OFF-BEAT: My "Other" Job

Let's take you back in time.

I was lucky enough to be the game-day host for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL during the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons.  Made a lot of good friends and even better memories.  And little did I know, being there would set some insane wheels in motion.

You see, I absolutely loved having that gig as my "rest and relaxation" time.  It was less about the hockey and more about improving the fan experience.  And I was given plenty of opportunity to do that.  So much so I still have one of my favorite memories from that time.

There was a young girl, couldn't be older than 3 or 4, who sat right above the entrance way to the bench for the Tigers.  She wanted a high-five as I came off the ice from a promotion but I couldn't reach.  So I jumped and we air high-fived.  It became our tradition every time.  One night she wanted a t-shirt that we were tossing out so as I made my way off the ice, I looked up but couldn't see her.  So I asked a gentleman sitting nearby if he could give the shirt to her when she got back.  Didn't think much more about it and continued on my way to the next promotion.  Later on in the game, as I was making my way around, I heard a loud "JOE!" and sure enough, it was the little girl, wearing her new t-shirt.  She runs up to me, with her arms wide open, and she comes in for a giant hug.  Her dad comes up to me and says "that's the nicest thing you could have done, thank you so much!"

When I left Medicine Hat, I never would have thought that my hosting career would continue.  Yet, it did.  Immediately started filling in with the Calgary Hitmen and have since moved up to full-time host, and much more.

I've filled in for the Flames and Roughnecks.  Was lucky enough to be a host for the Heritage Classic WHL game and the World Junior Hockey Championships.  Took over as the host for the U. of C. Dinos football team.  And in 2014, I added a few more notches to the belt.

It will be a year I'll remember as when my reign of terror hit overdrive.  I hosted the Stampeders vs. Hamilton game early on in the season, which meant I hosted at least one game for all four major sports teams in this city.  I went national in a sense when I was asked to host the CHL Top Prospects Game, featuring the best junior hockey players in the country, including a skills testing session which organizers were super-impressed with.  I was also lucky enough to host "Harvey's Redemption", an insanely emotional day at the 'Dome:


Plus there were all the non-sports events, like the Motionball Marathon of Sport Gala and the Beakerhead Catapult Competition.  Oh, and for good measure, I took over as a PA announcer for the Calgary Bantam Football Association this past fall.

I'm awake! It's #yyc bantam football announcin' time at Hellard Field. #loudmouthshnook #makesomenoise

A photo posted by Joe McFarland (@joemcfarlandyyc) on Oct 18, 2014 at 7:54am PDT

What I love most about my "other job" is the stories like the one above.  Only it happens on an almost nightly basis.  Might be something simple like a conversation with a long-time season ticket-holder.  Might be a big thank you from the parents of kids that just got to play on 'Dome ice for Timbits hockey at intermission.  Might be just the big smiles the players have on their faces as their names are announced on the loud speakers.  It makes it all worthwhile.

2014 was an insane year.  And it's time for me to thank YOU for letting me be part of the insanity!  From the organizations and my absolutely amazing co-workers, to the players and fans, it is an absolute honour and privilege.  I feel like I don't get the chance to thank you all publicly for letting me do what I do.  We've had a pretty rad start to 2015 and I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of shenanigans we can get into together.

MAKE SOME NOISE!

Politicians Gone Wild

You know what they say about stories with two sides that are polar-opposites, right?  The truth is always somewhere in the middle.

The latest debacle out of the city hall centers around councillors getting "blotto".  Yup.  Totally drunk.

What seemed like an innocent-enough idea by one councillor to clarify rules around expensing alcohol on the taxpayer's dime turned into an all-out gong-show at a city committee.  Councillors shooting allegations at one another, reports of "illicit substance" use, and a mayor telling them they're "not in junior high" among other things.  It's led to Calgary (and in particular this council) to be the butt of more than a few light-hearted jokes.

But that's the problem.  We have two polar-opposite accounts of what's going on.  City hall is either a frat house (or at least a place where alcohol and drug use is more common than we've all been led to believe) or else city hall is a church.  Or maybe it's somewhere in the middle.

If it's option #1, then we have a serious problem.  We have a council that's been hiding some pretty big demons and could lead to Calgary becoming the new Toronto, only instead of one mayor in hot water, we're going to be seeing hidden video and stripper confessions popping up in no time flat in Cowtown.  I'm not trying to make light of this.  Think about it for a second.

