The Edmonton Journal’s main headline today, “Speaker clears Redford” takes its place on the list least surprising headlines ever, right up there with “Winter will be cold” and “City to raise taxes”. There was never any doubt that Speaker Gene Zwozdesky would find some way to proclaim that Premier Alison Redford in no way misled […]
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In This Corner: The last word on the Grey Cup.
Final thoughts on Grey Cup C — ‘C’ being the Roman numeral for 100. (This is one of those rare times when using a Roman numeral doesn’t make an event seem more important). Let’s just forget about the game. It was overall a dud, lacking in exciting and/or controversial moments. The Argos just dominated from […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: An Edmontonian’s guide to who (whom?) to pull for in the 100th Grey Cup.
So it’s come to this … the nightmare Grey Cup. Calgary versus Toronto. The Centre of the Universe versus The Centre of the New Universe. Old school snobbishness versus new school arrogance. Ugly and uglier. As an Edmontonian and an Eskimo fan, today’s 100th Grey Cup could only be made worse if somehow the Toronto […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Loose lips sink Locke.
You have to feel badly for Harvey Locke. Locke is a Liberal candidate in Monday’s federal byelection in Calgary Centre. Normally, being a federal Liberal candidate anywhere in Alberta generates sympathy, but not enough to win any pity votes. Liberals here are sacrificial lambs, names on the ballot, road kill. But Locke, against all odds, […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Is government borrowing really that bad?
I’m not an economist, and I don’t play one on TV. With that in mind, perhaps somebody out there can tell me why it’s such a crime to borrow money to build schools, or roads, or hospitals? The big stink over the weekend, one that is sure to hit odiferous heights when the legislature resumes, […]
Continue readingIn This Corner: Katz donation assures one thing — no money for arena.
You’d think at some point I’d get tired of writing about Daryl Katz, but no. The guy just keeps doing the most amazing, mind-boggling things. I swear, Katz is an Edmonton version of Mitt Romney. When last we left the klutz that is Katz, out local Monty Burns had managed
Continue readingIn This Corner: Could it be that Katz sank arena deal because he wants to unload the Oilers?
So the arena deal is dead, at least in its present form. Good riddance to bad rubbish. Daryl Katz has shown that he is not a man the city should be in business with, so let’s wash our hands of this whole sordid mess and consider ourselves lucky. So what
Continue readingIn This Corner: An odds and ends blog, with an SCTV bonus at the end.
It’s odds-and-ends blog time, a fallback position for guys like me who suddenly realize that it’s been a while since they’ve written a blog. Can’t disappoint the followers, can I? Well, yes I can, and have, but not deliberately. Most Edmontonians have no idea why our best park is named Hawrelak,
Continue readingIn This Corner: The donation conundrum: to give, or not to give?
Over the years, I have received probably hundreds of cheap inducements to donate to “good causes” (bad causes rarely ask for money). You’ve all seen them — address labels (I still have address labels from about five years ago, since I send maybe five letters a year), note pads with
Continue readingIn This Corner: Original draft of Katz apology letter revealed.
On Saturday, Daryl Katz paid for full-page ads in the Edmonton newspapers to apologize for his handling of the arena controversy. My sources deep within the Katz Group (a pharmacist I know at a Rexall Drugs) had access to the first draft of the apology letter, written by Katz himself.
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 8: A walk through hell on the way to heaven.
Game 8, Sept. 28, 1972 How do I describe the importance of Game 8 to a young Canadian hockey fan? Let’s try this: remember when Sydney Crosby scored in overtime to beat the U.S. and give Canada the Olympic gold medal in Vancouver, 2010? Well, it was like that, only
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 7: Playing on the edge.
Game 7, Sept. 26, 1972 Befitting a series that could have gone either way, Game 7 is the most closely contested of the series. In a game that saw seven goals scored, no team had more than a one-goal lead. The series bubbled over in Game 7. In the first
Continue readingIn This Corner: Sexy Seattle joins cast of As The Oilers Turn.
Hello, Seattle! On behalf of the citizens of Edmonton, I’d like to welcome you to the cast of As The Oilers Turn, a continuing soap opera that has been a fixture for Edmonton audiences for many, many seasons. As The Oilers Turn has captivated Edmonton audiences since it was first
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 6: Winning ugly
Game 6, September 24, 1972 The days between games were almost as agonizing as game days. In the two days between games, pretty much all I could think about was the upcoming game. On game days, I was almost sick from worry. This would have been a pretty good excuse
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 5: Midnight in Moscow
Game 5, Sept. 22, 1974 This was foreign territory, to put it mildly. Everything about watching live hockey from Moscow seemed odd. Live broadcasts from far away countries were still a novelty then, and no place was more foreign and faraway than Russia. The picture quality was horrendous, the sound
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72: The ugly Canadians visit Sweden, and getting ready for Moscow
So, where were we? Ah, yes. Team Canada left the “friendly” confines of home with just one win in four games, and the disapproval of Canadian (actually Vancouver) hockey fans still ringing in their ears. The series, expected to be an 8-0 romp for Canada (the pessimists pegged it at
Continue readingIn This Corner: What does Katz want? Try everything.
Mayor Stephen Mandel professes to be baffled by what Oilers owner Daryl Katz wants in the ongoing agony that is the arena negotiations. “I can no longer define what Mr. Katz is asking for or what he’s not asking for,” a deeply frustrated mayor said on Tuesday, after Katz gobsmacked
Continue readingIn This Corner: We’re shocked, shocked that Katz wants more.
I’m shocked, shocked to hear that Daryl Katz wants more money for the new arena, just the way Major Renault was “shocked, shocked” to find that gambling was going on in Rick’s Café in Casablanca. Back in July, when word came down that the “iconic” project (it can’t really be
Continue readingIn This Corner: Tuesday with the Sunday New York Times, all three pounds of it.
Did you know that you can get the Sunday New York Times delivered to your door for about $26 a month? Neither did I, until my dad pointed out an ad in the Globe and Mail with the offer. Anyway, dad suggested we give it a try for a while,
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 4, Vancouver: Can you feel the love? No?
Game 4, Vancouver, Sept. 8, 1972 After the debacle in Montreal, no doubt many Canadian hockey fans consoled themselves by thinking, “Well, at least it can’t get any worse than that.” It could. And did. The Vancouver game, the fourth in seven nights for the still beer-bellied, out-of-synched Canadians, would
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