12 July 2009
An Open Letter To Our Premier . . .
18/07/2009 06:36
From a
disillusioned
Senior
Albertan
Dear Premier,
When are you going to admit to yourself that Messrs. Liepert and Duckett are going to cost you the next election? When are you going to stop them?
Cancelling alcohol tax increases, promising no new taxes, cutting back on MRIs, reversing irrational heliport shut-downs, refusing to build much-needed long term care facilities, charging seniors unacceptable pharmacare rates to make up for loss of millions in healthcare premiums, threatening healthcare staff with "codes of behaviour", cut-backs of nursing staff, etc. is not going to help you regain the trust of a great number of Albertans: Seniors also vote.
They can also add up the inexcusable bonuses paid out.
Are you or are you not in charge and ultimately responsible for our deteriorating healthcare system?
By the way, why do I always get invitations from Alberta Blue Cross to buy their "affordable coverage" for prescription drugs, dental and vision care, ambulance, chiropractors, preferred hospital accommodation, etc., just before yet another cut-back announcement from Liepert, Duckett and company hits the media?
I am holding my breath!
Disillusioned Senior Albertan
SINC SAYS:
Listen Eddie. Can I call you Eddie? You are a man of the people. You’re not really one of those slick, polished politicians. You’re just Eddie from the farm near Smoky Lake and surely you can see that things have gotten out of hand, can’t you? I mean if you were still down on the farm and found a few rotten apples in the barrel, you’d cull them wouldn’t you Eddie?
Well, the time has come to cull the rotten apples from the Alberta Health care system. Eddie, let me give you a couple of suggestions to get you started, can I?
First get rid of that foreigner some goof hired to carve up our health care system like so much Christmas turkey. For God’s sake Eddie, we don’t need some guy with an accent we can hardly understand telling us what to do based on some purported knowledge he might have had in some foreign place. This is Alberta Eddie, and we’ve got people right here under your very nose who are in fact more capable and certainly more caring about their fellow Albertans.
The second guy that needs to go Eddie if the health minister. I mean how can you let a guy with such obvious disdain for Albertans hold a position like that? And listen Eddie, if you won’t let Mr. Liepert go, could you at least wipe that snide sneer off his face when he talks to the media, and thus to Albertans?
Dear Premier,
When are you going to admit to yourself that Messrs. Liepert and Duckett are going to cost you the next election? When are you going to stop them?
Cancelling alcohol tax increases, promising no new taxes, cutting back on MRIs, reversing irrational heliport shut-downs, refusing to build much-needed long term care facilities, charging seniors unacceptable pharmacare rates to make up for loss of millions in healthcare premiums, threatening healthcare staff with "codes of behaviour", cut-backs of nursing staff, etc. is not going to help you regain the trust of a great number of Albertans: Seniors also vote.
They can also add up the inexcusable bonuses paid out.
Are you or are you not in charge and ultimately responsible for our deteriorating healthcare system?
By the way, why do I always get invitations from Alberta Blue Cross to buy their "affordable coverage" for prescription drugs, dental and vision care, ambulance, chiropractors, preferred hospital accommodation, etc., just before yet another cut-back announcement from Liepert, Duckett and company hits the media?
I am holding my breath!
Disillusioned Senior Albertan
SINC SAYS:
Listen Eddie. Can I call you Eddie? You are a man of the people. You’re not really one of those slick, polished politicians. You’re just Eddie from the farm near Smoky Lake and surely you can see that things have gotten out of hand, can’t you? I mean if you were still down on the farm and found a few rotten apples in the barrel, you’d cull them wouldn’t you Eddie?
Well, the time has come to cull the rotten apples from the Alberta Health care system. Eddie, let me give you a couple of suggestions to get you started, can I?
First get rid of that foreigner some goof hired to carve up our health care system like so much Christmas turkey. For God’s sake Eddie, we don’t need some guy with an accent we can hardly understand telling us what to do based on some purported knowledge he might have had in some foreign place. This is Alberta Eddie, and we’ve got people right here under your very nose who are in fact more capable and certainly more caring about their fellow Albertans.
The second guy that needs to go Eddie if the health minister. I mean how can you let a guy with such obvious disdain for Albertans hold a position like that? And listen Eddie, if you won’t let Mr. Liepert go, could you at least wipe that snide sneer off his face when he talks to the media, and thus to Albertans?
Mayor Responds To Land Purchase Questions
18/07/2009 06:36
Don,
Attached is a letter from the province confirming that they are reimbursing the City for Ray Gibbon Drive; anything over and above two lanes. The city is responsible for the first two lanes and the City has purchased the land for the entire freeway width of eight lanes on behalf of the Province. (Click on the letter to see the full size image.)
We will not build Stage 3 until we get the check from the province but we will be reimbursed for the amounts attached.
Exact land deals all along this have not been made public as we have been dealing with the many land owners individually so that they do not know what each other is paying. There have been many land owners to negotiate with.
As far as your web site, this agreement allows for the intersection at Ray Gibbon Drive and LeClair Way allowing for Riel Park traffic to get to the Anthony Henday.
Nolan Crouse
Mayor
St. Albert
SINC SAYS:
Thank you sir for your usual prompt and detailed reply to the questions raised here yesterday. But as for that letter and those promises, I think I will sit back and wait. I will believe it when I see it happen.
A Chuckle To Start Your Weekend . . .
18/07/2009 06:36
A husband and wife
are shopping in their local Wal-Mart. The
husband picks up a case of Budweiser and puts
it in their cart.
'What do you think you're doing?' asks the wife.
'They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans,' he replies.
'Put them back, we can't afford them,' demands the wife, and so they carry on shopping.
A few aisles further on along the woman picks up a $20 jar of face cream and puts it in the basket.
'What do you think you're doing?' asks the husband.
'Its my face cream. It makes me look beautiful,' replies the wife.
Her husband retorts: 'So does 24 cans of Budweiser and it's half the price.'
On the PA system: 'Cleanup on aisle 25, we have a husband down.
Woman's Jade Gets Record 'Roadshow' Appraisal
18/07/2009 06:36
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Jinx
Taylor always thought her father had impeccable
taste. Now she knows it's
true.Four pieces of jade that her father bought in the 1930s and '40s at No. 10 Jade St. in Beijing were valued last month at more than $1 million on PBS' "Antiques Roadshow" while the program was in Raleigh, a record appraisal for the show. They're so valuable, in fact, that Taylor can't afford the insurance on the keepsakes and plans to sell them.
"I adored my father," Taylor, who lives along North Carolina's coast, said in a recent phone interview. "He was interesting and a good, generous man. I'm wishing he could see this and see what was going on."
In a June 2009 photo provided by Antiques Roadshow, a jade collection owned by North Carolina resident Jinx The four pieces - a vase with ruby detail, a small bowl, a large bowl marked with "By Imperial Order" and an animal figurine - are from the reign of Ch'ien-lung (1736-1795), said appraiser Jim Callahan, an Asian art expert with Boston-based Skinner Inc.
The dragon bowl almost didn't make it to the show - it had once been stolen from her brother's Florida home and then sold to a man for $3,000. Taylor's brother managed to track it down but had to pay $5,000 to get it back.
Taylor's father, John G. Taylor, was stationed in China while in the Army, although his daughter isn't quite sure what his job was. Taylor and a brother inherited the collection when her father died 11 years ago.
Her father became fluent in Chinese and learned the country's customs, she said. Because of that, he was able to become friends with the proprietor of a shop at No. 10 Jade St. in Beijing, where he bought most of his pieces.
"My father always had great taste," Taylor said.
SINC SAYS:
I took a reverse painting on glass I own, painted in 1859, to the Canadian Roadshow, but it was only worth $3,000. Such is life.
Schoolgirl Angler Makes Record Catch
18/07/2009 06:35
There should only have been one winner. On the riverbank was Jessica Wanstall, 4ft 10in tall weighing less than six stone (84 lbs.) and something of a tiddler among anglers.
In the river was a monster, a near 9 foot catfish that hit the scales at a record 13st 8lb (193 lbs.).
But despite its size and whiskery age, the fish was no match for the skills of 11-year-old Jessica who waged a 20-minute battle to land her prize.
Jessica Wanstall
What a catch: Jessica Wanstall with the 9ft-long, 14 stone catfish she caught during a trip to Spain's River Ebro
Jessica, from Sittingbourne, Kent, hooked the fish during a trip with her father to the Ebro River in North-East Spain. She said: ‘I didn’t realise just how big it was until I saw the photos afterwards. I look tiny next to it.
‘My dad thought it was going to be a small one and I told him it didn’t feel small when I picked up the rod. It was really hard work pulling it in and my arms turned to jelly.
‘My dad helped lift it on to the bank and I just laughed when I saw it. It was massive.’
Her father Mark, a 49-year-old engineer, helped return the catfish to the river after his daughter’s triumph was photographed.
He said: ‘Jessica normally catches tiddlers but just loves a day’s fishing.
‘As the fish got near we could see how big it was. Then its tail came out of the water and it looked like the Loch Ness Monster. Everybody on the bank was gasping. I’m so proud of her.’
And so he should be.
According to the International Game Fish Association, Jessica has set a world record for a freshwater fish caught by an angler aged 16 and under.
‘Her catfish easily outweighs the previous record - a 120 lb. Nile perch caught at Murchison Fall, Uganda, in July 2000,' a spokesman said.
SINC SAYS:
The whole tale, or is that tail?, sounds a little fishy to me.
Well-Heeled Ladies Go For Run
18/07/2009 06:35
HUNDREDS of women
have managed a great feet today - sprinting
100m in high
heels.The barmy participants were taking part in the Glamour Stiletto Run in Berlin, Germany.
All their shoes were at least 7cm high and at most 1.5cm wide.
And it sure looks like they had a HEEL-y good time.
SINC SAYS:
By the look on the leaders face, she’s dead set on winning, isn’t she?
\
Tom Watson, 59, Leads Open; Woods Misses Cut
18/07/2009 06:32
TURNBERRY, Scotland -- Tom Watson leading the British Open heading to the weekend?
Tiger Woods gassing up the plane and heading for home?
Treacherous Turnberry delivered a pair of shockers Friday.
The 59-year-old Watson rolled in two impossibly long putts, danced a Scottish jig on the 18th green and walked off tied with unheralded American Steve Marino for the 36-hole lead at the British Open, where the course struck back with a fury thanks to a stiff breeze whipping off the Firth of Clyde.
Woods won't be around to see how it all turns out. He took two double bogeys on the back side, limped off with a 4-over 74 and missed the cut in a major for only the second time in his professional career.
"It was just problem after problem," said Woods, who came into golf's oldest championship as an overwhelming favourite after winning three times since his return from knee surgery. "I kept compounding my problems out there."
Major title No. 15 will have to wait.
"I hit some bad tee shots, a couple of bad iron shots, didn't get it up and down," Woods said. "I kept making mistake after mistake."
Watson, trying to shatter the record for the oldest major winner, hit all his bad shots at the start. The five-time Open champion bogeyed five out of six holes on the front -- four of them in a row -- but remarkably played the final 10 holes in 4 under.
He signed for a 70 that might have been more impressive than his bogey-free 65 in the opening round.
"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I could win," Watson said.
Woods had missed only one cut in a major since turning pro, and that was at the 2006 U.S. Open shortly after the death of his father, Earl. He tried to rally, making birdies on two of the last three holes, but wound up one stroke shy of the cut line.
"Unfortunately, it just didn't happen," Woods said. "No doubt I'm frustrated. I was playing well the first seven holes, right there in the championship. I felt like if I was under par for the tournament, I would be in the top 10. I didn't do that. I went the other way."
The top 70, plus ties, make it to the final two rounds. The British Open doesn't have a 10-shot rule, which would allow anyone within that margin of the lead to make the cut.
Woods was 10 behind co-leaders Marino and Watson.
Marino shot 68 in treacherous conditions and will go out in the final group Saturday with Watson. Another old-timer, 49-year-old Mark Calcavecchia, will start one stroke back.
"It's as if the spirits are on my side," said Watson, who rolled in a 75-foot birdie at the 16th and a 45-footer at the final hole. "I hope the spirits stay on my side."
More from TSN.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Not only does this week appear to be the week of the “old-geezers,” with Tom Watson leading the British Open after 36 holes and Mark Calcavecchia one stroke behind, but Tiger Woods actually missed the cut. Will miracles ever cease?
Teammates, Coach Defend Ricky Ray
18/07/2009 06:32
Receivers, lack of running game also hurt
Stop looking at Ricky Ray. The problem with the Eskimos offence doesn't start and stop with the quarterback.
That's the word of Ray's teammates and head coach after he struggled again and was booed off the field in the third quarter after throwing his second interception of the game.
"That makes me mad," receiver Fred Stamps said of the boos from what remained of the crowd. "Ricky Ray is a great quarterback, he's still one of the best in the league. Everybody blames him, but it's us (the receivers).We have to get open, we have to give him an opportunity to get us the ball."
Part of the problem, if word out of the B. C. Lions dressing room is right, is that the Eskimos offence --especially since it lacks any kind of credible running game--isn't surprising defences.
"I would not say it's predictable," started veteran defensive back Barron Miles, who went on to say the Lions studied film of the Eskimos offence and prepared "for what we expected to see. Today we saw just what we wanted to see."
Ray, who completed 17 of 27 passes for 166 yards--his longest was 23 yards -- two touchdowns and two interceptions, admitted that maybe the offence is becoming predictable.
"Maybe it has," he said in the subdued dressing room. "We're not making plays, not getting the right guys into the right situation to make plays, and when we do we're not coming up with those plays. That's what happens when you're struggling, you try to go to your bread-and-butter stuff that you're good at, be a little bit more vanilla and try to execute those. Maybe that's why they're saying that."
Ray, who was replaced for the final quarter by Jason Maas, who completed eight of 11 passes for 138 yards and engineered one touchdown, said when the offence isn't making plays, "it's tough to get into a rhythm. We have to be more consistent throughout the game. We've done it at times, put some drives together. I don't know why some drives we do and some drives we don't.
"It's getting frustrating to not get the results we want out there. It's a quarterback league and I know I have to play better."
As for those boos, he simply shrugged.
"It's not the first time," he's heard them, Ray said. "They expect you to go out there and perform and do well. It's part of the business; if you don't perform they're going to let you know."
Head coach Richie Hall said the offence is out of sync, sputtering along like a car with sugar in its gas tank, but he's not worried about the performance of Ray just yet.
"It's not so much Ricky Ray, it's that the team lacks consistency. We all, players and coaches, have to look at ourselves and where we are missing that lack of consistency. It's unfair to look at one person."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
As I’ve said before in this space, the offence and Ricky Ray have to pick it up more than a few notches – and fast. I wouldn’t say it’s time for panic in Eski-land, but it’s certainly time for concern, on the part of both coaches and players. There is no question the fiasco that in the 2009 Edmonton Eskimos has been a total team effort.
Mark Calcavecchia Only In Scotland For The Beer
18/07/2009 06:32
1989 winner plays through back injury on painkillers, but only because it's the British Open
Mark Calcavecchia put himself on to the British Open leaderboard on Thursday with a little help from a cocktail of beer and painkillers.
The 49-year-old, who won his only major title in the 1989 Open at nearby Troon, took full advantage of a 6:30 a. m. start in near perfect conditions to fire a 3-under-par 67 that left him one stroke off the early pace set by Australian John Senden.
It was a remarkable performance from a player who had been in acute pain after being forced to play 36 holes to finish the weather-disrupted John Deere Classic on Sunday.
"I don't think anybody would have even finished the way I felt," he said. "I was pretty much in full blown spasm the entire second 18."
Calcavecchia's way of dealing with the pain was not exactly drawn from the medical textbook.
"I was contemplating not coming," he said. "If it had been any other tournament I would not have come. But, you know, I love this tournament and once I got done at the John Deere, I took a few more (painkillers) Aleve and a couple of beers and I was OK.
"I got on the plane and several more beers went flowing down. The next thing you know we were landing. I felt pretty good on Monday."
Calcavecchia undeniably looks like a man who has a warm relationship with beer and he admits his chronic back problems might be eased by losing a bit of weight and following the example of Tiger Woods when it comes to working on his core strength.
But, as he puts it, "that doesn't seem to be happening," and, instead, the 49-year-old is looking forward to life on the seniors tour, where he hopes he will be allowed to ride around in a buggy and avoid all the standing and walking, which he blames for his back troubles.
"I can play all day in a cart," he says.
The fact that he can still play was underlined by the shot of Thursday's round, a majestic six iron to within eight inches of the 8th pin that saved his par after he had been obliged to hack out of a fairway bunker.
But he is also realistic about his prospects of keeping himself in contention until Sunday afternoon.
"I'd hate to say Turnberry was easy because it's a really hard course, but if you're going to shoot a good score out there, today was the day to do it," he said, before bluntly confessing: "I'll be the first to admit I'm not as good as I used to be.
"My thoughts of winning have pretty much gone out the window as time goes by. I won the Canadian Open in '05 when I was 45 and the PODS in '07 when I was 47.
"I'm 49 now and I still play really well, but it's just the first round. It's a long way to go, but I'm here, and I'm here because I love playing this tournament. I'm exempt until I'm 60 and I'm going to keep coming back every year."
Asked what it is that makes the Open so special to him, Calcavecchia's thoughts once again turn to beer: this year finds him holed up in the Duel in the Sun pub along with several of his US PGA Tour colleagues.
"We're all in there having bar food and drinking pints, and you never see guys in the States," he said. "It's like if you do, it's by pure accident. So everybody sits around and yuks it up, and it's almost like I've become better friends with Lucas Glover and Boo Weekley and Matt Kuchar in the last three days and 10 or 15 other guys that have been in there than at home.
"There's just a lot of different fun things about this week."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Methinks Calc and SINC would really get along well. Calc may only be there for the beer, but after two rounds in the Open Championship, he finds himself in second place, only one shot behind leaders Tom Watson and Steve Marino.
Retro Night Not Good Idea For Eskimos
18/07/2009 06:32
Green and Gold wasn't a very good team in the 1960s, and current team played like their predecessors on Thursday
On Retro Night at Commonwealth Stadium, the B. C. Lions reverted to their highlight-reel form of just a few years back, while the Edmonton Eskimos sunk deeper into the muck of a present-day rut of numbing inconsistency.
Ominously for Edmonton, the man who seems to be ankle-deep in an uncharacteristic bog of inconsistency is quarterback Ricky Ray, their rock, their franchise player almost since he arrived here in 2002.
Ray was lifted for backup pivot Jason Maas just 2:04 into the fourth quarter of this 40-22 laugher.
Clearly, the Eskimos defence has issues, since the club has surrendered an outrageous 90 points in the last two games.
One concern has to be safety Elliott Richardson, who has been victimized the last two games. But Richardson is a rookie, filling in for injured veteran Scott Gordon.
Ray has been The Man in Edmonton. He's blowing hot and cold right now, though, and his team is stumbling along with him.
With all due respect to 1960s stars Willie Fleming and By Bailey, B. C.'s first half was all about contemporary superstar receiver Geroy Simon, with ample support from quarterback Jarious Jackson.
All Jackson did was complete 19 of 28 pass attempts for 362 yards and four TDs before he gave way to rookie Travis Lulay in the fourth quarter.
The veteran Simon snared one 45-yard bomb from Jackson to set up the Lions' first touchdown and hauled in a 33-yard dart from Jackson for a TD as the 0-2 Lions swiftly constructed a 16-0 lead.
After Ray engineered a pair of second-quarter TD drives to narrow the score to 16-14, Jackson hooked up with Rufus Skillern for a 46-yard gain early in the third quarter to set up the third B. C. major score.
Not long after that, Jackson found Simon again as the Lions zoomed off to a 30-14 lead.
On that one, Jackson stumbled and fell on his three-step drop, got up and launched a rainbow to Simon, who was in behind Bobby Keyes in the end zone.
It was the Geroy Simon show and its vintage 2006, the year the Lions last won the Grey Cup and Simon was the league's most outstanding player.
The Eskimos, stuck in a two-and-out funk early on, also gave up a two-point safety as they jockeyed for field position. They did knock Lions quarterback Buck Pierce out of the game just five minutes in.
