The only person I can think of is Paulo Santana from Acadia - he played in the PBBA tournament for the First Class Ballers which also featured Crookshank and Wigginton-Downey so he is at least familiar with the team.  He's a small explosive guard with incredible speed who can get to the rim he's got big time experience in the CIS final eight, and was 2007 AUS player of the year.  I can't figure out if he's playing anywhere now that he's done at Acadia, anyone know?  Achuil Lual would also be amazing - but alas, he's playing pro in germany.

Any recomendations?  Any other Canadian kids or CIS players worth mentioning?

The draft is next Thursday, my birthday.  I will try to gather more info on potential draft picks and what not, but it will likely be hard to come by.

For a discussion of the potential roster go here.

Some PBL teams have already held try out camps, some have them planned and others are signing players already.  Halifax has been a bit silent on this front which is two bad because last year's roster was a bit of a mess - lots of coming and going, lots of players too scared to go to the rim, a lack of rebounding, no real centre for 85% of the season, some bad attitudes, etc.  So after the jump I have my wishlist of things for the Rainmen to do when it comes to building a roster for the '09 season.  It's a start, but it's really just to spur on some dialogue amongst readers:  what do we, as fans, want to see on the court this coming season?  Post your opinions in the comments section.

The one indication we have gotten is that the Rainmen are actively seeking to resign Eric Crookshank, Brian Silverhorn, Kadiri Richard and Jimmy Twyman.  My suggestions assume that they do resign those guys, if not then everything is up in the air.

#1 Find a Legit Centre

Neither Crookshanks nor Richard should be playing centre.  Eric is 6'7 and Kadiri is 6'8.  We need a big, blue collar rebounder down there to take charges, grab defensive boards and guard the other team's best post player.  Eric and Kadiri can score, our centre doesn't need to.  He doesn't even have to an athletic defender because Crookshand and Richard can block from the weak side, and having them freed up from tight coverage on the post gives them more opportunities to swoop over and stuff someone.  This also creates a situation where Eric is no longer guarded by a 6'10 monster who he can't back down.  The Rainmen need to find ways to exploit match up problems.  A guy in the same vein as Eric Nelson or Jon Clark would let them do this - a player like this should be Halifax's first priority.

#2 Move Crookshank to SF and Silverhorn to SG

I admit that this seems strange, but hear me out.  These are the two guys with the best chance of making it to the next level (and by this I don't really mean NBA, I mean D-League or top flight euro team) but neither of them will make it playing their current position.

At 6'7 Crookshank is waaaaay too small to play PF in a top flight league, and centre is out of the question.  His athleticism make his ability to play above the rim and put back missed shots remarkable as a swing man, at PF it's not quite as outstanding.  He has the foot and hand speed to guard wing players and he is good at disrupting passing lanes.  With wing players matched up on him he can destroy them in the post and not only keep them from grabbing offensive boards, but can drastically increase his offensive rebounding stats as well since most wing players do not have the ability to box him out (or he can just dunk over them).  His biggest weakness is his limited shooting range, he is never going to get serious consideration unless he can consistantly knock down the outside shot.  Playing centre/PF in the PBL will not force him to improve that shot and that decision making, playing SF will.

Brian Silverhorn was a star in the NIAA but was inconsistent last season.  He had a really hard time getting open looks and Rick Lewis' stagnant no-motion offense didn't help matters.  He's a pure shooter, but he does also have some face up moves.  I'd like to see him play as the team's scoring guard now that Blandon the Tumor Ferguson is gone.  I also think that at 6'6 with his shooting ability better teams expect a guard skill set and he could use some work making decisions with the ball in his hands and guard quicker, smaller players.

These moves make the team BIG which is uncommon in the minor leagues.  It would also help to fix some of the major problems revolving around a lack of rebounding and interior defense that plagued the team last year.

#3  Bench players need roles/Role players needed on the bench.

