Falling Apart?

This just in:  Vancouver has been ranked fourth on the world’s list of least affordable cities.  This is well ahead of cities like Manhattan, San Francisco, London, Paris, and Hong Kong.  As most rational people know, the city’s thundering real estate market has been bolstered by rampant speculation and constant construction of new condominiums.. but salaries, and the city’s economic development, have not kept pace.

The survey quoted in the article cites research indicating that the cost of housing in Vancouver is massively disproportionate to median salaries earned by its residents, specifically when compared to other cities around the world.  The median house price in Vancouver as of the time of the survey is 8.4 times the median income — 8.4 years’ average income to purchase a house, compared to the average median in Canada: 3.5.

What this tells you is that the fundamentals that support high real-estate prices are simply not there in Vancouver.  People just don’t earn enough income to sustain this market at such lofty prices whereas in cities like New York and San Francisco, where real estate prices are indeed higher, median incomes are substantially higher and thus can support high prices.

Vancouver is plagued by a number of problems that keep the salaries of its citizens low:

1. Affordable commerical real estate is hard to come by in the city — leading in some cases to a perverse reverse-commute where urbanites must schlep out to the suburbs to their workplaces — but more importantly this discourages companies from locating here.
2. Most large cities with expensive downtown cores operate as financial centres — the aforementioned London, Hong Kong, and New York spring to mind.  Vancouver does not, except for our storied love affair with ponzi schemes.  Without the sustaining flow of capital through our city there is highly limited opportunity for local investment.
3. We’re still a bunch of tree-cutting, pickaxe-wielding hicks.  And BC’s resource industries, the bread and butter of Vancouver for more than 150 years, are weak thanks to everything from the US softwood lumber tarriffs to Kyoto to a number of key mining company collapses.  Our province has failed to diversify its economic base substantially away from resource businesses.
4. The advanced industries like software and aerospace that keep California sizzlin’ have failed to grow in scale in this city.  Investment in this area is weak, with very little private investment and weak government support (nearly all of the Venture Capital in Vancouver is government-derived).  We did however blow >$500 million on a handful of useless fast ferries, though.  Two notable exceptions are alternative energy and biotech.  For now, at least, they are humming along.
5. The film industry, which we in BC have courted for decades, is a fickle bride.  Since productions are built for each project and torn down when completed with little long-term planning, unfavourable economic winds mean that producers can pull up stakes and shoot in South Carolina, Mexico, or wherever they can cost-optimize.  In any case, the profits are retained in New York and LA… like a Mumbai call centre, we’re just an outsourcer.
6. Drugs, and by “drugs” I mean the cultivation and distribution of marijuana, constitutes probably the largest industry in BC and it flies completely under the regulatory / taxation radar.  Conservative estimates peg this at between $5Bn and $7Bn per year.  These people have a hard time getting mortgages.  They also tend to be undesireable tenants, since they tend to get arrested/shot at/sent into hiding — that is if they don’t blow up their penthouse with a meth lab.
7. Our transportation infrastructure is pathetic, particularly when compared with major metropolitan areas (of which Vancouver is now one) such as Boston, Montreal, Toronto, New York, London, Tokyo, and others.  If we wish to become a center of commerce then we need to be able to move people around better.  Skytrain is a laughing stock and the West Coast Express, which goes to a handful of proximate suburbs from the downtown core twice a day each way, doesn’t even merit comparison with the British Urban Railway system.  Our highways (such as they are) subject people to multi-hour commutes to travel 20km.  We have failed, failed, FAILED to build infrastructure and it will continue to haunt the city for decades to come.

For those of us in the technology industry, certainly during this housing price spike, Vancouver seems an illogical place to locate our startups or ply our trades in information technology.  While the average condo price can be as high as 2x-2.5x the price of a comparable condo in Toronto or Montreal, our salary variance is just 103.5% the national average, versus 104.2% for Toronto and 103.9% for Montreal (this according to the 2009 Robert Half Salary Guide for Technology Professionals).  While we spend more to live here in Lotus Land, we sure don’t make up for it in income.

Comparing Income to Housing Prices

So how high is too high?  Right now we are finding out.

If you were blindsided by the Vancouver Real Estate crash then you were clearly in a profound state of self-delusion.  Evidently that list of deluded fools includes our civic leaders who played russian roulette with the city’s finances, underwriting the now disastrous Olympic Village project in which the taxpayers stand to lose as much as $750 Million.  Still, even amid the free-falling values, Realtors and Developers are outright lying to you… inviting you to join in their deathmatch with catch phrases like “don’t wait too long” and “strong fundamentals“.  Where have we heard that before?  Oh right, it was John McCain, about the US Economy in September – days before it collapsed.  Oops.

UPDATE: In a passionate article, former mayor Sam Sullivan says the Olympic Village is not a clusterf*ck.

Speculators and developers will beg to differ (they’re invested in fostering positive vibes) but remember:  they’re betting with your money, not their own.  Condos down the street from ours were forced into liquidation at 40% off, and there have been stories of other developers dumping their inventory at similar price cuts.  This is the beginning of a trend, not a sign of the bottom, so if you’re foolishly lining up to jump in at this point, you get what you deserve.

