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Oilers survive Thunder-storm 4-3.

Rich Lohman

TULSA, OK—Another sparse crowd greeted the 7-3-0 Tulsa Oilers as they took on the 2-8-1 Wichita Thunder at the amazing BOK Center Tuesday night as the Oilers attempted to extend to four a win streak begun last Saturday night in Mississippi.  They also wanted to make it extend the current home win streak that currently stands at 5 wins.  

  
For Wichita it’s a different story.  Brent Bilodeau, the Thunder’s head coach at the start of the season was shown the door after a dismal 2-7 start, and the reins passed to veteran forward Jason Duda  in the interim.  Since assuming command the Duda-era Thunder have so far posted a 0-1-1 record.  Wichita lost its 6th straight in Missouri over the weekend, so it’s clear that the once-mighty Thunder came into Tulsa looking to make a turnaround.

  
Violence has been a hallmark of the Oilers-Thunder history, and it only took 44 seconds to elapse in the first before Tulsa heavyweight Rick Kozak hooked up in a fight with the Thunder’s Chris McAllister.  The altercation brief, Wichita quickly capitalized on the energy surge from the fight and found the back of the net behind Oiler goalie Kevin Armstrong, Joel Hanson slamming the biscuit home.  Later with Hanson serving a hooking penalty, the Oilers T.J. Caig…the CHL’s Oakley player of the week last week, slipped the puck past Wichita goalie Scott Campbell on the power play with Aaron Davis and Mike Beausoleil assisting.  In scoring the goal, Caig has 11 extra-man goals on the season, good enough for 2nd in the CHL.

  Tulsa would strike again, this time at even strength when Dan Riedel slammed the puck in on Campbell’s right side at the 11:43 mark with Caig and Rob Hisey assisting.  Tom Maldonado took a sweet pass from behind the Wichita net from Aaron Davis to score a goal with T.J. Caig getting the second helper.  Proving that they still had some life left in them, Wichita left wing Brandon Kaleniecki pushed in an unassisted goal, his first this season, to end the period with Tulsa up 3-2.

  Both teams started the 2nd period tenuously, with several; good scoring chances and end-to-end action.  More violence came in the form of another fight, this time between the Oilers Jake Riddle and Mark Adamek, and though that fight was as brief as the Kozak-McAllister bout in the first period, Riddle barely got a punch in before Adamek took him to the ice.  To add insult to that referee Justin Greene assessed Riddle  with a two minute roughing minor, which the Oilers killed off as a matter of course.  The Oilers outshot Wichita 11-3 but the score remained 3-2 at the 2nd break.

  
The 3rd period started much as the 2nd did, with both teams flying in on odd man rushes, going hard into the corners, and attacking the puck like wild men.  It wasn’t until the 16:18 mark of the 3rd did the Oilers Jake Riddle find the back of the net, with Derek Merlini and Rick Kozak assisting.  With the Thunder net vacant Wichita’s Jason Deleurme scored at the 19:07 mark, tightening the game to 4-3.  The Thunder played much of the final minute with their goalie on the bench , but the extra attacker didn’t help as the game ended with Tulsa on top 4-3.

  
The Oilers went 2-for-5 on the power-play and were outshot 34-27 for the game.  The next contest for Tulsa is the Missouri Mavericks in the brand new Independence Events Center, then back home for a Sunday afternoon matinee against Wichita at 4:05pm.
Tickets are on sale at the BOK Center box office, tulsaoilers.com, and all Reasors locations for all the Oilers home games.

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Photos: Kevin Pyle

ATTENDANCE: 4,053
REFEREE: Justin Greene
LINES 1: Benjamin Dupuis
LINES 2: John Grandt
1ST STAR: Caig, TJ (TUL)
2ND STAR: Deleurme, Jason (WIC)
3RD STAR: Davis, Aaron (TUL)

Personal Finance For Dummies

Staff Reports

 Best-selling author Eric Tyson says now is the perfect time to teach your kids some valuable financial lessions, especially in today’s climate.

