Has The VOice...On and Off the Ice

at 1:00 PM

I voiced a TV commercial yesterday for Yamaha snowmobiles. It involved some fast talking as my normal paced read was 36 seconds. But with some tight editing and a little time compression from my recording software, we hit the target of 30 seconds. My "ice cold" read is here - minus all the TV graphics. I will post it if I get a copy.

I just returned from the gas station, where the headline on the
Vancouver Sun mentioned:
Vancouver woman dubbed Canada's fastest talker

You can see Naomi Thomas in action here.

at 7:50 PM

Saturday in the park
I think it was the Fourth of July (December 5th today)
People dancing, people laughing
A man selling ice cream

~ Famous words from Chicago's 1972 song "Saturday In The Park"

The Toronto Raptors enjoyed their visit to Chicago tonight and bombed the Bulls 110-79. But Toronto's hockey team didn't show up in Boston and lost 7-2.

The Chicago Blackhawks were in a PA rink tonight - Pittsburgh's to be specific. 2-1 win in overtime for the Hawks as Sidney Crosby was out of action with a groin injury. Another PA rink (in Philadelphia) had a new coach behind the bench and absolutely nothing to write home about. Peter Laviolette must have been livid as Washington beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 8-2.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~ John 16: 33 (New International Version of the Bible)

Tim Tebow, the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman Trophy, is a devout Christian. He puts a bible verse on his eye black every game. Today's verse is above. The game did not go according to plan as
#2 Florida lost to #1 Alabama, 32-13. One of Tim Tebow's biggest fans is Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice! Caryn paid tribute to Tim Tebow in her last blog post: You Gotta Have Faith!

I am sorry your team lost today Caryn, but I hope you have lots of cake tomorrow since it is your birthday.

at 9:59 PM

This is the third time I have mentioned Terrell Owens on this blog. Next Monday, T-O celebrates his 36th birthday. He previously ended posts on:

May 23/09 - Boats and Goats
March 9/09 - Three themes from the NHL

My last two blog posts have had three / 3 in the title too. T-O had some threes in his football game with the Bills tonight: three catches for thirty-one yards. More was needed against the New York Jets in Toronto! Like the nine receptions Terrell had for 197 yards (third most receiving yards in his career) in the game below. The Jets won 19-13 tonight. On this most recent Buffalo Bills' game recap on the "Thurman Thomas Show", T-O had the chance to celebrate the longest touchdown in team history:

Are you wondering how many times the number three come up in that script? (I thought so).
Four.

Actress Soleil Moon Frye ("Punky Brewster") won the Alzheimer's Association “Who Wears Purple Best?” contest in September. Moon Frye edged out Terrell Owens and six other Alzheimer's Association celebrity Champions with a last minute streaming video and Tweets from famous friends Ashton Kutcher, Melissa Joan Hart and Danny Masterson.

at 11:56 PM

There were eight games on the NHL Monday menu and the number three was prevalent:

Buffalo 3 Toronto 0
Washington 3 Carolina 2
Colorado 3 Tampa Bay 0 - Craig Anderson made 33 saves for his third shutout of the season. Matt Duchene, the 18-year old taken third in this year's entry draft, was the first star of the game with two goals.
Atlanta 4 Florida 3

These three games were decided by three goal margins:

Pittsburgh 5 New York Rangers 2
Columbus 5 St. Louis 2
Detroit 4 Dallas 1

Calgary 5 Nashville 0 - This one didn't have a three theme but Miikka Kiprusoff was perfect for his 33rd career shutout (third this season).

I am currently third in my Hockey Pool - just three points out of first!
=========================================
What an amazing display on Monday Night Football for Drew Brees (18 of 23 passes for 371 yards and five touchdowns) and the New Orleans Saints! They beat New England 38-17 to remain undefeated at 11-0.

Number three for the Saints is kicker John Carney. He played in his 300th career NFL game tonight. Only five others have done that. Number one on the list with 382 games played:
-- Kicker Morten Andersen, who was with New Orleans from 1982-1994. He was with four other teams too in his career.
-- Number two on the list with 353 games played was another kicker, Gary Anderson, who was with Pittsburgh from 1982-1994. Like Morten, he played with four other teams.
3) 347 games and counting for Jeff Feagles, who is still punting for the New York Giants
4) George Blanda played 340 games between 1949-1975
5) Jerry Rice played in 303 games over twenty seasons (1985-2004) finishing as the most prolific receiver in NFL history with 1, 549 receptions.
=========================================
Canada's championship football game, the Grey Cup, was played on Sunday and became the most-watched program on Canadian TV this year. As I predicted last Monday on this blog, Montreal won. 28-27 over Saskatchewan. It was an UNBELIEVABLE finish! Have a look:

at 11:39 AM

Happy Thanksgiving to my U.S. friends!

Ladies first...
Congratulations to Sherry Ross, who became the first woman broadcaster to provide play-by-play for a full 60-minute NHL game in English!
It happened last night in New Jersey. Hear a voice clip and more here.

I feature many Buffalo Bills flashbacks on this blog so I thought I would throw one in from the Buffalo Sabres. This one opened their game one
year ago today on MSG-TV against the Boston Bruins:

That makes three blog posts in a row mentioning Boston...

I will be doing the PA (public address) at tonight's Westside Warriors game. On behalf of Warriors ownership, staff and fans, I would like to wish the U.S. born Warriors a Happy Thanksgiving!

Matt Maher of Avon, Connecticut
Jason Nash of Oxnard, California
Izaak Berglund of Little Falls, Minnesota
Kyle Singleton of Portland, Oregon
Tyler Brickler of Riverwoods, Illinois. He will make his debut tonight against the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

The top scorer in the BCHL is Salmon Arm’s Mark Zengerle, a 20-year-old from Rochester, New York He will be joining West Kelowna’s Justin Schultz at the University of Wisconsin next season.

at 9:27 PM

One of the most memorable plays in college football history took place
25 years ago today. Thanks to Curt Harding for reminding me about
the Doug Flutie Hail Mary to lead Boston College to a 47-45 victory
over the Miami Hurricanes. Here is the 1984 call from Brent Musburger:

Not to be outdone, we featured a little "Flutie magic in Florida"
on this weekend's edition of the "Thurman Thomas Show":

Doug Flutie's best pro football years were spent in Canada.
He was named Most Outstanding Player in six seasons: 1991 - 1994, 1996 and 1997. But yesterday, two teams he formerly played with here lost in the playoffs. Sorry Doug!

So the Grey Cup Championship game goes next Sunday in Calgary
(host city) and I will go out on a limb and predict Montreal will win.

at 11:23 PM

Congratulations to:

Tim Lincecum, who's 100 votes snagged him his second straight Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in the National League. It was a close vote - with a couple of St. Louis Cardinals within 10 votes of him.
Milan Michalek, who got his 100th career goal tonight for the Ottawa Senators as they beat Pittsburgh, 6-2.

As I googled 100's, I learned the North American F-100 Super Sabre was a jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. So, we end with a reference to 1979 - just like yesterday's blog post.

Were the Buffalo Sabres super in 1979? Not quite - but they were above average, finishing second in the Adams Division with 88 points. Ahead of them with 100 points in first were the Boston Bruins. These two teams meet Friday night in Buffalo. The Sabres have been super so far this season with a record of 12-5-1 while Boston is just 9-8-4 and out of the playoff picture. By the way, the Montreal Canadiens won their fourth straight Stanley Cup in 1979 - beating the New York Rangers. The New York Islanders would win the next four Stanley Cups.

at 11:22 PM

Congratulations to:

Washington Capitals' coach Bruce Boudreau, who picked up his 100th career win last night, becoming the fourth-fastest coach in NHL history to reach that milestone. Washington sits in first in the Eastern Conference, five points up on Buffalo, who have three games in hand.
Kobe Bryant, who recorded his 100th 40-point game last night. His Lakers beat Detroit 106-93. Only Wilt Chamberlain (271) and Michael Jordan (173) have more 40-point games in their careers.

NO congratulations to Dick Jauron - FIRED yesterday as coach of the Buffalo Bills. The writing was on the wall as you could see in my last blog post. Jauron has had only one winning season in ten as a head coach. That was a 13-3 record in 2001 with the Chicago Bears. His Bills' record over four seasons was 24 wins and 33 losses.

Jauron was the Defensive Coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars between 1995 - 1998. The Bills play there this Sunday while our 50th Season Moment on this weekend's "Thurman Thomas Show" will feature Jauron and the Jags. Too many J's? If you want more, here is some classic J.J. from "Good Times":

This final episode of "Good Times" in 1979 saw J.J. get an offer to a comic company while Keith's bad knee was miraculously healed and he was offered another football contract. A young Janet Jackson was also on the show.

at 7:58 PM

Going into yesterday's game against the Tennessee Titans, the Buffalo Bills had scored 123 points. That was an average of only 15.4 points per game (8). But Tennessee had surrendered the most in the NFL with 238, so you figured the Bills could rack up some points. They did get 17 through three quarters and it was a tied game. Hopes were high!

But Tennessee intercepted two passes late in the fourth quarter and returned both for touchdowns in a 90 second span. The final was not flattering: 41-17. The Bills were flat in the fourth in their previous game too as Houston scored 22 unanswered points to win 31-10. The Bills may want to try and lobby for games to be just three periods like in the NHL...

The 3 stars of the week in the NHL included Buffalo's Ryan Miller at #3! Only better? Zetterberg and Kovalchuk.

The voice of the Buffalo Sabres is Rick Jeanneret. There is a limited edition Holiday Card available from the Sabres with Rick and pre-recorded audio holiday greetings and more Christmas goodies. Listen to all 3 here.

Other 1-2-3 blog posts you may enjoy:
1, 2, 3 on Friday the 13th (March 13, 2009)
Voice 123 and 23andme (November 23, 2007)

at 5:08 PM

Congratulations to DB Cooper! Five years ago today, she launched
the Voiceover Bulletin Board. It is a tremendous resource for experienced voice talents and those just starting out. Read some of the well wishes here. Thank you for all you do Deirdre!
I have posted there 147 times while this blog post is number 149!

Last Friday I voiced a script for Basetwo Media in Vancouver. It was exactly two Novembers ago that we worked together for the first time. In fact, it was for the same client but the product name changed from Forever Post and Board to EcoCrust Post and Board.

"Sesame Street" is 40 today!

Ed Olczyk is a great hockey voice. He is the game analyst for the Chicago Blackhawks TV broadcasts. Olczyk is also the lead game analyst for the NHL on NBC, and a studio and color analyst for the big league games on the Versus network. Ed Olczyk's son, Tom, was born 19 years ago today. He plays for the Sioux City Musketeers. The funny thing is his dad was traded from Toronto to Winnipeg as he was in the delivery room...

at 10:11 AM

This weekend on the Bills' 50th Season Moment:
a 1980 visit to San Francisco. Go Joe! (Not Montana)

San Francisco hosts Tennessee today while the Bills are off until they meet Tennessee next weekend.

I love stories about people overcoming the odds.
San Francisco's tight end, Vernon Davis, is one of those.
BIG thanks to his Grandma! Have a look and listen here.

PS There are 28 NFL players with the last name Davis.

at 11:27 AM

Hass thanks Faas for this soccer link.

Michael Grabner of the Vancouver Canucks fractured his ankle during a pre-game soccer warm-up Sunday and could be out until Christmas. I mentioned I sprained my ankle two weeks ago. I believe I will be back on the basketball court next week. This past Monday I was able to go for a walk for the first time since the injury.

This weekend on the "Thurman Thomas Show", we will have footage from a classic Bills game where the quarterback played with a severely sprained ankle. I will post it here on Sunday morning.

at 2:50 PM

Tonight's Shaw TV broadcast does not approach the magnitude of the sixth game of the World Series between the Yankees and Phillies - or next Monday night's football game between the better known Broncos of Denver hosting Pittsburgh.

But, there are ten S's in this 15 second promo of mine. The 30 second promo had 17 S's - if anyone is tracking that StatiStic:)

The NHL team with the most S's in their full name? The San Jose Sharks with four. Only three NHL teams do NOT end with an S:

Tampa Bay Lightning
Colorado Avalanche
Minnesota Wild

All 32 NFL teams end with an S. Only two major league baseball teams do not end with an S:

Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox

The Hockey Hall of Fame will induct a star-studded cast on November 9 when Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch and Luc Robitaille are inducted as players and Lou Lamoriello is inducted as a builder. Just one S among all those letters. Ten L's though...LOL...

at 2:51 PM

The Texans' Ryan Moats had the game of his life today and the Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick did not. "Ryan the runner" had three touchdowns and 126 yards while "Ryan the passer" had only 117 yards. Houston 31, Buffalo 10. With a bye next week, the Bills will not have a chance to come back from this catastrophe until November 15 against the winless Tennessee Titans (the former Houston Oilers).

As I promised at the end of my last post, this weekend on the Bills' 50th Season Moment: the greatest comeback in NFL history.
The Bills were down 35-3 in this 1993 playoff game against the Oilers:

Fifty years ago today, the goalie mask found its way into the hockey world. I wonder if a football helmet could have worked...

at 10:19 PM

Congratulations to former Kelowna Rocket, Tyler Myers! He is sticking with the big boys in Buffalo! Myers, who was born in Houston, Texas, but moved to Calgary at the age of 10, has posted 2 goals, 5 points and a plus-8 rating through nine games this season. The three-year entry level contract he signed last May will kick in
in Buffalo's 10th game of the season tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Thurman Thomas, of the "Thurman Thomas Show", was born in Houston. Our Bills play the Houston Texans this Sunday. Two weeks ago on the show's Bills' 50th Season Moment, we remembered a great football game Thurman and the Bills had on New Year's Day in 1989 against Houston's old team, the Oilers:

Hockey's Oilers (from Edmonton) just beat Detroit in a shootout, 6-5.
I'm happy because Ales Hemsky got me three points in my hockey pool!

Bryan Hall has been the most popular sports voice in Edmonton since starting as Edmonton Eskimos play-by-play announcer in 1965. But tomorrow night he broadcasts his final football home game. Hall is a unique man, with a brash, off-the-cuff style that he has become famous for. That, and long-winded questions that he often ends up answering himself.
"Sometimes I don't have to say anything because he provides the question and the answer for me," said Eskimos head coach Richie Hall (no relation) with a laugh. The Eskimos honoured Bryan Hall yesterday by naming the Commonwealth Stadium media centre after him, and that’s where he will call his final Eskimos home game on Friday night against the Toronto Argonauts.

Warren Moon, who gained fame as the Houston Oilers' quarterback, is one of 31 players/contributors recognized on the Edmonton Eskimo Wall of Honour at Commonwealth Stadium. (Scroll down to 2001). The earlier footage featured Warren Moon and he returns on this weekend's Bills' 50th Season Moment in the greatest comeback in NFL history. And you know who is going to win? So, sorry but boo hoo in Houston...Boo Hoo is also a band that formed in Montreal in 2005.

at 9:43 AM

Catching some Zzzz's...
My game recap script this weekend on the "Thurman Thomas Show" had "more" Z's than I bargained for:
Mark SancheZ, Ryan FitZpatrick and the word capitaliZe.
The Bills won last Sunday against the New York Jets, 16-13, in overtime!

The Buffalo Bills lost a low scoring game a week earlier on October 11,
6-3. The "star" of the game was Cleveland punter Dave Zastudil, who
landed seven of nine punts inside the Bills 20. Here is my game recap.

There are not too many football players with a "Z" starting their last name in the NFL. Only 6 others besides Mr. Zastudil:
- Tom Zbikowski   - Dominique Zeigler
- Joe Zelenka         - Jeff Zgonina
- Keith Zinger       - Jeremy Zuttah

This summer on the Voices.com blog, Stephanie Ciccarelli introduced us to Ann DeWig, the female promo voice behind the Super Bowl XLIII promos on NBC. Read the article here. And, more words of wisdom this past week from Ann in Stephanie's article, The Only Constant is Change.

I asked Stephanie about the "Voices.com huddle" I heard about and she responded back very quickly on Thursday afternoon:
We started doing the daily huddles a month and a half ago. Each huddle lasts about 5 minutes (but no more than 8) and consists of each team member sharing:
1. Good News (whether personal or professional)
2. Numbers (as they pertain to their responsibilities in the company)
3. Broken Systems / Opportunities (We believe systems break down, not people, and are always looking for opportunities for improvement)
4. Top Ones (priority for the day)
5. Cheer in recognition of one of the team member's efforts

Stephanie adds," All of us are capable of leading the huddle. They happen at the same time each day and serve as great opportunities to learn, measure our daily progress, converse, and keep us accountable to each other. When you say you will be doing something publicly, it had better get done!"

Voiceover lady Bobbin Beam is liking the Minnesota Vikings (one of four undefeated teams so far) more all the time, but will always be faithful to the San Diego Chargers and Brett Favre's old team, the Green Bay Packers. Bobbin says her hubby Pete is a Chicago Bears guy, so they have a "no taunting rule" when her beloved teams play his.

Bobbin, I checked Chicago's schedule and it looks like you two are safe until the US Thanksgiving weekend when Chicago is in Minnesota:)

PS Two months to Christmas...

at 4:24 PM

HASS - Got my first ever stitches out yesterday and was back on the basketball court for the first time in three weeks. Then, I sprained my ankle coming down with a rebound. The Sports Physiotherapist we play with was there and figured I'll be out a week or two. Lots of ice the next few days and I am hopping around with my good leg...

GLASS - Watch the Top 10 shattering moments here.
Hockey is represented 6 times and basketball twice - including #1!

at 8:48 PM

Well, the "balloon boy" stunt last Thursday was a hoax. NO doubt about it. Up-to-date details here. On a local level, a hot air balloonist got into some hot water late last month.

Exactly one year ago today the Buffalo Bills beat San Diego, 23-14, in the "balloon game." San Diego was on Monday Night Football tonight and lost on October 19th again, 34-23 to Denver (6-0). Last weekend we had the Chargers featured on the Bills' 50th Season Moment on the "Thurman Thomas Show." The Bills always win on that segment...so sorry San Diego:

at 8:06 PM

The Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Islanders tonight, 6-3. They have now won four in a row after losing on opening night in overtime to Montreal. Tomorrow, October 17th, Buffalo hosts Atlanta.

Last season, the Sabres won their first four games of the year - including opening night against Montreal. Then Buffalo was going for five straight in Atlanta on October 18th, but settled for a single point after a shootout loss, 3-2. Here is my opener from last year's game on MSG-TV:

at 12:12 PM

Tonight the Buffalo Sabres are in Nashville to take on the Predators. From the home team's website comes this inspiring speech from someone who is NOT one of Kate and Jon's eight kids:

at 11:21 AM

Lots of goals last night in the Western Hockey League! 50 goals scored by 10 teams. The Shaw TV broadcast was in Saskatoon where the Blades scored 8 in beating the Kootenay Ice by 4. The Shaw TV crew will be there again November 4 for our fourth game of the broadcast schedule.
Game three is the "Battle of Alberta":

You know, I would like to voice a hockey reality show called
"SKATE Plus 8" starring Alexander Ovechkin - and I shared as much
on THE Washington Capitals' blog today. Visit that link for a great Sabres' flashback photo too! They know what they are talking about there, like "It was like playing in a Canadian city."

Meanwhile, you can follow the NHL's "Battle of Alberta" here. BC hockey fans are breathing a little easier this morning. The Vancouver Canucks avoided losing 4 in a row last night by destroying Montreal, 7-1. Locally, the Kelowna Rockets won their 4th in a row thanks to a shootout winner by Cody Chikie. Cody is being billeted by a good friend of mine, Darryl J.

at 2:54 PM

I handled PA at yesterday's Westside Warriors' 5-4 overtime win over Merritt. That was a great way to wrap up the game! Unfortunately on Friday night, yours truly and Westside experienced the opposite emotion as Vernon scored with 2.3 seconds remaining to beat the Warriors 4-3.

Several blowouts in the NFL yesterday. Six games were won by 17 or more points. The worst was San Francisco shutting out the St. Louis Rams, 35-0. The second most embarrassing score was 38-10 for Miami over my Buffalo Bills.

On a more positive note, here is a segment I voiced for the weekend's "Thurman Thomas Show." It is a Bills' 50th Season Moment remembering a comeback win against those same Miami Dolphins on October 9, 1983:

A couple of weeks ago on the Bills' 50th Season Moment, we picked on Miami again:

Considering it was a full moon last night, maybe I should have titled this post:

at 4:01 PM

Four games kick off the NHL season tonight and CBC-TV has a Hockey Night in Canada doubleheader. Montreal in Toronto is the early game. I don't even think the Habs will make the playoffs this season. The Vancouver Canucks are in Calgary for the late game. Here is what I "C" in the Canucks' immediate future:

Colorado - Game 2 on Saturday
Columbus - Game 3 next Monday
Canadiens - Game 4 next Wednesday
Cal Clutterbuck - Game 7 on October 17 versus Minnesota. The Canucks better see him on the ice or they will get crunched! Clutterbuck lead all NHL forwards in bodychecks last season with 356 - 71 more than Dustin Brown of the LA Kings.

The Canucks will win a division title like last year and fare better than Chicago, who knocked them out of the playoffs.

at 8:22 PM

Our church has an amazing youth group! They do a lot of great work in our city and also out of town. Over the weekend the Senior Youth were in Grand Forks helping out that community with everything from yardwork to organizing a church service. To quote from the youth website:

We are an army of young people who love each other like best friends (that's called kahoots) and desire to see people meet Christ, the source of all real life!

Our daughter, Ashley, is one of four recent grads interning in the Youth Department this year. She will be taking several courses through Briercrest Bible College as well as receiving credit hours for her service with the youth at different locations. Over the years, the Youth have been known to attract a crowd when they throw items like old appliances and pumpkins off the main church building! That inspired me to find this TV intro with falling TV's from SCTV in the mid-'80's:

at 1:58 PM

I will be doing the public address announcing at tomorrow afternoon's Westside Warriors game. The Quesnel Millionaires will be the visitors.
On Thursday the team gave me a call as the regular voice, Wayne Moore, realized he had a conflict with the Okanagan Sun football game he was committed to. So, three Sundays in a row coming up for me "high in the gondala." What a great word - made famous by the legendary Foster Hewitt! The Millionaires sort of have a billionaire in the lineup...on defense is a 17 year old named Tyler Billon.

Hear all about the famed Maple Leaf Gardens broadcasting gondola and how its dizzying heights made strong men go weak in the knees by clicking here. This interview with Foster first aired in March of 1965.

Off to church tonight. It would be nice if a millionaire could make a donation so our church can buy another letter K...

at 8:21 PM

Kara Edwards and Trent Edwards...

Besides being a very good voice talent, Kara Edwards is an avid photographer. She snapped the one below at a recent Pee Wee football game in Tampa Bay that her neighbors' son was in.
She calls it "Horizontal Child":)

Trent Edwards takes the snaps as the quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. This past Sunday, the Bills beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
33-20. Mr. Edwards had a quarterback rating of 97.5 against the Bucs. It was the 12th time in his career that he had a QB rating of 80.0 (minimum 20 attempts) or higher and the Bills are 11-1 when he reaches that mark in his career. Trent's only loss came in week one this season as New England eked out a 25-24 win. After two weeks of the NFL season, Trent Edwards has the fifth highest QB rating in the league at 104.9. Number one on that list is Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, who visit Buffalo this Sunday.

Kara Edwards is also an avid blogger like me. We both started in late 2006. She currently leads in posts with 147. But I am now only two touchdowns behind with 133 posts...Time flies when you are having fun!
Or, to quote Groucho Marx:
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

at 11:16 PM

Denver won by five and Jacksonville lost by two as they each scored 12 points today as the NFL season got rolling - but NO team scored 13. Oddly enough, I shared footage from Bills games against those two teams two posts back. However, the NFL season opener on Thursday saw Pittsburgh score a 13-10 overtime victory versus Tennessee.

The Monday night football tradition returns tomorrow. San Diego and Oakland battle for California bragging rights after the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots go at it. 13-0 was the final score for the Pats the last time they met to close out the 2008 season. The "Thurman Thomas Show" ran for the first time this weekend and the Bills' 50th Season Moment flashed back to September 7, 1980:

A date close to that was September 1, 1980. On that date, Canadian hero Terry Fox, stopped running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario. His primary cancer had spread to his lungs so after 143 days and 5, 373 kilometres (3,339 miles), his Marathon of Hope came to an end. On June 28, 1981, after treatment with chemotherapy and interferon, Terry Fox died at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, BC.

The annual Terry Fox Run went off all across Canada today. In Kelowna, 548 participants took part raising almost $22, 000 dollars for cancer research. Next year will be the 30th Terry Fox Run! It is an innovative and volunteer-led event, all-inclusive, non-competitive, with no corporate sponsorship, incentives or fundraising minimums.

The Terry Fox Run for Cancer Research is taking place in New York City on October 17 at Central Park. More details here.
Other international events are listed here.

at 9:48 PM

This past Saturday and Sunday, I had the chance to be the public address announcer at the final two exhibition hockey games of the Westside Warriors. The last time I did this was two Septembers ago in 2007. I won't have to wait as long for my next opportunity as I'll be doing the Warriors' games on October 2nd and 4th. I have asked my music partner in the booth, Chris, to track down this song to get the fans into the game:
"The Warrior" by Scandal (featuring Patty Smyth) hit number 7
on the U.S. pop charts in September of 1984.

Besides a lightning strike knocking out power for a while, Sunday's game had quite the finish! Westside won 6-5 when they scored with 66 seconds left! Number 24 on defense had a great game with three assists. Hometown boy, Brendan Ellis, also had a couple penalties but number 24 on the other team (Merritt), Joey McEwan, got a little out of control with five seconds left in the game as he picked up two roughing penalties, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, a ten minute misconduct and a game misconduct!...sounds like John McEnroe in his prime:)

Last night at the US Open, after men's No. 4 seed, Novak Djokovic, defeated No. 15 Radek Stepanek, John McEnroe joined him from the TV booth to play a "fun" grudge match:

In case you are keeping score, John McEnroe and Patty Smyth have been married for twelve years now - and I won my first match tonight in my fall tennis league!

at 1:17 PM

Denver hosts Chicago tonight in the lone NFL preseason game. The Buffalo Bills went into Denver late last season and won 30-23! This is the first video footage I am able to share from my work on the "Thurman Thomas Show."

Here is early season footage from the Bills' second game in Jacksonville.
It was another win!

at 3:12 PM

Yesterday in Kelowna, Dany HEATley finally talked about why he wants to leave the Ottawa Senators. He should have done that months ago because his reputation has been tarnished since vetoing a trade to Edmonton.

The Calgary Flames' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate is now the Abbotsford HEAT - relocating from Quad Cities, Iowa. Two days ago, I spoke with their Director of Communications and Broadcast, Dave Sheldon. He is set to announce his color commentator in the broadcast booth and Dave says we will be surprised because his partner is not an athlete.

Below are five Buffalo Sabres games to enjoy (featuring my voiceovers) with:
- Inauguration footage with President Obama
- A rock 'n' roll classic from 1976
- Trade deadline day footage

A BIG thank you to Brent Luehr, Director of Technology, at HuStream Technologies here in Kelowna for spending a Friday afternoon converting the footage from an awkward (technically speaking) 353 mb UDF file from Sabreville.

By the way, HuStream specializes in production of modern interactive video technology solutions for organizations throughout the world. To see a great new example, press play now when you arrive here. Or check out HuStream's portfolio!

at 7:08 PM

Bolt burned up the track in Berlin two days ago setting a new 100m World record of 9.58 seconds!

But, I was faster in voicing these two recent TV commercial tags:
-- 401 Dixie Kia in Mississauga, Ontario
-- Clean Slate TV show airs across Canada the next two Saturdays (August 22 and 29). Here is the behind the scenes story.

But my audition for an EA Sports racing video game was over Bolt's 9.58 seconds. My thanks to Herb Merriweather for his production help on that one.

All for now...I continue my sports journey in a moment by "hitting the gym."

at 11:37 AM

Sidney Crosby got to bring the Stanley Cup home today on his 22nd birthday! Nova Scotia hosted SC X 2.

Two NHLers retired in the last 2 days. They each finished wearing number 27 (my niece, Jessica, hit this age 2 days ago) but never got to hoist the Stanley Cup in their 20-year careers. Teppo Numminen finished his career with the Buffalo Sabres while Jeremy Roenick finished up in San Jose. While Numminen was "normal", Roenick could be classified as "raucous." You can see it all here on TSN's Top 10 Jeremy Roenick Moments.

I have a voiceover friend celebrating a birthday today in California. Herb Merriweather is a big sports fan too! The St. Louis Cardinals would be topping his list right about now. He also recently started blogging.
You can follow Herb here.

at 10:49 AM

The late, great Michael Jackson came to Vancouver in 1984. He performed three sold-out concerts at B.C. Place but also had a run-in with police. However, that was a positive experience and NOT a negative one.
See the story, picture and video here.

"Everybody learned something" from Michael Jackson is how this clip started off last night on ABC's 20/20. It was in reference to his amazing influence in making videos. Through the media, we have all learned a lot more than we ever knew about Michael since he died on June 25. Unfortunately, too much of it is sensationalized and I don't think it
will end after Tuesday's public memorial service.

Here are some life lessons that I wish Michael Jackson had taken to heart:
-- It is more important what is on the inside than the outside
-- Take advice from those that truly love you
-- Money can't buy happiness

Remembering Michael Jackson in Music and in Sports.

This is a good read from Michael Ielpi, a New Jersey Devils fan.

The Vancouver Canucks "stepped up to the mic" yesterday. GM Mike Gillis signed right winger Mikael Samuelsson to a three-year deal.

If you would like to "Step Up to the MIC" as a voiceover artist, you will want to click on this link for a book by Rodney Saulsberry.

at 10:25 PM

To all my US friends, I hope you have a great Independence Day coming up on July 4th!

We celebrated Canada Day yesterday and I made sure to sport something red. My Buffalo Bills shirt had that and so did our new basketball net. My "artistic" photo taken tonight is here:

5 marketing lessons from Ralph the artist.

This is not from me but Atlanta voice-over talent, Karen Commins.

Also new on the blogroll today is Atlanta's Craig Crumpton with Voice Actors in the News.

at 1:40 PM

That was an amazing interview on Tuesday on the NBA halftime show with a proud father named Izzy Rodriguez! Ryan Rodriguez is his young son. He was a boy of few words - until the Orlando Magic got in the picture. Sports columnist Mike Bianchi also wrote about this magical story last month in the Orlando Sentinel. By the way, this website (http://www.magicalvoice.com/) does not belong to a voice talent in Orlando but right here in Kelowna.

Ryan or Izzy should have been shooting free throws for Dwight Howard of the Magic last night. He made only 6/14, meaning he missed more freebies than the LA Lakers did in the whole game (5). The Lakers can win the NBA title on Sunday night as they have a commanding 3-1 series lead now.

The 15th Game 7 in NHL Stanley Cup history goes tonight with Pittsburgh in Detroit. Game 7s have provided some of the NHL's finest moments. But it will not compare to my daughter's graduation ceremony!

The world needs you. It needs your voice, your smile.

It needs your talents,

your passion.

It needs all the gifts you have to give.

Listen to your heart,

trust your strengths,

follow your joy.

And give generously

of all those things that make you

so perfectly you.

Because the world needs you...

just as you are.

Thanks Hallmark!

Thank you Ashley!!

Signed, your proud father

at 3:11 PM

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to AZ VO talent Doc Phillips!
As mentioned on his blog, he is dealing with congestive heart failure.

Thanks to NBC play-by-play announcer, Doc Emrick, TV ratings for the Stanley Cup finals are off to their best start since 2002. Doc (Mike) has been the voice of the New Jersey Devils since 1993. A very nice tribute to Doc here from DR - Daryl Reaugh, who has a blog that is very sharp and humorous. Daryl "Razor" Reaugh has been working as the Dallas Stars' color commentator since 1996. I think it's only a matter of time before "Razor" and I work together...he likes Ralphs! The play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Stars is Ralph Strangis and Daryl first appeared as a broadcast regular in 1991 on the American Hockey League-produced weekly series, Rinkside, partnered with fellow goaltender Jim Ralph.

Another former NHL goalie, John Davidson, will receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster. He is currently the St. Louis Blues' President of Hockey Operations.

I had the chance to speak yesterday with St. Louis' Executive Director of Broadcasting and Blues Alumni, Bruce Affleck. Bruce is from nearby Penticton, BC, where he has helped put together the Hall of Fame Summer Classic on July 25. This blog post from early last year
shows you that I also like the St. Louis Blues.

at 3:43 PM

30 teams started the NHL race on October 4, 2008. Pittsburgh started the season with a pair against Ottawa in Stockholm, Sweden and tonight they start the Stanley Cup Final in Detroit. WhatIfSports.com predicts Detroit in seven games. My WHL colleague on Shaw-TV, play-by-play announcer Dan Russell, has predicted Pittsburgh in seven. I will go along with the Penguins but think they will "take it all" in six.

Earlier this week, Shaw Communications and the Western Hockey League (WHL) announced they have extended their partnership for an additional five years. Shaw also had some exciting international coverage over the Christmas holidays that I voiced promos for.

Bring on NHL coverage for Shaw I say!

Anyway, a mass of Chris' in the Stanley Cup Final.

For Detroit: Chris Osgood, Chris Chelios and Kris Draper.

Pittsburgh has Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang.

at 4:34 PM

The Indianapolis 500 race is tomorrow morning. 33 cars will start the race.
Here is the fast paced Marine Center of Indiana TV commercial I said I would post after my last blog entry.

From boats to goats...

The Vancouver Canucks may be out of the playoffs, but their efforts will live on — in Africa — after some charity-minded fans decided to do more than grow a beard to support the team. Visit: http://www.goatcanucksgoat.com

As of today, 875 goats have been raised for Africa

- UP 16 in the last three days!

Tyler Myers and the Kelowna Rockets are in the final tomorrow afternoon for the Memorial Cup to decide Canada's best junior hockey team. They will be taking on the Windsor Spitfires from the Ontario Hockey League. Proving again it is a small world, I began work yesterday for a new client in Windsor - an elearning company.

Do you want to be Canada's next Sportscaster? You could be drafted by the Score television network. This week on their blog, the Score linked to the sportscasting exploits of Shaquille O’Neal and the Buffalo Bills' Terrell Owens.

at 2:56 PM

UNLESS you are standing next to a 6’8” hockey player named Tyler Myers! It is worth mentioning again that he was the MVP of the Western Hockey League Final against Calgary, just like he was in the Western Conference Final against Vancouver. His incredible season included signing a pro contract with the Buffalo Sabres last Monday.
I am 5’10 1/2” if you are keeping score...

It really is a "small world." On the season finale last night of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the TV station featured in Indianapolis
was the same one (RTV6) I did a boat commercial for at the end of April.
I will post a link to it when I get a copy.
Last night's show got quite the response!
RTV6 has a detailed article here with links about Bernard McFarland, the single father of three who mentors area youth.

Tonight on ABC-TV they launch the fifth edition of "The Bachelorette." Jillian Harris became a fan favorite on the last edition of "The Bachelor." She lives in Vancouver but grew up right here in Kelowna, BC. Her Dad makes a prediction for the show here from his home in Kelowna.

“It’s a small world” at Disneyland opened five weeks after I was born on April 22, 1964. Here is an informative historical discussion of the attraction.

at 4:05 PM

Live Long and Prosper are the words that accompany the Vulcan salute. It is a hand gesture consisting of a raised hand, palm forward with the fingers parted between the middle and ring finger, and the thumb extended. Thank you Leonard Nimoy! The new "Star Trek" movie looks to be a big hit and features an appearance by Nimoy. This review says it Should Live Long and Prosper.

Live at Prospera Place this morning were three radio stations and fans like me to help send off the Kelowna Rockets to the 2009 Memorial Cup in Rimouski, Quebec. Susan Knight of Sun FM said it would take 41 days to walk there...

BUT the Rockets boarded their team bus and had a charter flight waiting at the airport. The Rockets won the Ed Chynoweth Cup Saturday at Prospera against Calgary! The game went into overtime with Kelowna winning 3-2. The MVP of the Finals, as he was in the Western Conference Final against Vancouver, was Tyler Myers. His incredible season included signing a pro contract with the Buffalo Sabres on Monday! Here is the link off the Sabres' website.

I ended my last post with "the scoop" on some NHL coaches. Here I am this morning with the Rockets' Ryan Huska, the seventh head coach in Rockets franchise history. He is very calm, cool and collected behind the bench and has a bright coaching future ahead of him. He is only 33. How can you go wrong with someone who has the initials RH?

Happy birthday tomorrow to Roy Halladay!
The Blue Jays' ace turns 32 - same as his number.

at 10:39 PM

Here on May 7th we had teams with 7 letters in their city names playing:
Kelowna and Calgary went at it in Alberta. 7 goals were scored in the game - won easily by the Calgary Hitmen, 6-1. The Kelowna Rockets can still win the Ed Chynoweth Cup Saturday on home ice against Calgary...

Detroit, Anaheim, Chicago and Vancouver all played in the NHL playoffs. The latter has 9 letters but Canucks has 7:) Chicago rallied late on home ice to tie their series with Vancouver at two games each. The Hawks won in overtime, 2-1. Former Calgary Hitmen junior Andrew Ladd scored in overtime to win it for the Blackhawks. He scored 57 goals over two seasons with Calgary - including the playoffs. His pro career (including the postseason) has now seen him score 51 times.

Detroit beat Anaheim 6-3 to even that series at two. The first star of the game was Johan Franzen, who scored Detroit's first two goals of the game. He has seven letters in his last name...just like the coaches:
Randy Carlyle and Mike Babcock.

There is a new hockey website out now called Make It Seven. Jim Balsillie of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion is attempting to buy the financially ailing Phoenix Coyotes (yes, 7 letters in the city and name) and move them to Hamilton. It would be Canada's seventh team. Phoenix came into being when the Winnipeg Jets moved there in 1996. I would actually love to see Phoenix go back to Winnipeg! At the time of the Jets' move to Phoenix, it was estimated that about 600 area children played organized hockey. The number in Winnipeg — with roughly half the population — was around 24, 000. There you have a tale of two cities - starting with P and W.

