Wednesday, February 1:
I'm glad my doctor doesn't read this blog. You don't doc, do you? If he knew, he'd disapprove of what I am about to do today. I'm going to honour a personal, many-decades-old tradition of eating an ice cream cone on this date. I'll drop it down to a single scoop of vanilla (but I'm still gonna have the sugar cone!) I started this a long, long time ago as sort of my own "Take that, winter!" message that the cold season isn't going to get me down. A symbol that the worst is behind us and that we're almost into baseball spring training. Of course in this non-winter, the worst may not be behind us. We haven't had anything close to a "worst" yet!
Thursday, February 2:
A quick check of Februarys past and you’ll know how deep my love runs for my northern buddy, the lovable, adorable Wiarton Willie. Not sure how you can hug a groundhog, but don’t you just want to smother him with affection? I know I do. Especially today, as he predicted an early spring for us. Mind you, he couldn’t get it wrong this year. Even if he saw his shadow and called for six more weeks of winter, no one would mind six more weeks of this winter!
A year ago today, we were buried under what was being termed ”snowmageddon.” Of course, I decided it would be a great day for a drive to Ottawa to watch hockey. I made it there safely but was severely rear-ended on a Montreal expressway a day later. Hard to believe that was a year ago!
Friday, February 3:
I’ve been an auto racing fan since I was a kid. I didn’t know a piston from a carburetor but I knew I liked the noise and the speed. And the drivers were larger than life. I always found it ironic that the great showman Eddie Sachs gave up certain victory in the 1961 Indianapolis 500 with three laps to go by pitting instead of trying to make the final seven and a half miles on a worn tire. That allowed A.J. Foyt to win the first of his record (since tied) four wins at the Brickyard. Sachs opted for safety, yet three years to the day later he lost his life in a terrible crash in the same race. I’ve just finished a book written in 2005 on Sachs life. It’s a compelling read but depressing. Auto racing was unbelievably dangerous in those days. Yes, many fans know of the fatalities at Indy but so many, many more drivers perished in those days on both paved and dirt tracks driving midgets, sprint cars and anything else they could get their hands on. Every other race it seemed was marred by a fatality. Thankfully we’ve come a long way in terms of safety and yet occasionally safety is pushed to the back seat in favour of the glory of the spectacle. It’s how we lost Dan Wheldon last October. But in Sachs’ day, auto racing was sadly different. It was a time when lines like the late Jim Murray’s -- “Gentlemen, start your coffins!” -- had more than a ring of truth to it. Or in Sachs’ words, if you bet on racing, “death is the odds-on favourite.”
Sunday, February 5:
Super Bowl Sunday. And, sadly, the end of the football season. They tell me Indianapolis is putting on a tremendous show. I can't say I'm surprised. I've been mesmerized by the place ever since my first visit for the 1978 Indianapolis 500, the first of 15 I've seen live. The city itself hasn't grown a lot in population from then to now (about 700-thousand to the current 830-thousand) but Greater Indianapolis now holds more than two million people and I don't know if there even was a Greater Indianapolis in 1978. The city's architecture is definitely different. Yes, it's still built around the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument but today, Indianapolis has a modern, thriving downtown area and most local attractions (except the Speedway, of course) are pretty much within walking distance. And today, Indy hosts its first Super Bowl. I like the Giants in a squeaker but a Patriots win wouldn't surprise me.
Monday, February 6:
No idea where to start here only to say that I expected the New York Giants to win the Super Bowl by strength of a dominant pass rush. But they won the game despite the fact New England picked up that pass rush for most of the evening. The Giants prevailed, as they did four years ago, with a great downfield catch -- this time by Mario Manningham, who had been something of a disappointment until his moment of glory. And you can't spell "elite" without "Eli." Any suggestion that Peyton Manning's younger brother was lacking on the big stage was forever silenced. And he doubled his brother's championship jewelry right in the house that Peyton built. Amazing.
Thursday, February 9:
I knew Toronto councillors wouldn't let me down. After all, their reputation for stupidity was on the line. They rejected Mayor Rob Ford's idea of having a subway built along Eglinton in favour of an inferior LRT line. Give them some truth serum and you'll find out they voted against it because they don't like Ford. I'm not his biggest fan either but he had a vision of something that decades of mayors haven't had the guts to tackle. There's not a brain cell to pass between people who voted to tear up a major east-west artery to build an above-ground line that will choke the road in congestion and have idle cars spewing pollution. Not surprised because this city has been held hostage for decades with do-nothing whiners on council who vote on how they feel in personality clashes and the populace be damned. Idiots, the lot of 'em.