Not until a software engineer making $60K-$70K per year can buy a 1-Bedroom apartment in the city will the fundamentals be aligned and the market be stabilized.  This means mortgage + maintenance of less than $1500 per month using the 30% rule.  On a 25-year mortgage that probably means this 1BR apartment has to be less than $200K.  If the research that started this article can be believed, we should expect an adjustment of as much as 60% across the board to bring Vancouver back to the Canadian mean.

So in other words, wait ’til the bottom really drops out, Vancouverites..

And then we can start figuring out why no one in this city (not even the property developers, after 2007) makes any real money.

If you squint a little, that’s kind of how professional hockey began, more than 125 years ago, in the ponds and rinks of Ottawa and Montreal. Ironically it was in Buffalo where the beautiful game captivated the imagination of my favourite author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, inspiring him to become a sports writer. Even with more than 45 minutes of delays for snow clearing, hole patching, and refreezing, it was a great game which took hockey back to its roots. I think that’s an important point.

Dan Barnes, an Edmontonian, gloats that this happened first at the 2003 Heritage Classic in Commonwealth Stadium, and it’s a very good article outlining the motivations and tribulations that led to that successful effort at an outdoor game. He also advocates some other changes and innovations for the NHL season schedule.

Before I read his article I had opined a few days ago to Rhys that the NHL needs to take it on the road more often. This year the season opened between Stanley Cup winners the Anaheim Ducks and the L.A. Kings in the hockey hotbed of London, England in an event which garnered more buzz on this side of the Atlantic than it did in the UK. Leading up to that game, something (I think) more significant happened… the Kings played two exhibition games in Austria against Austrian League champions Red Bull Salzburg, and against Sweden’s First Division team Farjestad.

You can bet those two squads were up for a game against an NHL team, even one whose roster was as weak as that of the LA Kings. And you can bet Austrian fans (and those that drove from Munich and nearby in Switzerland) were treated to some great (though exhibition) play. But did the NHL do anything to promote those games? Did they even learn anything from the experiment?

Not likely. And you probably won’t see a lot of these again, except for yet more outdoor games in big football stadiums with lots of fans, in the same cities teams usually play in. Here’s a key problem: Unlike any of the other of the top 10 professional sports leagues on this earth, NHL teams are primarily financed from gate revenues at the stadium. Whereas, ticket sales are pure gravy for teams in other sports, which make most of their money from broadcast licensing and avertising, these dollars at the ticket counter the meat for NHL clubs. This means that when a team sacrifices those revenues to play elsewhere, they generally lose money.

The only reason the London game happened at all was that Kings owner Philip Anschutz also owns O2 Arena, and so was able to move the cash around his various enterprises. But for that little tidbit you’d be unlikely to have seen the game there.

In 1997 and 1998 the NHL opened the season with two games each in Japan in the run-up to the Nagano Winter Olympics. Although the League declared these a success there is some evidence that they were expensive, under-supported, economic failures — and the second of these series practically ruined the San Jose Sharks’ season, resulting in the league’s longest consecutive road trip. That has made Bettman’s promise to continue the initiative difficult to fulfill.

I’m not sure that developing a fan base in Japan particularly benefits the NHL. One thing that helps an audience identify with the players is seeing people who are like them. Unfortunately, the best the NHL could offer up to Japanese fans at the time was Paul Kariya.

Moreover, the problem with these being regulation league games (for points) is that these far-flung contests have to be woven into the NHL schedule. And after playing them, teams have to make the journey back to the US and Canada, adjust to pretty considerable JetLag, and hit the ice again for a real league game within 24-48 hours. This doesn’t exactly encourage them to want to sign up.

Watching the Spengler on TV and reading Paul Romanuk’s excellent blog on the tournament reminds me that there really is something special about how professional hockey is conducted in Europe. Having played there and seen how fans react to the teams and vice-versa, it’s reminiscent of what I can only presume to have been the case during the heyday of the NHL, through the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.

You may have noticed that 30% of the players in the NHL are European, but not one of them is from the UK. In fact outside of England’s foundering attempts to create a successful hockey league, Europe has a well-supported hockey community and Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Denmark all have vibrant professional hockey leagues with many fans. So why not support them, and in the process pull more fans to a direct interest in the NHL?

There’s already a revolving door for players between the NHL and leagues like the DEL … why not one for the fans as well? By my observation the relationship between hockey fans in Europe and the NHL is at best superficial. When the Washington Caps made German-born Olaf Kolzig their #1 goaltender, plenty of German hockey fans went out to buy Capitals jerseys with his name on the back… but are they staying up late to watch games? Ordering an NHL channel on digital cable (if there is such a thing)? Picking their favourite players for hockey pools? Not likely.

