Griffey Jr. finally hits No. 600

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 600th home run yesterday against the Florida Marlins. Good for him, he always seems like a nice guy, so he deserves this milestone.

Now, I don't watch baseball - I can't remember the last time I watched a whole game - but I've been watching the highlights on SportsCentre the last few weeks and something really struck me. I've watched Griffey get up to the plate and be walked time and time again. The same thing happened last year when Bonds was chasing the HR record.

What's up with that?

Why are so many pitchers dead-set against taking a chance and perhaps allowing a home run like this?

To all those pitchers who purposefully walked Ken Griffey Jr., I have this to say: you are all cowards and an embarrassment to sports. You should be ashamed of yourselves for such behaviour.

There is no shame in being the one who pitches such a record-setting/milestone pitch, but there is shame in taking the wimpy way out.

Grow a freakin' backbone...

Rick Mercer prepares for Beijing 2008

I realized that some people may not know the awesome TV personality that is Rick Mercer. Well, he is a comedian with his own show "The Rick Mercer Report" and his passion is politics. He travels around the country (and the world, sometimes) to do interviews with politicians, from the leaders of the opposition party to the Prime Minister.

He also does mock commercials, and he does many features that place him in situations where he is a 'fish out of water.' These situations quite often include him participating in sports: professional lacrosse, professional football, and even cheerleading.

However, this video is of Rick Mercer with Alexandre Despatie, one of the best divers in the world. Alex teaches Rick how to dive, and it is seriously some of the funniest stuff I have ever seen on TV - especially when he gets hurt in his 'bathing suit place.'

Canada will win gold in Vancouver

Twenty-four months. That's how long it is until the Vancouver Olympic Games. I get more excited by the day.

I found this CTV article by Michael Stittle this morning, a little advertising for tomorrow's Olympic special "Olympic Journey: Calgary to Vancouver", airing tomorrow night on TSN.

Twenty years after the Calgary Winter Games, Canada is haunted by an
embarrassing fact -- it's the only country to have hosted the Olympics twice
without winning a gold medal.

But athletes should bring in a record haul in Vancouver, says CTV Olympic
Host Brian Williams.

"In the past, Canadians were content to show up and then that was good
enough. Showing up is not good enough," Williams told CTV.ca.

"This is not an intramural activity. They're on the world stage. I'm
not saying they all have to win medals, but you must show up and do your best."

Canada won 24 medals in Turin, the most ever captured at the Winter Games.
Sixteen of those medals were won by women like speed skater Cindy Klassen,
arguably won of the finest athletes the country has ever produced.

Williams said the Own the Podium program, launched in 2005, has
contributed greatly towards the growing success of Canada's amateur athletes. It
gives them much-needed support in terms of doctors, physiotherapists and
equipment specialists.

[...]

"I will tell you that as I travel across this country, Canadian
athletes are not intimidated by the pressure," said Williams. "In fact, they're
looking forward to it, they're thriving under it, and they're all talking about
who will be the first Canadian athlete to hear 'O Canada' on Canadian soil."

[...]

Stories of passion, of trying to overcome the odds, are already emerging among Canadian athletes looking toward the 2010 Games.

One of the most remarkable is cross-country skier Brian McKeever. He has less than 10 per cent of his vision -- he's legally blind -- but is considered one of the top competitors in the world.

McKeever's vision problems come from Stargardt's, a form of macular degeneration that has left him with only peripheral vision. Because of his condition, he relies on his brother Robin to guide him from behind during races.

Robin is a former Olympic athlete who competed at the Nagano Olympics in 1998. He gave up his Olympic aspirations to train McKeever, pushing him to fight beyond his limitations.

"Brian has competed in a regular world cup event and finished in the top half," said Williams.

"He hopes to compete in Vancouver-Whistler. The problem is that at the world cup, robin was there to ski behind him and direct him; at the Olympics, you're not allowed to have someone directing you. It will be interesting to see what happens, but it's a wonderful story."

If McKeever is allowed to compete with Canada's Olympics team, he'll have to deal with intense pressure to perform better than any other Canadian team in the history of the Winter Games.

Writer's strike no more?

So the people on ET Canada said that the writer's strike could be over by the end of the weekend and that the best show on Earth - House - could be back as early as April.

April?

Now, season finales tend to be in May, so what's going to happen here? I wonder, will the networks decide to extend the season through the summer?

