Friday, February 2:
ORANJESTAD, Aruba -- So we heard that Carlos 'N Charlie's was THE party bar in Aruba. "They're dancing on the tables by noon " we heard. We wandered in at 1:30 in the afternoon, and there were three other people in the place. So much for reputations.
I can't sing but after a few pops I convinced myself that I could on Sunday night. Karaoke night. Yesterday, a kind older couple asked if I'd be singing again tomorrow night. I can only assume they don't get out much.
The weather on this cruise has been perfect so far. Simply perfect.
Sunday, February 4:
COLON, Panama -- I've never been this close to the equator before. The concept of "dusk" is foreign here. The sun sets and half an hour later, it's pitch black. And we've also been blessed with a full moon on this trip. And when it pokes its head above the horizon, the familiar "man on the moon" is twisted to one side. Very cool, and yet eerie at the same time.
Quite fascinating to travel through the Panama Canal today -- all the way down to the Pacific Ocean. They were busy building this famous waterway 100 years ago. Quite an engineering feat.
They're showing the Super Bowl in the theatre on board here tonight. I still say the Colts by 10: Here's the pick: Indianapolis Colts 31, Chicago Bears 21.
I did the karaoke routine again last night and totally made a fool of myself on "Great Balls of Fire." It's great to be anonymous!
Monday, February 5:
LIMON, Costa Rica -- No question the Colts should have won, and should have won by a lot more than a dozen points. But good grief! Rex Grossman, if you're going to call people out for pointing out your past mistakes, then you'd better back it up with a good game. When the Bears merely needed him not to lose the game, he fumbled two snaps, threw two picks and stumbled over his own two feet. Enjoy the off-season, son.
The big winners of course, were our new friends, Glenn and Chris from Connecticut. They won the big Super Bowl pool -- $250!
Wednesday, February 7:
COZUMEL, Mexico -- Ah, so THIS is the Carlos 'N Charlie's we all heard about. They were indeed dancing on the tables (well, chairs) by noon and a great time was had by all. Especially me and The Bride. We did manage to stumble back on board but I was so blasted that I had to make a date with the porcelain platter for the first time in many years. I also missed dinner.
Yes, karaoke again last night -- until the speakers gave up the ghost. I didn't do it. Honest!
We've had so much fun that we've booked the same cruise again next year. Same bat-time, same bat-ship.
Finally saw our first rain of this excursion. And it poured today for about four hours. Then (they tell me) it cleared up.
Saturday, February 10:
Toto, I don't think we're in Kansa, er, Florida any more. Back to reality, but it was a great cruise. Eleven days of being pampered beyond belief. It's the only way to fly. As mentioned, we've booked again for next year. Same ship, same time, same ports. I'll just approach Carlos 'N Charlie's with more caution next time! We'll get pics from the cruise up sometime over the weekend. Check the "bonus" page when the red lights are back on.
The Toronto Raptors have won five in a row and beat the Lakers last night?! I may have to check these guys out again!
Tuesday, February 13:
The Kardiac Kids -- AKA the Stouffville Spirit -- are at it again. They may indeed sweep overmatched Cobourg in round one of the Provincial Jr. A playoffs after a rough-and-tumble 3-2 road win last night put them up 3-0 in games. But the only "breather" game so far has been the opener. In game two at home, Stouffville was taken to double overtime before pulling it out. After last season's unlikely playoff run, no one is taking the Spirit for granted this time and the Cougars likely deserve a better fate than to face triple-match point.
Wednesday, February 14:
OK, guys -- get to the store NOW! Valentine's Day cards and flowers are getting to be in short supply. Seriously, have a great, heartfelt day. It's always a special one here as The Bride and I met 26 years ago tonight. Fate, I guess -- and some great luck on my part.
No love shown by the San Diego Chargers. They fired coach Marty Schottenheimer after all, after assuring him his job was safe. Seems they were miffed that key assistant coaches left to take positions elsewhere. So now they're starting from scratch in terms of a coaching staff. Good luck. Watch the Chargers lose between six and eight games next season -- at least.
Thursday, February 15:
Just received the terrible news that long-time Toronto radio personality Jim Paulson has passed away. I never worked with him directly, but certainly knew him through the Molson Indy and various other events that criss-crossed our working lives. There may be nicer people in the world, but I haven't met them. Jim was the rarest of creatures -- a media personality with zero ego. He was as talented as he was personable and was loaded in both categories. RIP, Jim.