The Exhibition season for the NHL is actually rather half-hearted. Fans generally aren’t as enthusiastic about the games because the teams field the B-squads, holding their celebrities in reserve for conditioning and in fear of injury. They are also rarely broadcast on television, and as far as selling tickets goes, teams fill the seats for these throw-away games by stacking the games into full and partial seasons’ ticket packs and with give-aways .. for many teams there’s little to no honest profit in the Exhibition season.

But there is one nice thing about Exhibition games … as the LA Kings proved, you can pretty-much do whatever you want and as a bonus, you can stagger and schedule them vis-a-vis the regular season however you’d like. Some teams see the exhibition season as a necessary evil … I see it as a potential problem-solver.

My Modest Proposal is to therefore do two things during the Exhibition season, giving each team the choice of either:

1. Exhibition games in small North American towns with able support for a larger-scale game (ie. 5000+ seats in a hockey arena). Unfortunately this is too early in the winter for elaborate outdoor games. … or …
2. Exhibition play against Tier 1 club teams in Europe, perhaps a road trip consisting of 4-5 games each with a 3-day layover prior to the season start. Share the gate revenues with them (some play in NHL-sized arenas) to cover costs.

This would be a fabulous way to enhance the dialog between fans in Europe and NHL teams, and also to support the small communities which couldn’t support an NHL team (in Mr. Bettman’s opinion) but which still have rabid fan bases built around AHL, University, or Junior hockey teams. Again, this doesn’t detract from the success of those smaller-market teams but likely adds enough water to the tide to float all boats.

Let’s not kid ourselves that big-stadium outdoor games like the Heritage Classic and today’s effort in Buffalo really do anything to enhance the market for the game. Similarly I think it could be argued successfully that both experiments in Japan and in London were not cost-effective in enhancing the league’s market reach.

If the goal is making more money on an exciting winter event, fine. Let’s embrace these pond hockey games as novelties, for sure, and by all means keep doing it (teams report making more money doing so, so within reason I say fill your boots).

But if the goal is expanding the revenue from the league and growing beyond simply operating on gate receipts, let’s also work toward a schedule that does something to enhance the game and its growth; that brings in a new active global fan base; that invigorates the game with a dash of European flavour. There is natural affinity there, and a largely untapped market.

Let’s work toward growing the sport and fostering an exchange with the European leagues that will enhance the game both on and off the ice; and which also respects the contribution made by thousands of communities around the globe that contribute players to this game.

As the Stanley Cup playoffs rage on, a select crew of Canadian players whose teams are out of the running are over in Moscow defending Canada’s great cultural hockey tradition at the IIHF Hockey World Championships. The 2007 team, which was given a pass this year by past, current, and future greats like Sidney Crosby, Joe Sakic and Ryan Smyth so they could lick the wounds of a tough NHL season, is led on the ice by one Mr. Shane Doan.

But as the quest for the cup continues and the Worlds are well underway, they’re both being overshadowed by another Canadian cultural tradition: the self-promoting protestations of… what, exactly? by Canada’s official cultural muckraker, Liberal MP Denis Coderre. Apparently Shane, during a heated battle in Montreal where the calls by four francophone officials were definitely not in his team’s favour he is alleged to have had the audacity to say something nasty about them. In a hockey game, no less, which are of course known for the pleasantries and politeness exchanged among the league’s dainty, sensitive skaters.

Here, dear friends, is the offending quote (cover your eyes, kids!):

“Four French referees in Montreal, Cuje, figure it out.”

That’s what he said, as was determined by the NHL investigation, including testimony from goaltender Curtis “Cujo” Joseph, conducted after the December 13, 2005 game. But of course that’s not what linesmen Michel Cormier, from 30 feet away or what Coderre, several electoral ridings away, heard. Their imaginative ears inferred far fewer syllables: “f$cking French”. A fitting synopsis, perhaps, but not what he said.

In any case, either statement may be on record as the mildest response to having the opposing team run your goalie without receiving a penalty in NHL history.

But of course, this isn’t really about what he said or didn’t say, is it?

And this isn’t the first time Coderre, formerly the Liberal cabinet member responsible for sport, has gone after Doan. The first time was in early 2006, when Doan was called to play for the Canadian olympic team — and when Coderre was fighting to be re-elected in his fiercely Québécois riding of Bourassa, the Bloc Québécois candidate nipping at his heels as they have throughout his career. What a tidy coincidence that Doan made himself such a worthy target for the Liberals, whose government was under siege for having siphoned millions of dollars in graft to their Quebec constituents. Actually that number likely tops hundreds of billions, but that’s another issue. The battle between Denis Coderre and Shane Doan has raged ever since through defamation lawsuits.

It would be foolish to deny that in hockey circles there is a palpable animosity between anglophone and francophone hockey players in Canada — friends of mine who played bantam and junior pored over their French textbooks looking for worthy insults to utter as they lined up for faceoffs against kids from Quebec. Even the CBC show “Making The Cut” (now on GlobalTV), which searched for the top 6 unsigned hockey players in its first season, aired the fiery utterance by one of the anglophone players against a Québécois competitor who’d slashed him during tryouts: “that’s typical cheap french bullsh#t.” He later apologized, but the reality is that when insults fly out on the ice, no matter how harsh they might sound, they are rarely sincere.