If not, it will kinda suck, eh? House comes back in April, and ends in May...

Ugh

Well, at least CBS has decided to make a winter season of Big Brother. I know, it's a trashy kind of reality show, but I can't help but watch that crap. It's like an addiction.

Just like my newfound addiction to MVP...

Phoenix = Championship Team

No, not the Phoenix Coyotes - at least not yet, even if Rick Tocchet is back behind the bench with Gretz.

Nah, I'm talking about the Suns.

"I'm very upset. You just don't really want to get me upset. When I'm upset, I'm known to do certain things - like win championships."

- Newly acquired Phoenix Sun Shaquille O'Neal on the criticism that has accompanied in his recent trade from the Miami Heat.

Booyah-shaka! I'm likin' that kind of championship talk. I'm not a basketball fan, but I'm a huge Steve Nash fan and I'd like to see him win the whole shebang!

Steve Nash = greatest player in the NBA.

Absolutely PARALYZED!

Okay, so the title is cheesy. Maybe that makes me a little cheesy too.

Anyways...

I'm so psyched that my favourite song of 2007, Paralyzer by Finger Eleven, is getting big-time air play in the US.

First, they were number one in Canada for like 3 months last spring/summer.

Then they landed a great gig on the 2007 NHL Awards show.

Now they're #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, with a sweet performance on the Tonight Show last night.

What's next?

Always nice to see a Canuck band find success elsewhere in the world - and to crack the oh-so-hard-to-crack US market.




PENS....LIGHTNING....TONIGHT....GO PENS!

High quality journalism

Okay, I'm a bit of a nerd. I'm one of those freaks that will notice spelling mistakes and the occasional grammatical error (though sometimes I am guilty of those...)

I can also pick out a factual error now and then, and this one caught my eye as I was reading an article about Clara Hughes.

For those who don't know, Hughes is a Canadian athlete who started out in speed skating, switched to cycling, and then switched back to long track speed skating. She's also one of Canada's most decorated Olympic athletes.

At this weekend's World Cup event in Russia, Hughes placed second. Here's what CBC wrote:

Hughes claimed silver in speed skating's team pursuit at the Olympics in Turin
last year, to go with two bronzes she won in cycling at the 1996 Atlanta Summer
Games and a bronze in speed skating at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games.

Okay, all of the above info is true. Hughes did win two bronze medals in Atlanta in cycling, a bronze in speed skating in Salt Lake, and a silver in Torino. But how in the world did they miss her GOLD medal in the 5000 m event in Torino??? I can still see her collapsing from exhaustion after her race.

Looks like somebody needed a fact checker for their article...

Good times in the Maritimes

Crazy times in the Maritimes. Lots of traveling, playing NHL07 with the bro (Sens over Caps, 20-3...AO sucks), and four (FOUR!) hockey games in a little over 24 hours.

That last point, my friend, is the ultimate sweetness.

Except for when the Pens lose...again. I'm sure us fans aren't as frustrated as those guys, but it's getting there.

The only solace we have is knowing that it's November, the Pens haven't completely sucked and lost all of their games, and a winning streak must surely be coming our way. Right? Just agree with me.

Coach T gave the guys the day off yesterday in preparation for today's game against the Devils. I'm hoping for a little déjà vu tonight. Another 5-0 win...not very likely, but a girl can be optimistic, eh?

I finally got my battery charger for my digicam back. What kind of idiot leaves the charger at home? Oh wait, that would be me. So, I thought I'd take a pic of what I woke up to yesterday morning in Monkey-Town...

Seriously, isn't it supposed to be November, not the middle of January? What's up with the 15 cm of snow bit? Ugh. I hope this ain't a sign of the winter to come. I can see it now, another 5' snow storm, à la 1992...maybe that'll jinx it into not happening.

Lovin' my new WWGRD wristband, even though the Pens are 0-3 since I got it...and I do believe I have the skinniest wrists in the world.

I make a 6-year-old look like a freakin' giant. Maybe a little growth hormone is in order.

Anyways, big game tonight. Devils. Penguins. Me in my new Pens jersey, updating the boxscore on NHL.com every 2 minutes. Good times in the Maritimes...

Noel is coming! Noel is coming!

This is Noel. Noel isn't very nice. He has killed a lot of people, and now he's heading straight for me.

