyDome. The Jays were beaten soundly by the Yankees, 9-2. There are so many bad things I could say about Toronto Blue Jays baseball right now.
The natural starting point would be the middling level of performance. But I don't care to go in that direction. I prefer to write about the atmosphere.
The SkyDome was built so that the local nine could play even on cold and rainy days. The roof would close and the game could go on. If you have never been to a game with the roof closed, I don;t recommend that you start. If the day is wet, sell your tickets. Or just stay home. Sitting inside, the the top up is unbearable. The only A/C vents are located in the hallways outside of the seating area. In the seats, it is hot, stuffy, and rather smelly. Very hard to concentrate on anything, much less the intricacies of the game.
If that wasn't enough, the brandedness of the dome is staggering. Every square meter of the dome is advertising something. Every announcement was brought to you by.... Every aspect of the game had a prefix that you could find on the TSE. That game was supposed to be about ALS awareness. It turns out that ALS lead us in the 7th inning stretch. I don't know that anyone was actually aware of it, though.
ALS has no logo. What can we do to downplay the corporate hounding of the beautiful game of baseball? My wife claims that this is not the way it is in Wrigley. (A little ironic, no - the connotations of the name itself).
How about one game a year without corporate propaganda? Just one game played with an old-fashioned feel. No announcements that are unrelated to the game itself. No flashing ads. The open sky above you. Oxygen. Hotdog and beer. Baseball.
Until that happens, I will remain,
Ryan
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Courage
Early this morning (not as early as they said they were aiming for, but that's besides the point), my parents set off on a drive from Toronto, Ontario to Newark, New Jersey. A drive of 10, 11 hours? A long drive.
Once there, they will probably say hello to some relatives (time willing) and then my mother will be checking in to the Newark airport. She will board an El Al airplane bound for Tel Aviv and my father will find a place to stay for the night before driving back to Toronto tomorrow morning.
Lots of driving will be put in by my father merely to drive his wife to an airport where she coul save a few hundred dollars on a flight. Commendable, but this blog isn't about him.
It isn't about my mother either, who, a few days ago, realized that she must move her trip to her homeland up by a few weeks. She had a flight booked that would depart from Toronto towards the end of August. She may yet take advantage of this flight, but her primary reason may not be of any consequence by that time.
This is about my grandmother, my mother's mother. The courage is all hers. So, too, is the fortitude. My savta, my grandmother, Rachel Gruber, nee Neugebauer, nee Yucha was diagnosed with breast cancer around 13 years ago. Breast cancer claimed her grandmother many years before that. Rachel lost a breast then and went on with her life.
TIme passed and she stayed strong for many years. Strong and active. Then Osteoperosis kicked in. Kicked hard. She broke bones with regularity. The bones would not mend properly. Over time she lost the ability to walk, to stand and much use of her arms and hands.
Yet she still remained strong. Her mind was sharp. She was clever and witty.
Less than 9 months ago, I could say that her mind was just as sharp as it was 15 years ago.
Since that time, her intellect has slowed. It could be the natural effect of age. Combined with years of illness. After all this time, I don't think she is letting go willingly.
Now her body is breaking down. We were given a fright two months ago when she would go 24 hours and more without eating. She claimed that she had no appetite. I can't blame her; The cancer had spread to her gums, her stomach, certain internal organs and apparently, her spine.
She fought back then and I was lucky enough to talk to her a few hours before Maya and I boarded our own plane back to Toronto.
Last week, she had a few more prolonged fasts and spent a few days without ever fully waking up. My aunt Sara contacted my mother with the news that Savta would be moving into a hospice shortly as there seems to be nothing left for the medical world to contribute to her.
My mother could not bear the thought of arriving in Tel Aviv in late August without having her mother there. She is now enduring a 10 hour drive, to be immediately followed by a 12 hour flight, so she can say goodbye to her mother.
I hope age has time.
This is for Rachel Gruber, the most courageous woman I know.
Thank you for being my grandmother. I love you.
I won't forget you.
Ryan
Once there, they will probably say hello to some relatives (time willing) and then my mother will be checking in to the Newark airport. She will board an El Al airplane bound for Tel Aviv and my father will find a place to stay for the night before driving back to Toronto tomorrow morning.
Lots of driving will be put in by my father merely to drive his wife to an airport where she coul save a few hundred dollars on a flight. Commendable, but this blog isn't about him.