It would be much more foolish to give credence to this “affair”, as it will inevitably be called, which drags Hockey Canada chief Bob Nicholson to testify before a bogus parliamentary committee as the Bloc Québécois clamors to ring in on the subject and defend le Quebec Libre, while Coderre plays the jubilant ringmaster. He must be thankful that someone has said something mean about his constituents so that he can rise to defend their honour against the slightest .. er .. slight.

But the whole process is, in the grand Candian parliamentary tradition, a farce. Hockey Canada is not even a federal agency, though it receives funding from the ministry responsible for promoting sport. What’s more, it is illegal for Parliament to accuse a Canadian citizen of a crime (is there a crime here?) for which he has never been convicted — this is called a Bill of Attainder and it’s been rejected by most western democracies since, oh, the 19th century. But this waste of time serves a grander purpose that makes it easy for our honourable MPs to pack the bandwagon full of proponents: it’s distracting the nation from the fact that 8 more Canadian soldiers died last month in Afghanistan, and that the violence (and our inability to cope with it) is escalating.

Nope. This isn’t about hockey, racism or ethnic slurs. It’s about grandstanding, and the age-old Canadian sport of politicians capitalizing on a societal victim mentality which has ingrained itself in the minds of Canada’s francophone minority. This is about the politics of culture, and Shane Doan is a pawn in a perpetual cycle pandering to and exploiting the irrational fears of a distinct society by Canada’s politicians, Nationalist and Separatist alike.

Those of us who understand and play the sport of hockey, which was originally promoted by Lord Stanley to unify the budding Canadian nation, believe and respect the fact that what happens on the ice stays on the ice.

In this case it is clearly the gross misconduct of politicians, not of hockey players, that shames our nation.

-Ian.

he Edmonton Oilers Hockey Club has announced further details of its 25th Anniversary season, which will include the first ever NHL regular season game played outdoors. The game, to be titled “The Heritage Classic”, will be the centerpiece of a year-long celebration commemorating the Oilers 25 seasons in the NHL, and will take place on Saturday, November 22, 2003, at Commonwealth Stadium. The date of November 22 is significant, as it also marks the 86th Anniversary of the National Hockey League, which was formed in Montreal on that day in 1917.

The Heritage Classic will feature two of Canada’s premiere “heritage” teams – the Edmonton Oilers with five Stanley Cup Championships, and the Montreal Canadiens with 24 Stanley Cup Championships, in a regular season match-up in the 50,000 seat facility. A festival atmosphere will be created around the game with special events, live music and fireworks.

Hockey fans attending the Heritage Classic will also be treated to a historical alumni game featuring some of the most celebrated names in NHL hockey history. Wayne Gretzky will be lacing up his skates and donning an Oilers jersey for the first time since 1988, as he leads a team of Edmonton Oilers alumni against Guy Lafleur and a team of Montreal Canadiens alumni. The game will mark the first time Gretzky has participated in an alumni game, and the Great One is excited to return to the City of Champions, “I’ve already promised Kevin (Lowe). If Kevin will lace them up, then I will too. And it will be a thrill.”

Patrick LaForge, President & CEO of the Edmonton Oilers, is equally enthused, “The Heritage Classic is what playing in the Heartland of Hockey is all about – pulling on a toque, bundling up, and getting out into the great outdoors. We’re turning back the clock for the Heritage Classic, and giving fans the chance to relive hockey’s golden heritage. It’s going to be an unforgettable weekend for hockey fans everywhere!”

Pierre Boivin, President of the Montreal Canadiens agrees, “It is a great honour for the Montreal Canadiens to have been selected to play against the Oilers in the Heritage Classic in Edmonton. Many hockey players and fans in Canada enjoy playing the game outdoors and this very special event at Commonwealth Stadium will bring us back to the origins of the game we so dearly love. It is a wonderful initiative by the Oilers that will generate a lot of interest and excitement for people in Edmonton and for hockey fans from coast to coast tuned in to Hockey Night in Canada.”

The gridiron at Commonwealth Stadium will be completely redesigned for the Heritage Classic, as a sheet of ice will replace the stadium’s renowned turf. A complete set of regulation NHL rink boards and glass will be erected, as well as players benches, penalty boxes, and much more. This once-in-a-lifetime event also has the potential to set a Guinness World Record for the largest crowd at a professional hockey game.

-Ian.

——- http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?idB629

Roy announces retirement from NHL

Canadian Press

5/28/2003

DENVER (AP-CP) – Patrick Roy’s piercing blue eyes gave no hint of the emotional moment. While those around him choked back tears and had trouble speaking, Roy barely blinked.

One of the greatest goalies in NHL history had been preparing for this moment for nearly a year.

“I feel great about my decision,” Roy said Wednesday after announcing his retirement. “I really feel like I emptied the tank and I’m ready to move on. I step aside with no regrets.”

