You Know What Really Grinds My Gears....The Sequel!

[Anduril]

People who ask for your 'best price', and when given a firm number, they proceed to lowball for half the price.

Sometimes I want to cut through the negotiating bullcrap and just offer a fair price.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by calf

A gear grinder: the new year's resolutioners at the gym whom have no sense of etiquette, hogging an area without using it efficiently, not wiping down their equipment, not replacing weights, etc.

Wait a month or 2 and those people will be gone. The resolutioners tend to quit and lose interest.

[normtwofinger]

Originally Posted by pylon

I get what you are saying Flameswin, but any league with 8 teams, can't be taken seriously. Winning the Grey Cup, is about the equivalent of winning the Pacific Division, in the AHL. I don't understand how people can get frothing at the mouth maniacly excited about that.

The NHL original six era says hi. Was the NHL not a serious league for all those years?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by pylon

I get what you are saying Flameswin, but any league with 8 teams, can't be taken seriously. Winning the Grey Cup, is about the equivalent of winning the Pacific Division, in the AHL. I don't understand how people can get frothing at the mouth maniacly excited about that.

If your team will only win once a decade to me that is a pretty big deal. On average that is something that will happen about 10 times in your life time, if that really different than something that should happen 2 to 3 times in your life? Combine that with tradition, and loud fan bases and good rivalries and you have something you can be passionate about. (also 9 teams now)

Also there is only about 8 teams in the Olympic Hockey Tournament with maybe 5 teams that have a chance at winning and I don't think anyone will say that isn't a big deal.

[DuffMan]

Originally Posted by Anduril

People who ask for your 'best price', and when given a firm number, they proceed to lowball for half the price.

Sometimes I want to cut through the negotiating bullcrap and just offer a fair price.

as a consumer, that would be awesome, what do you sell?

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by normtwofinger

The NHL original six era says hi. Was the NHL not a serious league for all those years?

Except the original six era was still the best guys in hockey. Not really the same thing at all.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Goodlad

Except the original six era was still the best guys in hockey. Not really the same thing at all.

Except they weren't the best guys in hockey because the rosters only included Canadians and Americans.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Goodlad

Except the original six era was still the best guys in hockey. Not really the same thing at all.

But then that goes back to my original point. Why is everyone so against "not the absolute best"?

I know you may not be thinking you're coming off the same way as the people I described in my post, but you kind of are. It's this attitude towards sports leagues, and in particular the CFL that grinds my gears.

What you're basically saying is, it's not the best, so it's not good. The CFL has some of (don't get bent out shape, I'm not saying they're as good as the NFL talent) best football players in the world, and is one of (don't get bent out of shape, I'm not saying there isn't better football than the CFL besides the NFL) the best leagues in the world.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by flameswin

But then that goes back to my original point. Why is everyone so against "not the absolute best"?

I know you may not be thinking you're coming off the same way as the people I described in my post, but you kind of are. It's this attitude towards sports leagues, and in particular the CFL that grinds my gears.

What you're basically saying is, it's not the best, so it's not good. The CFL has some of (don't get bent out shape, I'm not saying they're as good as the NFL talent) best football players in the world, and is one of (don't get bent out of shape, I'm not saying there isn't better football than the CFL besides the NFL) the best leagues in the world.

I often find that by watching a level or two below "the absolute best" you see a better version of the sport.

For example with Rugby in NZ the pinnicale is Test Rugby, the Super Rugby, the ITM cup. Often the games in ITM Cup will be better quality, as teams go out to win the game not to avoid losing the game. Sometimes less pressure = a more adventurous style of play.

The best game of hockey I have seen all year was my daughters Atom B2 game on Sunday. THey were down 4 goals and fought back to only lose in the last minute 5-6. They are far and away not the best hockey players, yet they played with abandon which was enjoyable to witness.

[jayswin]

To me, there's another attitude that I've noticed in Canada, and I think it's almost a bit of a defense against passionate Canadians who really love our country and celebrate and enjoy things that make us different.

Yet the reality is, we typically know what we're watching isn't "TEHH BEST!!", but is still quality product.

You know the guys, every time something is Canadian, they have to point out that it's stupid that people like it, and they only like it because it's Canadian.

Oh, you're stupid, you go to Tim Horton's because it canadiana!

Oh, I hate when Canadians watch anything on CBC, it's nationalistic, you need to watch only the best in the world of everything or else you're a stupid Canadian who doesn't know any better.