Last year there was a log jam of mediocre players without specific roles on the bench.  No one knew what they were doing and people were disgruntled about it.  Lewis also would sub off entire lines of guys for no apparent reason and rarely had the right pieces in reserve to deal with problems ("oh shit!  There small forward is beating us off the dribble every time.... do I put Leboise Gladden or Derico Wigginton in to stop him?")  Every player on that bench needs to be there for a reason and "He's pretty decent, but he's not one of our five best players" is not a good reason.

The most important role players that the team lacked last year and needs to pick up this year are:

1. a lock down defender who can guard the other team's best wing player
2. a spark plug  guard off the bench who can get to the rim/foul line and score when there are multiple guys from the first line resting. (i.e. Devino Williams)
3. a shooter from the bench for the nights when Twyman/Silverhorn are cold or if we're down by 3 with one play left and need more shooters out there. (could be the same guy as spark plug guard)
4. an energy/garbage guy who will dive after loose balls, grab some rebounds, run hard, wave a towel on the bench and not care that he's only getting five minutes a game, he's just stoked to be there (this should be the Derico Wigginton role... but he didn't get any playing time and never showed real effort when he got out there).
5. a minor league veteran.  He can also fill any of the other roles but we need a guy who can calm guys down, show younger guys the ropes, explain that Halifax is a good minor league town, resolve arguments and just be a good locker room guy.  Benoit sort of filled this role last year, but with Benoit behind the bench at MUN this year I'd like to see some older guy who has been slaving away on the minor league circuit playing in podunk towns for at least a way too many years fill out this role.  Last year there were a lot of internal problems ranging from players being upset about guys getting cut, to people complaining about playing time, and just the difficulties of having a bench of young guys living in house together in a foreign country.

#4 Fill the Roster out with "local guys" and Canadians

Assuming the 4 protected players all resign, and they pick up 2 players in the draft from D-1 schools and manage to somehow get their hands on a minor league veteran (lots of CBA teams folded last year) then you're still looking at adding 2-4 players of whom only one or two will be rotation guys (I say this because I am 100% sure that Rick Lewis will have an actual eight man rotation this year instead of trying to play ten players every game in two lines... I mean he's not a total moron, right?)  Of these 2-4 players I'd like to see at least one D-1 player from a legit program in the line up, in part to add legitimacy for casual fans ("Woah, they have a guy who played for North Carolina?") and in part to ensure that someone who had top flight training is on the team.  It doesn't need to be a starter from a top flight program, just someone who knows what they're doing.

The other spots in the line up should be CIS and local players.  Derico Wigginton didn't get much playing time, but he probably brought an extra 50 people to each game directly and indirectly led to tons of media.  Dennie Oliver, prior to quietly quiting the team, was a legit contributor and he had been out of the CIS and competetive ball for years and Charles Fortier on Quebec was dominant at times.  Top flight CIS players are definately capable of being excellent role players at this level and having Canadian guys is good for the media attention and name recognition, good for basketball in Canada, and since the season is so short it makes it more likely that a player will join the team than if they have to move to a foriegn country.  Why bother getting a barely decent player from the American south to keep the bench warm when you can get a grad from a CIS school in the region to fulfill the same role?

These are fairly broad ideas I'd like to see explored, but in the minor leagues there often isn't really a flood of talented players with good attitudes looking to live in a place they've never heard of.  In addition, it doesn't matter what the line up looks like unless Rick Lewis learns to coach.

That said, I feel like Halifax is behind the eightball when it comes to holding try out camps.  A lot of other minor league teams have had camps and started signing players, and most have at least announced tryout dates.  No word on any of that from the Rainmen.  Halifax is missing out on available talent.  Last year Halifax announced the signing of Benoit and Eichelberger on July 25th.  They had their first tryout camp in June and had open tryouts in Halifax in August.  The team was mostly set by October.  I get that the PBL season starts later but there is talk of playing 4 exhibition games in December - that means that we're 60-70 days away from the first game of the new season.

I think they went overboard last year with bringing players from all over the place to NS, but I'd still like to see an open Halifax tryout just to see if they can find a diamond in the rough, but I'd also like to see tryout camps within the next month in the following locations:

• Toronto - Let's get some Canadian talent (Levingston also needs to get into the tryouts for the Idaho Stampede, the Raptor's D-league affiliate, which are happening in Toronto.  Pick up their castaways before Will Voigt does)
• New York - there is no stable minor league team there and loads of talent
• California or the US south - tons of JuCo players from these regions never quite break into the NCAA, often for reason that have nothing to do with basketball.

