There is no poll. Don't worry, we'll have more soon!

Stay tuned!

After extensive contract negotiations, the Mighty Pirates organization is extremely pleased to welcome back Howie for another season of insightful, amusing, and extremely addictive commentary! Yes, Howie tells it like it is!

You'll find links to each and every Howie Report right here after each game.

Mighty Pirates Mid-Term Report Card
2005-12-05: Mighty Pirates 5 at Original Chiefs 4

Dear Parents of Mighty Pirates,

Instead of just sending home report cards after school last Monday, the teachers and staff at True North Public School felt that it was important to communicate with you directly on the progress on your children in this academic year. As you know, thirteen and fourteen year olds have their difficulties keeping their minds on the tasks at hand, and especially when it comes to learning. They typically find their focus more on socializing and competing with one another, and behavioral problems abound. We also find that their attendance record is spotty, especially when they are being asked to juggle multiple responsibilities, many of which are beyond their ability to prioritize.

A case in point was our lesson on Monday. We brought in the Original Chiefs class for a friendly competition. Knowing how important it was to have everyone present, still Jonathan Gallivan missed the class because of a conflict with his musical interests, Blair Dimock was absent due to a family obligation, and young Mark Cooper claimed to have too much work to show up for school. This is unfortunate, because the teachers have reported that the class works much better when all of the students are in attendance and attentive to the lesson.

Nevertheless, there were still thirteen at school, and with Matthew Lella playing by himself in the net, class president Vito Mola put together play buddies as follows: John Mutch and Rob Kwinter took turns nicely playing centre; Dave Turner and Jim Jezioranski, Mark Sager and Nick Perri, and Auby Mandell and Shaun Leggett played together up front; and Paul Matusek and Les Klein and Richard Bingham and Vito Mola stayed back.

The boys were asked to concentrate on the lessons that had been covered in the previous class, namely the rules of the game and the teaching method known as the Pirate Brand. This method teaches the children patience and social skills and suggests that they protect each other's interests rather than trying to do everything themselves. It also suggests that sharing is a good thing, and that teamwork is a goal in itself. Finally, it tries to instill stay-at-home values that suggest that scoring only happens when others give you the chance. And most importantly, it teaches good behavior and has a focus on staying out of the principal's office due to discipline problems, because you cannot help your classmates if you are not in the classroom.

It is true that some of the students are more skilled than others, and we have tried to take this into consideration, but it is our finding that the boys have the most fun when everyone participates. In this class, the Chiefs showed how well they have gelled as a class, by tallying the first score just 37 seconds into the first period. Luckily, Jim Jezioranski (on an assist from John Mutch) tied it up less than a minute later with a shot that went upstairs. And when the Chiefs tallied another with 5:53 remaining, Paul Matusek (with assists from Auby Mandell and Rob Kwinter) went upstairs again less than two minutes later to tie it up again.

This first period set the tone for the rest of the contest, and goals were traded back and forth. However, the referees also made it clear early in the game that they were not going to tolerate much in the way of rough play, and as a result, the penalties piled up early - three for the Pirates and two for the Chiefs in the first period alone.

In the second period, play settled down and it was only with 18 seconds left that Richard Bingham (assisted by Mark Sager) buried a blistering shot upstairs to give the Pirates a one goal lead. In this period, there was only one penalty, against the Chiefs.

The third period however was a barn-burner. Jim Jezioranski (helped out by Richard Bingham) put yet another shot upstairs to give the Pirates a two goal lead, but the Chiefs came back less than two minutes later to pull within one. No problem, though, because Paul Matusek (once again with an assist from Auby Mandell) also followed his earlier goal with another one - short-handed, yet - to give the boys a two goal cushion. With everyone now aware that the kids' seven-game winless streak could be coming to an end, the focus was on team play and staying out of the penalty box. But boys will be boys, and unfortunately, the kids subjected themselves to yet another penalty with just 1:38 left. The Chiefs poured it on and scored almost immediately, coming within one goal of the Pirates again. Some stalwart defence in the last minute and a half by Matthew in net managed to hold off the Chiefs in the end (hampered by their own penalties) and preserve the victory.

So while it was good for the kids to win the contest, behavior issues continue to confound the teaching staff. Six penalties in the game resulted in many confused line changes and missed shifts by other players. This was not a team effort and there continues to be the adolescent problem of over-reacting to the events in the game. We have tried to assure the boys that their performance on the ice will not affect their long-term earning potential or social success with the opposite gender, but they seem to have great difficulty controlling their emotions and consequently draw the ire of the authorities, whether it is during class or at recess.

On the whole, we commend each of the Pirates on their efforts in class so far this term. They are achieving at an acceptable level, but we do feel that with some effort and concentration, their marks could improve significantly before the end of the academic year. We hope also that peer pressure from classmates will help to draw those boys who find it difficult to behave properly in class back into the fold, and help them become model students. A moderate amount of effort and self-control will yield great results in the future.

ACHIEVEMENT: C+
ATTITUDE: B+
BEHAVIOR: C-

We look forward to seeing this effort from the boys in the next contest against the Condors next Monday, December 12 at 9:20 p.m. in RINX 1.

Howie