CFL is for stupid Canadians who only watch it because it's Canadian.

You listen to Canadian music? Are you ######ed, there's so much better music right at your fingertips.

I notice this attitude a lot in this country, both subtly and obnoxiously.

[Jimmy Stang]

To further venture off-topic, I will add this : The CFL has eight teams because Canada has a relatively small population. This doesn't make it bush, simply a realistic reflection of our population. Per capita, there are more CFL teams for Canadians than NFL teams for Americans. But comparisons like that are useless anyway - they're two completely separate things in different countries. It is possible to like one, like both, or like neither.

By the same logic, MLB is the top league in the world for Baseball, therefore all Japanese people should stop supporting their domestic league and watch MLB exclusively. They're different, and enjoying one doesn't have to be tied to disliking the other.

[btimbit]

CFL is 9 teams now too

Honestly, I enjoy it over the NFL primarily for a 2 reasons. It's Canadian, and I prefer the rules.

When Canadians introduced Americans to what became Football, carrying the ball was considered crazy. But the Americans loved it so much they added a fourth down so they'd be able to carry more and still get points. Works for them, but I find passing plays and the 3 down system to be so much more entertaining to watch. Plus in the CFL games tend to be much more evenly matched, tight right to the end. In the NFL, outside of the playoffs and a few blowouts, you can just watch the first half of the game and know with 90+% certainty who's going to win.

Hating on it just because it's the NFL is more skilled is just silly. And like I've said before, if it was CFL rules with NFL talent, I'd be in sports heaven.

All that said, I follow and enjoy both

To try an round this out to being back on topic, it GMG when people hate on the CFL just because it isn't as skilled as the NFL. My counter argument, Mac's midget tournament is some of the best hockey I watch all year.

[Cowboy89]

Originally Posted by flameswin

But then that goes back to my original point. Why is everyone so against "not the absolute best"?

I know you may not be thinking you're coming off the same way as the people I described in my post, but you kind of are. It's this attitude towards sports leagues, and in particular the CFL that grinds my gears.

What you're basically saying is, it's not the best, so it's not good. The CFL has some of (don't get bent out shape, I'm not saying they're as good as the NFL talent) best football players in the world, and is one of (don't get bent out of shape, I'm not saying there isn't better football than the CFL besides the NFL) the best leagues in the world.

I think the people who feel that way about the CFL, WJHC, and other lower tier sports come in two kinds and it's the people who fall in the latter category who really grind my gears as well:

1) Those who are sports enthusiasts whose enjoyment of watching sports is taken away when exciting plays/games happen directly as a result of lower skill, lower preperation, lower quality officials, or a lower maturity level of the athletes in leagues below the level they have become accustomed to watching. If you watch a lot of NFL football and then you watch the CFL, sometimes these kinds of things are obvious and it detracts away from your enjoyment of the CFL (I say this as a Stamps season ticket holder since 1995).

2)Those people who cannot really tell the difference in the level of play between the top league and the lower league if the jersey's were the same, but yet are very cynical and insecure and thus must convey an exterior image of 'nothing but the best will do for me, I'm just that important'

For me personally I fall into category one. I watch a lot of sports. If there's no interest level beyond the level of the game played I have a hard time watching something below the tier level I have been accustomed to.

Personally I can enjoy watching the Stamps because of the live gameday experience when I go to games, the local interest factor, and I tend to follow the athletes and personalities on the team. But the scenario where a team like Hamiton is playing Montreal or some other team I don't care about and it's up against the NFL in that time slot, I'm going to watch the NFL pretty much everytime.

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by DuffMan

as a consumer, that would be awesome, what do you sell?

Starter/Beginner level DSLR gear that I've outgrown.
Yes, the lowballs will come with the nature of using something like Kijiji but still have to try that route once anyways.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by flameswin

To me, there's another attitude that I've noticed in Canada, and I think it's almost a bit of a defense against passionate Canadians who really love our country and celebrate and enjoy things that make us different.

Yet the reality is, we typically know what we're watching isn't "TEHH BEST!!", but is still quality product.

You know the guys, every time something is Canadian, they have to point out that it's stupid that people like it, and they only like it because it's Canadian.

Oh, you're stupid, you go to Tim Horton's because it canadiana!

