Wednesday, July 1:
HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! Proudly wave your flags, Canada!!!
And one of these days, the weather will match July. Aside from some warmth the first week I got back from the U.S. midwest, it's been wet and cool. The humidity has been in place so we've seen some wild storms but the jet stream only seems to want to go just so far north and we seem to be stuck just under it or north of it. Hopefully, the weather will improve for the upcoming Stouffville Strawberry Festival subsided.
I managed to visit some football stadiums on my recent trip. Camp Randall Stadium in Wisconsin was the only one I briefly entered -- the others were locked up tight. But I managed to snap some pics inside the home of the Badgers and they're now up. Click on the "What's New?" button from the index page or navigate to the "Wisconsin Badgers" button from the football page. Enjoy!
Thursday, July 2:
Came across a stoplight that wasn't working properly the other night. This was out in the country between Newmarket and Stouffville. The main road had flashing yellow lights; the secondary road, flashing red. It's always been my belief that cars could proceed, with caution, through the flashing yellow, while vehicles coming up to the flashing red would treat it like a stop sign. But for years now, I've heard traffic announcers describe situations like this by saying, "treat it as a four-way stop." So we had some drivers going through the yellow, while others came to a full stop. I don't know which one is right but it sure is confusing these days -- and dangerous.
Friday, July 3:
Odd time of year for the baseball schedule. After the Canada Day matinee, the Toronto Blue Jays had yesterday off and today, they open a four-game Independence Day weekend series against the Yankees at their new stadium in the Bronx -- and all four are day games. Today, tomorrow (the 4th of July), Sunday and Monday. That's five in a row under the sun. It's like being the Chicago Cubs before Wrigley Field had lights. The Jays might be a tad discombobulated next Tuesday under both the lights and the dome down in St. Pete against Tampa Bay.
Saturday, July 4:
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! to our American friends!!! Have a great "4th!"
There's a relatively new fish-n-chips place in town. Decent food. We dropped in at 8:40 last night only to be warned, "we close at nine, y'know!" That's fair warning for people wandering in five or ten minutes before the top of the hour, but 20 minutes?! Come on! Yes, it's Friday night. Yes, you're anxious to leave work and enjoy it, but it's a quick-serve chippie for cryin' out loud! We ordered, ate, paid the bill and left by 9 p.m. But from here on it, it doesn't matter what time they close because we won't be back.
Today is the annual street party and Strawberry Festival in Stouffville. I'll be late arriving and early leaving as I work until noon today in Toronto and return again tomorrow for another 5am-12 shift. But we'll cram in lots of fun in the hours I have -- bank on that!
Sunday, July 5:
Today's blog and this week's new picture are up late today because of a bit of overindulgence yesterday on behalf of yours truly. The weather at the street party was ideal, the bands were hot and the beer was cold. Our friend Nick, who runs the family restaurant in town, operated his outdoor barbeque as always. He always tries to give us a free kielbasa but we hoodwinked him this time, paying his sons before he realized we were in line. He got us back -- and how. After many "sody pops" across the street at the clock tower concert, we staggered into the restaurant for dinner. Steak, dessert, a(nother) beer, the works. When it came time to pay, we were told it was on the house. Pretty nice gesture. Pretty nice guy.
Monday, July 6:
How in the world does someone hold serve 37 consecutive times and still lose a tennis match? I wanted Roger Federer to win yesterday's men's final at Wimbledon for a record 15th Grand Slam title, but as the day went on, I would have been just as happy to see Andy Roddick take it. Roddick played the match of his life and still lost as Federer prevailed by the crazy score of 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. There is no tiebreaker in the final set at Wimbly, so they were going to keep going until one man broke the serve of the other. (There was a time when there was no tie-breaker at all there. If that remained in place, they might still be playing). Roddick broke Federer twice, but lost both tie-breakers, including a seemingly second set lock when he let a 6-2 tie-break lead sip away. And the fifth and deciding set was sports at its dramatic best. Each time Federer held serve to take a one-game lead, Roddick knew he had to win three straight games -- hold serve, break Federer and hold serve again -- to prevail. It was reminiscent of a visiting baseball team failing to score in extra innings, knowing that victory was a long six-out sandwich -- with an least one run in the middle -- away. I hope Roddick prevails in London next July -- the place owes him one.
It's been a busy month for Scorepics. We posted pictures of Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium and the new TFC Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota this past week. Today, we added exterior shots of Green Bay's Lambeau Field. Click the "What's New?" button on the home page to check 'em out!
Thursday, July 9:
Sad to see Cristiano Ronaldo leave Manchester United for Real Madrid. But that didn't last long. United turned right around and signed one of my favourite players -- Michael Owen -- who will team up with his former Merseyside rival Wayne Rooney. The only thing I ever disliked about Owen was the fact that he played for Liverpool, one of United's greatest rivals. And wouldn't he look good back at Anfield today?! I'm surprised Liverpool didn't make an effort snap him up. There are risks -- he's 29 and has had an injury-filled career. And some say his desire isn't what it once was, that he's more interested in Michael Owen than the team. On the first point, he doesn't have to carry the franchise. His finishing skills are still strong and he should have plenty of opportunities to score. On the second -- if it's true -- Sir Alex Ferguson will drum that out of him in a hurry. The team is always the first priority at Old Trafford and the gaffer is uncompromising in that regard.