With job layoffs, frozen pay raises and other economic impacts, Tyson said there’s no reason for parents to feel guilty because they can’t buy that video game their kid is screaming about or decide between karate and basketball.

Kids are surprisingly aware of what’s going on in the world,” says Tyson, author of Personal Finance For Dummies®, 6th Edition

“And if they don’t know that times are a little bit tough and that Mom and Dad are having to watch their spending, it’s time to tell them. Sheltering kids from financial realities does them no favors.”

Tyson says a good grasp of personal finance is one of the most valuable life skills a person can have. And while previous generations may have been raised with the constant admonishment that “money doesn’t grow on trees,” too many of today’s parents neglect that lesson. It’s time to change that—and the severe recession provides a great incentive for doing so.

“In many ways, a long-term financial slowdown can be a blessing in disguise,” admits Tyson. “It forces more families to make a budget and stick to it. It forces them to be conscious about how they handle money. That’s good for kids. It shows them how the world is supposed to work.”

Among the key points in the new book:

1. Tell them the truth. Kids are perceptive. If parents act anxious and on edge, kids will notice. Tell them what’s going on in the family’s financial world.

2. Explain to them how much things cost. Some parents are surprised to find out that their kids don’t have a very good grasp on what things cost.

3. Realize that kids learn what they live. It may sound like common sense, but parents are their kids’ most influential teachers. When parents ring up a barge-load of credit card debt, take out exorbitant mortgages or car loans, and fail to save anything, that’s what kids come to see as normal.

4. Deprogram them. Kids are constantly bombarded with information about what things cost, whether it’s the fancy sports car they like or the wardrobe of their favorite athlete or actor, not to mention the 40,000 commercials that the American Academy of Pediatrics estimates the average American child sees each year. What they aren’t bombarded with is knowledge concerning how to manage money effectively.

5. An allowance is a great teaching tool. A well-implemented allowance program can mimic many money matters that adults face every day throughout their lives. From recognizing the need to earn the green stuff to learning how to responsibly and intelligently spend, save, and invest their allowances, children can gain a solid financial footing from a young age.

6. Start them saving and investing early. It’s never too early to start saving, and the sooner parents instill the importance of saving money into their kids, the better.

7. Reduce their exposure to ads. The primary path to reduced exposure to ads is to cut down on TV time. But when an ad does sneak under the radar and set the kids to begging, address it. Explain to kids that there’s never a good time for frivolous impulse spending—but it’s especially harmful when money is tight.

8. Find entertaining ways to teach good money habits. For younger kids, Tyson recommends age-appropriate books or board games like Monopoly or Life.

9. Teach them how to shop wisely. Family shopping trips, whether for groceries or something else, are likely to be a kid’s kids’ first encounter with spending. They’ll see parents make decisions based on what the family needs and observe how they pay.

10. Introduce the right and wrong ways to use credit and debit cards. Those plastic cards in your wallet offer a convenient way to conduct purchases in stores, by phone, and over the Internet. Unfortunately, credit cards offer temptation for overspending and carrying debt from month to month.

11. Encourage older kids to get a job. An allowance doesn’t have to be the only way for your kids to earn money. Your child’s initial exposure to the work-for-pay world can start with something as simple as a lemonade stand.

Besides the learning opportunities it presents, there’s another positive to the recession, says Tyson. It forces families to be more thoughtful about how they spend their time—and this often leads to the stunning realization that money really doesn’t buy happiness.

“Often, all those unnecessary things we buy for ourselves and our kids are simply distractions from the people we love,” he says. “They send the message that it’s necessary to spend a lot of money in order to have a good time. It’s not, of course. The best things in life—friends, family, quiet evenings at home just being together—really are free. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded of that.”

About the author: Eric Tyson, MBA, is one of the nation’s best-selling personal finance book authors and has penned five national bestsellers (he is also the only author to have four of his books simultaneously on BusinessWeek’s business book bestseller list). His Personal Finance For Dummies (Wiley) won the Benjamin Franklin Award for the Best Business Book of the Year

RHEMA Christmas Display Next Week

Staff Reports

The RHEMA Christmas display kicks off again this year on Thanksgiving week.