Friday, February 10:
By gum, winter’s comin’!! Snow tonight, bitterly cold temperatures over the weekend and well below freezing with flurries all next week. Notice all of this has occurred after that blasted albino rodent up Wiarton way failed to see his shadow and predicted an early spring? Have I ever mentioned how much I despise that wretched creature?
If you’re a hockey nut living in the Big Apple area, it was a smorgasbord of choices last night. A regular eastern seaboard feast! The Rangers, Islanders, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Washington all played at home and all five turned out to be one-goal games. (I consider Montreal’s 4-2 win on Long Island a one-goal game because the Habs’ empty-netter was scored a millisecond before the final horn). At any rate, I enjoyed it all from the comfort of the family room.
I was considering a trip down to Pittsburgh for their matinee against Winnipeg tomorrow but with the Niagara-Buffalo area due to receive a whole lot more snow than we’ll get, I decided the treacherous run along the shore of Lake Erie would be better tackled another day.
Sunday, February 12:
Eee-yow! What a stinker the Toronto Maple Leafs delivered last night in their 5-0 defeat at the hands of rival Montreal on Mats Sundin night. So many Leaf stars of the past came out to honour the big Swede and had to watch the current edition give a terrible performance on "Hockey Day in Canada." That's four in a row for the Canadiens who may yet make some noise down the stretch and sneak into the playoffs. As for the Leafs, this time last year, they were the ones making a late but unsuccessful charge, riding the hot hand of goalie James Reimer. Last night, Reimer looked bad and frankly hasn't been the same since his early-season concussion.
Didn't get a lot of snow last night and most of what did fall was whisked away from the driveway by strong winds, leaving me with a pretty easy cleaning job today. Gad, I love this winter!
I have yet to comment on last month's cruise disaster off the coast of Italy involving the ill-fated Costa Concordia. The Bride and I have been on six cruises: one (our first and still the best) on the S.S. Norway; one on the Costa Romantica; one on the Norwegian Majesty and the last three on the Celebrity Constellation. On five of those cruises, we went through a thorough evacuation and lifeboat identification drill before departure. The only time we didn't was on board the Costa ship. Just sayin'.
So many stars fall victim to the usual vices, especially drug use. So it was with Whitney Houston, shockingly dead at age 48. She was an incredible talent with one of the most amazing singing voices in the world. So sad to hear of her demise yesterday in Beverly Hills.
Monday, February 13:
Someday...
Someday I’m going to see a basketball game at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium. It looks so cool on television with its balconies and odd seating arrangement.
Someday, I’m convinced Tiger Woods will regain his putting stroke. Because his final round yesterday at Pebble Beach was an embarrassment on the greens.
Someday, the Detroit Red Wings will lose a game at home again. They’ve tied a record of 20 straight wins on home ice but it’s not really fair to the teams they're tied with (Philadelphia,1975-76; Boston, 1929-30) because neither the Flyers nor Bruins had the benefit of overtime or a shootout to turns ties into wins.
Someday I’m going to get back to Winnipeg and see a Jets home game. I was there a handful of times in the 1990s for cold-weather sporting events and brother, “cold” doesn’t even begin to describe it. But the last time I visited was for the 1999 Pan-Am Games -- and Winnipeg in the summer is an absolute delight.
Someday.
Tuesday, February 14:
Guys, the color of this post and of the index page means it's time for that mad scramble to the store for flowers, chocolates and Valentine's Day cards. Let's not be tardy, gents -- the woman or women (I'm referring to moms, aunts, sisters, etc. here -- get your head out of the gutter!) in your life deserve the best you can give. No "O Henry's" or "Coffee Crisp" either. Or if you do, get the large size. (I kid, I kid!!!)
Whatcha see is whatcha get -- and with Tomas Kaberle, it's a crap shoot! Some nights, he'll take control of a power play, leading to a brilliant goal. Other nights, he all but costs his team a game. Last night, with his Montreal Canadiens up 3-2 and on an early third period power-play, he coughed up the puck to Carolina's Eric Stall, and then stood like a statue as Staal button-hooked around his carcass and beat Carey Price to tie the game. The Bell Centre was stunned and the 'Canes went on to a 5-3 win.
