Random Thoughts – Scott Campbell, Sad Sightings, Remedial Math and More
September 10, 2022
1. I was saddened to learn of the recent passing of former Jet Scott Campbell at the relatively young age of 65. I didn’t know him at all, but he had once reached out to me personally when I was still on Twitter. He asked if I was the “real” Curtis Walker, since I didn’t have all that many followers. My biggest memory of him, however, goes back to 1979 when John Ferguson, amid considerable controversy, made him one of the Jets’ two priority selections when they joined the NHL. Though I have since come to appreciate and somewhat agree with Ferguson’s logic, I was among many who were furious over the decision to protect Campbell ahead of Kent Nilsson or Terry Ruskowski. In any event, it all worked out in the end when Ferguson traded Campbell and John Markell to St. Louis two years later for Ed Staniowski and Bryan Maxwell. He also wanted Jim Nill in the deal, but he had to settle for some bum named Paul MacLean. To say the least, Ferguson made amends on that one.
1a. Anyone who hasn’t already done so can listen to Campbell’s 2018 interview with Chuck Swanlund at the WHA Hall of Fame website.
2. I don’t think I’m the only one who thinks that the Booster Juice chain is eventually going to have to change its name. Just like the Gay Cavalier in Winnipeg. And yes, I am dating myself on that one.
3. Pathetic sights seen around town recently:
- I’ve seen them often enough in my travels over the river, but this week, I spotted a drive-thru window at a pharmacy here. That we have become so dependent on drugs and pharmaceutical products that such things have become normal is one of the saddest statements about our society. It reminds me of a time a few years ago when a friend was giving me the laundry list of meds she was on as if it was a point of honor.
- On garbage day outside a thrift store on Queenston Street, a couple of LFPs had torn open and were going through several bags that were left out at the curb. Given the seedy location just down the street from the convenience store where you have to knock to be let in, the stuff inside the store would have been bad enough, let alone what they threw away.
4. With the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series upon us, I don’t have an answer as to why the Canadians opted to use the visitors’ side for Game 3 in Winnipeg.
5. This “hour” will no doubt be followed by remedial math class . . .
6. This week, none other than Bill “I take your vote for granted” Phillips, decked out in Liberal red, came to my door. Normally, I’d have taken great pleasure in chewing him out, but I just wasn’t in the mood at the time. In any event, I’m not sure I could have got to the door fast enough, since he just rang the bell and took off in a flash after leaving his brochure. That brochure, by the way, was noticeably devoid of the “when re-elected . . .” wording he used four years ago. Not that he doesn’t take our vote for granted anymore. He’s just more careful not to be so obvious about it.
7. I wonder if Sal Sorrento, who’s running for regional councilor, will have the nerve to come to my door and ask for my vote after blocking me on Facebook.
8. A profound feeling of disappointment came over me when researching Steve Wojciechowski and Bob Romeo, the only other alternatives to Phillips and Dawn “I lost my train of thought” Dodge in Grantham. Wojciechowski’s idea of “affordability” is to introduce a property tax deferral program instead of something more obvious like stop spending like drunken sailors and is fully on board with Mat Siscoe’s Sendzcoe’s hare-brained idea of putting GPS trackers on snowplows. As for Romeo, he doesn’t really tell us what he stands for. Which can be even more dangerous. All he’s got is a catchy slogan, “Bob can do the job.”
Yet despite how bad they both seem, I’ll probably vote for them anyway just to do my part to get rid of the two incumbents. As I see it, getting rid of Wojciechowski and Romeo in four years’ time will be easier than getting rid of longer-term incumbents like Phillips and Dodge, each walking endorsements for term limits.
9. Wojciechowski says that he and his wife are the proud parents of two boys and two dogs. I get the two boys part, but as to how they conceived two dogs, well, that’s something scientists would love to learn more about.
10. Sign theft must be a problem in NOTL . . .
11. Can’t say I’ve ever been tempted to wash my hands in a water fountain, but I guess there are those who are . . .
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