Each year the event becomes bigger and bigger. Started in 1982 with 60,000 lights, this year the extravaganza will feature more than 1.5 million lights for thousands of expected visitors.

This year, the display on the RHEMA park bridge alone will feature over 72,000 lights—12,000 more than last year. And throughout the park, various lights will be synchronized to Christmas music. There will be Victorian carolers, as well as North Pole penguins and polar bears—all outlined in lights. Also planned is a 50-figure nativity scene.

The event kicks off November 25 at 6:00 p.m. as the Hagin family activates the lights at the annual “flip-the-switch” ceremony, followed by Hour of Power at RHEMA Bible Church. 

Concessions and pictures with Santa will be available from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. and 8:15 to 9:00 p.m. that evening, and from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings through December 19.

Horse and buggy rides will be available on November 25 from 8:15 to 9:00 p.m. Rides will also be available November 26 through 28, and Friday and Saturday evenings thereafter, beginning at sundown. Starting December 18, buggy rides will be offered every night through December 26. A family package is available.

For more information, log onto www.rhemabiblechurch.com/christmas or call (918) 258-1588, ext. 2314.

Oilers Sweep CHL Weekly Awards

Rich Lohman

TULSA, OK– The Central Hockey League announced that Tulsa Oilers forward T.J. Caig and goalie Kevin Armstrong won player and goaltender of the week for the week ending November 15th, 2009.

Caig wins the award on the strengths of a very repetitive week in which he scored two goals and an assist in all three games the Oilers played and won last week.  The native of Kelwona, B.C. scored three of his four goals on the power play, giving him a grand total of 4 power-play goals on the season, which have him tied for second so far in the standings.  Caig has a total of 9 goals and 9 assists so far this season for 18 points, which is fifth best in the CHL at this point of the season.

Goalie Kevin Armstrong nabs the award based on three wins this week, two coming against Mississippi and one over Rapid City.  Armstrong turned away 36 shots in a 6-5 come from behind victory in Mississippi, and allowed only 3 goals in the home contests against the Rush and Riverkings when the Oilers returned home this weekend.  The native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has played all but 20 minutes in goal for Tulsa so far this season and has a 7-3-0 record overall and a 5-0-0 record at home.

Tulsa’s sweep of the CHL weekly honors is only the second time a team has swept the awards.  Amarillo’s Mike Brown and Joe Guenther, a former Oiler, did it in the opening week of the season.  You can catch T.J. Caig and Kevin Armstrong in action tomorrow night as the Oilers take on the Wichita Thunder at 7:05pm in the amazing BOK Center.

Tickets are available at the BOK Center box office, tulsaoilers.com, and all Reasors locations.

Cut Government Spending First

Oklahomans For Responsible Government

(Oklahoma City, OK)  While moviegoers are flocking to a film about the destruction of the world in 2012, Oklahoma is headed towards a catastrophe of its own if Governor Henry depletes the entire Rainy Day Fund this year as he proposes to do.  The consequences for the state could be far worse than the Governor experienced when he first came into office.

 “Everyone agrees that the state is facing a serious revenue shortfall, but Governor Henry appears to be short-sighted when it comes to solutions,” said Brian Downs, Executive Director of Oklahomans for Responsible Government.  “While revenues are down more than 25%, the governor only wants to make 5% cuts in spending, making up the rest by raiding the state’s savings account.”

The tough economic times started over a year ago and while large companies and small businesses are trying to do their best to make ends meet by trimming payroll, state government has added 1,300 jobs in the past year.

“Oklahoma families dealing with similar problems to their personal budgets are taking the proper action of cutting spending to bare-bones levels, eliminating luxuries and frivolous spending,” said Downs.  “They aren’t depleting their savings accounts to go on resort vacations.”

 Governor Henry is right that the state is facing an emergency, but it’s not a one-year emergency.  The state is already looking at a billion dollar shortfall for the 2011 budget and even if the economy recovers, 2012 will be made more difficult as the state has to make up for federal stimulus funds that will no longer be available.  The prudent action has been offered up by legislative leaders: cut more spending now to prevent far deeper cuts in the future.