Saturday, July 11:
There was a time when I wouldn't miss Toronto's lakefront auto race for the world. But I won't be there this weekend. And it seems a lot of other people are giving it a pass, too, judging from yesterday's weak attendance on day one. Now that open wheel racing in North America is back under one umbrella, I considered buying a ticket. But then I saw the restrictions: no coolers allowed inside. No large cameras or lenses. No this, no that. No, thanks. I'll watch it on TV. Maybe.
Sunday, July 12:
The Bride and I zipped east to North Oshawa last night for an extremely long overdue night with my lifelong friend Lynne and her new squeeze, Jack. Naturally, we brought along some beer and munchies -- and the most fearsome hail storm I have ever seen. No major damage, but if Jack and I hadn't been able to hang on to the outdoor canopy during the wild tempest, it might have landed somewhere in Bowmanville. So much for dinner outside. But it didn't ruin the evening. Lynne and I spent years together on a radio morning show in the late 1980s and she's one of my very favourite people. We were all boaters back then, too (Lynne and Jack still are). And Jack's a delightful gent. My only regret was that we might have overstayed our welcome. Despite our hosts' insistence that we did not, we were there spinning yarns until 3 a.m. this morning. A memorable night!
Congrats to Toronto Honda Indy winner Dario Franchitti -- one of my favourite drivers. I didn't watch a second of it.
Exterior pictures of the University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium are now up. It looks almost brand new after a massive restoration. And the campus is not out in the middle of nowhere as many might surmise, but in the lovely Iowa City suburb town of University Heights. It's well worth a visit.
Monday, July 13:
Bob Gage has passed on after living 89 full years. "Scoop" we all called him, because if there was ever a scoop to be found in high school or intercollegiate athletes in and around London, Ontario, Gage would be the first to know of it. He covered everything there was to cover regarding athletics at the University of Western Ontario for the London Free Press. And he did it -- always -- with a smile and a friendly greeting. Once you met Bob Gage, he knew you, even if there was a two-decade gap between greetings. I last saw him at the final regular season game ever played at Western's J.W. Little Memorial Stadium in 1999. It took him, no word of a lie, close to an hour to climb the steps up to the press box, because so many people, yours truly included, wanted to wander over, shake his hand and say hello. He was as classy a journalist as I've ever met and the purple at Western today is reflecting a deep shade of sorrow.
Turns out the storm we stayed out in to save the gazebo the other night in Oshawa spawned a "microburst" nearby. I swear I heard someone screech, "I'll get you my pretty -- and your little dog, too!"
Just a handful of pics are now up from outside Iowa State's Jack Trice Stadium in Ames. Time restraints kept us from a more complete photo package. We'll try to rectify that next year.
Wednesday, July 15:
I could lie and suggest I knew all along that the American League would win another all-star game. Truth is, I figured the Nationals would finally pull one out. But they didn't and with last night's 4-3 loss in St. Louis, they've now gone without an all-star win since 1996 -- and the A.L. has home field advantage for the World Series again. When I was in my teens and 20s, the National League won every year, with 1971 in Detroit being the lone exception. I figured there was no way the senior circuit would ever be caught in terms of most all-star wins. Now, the American League is back to within two as the N.L. leads 40-38-and-2. Hard to figure out why it's been so streaky on both sides.
As mentioned last year, July 15th is my annual summer "wish" day. Usually, it's in regard to a cold winter's day when I often say, "I wish it was July 15th." This year, I just wish it was warm. We haven't really had any real hot days this summer and I miss them!
Saturday, July 18:
It's summer, so these musings start to become few and far between as opposed to daily. The question is always, "Lets see. Update the blog with meaningless meanderings or sit outside with a sody pop or two and lose myself in the pages of a good book?" The latter usually wins.
I knew it was coming but it's nonetheless sad to read of Walter Cronkite's death at age 92. You had to live throughout the '60s to understand the hold he had on America with his nightly CBS newscasts. He was, in my opinion, the very best at his craft. JFK's death, the Vietnam War, the space race to the moon, Cronkite covered them all, and did so brilliantly.
Sunday, July 19:
I can attest that our friends' new deck will stand the test of time. I was out there last night for a good three and a half hours and not once did the new wood waver or crack -- and if it can hold me, it can hold a battleship. Seriously, we enjoyed another great party at Kevin and Charlene's and we had better begin plans to host one soon so we can return the favour. Early August is the target.