It isn't about my mother either, who, a few days ago, realized that she must move her trip to her homeland up by a few weeks. She had a flight booked that would depart from Toronto towards the end of August. She may yet take advantage of this flight, but her primary reason may not be of any consequence by that time.
This is about my grandmother, my mother's mother. The courage is all hers. So, too, is the fortitude. My savta, my grandmother, Rachel Gruber, nee Neugebauer, nee Yucha was diagnosed with breast cancer around 13 years ago. Breast cancer claimed her grandmother many years before that. Rachel lost a breast then and went on with her life.
TIme passed and she stayed strong for many years. Strong and active. Then Osteoperosis kicked in. Kicked hard. She broke bones with regularity. The bones would not mend properly. Over time she lost the ability to walk, to stand and much use of her arms and hands.
Yet she still remained strong. Her mind was sharp. She was clever and witty.
Less than 9 months ago, I could say that her mind was just as sharp as it was 15 years ago.
Since that time, her intellect has slowed. It could be the natural effect of age. Combined with years of illness. After all this time, I don't think she is letting go willingly.
Now her body is breaking down. We were given a fright two months ago when she would go 24 hours and more without eating. She claimed that she had no appetite. I can't blame her; The cancer had spread to her gums, her stomach, certain internal organs and apparently, her spine.
She fought back then and I was lucky enough to talk to her a few hours before Maya and I boarded our own plane back to Toronto.
Last week, she had a few more prolonged fasts and spent a few days without ever fully waking up. My aunt Sara contacted my mother with the news that Savta would be moving into a hospice shortly as there seems to be nothing left for the medical world to contribute to her.
My mother could not bear the thought of arriving in Tel Aviv in late August without having her mother there. She is now enduring a 10 hour drive, to be immediately followed by a 12 hour flight, so she can say goodbye to her mother.
I hope age has time.
This is for Rachel Gruber, the most courageous woman I know.
Thank you for being my grandmother. I love you.
I won't forget you.
Ryan
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
And The Winner Is......
No one voted.
Not a single comment in 24 hours.
A statement for the inspiration of apathy.
Or should that be inspired by apathy?
I was never much of a bargainer at the shuk, but tomorrow will test my mettle in bargaining in the professional setting.
Wish me luck.
Not a single comment in 24 hours.
A statement for the inspiration of apathy.
Or should that be inspired by apathy?
I was never much of a bargainer at the shuk, but tomorrow will test my mettle in bargaining in the professional setting.
Wish me luck.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
A Short Absence
The suspense must have been awful.
I do apologize. I feel really terrible about not keeping you updated.
I believe my last post was concerned with a recent job opportunity. If I am not mistaken, I had misgivings about the position but was willing to shadow one of their guys around to be sure.
Well, it was as I suspected. A door to door pyramidal sales company. Been there, done that. When I was 18. Not going to do that again. I followed my "guy" around for near 30 minutes and then we broke for lunch, to talk about their advancement plan. I ate my sub and listened to the shpiel. Shook hands and walked away. The guy was nice enough to drive me to a convenient location.
Today was a new day, a brighter day. A hot day, too.
Bright and early and had another interview (I'm already getting decent mileage out of the new professional wardrobe Maya helped me buy). This one was more appealing. Essentially, the position is that of a call centre manager. The meeting went well, and I feel that the position can be mine if I want it.
Do I want it?
Pros - I get to build a team of my own. The hours are manageable. The company seems to be growing. Hebrew is an asset. I would be able to quit looking for work.
Cons - Salary (low, with performance incentives that can raise it to adequate). The actual work may not be that interesting/challenging/stimulating. Evening hours.
When I put it like that.....
I don't really know. I promised him an answer within two days and have since sent him a thank you note. The clock is ticking.
Let's move on to a more interesting topic, shall we...
Last Sunday (2 days ago), Maya and I were legally married. Our officiant arrived late.
I called him 5 minutes after he was to have arrived and asked where he was. He asked me when we booked him for. I said "5 minutes ago." Thankfully, he lived close by and promised to be there in 10 minutes or so. Half an hour later, he finally arrived, with his wife in tow. He was rather old and very excuberant.
Throughout the ceremony, he would remind us at least once every 5 minutes that he was also a rabbi.
"I'm a modern Rabbi. I love everyone." He would claim. His motto: "Love your neighbour."
I wasn't planning on having the civil service to be an overly meaningful ocassion, or especially memorable, but the good doctor Zimmerman has guaranteed that I will not forget July 29, 2007 anytime soon.
And now for the polls: What should I do?
Let me know what you think.
Polls close in 24 hours.