Another tale of two cities - starting with P and W - takes place Friday night in Pittsburgh. Washington visits with a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-seven. Anaheim coach, Randy Carlyle, has a lot of good memories as a defenseman in Pittsburgh. He won the James Norris Trophy in 1981 as the NHL's best. Carlyle played six years there before moving on to Winnipeg for parts of ten seasons. The coaches in question Friday night (Caps' Boudreau and Pens' Bylsma) go back more than 15 years. Here is the article - "hot off the press" from the Washington Post.

at 7:55 PM

The Kelowna Rockets can win the Ed Chynoweth Cup tomorrow on home ice against the Calgary Hitmen!

A big reason for the Rockets' rise in the playoffs is the man between the pipes, Mark Guggenberger. He was the first star last night in Kelowna and you can see him here. The PA announcer heard in the clip is a former radio colleague of mine, Bill Barnes. Bill's day job now sees him as a big part of Enquiro, a privately held search engine marketing firm with ten years of experience in search engine optimization (SEO) and sponsored search (PPC) to make your search engine marketing strategy more powerful.

From a recent Regan's Rant blog post comes this food for thought:
How popular is Mark Guggenberger in Kelowna? A local restaurant called the Grateful Fed had a special last week called the...wait for it....the Gugg-en-berger. What is the Guggenberger? It is a turkey burger with cranberry mayo.

That can only be topped by footage of U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden ordering lunch today at Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington, Virginia. My research here leads me to believe the President probably came close to ordering a thousand calories...

I think I came close to burning a thousand calories off after voicing this hockey promo for Shaw TV:

at 6:54 PM

President Barack Obama's first 100 days in office are behind him. Here is a visual review thanks to The Associated Press.
"Lost" marks its 100th episode tonight and I will be tuned in.
The Boston Red Sox had a 100-year-old batboy over the weekend.

Well, I was 100 percent correct on my NHL game seven predictions yesterday! Congratulations to Washington and Carolina for moving on.
The next round has these matchups:

Pittsburgh and Washington
Carolina and Boston
Chicago and Vancouver
Anaheim and Detroit

My brash predictions to move on are Washington, Boston, Vancouver and Anaheim. Before the opening round I predicted Boston would ultimately beat San Jose in the Stanley Cup Finals...I'll stick with Boston to go all the way BUT by beating the Vancouver Canucks.

at 2:03 PM

Am I referring to Donald Trump or Don Cherry?
No, but Donald Brashear - suspended for six games for
"impersonating Sean Avery." Brashear will be missing the pivotal game seven tonight against Avery and the New York Rangers. I am still picking the Caps. Brashear was born in Bedford, Indiana and my voice traveled to Indianapolis today as I sent along a voice file to WRTV for a boat dealer commercial that will start airing in the morning.

MSG-TV will be carrying the Rangers game tonight and also game seven between New Jersey and Carolina. I am picking the Hurricanes in that one. The Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes lost the league title last year to the Spokane Chiefs. Here is one of my promos that ran on Shaw TV. Tomorrow, I will be busy recording the WHL promos for this year's final on Shaw featuring my hometown Kelowna Rockets against the Calgary Hitmen. Kelowna prevailed last night at home in overtime versus Vancouver!

Wow!! is absolutely right.

at 8:32 PM

That's what Mike Milbury did on his blog today. He wraps it up by saying:
I say give these weirdos their own planet and be done with it.
Thanks for the Earth Day sentiment Mike...NOT!

Vancouver won two games yesterday!

The Canucks became the first team to move on in the NHL playoffs as Roberto Luongo stopped 47 shots last night against St. Louis in a 3-2 win. It was the first seven-game series sweep in the Canucks' 38-year history.

The Vancouver Giants beat the Kelowna Rockets by the same 3-2 score yesterday. Tyson Sexsmith was the first star stopping 33 shots for Vancouver, who lead the WHL Western Conference Final two games to one. Off night in Kelowna tonight as Neil Young is rockin' this town! His late father, Scott Young, was a sportswriter who died four years ago. How would you like to have these guys on your team? Crosby, Staals, Nash & Young:

at 2:18 PM

This is my nephew Nash!
He was born last Sunday morning. Congratulations to proud parents, Tina and Dave.

Yes, they are hockey fans. In fact, Dave has the inside track to win the London Drugs Hockey Pool that I participate in too. He has been in first place for 100 straight days - thanks to Sabre Jason Pominville among others. I was doing well through the All-Star break and then the injury bug reared it's ugly head. Three of my ten guys have only played in 50 or so games: Brad Richards, Robert Lang and Tomas Kaberle.

Ryan Miller returns between the pipes tonight for the Sabres. He missed 13 games recovering from a sprained left ankle. So, he had a bit more time to blog:) Earlier this week, he paid tribute to Martin Brodeur.

Rather ironic that tonight Ryan Miller will face the goalie he looked up to growing up: Curtis Joseph, going for his 454th career win. This Top 10 clip, Goalies Gone Wild, features Cujo at #6. Lots of Buffalo Sabres (past and present) too: Dominick Hasek (389 career wins), Martin Biron and Steve Shields.

I prefer this "offensive" Top 10 list:
Top 10 Buffalo Sabres Goals Of All-Time.
Assist to John Bigl, New Hampshire voice talent and BIG Boston Bruins fan. I let John know earlier it was the 27th today. 27 still causes nightmares for Bruins fans! That was the number of Darryl Sittler, legendary Toronto Maple Leaf. 33 years ago he had 10 points in one game against Boston. That is one record that may never be broken...

at 5:24 PM

This week on the show - Patrick Lalime is in the limelight. Here is the opener, with yours truly jumping in at the :31 second mark.

The highlight of the week in the NHL was Martin Brodeur of New Jersey winning a record 552nd game as a goalie. He is a Goliath among goalies to say the least and here was Marty interviewed on the ice.

Hockey media coverage in my neck of the woods includes the Stanley Cup in Vernon as seen on CHBC-TV and on the front page of Friday's Capital News: Greasy french fries just too hard to resist. Some food for thought there AND some real funny food for thought here on the Voice Talent Productions Blog. Scroll down to see the two winning pictures. Water for thought here from Stephanie at Voices.com
We say it for you *That is their catchy new slogan.

Finally, I am taking you to some new heights with my voiceover
for the Skywall - an innovative and exciting new form of exercise.
You can hear me at the :24 second mark.

Thank you for your support in my sporting ventures!

at 7:47 PM

Just two games in the NHL tonight: Columbus in Chicago and LA in Vancouver, where #13, Mats Sundin, snapped a one goal in 13-games slump with one in the first period. Buffalo boy, Patrick Kane, got his 22nd in the third period for Chicago. Columbus coach, Ken Hitchcock, became the 13th NHL coach to win 500 games recently. He won again tonight, 5-3, against the Black Hawks.