No Tiger, no Phil, no Mike Weir, no Stephen Ames -- no interest. But along comes Tom Watson, doggedly hanging onto the lead of the British Open after three rounds. The 59-year-old is on the cusp of one of the great moments in golf history -- winning the Open at the same course that he captured his memorable duel against Jack Nicklaus 32 years ago. I sure hope he pulls it off!
Monday, July 20:
The book is 55 years old so I'll have to explain its innards for the analogy to make sense. In Douglass Wallop's 1954 diamond gem, "The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant," Joe Boyd, a middle-aged fan of the never-say-win Washington Senators sells his soul to a "Mr. Applegate," who transforms him into slugger Joe Hardy, who in turn, propels the Nats into contention. At a critical moment in the final game, the devil switches Joe Hardy back into old and grey Joe Boyd. (The book became the Broadway play "Damn Yankees," and spawned a 1958 movie starring Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon and Ray Walston.) The analogy? Yesterday's British Open, when Tom Watson, who had won the tournament 32 years earlier on the same Turnberry course, had a makeable eight-footer on the 72nd hole to win again and write the final chapter on what would have been one of the greatest sports stories ever. He left it short, forcing Watson into a four-hole playoff with Stewart Cink. It was then that an invisible Applegate seemingly turned the 27-year-old Tom Watson of 1977 into the 59-year-old Tom Watson of today. Cink thrashed him in the four holes by six shots. Golf can be the cruelest sport, and somewhere down there, Mephistopheles is laughing his fool head off.
Thursday, July 23:
Over the last five games, the Detroit Tigers' pitchers have given up run totals of 2, 2, 7, 2 and 2. The only game they won was the "7", a 9-7 triumph over Seattle that the bullpen nearly blew. The 'pen did blow two of the others, all 2-1 defeats. This ballclub is gonna give me ulcers some day. So now, here come the Chicago White Sox for a four-game weenend series, fresh off Mark Buehrle's perfect game today against Tampa Bay that moved them into a tie for the division lead with the Tigers.
I blew out a "what the $@&#?!" when I read that 59% of Torontonians who answered a recent poll said they'd be just fine with this cool summer weather lasting into fall. For me, this is just an extension of a long, wet spring. But then I reasoned that if I was living 32 days into a garbage strike, I might also wish for below-seasonal temperatures, to keep the aroma at bay. But it sure isn't swimmin' weather.
Saturday, July 25:
The Blue Jays are not really my team, so I think I'm entitled to a pass, as I was not at the Rogers Centre last night. But just 24-thousand and change for what could very likely be Roy Halladay's final home pitching performance in a Toronto uniform?! Pathetic. Either the city's baseball fans don't really believe he's about to be dealt or else the notion of Toronto as a baseball city is fraudulent.
My team swept the White Sox in a doubleheader last night (!) to retake a two-game lead in the A.L. Central. If the Tigers are true to form, Chicago will win today and tomorrow for a split.
Sunday, July 26:
The Tigers were NOT true to form, coming from behind and beating the White Sox 4-3 in extra innings yesterday. Friday night's win was also of the comeback variety. Shades of 2006. Sweep or not, the Tigers will be in first place over the weekend -- but a four-game lead would certainly look sweet!
As for the Blue Jays, the gloom yesterday couldn't have been greater if they'd opened the Rogers Centre roof and subjected the patrons to the day-long monsoon that flooded Toronto. Leads of 8-0 and 9-1 were frittered away in a 10-9, 12-inning loss to Tampa Bay. The Jays are now 4-and-10 in extra inning games and 11-and-18 in one-run affairs. But with Toronto 12-and-a-half games out of the division lead and 11 back in the wild-card race, you can look forward to a September of meaningless games. Again.
Wednesday, July 29:
It would appear the Philadelphia Phillies became weary of playing offer, counter-offer with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay, so they went and acquired Cliff Lee from Cleveland instead. Good for J.P. Ricciardi to demand the moon and stars but if the idea all along was to just gauge interest and drop feelers, couldn’t that have been done quietly, without all the bluster? Doc couldn’t be more clear -- he wants to stay in Toronto provided the team has a vision and budget to field a contending team. The problem is, the game plan hasn’t worked once in Ricciardi’s eight seasons as Blue Jays’ general manager.
Friday, July 31:
So, after all of the bluster, all of the breathless coverage, all of the "should they or shouldn't they?" the Blue Jays did not trade Roy Halladay after all. And fine. This is as it should be. But there's no question the Jays are hedging their bets, acquiring some more pitching from Cincinnati for third baseman Scott Rolen. And potentially excellent pitching, to boot. And the Tigers did the same, picking up lefty Jarrod Washburn from Seattle for the pennant race -- a good counter to the White Sox finally getting Jake Peavy from the Padres. All in all, an interesting day.
You get what you vote for, Toronto. And what you voted for -- twice -- was a bombastic, immature joke of a mayor who actually suggested those on council were "beneath contempt" if they didn't agree with the cave-in deal he gave his union buddies to end the strike by city workers. This clown is a complete disaster and knowing Toronto, I have no doubt he'll be elected again when the time comes.