Oh, I hate when Canadians watch anything on CBC, it's nationalistic, you need to watch only the best in the world of everything or else you're a stupid Canadian who doesn't know any better.

CFL is for stupid Canadians who only watch it because it's Canadian.

You listen to Canadian music? Are you ######ed, there's so much better music right at your fingertips.

I notice this attitude a lot in this country, both subtly and obnoxiously.

Canadian hipsters, I reckon? The kind of people that don't like anything that is popular?

They're right about Tim Horton's, but for the wrong reason.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by flameswin

But then that goes back to my original point. Why is everyone so against "not the absolute best"?

I know you may not be thinking you're coming off the same way as the people I described in my post, but you kind of are. It's this attitude towards sports leagues, and in particular the CFL that grinds my gears.

What you're basically saying is, it's not the best, so it's not good. The CFL has some of (don't get bent out shape, I'm not saying they're as good as the NFL talent) best football players in the world, and is one of (don't get bent out of shape, I'm not saying there isn't better football than the CFL besides the NFL) the best leagues in the world.

The CFL is minor pro football basically like a slightly worse parallel of AHL hockey.

How many Canadians religiously watch AHL hockey? Even though some of the NHL's best players originally started there?

But all of a sudden if you add a couple of quirky at best, stupid at worst rules (lets play 6 + a goalie on wider ice and award points for missed shots for example), cut the league down to a handful of teams in Canada only, employ refs who have other day jobs, and let TSN create a hype of faux nationalism does that make it a good product?

You think people don't watch CFL because it's not as good as NFL. Maybe people don't watch CFL because it isn't good, period.

And yes, faux nationalism is stupid. If Canadian music was every bit as good as its American counterparts more people would listen to it. If Tim Horton's wasn't disgusting more discriminating coffee drinkers would drink it. If CBC had good programming and better on-air talent people would watch it.

Canadians appreciate quality. We enjoy one of the highest qualities of life in the world and to expect quality in every facet of life is a very Canadian thing. It's one of the things that makes this country great. Telling Canadians to swallow sub-par products in an attempt to drum up a false sense of national pride is stupid and thankfully most Canadians are smart enough not to fall for it. Some may say Canadians lack a sense of nationalism. But perhaps that lack of sheep mentality when it comes to quality in our lives is one of the greatest aspects of this country and its people - and something that Canadians can truly be proud of.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by Anduril

People who ask for your 'best price', and when given a firm number, they proceed to lowball for half the price.

Sometimes I want to cut through the negotiating bullcrap and just offer a fair price.

i quoted a job out a while ago and the customer came back with something like, "i'm wondering about your price, i think you need to sharpen your pencil."

i waited a few minutes and then emailed my reply, "sharpened the pencil, got out the eraser and here is my new price... ____ " (this new price was about 20% higher than my original price)

his reply was golden, something like, "wait... what?? this is higher than your first price!"

i replied, "i know... would you like me to refigure the price again or is my original quote satisfactory?"

the order was done for my original price

[Misterpants]

Moritz Icy Squares GMG. Once every 5 years I am offered one and I somehow convince my poor willpower having brain that they are better than I remember them. Nope. They are always half-melted little blobs that sort of resemble something that used to be chocolate. Yuck.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Red John

Telling Canadians to swallow sub-par products in an attempt to drum up a false sense of national pride is stupid and thankfully most Canadians are smart enough not to fall for it. Some may say Canadians lack a sense of nationalism. But perhaps that lack of sheep mentality when it comes to quality in our lives is one of the greatest aspects of this country and its people - and something that Canadians can truly be proud of.

Agree on this. I don't have a problem with something like Tim Hortons being popular and defined as a very Canadian thing... I have a problem with such a piece of crap product representing Canada. If we're going to be proud of something being Canadian, let's make sure that product is a leader on the international stage, not some milky dishwater that they scooped out of the Ganges.

We can be proud of our hockey, because we are one of the best. We can be proud of our Rocky Mountains, as they are world-class tourist destinations. We can be proud of our aerospace industry, our comedians, our high quality of life.

But being proud of 3rd rate coffee that would get you publicly shamed in most parts of the word? That's insulting to Canada.

[Hockeyguy15]

You know why I drink Tim Hortons? It's $2 for an XL 1 milk 1 sugar, and I need coffee the morning after a late hockey game and to me coffee taste like coffee.

The only other time I have coffee is camping, and then it's usually half Bailey's.