CONTEST - We Have A Winner

Well, the puck has dropped in the Toronto/Buffalo game (that was a mighty long pre-game) and so the contest has been closed.  I had 13 entrants with some great choices.  I really appreciate seeing some great info on some of the other "Good Guys" in sports.

But I'm sure you are all more interested in who won the mighty prize.

Up for grabs are five hard-signed Hockey Hall Of Fame autographs.  Bill Gadsby, Joe Nieuwendyk, Glenn Anderson, Alex Delvecchio and Luc Robitaille.

So I put all thirteen names into a list on random.org, randomizing it five times.

And the winner is.......
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Dave H

Congratulations Dave!!!

Dave wrote about David Clarkson and included a link to some of the great work he has done off the ice.  Nice job Clarky.

And thank you all for entering.  There were some names and efforts that I was unaware of until now and it really makes me feel good that some of the positive aspects of pro sports snagged a bit of the spotlight (even if it was just on my li'l blog).


Note: I did record the randomizing process and am happy to upload the video to Youtube should anyone like to see the process in determining a winner.

CONTEST - One Of The Good Guys

Back in May I was the fortunate recipient of a fantastic act of kindness by fellow blog brother Casey over at House Of Oglethorpe.  He knew about my HHOF Auto quest (he in fact had amassed a pretty impressive collection of autos himself) and decided to send a few signatures my way.  Thanks again Casey for the great additions to my project!

Some of the cards he sent were upgrades to ones I already had in my collection (unbeknownst to him).  So now I have some extras.  And I knew what I wanted to do with the extras the moment I opened that bubble mailer all those months ago.

So today, I'm announcing - CONTEST!!!!!

Before I get into what needs to be done to win.....let's see what goodies are up for grabs.

Joe Nieuwendyk auto.  Maybe I'll do a spelling contest?

These Lord Stanley's Mug signatures look really nice and I have no doubt would be a fun set to build.

Glenn Anderson auto.  Maybe a Movember moustache contest?

These cards scan horribly....but look much nicer in person.

Bill Gadsby auto.  Maybe a hockey history quiz?

Love these autos from earlier HOFers.  Especially hard signed.

Alex Delvecchio auto.  Ooooooh...a penmanship contest?

Another great hard signed signature set for those looking to start a new project.

Luc Robitaille auto.  Maybe a "Six Degrees of Wayne Gretzky" contest?  I don't even know what that means.

Who else likes there Luc places the 20 in his signature?  Fun.


So that's FIVE hard signed autographs of Hall Of Famers.  And all of them will go to one lucky winner.

So what do you have to do to enter?

Well, earlier today I read a great article by 4-time Canadian Olympic medalist Adam van Koeverden, a 15-year member of the Canadian national kayak team.  He responded (very passionately and eloquently) to an article about A-Rod and drugs in sport.

It was yet another strong example of positive, ethical......good athletes in our sports.  Good people that we can look up to and take inspiration from.  Good guys.

The article reminded of a blog post I made years ago about Olympic speed skater Johann Olav Koss and his quest post-racing career.  Or Patrice Bergeron who has been a strong prescience in the NHL to a number of people.....I know of one for sure.

So for this contest, all you have to do to enter is post a comment on an athlete you feel is a "good guy" (or gal) and why.  I don't need a long book, just a short paragraph.  I want know about other positive athletes in our world.......and not THAT kind of positive.

So post your comment, make sure you don't post as "anonymous" as your  comment name will be your ticket to entry.  Obviously only one entry per person and I will keep this contest open until puck drop of next Saturday's Toronto/Buffalo game (so Nov. 15 @ 5pm MDT).

At that point, I will take all the names, put them into a randomizer (random.org) and randomize 5 times (for the 5 cards up for grabs).  The name at the top of the list after the 5th randomize will receive all 5 cards.

I like saying 5 and randomize.

So good luck to all, I'm looking forward to reading your comments and thank you very much once again Casey for your kind generosity.  You're one of the good guys.

ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS - Calgary Hitmen 'Teddy Bear Toss'

OK....It's not 'ONE'.....it's 'MANY'!!!

I've been waiting for this past weekend's local junior hockey game so that I could post about a fantastic annual event that takes place here in town.

For 18 years, the WHL's Calgary Hitmen have been making a huge impact  with just the simple scoring of a single goal.  Of course the goal needs to come in the right place and at the right time.

This year, it was December 2......the annual Teddy Bear Toss.

For those of you not familiar with the concept, it's pretty simple.

Everybody coming to the game brings a stuffed animal.  When the home team scores their first goal - start chuckin'!

Wanna see over 20,000 bears hit the ice at one time?  Me too.

