I really need to weigh in...

I rarely make non-book or non-blog related posts here.  The only exceptions would be if something serious has happened in my life or my Sunday Salon posts or when I need to say something about my beloved team.  And today I am making that exception.

If you follow me on my main twitter account or Facebook, you know that the season ended on Sunday evening for the Canucks. And today the team had their final media scrum from the various players and the final words on the season from the General Manager (I don't get why the GM has to say something about his analysis, because with the Entry Draft around the corner they will be analyzing the needs of the yet again; personally I think its a waste of time and ink space, but I digress).  And there were a couple of things that came out of the day, one that was not exactly surprising and the other that was a complete surprise.

Back in March the Canucks traded a young player to another team out East and it came out that the player did request to be moved.  Well rather he wanted more playing time, but that the fact that he had two established centres ahead of him, there was no chance of that, so that was no surprise.  The second thing that came out of the final day of interviews was that the Canucks main goaltender, who has a huge contract and a no-movement clause, is actually willing to waive the no movement clause, if the team could get somebody who would be willing to take on his huge, multi-year contract.  The Canucks have a younger goaltender who is probably in some respects better than the main goaltender.   And honestly I hope they move Luongo; maybe fans can booo him instead of Luuuuu him.

Sunday Salon - An open dialogue

The last seven days have been a blur, especially since I heard some sad news on Monday evening.

A former member of the Vancouver Canucks passed away on Monday and it came as a complete shock to myself and most fans of the team, as well as fans of other teams. His name was Rick Rypien and his greatest claim to fame was this incident last October:



He was subsequently suspended for the incident and not long after serving his 6 game suspension (some were asking for an even longer suspension), he took an indefinite leave from the team in late November for some personal issues that were known only by the team and by certain members of the local members of the media.  At the time of the leave, there were calls from fans for the team to disclose why he was leaving the team (including myself).  He didn't return to the organization until sometime in March, where he went to play for the Canucks minor league affiliate in Winnipeg.

Over the summer, Rypien signed with the new Winnipeg NHL franchise and was from all reports looking forward to playing for the team in the coming season.  His body was found by a family member and his death was ruled as being not suspicious.  It was reveal the day after his death that he had been battling depression for the last decade.

When I heard the news of the death of Rypien, I was shocked; it came really out of nowhere, but what was surprising in regards to his death in the last few days was the fact that there seems to be this attitude among hockey scribes that his death was due to the fact that he was an enforcer and not the fact that depression that he suffered from was probably the primary cause was the depression that he had battled so hard to overcome, including the two leaves that he took to get professional help (he took an earlier leave to deal with his depression). 

As somebody who has to battle anxiety and depression on constant basis, I understand what he had to battle through.  The fear that the dark thoughts and feelings will return is a constant threat and the easy ability to say that things are okay when they aren't and lie.  The hardest thing to do is to reach out and ask for help, whether it be through medication or some sort of counseling or a combination of the two.  And clearly for people like Rick, it just becomes way too much and the only option to get out of the cycle is to just end it all.  Everything is a chore and even getting out of bed is hard; you are feeling more than blue; you are feeling as though your life basically doesn't matter and that ending it all would be the best solution. 

Depression is unique to each person and our triggers are unique to each of us and the situation just is how we deal with the anxiety and panic that seems to bring it on, but it can come on just as quickly with something is completely unrelated to what is causing the depression, anxiety or panic.

As I commented in an opinion piece earlier this week, "I hope that his death forces not only the professional sports community, but our society at large to talk about mental health issues and the stigma that they pose".  I hope that the death of Rick Rypien will not be in vain and allow pro sports to realize that depression is a very real disease that needs to be fought just like concussions and other physical injuries and I also hope that his death allows for a conversation among the rest of us of how to deal with depression and other mental disorders that seem to still plague our society.