Out of curiosity of this post-tropical whatever thingie that's coming at me, I read a CTV article on the subject. A few things jumped out at me:

The CHC issued a statement from Dartmouth, N.S., Friday saying that "despite being in a post-tropical stage it is expected to carry hurricane force winds as it passes."

and

Officials are comparing the storm to Hurricane Juan in 2003 and expect to see surf and waves as high as 10 metres off Nova Scotia.

Umm...thanks CTV for inducing panic. I wasn't around for the disaster that was Juan, but I saw the pictures - half of Halifax's forests were destroyed. I am currently surrounded by forests...a tree branch through my window is not how I envisioned a face-to-face meeting with Noel. I was thinking more of a, "Hey, Noel, I can hear you out there. Keep it down, I'm watching TV. Thanks buddy."

As long as Noel doesn't mess with my electricity. I'll be pissed if I miss Hockey Night in Canada. Leafs and Habs are playing

Crazy football fan, with his "I wanna be Mr. Grey Cup"

I get excited when I see the crows outside my window. Okay, not really, but I get more excited about that than the Grey Cup, or football in general.

However, there was a headline on my homepage that caught my eye. It said "Bombers' fan vows to change his name to Mr. Grey Cup."

Hmm...okay...

See, I guess there's this 24-year-old kid who's a 'super fan' of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers who decided that he was angry at all the abundance of playoff tickets available. So, to 'motivate' the team, he has declared that if they win the Grey Cup, he will legally change his name to 'Grey Cup' the very next day.

And he's not kidding. He got all the details from the Vital Statistics office and they were fine with it. No biggie.

His family isn't so crazy about it. They think he's an idiot. As do I.

And I'm not being biased against the football fans out there, and I know there are plenty of you walking around. I'd have the same reaction to someone wanting to change their name to "Stanley Cup". Or "Memorial Cup". Or "Olympic Gold Medal".

My guess, though, is that this kid just wants to get his 15 minutes of fame. I'd like to see if he actually goes through with it if the Bombers win the Grey Cup on November 25th.

He'll probably chicken out.



Who knows, maybe he's one of these guys with the blue cheese heads. My guess is the guy with the jersey.

New principal at school - Paris Hilton?

Ever wonder what your high school principal would look like in pink shoes, a mini dress and pink hair?

Well, I did. And my wish came true when I saw this photo in my hometown newspaper.

Doug Prescott lost a bet with students. He said that he would dress up in pink if they raised $15,000 for CIBC's Run for the Cure. It was tight (and I'm not just talking about that dress...), but the students came up with the money just before the race started.

For those who do not know Doug Prescott, this is totally and completely out of his character - but I guess it's a good thing that the principal doesn't usually wear pink mini dresses to school. Hard to take him seriously if he looks like a clownish Paris Hilton every day, eh?

Anyway, thank you Mr. Prescott for being such a good sport. And thank you current students for raising the money to allow me to have this photo saved on my computer for eternity...oh, and for raising all that cash for breast cancer research. You rock!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend...

Eat some turkey






Gobble Gobble

Ahh...CollegeHumor...

Online shopping for Canucks - What a rip off.

So today I was perusing NHL.com and I decided that I was gonna check out the brand spankin' new jerseys. Heck, I thought that I just may buy one of those suckers - one of the new Pens sweaters, that is.

I made my way to the shop and I took a peek at the jerseys - $115 for the Premiers, $250 for an Authentic, and 80 bucks to customize. Ok, sweet. I clicked and clicked, went to the checkout, and found out that I had to create an account to buy my stuff. Ok, fine, je comprends. I filled in the address part and couldn't find my stinkin' country on the list! They had Bangladesh, Vatican City, and Thailand, but no Canada. Frig.

Then I noticed a little something at the top right hand corner: a little Canadian flag. So I clicked on it.

Yes, back in business...So I redid my clicky clicky thing again, and FRIG, the prices jumped on me! Premier sweaters sold at a price of $136CAD, Authentics a crazy $296CAD, and customization at $84CAD. Besides all that, there's triple the shipping cost and all those hideous taxes and duties and crap.

In past years, this price difference would be understandable. The Canadian dollar was at $0.70US, so a price difference was no biggie. But the stupid economy is different now, and our Loonie is on par with the US Dollar. One Canadian Loonie is roughly equal to one American Dollar. The news people keep saying that this is good for the Canadian consumer because things will be cheaper. I assumed that this would translate to online shopping. Guess not.