(go to 1:18 of the video)


Pavlo Padakin was the lucky player to score the Teddy Bear goal this year.  A definite career highlight for him.

Every player in that dressing room wants to be the one to score that special goal and the effort on the ice each and every year just elevates on this night.

Too much fun.

As much fun as it is to see on TV, it's even more of a blast in person (especially if you are down close to the glass).  Bears flying everywhere!  I took my niece and nephew to it a few years back and the whole game was just about the one moment.  A definite memory.

Now on to what these bears are all about.

The stuffed animals are gathered up and delivered by the Hitmen to local charities including the Alberta Children's Hospital.  A real cool gesture by the team without question.

Here's a look at the delivery of the bears.  Nice job guys.

I think it's also a good opportunity for some of these young men to see how important being a role model is and rewarding giving back to your community can be.

Since the inception of the Teddy Bear Toss, the Hitmen have donated more than 213,000 bears to the Calgary community.  This year over 50 charities have requested bears from the Teddy Bear Toss event.

In addition to the flying fuzzies, you may have noticed some unique jerseys worn by the players.

These special Christmas-style jerseys have a Santa hat perched on the front player logo as well as snow tufts on the numbers both on the sleeves as well as the back.

These jerseys will be auctioned off and the proceeds going to charity as well.  If for some reason you are interested in bidding, you can go to the Hitmen website and bid.

The Teddy Bear Toss - One Of The Good Guys!

ONE OF THE GOOD GUYS - Johann Olav Koss

I'm going to drift a little from the hockey cards for this post but I hope you stay with me on this one.  I'd love to get your opinions and thoughts when I'm through.

Tonight I read, for lack of a better term, a rant.  A rant ranging in subjects.  But as I read this rant all I could see was negative, negative, negative.  It left me thinking about it for a while.  I'll admit - it bothered me.

This part I'll be brief with.

Yes we live in a world where some crappy things happen.  Shady this and illegal that.  People who don't claim responsibility or flaunt and abuse the power they've been given.  But I whole-heartedly believe that for every negative "front page story" out there, there are many more positive ones out there.  They just aren't what sell.  It's a shame.

There are some people who have done some pretty amazing things - inspired not just one or two people, but hundreds or thousands.  There are some people who have not just offered some of their time for a cause, but have dedicated their lives to something they believe in.  There are some people who use their position in life (be it as a pro athlete, businessman, trade worker or even healthy human being) to breath positiveness into this world.

They deserve more face time.

And so I am starting a new topic on this blog.  And I'm calling it "One Of The Good Guys".

The goal of these posts is to simply give a person, organization or event that positively influences our world their "15 minutes" on my blog.

Now because my blog is sport related, I will stick to that subject (but there are a bunch of non-sport examples out there.....I promise you).



For my first post, I'm going to focus on a person named Johann Olav Koss.

If you're old enough, you might know the name Johann Olav Koss.  For those who aren't, he dominated the speed skating events in the 1994 Winter Olympics in his native Norway.  It was the final year of his speed skating career and some felt he was on the downslide.  But he put on one of the all-time great performances in Olympic history.  Three gold medals, three world records (two of which remained unbeaten until the advent of the "clap skate").

But his story isn't just about speed skating.  In fact, when all is said and done, he might become better known for something other than skating.

In 1992, Johann was the lead Athlete Ambassador of an organization called Olympic Aid.  An awareness and fundraising program to help war-torn countries.  Koss became so inspired by this program that in addition to donating his time, he donated his olympic gold winnings to the cause and challenged fellow athletes to do the same.  An unprecedented $18 million was raised.

In 2000, Olympic Aid became Right To Play.  Their mission statement:

To improve the lives of children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world by using the power of sport and play for development, health and peace.

Each year, Right To Play reach close to 835,000 children in more than 20 countries in regular weekly activities.  By the end of 2012 they have a goal of reaching 1,000,000 children on a weekly basis.

Their activities are facilitated by nearly 12.00 volunteer coaches, leaders and teachers.  They encourage leadership at all levels.  Junior leaders (some as young as 8-years-old) have become empowered through participating in Right To Play programs.

I chose Right To Play and Johann Olav Koss because I recently saw a fantastic ESPN documentary on the story of Right To Play.


I highly - HIGHLY recommend it.

Johann Olav Koss - One Of The Good Guys!



Now, if you've lasted this long I thank you.  I want to hear from you.

Your thoughts on the topic in general.  Your thoughts on some of the positive role models or organizations out there that are truly making a difference.  I'm not looking to change people.  I'm looking to give good stories, good people and good organizations their "15 minutes".
Thanks for your time.