Until then, I remain:
Ryan
I do apologize. I feel really terrible about not keeping you updated.
I believe my last post was concerned with a recent job opportunity. If I am not mistaken, I had misgivings about the position but was willing to shadow one of their guys around to be sure.
Well, it was as I suspected. A door to door pyramidal sales company. Been there, done that. When I was 18. Not going to do that again. I followed my "guy" around for near 30 minutes and then we broke for lunch, to talk about their advancement plan. I ate my sub and listened to the shpiel. Shook hands and walked away. The guy was nice enough to drive me to a convenient location.
Today was a new day, a brighter day. A hot day, too.
Bright and early and had another interview (I'm already getting decent mileage out of the new professional wardrobe Maya helped me buy). This one was more appealing. Essentially, the position is that of a call centre manager. The meeting went well, and I feel that the position can be mine if I want it.
Do I want it?
Pros - I get to build a team of my own. The hours are manageable. The company seems to be growing. Hebrew is an asset. I would be able to quit looking for work.
Cons - Salary (low, with performance incentives that can raise it to adequate). The actual work may not be that interesting/challenging/stimulating. Evening hours.
When I put it like that.....
I don't really know. I promised him an answer within two days and have since sent him a thank you note. The clock is ticking.
Let's move on to a more interesting topic, shall we...
Last Sunday (2 days ago), Maya and I were legally married. Our officiant arrived late.
I called him 5 minutes after he was to have arrived and asked where he was. He asked me when we booked him for. I said "5 minutes ago." Thankfully, he lived close by and promised to be there in 10 minutes or so. Half an hour later, he finally arrived, with his wife in tow. He was rather old and very excuberant.
Throughout the ceremony, he would remind us at least once every 5 minutes that he was also a rabbi.
"I'm a modern Rabbi. I love everyone." He would claim. His motto: "Love your neighbour."
I wasn't planning on having the civil service to be an overly meaningful ocassion, or especially memorable, but the good doctor Zimmerman has guaranteed that I will not forget July 29, 2007 anytime soon.
And now for the polls: What should I do?
Let me know what you think.
Polls close in 24 hours.
Until then, I remain:
Ryan
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Untitled
Keep those comments coming. A man needs encouragement in these trying times.
Not sure why the last post was spaced out like that. I, for one, did not like it.
We saw the Jays wallop the Twins last night at the 'dome (I will not call it by the new name).
On the plus side - We were sitting right on top of the Twins bullpen and got to see their pitchers warming up. I could see by his BP sessions that Neshek was not hitting his spots. Then he came in, walked the first two guys he faced and gave up a double to Wells.
On the down side, we were surrounded by a douche bag squadron. The whole section looked like a crew of 19 year olds who are very new to the legal drinking game and just don't yet know how to properly drink in public. Very loud, very annoying and couldn't tell their left from their right, not to mention their ass from the elbow (or mouth).
Another negative for me was that from our vantage point, I couldn't track the flight of the pitches as they were happening.
Interesting seats, but I think I'll go back to the infield next time.
Looking forward, I have a job interview tomorrow. At first glance the company in question seemed really interesting with many heavily branded clients in their portfolio. A more in-depth glance showed that their own website was kind of vague and not really telling me much about what they actually did for their clients. Further internet searching produced very little outside of other job listings in their name.
So I'm a little apprehensive. Obviously, there's nothing lost by going to an interview, but I feel that I'll be interviewing them just as much as they will be interviewing me. I have a few other referrals on the go, so I'm not pinning all my hopes on this one.
Back to baseball for a sec before I sign off - Tom Glavine (love the lefties) just won his 299th career game. While there is much more to the game of baseball and the accomplishments therein than simple milestones, they are nice and alot of fun to mark. After spending most of his prime sharing the spotlight with Greg Maddux and John Smoltz (usually taking less than his share of the accolades) Glavine should really enjoy this moment
Not sure why the last post was spaced out like that. I, for one, did not like it.
We saw the Jays wallop the Twins last night at the 'dome (I will not call it by the new name).
On the plus side - We were sitting right on top of the Twins bullpen and got to see their pitchers warming up. I could see by his BP sessions that Neshek was not hitting his spots. Then he came in, walked the first two guys he faced and gave up a double to Wells.
On the down side, we were surrounded by a douche bag squadron. The whole section looked like a crew of 19 year olds who are very new to the legal drinking game and just don't yet know how to properly drink in public. Very loud, very annoying and couldn't tell their left from their right, not to mention their ass from the elbow (or mouth).