Whatever the Rainmen do, they need to do it ASAP.  And Rick and Andre: Just so you know, I am available for consultation on the roster whenevever you need me.  I am also available to join the roster if you need a mindblowingly unathletic, 6' small forward with a decent 12 foot jump shot.

So I just found out that the Manchester Millrats have signed one of the best guards in minor league basketball.  This, combined with the recent reports of the success of the Vermont try out camps had me sort of worried that Halifax was falling a bit behind.  And then I read the online version of the Metro.  The article includes tons of news.

It looks like Eric might be back for another year with the Rainmen.  Crookshank seems to have run into more problems with a minor league team, this time in Finland.  Basically, just like in Edmonton, contractual promises weren't met and Eric decided to leave rather than get ripped off.  Some brief internet detective works suggests that Componenta, the Finnish team he signed with, have often arrived to away games with only 7 or 8 players and aren't considered to be real contenders in Finland.  Crookshank says that he has other offers on the table but is leaning towards Halifax due to it feeling like a second home and his relationship with Levingston, whom Crookshanks calls a "father figure."  On the one hand I am bummed that things didn't work out in Europe for Eric, and I also sort of hope that he chooses to go over seas, on the other hand I am excited by the prospect of having him come back.  He's a great player, he's exciting, and I won't have to buy a new jersey.

It is also revealed in the article that  league rules allow each team to identify four of its players that other PBL teams are not allowed to negotiate with.  Halifax has identified Crookshank, Richard, Silverhorn and Twyman as their players and will be trying to bring them back.  That's a decent looking core if you ask me.  Twyman was the best non-Anderson PG that they team tried out last year, and Silverhorn and Crookshank were the best non-Anderson players on the roster.  Richard was a great defensive player and showed some real offense late in the season, he and Eric were also great players to be the faces of the franchise.  Having returning players that fans can identify is crucial to making this team work at the gate.

They're also looking to pick up two players in the PBL draft and then round out the line up with free agents.  No word in the article about when try out camps will occur but I hope that it will be soon.  I'd like to see the try out camps happen outside of Halifax this year, perhaps with one in Toronto to pick up Canadian talent and another one in the eastern US.  Some decent first division players who have proven the ability to work in serious programs and play roles would be ideal, but we'll see how it goes.

On Yankees.com, Cashman had this to say:

"I consider coming off a season where we didn't reach the playoffs for the first time since 1993 as a personal challenge," Cashman said in a statement. "I've never been one to run from a challenge, and I look forward to having the chance to go after this thing again."

He accepted a three-year job at around $2 million a year, an increase over his recent annual salary.

For what it's worth, I think this move is good because it gives Cashman the ability to continue what he was re-signed for in 2005 -- rebuilding the farm system and starting a youth movement akin to the one that led the Yankees on their recent run in the late 1990s. Three years is good enough and that will see the core of the farm players into the big leagues by then -- particularly ones like Austin Jackson.

I'm all for the three year contract, I would have balked at four or five. So, this is a good move for both sides and especially for the Yankees as they go into what will amount to be an interesting offseason.

Playoff Predictions

Rays over White Sox in three.

Angels over Red Sox in four.

Cubs over Dodgers in four.

Milwaukee over Phillies in four.

ALCS and NLCS predictions coming up later.

It's not clear whether Millen quit or was fired, but Jay Glazer of Fox Sports confirmed it early this morning, a day after Bill Ford, Jr. made comments that if it were his decision, he would have fired Millen.  It wasn't just the running through of coaches (Marty Mornhinweg, Steve Mariucci, and Rod Marinelli) or the draft busts alone (Joey Harrington, Mike Williams, Kevin Jones, Charles Rogers), it was the 31-84 record during his tenure, and a refusal to admit that he made mistakes as a first-time GM and was utterly incapable of recognizing them.

