/Blog/CraigNeedles/blogs.aspxCraig Needles' Blogen-usCopyright 2010, CFPLNEWS-AMFri, 10 Sep 2010 00:28:57 GMTThu, 08 Apr 2010 02:39:02 GMT1http://emmisinteractive.com....I hope Tiger Woods crushes the field at the Masters this weekend. I want him to win by 10 strokes. I want him to fist pump, and high five his caddie, and just have an all round awesome weekend. I wouldn't even mind if he brought a whole bunch of strange women to his Green Jacket ceremony. I know we in the media aren't supposed to cheer for anything, but, sometimes, I like cheering for the news story that will generate the most reaction... and the "water cooler" talk on Monday would certainly be interesting if Tiger pulls this off. /Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10106608craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10106608Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:39:02 GMTSo, council voted 11-7 in favour of a 5% "pay hike". There will probably be an uproar about this, but, it doesn't bother me all that much. You always hear "Look at the politicians, voting themselves a pay raise!" Usually, I'd agree, but hear me out on this one. I spoke to a few members of council about this vote, and they all said that this "raise" amounts to less than 30,000 dollars in the grand scheme of things. I know that's a lot of money to most people. It's a lot to me. But, divided by 19, it doesn't add up all that fast. Also - as far as London's budget goes.... not a lot of cash. On top of that, when councillors voted in favour of their 5% pay cut a year and a half ago, they all agreed to look at it again in 2010. The money .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104910craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104910Tue, 30 Mar 2010 03:53:38 GMTI had the opportunity (or bad fortune, depending on who you're talking too) to watch Ann Coulter's speech at U.W.O. on Monday. I said to some media colleagues just before the speech started "I can sense something big is about to happen". Call it a "Spidysense", only for a reporter. Well, like clockwork, within an hour, Ann Coulter had told a 17-year-old Muslim student to "Take a camel", and phone lines at radio talk shows across Canada were burning up the next day. My question is.... why? When I wrote my stories for Tuesday morning, the "intros" (the parts Nathan and Loreena read before I come on) included lines like "Ann Coulter was true to form", and "Ann Coulter fans got what they expected". So, we all KNEW she was controversial, and we had a pretty good idea that she doesn't care for;  - Muslims  - Homosexuals  - Democrats  - .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104111craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10104111Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:40:10 GMTIf you listed to AM980's "All-News" afternoons today, you'd have heard me on Richmond Row, talking to St. Patrick's Day partiers. It's one of my favourite stories/days of the year. I know it sounds crazy, but here's why. I'm usually doing stories that are a little more "hard journalism", but the atmosphere is just awesome to be part of when hundreds of people are dressed in green and just enjoying the day. I also often do stories where I ask Londoners what they think about the news ("streeters", as they're referred to in the newsroom). On a lot of stories, it's like pulling teeth to find people who want to talk about the news. Not on St. Patrick's Day. It may be because everyone's had a few green pints, but, folks were more than willing to talk about their favourite traditions. So, for a guy who usually covers news people .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10102976craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10102976Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:08:34 GMTI covered the Andrew Kummer court case Friday afternoon on AM980. If you're not familiar with the case Kummer pled guilty to multiple charges including three counts of impaired driving causing death. Two of the people who died were young boys, 12-year-old Mason Berube and 13-year-old Devon Tinus. David Marshall, who was riding in Kummer's vehicle, also lost his life. Friday afternoon was his sentencing hearing. Which means testimony was read into evidence by witnesses and then victims were able to read their impact statements. Within the evidence we learned Kummer had between 15 and 20 beers before he got behind the wheel that night last March, that he showed no remorse the night of the crash which may have been because of amnesia (according to his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, who you'd think would be paid enough to come up with a better story than that). Police experts also went .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10101077craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10101077Sat, 06 Mar 2010 23:32:43 GMTYou may have heard the story we ran on 980 this afternoon, and had on McArthur in the Morning. Controller Bud Polhill told Jeff that he felt the city should have been consulted on the decision to hire two separate CEO's at the LHSC and St. Joe's. He also thought it was probably a bad decision. I agree. But that's not the point of this blog. We (by we I mean myself, Scott Monich and Trudy Shaw) like to get both sides of the story on controversial stories like that one. So, naturally, I put in a call to both the LHSC, and St. Joe's, to hear what they had to say. Well, we (eventually) got a "no comment" from both. Which I can't understand. Londoners are upset, very upset. Yet, these people want to avoid getting into the media to explain their actions. I can't figure it out. They're .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10099452craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10099452Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:29:39 GMTYou may have heard my story on 980 yesterday during all news afternoons. I asked London golf fans how they felt about Tiger Woods and his apology news conference (just about everybody had heard the apology... less then two hours after he made it). Some thought it was fake. Some thought he was sincere. Others thought it was all based on PR, or advertising dollars. So opinions on the general content were split. There was one consistent message though, from nearly every person I had spoke with: They all were disappointed that they didn't hear when Tiger would be back on the course. That was the first question. Not "who did he sleep with?", not "is he still with his wife?". It came down to golf. So, this leads me to believe that despite all the media stories, all the tabloid covers and all the speculation.... when Tiger starts swinging .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10096487craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10096487Sun, 21 Feb 2010 00:20:03 GMTCanada won tonight. It was pretty exciting. But, I hate shootouts. I also don't like being able to use the same player multiple times, as per international rules. I also like to complain about sports. /Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10096283craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10096283Fri, 19 Feb 2010 05:09:04 GMTBrad Pitt. Britney Spears. Lindsay Lohan. The Middlesex-London Health Unit? That's right, our local health unit has joined that elite company. They've made Perez Hilton's blog. Check it out. Yep. It's that "Sex Squad" story I did on AM980 last week. If you're not familiar, I'll give you a quick backgrounder. The Health Unit has unveiled getitonlondon.com, a website devoted to teaching people between the ages of 15 and 24 more about sexual health. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm 24 myself... but I find this beyond ridiculous. They use comic book style graphics and characters like "Captain Condom", "Wonder Vag" and "Sperminator". If they want to have fun with it, that's fine. I'm sure kids (like me?) will enjoy it, and it could open a dialogue with a nurse or a parent. But, there will probably be a lot of jokes made, and the message could get lost .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10095181craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10095181Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:28:47 GMTWhen boxing matches get too far out of hand.... the manager is asked to throw in the towel, for the safety of the boxer. Well..... I wish there was some manager that could put a stop to the nightly beat downs we see in Women's Hockey in these Olympics. Yes. Canada is a powerhouse. So is the U.S. They've played some tremendous games over the years (2002 in Salt Lake City being the most memorable). But.... there's a problem. They're miles ahead of the competition. Actually, miles isn't long enough. Let's say light years. Tonight, Canada beat Sweden 13-1. They scored 3 goals in less than a minute. They were up 10 less than half way through the game. Now, I love flag waving as much as the next person, but this has to stop. Sweden isn't some weak sister here, folks. They're considered the third best team. Tonight, they .../Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10095175craig.needles@corusent.com (Craig Needles)/Blog/CraigNeedles/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10095175Thu, 18 Feb 2010 02:21:56 GMT