Teamwork

One of the most important aspects of careers and jobs here in North America is being a good team worker, being able to have a good relationship with colleagues and harmonize with them. This attribute is seen in all works, fast food resturants, construction, sport, manufacturing, management, etc. Unfortunately Iranians lack this quality.
A good teamwork always starts with appointment of right team members. The US 4 x 100 women team lost a gold medal in the recent Olympic as Marion Jones couldn't pass the baton to her teammate Lauryn Williams. The team is perfect and the members know each other very well and have worked and drilled together but Marion erred and they collapsed. What was the real cause of such a big loss? I'd say many factors could've been involved: Rush, stress and nervousness, biorhythm situation, lack of focus, etc. But do any of the mentioned factors affect these superstars? One of them did, without a shadow of doubt.
(Photo: The moment that the US women 4 x100 team loses the baton is pictured here. Marion is the behind athlete)

Mussel

One good thing here in Canada is you can try different cuisines from almost everywhere. Canadian food, itself regardless of different kinds of burgers and steaks (I'll write about 'em later) comprises of seafood. Mussel is among them that I tried a few weeks ago. Actually Resurrect bought some and cooked for me. It's tasty and of course healthy, full of vitamins and minerals. Besides that it's not always good to have red meet. Mussel, according to The American Heritage Dictionary, basically is an edible bivalve (having a shell, consisting two hinged valves) mollusks, a blue-black one, often found attached to rocky surfaces or the sides of ships. It comes from Newfoundland or Nova Scotia all the way to the west. It won't be expensive, if you're not a big eater, otherwise you have to spend bucks on it!

(Photo: Mussel recipes usually offer vegetables as a side. Not like the one I had!)

Canada Wrestling

Wrestling was one of the sports that Canadians took part in the recent Olympic. The Canadian wrestling team was comprised of 7 wrestlers: 3 men and 4 women in free-style. I couldn't see any of the Olympic's wrestling races but saw some photos of women's and really enjoyed. I know wrestling is a very tough sport, as I used to do that for almost 5 years when I was in the school and I was good at it. Therefore a woman who enters the world of wrestling is a very special one in my view and I like her. She must be fast, strong, having a flexible body, brave, etc.
Amongst the women wrestlers is Tonya Werbek from Beamsville, Ont., who won the silver in 55 Kg class of free-style. She lost to Japanese lady in the final match. Two of the other women were placed 5th and the lightest was eliminated.
(Photo: Lyndsay Belisle who's seen here on podium as silver medalist of Canada Cup '04 in class 48 Kg, from Hazelton B.C. was eliminated in the Olympic but I just brought this photo here to show how fit and shaped they are)

National Professional Practice Exam, the 2nd

I'm preparing to write N. P. P. Exam. (of APEGGA) in Oct. but I'm not satisfied with the amount of time I spend on it. I decreasd the time spent on the blog and now I mostly focused on studying and also workout as it's sth. pretty indispensable for me! When I look at my result paper from the previous exam. (July 2003) I see that if I studied enough, I could pass the exam with the skin of my teeth. I had enough time, I had one month off for my nasal surgery, but I didn't use that. Stupid me!
(Photo: I messed up categories D and E, got nasty scores, and that made me failed. the scores opposite mine shows other applicants' average)

NHL and NHLPA

NHL and NHLPA (NHL Players Association) have been fighting over salaries since the early Aug., I guess. It seems there won't be a NHL season this year, although it'll affect many things in Canada. The regular season usu. begins in Sep. The problem is NHL wants a salary cap for players and that's not what they accept. Imagine a year without hocky. You know what would be the effects? Newpapers, bars, magazines, sport goods manufacturers (CCM, Nike, ect.), Sport goods retailers (Sportcheck, etc.), cotches and all other employees of a team (Which are many) all would be suffering.

CBC has resently have a survey about the face-off. This survey was conducted Jan. 13-26, 2004, among approximately 1000 Canadians who have at least some interest in NHL hockey. Some questions also list results from a previous poll conducted in March and April of 2003. The result is disappointing, people are not optimist about this season.
As a result hockey fans are being amused by The World cup of Hockey. The tournament is being ran in both North America and Europe. Eight of the best hockey teams of the world are battling for the cup. The North American pool comprises Canada, the US, Russia and Slovakia. The European pool consists of Germany, Czech, Finland and Sweden.
Canada has the best result so far. They have 3 wins from 3 games. 10 goals for and 3 goals accepted.
(Photo: a cartoon about the recent debate over salary cap between NHL and the players)

Ara

One of the wrestlers who got my attention in this Olympic is Ara Abrahamian. He is an Iranian-Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler in 84 Kg class who lost the gold medal to the Russian wrestler Alexei Michine. He must be Armenian who has migrated to Sweden. He should have gone there years ago as his profiles shows he was sixth in Sydney. His performance backs to 1998 and as his birthday indicates (July.27.75) he must has migrated there in early 90s or sooner.
Immigrant athletes r usu. seen in national teams. I remember there was an Afghan wrestler, Mir Mehdi Ghori Zadeh, in 48 Kg class of free-style fighting for Canada in early 90s, I guess. He was obviously the best in Canada but didn't get a medal in world championship.

(Photo: Ara after loosing the battle to the Russian challenger)