By: Jolene Cieniawski

Forum Writer

The NHL hockey season has really shaped up in the four months since October, and just as teams like the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals are getting red hot, BAM! the Winter Olympics buts its way into the mix. Depending on the type of hockey fan you are, this almost three week break can be a good thing or a bad thing. Good in that teams in general will have a chance to rest, regroup, and get strong for the return to the NHL season. Bad in that whatever winning streaks a team had may fizzle out after the return or that star players sent to play on Olympic teams will come back injured and doom the otherwise solid teams they came from. Either way you look at it, nail-biting will ensue and you can choose to wait it out and ignore the Olympics all together or you can watch some good match ups and pray your players will return back to their teams as the prodigal sons who will make their teams better than before he left.
As most hockey fans know, although an NHL player may play on an American NHL team, most of the players are not from the U.S. and they won’t be playing for Team U.S.A. When the Winter Olympics rolls around every 4 years, most NHL players return home to their respective countries to play for their home teams. Around 50% of the league is comprised of Canadian-born players alone, with other players coming from Russia, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, and other countries. This year, the U.S. Olympic Team has named Jamie Langenbrunner of the New Jersey Devils as their captain and has added a nice mix of players to the roster: Zach Parise (Devils), Ryan Suter (Nashville Predators), Brian Rafalski (Detroit Red Wings), and Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks). Canada’s team hosts an arguably more impressive lineup with Scott Niedermeyer (Anaheim Ducks) as Captain and players Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Brent Seabrook, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith (all of the Blackhawks). Russia’s Olympic team has chosen 14 NHL players to fill their 23-man roster, and its best acquisitions were two of the best players in NHL hockey: Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) and Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins).
All Olympic teams will go head to head beginning on February 16 in Vancouver, with the U.S. playing Switzerland in Game 1 of the Preliminary Round. The games wrap up with closing ceremonies on February 28, and although it may seem as if any team stands a good chance of winning with their rosters packed with great NHL players, history tells us otherwise. The last Winter Olympics in 2006 (Torino) awarded the gold medal to Sweden and the Olympics before that awarded Canada the honor. The Russian team hasn’t won the gold since 1992 and the U.S. hasn’t gotten the gold in 30 years (the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” win). I’m American through and through, but my bet is on Canada this year. Their entire roster is comprised of NHL players, most of them being the best players in the NHL. Plus they’ve got young, quick talent found in Crosby, Keith, and Toews. Despite the NHL season being put on hold, the Olympic hockey matchups are a must-see, and with the games set in the Pacific time zone this year, there’s no reason not to watch!
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Jolene Cieniawski is a 2L and can be reached at Jolene.cieniawski@valpo.edu.

By: David Johnson

Forum Writer

“This must be it. Welcome to the New Year.”  It’s the opening line to one of my favorite Motion City Soundtrack songs, and I suppose I may have just been looking for an excuse to use it.  Regardless, it’s a new semester here at Valparaiso University School of Law.  On top of that, it’s also the New Year.

What that means for many of us is that we have committed ourselves to change.  Resolutions are popular.  We find an element of ourselves that we dislike, and hope to alter it in some way for either our own fulfillment, or possibly to make someone we care about more happy.

These promises typically embody the same themes.  To study more.  To drink less.  To finally quit smoking.  Sometimes resolutions are much more narrowly tailored to an individual and break the archetype. Sometimes a group of friends pledge themselves to a cause together, either for fun, or to share each others’ strength if the task is harrowing.  Sometimes resolutions are just wacky.

Yet, many times we find ourselves making the same promises that we did last year.  One way or another, people breach their resolutions.  The gym gets too expensive, or the nicotine wins out.  Such is the way of life.

But that does not always have to be the case.  We have 365 days in 2010.  It’s a long time, all things considered, to accomplish our resolution.  So, after some Internet research and personal reflection, here are a few tips I thought were useful in ultimately fulfilling your New Year’s promise.

First, try to keep your resolution in the proper scope.  If you promised to lose 20 pounds by summer, don’t burn yourself out by getting rid of the weight as quickly as possible in January and February.  Assuming you turn into a gym superhero and actually do drop the pounds, what will happen?  Do you stop going because you hit your goal?  A lot of people might.  Summer comes around, and you’re right back where you started thanks to unfavorable long term habits.  Steady as she goes is the name of the game.  Change is hard, and only a gradual implementation of our new  behavior into our old selves will make sure that the changes sticks.  It’s far too easy to get into something intensely for the short term, only to regress once we become placated.

Second, it may be better to postpone your resolution for a few months.  Personally, I don’t think you’re being unfaithful to your promise by giving yourself some extra starting time up front.  If Moot Court or Legal Writing or Trial Advocacy is swamping you right now, wait a few weeks.  Over working yourself now is just going to frustrate you.  You’re not dealing with a recipe for success if you’re incredibly stressed and you want to stop smoking.

Third, find someone to hold you accountable. The more people you tell your resolution to, the more people will ask how far you have progressed.  In short, it can be an effective way to motivate you to keep up your hard work.  If you’re really committed to the cause, do what I’m doing.  Get some of your close friends to harass you constantly to make sure you keep working at your goal.  Bonus points if you set up a penalty (i.e., you owe those friends a high-class dinner) if you wimp out and don’t reach your goal by December 31, 2010.

Fourth, on the opposite end of suggestion three, don’t be afraid to reward yourself along the way.  And if you actually do accomplish your resolution, do something big for the sake of the new you.  Such hard work should not be overlooked or its importance dismissed.  Even smaller resolutions deserve at least some sort of recognition for their completion.  For many people, change is much easier to accomplish if there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  A juicy reward to yourself might give you the incentive you need to push through a difficult time when you’re contemplating abandoning your promise.

It’s inevitable that anyone who attempts to change an aspect of him or herself will start doubting the merits of why, exactly, he or she started this change in the first place.  So my fifth suggestion is that you make a list to remind yourself just why you want to achieve your New Year’s goal.  Be it a higher GPA, fitting into that new dress by Barrister’s, or adding a few years to your life, write down why you’re working so hard.  Reading your reasons over and over will reinforce why they’re still important, and why all the sweat and tears are worth it.  If you think of more during your change, add them to the list too.  Just because you see more reasons for change during the transition doesn’t make these brand-new reasons any less valid than the original ones.

So, it’s a new year and new semester.  Here’s to hoping that 2010 will be better than 2009.  The Forum would like to wish everyone good luck this year, not just on honoring their resolutions, but in every aspect.  We really do appreciate your readership, and we’re looking forward to covering another academic year for you all.

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David is a 2L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu