Tuesday, 28 April 2020

WHL Bantam Draft made me feel normal in COVID-19 times

All set to cover the WHL Bantam Draft last Wednesday in the home office.
    It is a different question to be asked, “What is it like to feel normal?”
    I remember being asked that very query about seven years ago during a rough stretch when I was feeling better again.
    My obvious response was, “It feels good.”
    If you go through a period of time where you don’t feel normal, it is an odd different good feeling when the light bulb goes on when you realize you are feeling normal.
    The part that sticks out in your head at that sort of time is the thought that, “This is how it should be.”
    In the current day under the spectre of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it seems like the days are never normal.
    Actually, the common term that is thrown around is “the new normal” to basically insinuate that what used to be normal will never return again.
    Back when the shutdowns first started to happen on March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it seemed like the only thing that felt different was adjusting to daily change in society. Eventually going into the fourth week of shutdowns, it seemed like a new daily routine had unfolded in life at least for me.
Some of the pictures I’ve taken on recent WHL playoff trails.
    Still, I had a moment where I felt normal. Actually, it was a run of time where I felt normal.
    The run of time centred around covering the WHL Bantam Draft, which was held last Wednesday. I did pre-draft work the day before WHL Bantam Draft for this blog.
    Last Wednesday, I was covering the WHL Bantam Draft for the Davidson Leader and this blog. The pieces on both platforms focused around highly skilled forwards Riley Heidt and Brayden Yager, who played midget AAA last season for the Saskatoon Contacts and lived for a time in Dundurn, Sask.
    Both were selected in the first round with Heidt going second overall to the Prince George Cougars and Yager going third overall to the Moose Jaw Warriors.
    I’ve covered the WHL for 21 seasons and have worked my share of past WHL Bantam Drafts.
    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHL Bantam Draft was held in an online form. Over the years, that never mattered to me.
    I haven’t attended any WHL Bantam Draft in person, because usually you would be busy trying to phone team officials and players who were selected in the draft.
I try to have some fun when I work from home.
    Only a handful of players in the past have attended the WHL Bantam Draft in person, so it only made sense to follow it online.
    This year it likely felt really different for team officials, because they usually gather in one location for a live in person draft as opposed to conducting a draft online.
    Last Wednesday, I was tracking the WHL Bantam Draft online, made some social media posts in the morning and did a phone interview near the lunch hour with Marc Chartier, who recently stepped down from being the Contacts head coach. I later did a second interview in the early afternoon with Yager.
    After the interview with Yager, it hit me that this was what I was supposed to be doing. I felt normal.
    The only thing that made that moment different was the realization that I felt normal. I was doing exactly what I have done on many WHL Bantam Draft days in the past.
    I should note that from 2016 to 2019 I usually covered off the WHL Bantam Draft with note type items, because I was on the road covering the WHL playoffs.
    A number of other things would be going on too that captured my attention like the Dogs’ Breakfast, which is an annual scholarship fundraiser for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team, and the Saskatoon Valkyries starting a Western Women’s Canadian Football League season.
I enjoyed catching up with Marc Chartier, back row right.
    Still, I was working a day last Wednesday that was pretty much identical to days I worked covering the Prince Albert Raiders for the Prince Albert Daily Herald or the Medicine Hat Tigers for the Medicine Hat News.
    After transcribing interviews with Chartier and Yager, I got in touch with Heidt. After the interviews were done, we had short visits over the phone afterwards, and it was great to catch up like you normally would.
    The longest visit was with Chartier, who noted it felt like it was the right time for him to leave the Contacts after 13 seasons. He stepped down after this past season concluded.
    I hadn’t talked with him since the season concluded, and I was wondering how he was doing.
    You could tell he felt comfortable with his decision. Of course, we shared a bunch of old hockey stories too.
    On Monday, reality hit again, when you go back to living your lockdown life. That included doing work in the home office and not going to any sports events or anywhere in fact.
I look forward to return to live WHL games when normal times return.
    There is no place to go as everything is shutdown.
    Usually at this point in the year, I would be life consumed busy with the WHL playoffs going on. I am still busy, but it is a controlled busy.
    I actually have time to help around the home and enjoy down time things like movies, YouTube videos and video games. I have gotten it into my mind I will allow myself to enjoy these things.
    With all that said, it was great to feel like I was living my life before the COVID-19 shutdowns during the WHL Bantam Draft week, even if it was just a seemingly short period of time.