Another negative for me was that from our vantage point, I couldn't track the flight of the pitches as they were happening.
Interesting seats, but I think I'll go back to the infield next time.
Looking forward, I have a job interview tomorrow. At first glance the company in question seemed really interesting with many heavily branded clients in their portfolio. A more in-depth glance showed that their own website was kind of vague and not really telling me much about what they actually did for their clients. Further internet searching produced very little outside of other job listings in their name.
So I'm a little apprehensive. Obviously, there's nothing lost by going to an interview, but I feel that I'll be interviewing them just as much as they will be interviewing me. I have a few other referrals on the go, so I'm not pinning all my hopes on this one.
Back to baseball for a sec before I sign off - Tom Glavine (love the lefties) just won his 299th career game. While there is much more to the game of baseball and the accomplishments therein than simple milestones, they are nice and alot of fun to mark. After spending most of his prime sharing the spotlight with Greg Maddux and John Smoltz (usually taking less than his share of the accolades) Glavine should really enjoy this moment
Monday, July 23, 2007
A Sort of Progress
To my faithful reader(s),
Yesterday, I promised a real blog. A serious blog. I had a feeling that today would be interesting.
What I knew then, but you were still unsuspecting, was that Maya and I would apply for our marriage license today.
Well, we did. And we got it. At first we went to the wrong building - I assumed that it was done at the passport offices at Sheppard and Yonge. The real place to get the license is at the North York Civic centre where the city formerly known as North York used to place its mayor, the honorable(?), the mighty, Mel Lastman.
I moved my mother's car up a few blocks and within 20 minutes and $130, Maya and I had government permission to join in legal matrimony. Civil matrimony.
An extra $70 got us a spot in the York Civic Centre chapel this upcoming Sunday at 3pm. If enough of you come out and it's a standing-room-only type scene, I may decide to charge admission. Only 20 can sit. We're saving the theatrics for our Jewish affair sometime in the next 10-15 months.
On the way home, I stopped by the local Rogers store and picked up five tickets for tomorrow night's Jays' game. It will be my first game in attendance since returning and it should be fun. We (Maya and I, younger brother Tal and his girlfriend, Caroline and my father - a belated gift for his recent birthday) are sitting in the first row of the bleachers. Right by the right field foul pole. I've never sat in that section before and am interested in the experience.
And before I leave you for the night, a word on call-centres in the Indian Subcontinent. I understand why they're there. I am not opposed to speaking with someone half a world away about basic technological problems. More power to them. To us. But problems can arise. And they will. Maya had to call travelocity about a recent billing problem and was sent to a call-centre in (most likely) India. Not only did she have to work at comprehending the words through the accent, but their phone line was also weak. Sound was very muted and it was very difficult to understand what was being said.
If the key to good customer service is effective communication between service provider and consumer, (and it is) once the suppporting technology fails, the service is poor at best.
Until next time.
Yesterday, I promised a real blog. A serious blog. I had a feeling that today would be interesting.
What I knew then, but you were still unsuspecting, was that Maya and I would apply for our marriage license today.
Well, we did. And we got it. At first we went to the wrong building - I assumed that it was done at the passport offices at Sheppard and Yonge. The real place to get the license is at the North York Civic centre where the city formerly known as North York used to place its mayor, the honorable(?), the mighty, Mel Lastman.
I moved my mother's car up a few blocks and within 20 minutes and $130, Maya and I had government permission to join in legal matrimony. Civil matrimony.
An extra $70 got us a spot in the York Civic Centre chapel this upcoming Sunday at 3pm. If enough of you come out and it's a standing-room-only type scene, I may decide to charge admission. Only 20 can sit. We're saving the theatrics for our Jewish affair sometime in the next 10-15 months.
On the way home, I stopped by the local Rogers store and picked up five tickets for tomorrow night's Jays' game. It will be my first game in attendance since returning and it should be fun. We (Maya and I, younger brother Tal and his girlfriend, Caroline and my father - a belated gift for his recent birthday) are sitting in the first row of the bleachers. Right by the right field foul pole. I've never sat in that section before and am interested in the experience.
And before I leave you for the night, a word on call-centres in the Indian Subcontinent. I understand why they're there. I am not opposed to speaking with someone half a world away about basic technological problems. More power to them. To us. But problems can arise. And they will. Maya had to call travelocity about a recent billing problem and was sent to a call-centre in (most likely) India. Not only did she have to work at comprehending the words through the accent, but their phone line was also weak. Sound was very muted and it was very difficult to understand what was being said.