Roy is just two years removed from his best regular season and is still considered one of the league’s premier goalies at 37, but he figured it would be better to go out on top rather than tarnish his image.

“It’s always been important for me to play with consistency, but also leave on my own terms,” said Roy, who made the decision to retire before this season. “I think I’ve accomplished everything I wanted and I think I’ve done basically what I think I should.”

It’s hard to imagine doing much more.

Roy won four Stanley Cup titles – two each with Colorado and Montreal – and holds nearly every major goaltending record. He is the only three-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the MVP of the playoffs.

He is the league’s career leader in victories with 551 and games played with 1,029, and he’s also tops in playoff victories, games played and shutouts.

His 23 playoff shutouts and his 247 post-season games and 151 wins are well ahead of Grant Fuhr, who is second with 150 games and 92 wins. He also popularized the butterfly style of play.

“You always knew you would have a chance to win with Patrick in net,” said Mike Keane, who played with Roy in Colorado and Montreal.

Roy announced his retirement at a news conference attended by his wife Michele and three children, Avalanche coach Tony Granato, and teammates Keane, Joe Sakic and Brad Larsen.

The biggest sports news in Denver since John Elway retired three years ago was carried live on several local television stations was beamed live via satellite to Montreal, where reporters were able to ask questions. The news conference was also carried live in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet, CBC Newsworld, The Score, RDS, the Quebec all-news channels RDI and LCN.

With a large mural of him as a backdrop and a cutout of his figure in front of a goal on the side, Roy reflected on a career that began with a six-year-old kid stopping shots in the upstairs of his parents’ house with pillows strapped to his legs.

“I’ve had a blast. It’s been unbelievable. I’ve been so fortunate to have lived a dream and have fun for more than 18 years earning a living by playing a game I love,” said Roy, who spoke in English and French during the news conference.

Those around him had a little more trouble accepting that Roy had left the crease for the last time.

Michele Roy got teary-eyed on several occasions and Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix choked back tears as he talked about his relationship with Roy.

“I was fortunate to share a lot of experiences with Patrick and his family,” said Lacroix, who was Roy’s agent before bringing him to Denver in 1995 in a trade with Montreal.

“Every hockey fan in Colorado and throughout the world will always remember your remarkable accomplishments,” Lacroix said as he turned to Roy.

Roy said his only emotional time came the morning after Colorado’s Game 7 loss to Minnesota in the first round of this year’s playoffs, a game in which he gave up the winning goal to Andrew Brunette in overtime.

“That morning when I got up, I had tears in my eyes thinking that could be the last game,” Roy said. “But from there I really felt good about everything.”

Roy has been bothered by arthritic hips and has lost some of his mobility, but said his health had no bearing on the decision.

“This year was probably the best year,” Roy said of his health. “Injury was not even a factor in my decision.”

In retiring, Roy walks away from one year left on his contract, which was at Colorado’s option, worth $8.5 million US. He is due a $1-million bonus upon retirement.

Roy said he’s open to serving in a management role with an NHL team, but his immediate plans are to move back to Quebec and work with the junior team he owns, the Remparts. He also wants to spend time following the career of his son, Jonathan, who will begin playing at Notre Dame, the prestigious prep school in Saskatchewan, in the fall.

Lacroix said the Avalanche will retire Roy’s No. 33 jersey during a game next season. It will hang next to Ray Bourque’s No. 77, the only other Avalanche jersey to be retired since the team moved to Colorado in 1995. The Montreal Canadiens wouldn’t say Wednesday if they will follow suit.

His relationship with the team ended on bad terms when, on Dec. 2, 1995, Mario Tremblay, who had replaced Jacques Demers as head coach of the Canadiens two weeks into the season, left Roy in for nine goals of an 11-1 loss to Detroit at the old Montreal Forum.

Roy raised his arms in defiance to the braying crowd and when he was finally pulled, he brushed past Tremblay, leaned over to team president Ronald Corey and said he was finished in Montreal. He was soon traded Colorado.

He also angered many Canadian hockey fans when he decided not to play for Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. He said it was because he wanted to focus on his NHL season but many felt it was because he wasn’t guaranteed a starting spot. Canada went on to win the gold medal. Roy did play in the 1998 Winter Games in Japan where Canada finished fourth.

When asked Wednesday if he had any regrets about missing out on the gold medal, Roy didn’t miss a beat.

“Not at all,” he said. “I went to the Olympics in Nagano and I had a good time there. It was perfect. I had my chance, at the time I thought I had other things to do and I still have no regrets.”

I walk into Future Bakery on Bloor Street. It’s rather chilly out, and I’ve come out of the cold to check out a meatspace “Meetup,” a gathering of facetime-inclined netizens organized via the recently-created, New York-based Meetup.com. The top three get-togethers in Toronto are all weblog-related: Slashdot, arguably the granddaddy of all blogs; LiveJournal, a site for hosting online journals (a blog by any other name); and Weblogger, whose titular relationship to blogging is self-evident. Fark clocks in at number seven. Yet another free blog-hosting service, Xanga, rounds out the top ten most populous get-togethers in Toronto. To get a feel for what Meetup offers, I’ve pencilled in three of these meetings on my calendar. Although the first (for Ultima Online users in the Greater Toronto Area) simply doesn’t occur because of lack of response, I’m meeting Toronto bloggers tonight at Future Bakery, and a week later I’ll stop in at the Rivoli for the Slashdot crowd.