Wednesday, February 15:
Wish I could tell you what the immediate future holds for the Stouffville Spirit. They wrapped up second place in their division with a franchise-best 73 points. And now they don't play for awhile. Along with almighty Newmarket, the locals earned a first-round bye, so they must wait to see who they'll play in round two. A year ago, the Kardiac Kids stunned both favoured Markham and Newmarket in series thrillers before finally succumbing to an excellent Wellington side. This year, the Spirit won't be able to play the underdog role off the bat and opposing teams will want to shut down playmaker Christian Finch, who won the scoring title with 104 (!) points, 18 more than runner-up Darcy Murphy of Wellington. Stouffville, by the way, is the third-fastest growing town in the country (Whitchurch-Stouffville, to be accurate) so more and more fans will be discovering the playoff magic that seems to occur each year at the corner of Ninth and Millard.
Thursday, February 16:
As a Manchester United fan, the team that scared me to death eight years ago was Arsenal. They had just completed the almost-impossible, an unbeaten season, which included a highly-charged scoreless draw at Old Trafford. They had an exciting line-up, played up-tempo soccer and were a joy to watch. And they were building a new stadium to replace outdated Highbury, with the promise of more money coming in, the better to bolster an already-formidable lineup. The one fly in the ointment for me was their sour-faced manager Arsène Wenger, who always looks as if he's just swallowed a garlic clove. He always had a ready excuse for a defeat, usually aiming his post-game ire at the referee. Fast forward to yesterday, where the deterioration of the Gunners was on world-wide display. They were a mile short of dreadful at the San Siro, losing 4-0 to A.C. Milan in the first leg of their Champions League Round-of-16 tie. No energy plus atrocious defending led to the slaughter and almost certain elimination following the return match in north London. And Wenger stayed rooted to his bench without a hint of encouragement for his charges, looking for all the world like a man in dire need of a speedy visit to the loo. To his credit, Wenger placed the blame squarely on Arsenal (it would have been tempting to blame the terrible pitch in Milan, as the San Siro is also Inter's home ground, and therefore is twice as torn up as most fields). On the message boards, glum Gunners fans were debating which loss was the worst -- last night's or the 8-2 shredding they absorbed in Manchester at the hands of United earlier this season. Either way, it's hard to watch this outfit these days.
Friday, February 17:
He never met a microphone he didn't like. But I suspect he also never met a human being he didn't initially like, either. It seems impossible we lost Gary Carter yesterday. The Hall-of-Famer was only 57 and succumbed to a malignant brain tumour. But he'll always be "The Kid." He had boundless energy everywhere he went. He loved meeting people. And he was the best catcher in franchise history for two teams -- the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. People will tell you Montreal was a lousy baseball town. Poppycock. Before the Expos were born, one of the best Triple-A franchises around was the Brooklyn Dodgers' farm club, the Montreal Royals. And I wish you could have seen the jammed houses at (an outdoor) Olympic Stadium in 1979, 1980 and 1981 when the Expos were in three stirring pennant races, seasons that Carter played a huge role in. He was an 11-time all-star and twice was named MVP of the mid-summer classic. Carter was a straight arrow, no drugs, virtually no alcohol, no fooling around. And he had that wonderful ability to make anyone in his presence feel better about themselves just by having a chat. Baseball -- and the world -- lost a giant yesterday.
Some days I think I would have been better off staying employed by General Bakeries many, many years ago. I usually don't let news stories get to me but the incident in Airdrie, Alberta really did. A baby boy died when he was mauled by the family dog, a husky who had never previously shown any sign of aggressive behaviour. My heart goes out to the family. It was an extremely tough story to read on the air, especially hour after hour. I got through it but it wasn't easy. And on days like this, you wonder if you're still cut out for this biz.
Sunday, February 19:
Today's posting is brought to you by the letter "R" -- for Robert, six-month-old son of our nephew and his wife. They're here for the weekend and The Bride babysat the wee one as I drove the proud parents into downtown Toronto so they could see the matinée stage version of "War Horse." The only reason I drove was because Stouffville was in the process of getting socked with our biggest snowfall of the season. So we left early, assuming Toronto was in the same boat. Nope. They hardly got anything, which made for an easy drive and lots of time for lunch before the show started. So I drove around old haunts and places I'd never been before to kill the time. Sadly, they head back to Ottawa today but the visit has been great!
Tuesday, February 21:
As the old saying goes, "Sometimes you just gotta get out there." We've been cocooned a bit too long, so today we'll drive down to Pittsburgh and take in the Penguins-Rangers game. It will be my first look inside the Consol Energy Center. It was almost completed when I last visited Steeltown back in 2010 and the Penguins were just wrapping up their stay at the Igloo across the street. If time and weather permit, we may even slide down into West Virginia and try to get a view of Mountaineer Field on the VWU campus. We'll see.
