I wish we lived in simpler times

The Internet is everywhere and it's everything these days, especially if you're like me and work in the media.

At the start of this year there was an online contest at my office. Reporters and editors alike were asked to come up with ideas that would draw more people to our website, http://www.durhamregion.com. We had to submit our ideas to our online manager and if approved, bring the idea to life and see how many 'hits' it got. The idea getting the most hits on our website would win $300.

My idea was the Daily Smile. I asked readers to send in photos of themselves or members of their families that made them smile. Simple. For doing this a random Daily Smile would be selected at the end of the month and that person would get a $50 gift card.

The response to the Daily Smile was tremendous and submissions came flooding in. I won the prize and was asked to continue the project throughout the course of the year. It's only July now but I've got Daily Smiles uploaded to the end of October. It's been a lot of work for the measly $300 I got but I enjoy the interaction with the people who send me their photos. I find myself smiling a lot as I process them and the reactions from the monthly winners is awesome. People love winning prizes.

This week a reader called our newsroom to complain the Daily Smile was nothing more than a forum for pedophiles. I'm happy he didn't call me directly but rather called our news editor who listened to him ramble on about the evils of the world. I wouldn't have been the most objective person to speak to regarding the Daily Smile. The whole intent of the project was to brighten readers' days with something as simple as a silly grin. To accuse me of creating a forum for pedophiles wouldn't have gone over well. I realize you have to have a thick skin to work in media but that would have come close to crossing the line for me.

If you've viewed the Daily Smile you will notice there are a lot of photographs of kids. The majority of the submissions come from proud moms, dads and grandparents. It's not the only place on the Internet you'll find photographs of kids. Check your own Facebook pages. Chances are if you have kids you've posted pictures of them online. Why? Because you love them and you're proud of them.

I understand there are sick individuals in the world who do unthinkable things to children. As far as I'm concerned there's no place for these people in this world. Long gone are the simpler days when kids could be kids and parents didn't have to worry about them getting abducted walking home from school. But let's not fool ourselves, pedophiles have been around since the beginning of time. They didn't just appear around 1995 when the Internet was in its infancy.

The guy who called our newsroom did so out of concern for children. I get that. What he could have done though was phrase his concern a little better and not accuse my Daily Smile of being something it is not.

Minding your own #$%^% business

If you live in the Greater Toronto Area you probably saw the news yesterday about the dog left in the car. If not, this is what happened.

Two morons stopped by the Loblaws just off the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto and left a dog in their car. Hours went by before the dog was discovered in obvious distress. Once emergency workers rescued the animal and removed it from the car it panicked, got away and ran up the on-ramp and on to the highway. Things could have ended badly for the poor animal but rather than wander into traffic it collapsed in the shadow of a transport truck whose driver had pulled over to the side of the road. The upside was the dog survived. The downside was the owners were reunited with their dog later in the day when they picked it up from animal services. Stupid people should not be allowed to own animals but there's no law on the books preventing this from happening.

My wife and I met a stupid dog owner last Friday at the Oshawa Centre. Like yesterday the heat was hovering in the 34 degree Celsius range when we encountered a dog locked in a car. The window was cracked less than an inch and the dog was panting like crazy. Heather stayed with the dog while I went back to work. On my way I got her the number for the police because neither of us was sure calling 9-1-1 was the appropriate thing to do. Heather waited 10 minutes and was about to call the police when the owners of the dog returned.

By that time Heather wasn't the only person waiting by the car with the dog in it. But she was the one who let the owners know what she thought of what they'd done. And because it was Heather's favourite day, Profanity Friday, she admitted to calling the guy a 'fucking asshole' more than once.

"There's something to be said about minding your own fucking business," he said to her.

Heather was stunned and responded he should be ashamed. She also mentioned she had his licence plate number and make and model of his car. She then went back to her car and began Tweeting about the incident. The guy then approached Heather and asked her what she was doing? She said it was none of his business and if he didn't leave her alone she'd call the police.

"You just do that bitch," he said.

And so she did.

The cops told Heather she should have called 9-1-1 as soon as she came across the dog. She waited 10 minutes while the dog baked but it could have been in the car for 20 to 30 minutes prior to us arriving on the scene. The officer then asked her if she had the licence plate number of the car. She did.

"We'll make sure this incident is investigated," she was told.

There have been more than 152 incidents in the GTA so far this summer about animals being left in cars. We had an early and warm spring and the summer is shaping up to be a cooker. I hope people get the message and leave their animals at home where they're safe.

For anyone out there who believes they "should mind their own fucking business" when they come across an animal in distress in a car, I urge you to do the opposite. An animal's life may depend on it.

Rehabbing the ego not an easy thing to do

For the past 11 years I have hit the hard court with some great guys every Tuesday night. During that time I've witnessed others suffer numerous injuries - sprained ankles, jammed fingers, scrapes, bruises and even one tooth getting knocked out. But none of those things ever happened to me. I flew under the radar and avoided the carnage on the basektball court.

But last Tuesday things changed. That night I joined the ranks of the walking wounded. As I attempted to strip the ball from my friend Ryan his moving left knee connected with the side of my planted left knee pushing it in a way it wasn't meant to move. If my foot hadn't been planted on the floor at that precise moment in time the connection wouldn't have caused injury. Alas, it was where it was, the connection was made and searing, hot pain radiated from my knee, down my calf and into my foot. My gawd that hurt.

Two things disturbed me about getting injured. The first was that I was having one of those nights when I couldn't miss a shot. I was in the zone, seeing the hoop and hearing a lot of 'swish' when I put up a shot. If I'd avoided injury, Tuesday night would have been one I could have bragged about in the locker room for years to come.

The second disturbing thing about getting hurt was the reaction of many of my friends including somebody who I see as more than a friend. Her name is Heather, the woman I married. When I came hobbling into the house after basketball her first question was, "Are you all right?" When I told her I'd hurt my knee all concern left her face and in its place a look of bemusement took over as she broke into laughter. I could barely walk, was in more pain than I've experience since breaking my collar bone at 14 and she was having a good chuckle at my expense. Nice.

I went on Facebook the next day and posted this question: What would you do in this situation? You come home from basketball after hurting your knee. You're in obvious pain and your wife's first reaction? She bursts out laughing. Discuss.

Here are some of the responses:

I would have done the same thing. -- Mandi Hargrave

Oh that Heather! I'm sure she was concerned on the inside -- Dan Connolly

Old age had its moments. Sorry I would of laughed too. -- Rose Russell

Kicked you in the knee and then continued laughing! -- Angeline Mair

Did she say 'Suck it up ButterCup' to you? If she did, good on her. And the crutches are a nice touch -- Bruce Froude

I was hoping for some sympathy from my friends but none was forthcoming. Heather mentioned she saw my post that night after we'd settled in and put the kids in their respective corners (bedrooms).

"I only laughed because all you old guys continue to go out there every week and every week one of you gets hurt. It was only a matter of time that you would come home limping,"she said.

For the record, 44 is not old. There's a guy who plays with us who is 71 and he's still got game. So I said to her, "There are NBA players who go down with these very same injuries on a nightly basis."

Heather mumbled something to the effect, "You keep telling yourself that old man," and she walked away.

I would have continued our argument if it were not for one thing -- I couldn't catch her!

Rehabbing the knee will probably take less time and be easier than rehabbing my ego.