If the key to good customer service is effective communication between service provider and consumer, (and it is) once the suppporting technology fails, the service is poor at best.
Until next time.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Tying up Some Loose Ends
A quickie, promise.
We ended up walking last night. It really boiled down to us not wanting to go downtown again on the same day, whether or not we could get a car.
Shira - I knew you put the cds back in the wrong order. I fixed it as soon as you left. Don't worry - I didn't hold it against you.
More next time - promise. I think tomorrow will be an interesting day.
We ended up walking last night. It really boiled down to us not wanting to go downtown again on the same day, whether or not we could get a car.
Shira - I knew you put the cds back in the wrong order. I fixed it as soon as you left. Don't worry - I didn't hold it against you.
More next time - promise. I think tomorrow will be an interesting day.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Recreating a Social Life
It's Saturday night, and Maya and I are discussing our possibilities.
Now, if we were living in the city centre, as opposed to the northern residential region inhabited by my parents, this might not be such a fascinating conversation. If we had not been spoiled in Tel Aviv by living right in the heart of the city (not even bearing in mind that we rarely went out anyway), we may not have noticed our social isolation here.
But here we are and it's almost 10:30 (pm). Earlier in the day, we spoke to a friend about going out for drinks with a bunch of the old crew, and who knows who else. At the time - 6 hours ago - it seemed plausible and desirable. We spent the afternoon walking around Cabbagetown. All these years here, and I never went. Well, it's very nice. But we should get back to the matter at hand. Socializing.
We had these vaguely outlined plans set up and we wouldn't have to call anyone or think about the logistics - outside of how we would get there, that is. But we aren't so keen on it now. Go figure.
Neither of us is a big drinker, although I do enjoy the odd one. We are not even sure anymore who will be going and whether or not we want to deal with the scene. The thought of it can be quite intimidating. Are we dressed like we should be? Are our jokes really funny? Are we where we should be? If not, are our excuses good enough? Do I really care about the answers to those questions anyway?
Not really. The real question I end up with is this: Will I really enjoy myself by going out to a bar/pub?
I have my doubts. I think we'll just go for a walk around the neighbourhood before going to bed.
I'll let you know how it went tomorrow.
Now, if we were living in the city centre, as opposed to the northern residential region inhabited by my parents, this might not be such a fascinating conversation. If we had not been spoiled in Tel Aviv by living right in the heart of the city (not even bearing in mind that we rarely went out anyway), we may not have noticed our social isolation here.
But here we are and it's almost 10:30 (pm). Earlier in the day, we spoke to a friend about going out for drinks with a bunch of the old crew, and who knows who else. At the time - 6 hours ago - it seemed plausible and desirable. We spent the afternoon walking around Cabbagetown. All these years here, and I never went. Well, it's very nice. But we should get back to the matter at hand. Socializing.
We had these vaguely outlined plans set up and we wouldn't have to call anyone or think about the logistics - outside of how we would get there, that is. But we aren't so keen on it now. Go figure.
Neither of us is a big drinker, although I do enjoy the odd one. We are not even sure anymore who will be going and whether or not we want to deal with the scene. The thought of it can be quite intimidating. Are we dressed like we should be? Are our jokes really funny? Are we where we should be? If not, are our excuses good enough? Do I really care about the answers to those questions anyway?
Not really. The real question I end up with is this: Will I really enjoy myself by going out to a bar/pub?
I have my doubts. I think we'll just go for a walk around the neighbourhood before going to bed.
I'll let you know how it went tomorrow.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Now a Little on Who I Am
I suppose as I started things off with what I'm doing now, I will move on a bit and discuss who I am. I expect that most eventual readers of this will already know me, but there will come a time or twelve where someone reads and thinks to themselves, who is this guy?
I won't include my resume here, although that would create a certain picture of my past.
I used to fancy myself as a writer. Now I like to call myself a communicator. In fact, that is the type of job I'm looking for. Or did I already mention that yesterday?
If I can't get a point across, the point is not worth crossing.
I love baseball and study the gmae almost compulsively. I am involved in fantasy franchise running games as well as a project that has rethought the baseball hall of fame. In baseball, as in all facets of life, one must question accepted wisdom. Only after you know the whys and the wherefores of something can you consider yourself wise to it.
One other notable fact about me (considering that you learnt about my fiancee yesterday) is my love of music and my massive collection of cds. I have somewhere in the region of 700 CDs, at least 98% of which were originals. I'll have to get an ipod eventually, if only for ease of transport purposes. I'll most likely continue to collect the discs, though.
