Merry Christmas, 2006 Speed-Skating.net Awards, Andrew Love's Video, A Game Of Risk

Merry Christmas: That's right, I am in Thunder Bay right now and I have met, held, and walked with Sebastien Peter Doucet, my nephew. He's tiny and beautiful. Of course it goes without saying that I'll post a couple of pictures later. In the mean time, enjoy your Christmas (if you celebrate it). If you're having a reveillon like my family in Quebec or a huge dinner, or if you're spending time on your own, or really whatever you're doing, have a wonderful time.

2006 Speed-Skating.net Awards: Who was the best speedskater of 2006? You can vote in 6 different categories on Speed-Skating.net: female and male in inline (roller), long track (ice), and short track (ice). Vote for me! Oh, ooops, I am not on the list.


Some of the world's best (and cutest) female skaters...not on the list!
Andrew Love's Video: Andrew Love made a short video from the US Long Track Speed Skating Championships- again, Andrew has a well written introduction to the video on his blog; click here of view below-



A Game Of Risk: If you’ve ever played Risk, you are well aware of many strategies- what you should not do and what you should do. I had the opportunity to go up against a few skater-friends including Candy Wong, Aaron Arndt, Andrew Hegarty, Sigrid Ziegler, and Kevin Noh. What follows this are each person’s result and my analysis of their game-play.


Sigrid Ziegler (left) and Candy Wong (right) taking in the strategy
[Candy Wong's Risk report] [Candy Wong's Risk Video (view it below too)]
6th Place- Peter Doucet: Started with Brazil, South-East Africa, and South-East Asia. Aaron Arndt handily knocked Peter out of Brazil, Andrew Hegarty easily cleared Africa of Peter, and Sigrid Ziegler effortlessly disposed of Peter in South-East Asia.

5th Place- Candy Wong: Described as irrational/ unpredictable in her actions in the game, she controlled Central-Europe until Andrew Hegarty gave her the boot.

4th Place- Kevin Noh: Kevin tended to be more of a Pacifist until mid-way in the game when he was left with 3 armies in Australia. He raged out of Australia and almost obliterated Sigrid Ziegler’s army in Asia until Andrew Hegarty took Kevin out of the game.

3rd Place- Sigrid Ziegler: Creating an alliance with Aaron Arndt, Sigrid built up massive forces in Alaska while slowly taking over Europe. She waged battles with Aaron Arndt from the North of Canada and had a strong presence in Asia. She almost drove Kevin Noh out of Asia and Australia, but Kevin came raging back, forcing Sigrid to back into North-East Asia. A battle with Aaron Arndt left Sigrid weak enough for Andrew Hegarty to knock her out of the game in Asia.

2nd Place- Aaron Arndt: Aaron took over the entire American continent. With a truce in Brazil/ Africa with Andrew Hegarty and a truce with Sigrid in Alaska-Russia, conflicts took a long time to develop. A see-saw mutual battle for Iceland emerged between Andrew and Aaron. The two collected cards, but a build-up in Iceland by Andrew followed by an attempt at infiltrating North America spelt an eventual domination by Andrew. The attack on Aaron really pissed Aaron off. A massive battle of retribution left Aaron’s armies in North America quite weak. Aaron left a trail of his armies from North America and ploughed through a few poorly defended countries in Europe and Asia to eventually take over Australia. Aaron had a significant battle from Alaska to Russia with Sigrid Ziegler- a truce that had stood most of the game exploded with both Aaron and Sigrid being left quite weak. Aaron finished the game with significant armies in Brazil and in Australia.

1st Place- Andrew Hegarty: Andrew took care of Peter Doucet early in the game, claiming the African continent. His armies were right beside Kevin Noh’s armies in the Middle-East, and soon, Andrew buried Kevin’s armies and slowly took over Europe. Andrew’s massive armies ploughed a weakened Sigrid Ziegler to the ground in Russia thanks to a previous battle between Aaron and Sigrid. With a clear control over Africa, Europe, and Asia, and a strong possibility of taking over the Americas, he was declared the victor.