Money, economics elephant in COVID-19 days, other thoughts

Will people have cash to go to sports events after the COVID-19 pandemic?
    I feel like money and economics are the elephant in the room during these shutdown times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Of course, the top priorities have to be health and safety. It is cool to see that it feels like everybody is on board with saving as many lives as possible.
    I think new compassion has developed with regards of caring for the elderly.
    After the shutdowns started to occur on March 11 due to COVID-19, it seems like for me people try to shy away from talking about money or economics. To be honest, I have lots of days were I do the same thing.
    Still, questions go through my head every now and then. I wonder how businesses will stay open as the time span increases where they are bring in a lot less income than they used to?
    How will sports teams continue without money coming in from ticket sales and dealing with decreased sponsorships?
    How will minor sports organizations keep going without being able to conduct the fundraisers they used to while also dealing with a decrease in sponsorships?
    How will everyone be able to keep paying their bills, especially those that are dealing with a reduction in pay, reduction in hours or have been laid off?
Will the paused businesses in downtown Saskatoon survive COVID-19?
    I know the Government of Canada has rolled out a number of emergency measures, but you have the gut feeling there will be a catch there in the tax department. Nothing is ever free.
    On top of that, how much debt will governments at various levels take on, and how will that affect things going forward?
    It feels like the Canadian thing to do is throw everything on credit and expect your life insurance to pay for everything once you pass on. I kind of had that jaded view about Canada for a least the last 10 years.
    My head also proceeds to ask, “When will the bottom fall out when it comes to throwing everything on credit?”
    Over the past week, I have heard one economist on news talk radio say more damage has already been done to the economy than what occurred in the years of the first half of the “Great Depression” spanning 1929 to 1934.
    To me it seems like the defence mechanism that all walks of life use is to not talk about money at all and proceeded with your day as normally as possible.
    As for me, I just take things one day at a time, and I have said that lots before.
    My gut feeling that when it comes time to eventually pay the piper, there will be a lot of people that forget what happened in the COVID-19 pandemic with regards to saving lives, and they will constantly say how upset they are.

  • It seems like it is pretty easy to find a COVID-19 conspiracy theory out there or find people who believe a conspiracy theory. I believe conspiracy theories take root because there is a distrust of politicians and world leaders that has hung around for a number of years. I believe that distrust helps feed conspiracy theories.
  • For what it is worth, I think most of the politicians and leaders in Canada have handled themselves well and have handled the COVID-19 pandemic well. To me, it seems like you those with different political views are all pulling in the same direction to gain the best result possible in navigating this crisis.
  • When I have made a supply run to the grocery store and I see someone wearing a mask, I always keep thinking of Canada’s criminal mask law. Of course, that doesn’t apply to shoppers and those out an about in public. They are trying to protect themselves from COVID-19. The mask law introduced by the Government of Canada in Bill C-309 that became law on June 19, 2013 bans the use of wearing masks during a riot or other unlawful assembly, and those convicted could face up to 10 years in prison. Canada’s Criminal Code, Section 351(2) covers “Disguise with Intent” that makes it an indictable offence to wear a mask or disguise to commit an indictable offence. I can’t see those laws having to be enforced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • It was four years ago today on April 28, 2017 the ground-breaking ceremony was held for Merlis Belsher Place, which is the new hockey rink facility on the grounds of the University of Saskatchewan campus. At the moment, Merlis Belsher Place sits in waiting to see if it will become a field hospital for overflow COVID-19 patients. Hopefully, that day never comes. My old story on the ground-breaking ceremony day can be found by clicking right here.
  • A Twitter fan account has been created for Dr. Saqib Shahab, who is Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer. The Twitter handle is @ShahadFanClub and followers call themselves the #ShahabSquad. To me, it feels like Shahab is the best out of all the Chief Medical Health Officers who has been shown in the media dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. It does feel like Dr. Shahab is becoming a celebrity. I can already see him doing a ceremonial kickoff of home game for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. If you haven’t been following the account, it is worth your time to do it.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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