95th Grey Cup

I know some people who went to Toronto today. Not the players, but the fans. Rider fans all of them. I fear for the watermelon market here in Canada!

i'll eat some crow at work tomorrow. i publicly stated Blue & Gold would win todays game. The Gunslinger (Dinwiddie) started his first ever CFL game in the Coup de Grey. That could have gone either way; he's either a monster quarterback, or human and fallable. Not to put the whole game on Din's back, but he was the latter with brief flashes of the former. I was holding out hope that they might win, and with 2 minutes left in the game, they were poised to do just that. It was not that year for Stegall. One more year Milt, one more year for your Hall of Fame career... get that ring. The Bomber defense was amazing, and with Glenn back as QB, or another year of experience for Dinwiddie, the Bombers can compete for the 96th, in Montreal next November.

I talked about story lines a lot, and especially why, as a Lions fan i was rooting for the Bombers. How about Kerry Joseph's story. Not just his testimony as an active member of AIA, but his playing flag football down in the states a couple of years ago. Well done KJ, your running game is what broke the bomber defense down time and time again.

African Reminders

Prime Minister Harper is in Uganda these days, discussing climate change controls with the commonwealth countries.

Swiped from that globe & mail article (linked above) was this pic here;



poignant. It reminds me of the time i've been blessed to spend on the African continent. The people we've grown close to and the work we've been honoured to do.

Coop is preparing for a potential return trip in April 2008. This trip would, like our most recent trip, be another with CFL athletes.

Road to the Grey Cup 2007

Today is a prime example of why the games are played. Only one team wins, triumphs over the other, or in the case of the East & West finals of the CFL; One team from each game advances to the Grey Cup next week in T-dot.
I was going to go... K.D. was arranging tickets. I canceled the trip a few weeks back. My schedule got big, fast... and i didn't want to spend an extended weekend away.
I called Lions versus Bombers in the Cup. I Called that before the final week of the regular season. I called it because, pro sports are all about story lines, and the story lines for those two teams were stories i could support. Stories i could get excited about, and jump around in front of a tv about (or jump around a stadium, if i were in person at the game.)
Today started with the Bombers handily dispatching the Argo's. Handily. Stegall & The Minister of Defense move on to the big game. Stegall for the very first time. That is a winning story-line. I had the good fortune to be introduced to both these gentlemen during the festivities of Grey Cup 2005. The fact that Glenn broke his arm today hurts. It hurts him of course, but it also hurts the Bombers. It didn't hurt this game, but it will affect their chances of a Grey Cup victory. Mind you, Dinwiddie (sp?) did fine as the back-up QB (I wonder if he was teased as a young man?)
The Lions started todays game against The Roughies almost as ineptly as the Stamps a week before. It did not look good. It did not turn out good either. Lots of locals are excited now, planning on wearing bright green into Toronto next weekend. On second thought, i'm really gonna miss that game, i think.

Ahh, i do love the CFL.

Bloggus Interuptus

You might think that i'd forgotten about the blog (not true) or that maybe i've tired of blogging over the last 3 or 4 years (absolutely not true) but i'd rather you thought that i have been avoiding the blog in a cunning attempt to convince the blog spammers that my pages (including this one) are no longer nearly as worthy of spam as they were two weeks ago (also not true, but it sounds good).

This bloggus Interuptus (lack of blogging over a prolonged period of time, this has happened before) was partly due to an exceptionally busy work schedule (evenings and out of towns a plenty), home schedule and good old fashioned yard work, which ensures i'm asleep sooner than i'd generally like on the weekends.

I didn't forget. I've been thinking about blog posts a lot, and i'm at the point now where if i don't start posting again stat, i fear i'll burst at the seams.

Just last week i watched Calgary fall to Saskatchewan... that was a bitter pill, but i am looking forward to watching Sask fall to British Columbia this weekend. Then all will be right in the West.

Wendy's Contest Period Closed

The Wendy's Kick for a Million contest ends September 16th... that's a Sunday. Upon closer inspection, that is this Sunday, aka today. I have a total of 124 entries logged online for this contest. Not nearly enough i fear.

/This is that familiar part of addiction... the crash. :(

//And now, for the reflection... it was fun while it lasted;

August 26, 2007 - "The Baconator Made Me Do It"

September 3, 2007 - "Nine For Nine"

September 15, 2007 - "Stamps Game Today"

///Nothing left to do but wait for the phone call.

Stamps Game Today

44-22

That was the score of todays game between the Stampeders and the Riders. The game was in Calgary. Kick off was 2 o'clock. We were almost late, finding a place to park when you are only 4 of over 35,000 spectators is not easy, no matter what anyone ever says.

D.H got some great pics and digital video footage of the superfan sitting in front of us. Further proof that day-passes and alcohol should never mix. What a nutter. :)

The stadium ended up looking like a cut open watermelon. All the edges were Riders fans, the middle sections were predominantly Stamps fans, decked out in red.(maybe you had to be there, but it really did resemble a giant watermelon... for real.)

/Off to add a few more entries into my Wendy's Kick for a Million account. (i hope, i hope, i hope...)

