Random Thoughts – Caretaker Bob, Our Mayor, Fireworks and More
May 21, 2017
1. I was appalled to see the recent tweets of Bob Young, ”caretaker” of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who defiantly expressed admiration for Colin Kaepernick and his disgraceful “protests” of refusing to stand for the national anthem. He even had the gall to call Kaepernick “brave” and offered his full support to any Ticats player who wished to do likewise.
Needless to say, this does not make me want to rush out and buy Ticats season tickets. Not that I would have done so anyways, mind you.
1a. So if “Caretaker Bob” is perfectly fine with a player showing gross disrespect to his country, would he be equally supportive of a player who made a homophobic or racial slur during a game? Somehow, I don't think so.
1b. Irrespective of my feelings on Mr. Young's revulsive stance on this issue, I do at least applaud him for standing up and being counted. Unlike the owner/president/general manager/executive head coach of a certain publicly-funded hockey team in a central Canadian province who continues to hide from public view when the going gets rough, not even granting access to his team's “official newspaper,” which also happens to be a major corporate sponsor.
2. It's nice to see Mayor Sendzik getting back to promoting St. Catharines and local businesses again along with making useful public service announcements. You know, the kind of things a good mayor should do. Instead of using celebratory events to bash Trump or shill for the Liberals.
2a. You don't think our mayor has been reading ... nah. But you never know. This is, after all, a small town.
3. Trying to digest the recent and bizarre tweets posted by Councillor Mat Siscoe, a supposed Conservative, I'm not sure who's the bigger Liberal - him or Mayor Sendzik.
4. I don't get why fireworks are so popular in this part of the world. Or any part of the world for that matter.
5. Bright and early yesterday, as part of a 57.6-mile bike ride, I boarded a Niagara Region Transit bus. I got a Niagara Falls Transit transfer from a St. Catharines Transit driver and used that transfer on a Welland Transit bus that took me to Port Colborne. And all that interconnectivity worked seamlessly. Yet I still cannot use my Presto card on any of those respective transit agencies. If Niagara wants to play with the big boys, it's time to start acting like it. They may have to lay new track to get the trains here, but there are no such issues preventing the implementation of Presto. In fact, Presto should have been implemented long before any talk of expanded train service. Which may or may not come.
5a. While waiting at the St. Catharines bus terminal yesterday morning, someone standing under the big clock asked me what time it was.
5b. It's a little unnerving when your bus driver has to get up and fish a map out of his personal belongings to find out where he needs to go next.
5c. As I've noted before, the Friendship Trail between Port Colborne and Fort Erie is a wonderful resource for cyclists. But it's long. Too long.
5d. They need to do some work on the parkway trail between Fort Erie and Niagara Falls.
6. The $30 they were charging for parking yesterday at Fallsview Casino was gouging in the extreme. It was “only” $22 at Table Rock.
6a. I'm genuinely surprised they don't charge me a fee for locking up my bike in the Falls.
7. The gold uniforms of the Nashville Predators remind me of the blinding duds worn by the Los Angeles Kings back in the day when little more than 8,000 or so fans would dot the stands at the Fabulous Forum. And no, that was not a compliment.
7a. Not that I care a whole lot, but it's time the NHL went back to having its teams wear white at home again.
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