The most amazing thing is that this run of sheer incompetence was all self-contained: there was no Al Davis figure trying to meddle in his personnel decisions or his coach's play-calling; there waas no cash-stingy owner -- if anything, William Clay Ford, Sr. was more than willing to let Millen spend the cash necessary to help the team. It was just a case of being completely out of his depth for eight seasons without any ability to recognize that fact.

Minnesota Timberwolves fans are taking notes to see if they can prod someone under Glen Taylor to speak out in a Ford, Jr.-style fashion and get Kevin McHale ousted.

The Yankees have two choices long term: Build through the draft and do it right or spend nine years patching it together and watching A-Rod chase down Bonds and making the playoffs on occasion. They need to build a program, not a series of teams. The most important players in this organization are Austin Jackson, the kids in Charleston and guys like Mark Melancon, Joba and Phil. Doing fantasy drafts of free agents hasn’t worked for eight years.

I've long been an advocate of rebuilding from within. That was the biggest reason the Yankees started their modern dynasty -- they build around Jeter, Posada, Williams, Rivera, and Pettitte. Now that these players are in their mid-late thirties or retired, we need to look at the future.

These players can have an impact within the next three years: Chamberlain, Hughes, Kennedy, Melancon, Jackson, Coke, Sanchez, Brackman, Miranda, Gardner, Christian, and more.

The more the Yankees are patient and stop worrying about Boston and other teams, the better they will develop. Boston copied off the Yankees' model of the 1990s and used their farm league to develop Pedroia, Ellsbury, Lester, and acquired the right players in Ortiz, Youkilis, Lowell, and Beckett.

As long as the Yankees look within, they will find success.

God help me, but I can't help but feel a little sorry for Lane Kiffin. I shouldn't, and neither should anyone else, because he accepted Al Davis' offer to coach the team, probably knew he was a third or fourth choice, and decided to go with it anyway. Now, it's a week by week speculation-fest about when (not if) the Cryptkeeper will suck up his pride about paying him the rest of his contract and fire him.

These are absolutlely the worst type of job situations: you are working for a boss or bosses who wants you off the staff (whether for personal reasons or looking to save cash), and he'd rather you quit than fire you. So, we're stuck with a very public spat and stalemate -- and even outside incidents like the arrest of defensive end Tommy Kelly for DUI tend to color the whole feeling of chaos surrounding the organization.

Everyone knows Davis has to have control; holds it over the offensive philosophy to a point where there is no truly independent coach in the East Bay -- this is why the Raiders' head job has essentially become kryptonite ever since Jon Gruden had his spat with the Cryptkeeper and made his way to Tampa Bay. Sure, Bill Callahan got them to a Super Bowl -- and then got whipped by Gruden, because he's Bill Callahan. After that, it was NORV! and the gargoyle ways of Art Shell, Version 2.0. Now, Kiffin is in limbo, seemingly content to game plan week to week with the ax over his heead and everyone asking him about his job security.

There are the rumors that he would head to Syracuse to take over when the AD gets enough of a pair to fire the underachieving Greg Robinson. I remember Kiffin flirting with the Arkansas job last year before Bobby Petrino bailed on the Falcons.  All I can think of these rumors is that Kiffin has to be a masochist if he wants to take the biggest resurrection project on after he gets canned.

 Abstract: If the next Presidential administration really wants to embrace the potential of Internet-enabled government transparency, it should follow a counter-intuitive but ultimately compelling strategy: reduce the federal role in presenting important government information to citizens. Today, government bodies consider their own websites to be a higher priority than technical infrastructures that open up their data for others to use. We argue that this understanding is a mistake. It would be preferable for government to understand providing reusable data, rather than providing websites, as the core of its online publishing responsibility.

Rather than struggling, as it currently does, to design sites that meet each end-user need, we argue that the executive branch should focus on creating a simple, reliable and publicly accessible infrastructure that exposes the underlying data. Private actors, either nonprofit or commercial, are better suited to deliver government information to citizens and can constantly create and reshape the tools individuals use to find and leverage public data.