If it's option #2, then we have a completely opposite problem.  We have some pretty serious allegations being made by certain members of council that turned out to be baseless.  Does that show a contempt for their colleagues?  And what would that say about trivializing a societal problem of alcohol and substance abuse?

Perhaps there is a third option: this wasn't the "majority" of councillors, but a select few.  Maybe it's only one or two.  But then we have to ask ourselves: should that have been something aired in public, or should that have been a private conversation?  You know.  One of those talks where you say "I think you have a problem and I can get you the help you need."  Or if it's illegal drug use, maybe you call the police and tell them about the situation as it IS illegal.  But to air your grievances on the public record, without naming names, so that everyone's left wondering what the truth is?  Seems a little dangerous and possibly damaging.  It feels like we're getting into "defamation of character" country.

But that's where we're left now as taxpayers: wondering what in the heck is going on here.  The truth is somewhere in the middle, but it's a pretty large middle right now.  And because everything was aired in the public realm, you know reporters are going to be digging in their heels trying to get their hands on any story of a council member or high-ranking official letting loose.  Some councillors have created quite the PR pickle for themselves.  You either get to deal with the fact that councillors really like to party that much, or you get to apologize for misleading people into believing it was as dysfunctional as you made it out to be.

While some are making fun of this whole boondoggle, some very serious questions need to be answered in the coming days if councillors want to fully move forward from this.

Maybe I Was Wrong...

Sometimes you can feel like a broken record, trying to preach the same message over and over and over again.  Sometimes you wonder if your message is actually getting through.  And then, sometimes, you realize your message might have been off-kilter.

You see, I've been on a "can't we all just get along" kick when it comes to Calgary's on-going pedestrians vs. cyclists vs. motorists battle royale.  I thought if everyone would just look after each other, we'd be able to co-exist.  Peace is free, I would say.  Maybe I was wrong.

I thought maybe if we finally got the cycle track in place, we'd finally have some real data rather than depend so much on hypotheses and innuendo.  Or maybe city council could do something to be less-divisive and more-educational in getting everyone on the same page.  Maybe I was wrong.

What has made me see the light is the on-going battle between pedestrians and motorists.  You see, city council is mulling over the idea of spending $50,000 on a pilot project where lights would be embedded into the ground to draw even more attention to the fact that drivers are entering a pedestrian crosswalk.  Seems like an interesting idea.  And don't get me wrong.  I'm all for making it safer for everyone out there.

Yet, that's where things get hairy.  It really didn't take any time at all for detractors to say this was a waste of money.  Instead of talking about the need to make things safer for pedestrians and everyone else, some people ignored that and talked about how much they would be inconvenienced.  Or how much the city is spending.  Or on the flipside, how drivers are the root of all evil on the roads.  Or that we have to do something to get the attention of drivers back on the road, to actually have them pay attention.

Once again, we're back into the pedestrians vs. cyclists vs. motorists debate.  I ended up getting into an interesting discussion on Twitter (you can follow me @JoeMcFarland) and eventually one of the comments made was "Basic safety is good.  But fear of every intersection is a problem."  And that's where the "Eureka" moment happened.

Maybe the problem isn't that some pedestrians aren't paying attention and looking both ways before crossing the street.  Maybe the problem isn't that some cyclists weave in and out of traffic, acting like a cross between a vehicle and a pedestrian.  Maybe the problem isn't that some motorists would rather text their friends than pay attention to the road, where they're driving a 1,000 pound metal missile.  Maybe the problem is...

Wait for it...

Maybe the problem is that we're handing out driver's licenses to people like Oprah hands out cars on her show.  Like candy at Halloween.  Like beer at Stampede.

You get the picture.

It goes beyond that though.  Maybe we need to put our foot down and say "if you do something stupid than you should punished for it."  You wanna text and drive and get into an accident, or fail to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk?  You're going to get a BIG fine.  You wanna dart out into traffic because you're drunk and wanna stop a cab from getting away and get hit?  You're going to get a BIG fine.  You wanna weave your bicycle through traffic and not obey the rules of the road like other vehicles?  Do I need to really answer that?

Every situation is different.  I'm not victim-blaming.  I'm asking that we FINALLY start pinning the blame on those responsible.  That's all of US.  Stop trying to find a blanket solution (aka "pedestrian strategy" or "cycling strategy" or any other strategy).  Because no strategy.  No lights.  No fancy do-dats with whistles and horns.  None of it will ever stop all bad things from happening if we, as a society, don't stop and take a deep breath and realize that we're the problem.

Or maybe I'm wrong...