Marlies

You may not know this but most of the major sports franchises in North America have a series of what are known as farm teams. In the NHL the farm teams usually play in the AHL (American Hockey League). The farm team for the Toronto Maple Leafs is the Toronto Marlies. The Marlies are currently the only AHL team that plays in the same market as their NHL team.

Where am I?

Today I decided to play around with my new cell phone. I know I have had it for a while but it has a lot of fancy features. Anyhoo, I was pleased to discover that the map function on my phone can pinpoint my location. Now I will never be lost again so long as my phone's batteries hold out.

Marshmallow test

Calling all parents! I'll bet you are curious to know if your little tyke is gonna grow up to be a smartie pants, eh? Well, there is a very simple test to find out if that is likely. Researchers have found children who could wait for gratification were likely to do better academically. The test used in the experiment was very simple, a child could have one cookie, or marshmallow right now, but if they waited 15 minutes they could have two. The experiment revealed that 30% of kids could wait. Year later these kids were doing better academically.

The really good news is that such behaviours can be taught.

Jacques Plante

On this day in 1959 the face of hockey was changed when Montreal's goalkeeper refused to carry on playing without wearing a face mask. The goalie in question was Jacques Plante, and believe it or not until he donned the mask, no goalies in the NHL wore any kind of head protection, despite pucks flying at them at speeds of 100mph. The adoption of the goalie mask was not unanimous until a few years later, but Plante continued to wear his regardless.

Things that go bump in the night

Oooh! It's Hallowe'en tonight. The ghosts, ghouls, beasties, and things that go bump in the night are supposed to be wandering the earth tonight. You may note that they have a plasticy ordour, it's because they got their costumes from Walmart. But more importantly, thousands of people claim to have seen ghosts, so is there something that is causing this? A neuroscientist at Laurentian University seems to think so. Professor Persinger has proposed that hallucinations can be caused by magnetic fields. He found that when he directed magnetic fields at the brain's temporal lobes they reported hallucinations.

The Draft

So as my beloved Leafs continue to em, suck, I decided that maybe it might be good to focus on some of hockey's finer moments. I stumbled across a blog entry about the top 10 moments that changed hockey. Top of the list is the entry draft. The draft was introduced in 1963 and it broke the monopoly of the original hockey teams. Prior to 1963 the original hockey teams could scoured the young hockey players for the best and signed them young. The draft changed all this. Now the teams alternate in picking the best young players.

The way the Leafs are playing they will get the first pick for next season.

St Helena

St Helena used to be a British colony but it now what is known as British Overseas Territory. The island has no airport and relies on British aid to survive. Many islanders want an airport to be built on the island in the hope that it will encourage tourism and bolster the island's economy. There are fears that without improved transport links the island's economy will collapse altogether.

Ah the legacies of colonialism.