The best way to ensure that the government allows private parties to compete on equal terms in the provision of government data is to require that federal websites themselves use the same open systems for accessing the underlying data as they make available to the public at large. "

Robinson, David, Yu, Harlan, Zeller, William P. and Felten, Edward W.,Government Data and the Invisible Hand. Yale Journal of Law & Technology, Vol. 11,  2008 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1138083

This has also been seen to relate to The Power of Information: An independent review by Ed Mayo and Tom Steinberg (http://www.commentonthis.com/powerofinformation/#marker10550) and its response from government: The Government’s Response to The Power of Information: An independent review by Ed Mayo and Tom Steinberg (2007) http://www.opsi.gov.uk/advice/poi/poir-government-response.pdf

This also went on across the way at the UK E-Democracy list where Paul Canning offered the difference between widgets (http://paulcanning.blogspot.com/2008/07/wouldnt-it-be-better-if.html)
and Web 2.0 (http://paulcanning.blogspot.com/2008/07/wouldnt-it-be-better-if.html)

Pete Thompson picked this up with: "Well, you can see them as two distinct things, but then (as Tim's response starts to indicate) the boundary isn't necessarily obvious. The people who make policy decisions may not understand enough of the detail to draw it correctly. More important, if you draw a boundary, you want people to cross it - to have both easy access to routine services and the opportunity to engage with decisions about those services.

So it's tempting to keep everything in your own branded site. You may think of that as not drawing the undesirable boundary, but actually it draws the boundary coterminous with your brand identity. You'll probably object when the masher-uppers start to erode that, you'll struggle to generate significant levels of real engagement, and any debate about your services that goes on elsewhere doesn't engage you.

Those brave enough to resist this temptation, it seems to me, are still struggling with the boundary problems."

To which Paul has replied:

"It seems to me less about boundaries than simple misunderstanding of how services are sold online. the only vague sense I can understand this in is the one generated by online advertising when you don't have 100% of the context in which your ad sits."

But whilst we debate between back versus front office for optimisation, are we missing something? Does the citizen care who provides the information or collects the money? Can government trust the private sector to provide accurate information. Currently local authorities are examined for 'data quality' by their external auditors, will the same apply when sucked up onto a web site by a private front-end? Paul's example of the London maps provided by UCL may have a level of trust provided by their academic credentials and we are quite happy to accept Google maps but how will it be if planning boundaries are displayed, will the citizen or business have any come-back?

Government gets complaints for issuing incorrect bills and the public redress but what if there is an intermediary displaying your Council Tax and getting it wrong?

Is there still a need here for trust, satisfaction and democratic duty?

I had a conversation with a fellow researcher about intelligent software agents, apparently the military are keen on these, and ultimately I see a world where making a request on the computer (by whatever means!) sends the agent to retrieve and present the data, the first step then is to prepare and present quality data. This requires the back office to have a Service Oriented Architecture to enable retrieval by whatever mechanisms and the front office to have a Customer Oriented Architecture that can collect, collate and present data for a face-to-face, telephone or computer customer.

Some way ahead, but I've seen software agents work, so the initial work could be preparing the front and back for this evolution, or should it? How then do we measure anything?

The Rainmen are now in a new office space and have a new phone number:  444-RAIN.  The website should be up and running with a new version on the PBL template in the near future.

I applied relentlessly in all the fields were I could see me belong. Customer service, Administrative Support, Coordinators, Assistants, Writing jobs and what not. But I never got a positive reply and was never called for an interview other than by a SCAM company. I wasted my time only where it seemed fit. I knew I will not make a good Guest Service Assistant or a Front office or will fit in any job that needs lots of phone presence as I speak Indian English. My oral communication skills are much better than that of the working Indians here as mine is devoid of regional accent.

I was head over heels with craigslist looking for new job openings in and around my area. But either people wanted training or experience or were looking for charity. Most of my applications were responded with polite "sorry" and/or with a reason that I did not have specific training in that field, which was never mentioned in the Job Profile!

 When I was fresher, I never got an entry because I did not have exerience. Now that I have some experience I was thrown into the bin because I lacked training. It made me feel stupid and strange. I longed to get back to India where I was respected more for my credentials.