But this didn't even rate a moral victory, the way things turned out.
More from the Edmonton Journal.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
The Eskimos have to ditch those retro uniforms, and fast too – they’re starting to play like they did in the 1960s. Only, in the 1960s, the Esks had a much better defence than they’ve shown so far this season. As 1960s legend, former defensive tackle John LaGrone looked on from the sidelines last night, he must have felt déjà vu all over again.
McNair’s Death Ignites More Infidelity Talk
18/07/2009 06:32
Clinical psychologist expects most players to ‘return to their old habits’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -The shocking death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and infidelity among sports stars is the main topic of discussion among families of professional athletes.
"They can't take their mind off it,'' said Tisha DeShields, ex-wife of former major leaguer Delino DeShields.
McNair had been married 12 years before he was shot to death on July 4 at his condo by 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, who then turned the gun on herself. Police said Kazemi was struggling financially and suspected McNair might be involved with another lover.
DeShields, a 38-year-old Atlanta businesswoman who divorced her husband after discovering his seven-year affair, remains friends with a number of male pro athletes and their wives. She said that McNair's death is what they've been discussing.
"If this was a banker down the street, then it would just be the banker down the street,'' she said. "But this was one of their own, their colleague, someone they respected.''
One question that comes up is will any of the athletes learn from the tragedy.
Dr. Sherry Blake called McNair's death "a wake up call'' for players, but she expects most eventually will forget about the murder-suicide and return to their old habits.
"Many players have had extra affairs for years,'' said Blake, a clinical psychologist who practices in the Atlanta area and has counseled athletes and entertainers about the temptations of drugs, alcohol and women.
Some affairs involving marquee players have played out in public.
In 2003, NBA star Kobe Bryant - then 24 - admitted to adultery when accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman who worked at the exclusive Colorado spa where Bryant was staying for knee surgery. That case later was dismissed. Last year, Cynthia Rodriguez divorced Yankees star Alex Rodriguez after allegations of repeated infidelity.
One way to possibly get athletes to heed the warnings of experts is for the advice to come from their peers.
Chris Sanders, who played with McNair, says he should have been more involved in the personal life of his one-time teammate.
"I beat myself up ever since it happened,'' the former Tennessee Titans wide receiver said. "Maybe it was something I could have said, or maybe it was something I could have did, instead of just talking about football. Maybe the situation would have been different.''
Sanders said most of pro leagues have "player development programs,'' designed to help with certain personal aspects of their lives, such as finances. But he said the programs don't deal enough with relationships or marriage.
The NFL discusses the potential risks in personal relationships at its annual rookie symposium each June. Each club can access the Life Skills options that include programs for managing relationships and violence against women.
"Relationship management is a critical part of what we do in Player Development,'' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello wrote in an e-mail.
More from Sports Illustrated.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It seems that infidelity is quite commonplace for professional athletes, doesn’t it folks?
CFL Won’t Fine Or Punish Bombers Over ‘Spygate’
18/07/2009 06:32
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will not be fined or punished by the league after a scout was escorted out of a Hamilton Tiger-Cats practice on Tuesday, holding more than a dozen pages of notes that were confiscated.
"The commissioner has fully reviewed the incident that was brought to his attention (Tuesday)," the CFL said in a statement.
"The commissioner has informed the Winnipeg football club, and all member clubs, that this type of practice is unacceptable and similar incidents in the future may result in disciplinary action. (Tuesday's) incident involving Winnipeg is being managed internally."
Bombers president and CEO Lyle Bauer said Wednesday that although the team acknowledges using the man's services, he was not asked by the team to take notes of the Hamilton practice.
"In regards to the reported incident in Hamilton it should be noted that the (Winnipeg) did not engage the services of this individual who attended an open practice for said purposes nor do we condone any such actions," Bauer said in a statement.
The man involved in the incident, which took place Tuesday at Ivor Wynne Stadium, is reportedly named Ron Trentini. When Ticats staff members approached him during the practice, he identified himself as a friend of Winnipeg's director of player personnel and claimed to be taking notes on formations for a team in a summer league.
The Bombers plays in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Bombers said Wednesday that "although we have used the services of this individual in the past it has been in the area of personnel scouting including tracking of Canadian and CIS players."
The Ticats reportedly confiscated Trentini's notes, which included diagrams of plays Hamilton was running during practice, and escorted him out of the stadium.
Bombers coach Mike Kelly had little to say about the matter Wednesday.
"Non-issue. Handled internally. I'm not talking about it," a prickly Kelly said repeatedly.
Hamilton coach Marcel Bellefeuille told reporters the incident would not change his team's preparation.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Hmm . . . no fine or punishment, eh? Too bad.
Female Ski Jumpers To Appeal Court Decision
18/07/2009 06:32
A group of elite women ski jumpers fighting to be included in the 2010 Winter Olympic has decided to appeal last week's B.C. Supreme Court decision that rejected their legal bid to have them as part of the Games.
"We took a few days for our lawyers to review last week's judgment and to canvass our plaintiffs to see what everyone thought and now we're ready to continue our fight to get the women into 2010," said Deedee Corradini, president of Women's Ski Jump-USA and spokesperson for the group.
Lawyer Ross Clark filed the appeal with the court this morning, hoping to have it heard in time for the women to jump at the Olympics in February if their argument is successful.
"[VANOC] cannot host events on Canadian soil that implement discrimination," Clark pointed out.
In her ruling released on Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Lauri Ann Fenlon agreed that the women were discriminated against, but said that the International Olympic Committee, which made the decision to keep the women out, was beyond the reach of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedom.
"We were so disheartened by last week's decision, but we're competitors: we won't give up," said Canadian ski jumper Katie Willis.
Ski jumping is the only discipline at the Winter Olympics still restricted to men, as it has been since 1924.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
I told you the women wouldn’t let it go, folks.
Canada’s Hockey Women Push Limits At Boot Camp
18/07/2009 06:32
Every morning at 7:30 a.m., the cars proudly honked as they drove past a pack of women jogging along Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway through the tiny northern British Columbia town of Dawson Creek.
Those 26 women were jockeying for 21 spots on Canada's 2010 Olympic hockey team, and they isolated themselves for a three-week-long boot camp this summer that had one theme: volume. That's trainer's speak for driving an athlete's body to its max by doing an unfathomable amount of physical activity.
"We didn't stop moving all day every day, and at some points, you couldn't fathom why you signed up for this gig," said defenceman Carla MacLeod, a 2006 Olympic gold medallist. "We did what we could do in four months normally in one month."
They trained for an average of six hours a day, and it wasn't just hockey. Those early morning jogs ended at a soccer field outside the rink where there was a workout before they even hit the ice for a rigorous two-hour practice. After lunch, they dropped the skates but not the sticks. They meticulously worked their shooting and stick-handling skills off the ice as well as their footwork, speed and agility. Then there was weight-training, and lots of it.
After dinner, it was right back at it. The team worked on flexibility with a local yoga instructor or hit an authentic boxing gym for an intense Tai kickboxing session, one of the best character-building portions of the camp. true
"The atmosphere around the kickboxing was really great -- your classic boxing gym," said Ryan van Asten, the team's strength and conditioning coach and the leader of the boot camp. "It's not a high polished setting like a lot of gyms we see, so it brought an element of toughness we really liked."
Some Dawson Creek families gave up their homes to put up the players for a 16-day visit. The team rewarded the town by playing a 4-on-4 game for them one night. The players had little time to lounge and only a couple of days off to themselves. With three or four players to a house, they had long enough to cook up a simple meal for themselves and race right back for the next workout.
Then there was the second phase of the boot camp. The team traveled 120 km southwest to Tumbler Ridge, B.C, a wilderness haven and a town of just 2500 people. The women hopped on mountain bikes and rode 45 km to Gwillim Lake, set in the picturesque Rocky Mountain Foothills, where they set up camp and lodged in simple cabins. There were no rinks or sticks. It was a week of biking, canoeing, rock climbing, swimming and hiking, but it was no vacation. That was confirmed when they had do the return 45km bike ride before getting to lodge at hotel for a few days.
More from ctvolympics.ca
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Hopefully, this training will pay off in the long run – like with a gold medal for Canada in Women’s Hockey at the Vancouver 2010 games.
City Won't Tell How Many Tax Dollars They Spent
17/07/2009 04:25
I see the city has
shelled out even more money for more land for
the west regional road. You remember that black
sinkhole we’ve been pouring money down for the
past few years?
And get this. The city is still labouring under the misconception that the province is magically going to refund all the money we’ve invested in this bad road that will never be highway 2. Ever.
And the latest? Now they refuse to divulge the purchase price for the land. Yep, that’s right folks, it’s our money and we’re not allowed to know how much of it they spent.
In case you missed it, here is the lead on the story in the latest Gazette with the headline, "More land purchased for Ray Gibbon Drive".
"Ray Gibbon Drive was back on city council’s agenda Monday night, and a new purchase agreement means it’s a step closer to completion.
Council approved the purchase of lands from AltaLink and Hopewell Developments Inc. required for the completion of a lighted intersection at Ray Gibbon Drive and LeClair Way.
Project manager Larry Galye couldn’t say how much the city spent on the land acquisition, but he did say it was within budget.
"Because we’re dealing with a number of [landowners] at this time, just because of protections for the landowners, we have to try and keep the prices confidential," Galye said."
Complete story here.
Nice “try” Larry, but I for one would like to know why the city thinks it can hide how it uses our money and in what amounts. They are public tax dollars and we are entitled to know. So Mayor Crouse, just how much did we spend? Inquiring minds want to know.
The World’s Most Expensive Foods
17/07/2009 04:25
- The most expensive mushroom in the world is the white truffle. The mushroom has its origins in the Langhe area of the Piedmont region in northern Italy, it can reach 12 cm diameter and 500g. These truffles are sold at a amazing price of €2,000 and €4,000 per kilogram ($1350 - $2700 per pound). The record price for this truffle was paid last year, in December, when Stanley Ho, the owner of the Macau casino paid $330,000 for 1.5kg of truffles.
- The most expensive potato in the world is a French one, "La Bonnotte". Annually, only 100 tons of this top quality potato are cultivated and collected only on the island Noirmoutier. The potato fields require to be fertilized only with seaweed in a climate shaped by the nearby sea. The cost of one single kilogram can reach €500 since this type of potato is almost extinct.
- The most expensive beef in the world is the type of beef coming from the Wagyu cows. These Japanese cows are fed the best grass and provided the best treatment. That is why the meat is especially tender and particularly expensive. 200 grams of a fillet cost in Europe more than 100 dollars.
Who Ate All The Pies?
17/07/2009 04:25
Britain's obesity
capital
resists health
drive
On the front line of Britain’s fight against obesity lies a town with a guilty secret — it has an abiding passion for pork pies.
Stockton-on-Tees eats more of them than anywhere else in the region according to suppliers, who sell off surplus pies to local butchers. Perhaps that’s one reason why the town was named as the country’s capital for childhood obesity in Department of Health figures released this week.
One in six children starting primary school in the borough is obese and by the time they leave for secondary school, 20 per cent of pupils fall into the same category. More than one in three 11-year-olds are either overweight or obese.
Another community confronted by such statistics might have shuffled away behind closed doors into chipmunching, couch-potato denial.
Details here.
SINC SAYS:
Methinks we’ve got our share of ‘em in this country too. Take a walk around Wal*Mart and see for yourself.
On the front line of Britain’s fight against obesity lies a town with a guilty secret — it has an abiding passion for pork pies.
Stockton-on-Tees eats more of them than anywhere else in the region according to suppliers, who sell off surplus pies to local butchers. Perhaps that’s one reason why the town was named as the country’s capital for childhood obesity in Department of Health figures released this week.
One in six children starting primary school in the borough is obese and by the time they leave for secondary school, 20 per cent of pupils fall into the same category. More than one in three 11-year-olds are either overweight or obese.
Another community confronted by such statistics might have shuffled away behind closed doors into chipmunching, couch-potato denial.
Details here.
SINC SAYS:
Methinks we’ve got our share of ‘em in this country too. Take a walk around Wal*Mart and see for yourself.
Pig Tased, Taken Into Custody
17/07/2009 04:24
CHIPLEY — A local pig
was taken into custody Monday morning after the
animal led Chipley police on a merry chase
through
downtown.Officer Richard Heming said reports came in early about a pig on the loose around Third Street and Jackson Avenue. The pig, black-gray in color and apparently a large pot-bellied pig, was spotted by Heming, “but he absconded from me,” the officer said.
Fresh reports came in just after noon that the animal was spotted around Jackson Avenue and Fifth Street. The pig was again spotted running down South Railroad Avenue toward Second Street, and then across Jackson down Second.
“The pig was cornered by us but absconded again and ran into the woods,” Heming said.
A private citizen brought his hunting dog to help track the fugitive porker to the back porch behind Mayor Linda Cain’s house.
“He got aggressive and I tased him,” Heming said. The pig was taken by Animal Control without further incident and with no injuries.
SINC SAYS:
The cop huffed and he puffed but he couldn’t blow him down without the taser.
Cops, Firefighters Called Over Hide-And-Seek Victory
17/07/2009 04:24
An American toddler
did such a good job of hiding during a game of
hide-and-seek that the family had to call
police and firefighters to help find her.
Two-year-old Natalie Jasmer was playing the game with her siblings on Tuesday, in Greenville, Pennsylvania. When the family couldn't find her, parents Dennis and Michelle Jasmer called authorities, The Herald newspaper reported.
Emergency crews and friends frantically searched the neighborhood for about an hour.
But it wasn't them who eventually found her, but rather the family's dog, Copper, who sniffed her out: She had fallen asleep in a drawer underneath the family's washing machine. The little girl told her family she was sorry.
Hide-and-seek has now been banned in the Jasmer household.
SINC SAYS:
Ya gotta love a toddler don’tcha? They can do the darndest things.
Tom Watson Turns Back Clock At British Open
17/07/2009 04:24
TURNBERRY, Scotland -- On the eve of the British Open, Tom Watson got a modern-day text message from Jack Nicklaus' wife. Then it was time to turn back the clock at Turnberry.
Thirty-two years after his epic "Duel in the Sun" with the Golden Bear, Watson took advantage of pristine conditions on the very same course to shoot a stunning 5-under 65 on Thursday. He held the lead until Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez stole it away late in the day with a 64, only one shot off the record for lowest score in any major championship.
Still, it was Watson, the 59-year-old, five-time Open champion, who maintained the lead role -- if only for a day.
"What a legend," Jimenez said.
Watson had been practicing well all week, and got an extra boost a day earlier when Barbara Nicklaus sent a text wishing him good luck.
"I texted her back and said, "You know, we really miss you over here,"' Watson said. "And I really meant it. It's not the same without Jack playing in the tournament."
Nicklaus played his final British Open at St. Andrews in 2005 and faded into retirement. But the guy who beat him at Turnberry in '77 -- with a 65 on the final day, no less -- still has a few shots left.
Watson kept the ball in the fairway, rolled in five birdies and bailed himself out the few times he got into trouble, including a testy six-footer at the final hole to preserve a bogey-free round.
His score was matched by Ben Curtis, the surprise winner of the 2003 Open, and Japanese Tour regular Kenichi Kuboya, who surged into contention after most of the fans had headed for the pubs with a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie finish.
"Not bad for an almost 60-year-old," said Watson, who turns that age in September.
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
For a while there yesterday morning, it was 1977 all over again . . .
Bombers Condemn Scout Caught Spying On Ticats
17/07/2009 04:24
HAMILTON -- The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are condemning the actions of a scout accused of spying at a Tiger-Cats practice.
Bombers president and CEO Lyle Bauer said Wednesday that although the team acknowledges using the man's services, he was not asked by the team to take notes of the Hamilton practice.
"In regards to the reported incident in Hamilton it should be noted that the (Winnipeg) did not engage the services of this individual who attended an open practice for said purposes nor do we condone any such actions," Bauer said in a statement.
The man involved in the incident, which took place Tuesday at Ivor Wynne Stadium, is reportedly named Ron Trentini. When Ticats staff members approached him during the practice, he identified himself as a friend of Winnipeg's director of player personnel and claimed to be taking notes on formations for a team in a summer league.
The Bombers plays in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Bombers said Wednesday that "although we have used the services of this individual in the past it has been in the area of personnel scouting including tracking of Canadian and CIS players."
The Ticats reportedly confiscated Trentini's notes, which included diagrams of plays Hamilton was running during practice, and escorted him out of the stadium.
"The commissioner has fully reviewed the incident that was brought to his attention (Tuesday)," the CFL said in a statement.
"The commissioner has informed the Winnipeg football club, and all member clubs, that this type of practice is unacceptable and similar incidents in the future may result in disciplinary action. (Tuesday's) incident involving Winnipeg is being managed internally."
Bombers coach Mike Kelly had little to say about the matter Wednesday.
"Non-issue. Handled internally. I'm not talking about it," a prickly Kelly said repeatedly.
Hamilton coach Marcel Bellefeuille told reporters the incident would not change his team's preparation.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Isn’t this rich, folks? Lyle Bauer and ‘a prickly’ new Blue Bomber Czar, Mike Kelly, are now publicly throwing the Scout under the team bus – but only because he got caught!
What Led To Blackhawks' Front Office Shuffle?
17/07/2009 04:24
By Darren Dreger
TSN Hockey Analyst
Sentiment - bordering on outrage - best describes how many NHL people responded to the news of Dale Tallon's dismissal as general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks.
However, anyone shocked by this move by team president John McDonough didn't pay attention to the constant speculation of Tallon's demise at varying points of the season.
Some close to the organization believe McDonough was looking for an opportunity to make his move which was made very difficult by Chicago's trip to the western conference final and a season most around the league would consider a great success.
There's no question the Blackhawks' recent fumble with qualifying offers (that weren't filed on time for the team's restricted free agents) was an enormous unforced error and while it has been suggested Tallon wasn't responsible for the blunder, as GM he took responsibility.
Was this mistake - as costly as it turned out to be - really his undoing?
What we know is there is a groundswell of sympathy for Tallon, who, upon learning his fate, was also handed a two-year contract to act as an advisor at the same rate of pay he was earning as Chicago's general manager.
This groundswell also extends to former Blackhawks forward Martin Havlat, who - through the direct link of Twitter - continues to tease Hawks fans with suggestive tweets that indicate Dale Tallon's firing was very predictable. "Tip of the iceberg," Havlat wrote in one tweet. In another, he asked, "shouldn't fans know the truth?"
Shortly after that, Havlat's Twitter account crashed because of an overload of responses.
Yes, Chicago Blackhawks fans want to know the truth.
They want to know what Havlat believes led to Tallon's firing.
Hawks fans want to understand how a negotiation that lasted better than three months, focused on keeping Havlat a Hawk long term and involved his agent Allan Walsh, Tallon and now Chicago's newest GM, Stan Bowman, mysteriously eroded.
More from TSN’s Darren Dreger.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Martin Havlat has a very interesting ‘take’ on what really happened with the Blackhawks’ demotion of Dale Tallon and promotion of Stan Bowman.
Toronto Native Tracy Struggles To Get Indy Ride
17/07/2009 04:24
TORONTO -- Danica Patrick and Paul Tracy are two of a kind and what the IndyCar Series needs in these difficult economic times. They attract attention -- on the racetrack and off it.
There's one big difference, though. The 27-year-old Patrick, whose contract with Andretti Green Racing is up after this season, has the luxury of knowing she can drive next year for any team she wants, while the 40-year-old Tracy wonders if he'll have a regular ride in 2010.
And the current IndyCar Series media guide doesn't help matters any: Buddy Rice, who hasn't raced this year, is in it and Tracy, who's run four races, isn't.
"I wish I got the same attention from the league as I get from my fans," said Tracy, who grew up in the West Hill neighbourhood of suburban Toronto. "I'm not going to get frustrated. I'm just happy to be in the car."
Tracy raced for 17 years in the series that began as CART and then became Champ Car. He won the championship in 2003 and his 31 victories are the most of any active driver in the open-wheel sport.