So I’ve trekked up Yonge and across Bloor to attend the third-largest event, as ranked on Meetup.com, in Toronto. As I emerge from the doorway, I can clearly see a sign that says “Meetup: Bloggers.” I can also see that I’m one third of this group.

Bloggers Tim Campbell and Zhan Huan Zhou make up the rest of the trio. Seated around a small table, they describe their own blogs and experiences with Meetup. Campbell, a self-described “software bohemian,” started his own blog entitled “!?” when he felt his posts to the collaborative news/humour site Fark stopped being significant. “My stuff was just getting lost on Fark.” Zhou maintains several blogs, and is a Masters student in biomedical engineering.

The conversation ranges from domain-name squatting (“Delete.com has recently become available, and is for sale by an Australian domain name company!”), to a list of local blogs (gtabloggers.com), to daily browsing habits. But talk is mostly directed towards topics unrelated to weblogs. The relative merits of living in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal surface. Attendees’ commutes are briefly glossed over. University education and its benefits, such as ample gaming time, get a mention. In fact, this sounds more like a few guys shooting the breeze than a conversation that a group of independent pseudo-journalists might cook up. Campbell says this is typical of his experience with other Meetups as well: “At the Fark Meetup, we went practically the entire night without anyone even mentioning Fark. It’s just an excuse to get together and talk.

“If it weren’t for Meetup, I wouldn’t have met any of the GTA bloggers.”

At this point, two young women in bicycle gear approach our table. The word “blog,” with its amputated-portmanteau quality, has piqued their interest. “What’s a blogger?” Needless to say, a lengthy explanation follows.

After they walk off, Tim remarks, “This sign is a real chick magnet.” I chuckle to myself and ask him and Zhou about their experience with Meetup. While both are supportive of the Meetup concept, they both had sharp criticisms of its current execution. “I think Meetup’s stupid. No one comes out,” says Zhou. “There are so many parallel groups, like the GTABloggers and Yahoo! Groups, that get together on their own. It doesn’t have to be a specific date or anything, so if someone can’t make it they can change the date.”

Tim’s main complaint is the site’s layout. “I mean, we can agree on one thing: Does the design suck, or does it suck? When every page of your site needs a FAQ, that’s a sign that you’re in trouble. Plus, I can’t tell when I’m logged in or logged out, nothing’s clear. It says on their site that they’re hiring. They should hire a graphic designer, as soon as possible.”

Tim then goes out for a smoke. As the door closes behind him, another young woman approaches our table to ask what a blogger is. I shake my head, thinking to myself, “Damn, what if this thing really is a chick magnet?”

The basic idea behind Meetup, as explained by public-relations representative Myles Weissleder, is to help gatherings of common interest groups around the world. Based in New York, the idea behind Meetup crystallized during the shock following the September 11th catastrophe. “A large part of the impetus to create Meetup stemmed from the general feeling of ‘community disconnect’ in NYC after 9/11. It’s also a ploy from a bunch of self-proclaimed computer/internet geeks to help people get away from their computers and their TVs and back into the real world — something that we tend to forget exists.”

After departing from the friendly intimacy of the bloggers, I’m still curious. On another night of the month, I visit the Slashdotters. I can’t climb the Rivoli’s stairs without the loud music reminding me of Tim’s complaint about events here — it’s loud and hard to talk. After I step into the room, a man with a Blackberry greets me and cheerfully tells me that this is the largest Slashdot Meetup in the world. In fact, according to Weissleder, this is the largest Meetup in the world, period. One of the previous meetings drew fifty-nine confirmations from registered users on Meetup.com, setting an all-time record on the site. Tonight, my appearance brings the grand total of attendees to nine, which will later hit a high watermark of twelve.

The seemingly lackluster turnout rekindles some doubts I had about the entire Meetup concept. On its website, the company predicts income will come from two sources: retailers who host Meetups, and “upcoming extra-cool features” that should increase future revenues. But Meetup.com does not carry any advertising, so is money actually being made? According to Weissleder, “We’re making a little bit of money. We’re young (launched in June 2002) and fully expect it to take some time before we start raking in the bucks. [But] seriously, we’ve got a business model that is being proved every day. We’ve been funded by some angels and are closing a round of smart VC money as I [speak].” The Meetup site mentions prospective venues paying for placement during the venue selection process, but the low numbers beg the question: How big do Slashdotters (and bloggers, and Ultima Online players) tip?

When I take a look at the Slashdot tables, stocked with plates of spring rolls and glasses of beer, Myles’ business model seems a little more plausible.