Sunday Salon - Journalist responsibilty

This past week was a bad week for me other Canucks fans.  Not only did the Canucks get out scored by the Bruins this week, some morons decided that it was time to trash the city again for several hours. But then the comments/articles about the Canucks being dirty, divers, etc came out and it, for a better lack of a word, pissed me off.  Granted most of the media covering the Stanley Cup Finals were from out east and hadn't exactly watched a lot of Canucks games, but when you call out players and say that they basically don't deserve the captaincy, etc., then maybe you should question your own integrity.  I understand that journalists have their own biases when they go and write/say something, they bring their biases with them.  But when you, as a journalist, go out and deliberately show your biases, you have no right calling yourself a journalist, whether it be through radio, print, TV, or the internet.  Sure you can bring your passion and your interests and I may disagree with your opinions, but don't come out and blantely disregard the talent of individual athletes nor their passion.  Sure they may break down and are pissed off when they don't win the championship trophy, but don't say they are weaklings because they break down.  Remember they are human and that you would probably do the same; they have worked hard to come to this place.

Also, when you go and dis a team, do so in an ethical way.  Don't go and do what Dan Tercer of 630 CHED in Edmonton did the day after the Canucks lost the SCF.

FYI

I know by now a lot of you have seen the footage from Vancouver of the riot that ensued last night after last night's loss or have at least heard of it, but trust me, the people that were causing the destruction were not Vancouverites, but were instead people from other places who are professionals and saw an opportunity to tarnish what was otherwise a wonderful season for the team.  The city doesn't condone this sort of behaviour and it was tarnish by bullies (they targeted chain stores/banks in general).  Don't let the images of a few stupid people ruin your image of a city that hosted the Olympics about a year and a half ago.  These weren't true Canucks fans.

Sunday Salon - Not in the mood

Its funny what can get me in the mood to read,  but its also interesting what can get me in the mood to not read.  Several things can get me in a mood that I don't want to read anything:

• A Canucks win in the playoffs.  For me that's a strange one due to the fact that I am fairly big Canucks fan, but I suppose the fact that I am in such a good mood and am on Cloud 9 and therefore can't concentrate on reading

• A really bad Canucks loss anytime.  I am so hyper over the fact that they had a bad loss that I can't concentrate properly and am so wrapped up in the emotion that comes with a really bad loss, even if they make it a close game in.  For example, Game 3 in the Western Conference final I got so p---ed off due to some stupid moves by a player on the opposing team.  Even though I didn't exactly watch the game, I got so mad, that my concentration focused on other things and my mind went wacko.  Really bad losses tend to get me in a sour mood and therefore the concentration is broken.

• Focusing on things that I can't control and that I get obsessed about.  Its almost like I go into another zone and my focus is on that particular thing.  Whether it be bad or good, I just get into something and don't want to break away from it and not miss anything.

• When I am in TV series mood.  When I get into this mode, I can't seem to do anything else for that matter.  I even forget about my online life and just concentrate on whatever tv series I am watching at that moment.  Nothing else really matters at the time.

My other passion

As those that read this blog on a regular basis, you know that I have a passion for all things reading and books; it was something that was instilled in me at an early age and something that has carried on for about 30 years.

But there is something else that I am equally passionate about and even though I have only followed them on a regular basis for the past 17 years, they would be considered to be my second passion in life.  They have caused me great consternation at times, but also they have caused great joy and great anticipation.  They have caused me great heartache and made me wonder why I even bother follow them at times and have made me to lose sleep on a number of nights wondering if they will ever live up to my expectations.  Well, not just my expectations, but they are probably largely responsible for my nails never to really grow to a length that I would like (there are other reasons as well too, but they are the main reason).

They are the never ending soap opera at times, especially when things are going really bad and the light at the end of the tunnel seems to never appear.  With a book, I know there will be a beginning, a middle and end.  With this one, I know the beginning, but I don't know where the middle is nor do I know where the end will be and nor do I want to know what the ending will be.  Its a never ending story of sorts.

If you haven't guessed by know, my other passion is a sports team that is 4 wins away from its first league championship.  It has been to the league championship 2 other times, the last one being 17 years ago.  So before I sign off, I will say this:  Go Canucks Go.