Tracy, who lives in Las Vegas, lost his full-time ride before the start of the 2008 season when team owner Gerald Forsythe decided not to make the transition from Champ Car to the IndyCar Series as part of the long-awaited unification of the American open-wheel series.
It was a harsh blow for a driver many consider among the most colourful and talented in the business.
"It's been extremely frustrating for him," said former open-wheel champion Jimmy Vasser, who co-owns KV Racing Technology (KVRT) with Kevin Kalkhoven. "We had the merger and he wasn't able to be involved. Last year he was tied up with a team that got out at the last minute."
Sitting and watching from afar has been perhaps the greatest challenge for Tracy, whose 268 career starts rank seventh all-time in open-wheel competition.
"I want to be in a car. The fans want me to be in a car, and I think, for the most part, most teams would like to see me in a car," he said. "It's just a question of sponsorship, of money. You have to have that to run."
KVRT has given Tracy renewed hope, signing him to drive its No. 15 car in four races this year as the team searches for a full-time sponsor.
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Whatever happens in 2010 happens. In the meantime, it’s going to be nice to have both Tracy and Danica Patrick right here in the Capital Region for the Edmonton Indy on July 26.
Vancouver 2010 – Access To Swine Flu Vaccine
17/07/2009 04:24
VANCOUVER - Vancouver's Olympic organizers say they won't be at the front of the line if a vaccine against swine flu becomes available before the 2010 Games.
But they are concerned that delays in production of the vaccine could impact the Winter Olympics.
"If it was produced at the same rate as the seasonal flu we would have been fine, but now we have meetings coming up and we'll have our plans completed by the end of August," said Dr. Jack Taunton, the chief medical officer for the Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC.
Vaccine manufacturers have been reporting that they are getting a low yield of vaccine viruses from the existing seed strains.
If the yield cannot be increased, it will slow the rate at which pandemic vaccine is produced, adding to the time it will take to protect populations in countries like Canada that have purchased vaccine.
"We have our own Tamiflu and we're stockpiling that, and we have our own seasonal flu in order," said Taunton.
"What we're awaiting now is in terms of getting first, the Canadian supply from the World Health (Organization) . . . . and then how much normally would Vancouver Coastal Health and the Ministry of Health get and out from that, what is our proportion?"
Taunton said VANOC would look into vaccinating all of its 25,000 volunteers as well as its staff, though he added they can't force anyone to take the vaccine, only recommend it.
Athletes are being looked after by their own national Olympic committees, though Taunton said that VANOC was already talking to them about how they might be able to obtain the vaccine.
The World Health Organization said earlier this week that health care workers should be the first to get access to the vaccine and Taunton said organizers had no plans to butt in line.
"We know that there are other priorities," he said.
"We are not going to be stepping up to the front of the line and saying we're going to be taking this over a woman that's pregnant (or) somebody that has chronic disease."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
I don’t know about you, folks, but personally, I am sick to death of all of this ‘Swine Flu’ pandemic and H1N1 hysteria and nonsense, quite frankly. And they’re worrying about Vancouver 2010 already? Puleeeeeeeeeeez.
Phelps Defeats Tiger To Win Male Athlete At ESPYS
17/07/2009 04:24
LOS ANGELES -- Michael Phelps won a leading five ESPY Awards, including male athlete of the year, ending the five-year reign of Tiger Woods, who earned his record 22nd trophy Wednesday night.
The 14-time Olympic gold medallist also collected trophies for record-breaking performance, championship performance, and male Olympian while sharing the best moment award as part of the victorious 400-metre freestyle swimming relay at the Beijing Games.
Phelps won a record eight gold medals in Beijing, breaking Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven golds in a single games.
Olympic all-around gymnastics champion Nastia Liukin won female athlete of the year.
The show honouring the previous year's top athletes, events and teams airs Sunday on ESPN.
Phelps' only other ESPY came in 2005 when he was chosen male Olympian following his haul of six gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games.
He wasn't the only swimmer honoured.
Dara Torres, who at 41 won three silver medals in her fifth Olympics, received the comeback award. She asked for a chair to sit on backstage to rest her ailing left knee that will require surgery later this summer.
Liukin defeated Wimbledon winner Serena Williams, Los Angeles Sparks star Candace Parker, Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin and Connecticut basketball player Maya Moore for female athlete.
Woods won male golfer honours for the fifth consecutive year, giving him a career total of 22 ESPYs. He's in Scotland to play in the British Open beginning Thursday.
Besides Woods, Phelps outpolled NBA superstars Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson for male athlete.
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Considering the award was for 2008, and Phelps won eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, while Tiger was out of golf for most of 2008 with reconstructive knee surgery and stress fractures to his left leg, it’s pretty hard to argue with the pick.
Bruins, Flyers At Fenway Park In Winter Classic
17/07/2009 04:24
The home of the Boston Red Sox will finally host a National Hockey League game.
The NHL announced on Wednesday that the 2009-2010 regular season schedule would be highlighted by a matchup at Boston's Fenway Park between the Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 1.
"A unique event deserves a unique venue, and we are delighted the Bruins and Flyers will renew their rivalry with the 'Green Monster' providing the backdrop," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "We welcome our fans, our teams, our sponsors and the great city of Boston to this annual celebration of our sport."
In what has recently become an annual event, the 2010 Winter Classic game marks the fourth time in five seasons that a regular season game has taken place in an outdoor venue.
The idea for a winter game began with the Heritage Classic in November 2003, when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium.
The first branded Winter Classic was held New Year's Day in 2008, at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, where the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Buffalo Sabres 2-1 in a shootout in front more than 71,000 fans.
Last January, the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 6-4 at Wrigley Field.
The regular season gets underway on October 1 and four of Canada's six teams will be in action. The Original Six rivalry of two new-look teams helps open the season when the Toronto Maple Leafs play host to the Montreal Canadiens.
Later on that night, the Flames and their improved defence that includes Jay Bouwmeester will play host to goaltender Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. Joe Sakic's number will also be retired by the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center that evening.
On October 3, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be in Long Island where John Tavares should be making his home debut with the Islanders.
The Battle of Alberta also begins that night, with the Edmonton Oilers playing host to the Flames.
The Bruins will play the Canadiens in Montreal on December 4, which is their 100th birthday.
Because of the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, the Canucks will be starting a team record 14-game road trip that begins on January 30 in Toronto. The NHL will suspend play during the games, meaning a layoff from February 15 until March 1.
The final game of the regular season will be played on Sunday, April 11.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Yawn. Zzzzzzzzz . . .
Favre Will Decide On Future By Training Camp
17/07/2009 04:24
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Brett Favre acknowledged he's "running out of time" to decide whether he'll play for the Minnesota Vikings this season.
The quarterback told The Associated Press that he'll give the Vikings an answer on whether he'll play by the July 30 start of training camp. Favre has been working out with the Oak Grove High School football team three days a week all summer, but added a Sunday workout this week.
"There's two weeks left and I'm doing everything I can," Favre said. "I was down here Sunday morning working out. I'm trying to get everything to where I feel 100 per cent when I go in. I can't go in any less. When you're 39 years old, it's hard enough. But it's getting there."
The former Packers and Jets quarterback said surgery to repair a biceps tendon in his throwing arm was successful and that he has enough velocity to return to the NFL. He's just not sure whether that means he'll be able to compete for an entire season.
"I felt like going to New York last year that I still had it," Favre said. "I didn't know my arm was hurt at the time. So that's what I try to get across to people. I had that fixed, the surgery to fix that. So I'm trying to make sure that if I go back that that part is completely resolved."
It sure looked like it Wednesday morning, when a jovial Favre hit a variety of passes to high school and college wide receivers. He was crisp on short timing passes and was hitting receivers in the end zone from about 50 yards away. He attempted a few deep passes off bootlegs and usually hit his targets in stride.
Favre's spirals held true and he proved he still has plenty of zip when he tossed a deep pass to a college receiver who dropped by to work out. The pass split the receiver's hands and hit him in the face.
"He's a senior from Southeastern Louisiana, so I put a little more on it," Favre said with a smile.
Favre said if the arm strength wasn't there, he wouldn't be making a bid to return for his 19th season in the league.
"I don't think Minnesota would even consider it if I didn't have it," Favre said. "Second of all, I wouldn't even think about it if I didn't have it. Now, having it here and having in on the field on Sundays is two different things, I know that for a fact. I know what it takes to play on Sunday and I still believe I have that."
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Say what? Not again, folks. Please don’t tell me the Brett Favre saga is about to begin again?
Pictures From Our Garden . . .
16/07/2009 04:42
Have
a picture to share from YOUR garden? Send it along to
mybirdie@telus.net
Drunken Flight Lands Jockeys In Hot Water
16/07/2009 04:42
Three jockeys have
been fined and banned from racing for a month
after taking beers onto a commercial flight as
they returned from a responsible drinking
seminar.Thoroughbred Racing South Australia's stewards yesterday found jockeys Garry Hoobin, Paul Marks and Sean Harrison guilty of prejudicing the sport.
The incident happened on a Regional Express flight from Adelaide to Mount Gambier.
The men were said to have taken 12 beers onto the one-hour flight and were drinking them, despite warnings from the flight attendant not to open them.
The Australian Federal Police were called to investigate the incident.
The jockeys had been in Adelaide for the day attending a racing industry-funded seminar on the responsible consumption of alcohol.
They have been fined $500 and received a year's ban on all Regional Express flights.
SINC SAYS:
I guess they didn’t learn much at that seminar, did they?
Record Bid For Matchstick Oil Rig
16/07/2009 04:42
A man from Hampshire
who has spent 15 years making a model oil rig
out of four million matches is hoping for a
place in the record
books.David Reynolds, 51, from Swaything in Southampton, has finally finished a replica of the Brent Bravo oil rig in the North Sea where he used to work.
It is so big it had to be made in 14 separate parts and now has a temporary home at Bursledon Brickworks Museum.
Mr Reynolds is waiting for confirmation his model is a world record.
The current record for the most matches used to make a model stands at three-and-a-half million matches.
I am absolutely sick to death at the sight of a matchstick, Mr Reynolds' wife Julie said.
Mr Reynolds, who made the model in his spare time over 15 years, said: "Most people watch about six or seven hours of television in the evening, you multiple that by seven, that's 40 hours a week.
"Whereas at the end of 40 hours work on the model I have something to show for it.
"Early this year I was thinking of breaking it up because it took up two bedrooms, the loft, two sheds and half my garage."
But he was able to move his creation to Bursledon Brickworks Museum.
Mr Reynolds' wife Julie said: "I am absolutely sick to death at the sight of a matchstick but I think there is still more to come unfortunately.
"But at least I know where he is and what he's doing, so I'd rather have him there than down the pub."
SINC SAYS:
Me? I’d rather be “down the pub,” thanks.
French Travelers Ranked As World’s Worst
16/07/2009 04:41
Survey results
blast tourists for speaking
little
English, being
tight-fisted
PARIS - French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.
They finish in last place in the survey carried out for internet travel agency Expedia by polling company TNS Infratest, which said French holidaymakers don't speak local languages and are seen as impolite.
"It's mainly the fact that they speak little or no English when they're abroad, and they don't speak much of the local language," Expedia Marketing Director Timothee de Roux told radio station France Info.
SINC SAYS:
Some folks who’ve been there tell me Quebec residents don’t exactly treat their English speaking tourists well either.
Fish Killed After Terrorizing Swimmers
16/07/2009 04:41
And served for
dinnerPolice divers have harpooned a huge fish that had been terrorising swimmers in a Swiss lake, sending a few to hospital with bite wounds.
The perch, which was two feet three inches long and weighed 17.5 pounds, was speared on Sunday at Lac Majeur after it bit six swimmers over the weekend, Fabio Croci, a fish warden, told local media.
Two swimmers were treated in hospital for bite wounds up to four inches long after being attacked at the lake, which borders Italy, he added.
Police divers at first tried to capture the carnivorous fish with a net, but when this failed, they pursued the zander with a harpoon and managed to kill it.
The meat from the captured fish was later served up to tourists at the lake.
"It is quite unusual for perch to bite humans", Mr Croci said.
He added that he suspected the fish was suffering from a hormonal imbalance which could be responsible for its aggression.
SINC SAYS:
This tale sounds a bit fishy to me, but I keep tellin’ ya folks, we don’t make this stuff up.
1935 - 1939 - The Great Depression
16/07/2009 04:41
The
Good Old
Days
Sometimes we do grieve for that which is forever lost. These pictures, especially the one of the family sitting beside the rail car with the mother's face in her hand, showing such despair, was particularly moving to me. Can the youth of today with all of the trapings of technology, the ease of living and the carefree take on life ever appreciate the struggle of these very special folks? From this era came the Greatest Generation. Most of these are so sad but beautiful.
Sometimes we do grieve for that which is forever lost. These pictures, especially the one of the family sitting beside the rail car with the mother's face in her hand, showing such despair, was particularly moving to me. Can the youth of today with all of the trapings of technology, the ease of living and the carefree take on life ever appreciate the struggle of these very special folks? From this era came the Greatest Generation. Most of these are so sad but beautiful.
Eskimos Forgot About Calvin McCarty
16/07/2009 04:41
Running back overlooked during loss to Alouettes
Not getting Edmonton Eskimos running back Calvin McCarty into the game offensively against the Montreal Alouettes last week was a mistake by the coaching staff.
That's the message head coach Richie Hall gave listeners during his weekly radio show on 630 CHED.
"Calvin has a lot of attributes that he can contribute and he will contribute," said Hall. "That was our negligence; not putting him on the field and allowing him to do his thing.
"This week, you will see Calvin out there because he has a lot of things he can contribute to the success of our football team. It's important that we allow him to showcase it because he is one of the best all-around backs in the league."
Those are words McCarty has been dying to hear. Pushed aside with the addition of Jesse Lumsden, McCarty then played second fiddle to Arkee Whitlock last week in a 50-16 pasting in Montreal. The compact five-foot-10, 215-pound bruiser had just one catch for five yards, and that didn't come until the second half.
"I just want to be involved and be a factor in determining the outcome of this game," McCarty said of Thursday's clash against the B. C. Lions at Commonwealth Stadium.
The third-year veteran, who had 583 yards in receiving and 490 yards rushing last season, was surprised when he wasn't used much offensively last week.
"I definitely wanted to play (more) and it hurt to stand there and not be able to go into the game for one reason or another," he said.
McCarty plays a big role on special teams, but it doesn't affect or hamper his abilities to perform offensively.
"It's a part of the game," he said. "I'm prepared enough physically to play a few(special) teams as well as offence. From my standpoint, I've done everything I can do to be able to go out there and perform. I'm not fatigued playing special teams. I just want to go out there and play."
He's expected to get that chance against the Lions as he shares time in the backfield with Whitlock.
McCarty, who hails from the Burnaby, B. C., area, would love to stick it to the visiting Lions.
"I get it all the time at home, 'It would be nice if you played for B. C.' At a certain point, you just want to tell those people ... 'I don't have too much love for B. C.,'" he said. "I enjoy playing against them and I like living out there and having that motivation. When B. C. fans say that to me, I'm like, 'Yeah, OK. Just call me the Lion slayer.' "
Right now, he'd be content with being a regular player.
"Calvin's a great player and we're going to get him the ball," said receivers coach Jason Tucker. "It just happened that he wasn't in on those plays at the time. You have to go with whoever is in at the time."
Lions defence adjusts to loss of Wake.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
I’ve been saying this ever since the Montreal game – where the heck was Calvin McCarty? So has Matt Dunigan.
Padraig Harrington Swings Into Title-Defence Mode
16/07/2009 04:41
TURNBERRY, Scotland - Padraig Harrington believes his experience winning the British Open the last two years will give him an advantage over almost everyone at Turnberry. The hard part will be giving himself a chance.
The Irishman is trying to become only the second player in the last century to win golf's oldest championship three successive years. He has won three of the last eight majors, the highest rate since 2007 of any golfer, including Tiger Woods.
The trouble is, Harrington has obsessed so much with retooling his swing that his game is out of sort. He has missed five straight cuts on the U.S. and European tours coming into Turnberry, although he did capture the Irish PGA last week outside Dublin.
"The one thing I know is that if I get in position, I can win. That's the nice thing," Harrington said Tuesday. "Others can get there, but they won't win. So at least I can do it if I can get into position.
"Can I get into position is what's in doubt."
Harrington is working with Bob Torrance on his swing and with Bob Rotella on his brain.
After a dismal spring, followed by constant tinkering, he finally had what Harrington calls an "intervention" with his wife, caddie and Rotella, with instructions to start competing instead of spending so much time on mechanics.
But it remains a work in progress.
More from Associated Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
The way he’s played so far this year, Harrington will be lucky to make the cut in the Open on Friday.
Dunigan: Play Clean Football And Reap Rewards
16/07/2009 04:41
By Matt Dunigan
TSN Football Analyst
Hold on to the F-ing ball!
You have heard coaches and commentators all your life say things like, "take care of the rock", "secure the football", "that's your meal ticket", "ball security" and "squeeze it!" reminding players to hang on to the pigskin. If football players don't "squeeze it" or "secure the football" then you will hear those same coaches and commentators talk about giveaways, interceptions and fumbles. This one statistic of all the statistics that are logged or kept in football will more times than not tell the story of who wins and loses. Just go to this past week's turnover line in each game and you will see the importance of winning this aspect of the game:
Toronto had 5 turnovers to Saskatchewan's 2 = Saskatchewan's Win
Edmonton had 5 turnovers to Montreal's 0 = Montreal's win
Calgary had 5 turnovers to Winnipeg's 2 = Winnipeg's win
B.C. had 2 turnovers to Hamilton's 0 = Hamilton's win
So why is winning the giveaway/takeaway battle so difficult to accomplish? That, my friend, is not a simple answer,and in fact the answer is extremely complex and may change for many reasons from week to week and game to game.
Anthony Calvillo clearly won the Arms Race battle with Ricky Ray, his biggest threat in the Western Division (other than Burris) for best gunslinger in the CFL. A.C. also won the turnover battle and we all know what that usually means: victory!!!
Two weeks against two western division teams and two wins. Huge matchup on the road this week as the Als see if they can continue the streak against the West at Mosaic against a very fast and physical Saskatchewan football team.
Ricky Ray was victimized by some horribly timed dropped passes. Ray kept going back to his young running back Arkee Whitlock, giving him an opportunity to redeem himself, but on that night it was not going to happen - or any other night for that matter. If you watch the CFL and are familiar with the Esks offense at all, you know that the backs are utilized in the passing attack often. This poses the question, then, of why was Arkee Whitlock in the game at all in those critical situations?
You have a proven man suited up by the name of Calvin McCarty who has soft hands for a RB and easily could have done the job. On the first drop, the Esks had the match-up they wanted, RB on a LB. Why wasn't McCarty in the game?
Next time down in the score zone, red zone, green zone - call it what you want zone - and the kid Whitlock is exposed one more time! Again, where's McCarty? Later Jason Maas is in for clean-up duty and fires a ball off Whitlock's shoulder pads for a Cory Huclack interception and return for a TD. That's two major scores off the board for Edmonton and one on the board for Montreal, and I don't blame the young Whitlock at all. Edmonton has to know their personnel better in order to capitalize on those opportunities and turn them into majors.
More from TSN football anaylst Matt Dunigan here.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Dunigan makes some very good and valid points. I still think he would have looked great as the Eskimos’ head coach or offensive coordinator.
138th Open Championship Begins Today On TSN
16/07/2009 04:41
The coveted Claret Jug is on the line as TSN heads to Turnberry in Ayrshire, Scotland for live coverage of all four rounds of golf's third major of the year, THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, from July 16 to 19.
TSN's coverage of the 138th OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP begins Thursday, July 16 at 6:30am et/3:30am pt (9:30am et/6:30am pt on TSN2) with a 30-minute preview show leading into live First Round action. Live coverage of the second and third rounds begins at 7am et/4am pt, while the Final Round begins live at 6am et/3am pt.