I sit down, and conversation is already in full swing. The air is buzzing with talk about the Washington sniper and media scapegoating of videogames. Attendees avidly discuss an article posted on Penny Arcade, a popular gaming site, which meant to predict such phenomena, but eerily coincided with it instead. Conversation moves on to luminaries in the Linux and Open-Source communities, such as people’s opinions of Richard Stallman, and personal experiences with meeting Linux creator Linus Torvalds.

The group’s composition is entirely male and overwhelmingly knowledgeable. The conversation really starts to heat up when new features of the most recent Linux kernel upgrade are mentioned. Soon, esoteric terms and jargon fly around the table like a whirlwind. Excited chatter fills the air. “They’ve totally rewritten the SCSI stuff. The buffers are completely new. And the UML — Oh! the UML!” The very mention of User Mode Linux steers the conversation into a cavernous vein. Soon, the Slashdotters are elbow-deep in a discussion of virtual Linux kernel simulation, a concept akin to simulating multiple operating environments, each stacked within another, like a series of nested Russian Matryoshka dolls.

Around the other side of the table, two highschoolers are describing a unique way of taking care of their curriculum’s forty hours of artistic activity per term requirement. They’ve convinced their instructor that a weekend-long interactive webcast of them hanging out is artistic enough to qualify, and they’re discussing technical minutiae of streaming with the other techies seated in the booth.

This evening, no random young women stop by the booth and tables to ask what Slashdot is. However, there is no sign at this Meetup. Still, as I look around the table and listen to the aural, real-time equivalent of Slashdot postings, one thing is clear: Chick-magnet or no, Meetup has managed to fuel personal encounters of like-minded people who may never have met otherwise. Whether it will survive or become profitable in the future is unclear, but it’s certainly fascinating to watch.

Bourque retires after 22 years in NHL, Stanley Cup win

By JOHN MOSSMAN AP Sports Writer June 26, 2001

DENVER (AP) — For 22 seasons, Ray Bourque performed like few others on the ice. On Tuesday, he showed he knew how to make a grand exit, too.

Bourque announced his retirement 17 days after hoisting the Stanley Cup with tears streaming down his face.

Bourque’s pursuit of the elusive cup made him a sentimental favorite in this year’s playoffs.

“It took a long time, but the timing was perfect,” he said. “For me, this is a pretty neat finish. It means I retire as a champion.”

An emotional Bourque dabbed at his eyes and choked back tears several times at a news conference.

“Many of you have asked why I am retiring at a time when I am still playing pretty well,” Bourque said.

“By far the most important factor is my desire to be around my children,” said the father of three.

“Frankly, I also have had a strong commitment to myself never to stay too long in the game. Also, we are still on cloud nine having won the Stanley Cup and having achieved that goal kind of rounds out my career.

“It’s been a wonderful, happy, terrific 22 years.”

Bourque, 40, the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history, was a five-time winner of the Norris Trophy as the league’s best defenseman and played in a record 19 consecutive All-Star games.

He played for 21 seasons in Boston, but requested a trade to a contender in March 2000 in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. He finally got it when the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils in Game 7 on June 9.

Although Bourque’s stint in Colorado lasted just 15 months, his No. 77 jersey will be retired and will hang from the rafters of Pepsi Center, Avalanche general manager Pierre Lacroix said.

“Ray’s contributions to our hockey club were tremendous and will never be forgotten,” Lacroix said.

Bourque’s jersey is the first to be retired in the six-year history of the Avalanche and the fifth in the history of the franchise, which originated as the Quebec Nordiques.

Despite his long career in Boston, Bourque said, “I am a Colorado Avalanche, and I am retiring as one. So it is only right that I have returned to Denver to make this announcement.”

Bourque recalled reporting to the Boston Bruins’ training camp in 1979, “hoping to make the big team. I was a shy, quiet kid from St. Laurent, Quebec. I believed I could play in the NHL, but you never know until you get there.

“Over 1,800 games and 22 years later, here I am having exceeded my wildest dreams. I have been honored to play with great players on terrific teams. I have been very lucky along the way. I’ve avoided devastating injuries. I’ve won a few awards. And I’ve capped my career by being part of a Stanley Cup-winning team.”

Family matters became more important for Bourque since his trade to the Avalanche. Bourque’s wife, Christiane, and their children, aged 17, 15 and 10, stayed in Boston after he was traded.

Other than spending more time with his family, Bourque said he had no immediate plans for his future.

“This summer is going to be very busy, especially with a visit from my new friend, Stanley,” he said. “I’ve had that cup twice now with me, and next week it’s going to Montreal with me.

“I suppose once I get to the fall, I’ll be able to sit back and think about some business options and other opportunities.”

He called winning the cup “an unbelievable feeling,” but insisted he had “absolutely no regrets” about leaving the game now.

“To compete at the highest level of this game, you have to be mentally prepared every night,” he said. “Honestly, that gets tougher and tougher to do after 22 seasons.

“I could have played another two or three years, but I don’t think I would have played at the same level. I’ve always wanted to go out on my terms and playing at the level I’ve been accustomed to playing. There are some things you can’t do anymore. You make some adjustments, but you just can’t react as quick, and I knew I wasn’t going to get any quicker.”

