John Oliver Smith
Bio
Baby, son, brother, child, student, collector, farmer, photographer, player, uncle, coach, husband, student, writer, teacher, father, science guy, fan, coach, grandfather, comedian, traveler, chef, story-teller, driver, regular guy!!
Achievements (1)
Stories (116/0)
- Top Story - March 2024
Lovin’ the PWHLTop Story - March 2024
The inaugural season for professional women’s hockey is well underway and I, like many North American sports enthusiasts, have cottoned on to the excitement of the games and the fanfare. Most of the women playing are relatively well-known through previous media exposure during Olympic games, World Championships and Rivalry matches between Canada and the United States. Yesterday, March 8, being International Women’s Day, I decided that I would pay tribute to the women of the world in my own little sports-minded way, and watch a PWHL game between the teams from Toronto and Montreal. Casually observing the new teams since the start of the season, I had suspected that the Women’s league was somehow different from the NHL and other men’s hockey leagues around the world. Sometimes these differences don’t show up during the Olympic games or World Championships because of the media focus on winning gold medals and the like. However, during a regular season hockey game, be it a men’s game or a women’s game, one gets a chance to really notice what the respective games are all about. I would therefore like to weigh in on what have formerly been suspicions but now are being seen as true differences between men’s and women’s professional hockey.
By John Oliver Smith18 days ago in Unbalanced
Roughriders on a Plane
Two of the earliest sports heroes in my life, were members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders - a team in the Canadian Football League since 1910. The first, George Reed, was a young American fullback with the Washington State Cougars, who, in 1963, came north to play professional football in Canada. As luck would have it, Ron Lancaster (a second hero of mine), made the move from the Ottawa Roughriders to Saskatchewan at roughly the same time. The rest was history. The Roughriders had a lot of successful seasons starting that year and on into the next decade. Reed and Lancaster were two of the main reasons why the team enjoyed such success and why they won the Grey Cup in 1966. Every kid in Saskatchewan wanted to be either #23 (Ron Lancaster) or #34 (George Reed). They were both so much bigger than our own tiny little lives at the time.
By John Oliver Smith12 months ago in Unbalanced
- Runner-Up in Tautogram Challenge
Our Home 'ON' Native Land
In the 70 plus years that I have lived on this planet, I have travelled many roads, highways, water routes and airways. Often, as I journey along these pathways, I wonder why they exist in the exact locations they do, or why they exist at all for that matter. If you have ever driven along the Trans-Canada Highway between Vancouver and Winnipeg for example, you may have pondered the same question. The highway does not exactly follow a straight line. Surely if highway designers and builders wanted to construct a roadway between two points, they should survey and follow a fairly straight path. Every good geometry student will tell you that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. So, why not use that concept to lay down pavement in a manner that would prove to be the most financially viable effort, thus saving governments and tax-payers a big pile of money? The answer to this question comes from the closer examination of a tremendous time-line of natural history.
By John Oliver Smithabout a year ago in Earth
While Playing with My Dog
While playing with the dog this morning, I was thinking, “What if I wasn’t here to throw this stick for this animal? What would the dog be doing if it wasn’t running after this stick and bringing it back to me so that I could throw it again?” I was thinking, “How important am I really, you know, in the grand scheme of things? How well would the world carry on without me?” Not that I don't feel important or worthwhile, but I do reckon that this is a valid question since the world did exist for quite a few years without me, before I came onto the scene. And, no matter how many brilliant contributions I make while I'm here, I also imagine that it will likely continue spinning around after I have made my exit.
By John Oliver Smithabout a year ago in Earth
Thirty of the Best Song Lyric Lines of All Time
Encouraged by various posts I have seen on Facebook and other social media platforms, I have decided to compile a list of some of my favourite song lyrics from tunes I have heard and sung-along-to over the years. The list that follows is constructed in no particular order and with no definite theme in mind. In fact, I may have even forgotten some of the best ones. This list just happens to be the list from this moment. If I were to compose such a compilation in a year’s time or while on my way out of this world, the items contained therein would likely be at least a little different.
By John Oliver Smithabout a year ago in Beat
Hi My Name is John and I'm a Sports Fan
Well, the competing teams for the 2022 edition of the Canadian Football League Championship game have been revealed. This year’s Grey Cup game will be played in Regina, at Mosaic Stadium (the home of my favorite CFL team – the Saskatchewan Roughriders), on Sunday, November 20. The Roughriders unfortunately did not qualify to play in the game where they should have, in fact, been the hosts. They didn’t even qualify for the playoffs this season on the wings of a dismal season. I talked to Riders’ quarterback – Cody Fajardo, back in early June about the Championship game being held in Regina and the chances of the Roughriders actually being in that game. He seemed optimistic and relayed to me the idea that, “it would be a good year for us to win it all, I guess.” But alas, I guess that won’t be happening until maybe 2023 at the earliest. In fact, my favorite Canadian Football League team, the Saskatchewan Roughriders, have not won a championship game since 2013 – almost 10 years ago. The last time they won a Grey Cup game, I wasn’t yet a diabetic and I wasn’t receiving Old Age Security cheques yet. But that is not the worst of it – I am a huge sports fan and I cheer for at least one team in every major professional sports league in North America. My personal fan drought is not restricted to merely the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL.
By John Oliver Smithabout a year ago in Unbalanced