In addition, TSN.ca will provide exclusive live coverage in Canada of every shot from holes 9, 10 and 11 for all four rounds. The online coverage also includes daily highlights and interviews available on-demand as well as a link to the real-time OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP leaderboard throughout the four-day tournament and a hole-by-hole overview of the Ailsa Course at Turnberry.
Two-time defending champion Padraig Harrington returns looking to become the first player to win three consecutive OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP titles since Peter Thompson (1954-56). Standing between Harrington and the Claret Jug is the red-hot Tiger Woods who missed last year's event due to injury but returns looking for his third OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP title in his last four attempts. Canadians Mike Weir and Stephen Ames are also part of this year's field and will be looking to become the first Canadian to take home the title.
This year's edition of THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP marks just the fourth time the tournament has been held at Turnberry and the first time since 1994.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
For TSN’s Open Championship broadcast schedule, click here.
Bombers' Scout Caught Spying On Ticats Practice
16/07/2009 04:41
According to several sources, a Winnipeg Blue Bombers scout was caught spying on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats practice on Tuesday.
Ron Trentini had his notes confiscated and was escorted from Ivor Wynne Stadium. The Ticats also revoked his credentials for Saturday's game between the two teams. Trentini was reportedly recognized by Ticat scout Danny McManus.
"It's totally unethical," said Ticats general manager Bob O'Billovich, according to the Scratching Post with Drew Edwards. "It blows my mind that the guy would be dumb enough to walk into our stadium and take notes and think he wouldn't be recognized."
According to the Winnipeg Free Press, Trentini had worked with the Bombers in Toronto this spring to help them prepare for the Canadian Draft.
"Maybe this used to go on a long time ago when a guy might try and watch practice with binoculars from a building across or something," said O'Billovich. "But to just walk in and just start taking notes? That's pretty dumb."
The league has been informed.
Back in September of 2007, the New England Patriots were disciplined by the NFL for videotaping the signals of the New York Jets' defensive coaches during a game.
An investigation was launched and the league fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000, docked the Patriots $250,000, and took away the team's scheduled first-round selection in the 2008 NFL Draft.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Well, the Bombers’ new football czar, Mike Kelly, does things unconventionally all right. I wonder what the ‘powers that be’ with the CFL will have to say about this or, more importantly, whether they’ll do anything about the CFL’s version of ‘Spygate’?
Different Course, Same Strategy For Woods At Open
16/07/2009 04:41
TURNBERRY, Scotland - The sea breeze in his face was not nearly as important to Tiger Woods as finding the best route around three pot bunkers on the 10th hole at Turnberry.
He aimed his tee shot to the right, on the high side of two bunkers, then pulled his three-wood just enough that the ball bounded along the links until it stopped rolling just three yards short of the sand.
This was OK.
"That's the whole idea," Woods said. "Some of these holes sucker you into trying to take it over the bunkers."
A bold tee shot would leave a shorter approach into the green, perhaps a greater chance at birdie.
"But can you do that over four days?" Woods replied.
He doesn't appear willing to take that chance.
Woods has captured the British Open three times on two links courses. He won his first claret jug at St. Andrews in 2000, a victory as much famous for his career Grand Slam as his four rounds without once playing out of the bunker.
His most recent victory was three years ago at Hoylake, where Woods hit driver only one time in 72 holes. He chose that week to play mainly long irons and the occasional three-wood off the tee, anything to keep him short of the bunkers.
"I don't think I've ever been able to reach the green from a bunker," Woods said. "It's a one-shot penalty. Even if you can advance it 60 yards, you still have a six-iron left to the green."
Turnberry is a far different venue. The strategy is no different.
Woods makes his return to the British Open, missing golf's oldest championship last year while in the early stages of recovering from knee surgery that kept him out for eight months.
He had never seen Turnberry until arriving Sunday, and he played the last of his three practice rounds Tuesday morning beneath a mixture of clouds and sunshine, fickle weather that likely will continue for the week.
Three days should be enough time to cram for this test, just as it was for Hoylake.
What he has learned, as has the rest of the players who were not at Turnberry in 1994 when it last hosted the British Open, is that it is more important that ever to keep the ball in play. Beyond the fairways is grass so thick it might be difficult to get the ball back into play, if it can be found.
Even so, the bunkers stand out as the threat.
More from Canadian Press.
What a difference a year makes for Tiger.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
The rest of the field should be very apprehensive knowing that not only is Woods the best player in the world, he’s completely healthy for the first time in his career and he’s developed a strategy for playing Turnberry. ‘Turn out the lights, the party’s over . . . ‘
Commissioner Selig Still Reviewing Rose’s Application
16/07/2009 04:41
ST. LOUIS - Twelve years later, baseball commissioner Bud Selig still is examining Pete Rose's application for reinstatement.
The career hits leader agreed to a lifetime ban from baseball in 1989 after an investigation concluded he bet on the Cincinnati Reds to win while he was manager of the team.
Rose applied for reinstatement in September 1997 and met with Selig in November 2002. His effort to gain reinstatement appeared to falter after he admitted in his 2004 autobiography, "Pete Rose: My Prison Without Bars," that his previous gambling denials were false.
"It is under review," Selig said Tuesday during a question-and-answer session with the Baseball Writers' Association of America. "He did, as you know, accept voluntarily a lifetime suspension from Bart Giamatti, and there really isn't much more I can say about that. I did agree to review it. It is under review. We do spend some time discussing it. But it's not I think appropriate for me to say any more."
While on the lifetime banned list, Rose is ineligible for the Hall of Fame ballot. The Hall's board of directors decided unanimously in February 2001 that anyone on the permanently ineligible list couldn't appear on the BBWAA ballot.
Rose's final year of eligibility in the writers' vote would have been 2006. Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall's chairman, has left open the possibility that the Hall would allow Rose a spot on the BBWAA should he gain reinstatement.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Enough, already. Pete Rose should be in the professional baseball Hall of Fame. End of discussion.
Montgomerie Burns Over 'Cheating' Comment
16/07/2009 04:41
Two-time major winner Sandy Lyle has said sorry for suggesting Colin Montgomerie had "cheated" in a tournament four years ago, although Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain called the apology "strange."
Lyle made the claims in Tuesday's Daily Mirror newspaper, referring to an incident at the 2005 Indonesian Open when television replays indicated his fellow Scot had incorrectly replaced his ball after an overnight weather delay.
After seeing video footage of the episode, Montgomerie agreed he had made an innocent mistake and decided to give his $40,000 prize money to the Tsunami Appeal.
"I regret bringing up the 2005 incident in Jakarta," Lyle told reporters at the British Open on Tuesday. "Colin Montgomerie and I are not at war; Colin is a great champion and a good friend.
"I think that literally the big line of calling Colin a cheat ... is totally out of context.
"I was obviously very upset this morning when I found out all this was brought to the forefront."
Speaking about Lyle's climbdown before practising on Tuesday, Montgomerie was quoted by British media as saying: "It's a rather strange apology, to be honest. I'm just trying to compete in the Open and my preparations have been dented.
"I'm not very happy about that at all."
Lyle, the 1985 British Open and 1988 U. S. Masters champion, said he had mentioned the Jakarta incident in frustration while being quizzed over his own withdrawal after only 10 holes of last year's rain-lashed Birkdale Open.
"I deeply regret making this comparison and apologize to Colin for involving him in my own issue," said the 51-year-old.
"I'm only trying to protect myself when I get called a quitter after walking off the golf course when I've got a legitimate hand injury."
Lyle may still be disappointed his own claims for the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy were overlooked, but said the last thing he wanted was to disrupt Montgomerie's preparations for this week's Open.
"I have got no vendetta against Colin at all," the Scot added. "The last thing he wants right now is having all this baloney going on...
"I congratulated him (recently) on his Ryder Cup selection. He took it the right way and there was no problem."
Lyle, however, said eight-time European No. 1 Montgomerie had taken a "pretty poor drop" in Jakarta.
"It was one of his mistakes ... and it will probably live with him for the rest of his life," he added.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It’s kind of entertaining to watch the two Scots scrapping like a couple of Polecats, isn’t it folks?
$450,000? Why Not Just Ask The Cops?
15/07/2009 06:34
Hi Don;
Check this story from the Edmonton Journal:
Quote: “St. Albert is getting $450,000 from the province over the next three years to better identify neighbourhoods where crime is an issue and implement solutions.
The city’s Neighbourhood Development Team says the money will allow them to hire both a crime analyst, to offer a clearer picture of what neighbourhoods are plagued by what crimes, and a second co-ordinator, who will work with these neighbourhoods to develop ways to cut down on issues such as graffiti, theft, vandalism, and drug-dealing.
“The way that we’ve been working right now, because we didn’t have enough staff to do this, it’s been very much reactive,” said Connie Smigielski, the team’s project manager.
The team was identifying problems only when residents called with specific complaints.
The money allows the team to better reach out to neighbourhoods, Smigielski said.
The money comes from the province’s $60-million Safe Communities Innovation Fund to reduce and prevent crime.” End quote.
Although I don't live in St. Albert (but still an Alberta taxpayer), couldn't the same thing be accomplished by talking to a St. Albert RCMP officer for 10 minutes ... for free?
Sign me,
A. Nonymous
Edmonton
SINC SAYS:
Why sure A. Non, it could be done without cost to any taxpayers, but this IS after all St. Albert, where we tax our citizens to death whether they need it or not. Sorry to include the rest of Alberta in our madness.
Clever Play On Words . . .
15/07/2009 06:34
Don,
Something Slightly Different
(With acknowledgements to Will and Guy)
To paraphrase that great comic (??) Monty Python, 'Now for something slightly different'. Here are amusing even clever, plays on words. These are the sort of jokes that make you smile rather than laugh.
- A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
- What's the definition of a will? It's a dead giveaway.
- A backward poet writes inverse.
- With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
- The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
- He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
- Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
- When an actress saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.
- Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
- Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
- Acupuncture is a jab well done.
- Marathon runners with bad footwear suffer the agony of defeat
Norman
(In the UK)
SINC SAYS:
Thanks for the chuckle Norman. We love to hear from our overseas readers.
582 Drummers Play Their Way To A New World Record
15/07/2009 06:33
They are the hellraisers of the music world.
But the 582 drummers who drummed together yesterday shunned the example of the likes of The Who's Keith Moon and Led Zeppelin's John Bonham to work together in perfect harmony.
They beat out the same rhythm for five minutes to set a new world record.
The efforts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, sanctioned by Guinness World Records, beat the previous record of 533 set by a group of U.S. drummers in 2006.
The record attempt was organised to increase awareness of multiple sclerosis and succeeded in raising £20,000 for charity.
Among the drummers was Don Powell, of 70s glamrockers Slade. He said: 'I was performing in Budapest on Sunday but I just had to get back here for this event, especially in my home town - it's amazing.
'I'm so happy we smashed the record and we've set a very high target for them to beat.
'I find it fantastic that musicians now have a voice and can get involved in something as wonderful as this record.
Feeling the rhythm: The clan beat the previous record set in America in 2006 by a group of 533 drummers
'It isn't as difficult getting to everyone playing at the same speed for this as people might think, it's getting them to stop that's the problem.
SINC SAYS:
You might say they were marching to the beat of a different drummer.
When Cars Were Cars . . .
15/07/2009 06:33
Wedding Cancelled After Police Arrest Bride
15/07/2009 06:33
Groom and best man
tooA wedding was cancelled after police arrested the bride, groom, best man and a witness.
Acting on a tip-off from the UK Border Agency, they seized the wedding party just minutes before the ceremony.
The groom was a legal entrant from Portugal but the pregnant Nigerian bride, the best man and witness had all entered the country illegally.
When the party arrived by cab at the church in Great Billing, Northants., they found it locked and the vicar - who had been tipped off by the police - missing. As they tried to leave, the police swooped.
All four were arrested on suspicion of facilitating a sham marriage. The bride, groom and best man have been bailed. A UK Border Agency spokesman said: "Criminal inquiries must be completed before we decide whether to deport them." The witness is awaiting deportation.
SINC SAYS:
I keep tellin’ ya folks, we don’t make this stuff up.
Study Shows Alcohol Might Reduce Risk Of Alzheimer's
15/07/2009 06:33
One of the longest
and largest studies looking at alcohol
consumption in older people found that moderate
drinking was associated with a significant
reduction in the risk of developing
dementia.The research, which is the latest development in the perplexing issue of alcohol and health, is being presented Monday at an Alzheimer's Association conference in Vienna, Austria.
The study confirms earlier research, mainly in middle-aged people, showing that moderate drinking can reduce the risk of dementia, said Piero Antuono, a professor of neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.
"And it's in older people who are at much greater risk of getting the disease," said Antuono, director of the Dementia Research Center.
The study followed 3,069 people ages 75 and older for six years.
The researchers found that those who drank moderately - eight to 14 drinks per week - were 37% less likely to develop dementia, compared with those who did not drink at all. It did not matter what type of alcohol they drank.
Full Story here.
SINC SAYS:
I can hear the sound of corks popping all over town and I can hear Henry sayin’, “See Martha, I told ya!”
Esks Must Get Back To Future Of Winning
15/07/2009 06:33
Winless Lions also struggling to shake off slow start to season
Thursday's encounter against the B. C. Lions has been dubbed Retro Night as the Edmonton Eskimos honor teams from the 1960s.
But the'09 version of the Green and Gold had better be looking forward, not back, as they prepare to battle a team still searching for its first win of the new Canadian Football League season in the B. C. Lions.
Just who will be hungrier: The 1-1 Esks, who are coming off a 50-16 embarrassment, or the 0-2 Leos, who have not looked good at all?
"This feels like a dream," Lions star receiver Geroy Simon told west coast reporters of his team's surprising 31-28 setback to, of all teams, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats this past weekend. "I never thought in a million years we'd lose to Hamilton."
Just like the Esks never thought they would lose by 34 to the Alouettes, one year after enduring a 40-4 pasting at Molson Stadium.
"It might be surreal, but it's still real," said Lions centre Angus Reid, of their stumble. "We haven't won a game yet, and we have to learn what it feels like to win."
So it should be a hungry, wounded pride of Lions that ventures into Commonwealth Stadium. The same holds true for the hosts, who can't afford to be generous and giving.
"In some ways they are no different than us right now, not playing up to their potential," said Esks head coach Richie Hall. "They're 0-2 coming in and we're 1-1, and we always know that it's going to be a dogfight in the West. You have to win your home games. They're going to be hungry to get their first one, but we're going to be hungry to get our second.
"It's not so much about the B. C. Lions, it's about the Edmonton Eskimos," continued Hall. "I don't care that B. C. is 0-2 and desperate. We're 1-1 and we're desperate, too.
"There is a sense of urgency in this game. One game doesn't make a season and one play doesn't make a game," added Hall.
His opposing coach, Wally Buono, is still looking for his first win of the season, needing five victories to pass Don Matthews in all-time wins.
"It's bizarre," Buono told the Vancouver press. "I'm befuddled, surprised and I'm disappointed. I'm not concerned about what happens to the Edmonton Eskimos, I'm concerned about our inability to execute. I know you can say it's all the rookies we have, but they're not necessarily the ones making the mistakes."
It's early in the season, but both teams have faced their fair share of adversity, which should only help build some character.
"It's very much a character-builder," said Hall. "When you don't play well and things don't go your way, you find out what you're made of.
"Two things can happen. You can roll over and die, or you can keep fighting. It's easy not to do anything. It takes courage to go out there and keep fighting."
"It's going to help us get better," said Buono. "I just wonder why we have to get kicked in the ass before we can stand up straight. It's the whole process we must go through, I guess."
The same holds true for the Eskimos, who went 2-0 in the pre-season, while the Lions haven't tasted a victory in four outings -0-2 in exhibition and 0-2 in league play.
"We have to find out who we are," said Reid. "We have to keep hammering until we find out who we are."
Both teams still need to establish their identities and it comes at a cost of facing each other.
"Here's my problem," Buono said. "I believe we should win. I don't know why I see that as a problem. But I see us as being able to play better football than we are right now."
And the same goes for Hall and company.
"It's not how you start, it's how you progress during the season and how you finish," stressed Hall.
"It's a Western team. It's a four-point game and these two teams, from the history that I'm aware of, aren't exactly fond of each other. It's going to be a big battle."
Not to mention a critical two points.
POINT AFTER: To mark Retro Night, the Eskimos will welcome back defensive lineman John LaGrone. The 1969 Schenley Award winner as top lineman, LaGrone was also a two-time CFL all-star and six-time Western all-star.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It will be great to see number 66, John LaGrone, again.
Esks Offence Has To Step-It-Up In Week 3
15/07/2009 06:33
You're two games into the Canadian Football League season and it's way too soon to be pushing any panic buttons, but it's hard to argue against the Edmonton Eskimos' offensive struggles so far this season.
The main concern being red-zone production.
Coming off an embarrassing 50-16 blitzing in Montreal, can the Green and Gold take some cues from the Alouettes themselves? It's hard to argue against Montreal's modus operandi over the last few years.
In the first two weeks of the'09 season the Als have put up 90 points, 40 against the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders and 50 against the Green and Gored.
So just what makes the Als tick?
As a unit, the offence rated first overall in a number of categories in 2008--points scored with 584; average points per game at 32.4; touchdowns scored with 63 and TD passes with 46;first downs with 444; first downs in passing at 274; and average yards gained with 428.6 a game. Quarterback Anthony Calvillo was second in passing yards at 5,633 behind just Esks pivot Ricky Ray at 5,661, but Calvillo did not play in Edmonton on Halloween night. Avon Cobourne added 950 yards on the ground, third in the league.
Yet that wasn't good enough for head coach Marc Trestman, who didn't sit still over the off-season and rely on the '08 package that got the Als to the Grey Cup final.
"The coaches knew that every defensive co-ordinator was going to have a chance to see what we did last year and they were going to be able to go around and find ways to slow us down," said Calvillo. "As creative as our offensive coaches are, they had six months to come up with some new things and it showed for us in the first game.
"We came out with some new things and this week is not going to be any different," he said prior to the beatdown he put on the Esks.
"It's a challenge week-in and week-out. The coaches do a great job of really challenging us as a group to go out and learn new plays each week."
And the Als rely on CFL rules to add to opposing defences'miseries.
"Motion is the No. 1 thing we do with this offence," stressed Calvillo. "We did it last year and we do it again this year. The coaches are always looking at ways to find a lot of simple completions. The only way they do it is by creating simple motions that keeps the defence off to a point where they can't say, 'The receiver is going to run here and we're going to stop him.'
"Our coaches do a great job of creating what we call free-access routes.
"It's all based on film work and what they put together and it's up to us to execute. All the plays come from the coach. We have a tons of plays that we have to study and prepare for, it keeps us off-balance and I'm sure it keeps the defence off-balance." Take the Esks result for instance.
On his first drive, Calvillo was flushed out of the pocket and took a good shot from Dario Romero along the sidelines. Not to be discouraged, Calvillo then hit S. J. Green for 22 yards and then another 11 before a run play to Cobourne garnered just a single yard. The veteran pivot came right back to hit Ben Cahoon for 16 yards and then found Kerry Watkins for a 28-yard touchdown. All in 3:28 of work. Up 7-0 and away the Als go. He added another half-dozen intermediate-to long-range completions later in the game where he hit for 15 or more yards, most of it on crossing routes and patterns through the middle, likely exploiting a rookie safety in Elliott Richardson.
The bottom line is, the Als run a complicated offence based on motion and keeping defences off guard. The Stamps and Esks can both attest to that.
"We were definitely going to build off the first week, but for us as professional athletes, no matter if you have a great week or a bad week, you have to move on," said Calvillo, of his never-satisfied offence, which has tremendous balance.
The Esks, meanwhile, are still searching for a complete game.
Yes, it is early, but it hasn't looked like an offence that's changed 60 per cent of its playbook. Which begs the question, is the offence just too bland?
Early statistics don’t flatter Esks.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
As I’ve said repeatedly in this column since the season started, the Esks offense simply has to step-it-up more than a few notches – and that includes Ricky Ray playing much better than he has so far this year.
New Jersey Rehires The Devil They Know
15/07/2009 06:33
NEWARK, N.J. -- After six years without a Stanley Cup, the New Jersey Devils are handing over the team to the coach who led them to their first NHL title.