The Baconator Made Me Do It

I like marketing. A lot. I could probably say that i *loved* marketing but, like the guy by the elevator in the recent Aero commerical "Love is such a strong word".

Subtle marketing for the soul is nice, but every once and a while i'll allow an in-your-face marketing campaign to grab my attention. How about that Baconator? The Official burger of the CFL. Heh. I love Wendy's. A lot. (Some folks aren't big fans of the new sandwich)

Lift The Lip (homage paid to Tim's Roll Up the Rim) today after lunch and won a free frosty. Them's are 1 in 9 odds. I'm hooked. So i grab both Pin #'s that i need to submit to the Wendys website and here i sit. I love the internets... i sure hope my odds carry on in my favor, i would love to kick for a million. Remember the last contest? The guy actually nailed the kick... he's raised the bar. I'm not sure if i'd nail the kick outside the 10 yard line, but in this contest, 10 yards is still worth ten grrr.

My odds would be infinitely better if i were able to use the PS2. (i kicked a 67 yard field goal once, Madden 2004 i think)

Musonda was in Town

As i mentioned earlier, Chris Musonda was in town. Chris is the Zambian National Director of Athletes in Action, and has been our host in Zambia numerous times.
He spent a few brief moments with us at church this morning, and then he was off (Winterpeg is his next destination).



The above pic was our group picture at the Copper Belt University campus in Kitwe, northern Zambia. Chris is the 2nd from the left. Can you spot the CFL athletes? (Hint; There were 3 current, and one retired athlete on that particular tour)

This morning was a flood of memories... not the least of which were all of the road trips from outlying town to outlying town. Thank God for additional family all around the world.

As mentioned before, Chris was in Canada as Official Chaplain for the Zambian National Team playing in the FIFA World Cup for Under 20 Men. Zambia advanced initially, and then lost to Nigeria in their first elimination round (Nigeria has since lost to Chile). Next time.

/ Picture width decreased from 600 to 400 pixels wide. In Firefox the site looked fine before, but with Explorer, it skewed the positioning... so switch to Firefox. :)

Canada (sports) Day

Happy [140]!

Anyone else notice that after the first week of CFL action this season, the West is undefeated (The Esks are the only team not to register a win over their eastern rival)... and the east didn't win ONE game... the only point in the east belongs to Winnipeg, who edged a tie with Edmonton. Parity? i think not.

How about FIFA U20 action... this is the 2nd most important World Cup event in the world... behind only the actual World Cup (See you in South Africa in 2010 for that one!)
Canada bumped into the Chileans for game one, but now are flying to Edmonton to play the remainder of their opening round games.

Zambia earned a spot in this years U20 Cup... they are playing their initial round in BC. Chris Musonda, who was our host in Zambia for two of our Athletes In Action tours through Africa is in Canada as well, serving as Team Zambia's chaplain.

Mission 137

I've been watching TSN's online broadcast of a CFL game tonight. Edmonton vs. Winnipeg. If it wasn't for my desire to see Milt get his 137th career TD i would have scrapped the internet feed. Choppy... disappointing. (Watching the WHL hockey game was much better, mind you it was NOT free).

Of course, Milt gets the touchdown... with seconds to spare, & to tie the game. Drama.
And now for OT... i will read that on the ticker. Until the broadband gets a little better.

/Winnipeg represents the East in this years Grey Cup (in Toronto... i'm hoping to go)
That is my prediction/selection... here are the rest of the Wendys TSN crew giving theirs!

Bekkering

I was at a Tigers game the other nite and a friend commented that Henry Bekkering was drafted by the Stamps of the CFL: "as talented an athlete as probably has ever played in this league.". Said friend recalled reading about Bekkering's freakish leaping ability on my blog a few years back.

So i dug around, and found that post, from November 2004. Bekk is originally from Taber, just down the road from Medicine Hat (which i call home) and a couple more hours to Calgary (where the Stamps play).

Brown re Ups

Brown re-signed with the Eskimos.

Great news!
/sorry i missed it when it happened. i've been a little pre-occupied. :)

Decisions, Choices & Options

Today was a good day (see last post). For another reason tho, today was a good day: I've been rooting for the B.C. Lions of the CFL (see three posts ago) and today they brought it ALL together, winning Le Coupe Grey's 94th challenge. I would have LOVED to be at this game, played in Winnipeg (how was it D.J?), also refered to as WINTERpeg, but for which i refer to as WINnipeg (Go Lions)! Maybe i will catch next years Coupe Grey in T dot. (Can you nab tickets Kyle? - get to work!)
I was thinking (after seeing tickets go on ebay) of driving down to Denver to catch the Bronco's Chargers NFL game going on right now (one sec - off to look). YEAAAARGH! My Bolts are closing out strong, taking first place after being in a tie with the Broncs. All is as it should be tonight!
So many Decisions, Choices & Options of how i spend my day today.
i gladly chose era's dedication... but next year! Here comes the football (live & in person).

Mark Washington

"Lions defensive back Mark Washington received the Tom Pate Memorial award for outstanding community service." - Globe & Mail
M.W. also served in East Africa this spring with the AIA trip i was a part of. One of many great people on that trip.
Congrats.