I'm mentally preparing a short treatise on the difficulties of western immigrants to Israel.
Stay tuned to my next blog.
This is who I am.
I won't include my resume here, although that would create a certain picture of my past.
I used to fancy myself as a writer. Now I like to call myself a communicator. In fact, that is the type of job I'm looking for. Or did I already mention that yesterday?
If I can't get a point across, the point is not worth crossing.
I love baseball and study the gmae almost compulsively. I am involved in fantasy franchise running games as well as a project that has rethought the baseball hall of fame. In baseball, as in all facets of life, one must question accepted wisdom. Only after you know the whys and the wherefores of something can you consider yourself wise to it.
One other notable fact about me (considering that you learnt about my fiancee yesterday) is my love of music and my massive collection of cds. I have somewhere in the region of 700 CDs, at least 98% of which were originals. I'll have to get an ipod eventually, if only for ease of transport purposes. I'll most likely continue to collect the discs, though.
I'm mentally preparing a short treatise on the difficulties of western immigrants to Israel.
Stay tuned to my next blog.
This is who I am.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Welcome to my First Blog
Back from the Land of Hopes to the True North Country
After close to three years living in Tel Aviv, working in IT, I come back to the wide expanses of Ontario soil that nourished me in my youth.
I have brought with me several things that I did not have when I left and I lack certain things that I had before.
On the plus side, I bring my fiancee, Maya. If I brought nothing else, if I gained nothing else in the last 30 months, that would be enough. But of course, I have more. I have my experience working for a growing website. I watched membership more than quintuple in size and got to feel like I was a key part of that growth. I gained many friends and formed relationships that I hope to maintain.
The red shows that I have no job. There are probably a few more entries in this side of the ledger, but I can't see them from the magnitude of the first entry. It's like a bullet hole. The ink from that entry bleeds fresh daily covering all other notes. I can almost make out that Maya and I are back in my parents' basement, counting days until a job is found allowing us passage into the light of independance.
Now that I have your attention, let's discuss the job front. I have not been inactive. I scour the new listings in all the leading job search sites. I have signed up for assistance from the JVS (I've already had my first session with their career assessment guide - did you know the leading job search sites only have a 6% success rate), I have spoken to headhunters, tried to establish connections in interesting fields.
So far nothing.
It can be quite frustrating. A person is used to working every day, waking up by a certain time, taking a certain bus, greeting the coworkers, thinking in a steadily productive atmosphere. Then there is nothing. That person becomes a spinning top, trying to find a groove to spin in but lacking any real control over its axis.
What kind of work am I looking for? you may be asking yourself.
Well, I try to be open-minded about it considering the many hats I wore in my last position. Ultimately, though, I am trying to focus on the most interesting of those hats and am searching for positions in the communications/PR field. Know anything?
After close to three years living in Tel Aviv, working in IT, I come back to the wide expanses of Ontario soil that nourished me in my youth.
I have brought with me several things that I did not have when I left and I lack certain things that I had before.
On the plus side, I bring my fiancee, Maya. If I brought nothing else, if I gained nothing else in the last 30 months, that would be enough. But of course, I have more. I have my experience working for a growing website. I watched membership more than quintuple in size and got to feel like I was a key part of that growth. I gained many friends and formed relationships that I hope to maintain.
The red shows that I have no job. There are probably a few more entries in this side of the ledger, but I can't see them from the magnitude of the first entry. It's like a bullet hole. The ink from that entry bleeds fresh daily covering all other notes. I can almost make out that Maya and I are back in my parents' basement, counting days until a job is found allowing us passage into the light of independance.
Now that I have your attention, let's discuss the job front. I have not been inactive. I scour the new listings in all the leading job search sites. I have signed up for assistance from the JVS (I've already had my first session with their career assessment guide - did you know the leading job search sites only have a 6% success rate), I have spoken to headhunters, tried to establish connections in interesting fields.
So far nothing.
It can be quite frustrating. A person is used to working every day, waking up by a certain time, taking a certain bus, greeting the coworkers, thinking in a steadily productive atmosphere. Then there is nothing. That person becomes a spinning top, trying to find a groove to spin in but lacking any real control over its axis.
What kind of work am I looking for? you may be asking yourself.
Well, I try to be open-minded about it considering the many hats I wore in my last position. Ultimately, though, I am trying to focus on the most interesting of those hats and am searching for positions in the communications/PR field. Know anything?
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