Jacques Lemaire, who coached the Devils for five seasons in the mid 1990s and led them to the Cup in 1995, is New Jersey's coach again. He was hired on Monday, some five weeks after Brent Sutter resigned and eventually took over as coach of the Calgary Flames.
"I never thought I would be back," the 63-year-old Lemaire said in a conference call. "I said at that time when I was leaving after five years, and it was five great years, I wanted to cherish this for the rest of my life and the rest of my career, but I never thought one day I would come back."
The deal reunites Lemaire with general manager and president Lou Lamoriello and goaltender Martin Brodeur, the combination that turned that Devils from a contender to a champion in 1995.
"Jacques Lemaire is one of the most respected coaches in the game," Lamoriello said. "He is a teacher and a communicator, and knows what it takes to have success."
The Devils also won Stanley Cups in 2000 and 2003, but they have not come close in recent years. They were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs the past two seasons under Sutter.
This season's ouster was stunning as New Jersey gave up two late goals in Game 7 of their series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"You look at the team last year, they were solid defensively, and offensively," Lemaire said of the team that won a franchise-record 51 games this past season. "That's the goal I want to have ... and to do as well as we can in the playoffs."
Contract terms were not disclosed but Lemaire said he intends to coach at least two seasons.
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Jacques Lemaire is just about the ‘ultimate’ in recycled, old, has-been NHL coaches, isn’t he? What a joke.
New Faces Make Their Marks In CFL Backfields
15/07/2009 06:33
If you're looking to buy a CFL jersey with a player's name crested on it, you might want to think twice about making it a running back.
A quick look at the leader board amongst CFL rushers shows a trend in the Canadian Football League involving ball carriers and turnovers, one that doesn't stem from fumbles on the field, but instead from turnover at the position itself.
After two weeks, there is an influx of new personnel occupying backfields across the country and a substantial youth movement throughout the top eight rushing leaders.
Martell Mallett (B.C. Lions), Hugh Charles (Saskatchewan Roughriders), DeAndra' Cobb (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and Lavarus Giles (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) are just breaking ground as rookies in the CFL. When you include Jamal Robertson (Toronto Argonauts), Fred Reid (Blue Bombers), and Avon Cobourne (Montreal Alouettes), it makes seven of the top eight that have less than four years experience. Joffrey Reynolds (Calgary Stampeders), the elder statesman of the group, is the only member who has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in his career.
At the end of the 2008 campaign it was a similar story, as the majority of the talented tailbacks were virtual unknowns prior to training camp. While Reynolds bulldozed his way to the rushing crown, it was ball carriers like Stefan Logan and Cobourne who burst on the scene in their first and third seasons, respectively.
During a year where the CFL is celebrating its history by going retro with their jerseys, the running back position seems to be an exception. There may not be a George Reed or Mike Pringle in the current crop, but there is certainly an abundance of big-play ability being cultivated across CFL backfields.
In a league where quarterbacks are highly sought-after commodities, it appears their compatriots in the backfield are growing just fine in the Canadian climate.
And therein lies some of the beauty of the summer months of Canadian football. While training camp brings a slew new names and faces to all eight rosters, it only takes one big play for you to remember the name on the back of a jersey.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
For a closer look at the top eight rushing leaders among backs in the CFL, click here.
World’s Longest Golf Course To Open In Australia
15/07/2009 06:33
The world's longest golf course, stretching along 1,365 kilometres (848 miles) of desert highway with holes at 18 towns and service stations, is to open in Australia this year, organizers said Tuesday.
The Nullarbor Links, which will span two time zones and measure more than the entire length of Britain, is expected to be completed next month and will host its inaugural tournament on October 22.
"We're very excited about it. It's been a long time coming and a lot of effort," project chairman Don Harrington told AFP.
"This is the longest golf course in the world. It's unique terrain, there's something for everybody."
The course, conceived five years ago "over a couple of beers," is meant to attract tourists to the Eyre Highway which traverses the desolate Nullarbor Plain and hugs part of Australia's southern coastline.
Golfers will stop at one roadhouse, play a hole, then drive on to the next tee -- 100 kilometres down the road in some cases. The par-71 course will take three or four days to complete with each player awarded a certificate.
Each hole will showcase a local attraction, from whale-watching to ancient fossil beds and a working sheep station, and include sights such as the Big Kangaroo statue at Border Village straddling South and Western Australia.
"There's a lot of history and you can see all of that on a golf course," Harrington said.
"Both Australian tourists and golfing enthusiasts around the world have shown support for what we're doing."
The course was the brainchild of Bob Bongiorno, who was managing a roadhouse at remote Balladonia when he came up with the idea.
Bongiorno, now living in Kalgoorlie at the course's western end, said he tried hitting a few balls when he first moved into the Outback but got sick of encountering spiders when trying to retrieve them.
There should be no such hazards on the synthetic greens of the Nullarbor Links, although golfers who hit a stray shot into the desert will face a monster sand trap.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Hmm . . . let's see . . . so, 1,365 kilometres, eh? And, tee boxes 100 kilometres apart? Three or four days to finish a round? I think this course was conceived over more than just ‘a couple of beers.’ I always thought the Aussies were a little bit nuts. Now I know it.
Tales From Down The Line
15/07/2009 06:33
CFL battles in the trenches can seem like Grade 6 recess
It's raw, it's emotional, it's often personal and at times it can seem like a combination Grade 6 recess, MMA cage match and sweat soaked caldron of emotion.
No, not parliament.
It's life along the offensive and defensive lines at a CFL game, where the big fellas spend 60 minutes trying to pound each other into the ground. It's language that would make a Vancouver dockyard stevedore blanch.
"It kind of goes with the game," says Marc Parenteau, who patrols the O-line for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and who can give it back in two official languages. "There are some comments you make during a game you'd probably get arrested for if you said that on the street."
Perpetual halos
Like all self-respecting offensive linemen with a perpetual halo over their heads, Parenteau says it's the D-Line folks who always start things, just because they think the blockers are holding. Or shoving in the back. Or chop blocking.
"I like to give it back," he says. "Usually I start off with a few choice words and as the game goes on I choose a couple more."
It can also get funny. Such as Week 1 against the Lions when everyone was chirping back and forth and Riders' centre Jeremy O'Dea said to a B.C. behemoth: "Does you mother know you talk like that?" And the Lions defender said right back: "Does your mother know you talk like that?"
That broke everyone up and the linemen spent the rest of the game picking on the guy for not being creative.
Same week, over in Hamilton, Tiger-Cats' excellent offensive lineman Dan Goodspeed spent the evening chatting with Toronto D-lineman Adriano Belli. It went on for four quarters and afterwards the Argo giant was questioned about the subject.
Belli claimed they were merely exchanging real estate ideas.
Right.
But all-star Dario Romero, who patrols the D-line for the Edmonton Eskimos and has seen everything in his years here and four in the NFL, says hey, it could have happened.
"It can go from a conversation about what we did last week, or the last time we played each other to, you know, something dirty is going on and you just start running your mouth that way," says the soft spoken Washington state native.
"Like when we played Winnipeg, me and Picard [centre Dominic, now an Argo] were always going at it, it was fun and sometimes it was mean, but it was just fun. There's always one guy."
We're not fat, just big boned
When the Saskatchewan Roughriders set up for their first offensive series last Saturday against the Toronto Argonauts, the offensive line of Harris, Best, O'Day, Parenteau and O'Meara totalled out at an even 1,500 pounds.
Or 300 each, if you're weighing in at home.
No surprise that defensive linemen like to use a lot of fat jokes when chirping during a game. And that's dumb, says Marc Parenteau (all 290 pounds of him).
"Little do they realize we've been called overweight names since we were about four years old, because we've all been pretty fat all of our lives," says the Riders' right guard. "So for me to be called a fat blank doesn't really bother me anymore."
Besides, some of the fellas on the other side should talk.
"To be honest, when I'm playing a D-tackle, who weighs maybe 20 pounds less than me, he's not that far off. He's about two Whoppers away from my weight, so I'm not worried about that."
Just for the record, Scott Schultz is the heaviest defensive lineman on the Riders. He's a hefty 296.
All muscle, of course.
More from CBC Sports.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
I don’t think any of us want to know what REALLY goes on in the trenches, folks.
Ernie Els Tries To Conjure Up Old Magic
15/07/2009 06:33
Ernie Els has finished third, fourth and seventh in the last three British Open Championships. In the last nine editions of the world's oldest major he can boast seven top-10 finishes, six of those in the top five.
Yet even his most ardent supporters would find it hard to put together a compelling case for the amiable South African--a 40 to 1 shot according to the bookmakers--to be considered one of the favourites at Turnberry this week.
Els has gone 37 tournaments without a win, it is seven years since he won his last major (the Open at Muirfield), his current world ranking (24th) is the lowest it has been in 15 years and he never remotely looked like contending at either of this year's first two majors, missing the cut at both The Masters and the U. S. Open.
Three sub-70 rounds at last week's Scottish Open offered hope that a corner could be about to be turned.
But skeptics will also have noted that, when the opportunity to put himself in contention presented itself on the final day, Els flunked it, a double bogey on the second hole effectively destroying his chances of shooting the kind of score that would have put some pressure on the leaders.
With his 40th birthday looming in October, it is hard to resist the conclusion that the Big Easy's best days may be behind him and there were certainly times on Sunday when his body language suggested he would rather be somewhere else.
Not so, he insists. "I'm not turning 50, I'm turning 40--I think there's a big difference," he said last week. "I think at 50 we might have a different discussion, but Kenny Perry's 48 and he's fourth in the world. There's plenty in the tank--I just have to go out there and get it going again."
Despite the defiantly upbeat tone, Els does admit he has struggled of late to hold on to the intense focus required to be competitive in the upper echelons of his sport.
"Physically I feel good but sometimes I'm not quite there," he said. That, inevitably, has been linked to the upheaval triggered by his son Ben's diagnosis with autism, which Els revealed last year.
Els has since devoted large amounts of time and energy to promote awareness of the condition, but he is reluctant to identify that as the root cause of his inability to regain the single-minded drive he had in his peak years.
"When you've done it for 20 years you almost go into automatic mode and you don't want to be in automatic mode," he reflected. "You want to be putting it into second gear, third gear and then go.
You don't want to be floating around and I feel like I've been kind of searching, floating around a little bit--so let's get a little bit more drive and go. "I definitely still have a burning desire to do well and win golf tournaments. It's in my blood, what I've always done."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Ernest hasn’t been a factor in any tournament I have watched in years and I don’t expect he’ll be a factor this week at the Open Championship, either.
Retired Admiral To Lead LPGA Through Rough Waters
15/07/2009 06:33
The LPGA Tour announced sweeping changes on Monday with commissioner Carolyn Bivens resigning and being replaced on a temporary basis by Marsha J. Evans, a member of the LPGA's board of directors.
Ten-times major champion Annika Sorenstam was appointed as an adviser to the board of directors while the association looks for a full-time commissioner.
"We'll soon have in place a commissioner to lead us into 2010 and beyond, but until then, it's important that we immediately appoint an acting commissioner whom we know and trust," board chairman Dawn Hudson said in a statement.
Evans is a retired U. S. Navy rear admiral.
Two weeks ago, several LPGA players called for Bivens to resign amid concern about the tour in the face of the economic downturn.
The women's tour has lost seven tournaments since 2007, including all three in Hawaii.
Sorenstam, widely regarded as the best female player of all time, will assist the LPGA with ongoing discussions with tournaments and sponsors.
"I will do everything possible to ensure that the LPGA remains the pre-eminent women's sports association in the world," said the Swede, who retired from competitive golf last year after winning 90 titles worldwide.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Aye, aye, Ma’am.
Bits 'N Pieces From Our Readers
14/07/2009 05:28
Hi Don:
The following printed earlier in the Vancouver Sun:
"Three places we'd like to see Dany Heatly suit up next season: 3 Hamilton Coyotes: 2. German National Team: 1. 7-Eleven.
Looks good.
George
St. Albert
SINC SAYS:
7-Eleven eh George? Sounds about right to me.
-------------
Hey Don,
I know Swivel Hips is a big Eskimo supporter, but I have a prediction for both of you.
As long as Maciocia has anything to do with the Eskimos, they are doomed to failure.
Watch it happen again this year.
Been There, Done That
Edmonton
SINC SAYS:
Hey man, you’ll get no argument from me on that point. I happen to think you called it dead right.
----------------------------
Don,
Just to set the record straight, SWIVEL HIPS also agrees with Been There, Done That about Danny Maciocia.
SWIVEL HIPS
This Is Just Too Cute . . .
14/07/2009 05:28
In a crawling race across the grass they're
evenly matched. But Emily Bland will need a little
practice before taking on her new friend at
tree-climbing.
The little girl, two, met one-year-old orangutan Rishi at an animal centre while visiting with her father. They took to each other straight away and spent hours tumbling about and having a tea party. Emily poured while Rishi waited patiently, gripping his spoon in a hairy fist.
On all fours: A delighted Emily plays with her best new friend Rishi
Emily's father Barry Bland, 38, a photographer, said: 'I had come along to the institute to photograph Rishi and I thought it would be good to bring Emily. 'Almost as soon as we arrived, Rishi had an instant chemistry with Emily. They looked completely content with each other.'
The friendship came as no surprise to those in charge of Rishi's home, The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S) in Miami.
How sweet, a kiss for Emily, whose father says the pair hit it off instantly
Dr. Bhagavan Antle: 'Orangutans are intelligent and certainly the most friendly apes on the planet. 'The youngsters enjoy their playtime and are always looking for an opportunity experience new things and make new friends and monkey around. 'Rishi, who is the youngest of the family, is always looking for someone to play with.
'That's where Emily stepped in to provide a playmate to swing in the trees, have tea with, and go for a ride. 'All infants have the capacity to get along and as youngsters the barriers between species appear to disappear.' Orangutans are one of the most endangered species on earth. Recent expansion of palm oil plantations and over logging of their forests in Borneo and Sumatra have created a rapidly declining habitat for these great apes.
Emily takes her new friend for a stroll
One lump or two Rishi? The pair enjoy afternoon tea 'Rishi was brought over to T.I.G.E.R.S from Jungle Island because he was a young boy,' says Dr Antle. 'He couldn't stay with his father or the other male orangutans in the habitat because they throw the boys out. 'But he is now been fully accepted into his new group. He sleeps with them and he stays side by side with them he is when them all the time.' Rishi will now stay at the institute where he will become part of the animal ambassadors program, participating in education and conservation presentations at Myrtle Beach and Jungle Island institutions. Judging from these photos it looks as though Rishi has found a friend for life.
The little girl, two, met one-year-old orangutan Rishi at an animal centre while visiting with her father. They took to each other straight away and spent hours tumbling about and having a tea party. Emily poured while Rishi waited patiently, gripping his spoon in a hairy fist.
On all fours: A delighted Emily plays with her best new friend Rishi
Emily's father Barry Bland, 38, a photographer, said: 'I had come along to the institute to photograph Rishi and I thought it would be good to bring Emily. 'Almost as soon as we arrived, Rishi had an instant chemistry with Emily. They looked completely content with each other.'
The friendship came as no surprise to those in charge of Rishi's home, The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S) in Miami.
How sweet, a kiss for Emily, whose father says the pair hit it off instantly
Dr. Bhagavan Antle: 'Orangutans are intelligent and certainly the most friendly apes on the planet. 'The youngsters enjoy their playtime and are always looking for an opportunity experience new things and make new friends and monkey around. 'Rishi, who is the youngest of the family, is always looking for someone to play with.
'That's where Emily stepped in to provide a playmate to swing in the trees, have tea with, and go for a ride. 'All infants have the capacity to get along and as youngsters the barriers between species appear to disappear.' Orangutans are one of the most endangered species on earth. Recent expansion of palm oil plantations and over logging of their forests in Borneo and Sumatra have created a rapidly declining habitat for these great apes.
Emily takes her new friend for a stroll
One lump or two Rishi? The pair enjoy afternoon tea 'Rishi was brought over to T.I.G.E.R.S from Jungle Island because he was a young boy,' says Dr Antle. 'He couldn't stay with his father or the other male orangutans in the habitat because they throw the boys out. 'But he is now been fully accepted into his new group. He sleeps with them and he stays side by side with them he is when them all the time.' Rishi will now stay at the institute where he will become part of the animal ambassadors program, participating in education and conservation presentations at Myrtle Beach and Jungle Island institutions. Judging from these photos it looks as though Rishi has found a friend for life.
Big Ben Celebrates 150 Years Of Bongs
14/07/2009 05:28
The booming bell
first pealed on July 11, 1859 -- a few weeks
after the clock in the famous tower above the
Houses of Parliament began keeping
time.Mike McCann, the keeper of the Great Clock, says Big Ben stands as a magnificent example of engineering -- and is much-loved.
Big Ben's bongs are a cherished feature of life in London. They mark the hour and are carried globally by the BBC.
The event is one of several honoring the 150th anniversary of the British landmark.
SINC SAYS:
I had a Big Ben pocket watch just like the one in the picture when I was a kid.
THE CONDUCTORS VERSION
14/07/2009 05:28
The World’s Most Expensive Foods
14/07/2009 05:28
1. Saffron, a spice grown worldwide, is derived from the saffron crocus flower. A pound of dry saffron (0.45 kg) requires 50,000–75,000 flowers to make, meaning an entire football field of these flowers. Requiring so much resources and labor, prices for the spice go around US$500/pound to US$5,000/pound (US$1100–US$11, 000 per kilogram).
2. The most expensive nut in the world is the Macadamia nut. The macadamia tree produces nuts only after it's 7-10 years old, requiring fertile soil and heavy rainfall.. These nuts have a very hard seed, but once it's open it reveals a creamy white kernel containing up to 80% oil and 4% sugar. The cost of a kilogram of these nuts exceeds 30$.
3. The most expensive caviar in the world is not the black one, but the almas caviar! The word 'almas' is Iranian for diamond. Beluga caviar comes from a fish over 100 years old, that is virtually unchanged for 120 million years. The luxurious caviar comes from the oldest survivor of the Dinosaur era. Beluga caviar ranges in price from more than $5,000 per kilogram in the United States.
Poodle Turned Into A Cockerel By Owner
14/07/2009 05:27
Cindy the poodle
takes a bow-wow in her latest incarnation... as
a cockerel.
It's nothing new for the eight-yearold standard who's also been turned into a dragon, a Ninja Turtle and a peacock by her owner Sandy Hartness.
"People can't believe their eyes when they see Cindy," says Sandy, 38, a professional dog groomer from Yucca Valley, California. "They always point at her and say, 'Look at that poodle'."
Each look takes two hours to create and Sandy only uses safe products such as semi-permanent dyes and chalk. But as well as winning countless dog-grooming competitions Sandy has been criticised for Cindy's makeovers.
"I've had lots of hate mail as some people don't understand it's art, and think I'm humiliating my dog," she says.
"But Cindy loves the attention her looks create and posing for pictures."
SINC SAYS:
Where’s the dopes from PETA when ya really need ‘em? It’s doggone abuse, I tell ya!
World Peashooting Championship
14/07/2009 05:27
AN Englishman came
out on top against the Aussies yesterday — to
become world peashooting
champion.Jim Collins, 34, a novice who entered for fun, beat experienced entrants from as far away as Australia, the US and New Zealand.
Happy Jim, 34, of Hadenham, Cambs, said: “It was definitely beginner’s luck. I was very surprised to win, but extremely happy.”
The contest has been held on the village green at nearby Witcham, since 1971, with competitors puffing peas from 12ft at a 12in target.
Steven Ball, who helps organise the day, said: “We get people who use laser-guided peashooters as well as lots who have never tried it.”
The “peas” are actually dried maple seeds because their smooth, regular shape helps them fly.
The championships were started by headmaster John Tyson who had confiscated a peashooter from a pupil.
SINC SAYS:
Do kids even know what a peashooter is these days? We used to chew up paper until it was a gooey ball and use a peashooter to stick them to the ceiling of the classroom.