Wednesday, February 22:
PITTSBURGH -- I have mixed feelings about the Consol Energy Center, where the Penguins checked the New York Rangers into the ice last night for a 2-0 win. First of all, the building is beautiful and it's a dream for anyone taking pictures, It's by far the brightest NHL arena I've been in and a direct opposite from the dim candlelight that's in place in the Rangers' home, Madison Square Garden. There are lots of food options (but beware if you're fussy about what you put on your hamburger at a couple of outlets. They told me they could handle a special order "when the puck drops for the start of the next period." No thanks.) The upper deck is also very steep and you're crammed in like sardines. Very odd for a new arena and yet, it reminds me a bit of the upstairs seating at places like the dear, departed Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (well, not quite that steep!) Speaking of arenas that live on only in memory, they're tearing down the old Igloo across the street. Tough job, they tell me as it was built to last. But it was eerie peeking into the shell of the old place whilst walking to the Penguins' new home.
Thursday, February 23:
In response to a reader's question, yes I did take pictures of the dismantling of the Igloo -- both on game night and the next day -- and I may make a brief page of the demolition as opposed to merely a picture of the week. We'll see.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice. etc. On the way down to Pittsburgh, I ran into the usual lake effects snowstorm on the shores of Lake Erie, a treacherous stretch of I-90 in the winter. This after smugly suspecting it would be a snow-free drive after getting through Buffalo unscathed. On the way back yesterday, the trip along the shore was fine and I stopped for dinner in Buffalo knowing the worst was behind me. Whereupon I returned to my car an hour later to find an inch of snow on it in the midst of a raging blizzard. It was a dicey drive across the border and halfway to Hamilton before it all cleared up. And methinks I've been mocking the winter gods too often this season. Tomorrow and Saturday, we're to expect our first "biggie" -- a snowstorm that will require the snowblower's use.
The locals start the "second season" tonight at home against Aurora. Any other time in the Stouffville Spirit's history, a playoff matchup against the Tigers would have meant major underdog status for Stouffville. Not this time. We'll see how these guys react to being the favourites against a strong opponent.
Friday, February 24:
Ah, poop. I knew the Red Wings' home ice winning streak would be capped sooner or later but it's tough to swallow when they were 16 seconds away from making it 24 straight. But the Vancouver Canucks tied it and then beat Detroit 4-3 in a shootout. And by all accounts, the visitors were the better team on this night, so all credit to them.
Rink rust? Maybe. Or maybe the Stouffville Spirit were simply outplayed last night in their playoff opener, a 4-3 overtime home loss to Aurora. The locals never got it in gear, trailing 1-0 and then 3-1 before making a comeback. But a five-minute major killed them. They almost killed it off but the Tigers scored the winner with just seconds remaining on the power-play.
I marked an anniversary today. Fifty years ago this afternoon -- February 24th, 1962 -- my dad took me to see my first live NHL game, a Saturday matinee at Detroit's Olympia Stadium. The Chicago Black Hawks crushed the Red Wings 6-1. The memories are still vivid, especially the brightness of the Wings' red jerseys bathed in Olympia's bright lights. Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Glenn Hall against Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio and Terry Sawchuk -- a maskless Terry Sawchuk, I might add. We had great seats and I remember gazing in wide-eyed wonder at the balconies, the giant analog scoreclock at centre ice and all the other things you couldn't see on TV. Then we headed back across the border to my grandparents' house for dinner, whereupon we forced Grandpa to forego his Saturday night TV westerns so we could watch the Boston-Toronto game that night.
Saturday, February 25:
Character. All successful teams have it and the Stouffville Spirit showed a measure of it last night. Having lost their series opener to Aurora Thursday at home, a road loss in game two would have been cause for alarm. But they stormed out to a 2-0 lead by the halfway point of the game, only to surrender three straight goals, losing the lead by the early minutes in the third. Some teams would have folded the tent but the Spirit quickly tied it up and won 4-3 in overtime to square the series at a game apiece. This is going to be a long series -- Aurora was one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch. And it appears the winner will have to tangle with division-leading Newmarket. The Hurricanes took a 2-0 series lead on Markham with a 1-0 road win last night.
So much for the major snowstorm. A small dump of heavy, wet snow arrived by midday yesterday and was followed by a very lighting dusting overnight. And two weeks from tonight we're well into March and we move the clocks ahead again.
