totale

i have seen a lot of baseball in the last few days, and it has been excellent. i got to see the us hang up 8 runs on venezuela in the sixth, the italians upset the candians, and the terrible result of a near-mercy match between italy and venezuela. all sorts of great stuff, huge home runs, a bunch of triples, the best defense i've ever seen. don't let anyone tell you that this is supposed to be spring training. i've seen spring training games, this is far from it. the competition has been intense in most if not all cases. the whole competition is pretty compelling at this point, things like australia scoring a massive upset, the korean's dramatic 1-0 win over japan, and more importantly, the dutch beating the domincan republic in not one but two unthinkable upsets to advance to the next round, and the finale tonight in shocking fashion further heightened by the competition's esoteric rule about starting with two runners after twelve innings, which isn't too offensive of an idea really. tomorrow we find out the groups for the next round. the dutch could play the americans, and that is a wild prospect. the cubans are playing the aussies right now, and it is tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth with two on two out and a full count. i can get into this.
but it is really the setting that brings it all together. toronto, ontario, canada is an incredible place. the stereotype is that the people are really nice, and while this certainly proves true in some cases, it isn't pervasive. "courteous" and "thoughtful" are more accurate. this is still a big big city, but the underlying interactions of its inhabitants result in a populace that leads a less stressful atmosphere. human beings are very fickle creatures, and slight changes in environment undoubtedly have occasionally far-reaching influences. obviously, i'm on vacation, and away from some cares people at home here aren't. but from where i'm standing, this is a place with all of the upsides and opportunities of a major city in this region of the world and but missing a lot of the downsides of many different other places. this is a marvelous city.
and the aussies just pulled ahead. if you are into names that begin with "y" you should really see the wbc cuban baseball team roster (which is sadly missing yunieski bentancourt - perfect combo) also witness the pants of the cuban team. yeah, it is always like that. they have hit three batters this inning, and should cut that out. the thing is, you can do a good job of "accidentally" hitting someone with a pitch, whereas you cannot "accidentally" charge the mound like richie sexson.
anyway, enough baseball for a moment. let me say something about curling. the most important curling tournament in canada is also playing right now. i like just about everything about it. it is inexplicably called the brier. it is sponsored by tim horton's. they have an ad that is funny enough but still makes some sense and they play it enough but it isn't overdone. the teams are determined by nationwide competitions that go as low as different groups of clubs within the same small town. this is totally possible with games that are not very strenuous and have teams of four. i think it is pretty easy to learn the rules of a game that has simple basics while you watch it and have rules references in front of you. there are some pretty good terms. let's go stack the brooms, eh. can't quite tell if they got a biter there or not. this is our favorite dude, who yells incomprehensibly (in an extremely quebecois manner) whenever his team is curling. martin crete, ladies and gentlemen: "I'd like to think I'm passionate and I'm loud," Howard said in a break from covering the curling chorus from the broadcast booth at the Canadian men's curling championship. "I know I sound annoying to a lot of people. "I've had many older people come up to me and say, 'You're the reason they invented the mute button.' "

"Martin Crete? He's a little aggressive," Alberta lead Ben Hebert said after Monday morning's 7-4 victory over Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons.

"Just today, I was in the hack on one of Jean-Michel's shots. Martin was losing his mind, so I just sat there and waited a couple of seconds. Usually, it doesn't bother me at all, but that was a little over the top.

"I don't know what he's yelling. I think he just yells, 'Ah' as loud as he can. His girlfriend must get an earful."

once you understand the game, it is kind of like the love child of pool and bowling. there is a ton of great strategy, gameplay is very deliberate, and it is totally relaxed to play. it has been great to have it on to fill gaps and often because it is not tough to play a few games a day. i really really want to try it.

even if you don't like sports, some things are just cool as cultural institutions. that is certainly the quality of the hockey hall of fame. this was like a museum/shrine. the sign says welcome to the cathedral of hockey. i don't know french, but the french version of that sign uses the same word as it does in the translation of just plain "hockey all of fame". it seemed a little silly until i got inside: it is a house not simply of artifacts, but relics. i had a friggin blast, but the cup would have been worth it all on its own. it is in an extremely own building that was once the bank of montreal location. the kind of place that has a sweet vault. but it isn't like a bank, it is like a train station mixed with a church. the atmosphere is hushed. no one speak loud when they are near the cup. i think the best friggin stained glass ever might have something to do with that. the main thing is that unlike almost every other much revered comparable item, you get to touch the stanley cup. the real friggin thing. it makes the trip a true pilgrimage. really an incredible and indellible experience.

more to say than there is time to say it, and that makes it a great trip.