Maciocia: Expect The Unexpected Early In The Season
14/07/2009 05:27
Esks disappointed, but not devastated by blowout loss to Als
So the Edmonton Eskimos have wobbled from the gate this CFL season-- one tentative step forward, one massive stumble back.
But it's early. How much should one make of a team with a new head coach and a revamped defence that is off to a 1-1 start?
Probably not any more than might be made of either the 0-2 start of defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders or the 2-0 leap forward by Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Already some voices in Vancouver are expressing alarm at the 0-2 face-plant fashioned by the reconstructed Lions. But it's early.
"At the beginning of the season, you've always got the unexpected, the expected and the rest of the teams that fall somewhere in between," said Esks general manager Danny Maciocia. "Right now, we're probably a team that's in between.
"We expected to come out of the gate and win and we did in the first one. We didn't expect to go to Montreal and lose the way we lost."
No, the 50-16 shellacking by the Alouettes last Thursday was not foreseen, although it's no shocker the Eskimos are 1-1 at this juncture.
One common thread linking the season-opening 19-17 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Montreal debacle is inconsistency on offence.
Setting aside the much-documented shoulder injury to starting tailback Jesse Lumsden in the opener and the fumble-itis of rookie back Arkee Whitlock in his CFL debut on Thursday, the Eskimos attack looks, at times, like a dance troupe trying to get in lockstep.
Ah-one, ah-two, a-oops!They have been particularly out of sync inside the 20-yard lines.
"Certainly there have been flashes of some really good things and there are some things we have some breakdowns on," offensive co-ordinator Rick Worman said.
"Unfortunately, the breakdowns have happened in the score zone area. That's the negative.
"The positive is we've had a number of really nice drives, so it's not like we're not being productive throughout the course of the game."
In the Montreal game, quarterback Ricky Ray completed 19 of 33 passing attempts for 280 yards, not brilliant by his all-star standards, but not horrible. He went 29 of 41 for 318 yards in the Winnipeg victory.
Still, the offence lacks finish and fluidity, attributes that Worman believes will come.
"The good news is that the mistakes that are happening, we're causing them. Other teams aren't causing them, whether it's a missed pass or a dropped pass or a missed protection, whatever it happens to be," Worman said. "Obviously, I'm disappointed that we're not in sync, that's what we had training camp for."
Worman has introduced some wrinkles into the passing attack, requiring receivers to master different positions, making the offence less predictable.
That's the theory. So far, there have been hiccups.
"We don't want to be in the rut of being predictable, and the onus is on the players to learn multiple positions," Worman said. "Are there some growing pains now for long-term gains?
"That's what our focus is."
More from the Edmonton Journal.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Let’s hope the Eskimo offence can iron out the kinks in those ‘wrinkles’ that Rick Worman speaks about – and quickly, too. They need to get on track pronto.
Eskimos Hurt Pride More Than Anything
14/07/2009 05:27
'It was a good test for us' --Lenny Williams
There were a lot of bumps and bruises on the Edmonton Eskimos players after their humbling 50-16 loss to the Alouettes in Montreal on Thursday, but the biggest hurt wasn't to their bodies, it was to their pride.
As many of the defensive players left practice Sunday, they were lamenting their own inability to perform in Montreal, especially in the fourth quarter when they gave up 31 points.
"To be honest, I think a lot of guys, a lot of us laid down," admitted cornerback/ kick returner Tristan Jackson. "But it's early in the season and now we know if we lay down teams are going to beat us so, hopefully, we learned from our mistakes and it won't happen again."
Veteran Maurice Lloyd, the new middle linebacker who didn't finish the Montreal game but said Sunday he's just fine, said there was a "lack of focus, lack of effort, missed tackles, missed assignments, blown assignments, lack of fundamentals. Lack of everything you could lack.
"This told us a lot," he added. "It was a test of people's character, test of people's pride and, most of all, test of people's mental aspect, When you get tired, how mentally challenged can you be? Every loss hurts, but this one hurts the worst because it's like a basketball score, 50-16.
"When you have this much pride and this much love for the game it should...bother you so that you know you'll never want to go down that path again."
Veteran defensive lineman Dario Romero, who didn't practise Sunday, said the defence wasn't lined up properly all game.
"There was a lot of miscommunication," he said. "It snowballed and came back to bite us in the fourth quarter. We saw the film, we know what needs to be corrected and it's as simple as communication.
"The disappointing thing is communication was emphasized (in practice), how important it is. Now it's evident."
Romero didn't think the defence quit in the final quarter after looking at the game film but admitted "right after the game I felt that."
After giving up an average of 16 points while beating the Saskatchewan Roughriders and B. C. Lions in pre-season games and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their season opener, the baptism under fire for an Esks defence with seven new players was the Montreal match.
Besides facing one of the league's best offences and top quarterbacks in Anthony Calvillo, the Eskimos also went into the game without veteran safety Scott Gordon, who was injured against Winnipeg.
"It was a good test for us, that not everything is going to go right," said defensive halfback Lenny Williams. "We let a couple of plays slip away and then dropped our momentum. Guys got discouraged. It was the first time we were in that position."
Williams said the team probably went into the game a little more confident than it should have been "like we had something already and we had only won the first game."
That was against Winnipeg. This was Montreal, a team with a history of exploding offensively.
"When Montreal got that momentum going, it's tough to stop that," head coach Richie Hall said. "I don't think we quit, but we couldn't overcome the tidal wave that was hitting us. I have no question about the effort, the effort was there but our execution wasn't. They kept plugging away, they took our hearts."
There was renewed optimism when the Eskimos returned to practice for the first time since being humbled.
"I'm encouraged that we're starting to get it," said Lloyd. "We still have things we have to work on, but I'm much happier this week than I was last week at the first day of practice; happier seeing everyone now understands better what it takes to win against a good team."
Defensive co-ordinator Jim Daley, who was not a happy man in Montreal, was barking out instructions during practice Sunday.
"We practised very well today and I would not have expected anything different," he said. "This is a very proud group and we did not come out of that game with a very good feeling about ourselves."
The Eskimos are home to the B. C. Lions on Thursday evening.
Insurance added on defensive line.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Over the past few years, I personally don’t think the Eskimos have had enough players on this team that absolutely detest losing. In that regard, Mo Lloyd is a breath of fresh air. I like what he’s had to say after this most recent loss.
If the Montreal game was a ‘good test’ for the Eskimos, someone should tell Lenny Williams they failed miserably, including himself, who was in a chase position on Montreal’s receivers all night long.
Police Eye Wife In Boxer Arturo Gatti’s Death
14/07/2009 05:27
RIO DE JANEIRO -- Police investigating the death of former Canadian boxing champion Arturo Gatti are working on the assumption his wife strangled him with her purse strap while he drunkenly slept. The woman's lawyer, however, insists she is innocent and was too "fragile" to kill a boxer.
Lead investigator Moises Teixeira told The Associated Press on Monday nothing is being ruled out but he is certain the woman acted by herself.
"It was technically impossible for a third person to have been in the flat," where Gatti was found dead early Saturday, Teixeira said. "The investigation isn't finished, but we continue to think she did this alone."
Gatti's 23-year-old Brazilian wife, Amanda Rodrigues, told investigators she awoke Saturday about 6 a.m. to find her husband's body in the apartment they rented in Porto de Galinhas, a seaside resort in northeastern Pernambuco state.
Rodrigues told police she had a fight with Gatti after dinner Friday night and he pushed her to the ground, resulting in minor injuries to her elbow and chin. Witnesses also reported to police the couple fought and that Gatti was drunk.
Rodrigues told police the 37-year-old former junior welterweight champion from Montreal then got into a cab with their son and returned to their rented apartment, leaving her alone downtown.
Teixeira said witnesses told police Gatti left his son to sleep in the apartment, then returned to the city centre to find his wife. She arrived at the apartment before he did and waited for him. They then both went upstairs together.
Rodrigues told police she slept on the second floor of the apartment with her son, while Gatti slept on the first floor. She told police she awoke at 6 a.m. to feed her son and discovered her husband's body. Police say he most likely had been killed at least four hours before that.
Teixeira said police do not think anyone else entered the apartment and killed Gatti -- he said there were no signs of forced entry and electronic locks indicated nobody else had entered the room aside from Rodrigues and Gatti.
The investigator said Rodrigues told them she thought her husband had committed suicide or that someone had entered the apartment and killed him. Teixeira ruled out both scenarios.
Rodrigues' sister, Flavia, told the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo there is "no way she could have strangled a man of that size."
Rodrigues' lawyer, Celio Avelino, told the AP he agreed with Flavia's conclusion and he would request Amanda be freed from jail Tuesday pending the conclusion of the investigation.
"She is fragile, young and skinny -- how could she kill a boxing champion?" Avelino said. "When she awoke, she presumed he had committed suicide. But she had nothing to do with it."
Flavia Rodrigues said her sister told her she thought Gatti had committed suicide -- though she said he knew of no reason the boxer would kill himself or why the pair fought the night before his death.
"Sure, they had fights," Flavia said. "But he was crazy about her.
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Wow. That’s two in the past week. First, Steve McNair’s lover and now, Arturo Gatti’s wife. What’s that saying, folks, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned . . . ”
Kamau Peterson Moves On To Short Game
14/07/2009 05:27
Kamau Peterson, the Edmonton Eskimos receiver, is practising his short routes. At least, on the golf course.
Peterson has been taking lessons with APGA professional Cam Martens. The assistant head pro at the Windermere Golf and Country Club has moved from working on Peterson's basic swing to where all the strokes are really saved, or lost, in golf--from 100 yards in.
"What's really cool is the half-wedge shots Cam has been working with me spin, just like they do on TV," said Peterson.
"We've just started working on the short game, but it seems to be all about maintaining club face angle to mirror your spine angle at both take-away and follow-through to get the spin."
"I haven't been able to play much golf this year--at least not with the guys because I'm either at Eskimo practice or at Windermere on the driving range.
"But when I do pipe one down the middle, Pre (Noel Prefontaine) or Drew(Andrew Nowacki)will always yell, 'Lessons.' "
The biggest problem Peterson had when he started the lessons with Martens was simply getting off the tee.
It was always a crap shoot where his tee shots would wind up -- left, right or, occasionally, in the fairway. It was also 50-50 whether Peterson would hit it high or low.
"I'm getting off the tee with relative ease and making good contact on just about every shot," said Peterson. "As a result, my scoring is getting a lot better."
Martens seems even more impressed than the student.
"As far as the overall project, Kamau is doing great," said Martens, who has been working with Edmonton golfer and Canadian Tour player Barrett Jarosch, as well.
On Sunday's final round of last week's Telus Edmonton Open, Jarosch shot a 64.
While it's highly unlikely Peterson has a 64 in his bag--at least not for 18 holes--Martens is very impressed.
"I'm really starting to see improvement in his ball striking to the point where his other game aspects are starting to show up as weaknesses.
"It's really cool to watch someone as athletic as Kamau learn new skills. He is quick to understand, quit to commit and his work ethic speaks for itself.
"I truly think his good work ethic has a lot more to do with his sports success than his natural ability, which makes this project really exciting."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
From what I’ve seen so far this season, Peterson should be concentrating on playing football.
Stricker Shoots 64, Wins John Deere Classic
14/07/2009 05:27
Silvis, IL (Sports Network) - Steve Stricker fired a seven-under 64 in the final round Sunday to win the John Deere Classic by three shots.
Stricker collected five birdies and an eagle in a flawless final round, claiming his sixth PGA Tour win, and second of the season, at 20-under 264.
Brandt Snedeker (65), Zach Johnson (66) and Brett Quigley (67) tied for second place at 17-under 267, while J.J. Henry (68), Tim Petrovic (69) and Matt Jones (69) shared fifth at 16-under 268.
The third and fourth rounds were both played Sunday -- a 36-hole marathon that was the result of a rain-out on Friday, which pushed the second round to Saturday.
At one point Sunday, when the final round had already begun and the third round was not yet completed, there was an eight-way tie atop the leaderboard.
"It was survival," said Johnson.
Stricker, who tied the course record with a 10-under 61 in the second round Saturday, also went 10-under on Sunday -- over two rounds. He shot a 68 in the third round and was tied for fourth place entering the last 18 holes -- where, Stricker said, fatigue was a factor.
"You're just trying to stay in it mentally," he said.
Stricker, after beginning the final round with back-to-back birdies at his first two holes, tied Johnson for the lead when he holed out for eagle from 98 yards on the par-four sixth.
More from Canadian Press.
Langer wins 3M Championship with chip-in eagle on 18.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
With Tiger not in the field , the John Deere Classic (which is not so classic, by the way) was a chance for all the other golfers on the PGA Tour to win a tournament and make some money. After all, they better make hay while the sun shines, right?
Baseball Teams Fear ‘Haunted’ Milwaukee Hotel
14/07/2009 05:27
MILWAUKEE - First Carlos Gomez heard voices. Then he watched his iPod go haywire after he got out of the shower, sending him scrambling for the lobby without stopping to put on his pants and shoes.
After last year's experience, the Minnesota Twins outfielder didn't want to go back to Milwaukee's Pfister Hotel. But Gomez had to stay there when the Twins were in town to play the Brewers last month, so he brought some protection: teammate-turned-roommate Francisco Liriano and a Bible.
"Everything's scary," Gomez said. "Everything in the hotel, the paintings and pictures, it's a lot of old, crazy stuff. No good, man. No good."
The Pfister is Milwaukee's most regal address, having hosted every U.S. president since William McKinley and scores of celebrities who can take a self-guided tour of the hotel's Victorian art collection. Today, it's the place to stay for upscale business travellers and out-of-town visitors, including many Major League Baseball teams. Commissioner Bud Selig, a Milwaukee native, is a frequent visitor.
But some players don't care for the 116-year-old hotel's posh accommodations and reputation for privacy. They swear it's haunted.
Gomez, San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval, St. Louis' Brendan Ryan and several Florida Marlins all say they've had odd experiences, though Ryan later said nothing really happened. Others aren't willing to talk publicly about what they've seen and heard.
Brewers visiting clubhouse manager Phil Rozewicz has heard it all from sleepy-eyed players who would rather hang out at Miller Park than spend one minute more than they have to at the Pfister.
"There was a rookie ball player and he was back in his room and he woke up in the middle of the night and his blinds were open, the window was opened and he was panicked," Rozewicz said. "So he went into the bathroom, splashed water on his face, came back out and went to bed. Shut the blinds, the window. Woke up in the morning. Same thing. Slept on the couch in the lobby the next night. Refused to go to his room. Finally, went to a Motel 6 or whatever up the street and just stayed there."
Of course, some of this could be mischievous teammates pulling pranks. But Pfister ghost stories go well beyond the ballpark.
Allison Jornlin, who leads haunted history tours for the folklore research organization Milwaukee Ghosts, said guests have reported seeing a "portly, smiling gentleman" roaming the halls, riding the elevator and even walking his dog. The apparition is said to resemble Charles Pfister, who founded the hotel with his father, Guido.
"His ghost is thought, usually, to behave very well," Jornlin said. "But MLB players seem to bring out his mischievous side."
Why's that?
"Obviously, he's a Brewers fan," Jornlin said.
But even some of the Brewers won't stay there in the off-season.
More from CBC Sports.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
They’re out there, aren’t they folks – aliens that is? I knew it.
Bivens Out As LPGA Commissioner, Evans In
14/07/2009 05:27
DAYTONA, Fla. - Carolyn Bivens is out as commissioner of the LPGA Tour, and Marsha Evans will serve as acting commissioner while the organization looks for a replacement.
Bivens, whose took over the job in 2005, came under pressure when some players wrote a letter to the LPGA Tour's board of directors calling for her resignation. The LPGA Tour announced her departure Monday.
Bivens' tenure was plagued with difficulties and controversies.
The tour has lost seven tournaments since 2007, and last year Bivens was widely criticized when she proposed an English-only policy for tour players. It was never instituted. The LPGA includes 121 international players from 26 countries, including 45 from South Korea.
In October 2006, she was accused by officials of the now-defunct tour event near Atlantic City, N.J., of backing out on a promise to maintain a longtime event.
"I love the LPGA and have been proud to serve as its commissioner for the last four years. I am also proud of what the LPGA has accomplished during my tenure," Bivens said in a statement Monday. "It is time to turn this organization over to someone who can build on the solid foundation we've established."
Evans served on the LPGA commissioner's advisory council in 2007 and 2008, and began serving on the board this year. She is a former Naval officer who reached the rank of rear admiral. She also led the Girl Scouts of the USA and then the American Red Cross.
Evans said the LPGA Tour will reach out to fans, players, sponsors and tournament operators. She also thanked Bivens for inviting her to join the association.
"I know that she put her heart and soul into this organization, and I wish her the best of every success in her personal and professional career," Evans said.
Bivens' uncertain status created a distraction last weekend during the U.S. Women's Open. The LPGA will now begin searching for a full-time commissioner. The organization also has appointed former star Annika Sorenstam as an adviser to the board or directors.
Evans says she only wants to be commissioner on an interim basis.
"I am the acting commissioner, but I have no intention to serve as the commissioner," she said. "I think we need someone with new energy who can bring passion and skills and experience."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It looks like the palace revolt worked. It also sounds as if the LPGA is in a little disarray right about now.
Woods To Play With Ishikawa, Westwood At Open
14/07/2009 05:27
TURNBERRY, Scotland - Tiger Woods can expect even more attention than usual the first two rounds of the British Open, as he is playing with Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa and England's Lee Westwood.
Woods has never played with the 17-year-old Ishikawa, who made history at 15 when he won on the Japan Golf Tour, the youngest winner on a sanctioned circuit. They met briefly in Arizona at the Accenture Match Play Championship, a moment captured by dozens of photographers.
Defending champion Padraig Harrington will play with former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Geoff Ogilvy.
Mike Weir of Bright's Grove, Ont.. plays with Ben Curtis and England's Ross Fisher.
Calgary's Stephen Ames is in the next group with Tim Clark and Charles Howell III.
The first group Thursday includes former Open champion Mark Calcavecchia, among the fastest players in golf.
Tiger Woods gets in another practice round ahead of British Open.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Tiger is used to the circus-like atmosphere that constantly dogs him. The question is, are Ishikawa and Westwood?
The Photography Of Al Popil
13/07/2009 04:39
Hi Don,
A slooow day at Big Lake except for this grasshopper with an amusing smile (?).
Al Popil
St. Albert
SINC SAYS:
Thanks for the shot Al. It’s a beaut!
African Thunderstorm
13/07/2009 04:39
This fun YouTube
video features a 1980s pop classic. The rock
band Toto scored their biggest hit with Africa
in 1982. The song is instantly recognizable.
But it has been reinvented.
Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. It’s hard to think of something further from an ‘80s rock band. But their version of Africa may best the original. The group has amazing voices.
But the beginning of this video is really striking. Group members simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands. It’s really something to see and hear.
Perpetuum Jazzile is an a cappella jazz choir from Slovenia. It’s hard to think of something further from an ‘80s rock band. But their version of Africa may best the original. The group has amazing voices.
But the beginning of this video is really striking. Group members simulate an African thunderstorm with their hands. It’s really something to see and hear.
Mom And Four Daughters Spend £40,000
13/07/2009 04:39
On nine boob
jobsChantal Marshall and four of her daughters have had NINE boob jobs between them, making them the British family to have had the most breast surgery – bra none!
They call their home Silicone City – and for good reason. Chantal Marshall and four of her daughters have had NINE boob jobs between them.
That makes them the British family to have had the most breast surgery – bra, er, bar none.
While most mums and their daughters enjoy shopping trips together, Chantal, 50, and her daughters have spent nearly £40,000 on visits to cosmetic surgeons to have their breasts enlarged.
Ripley, 18, Tara, 22, Terri, 25, Emma, 28, and mum-of-nine Chantal, of Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts, now boast chest sizes ranging from 34DD to 32GG.
On one occasion, Emma and Ripley even ended up having breast enhancement surgery on the same day and at the same clinic as their mum.
Tara had booked her consultation aged 17 so she could have the op as soon as she reached the age of 18.
The sisters – all with matching blonde hair just like their mum – say that like most siblings they have always copied each other.