What a huge win for the Toronto Raptors last night at home against New Jersey, the team that's chasing them in their division. These youngsters are slowly but surely learning how to close games out and it's great fun to watch them.
Mike Cudmore from Mark Sullivan and James McIntosh in -- yep -- double overtime, and the local Kardiac Kids are through to round two in the Tier II Junior A playoffs. Yes, it was a sweep for Stouffville over Coburg as many expected, but three of the four games were settled by one goal with two needing two extra periods. And everything gets tougher from here on in.
Sunday, February 18:
I was actually a Toronto Maple Leafs fan the last time they won the Stanley Cup -- the "never on Thursdays" gang that went 0-and-4 on that day in the 1967 playoffs and 8-and-0 every other day of the week. Harold Ballard soon drove me away but it was nice to see that team remembered in a ceremony last night -- and nicer still to see Dave Keon back in the building. That team was special to me, being a talentless goaltender. My heroes -- Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk -- shared the goaltending duties.
I'm on a run of early shifts at work. Last Friday, I was trying to find one good thing about leaving a warm, toasty house at 4:30 in the morning when I was suddenly greeted by a fine display of the Northern Lights. It's something I fear city dwellers in Toronto never see and is yet another reason I'm glad I live in the suburbs.
Monday, February 19:
Got to admit that once my man Jimmie Johnson sailed out of the Great American Demolition Derby yesterday, I was cheering for Mark Martin to finally win the thing in his 23rd shot. And he came oh-so-close, losing by a fender to Kevin Harvick at the checkered flag. Three quarters of the Daytona 500 were drama-free but the final 50 laps were simply insane with five major crashes. They were as bunched up at the finish as they were at the start, which suits NASCAR just fine but I don't imagine the drivers are in love with it. That's the result of restrictor-plate racing on super-speedways -- exciting but dangerous. Having a car cross the finish line upside and on fire (as did Clint Bowyer's did yesterday) can't be a good thing. And while it looks great on TV, I can't imagine drivers are overjoyed with driving into blazing sunsets and the rapidly changing track conditions that nighttime brings. Charlotte in late May is one thing, February in Daytona can be something else again.
Wednesday, February 21:
I see that the brain trust -- and I use the term loosely -- at Toronto city hall is seriously studying what they've put in place across the pond in London: charging motorists for driving into the city. And they're using the climate change argument to try and shame people into giving up their cars for public transit. I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you give people a decent alternative, they might just give it a try. But there is no decent alternative in Toronto. The public transit system for a city that size is an embarrassment. You'd be crazy to drive your car in London, England -- the transit system is vibrant, comprehensive, affordable and reliable. You'd be crazy not to drive your car in Toronto.
Voices, part IV: I'm not much of a old country music fan, but a major exception is the music of the late Patsy Cline. I could listen to her sing anytime, anywhere. On our recent cruise, a lady on the first karaoke night performed a couple of Patsy's songs and she was so good it was scary.
Friday, February 23:
Wasn't it the Brooklyn Dodgers who had the unofficial slogan of "Wait 'till next year!" after losing the World Series time and time again to the hated Yankees? The Dodgers finally beat the Yanks in 1955 (only to lose to them again the following year). So there's hope yet to get Tom Cheek into Cooperstown where he belongs -- we just have to vote him into the finals again this November. Denny Matthews of the Kansas City Royals is this year's recipient of the Ford Frick Award. Pretty good choice, as he's been the Royals play-by-play announcer since their inception. But doggone it, Cheek's a pretty good choice, too. Baseball blew it by not bestowing this honour upon Tom in the final year of his life. It's up to us to make sure baseball doesn't just forget him.
Just 1,869 for a Toronto Marlies home game Wednesday night, against a Canadian opponent, on a night when the Maple Leafs were not playing and the weather was fine? Holy cats! That's the smallest crowd in franchise history. Further proof that Toronto's a Leafs' town, not a hockey town.
Stouffville's a hockey town and the community is getting excited about the local six again. The Spirit skated to a 4-1 win last night over a tired Collingwood team that had just come off a seven-game series. Stouffville is 14-2-and-1 since Christmas with both losses coming to the Aurora Tigers, the top team in Canada. Matching last season's playoff magic will be a tall order, but it's gonna be fun to watch.
Saturday, February 24:
It may not have been the best officiated game in hockey history but if the Mississauga IceDogs use that as an excuse for their 5-2 loss last night to visiting Ottawa, then they're in trouble. The 67's may be life-and-death to make the playoffs but when you play a Brian Kilrea-coached team, you'd better be prepared to match its work ethic. The IceDogs were woefully short in that department last night and that more than anything, cost them the game.