Sunday, February 26:
Time for the Great American Race. And I'd love to see it live someday. Everyone is wondering how Danica Patrick will do in today's Daytona 500. I suspect, despite her up-and-down weekend, she'll do just fine. She crashed heavily during the week (and thank the heavens -- again -- for SAFER barriers), recovered to win the pole (!) for the Tier-Two Nationwide race, whereupon she crashed again. But Patrick did well in super-ovals in Champ Car races, and she's both talented and a quick learner. There have been surprises at the 500 in the pace (see: Trevor Bayne, last year) so let me go on record as saying I wouldn't be surprised to see her in Victory Lane. I'm not predicting it, but it wouldn't shock me. Although I'd rather see my man Jimmie Johnson get the season off to a great start by taking the checkered flag.
Monday, February 27:
I love Billy Crystal, especially when he hosts the Academy Awards. But even he couldn't save the show last night. I wanted to roar with laughter at his bits but wide smiles were the best I could do. Possibly it was because I was at work at the time, merely tracking the show for award winners for the next newscast. Or possibly because we were all busy as beavers, working on the tragic story of a train derailment in nearby Burlington, that left three train engineers dead. Whatever it was, the show didn't seem to have the same seltzer as in past years when he hosted. Still, we were delighted to see Canada's Christopher Plummer win the best supporting actor award at 82 years young.
Tuesday, February 28:
It was supposed to start Sunday, then yesterday at noon and then finally at 7 p.m. And once the green flag fell, it took almost six hours to play out until Matt Kenseth took the checkered flag just minutes before one o'clock this morning. Just like James Taylor, you saw fire, you saw rain. You even saw fog in the late going. As a lifelong gearhead, I've seen some crazy things either live at race tracks or watching events on TV but I don't believe I've ever seen something as bizarre as Juan Pablo Montoya having something break on his car and slamming into a truck carrying a jet dryer at high speed. Gallons upon gallons of fuel leaked and erupted in flames. Thankfully, they were already under yellow at the time and he was driving all by himself trying to catch up to the back of the field. The job the Daytona crew members did in 1) getting the drivers out of their vehicles safely 2) extinguishing the conflagration 3) hosing down the fuel 4) spreading the quick-dry sand 5) cleaning the surface (with Tide, no less) 6) hosing all that down 7) applying asphalt patch and 8) drying the section of track, all within two hours was incredible. All in all, a disappointing day for my favourites as Jimmie Johnson and Danica Patrick were KO'd on the second lap by an impatient Elliott Sadler (although Patrick was able to return) and Jeff Gordon went out later with a blown engine. One other point: FOX's Mike Joy is far and away the best auto race-caller in the business. As they were hosing down the detergent as part of the turn-three repair during the red flag stoppage, he uttered, "Time for the rinse cycle." He quickly added that it was no laughing matter, but I disagree. Seeing as no one was injured, a little levity was welcome. All in all, the week at Daytona reminded me a bit of May, 1973 at Indianapolis, without the injuries and fatalities that made that experience one of the darkest few days in North American auto racing history. Thankfully, due to almost 40 years of safety improvements, everyone escaped this nightmare unscathed.
Wednesday, February 29:
I swear, sometime between "O" and "Canada" tonight, the Chicago Blackhawks are going to send the United Center fans into a frenzy by opening the scoring on the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. Or maybe this only happens when the Leafs wear blue. (Bad news -- they'll be in their 1967-style blues tonight on the road in the Windy City). Either way, this bad habit of giving up a goal in the opening few seconds, followed by another minutes later, has left this team shaking like a 1960s go-go girl in fear of making mistakes. Players are tentative, goaltenders are "battling the puck," and forwards are soft going into the corners. Granted, goalie James Reimer could not be faulted on either of the first two Florida goals last night, but horrible mistakes by his mates led to the 2-0 Panthers lead, and given this manna from Heaven, the visitors went on to a deserving 5-3 victory. This may sound crazy, but I still think Toronto sneaks into the post-season. I have no interest in this battle -- I'm a Detroit fan -- and I don't know why I'm saying it. Just a hunch. But sometimes, hunches play out. I think the Maple Leafs will start turning it around Saturday in Montreal, and then somehow get hot. We'll see.
Happy birthday to those celebrating today and who only get to celebrate their "true" birthday once every four years. Among hockey's leap year babies is Montreal legend Henri Richard, so you know his birthday is divisible by four. (He's 76 today). Not to sound crass, but for the rest of us, it's just an extra day of winter. And while we're at it, a speedy recovery to another Habs legend Jean Béliveau (he's 80), who's recovering from a stroke.