But they insist that when it comes their chest sizes, they aren’t at all competitive.
They reckon their desire for bigger boobs was inspired by Chantal – who is often mistaken by strangers for their sister.
SINC SAYS:
Good lord didja get a look at the size of those things? They look more like taped on water-filled balloons.
Train-Mooning Draws Smaller, Calmer Crowd
13/07/2009 04:38
8,000 caused problems
last year,
but this time just
400 show
up
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - The pants were down but so was the size of the crowd for a bizarre ritual in Southern California.
It's the annual "Moon Over Amtrak" event in the Orange County community of Laguna Niguel in which people line up to moon passing commuter trains.
It began as a bar bet in 1979 and has continued ever since.
Sheriff's Lt. Ted Boyne says as many as 400 people showed up for Saturday's mass mooning. Last year, about 8,000 showed up, mostly out-of-towners. And deputies shut it down after things got ugly, with traffic jams, drinking and public nudity.
This year's crowd in contrast is described as mellow. A couple of cars got towed, but deputies say nobody got drunk and there were no arrests.
SINC SAYS:
Can anybody think of any other odd bar bets that became big deals?
LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. - The pants were down but so was the size of the crowd for a bizarre ritual in Southern California.
It's the annual "Moon Over Amtrak" event in the Orange County community of Laguna Niguel in which people line up to moon passing commuter trains.
It began as a bar bet in 1979 and has continued ever since.
Sheriff's Lt. Ted Boyne says as many as 400 people showed up for Saturday's mass mooning. Last year, about 8,000 showed up, mostly out-of-towners. And deputies shut it down after things got ugly, with traffic jams, drinking and public nudity.
This year's crowd in contrast is described as mellow. A couple of cars got towed, but deputies say nobody got drunk and there were no arrests.
SINC SAYS:
Can anybody think of any other odd bar bets that became big deals?
An Orgasm A Day . . .
13/07/2009 04:38
Keeps The Doctor
Away
NHS guidance is advising school pupils that they have a "right" to an enjoyable sex life and that regular sex can be good for their cardiovascular health.
The advice appears in leaflets circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling students about the benefits of enjoyable sex.
The authors of the guidance say that for too long, experts have concentrated on the need for "safe sex" and committed relationships while ignoring the principle reason that many people have sex.
Entitled Pleasure, the leaflet has been drawn up by NHS Sheffield, but it also being circulated outside the city.
The leaflet carries the slogan "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away". It also says: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"
Steve Slack, the director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield, who is one of the leaflet's authors, says that instead of promoting teenage sex, it could encourage young people to delay losing their virginity until they are certain they will enjoy the experience.
Mr Slack believes that if teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions of their own will in a loving relationship, they have an equal right as an adult to an enjoyable sex life.
Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of Wellington College, which recently introduced classes in emotional wellbeing, said the leaflets were "deplorable".
SINC SAYS:
Wow, when we went to school we had the same saying about an apple.
NHS guidance is advising school pupils that they have a "right" to an enjoyable sex life and that regular sex can be good for their cardiovascular health.
The advice appears in leaflets circulated to parents, teachers and youth workers and is meant to update sex education by telling students about the benefits of enjoyable sex.
The authors of the guidance say that for too long, experts have concentrated on the need for "safe sex" and committed relationships while ignoring the principle reason that many people have sex.
Entitled Pleasure, the leaflet has been drawn up by NHS Sheffield, but it also being circulated outside the city.
The leaflet carries the slogan "an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away". It also says: "Health promotion experts advocate five portions of fruit and veg a day and 30 minutes' physical activity three times a week. What about sex or masturbation twice a week?"
Steve Slack, the director of the Centre for HIV and Sexual Health at NHS Sheffield, who is one of the leaflet's authors, says that instead of promoting teenage sex, it could encourage young people to delay losing their virginity until they are certain they will enjoy the experience.
Mr Slack believes that if teenagers are fully informed about sex and are making their decisions of their own will in a loving relationship, they have an equal right as an adult to an enjoyable sex life.
Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of Wellington College, which recently introduced classes in emotional wellbeing, said the leaflets were "deplorable".
SINC SAYS:
Wow, when we went to school we had the same saying about an apple.
Ji Birdies 18th To Win U.S. Women's Open Golf
13/07/2009 04:38
South Korean edges third-round leader Kerr, who struggles to 4-over 75
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Eun Hee Ji of South Korea made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole, finishing off an even-par 71 to win the U.S. Women’s Open.
Ji recovered from a double-bogey at the 10th hole and finished at even-par 284 Sunday, outlasting struggling third-round leader Cristie Kerr.
Kerr struggled from the outset and shot a 4-over 75 for a 2-over 286 in her failed bid for a second Women’s Open title in three years.
Candie Kung of Taiwan continued a charge up the leaderboard she started in the third round when she vaulted from 37th to a tie for fifth. She finished before the pairing of Ji and Kerr and appeared headed for a playoff after a 2-under 69 left her at 1-over 285.
But Ji made the putt and Kung settled for second.
More from NBC Sports.
Ji captures U.S. Open with clutch putt on 72nd hole.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
The Korean gals are really starting to dominate the LPGA Tour.
Franchitti Wins Toronto Indy, Danica Patrick Sixth
13/07/2009 04:38
Tracy had chance for victory before crash with Castroneves
If you don't like where you are in a street race, just wait awhile and something good might happen.
That's how pole sitter Dario Franchitti wound up winning the 2009 Honda Indy race in Toronto on Sunday afternoon, putting him on an IRL podium for the third time this year and 11th in the Scotsman's career.
Franchitti's first of two pit stops, on lap 26, was about three seconds slower than normal because his Target Chip Ganassi crew had problems getting his left rear wheel connected.
For the middle of the race he found himself well back in the pack, held up by slower cars.
But a couple of key yellow flags, including one that allowed him to pit under caution and not lose any time on lap 59, and another while leading, from an incident that took out both his main challengers — Paul Tracy and Helio Castroneves — with 20 to go, left Franchitti clearly with the fastest car and headed for checkers.
Beeping the Chrome Horn
Hometown favourite Paul Tracy's day ended with 20 laps to go when he and Helio Castroneves, one of the most popular drivers among Canadian racing fans, came together in the infamous turn 3.
Racing down Lake Shore Boulevard with Castroneves in second and battling tire problems, and Tracy third, the man who calls himself the Chrome Horn ducked inside and tried to muscle his way through.
They touched once, twice, and then a third time, finally causing Castroneves to lose control and punt Tracy into the wall, ending both their days.
When the Brazilian driver got back to the pits, boos rained down from the Canadian fans, something he's not used to.
"I have no idea [what happened]," Castroneves told ESPN. "He would be the last guy I would take out in Canada.… It looks like I turned into him and I just lost control."
Tracy, who thought he had enough room for the move, called it "a racing incident."
But still the boos descended.
Ryan Briscoe was second with Will Power third, Scott Dixon fourth and Justin Wilson and Danica Patrick behind them.
A yellow with 11 laps to go closed the field up one last time, but Franchitti took off at the green with Briscoe trying to stay close. Power didn't have the pace, however, and he was left holding the rest of the field up.
More from CBC Sports.
More from Canadian Press.
Tracy crashes out of Honda Toronto Indy on Lap 66.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Congrats to Dario Franchitti on his win in 'The Big Smoke'. I look forward to seeing all of the drivers in two weeks time right here at the Edmonton Indy.
Thousands Attend Ex-NFL QB Steve McNair’s Funeral
13/07/2009 04:38
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Titans quarterback Vince Young didn't expect to speak Saturday during his mentor's funeral. He wound up summing up the emotional day with just a few words.
"Steve was like a hero to me, and heroes are not supposed to die," Young said before stopping to rub his eyes as he talked about the man he knew from football camps as a teenager and called "Pops" -- Steve McNair, his predecessor with the Titans.
McNair was shot and killed on the Fourth of July by his girlfriend, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, who then shot herself in the head.
Nearly 5,000 turned out to say goodbye to the 36-year-old during one of the biggest funerals in the recent history of Mississippi, McNair's home state.
Fans and old friends filed into the Reed Green Coliseum on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, and McNair's family rented buses to haul in most of the people from his hometown of Mount Olive. Not far away sat men who competed against McNair or coached him on the field.
The high school football team McNair's son plays on wore their jerseys in honour of the man they often saw smiling from the sidelines.
"Mississippi has lost a tremendous legend," said Cardell Jones, McNair's college coach at Alcorn State.
The hearse carrying McNair's silvery-grey casket was escorted 50 kilometres down Highway 49 by nine police officers on motorcycles and several vehicles carrying family members. After the two-hour service, the procession headed back down that road to Mount Olive for a private burial.
Police escorted McNair's wife, Mechelle, and his mother, Lucille, into the stadium beforehand. Near the end, a handful of people surrounded his mother and his sons, waving them with fans and programs and giving hugs.
Brett Favre, who had a home near McNair's here in Hattiesburg, sat a few rows behind the McNair family but did not speak. Titans coach Jeff Fisher, Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis and Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler attended. Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to win the Super Bowl, also was on hand.
Young was added to the service late, and the quarterback drafted by Tennessee in 2006 to replace McNair remembered him as a father and mentor. Young said he felt selfish at times taking McNair away from his four sons to help him through his own life.
He then pointed at the Oak Grove High football team sitting in the stands and told them not to give up if they have someone that inspires them.
"Pay attention to that guy because every day you know I had to hear that guy's voice," Young said.
Lewis played against McNair and was his teammate the final two years of his NFL career. Lewis said he learned studying film and proper technique wouldn't help him beat a quarterback fuelled by will, heart and sacrifice.
"I find myself in awe when I speak about a man like Steve McNair," Lewis said.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was among those who sent flowers. Titans owner Bud Adams attended a memorial service Thursday night in Nashville, where thousands more attended. Fisher was called up to speak from the audience, and he pulled Young over on the podium and led the audience in the Lord's Prayer just as he did during 11 seasons with McNair before every kickoff.
Bobby Hamilton, who played at Southern Miss and in the NFL with New England and Oakland, used to sleep on the floor of McNair's oldest brother, Fred, when he played at Alcorn State. He also cheered on McNair during his career and recalled how McNair rallied Alcorn State once by scoring two touchdowns with less than a minute left.
"It's very painful. We know he was a warrior. ... I can't even say the word how this warrior went down," an emotional Hamilton said.
The program included memories from McNair's mother, his wife and sons, brothers, and nieces and nephews. Photos were also displayed of the quarterback who played 13 NFL seasons with Tennessee and Baltimore before retiring in 2008.
Coach Nevil Barr brought the jersey-clad Oak Grove team to the service. Steve McNair Jr. attends Oak Grove, and his father joined Favre at a summer workout two weeks ago to play catch with the kids.
"He was on our sideline every Friday night supporting his son," Barr said. "He loved to come watch Steve Jr., and we loved having him there. He always had that smile."
Deloris Cagins of nearby Columbia wore the purple and gold of McNair's alma mater, Alcorn State, and had a pompom tied to her walker. She has relatives who eventually joined her beloved Braves, where McNair made a Heisman Trophy run and set a number of NCAA Division I-AA records before going third overall in the NFL draft in 1995 to the then-Houston Oilers.
"Alcornites to me are a different breed of people," she said. "It's like a family. If you do something, we'll support you."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
RIP, Steve.
Gretzky Files Legal Action Against City Of Glendale
13/07/2009 04:38
After remaining in the shadows for months, Wayne Gretzky has emerged and is looking to protect his interests in the Phoenix Coyotes.
According to a report in the Toronto Star, "The Great One" has launched legal action in the Coyotes bankruptcy case to keep his personal finances private.
In court documents filed in anticipation of Monday's court hearing, the city of Glendale, Arizona has asked a bankruptcy court judge to look over Gretzky's income tax statements.
While playing the role of head coach and minority owner, the NHL's all-time leading scorer is also listed as a creditor who is owed $9.3 million.
The city is looking to strike Gretzky as a creditor and states that he is overpaid and that the money owed to him should instead be described as capital in the team.
The objection filed by Gretzky's lawyers reads as follows:
"The city has failed to even come close (in its arguments) to justify the massive privacy intrusion it seeks. The city has utterly failed to make any showing that could conceivably begin to overcome the strong presumption in favor of protecting the privacy of the personal, financial and proprietary information sought."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Actually, I think it would be very interesting to find out about Wayne Gretzky’s personal finances. C'mon Wayne, why don't you want to share?
Women’s Ski Jump Advocate: It’s Not Over
13/07/2009 04:38
A women's ski jump advocate says ski jumpers and their lawyers will begin discussions on Monday over whether they will appeal a B.C. Supreme Court's decision to dismiss the lawsuit that many had hoped would end in a women's ski jump event at 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
"It's not over until it's over and we still have to discuss whether we will appeal or not," said Deedee Corradini, president of Women's Ski Jumping USA. "Lawyers think it is worth considering."
Men have been participating in Olympic ski jump since 1924, but the women's event has never been included. After a proposal to add women's ski jump to the 2010 Olympics was denied by the 2006 executive board of the IOC on the grounds that not enough athletes compete in the event, the women took their case to the courts.
The plaintiffs were left dismayed on Friday when Madam Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon ruled that although women ski jumpers had been discriminated against by the International Olympic Committee's decision not to include a women's ski jump event at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, the Switzerland-based organization was well outside the reach of the Canadian Charts of Rights and Freedoms.
The Vancouver Olympic Committee, the target of the ski jumpers' high-profile lawsuit, is subject to the Charter, but in the case of carrying out and planning the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Justice Fenlon found the decisions to rest with the IOC - out of VANOC's control.
Since then, Corradini said that she and the other advocates of women's ski jumping have just been trying to wrap their minds around the ruling. "We literally are still absorbing the decision," she said.
While an appeal is only one of the paths that Corradini said the plaintiffs are considering, she still feels the ski jumpers have a case.
"I don't think we'd be discussing it unless we thought there was some validity to having that discussion," Corradini said. "All options are on the table and (an appeal) is one of them."
Corradini said it will take some time to decide on a course of action. With just over six months to the Opening Ceremony of the Games, she still thinks that there is enough time for women's ski jump to be included.
"Since VANOC knew there was a possibility that (inclusion) was going to happen, there was a contingency plan somewhere. And since it's the same venue and all we're asking for is one event, we still have time," Corradini said.
"We're not ready to give up on 2010 yet."
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
Don’t you think at a certain point in time you’d just throw in the towel, folks? I guess not - after all, they are women. I keed ladies, I just keed!
Obama Hints He’ll Attend 2010 World Cup
13/07/2009 04:38
U.S. President Barack Obama is hinting he'll attend next year's World Cup in South Africa.
After a photo with South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday, a reporter asked Obama if he'll attend the matches.
"That's my goal," Obama replied.
The White House has said Obama hadn't made a decision about attending the event. But on Friday, Obama suggested he wants to. After answering the question, the U.S. president playfully asked, "Did you get that?"
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has invited Obama to the World Cup opening ceremony and has said Obama will try to make it.
The White House said Obama has agreed to meet with the head of FIFA, the governing body of the sport, about the World Cup.
The World Cup runs from June 11 to July 11.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
One thing about this President – he loves sports and he sure gets around.
Seles Headlines Tennis Hall Of Fame Inductees
13/07/2009 04:38
NEWPORT, R.I. -- Monica Seles is comfortable talking about her on-court stabbing 16 years ago -- even on a day of celebration.
The 35-year-old Seles was enshrined in the International Tennis Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Newport's grass courts Saturday. She was the world's No. 1 women's player for 178 weeks overall and a winner of nine Grand Slam singles titles.
"I talk about it openly," she said during a news conference before being inducted. "As you can see, there's an exhibit here (about me) at the museum. When we were talking about me going into the Hall of Fame it was, 'Should we include the stabbing or not?' Unfortunately it's part of my career. I wish it wasn't. It's a long, long time ago."
It was April 30, 1993. Seles was on top of tennis, the No. 1 player, three-time defending champion of the French Open and back-to-back winner at both the U.S. and Australian Opens.
The attack shocked the sports world. Seated during a changeover at a match in Hamburg, Germany, Seles was stabbed between the shoulder blades by a crazed fan. It would be 2 1/2 years before she returned to the sport.
"Coming back in Toronto after my stabbing, I viewed my career in two phases -- before stabbing and after stabbing," she said. "The reception that I got just reinforced my decision to return."
Seles went on to win that tournament -- the Canadian Open (now known as the Rogers Cup) -- one of 53 in her career, including the 1996 Australian Open.
"She won eight grand slams before she was stabbed," said Donald Dell, also inducted Saturday. "Believe me, she would have won another nine."
Seles was enshrined in nearly a 90-minute ceremony along with master's player Andres Gimeno, the oldest player ever to win the French at 34 years, 10 months. Dr. Robert Johnson was inducted posthumously.
"I would like to thank all my tennis fans who were there from Day One when I was No. 1, through my stabbing, and my comeback," Seles, dressed in white slacks with a lavender blouse, told the crowd.
Johnson, introduced by Jeanne Ashe, wife of the late Hall of Famer Arthur Ashe, helped desegregate the sport. Dell, a U.S. Davis Cup member, later helped promote and market the sport.
Seles, playfully, gave one more grunt. "For old, good time sakes," she said.
Gimeno brought the biggest laughter from the crowd when he recalled his only major title at Roland Garros. He was introduced by 1987 Hall of Famer Stan Smith.
"I was going to leave the game without winning a big one," he said. "I think God said, 'Let the poor guy win one."'
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It’s really unfortunate that German “nut bar,” and crazed Steffi Graf fan, stabbed Seles during her match in Germany back in 1993, effectively ending her professional tennis career – and right at its peak to boot.
Harrington Wins Third Irish PGA In-A-Row
13/07/2009 04:38
BRITTAS BAY, Ireland -- Padraig Harrington has won the Irish PGA Championship for the third straight time, ending a month of poor results in time for his title defence next week in the British Open.
Harrington closed with a 1-over 72 on Saturday at The European Club for a seven-shot victory over former British Amateur champion Brian McElhinney.
Harrington prefers to play the Irish PGA, which is not sanctioned by any of the major tours, to prepare himself for links golf, which he will face at Turnberry. He has won the last two years at the Irish PGA, then gone on to win the British Open.
Harrington had missed the cut in his last five tournaments.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
I’ll tell you right here and now – Padraig Harrington is not going to win his third Open Championship in-a-row this week at Turnberry.
Library To Put Signs On City Lawns
12/07/2009 04:40
I see by the attached article in the Saint City News
that the St. Albert Library wants to put signs on
people’s lawns to promote the library.
A partial screen shot of the story which ends with the statement, “Hopefully [these signs] will get some people asking questions,” Thomas said.
A partial screen shot of the story which ends with the statement, “Hopefully [these signs] will get some people asking questions,” Thomas said.
Matter of fact, I do
have a couple of questions. Whose lame brain
idea was this? Do librarians think they are
politicians putting up lawn signs?
It is bad enough councils continue not to ban
election signs on lawns, never mind the library
polluting the city with the same kind of ill looking
messages. It’s visual pollution
period.
What's Wrong With People Who Vandalize?
12/07/2009 04:40
Hi Don:
Just would like to say, its a pretty sad day when you drive by a home in Heritage Lake where the owners fence (approx. 40 feet) had been pulled out of the ground and on its side.
And further bus stop benches tipped over, realtors signs uprooted and garage sale signs ripped down.
This all over last night.
It makes you wonder just what a sick society we live with and just what does the future hold?
George Proulx
St. Albert
SINC SAYS:
I know what you mean about senseless damage George and mark my words, it IS young people. Ask any bar owner just how many times these young people trash their bathrooms. I mean, what the hell kind of high do they get from trashing other people’s property? And for the record, I think the behaviour stems from their home life, or maybe more importantly, lack of home life.
Gibraltar's Runway
12/07/2009 04:40
Gibraltar is a little island off the south of Spain.
The airport runway runs straight through the main
street. Madness! (It's more like Main Street
runs through the midle of the airport, isn't
it?) Hey we have trains and they
have planes! But I don't think they will be building
underpasses for either.