Sad to see that ex-Boston Celtics star Dennis Johnson passed away on Thursday at the far-to-young age of 52. I'm a Motown/Michigan man when it comes to my sports teams, but the exception is the NBA where I've always loved the Celtics. Johnson was a very underrated piece of the Celtics' championship puzzle back in the Larry Bird days. He's left the world far too early.
Sunday, February 25:
Congratulations to Kelly Scott and her rink for winning the women's Canadian curling championship for a second straight year. It's tough enough to win it once, let alone repeat. Have to admit though, that I was cheering for Saskatchewan's Jan Betker in the final. She and lead Marcia Gudereit (along with Joan McCusker) were members of Sandra Schmirler's Olympic and three-time world championship rink. Schmirler of course, was cruelly struck down by cancer at the height of her fame. I was in Switzerland and Germany for the first two of their world titles and the four of them were a joy to be with -- four unassuming, ego-less Canadians who were thrilled to have a chance to see a part of the world very foreign to the Canadian prairies, and yet who also had a job to do and did it efficiently. Hopefully, Jan and Marcia can get to taste another national title in time.
Congrats as well to Erik Guay and his victory on the slopes in the men's World Cup downhill in Germany, the first for a Canadian in 13 years. Brought back memories of the Crazy Canucks when such downhill triumphs were almost commonplace.
Monday, February 26:
Not sure why so many people seem to have a hate on for Ellen DeGeneres. I know the U.S. bible belt hates her for her sexual preference but this is the 21st century, is it not? Me, I think she's funny, talented and smart and I thought she did a sterling job hosting the Academy Awards last night. Billy Crystal will always be my favourite Oscar host, but I hope DeGeneres gets more invites. Not next year, though. With any luck, Crystal will be back for the 80th edition. By the way, nice to see Jack Nicholson adopt my hairstyle.
I actually won an Oscar pool for the first time in memory, going 6-for-6 in the "biggies." My winning edge? Jennifer Hudson as best supporting actress in "Dreamgirls." When I was making my picks I kept thinking, "Can't forget the Motor City."
Tuesday, February 27:
Yep, the Toronto Maple Leafs were robbed last night when two (2) referees somehow missed a high stick that rattled Leaf captain Matt Sundin's molars late in the third period of their 5-4 loss at Montreal. But mark my words -- if the Leafs miss the playoffs, the fans will point to that as the sole reason why Toronto failed to reach the post-season. Somehow, they'll also deduce that this club would have won the Stanley Cup, if only they had qualified. I mean, Leaf fans have been dining out on that missed call from the '93 playoffs on Wayne Gretzky for 14 years. I'll say this about the Maple Leaf players. They never die quietly. Down 5-2 after two last night, many clubs would have mailed it in. The Leafs never do. Even in games they lose in overtime or shootouts, they usually score a late goal or two just to force the extra time and gain a point in the process.
So today is trade deadline day -- the day of insanity for the Canadian sports media. It will be much ado about nothing. Playoff success depends so much on goaltending and there are zero high-profile netminders on the trading block. There may be half-a-million trades from morning to afternoon but methinks the overall impact when the dust settles in June will be slight.
Wednesday, February 28:
Well, much ado about something after all. I didn't expect Ryan Smyth to be dealt, especially on the night when the Edmonton Oilers honoured Mark Messier. I'm not sure how much better Smyth makes the New York Islanders in the short run, but they're sure better today than they were yesterday. Detroit took a gamble with Todd Bertuzzi, who's been injured. If he gets healthy and plays at his pre-Steve Moore-incident level, then there's potentially great upside for the Red Wings. But he sure brings along some baggage. I still say though, that without a major goalie move -- the best one available, Marty Biron, was dealt to a non-playoff team -- the overall effect of trade deadline day will be negligible when the Cup is won in June. Interesting that no one picked up Eddie Belfour at the deadline. Montreal or Ottawa may rue that decision.
Another shutout for New Jersey's Martin Brodeur last night. He's now just 11 off the NHL record of 103, set by Terry Sawchuk. I've always believed that was a record that would never be broken but now it appears it's only a matter of time before Brodeur passes him. Sawchuk was one of my boyhood idols and while I will hate to see that mark eclipsed, records (as they say) are meant to be broken. And far better Brodeur than the thankfully retired Patrick Roy.