What a rip off...but I'll still probably whip out my credit card (or student loan money) to get one of these puppies. Stupid corporate people, taking advantage of us non-corporate people.

Moncton gets to host another international competition.

It has just been announced that Moncton, New Brunswick (or Monkey-Town, as I like to call my hometown) will host the 2009 Ford World Men's Curling Championship. Competition will take place from the 4th to 12th of April at the Moncton Coliseum, home of the Wildcats. Something tells me that the legendary Russ Howard, a key member of the Olympic Gold Medal-winning curling team and current resident of Moncton, had something to do with this...just a hunch.

Moncton has hosted a number of sporting events as of late. In 2006, the CHL held its annual Memorial Cup tournament in the Hub City. The CIS University Cup was held at the Coliseum in 2007, and will return next year (will the UNB Reds repeat as champions?).

But the biggest event of them all will be the IAAF World Junior Championship in Athletics in 2010. The City of Moncton and l'Université de Moncton have joined forces to host this event, and a brand-spankin' new, 10 000 seat outdoor stadium is being constructed on the U de M campus.

Looks like Monkey-Town will be buzzing with sports people in the coming years. Yay!

Perdita Felicien wins silver at Worlds

Perdita Felicien is finally on the upswing after disaster struck three years ago.

Felicien was in the final of the 100m hurdles at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. She was expected to win gold for Canada, but she tripped. In that split second, Felicien saw her Olympic dreams vanish and she was left injured. Her injuries kept her out of commission for months and her confidence was shattered. She didn't even qualify for the finals for the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Fast forward to the summer of 2007 and things are different for Felicien. She won Nationals, captured the silver at last month's Pan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, and now she placed second at the 2007 World Championships in Japan - on her 27th birthday, no less.

"This silver is like a gold for me. I just wanted to bring something to Canada," she said following her race.

Felicien has her eyes firmly set on next year's Olympic Games in Beijing, China. She may not be favoured to win gold at the Games in August 2008, but I have a feeling that she will turn heads with her performance.

Nothing like crashing in the finals at the Olympics to make you want to win it all the next time around.

And I hope that she shows everyone that she still has what it takes to be a champion.

End of Summer...

It is official: the middle of August has passed, and we are now heading into the latter portion of August. That means that we are getting closer to September, and we all know what the beginning of September brings: Labour Day, yes, but also the Back to School Fiasco. The countdown has begun – T minus 15 days and change. Did I hear someone say ‘term paper’? I think I’m going to have a panic attack.

These next 2 weeks will be insane. I’m talking about finding all of my junk that I threw in the basement back in April when I moved back home. I’m talking about packing my stuff into boxes, and then re-packing these boxes when the car won’t hold it all. I’m talking about last minute shopping when I break my el-cheapo wooden clothes rack from Walmart. I just may require nap time to re-energize.

You can feel it in the air when the ‘back to school’ date gets closer. The weather is still warm, but the heat and humidity are not unbearable. Some of the leaves on the trees are even turning a little brown. It’s still ‘construction season’ in Monkey-Town, but summer is coming to an end. It was like a bitch-slap to the face when I got the Sears Christmas Wish Book in the mail yesterday.

It was the ultimate wake up call. I mean, I was aware that we’d soon be under 8 feet of snow (ok, more like 8 cm), but it’s a whole new level of awareness when that Wish Book enters your home. I flipped through those pages in a semi-state of shock, my eye catching on what seemed like hundreds of items with NHL team logos (ok, Canadian team logos). If only I could win the lottery and get that mini-fridge, those slippers, an alarm clock and a wall clock, that super-cool watch, a few hoodies…that would be so cool in my dorm room. Too bad Sears is so selective with their logos – would it kill them to show the Pens some love?

Oh well, I guess “Summer 2007” is rapidly coming to an end. I should enjoy these last few precious days while I am still free, because in less than 3 weeks I will find myself trapped in a Halifax dorm, surrounded by 18 year olds going crazy with ‘freedom’ (oh, how naïve they are).

As depressing as this sounds, there is a light on the horizon. If the end of summer brings anything good, it’s hockey. So while school crap might start in September, so does training camp. Hockey will get me through those term papers, tests, quizzes, midterm exams, lab reports, projects, and final exams – and then the playoffs will bring graduation – and then a real job.

Hopefully.

The government can be a bitch when they want their money back.