The McGangBang:
12/07/2009 04:40
A McChicken
Sandwich
Inside a Double
Cheeseburger
The McGangBang ranks up there in the holy pantheon of WTF. It's a sandwich made from a double cheeseburger and a McChicken sandwich — where you put an entire McChicken sandwich inside a double cheeseburger. It's a creative manipulation of existing menu items, and an exercise in frugality: taking two items off of the Dollar Menu and creating an entirely new sandwich for a total of $2.16. Truly, it's a sandwich that's more than the sum of its parts.
The naming, of course, is somewhat obscene — "gangbang" is defined as "sexual intercourse with multiple partners in turn or at the same time." It's illicit in more ways than one — chicken and beef most definitely make for an unnatural pairing.
In addition, it's sort of a subversive act for people to order it by name, as well as a thrill to confound the McDonald's employee with an order for a McGangBang — so much so that people are documenting their experiences at drive-thrus and counters on YouTube.
See the videos here.
SINC SAYS:
What a disgusting combo, but hey, if you’re into it, there is lots more to view by clicking the link.
The McGangBang ranks up there in the holy pantheon of WTF. It's a sandwich made from a double cheeseburger and a McChicken sandwich — where you put an entire McChicken sandwich inside a double cheeseburger. It's a creative manipulation of existing menu items, and an exercise in frugality: taking two items off of the Dollar Menu and creating an entirely new sandwich for a total of $2.16. Truly, it's a sandwich that's more than the sum of its parts.
The naming, of course, is somewhat obscene — "gangbang" is defined as "sexual intercourse with multiple partners in turn or at the same time." It's illicit in more ways than one — chicken and beef most definitely make for an unnatural pairing.
In addition, it's sort of a subversive act for people to order it by name, as well as a thrill to confound the McDonald's employee with an order for a McGangBang — so much so that people are documenting their experiences at drive-thrus and counters on YouTube.
See the videos here.
SINC SAYS:
What a disgusting combo, but hey, if you’re into it, there is lots more to view by clicking the link.
World's Dirtiest Mud Festival
12/07/2009 04:40
Hundreds of people
were hospitalised for the skin disease they
contracted in the pre-events of 'Boryeong Mud
Festival'.According Byryeong City Administration, some 200 out of 1,500 participants contracted some kinds of skin inflammations while they were undergoing mud baths in the pre-Mud Festival events.
The mud bath events were held on the embankment of Daecheon Stream in Daecheon-eup, Boryeong City, for two days.
The events were hosted by Boryeong City, the official host of the 'Boryong Mud Festival'.
The participants including many foreigners reportedly enjoyed mud bath, and mud slides and other mud-related facilities.
They are still being treated with various symptoms coming from dermatitis.
In one case some 50 students of a grade school are complaining of symptoms of dermatitis including itching.
The Boryeong Mud Festival has become an international event with visitors coming from all around the world to experience the many fun events.
Participants enjoy the huge mud slide, compete in the mud wrestling contest and enjoy many other activities like escaping mud prison as well the ultimate, a mud bath.
Some of the final weekend participants are foreign tourists, and especially American GIs, but most of the participants during the week are Koreans, attracted by clever marketing by the town.
The town fathers and mothers discovered that the mud is more lucrative as a tourist attraction than using the muddy fields for agriculture.
The economy generated from the festival supports the many hotels and restaurants along the waterway and several blocks inland.
SINC SAYS:
What is it about humans and mud? Most of us try to stay the hell out of it, but some folks can’t leave it alone.
Illicit Sign Points To Village's 'Charms'
12/07/2009 04:40
OTTAWA — Constance
Bay has not designated its downtown a red-light
district, despite what a racy new sign might
have you
believe.A roadside sign posted outside the village a couple of weeks ago by the City of Ottawa directs travellers to Constance Bay's downtown with some symbols indicating various amenities. One square was left blank. Bad move, apparently. Sometime last weekend, a vandal filled in the blank spot with a pair of stick figures who appear to be particularly engaged.
But don't let the saucy illustration fool you, said West Carleton-March Councillor Eli El-Chantiry. It's business as usual in Constance Bay, located about 48 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. He says the city will have to have the sign sandblasted back to its virgin state.
SINC SAYS:
“Back to its virgin state!” Tee Hee!
Gospel According To Gridiron
12/07/2009 04:40
Eskimos coach surprises Saskatchewan church
It's not every Sunday that parishioners come to morning worship service and discover that the minister for the morning is none other than a professional football player from the CFL.
But that's what happened on one Sunday in May in Neilburg, Sask., when those attending Manitou Evangelical Free Church received the morning message from Richie Hall, head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos and a former Grey Cup winning Saskatchewan Roughrider.
Hall told the congregation it's important to set goals for their lives.
"If I don't have goals for direction, it feels like I am aimlessly running around in a circle," he said.
In football, Hall says, the team is "striving to win every game." He said goals must be both short-term and long-term.
"Just because you WANT it to happen, doesn't mean it is GOING to. God never said it was going to be easy. When you come to a fork in the road, you need to keep pursuing."
Hall noted that God can take us through adversity and cited the example of Jesus, who kept going forward and didn't lose sight of His goal or purpose.
"If you think you are beaten, you are," he declared as his second point. "Have faith in what you do. Believe in yourself and in your Heavenly Father. If you have a negative attitude, it is hard to achieve anything. People don't want to be around you. Lift people up!God supports us each and every time."
Hall also asked, "What are you willing to do and put in to achieve your goals?
"Effort is about ACTION. Put your heart into it. The reward is eternal, but it is important that you work and put forth the effort. Good things WILL happen, but we just don't know when. Keep fighting! Keep pushing forward. When you give up, the only time you experience failure, then you truly have failed. Keep working to overcome and to win. Adversity gives us hope!"
Finally, Hall encouraged the congregation to have fun.
"Your greatest commodity as a person is your time. Enjoy what you do."
And it was apparent that Hall enjoys doing what he does. He wore a special football jersey with the Saskatchewan colours on the front and the Edmonton Eskimos trademark green and gold on the back.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Hall came to Canada play in the CFL in the early 1980s. He played college ball at Colorado State University before joining the CFL and playing defensive back for the Calgary Stampeders. Hall was later traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He was selected as an all-star in 1983, played on the 1989 Grey Cup winning team, and he won the Tom Pate Memorial Award in 1990.
Hall was also influential in Saskatchewan's 2007 Grey Cup win as he was defensive co-ordinator. Hall is the first African-American head coach in the history of the Edmonton Eskimos.
Rena Porter is a freelance writer living in Neilburg, Sask., population approximately 500, located 80 kilometres southeast of Lloydminster.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
From what I’ve seen, I think Richie Hall would make a good ‘man-of-the-cloth.’
‘It’s Not Going To Be Sunny Every Day’
12/07/2009 04:40
Esks support Whitlock after terrible debut
The Edmonton Eskimos were doing their best Tammy Wynette impersonations on Friday.
It was Stand By Your Man time as the Eskimos supported rookie Arkee Whitlock's struggles in a 50-16 whipping by the Alouettes at Molson Stadium in Montreal on Thursday.
One by one they showed support for the running back's shaky Canadian Football League debut.
"I'm sure he looks within himself. We've all had those quicksand nights where things compound on you quick," said Esks receiver Kamau Peterson. "He's a talented kid, he's going to be fine. I'm not worried about him.
"He's got that one out of the way," Peterson added. "Those butterflies, or whatever it was, will be gone. You don't even have to say something to him. You don't beat a dead horse."
Peterson was maligned early in his CFL career for such drops, and was even dubbed Kamau Incompleterson at one stage. But he turned it into a top Canadian season in 2008 through being mentally tough and aware.
"It's the nature of what we do," Peterson said. "It's not going to be sunny every day.
"You find a way to dial yourself into each play and focus and forget about the other ones," he continued. "It's easier said than done, though. If you have a dropped ball, how do you get to the next play and rule that out? That's what you have to get through."
Maurice Mann, who led all Esks receivers with seven catches for 139 yards in Thursday's loss, took the same route, as it were.
"I really don't say much because Arkee understands what he has to do. He understands what happened and he just has to go out there and do it," said Mann. "I told him, just let the game come to you. It's like playing football in your back yard. Have fun with it, trust your hands and play ball, really."
The Eskimos will get back to work on Sunday and try to put the effort behind them, not just Whitlock's but their own as a whole, as the lopsided pounding can hardly be blamed on one man.
More from the Edmonton Journal.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It’s not just Whitlock that has to pick it up a few notches. From what I saw on Thursday, it’s the whole dam team.
Oilers Haven’t Given Up On Dany Heatley
12/07/2009 04:40
Sniper's trade demand may not be satisfied until September, or later
Dany Heatley voluntarily jumps into Okanagan Lake every morning over the summer, so the Oilers would derive precious little satisfaction from telling him to go do it.
You know, should they actually get up off their knees and move along like the proud, professional franchise they ought to be.
Instead, as their management waits by cellphones, BlackBerrys, pagers and computer monitors for the slightest utterance from Heatley, the erstwhile Ottawa Senators sniper seemingly controls the fates of two National Hockey League franchises with his silence.
The truth is only slightly different than that widely held perception. Heatley could in fact force the Oilers to get on with their lives by issuing a blanket refusal to waive his no-movement clause for a trade to Edmonton. But in the absence of such reason and benevolence, the only man who can push these follies to a logical dropping of the curtain now is Ottawa Senators general manager Bryan Murray.
That's the reality.
Murray does not hold all the cards, only those left to him after Heatley's trade demand went public and the pending swap with Edmonton went sour at the last possible moment. Though Murray still deals from a position of undeniable weakness, he knows he has to ante up again.
Despite owner Eugene Melnyk's laughable musings earlier this week about having a contrite and welcome Heatley at training camp, there is a far better chance that Heatley will ride the Ogopogo through the streets of Kelowna.
Heatley has not changed his mind about the issues that provoked the trade demand, which was sent to Murray in the guise of a formal request. He isn't going to tuck his tail between his legs and slink back into Ottawa, where he tops even the Bloc Quebecois, Canada Revenue Agency and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's myopic PR man on a list of pariahs.
The only resolution is an acceptable trade proposal and the waiving of Heatley's no-movement clause, in that order. That sequence of events won't occur unless and until Murray presents the Heatley camp with at least two more potential destinations in addition to Edmonton.
As luck would have it, a source close to the situation said Friday that Murray is in fact dealing with two other teams who have a genuine interest in acquiring Heatley, but neither team had formalized an offer.
There is no need to wonder why the saga continues to lurch along into the dog days of summer. NHL general managers have almost as much money as the fourth-liners they overpay, so they spend it on lake houses that must be used after the free-agent frenzy and prior to training camp. That suggests September as the new deadline for a resolution, but even that's not a hard and fast date.
The frenzied activity that produced the ill-fated, three-for-one swap with the Oilers was provoked by a$4-million salary payment the Senators, or his new team, were contractually obligated to pay Heatley on July 1. That cheque was written by Melnyk and cashed by Heatley, effectively putting a deal on the back burner.
Suddenly, it's July 11 and there is a bear market for malcontent millionaires. Heatley was surely expecting an auction for his services, not a garage sale, so it sucks just a little to be him, far worse to be Murray. One minute he had an enforceable contract with a franchise player, the next he had a public dispute with an almost-untradeable $7.5-million US salary cap hit.
When he managed to trade it for Dustin Penner, Andrew Cogliano and Ladislav Smid, the cap hit balked, the Senators' plans for July 1 were put on hold, they missed out on overpaying Mike Cammalleri and settled for overpaying an older, even more enigmatic Alexei Kovalev.
Most other teams with holes on left wing beefed up, too, and the pair of allegedly interested GMs are under almost no pressure to advance the, ahem, Dany derby.
Unless they get bored at the lake.
The source also said the Oilers had not imposed an internal deadline for a firm resolution of this ridiculously untenable situation. Nor had they communicated such an ultimatum to the Senators or Heatley. That rumour had been floated last week by a TV analyst and at least one Internet site.
"Could be a week, could be a month," said the source.
So what's a 28-year-old, basically teamless millionaire going to do over the summer in Kelowna? If a popular YouTube video is to be believed, Heatley emerges from the lake to spend much of each sunny Okanagan day shooting pucks in his backyard. He also skates in the morning with his brother and some NHLers who also call the place their summer home.
Heatley lifts weights, runs on a treadmill, hangs with his buds on his fancy boat and acts as if his petulance has not in fact made life miserable for the Oilers, Senators and their fans.
Ignorance and summer in Kelowna are apparently the same thing.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
My question, in response to the above headline, is why?
Al’s Keron Williams Was A Handful For Esks
12/07/2009 04:40
Keron Williams may as well have quit at the half.
In an outstanding defensive performance, the six-foot-one, 261-pound Montreal Alouettes defensive tackle recorded two quarterback sacks and two fumble recoveries before Thursday's 50-16 drubbing of the Edmonton Eskimos was even 30 minutes old.
He was a handful all night as was Montreal's entire front four, which gave the Eskimos offensive line and quarterback Ricky Ray fits.
The Als finished with five sacks and forced five turnovers--two on turndowns, two fumbles and one interception for a touchdown.
"They executed. They won the one-on-one matchups," said Eskimos head coach Richie Hall.
The Alouettes dominated the lines of scrimmage.
"It's an important thing," Williams, who led the Als with 10 sacks last season and already has three in 2009, told the Montreal Gazette.
"You start early and (the sacks) tend to have a domino effect. I was grateful to get one against (Henry) Burris in the first game. But it's not just me. It's the defensive backs giving me time to get there and defensive linemen taking two guys on so I have a one-on-one matchup."
RAY OFF TO SLOW START
Esks quarterback Ricky Ray is off to a slow start this season. He didn't get much help on Thursday, when he completed 19 of 33 passes for 280 yards, but the team didn't generate a touchdown until backup Jason Maas relieved Ray late in the game.
"When we got down in there, we weren't able to score. If we turn some of those missed opportunities into touchdowns, it's a totally different game. They played solid all game long and we didn't," said Ray.
The scary part was the Esks were still in the game at the half and trailed only 19-9 after three quarters before the Als rattled off 31 straight points in the fourth quarter.
"As much as we didn't take advantage of what we had in front of us, we still came out of halftime with a shot. We moved the ball well, we just didn't finish our drives," said Ray.
"Three times inside their five or 10 and to come up with three field goals, that's not going to be good enough against this team at home," said Esks receiver Kamau Peterson. "To me, that was the testament of the game. Even with the turnovers, I felt like we could overcome some of those if we capitalize in the red zone a little bit."
MAURICE WAS DA MANN
One positive for the Eskimos was Maurice Mann's electric performance as he hauled in seven catches --including several spectacular receptions-- for 139 yards.
Mann was shaken up on a play in the dying minutes that resulted in an interference penalty against Joel Wright. The penalty set up the only Esks TD--Arkee Whitlock's one-yard run with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
The Eskimos played on Thursday like they have completely lost all confidence in their offensive line. Not only did Keron Williams give the line fits all night, but twice inside the Al’s 10-yard line with first downs, they passed the ball. They also passed the ball on a third down and two gamble later in the game. And, the run blocking from the line was absolutely brutal. If they don’t get the problems with their offensive line ironed out, it’s going to be a very, very long season for the Esks.
And, never mind Arkee Whitlock, but Ricky Ray has been just terrible, too. He has to pick it up more than just a few notches if this team is going to have any success this year.
Picturesque Turnberry Set To Host 138th Open
12/07/2009 04:40
Turnberry is defined by great vistas and great champions, quite an identity for only being part of the British Open rotation the last 32 years. Move it to America and it might as well be called Pebble Beach.
Catch coverage of the 138th Open Championship from Turnberry, Scotland on TSN and starting Thursday with the Preview Show (6:30am et/3:30am pt), followed by the Opening Round.
It curves around the rugged Ayrshire coast, with nearly half of the holes positioned along a section of the Irish Sea known as the Firth of Clyde. The landmark is a 100-foot lighthouse that was built in 1873 and sits off the ninth fairway, not far from what remains of a castle inhabited by Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland in the early 14th century.
Looming out to sea is the Ailsa Craig, an island whose conical summit rises 1,000 feet from the water. Locals are fond of saying that if you can't see the Ailsa Craig, then it's raining. And if you can see it, then it's about to rain.
Enhancing its young reputation are its British Open winners, all of them in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
This is where Tom Watson matched scores with Jack Nicklaus for three rounds in 1977 and beat him with one last birdie, a duel that ranks among the best in golf. Greg Norman won his first major in 1986 behind a 63 in blustery conditions on the second day. Nick Price finished birdie-eagle-par in 1994, the last time the Open was held at Turnberry.
"It's a tremendous golf course," Colin Montgomerie said. "It's a golf course I think we all would agree has the most character of any links course in Britain, especially on our rota. Just a fantastic place to be."
So what can be expected when the British Open returns to Turnberry for only the fourth time, and the first time in 15 years?
More from Canadian Press.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
I’ll never forget that classic duel between Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson in 1977 at Turnberry in the Open Championship, where Watson beat the ‘Golden Bear’ by one stroke. If this year’s Open can be anything like 1977, it will be one of the most entertaining Open Championships of all-time. I’ve always compared the Open Championship to playing golf out in a farmer’s field anyway.
No Female Flight At Vancouver 2010
12/07/2009 04:39
B.C. Court rejects ski jump bid
For 10 years, beginning from her first leap off a hill at the impossibly young age of eight, ski jumper Katie Willis has dreamed of being an Olympic athlete. Not any more.
The heartfelt hopes of Ms. Willis and a dozen other women ski jumpers to compete at next year's Winter Olympics came to an almost-certain end Friday when a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed their high-profile bid in a lawsuit to be part of the Games, a right that male ski jumpers have had since 1924.
When the news came across her home computer screen, Ms. Willis, 18, was devastated. She dissolved in tears.
"All that hard work, all that passion for the sport that's been part of me for 10 years, just flashed before my eyes," the slight Calgary teenager said. "It's been my whole life. It was everything, really, the chance to represent my country in 2010."
Madam Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon ruled that the women ski jumpers were indeed discriminated against by the International Olympic Committee's decision to keep them off the 2010 Olympic calendar, but added that the Switzerland-based IOC was beyond the reach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC), which was the target of the ski jumpers' lawsuit, is duty-bound - despite the Charter - to abide by IOC decisions, Judge Fenlon concluded, a situation she confessed was "somewhat distasteful."
More from ctvolympics.ca
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
It’s interesting to find out the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms doesn’t apply to outside groups such as the IOC.
Mickelson To Skip British Open To Be With Wife
12/07/2009 04:39
LUSS, Scotland -- Phil Mickelson has decided not to play the British Open next week so he can be with his wife as she starts her recovery from breast cancer.
Mickelson said last month at the U.S. Open that it was "highly unlikely" he would play at Turnberry for the British Open.
He said Friday on his website that winning majors is his main objective, but that family comes first. His wife, Amy, had surgery on July 1 and Mickelson said they are awaiting more test results. Mickelson also learned that his mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Mickelson has played the last 61 majors, the longest active streak in golf. He'll be replaced in the field by Ben Crane.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
We wish both Amy and Mary Mickelson full and speedy recoveries.
Weir Snags Michael Jordan For Celebrity Golf Tourney
12/07/2009 04:39
OAKVILLE, Ont. -- Hoops legend Michael Jordan will be teeing off at the inaugural Mike Weir Charity Classic.
A golf enthusiast ever since his days with the Chicago Bulls, Jordan joins an already impressive list of celebrities that includes hockey stars Martin Brodeur and Rick Nash, two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, Canadian rocker Tom Cochrane, American comedian George Lopez and film star Kevin Costner.
"I'm thrilled Michael has agreed to play. He's become a good buddy and has always gone out of his way to support community and charitable activities. He'll be a tremendously popular draw for the fans," said Weir in a statement.
The Royal Canadian Golf Association also announced Friday that Charlottetown native and LPGA Tour regular Lorie Kane has joined the field.
The charity tournament will be held on July 20 to kick off the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey Golf Club.
SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:
This is quite a coup, indeed, for Mike Weir.