Asked what he will miss most, Bourque said, “Just messing around with the guys, having fun playing a kid’s game. I am 40 years old and go to the rink every day and play a game for a living. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Bourque said he decided last summer that the 2000-2001 season would be his last, regardless of his team’s accomplishments.

“The voice in my head kept saying the same thing. I knew I was leaving after this year. I was just hoping it could finish like this. This is the one thing I was chasing for so long and hoped I was going to be able to hoist.”

Asked what legacy he hoped to leave his teammates, he said, “I think the passion and just the joy of playing the game.”

With Bourque’s retirement, the Avalanche save $5.5 million, the difference between his 2001-02 salary of $6.5 million and a $1 million buyout. That should help the team pursue its marquee free agents: Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Patrick Roy.

Anyway, what’s afoot right now is a major hellstorm of flame email targeted at this moron. He made a big mistake when he took a piss on Canada. His email is WoodyPaige [at] aol [dot] com . Make it hurt. Pass it on.

-Ian.

—- http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1002,111%7E20077,00.html

By Woody Paige Denver Post Sports Columnist

Thursday, April 12, 2001 – Woe is Canada.

I feel sorry for Canadians.

“Canada is a country where nothing ever seems to happen,” wrote author Carol Shields. “A country you wouldn’t ask to dance a second waltz.” A country that rarely has a team in the second waltz of the playoffs.

Other than arguing over which language to speak, hockey is the national pastime.

Yet, a Canadian hockey team hasn’t won an NHL championship since all the people spoke Iroquoisese, eh?

And that streak won’t end this year.

Three of the four Canadian clubs in the playoffs will be eliminated in the first round, and the only reason there won’t be a four-gone conclusion is that Toronto is playing Ottawa. One must advance – and will be dumped in the second round.

Take the Vancouver Caknuckleheads. Please. They open the postseason tonight at The Can against the Colorado Avalanche.

Vancouver’s Marc Crawford, who used to coach a talented team, is reduced to rolling out goons, buffoons and Princess Dyes. Three Vancouver forwards – and the all-important assistant equipment manager – have dyed their hair blond before the first game. The Avs must be scared out of their sweaters. The Caknuckleheads are going to try to dazzle ’em with their ‘dos.

Given the brute style of hockey the Caknuckleheads prefer to play, Avalanche coach Bob Hartley would be wise not to to risk injury by scratching Ray Bourque, Rob Blake, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Patrick Roy (none of whom has gotten a roots tint) and let the Hershey Bears win four in a row.

The Caknuckleheads, making a playoff appearance for the first time in five seasons, are missing Markus Naslund and Andrew Cassels and don’t know whether to start Bob Essena or Dan Cloutier in goal. Doesn’t matter. The Avs won’t take pity on either. The only edge Vancouver has is that Crawford’s hair is more stylish than Hartley’s. The Avalanche management doesn’t even have to short-sheet Crow’s bench. The only exciting matchup in the series is Crawford vs. Pierre Lacroix.

Can’t we get this over with and get on with a good United States opponent?

North Dakota calls itself “The Peace Garden State” because there is a peace garden (which reportedly blooms one weekend in July) on the border with Canada, as if we have to worry about peace with our northern neighbors, who still bow to a queen who lives on a distant island. Canada may be the world’s second-largest country in land mass, but a U.S. invasion and takeover would be finished by brunch.

Like this series – which will be over after three games and six minutes into the fourth.

Once again, by the conference finals, Canadians will be innocent bystanders, cheering only for Don Cherry’s outfits and outbursts.

The NHL is too wound up about expanding the playoffs when, instead, the league should be aiding and abetting Canada.

If it weren’t for Canada, where would so many of us have hidden out during the Vietnam War?

There should be realignment to give the Canadians, including the Canadiens (and their new Colorado owner), hope in the postseason.

Canada should an occasional prospect for reclaiming the Stanley Container.

As always, I’m here with a solution.

Divide the league into four conferences – North, South, Midwest/West and Canada.

North: Buffalo, Boston, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

South: Washington, Carolina, Nashville, St. Louis, Dallas, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Florida.

Midwest/West: Minnesota, Chicago, Colorado, Phoenix, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim and Columbus.

Canada: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary.

The top four teams from each conference – a total of 16, same as now – would move onto the playoffs, with Nos. 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 meeting in the opening round.

For instance, the conference champion, Colorado, would play Phoenix, and San Jose would play Los Angeles.

After two intraconference series, the winners would reach the conference finals.

What’s different? Canada annually would be guaranteed of sending four teams to the playoffs and would be assured of having one in the conference finals, with a 50 percent chance of being represented in the Stanley Cup Finals. As an example, this year it could have been the Avalanche from the Midwest/West, Dallas from the South, Detroit from the North and Ottawa from the Canada conferences.

Canada would alternate in the conference finals against the other three.

There.

Otherwise, Canadians are forced to watch ice fishing and curling in May and June.