My openers for MSG-TV are here from recent games against the aforementioned Columbus and Chicago teams. Columbus is above from Friday the 14th last November in Buffalo. The Blue Jackets won the game, 6-1. On January 14th two months ago, Chicago beat Buffalo, 4-1, in the Windy City. Here is the opener on MSG!

Buffalo has done better on thirteens than fourteens:

October 13 - 7-1 whipping of the NY Islanders
December 13 - 4-2 win in New Jersey
February 13 - 6-5 shootout win against San Jose

at 10:57 PM

Tonight there were three games on the NHL Monday menu.
The home team won in each game:

Los Angeles Kings 3, Vancouver Canucks 2
Ottawa 2, Toronto 1
Carolina 3, New York Rangers 0 - Carolina jumped one point ahead of the Rangers into a tie for fifth place in the East with Montreal. The Rangers are tied for eighth place with Pittsburgh - 3 points up on the Buffalo Sabres. It is a log jam!

Yesterday's theme among the 7 Sunday NHL games had at least one team score 3 or 5 goals in each game.

On Saturday in the NHL, winning teams scored either 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 goals. Games with the winning goal totals reaching 6-9 on the SAME night is rather strange! Thomas Vanek got his 33rd in the Sabres' loss to Ottawa. The Sabres got their 33rd win on Friday, 5-1, over Phoenix.

TERRific news on Saturday night:

TERRace, BC won the Kraft Hockeyville 2009 title!

TERRific news for Buffalo Bills football fans:

TERRell Owens is coming to town! Welcome...for now:)

at 1:00 PM

No, I am NOT superstitious.
But Friday the 13th is a week away!

It was a busy trade deadline day for the Sabres as they made a few moves. This included Tim Connolly agreeing to a new two-year contract.

Mikael Tellqvist (Photo: Getty Images) came over from Phoenix as a backup goalie - and that is who the Sabres host tonight. But Patrick Lalime will start in net after his spectacular 5-1 win over Montreal two nights ago. Anyway, Tellqvist will be wearing #32. I don't like that number! #32 belonged to O. J. Simpson when he was a Buffalo Bill - and now he is a jailbird!

The Sabres have 32 wins right now. After tonight's game against Phoenix, I expect that total to be 33. Thomas Vanek has 32 goals and let's hope he gets #33 tonight. He has been stuck on 32 since a hat trick against Toronto on February 4th. Vanek has not been in a slump; he broke his jaw against Ottawa February 7th.

In case you were wondering, Buffalo has NO 32 year old players on the roster. The closest would be Jochen Hecht and Toni Lydman , who are each 31, but won't be celebrating their birthdays until June and September, respectively.

I have another birthday on March 14. 32 is in my rear view mirror BUT I am a LOT younger than O. J. Simpson! And I think I could outrun him too...

at 8:09 PM

Wow! Jarome Iginla shattered Theo Fleury's team record for points on Sunday. "Iggy pop"ped in two goals and had three assists but the Flames failed against Tampa, 8-6. Calgary scored another 6 tonight and that was enough to beat Ottawa, 6-3. "Iggy pop"ped in two more goals for a season total of 28. Nice followup to my last post, which ended with a shot at Don Cherry by Gary Kriebel. Gary and I were chatting earlier and he threw out this great line:
"My 1 year old may whine more than Cherry,

but certainly NOT more than Crosby."

I recently had the chance to put my "monkey" where my mouth is. I provided voiceover services for a long narration for Debt Monkey – the program designed to shake the debt monkey by teaching you how to manage your debt, improve your credit and save you money!

Have a listen to our first podcast too, titled Top 5 Tips to Good Credit.

Tomorrow is one of the most exciting days in the NHL season! The trading deadline is Wednesday at Noon PST. There are only two games taking place and in the national spotlight are the Sabres and Canadiens from Buffalo. I think Montreal is going to be trading some guys so hopefully that will mean they will be shorthanded in Buffalo. I don't see the Sabres monkeying around too much. At this moment they are trying to sign Tim Connolly to a new deal.

What goes better with monkeys than bananas? Here is an article by my voiceover friend, Kara Edwards, going bananas - in a good way!

at 2:30 PM

Tonight, Jarome Iginla could pass Theoren Fleury as the all-time points leader in Calgary history when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit. The two teams met in the Stanley Cup Final in 2004 as Tampa Bay won the series in seven games.

The Kelowna Rockets played in Calgary last night and beat the top team in the WHL, 2-1. The game was the 1, 000th called by Kelowna play-by-play announcer, Regan Bartel. Here are his thoughts on the milestone. Two nights ago, the Rockets hit 1, 000 games as a franchise. While Regan started his career in Swift Current, the Rockets got rolling in Tacoma, Washington. Here is Regan remembering those roots. Listening to the broadcast yesterday, I heard Regan mention the Calgary Buffaloes. The Tri City Americans (in Kennewick, Washington) are an original Western Hockey League franchise. Their origins go back to the year 1966 when they were founded under the name of the Calgary Buffaloes. They are owned by former Buffalo Sabre Stu Barnes (1, 136 games played) and current Tampa Bay Lightning goalie, Olaf Kolzig.

New Jersey Devils' goalie, Martin Brodeur, is amazing! Today's game against Philadelphia (his 100th career shutout!) was his 981st, so he could hit 1, 000 career games played if he plays in the Devils remaining 19 regular season games.

Linesman Brad Lazarowich worked his 1, 500th NHL game two nights ago in Vancouver. His very first game was between Buffalo and Winnipeg on a cold Canadian night in late 1986.

Canadian icon Don Cherry gave the cold shoulder to one of the NHL's superstars last night. It got quite a reaction in Washington as my voiceover friend, Gary Kriebel, wrote The Canadian Way?

at 4:36 PM

You will see what I mean when you watch this TV commercial I voiced in the Toronto area.

Tortorella in Toronto has a nice ring to it. He (John) debuts as the Rangers' coach tonight. Toronto cost Tom Renney his job after beating New York in overtime on Sunday. On Saturday, the Sabres beat the Rangers, 4-2.
Tongue Twisters with Terwilliger has a nice ring to it too! Go ahead and try the exercises from Connie...I am off to the gym shortly for some different exercises...

at 4:01 PM

I did NOT watch the big show, The Oscars, on Sunday night. Canada's equivalent is the Genie Awards, which will take place on April 4 in Ottawa. Last night, I did watch a couple of episodes of "Corner Gas" - featuring Canada's funny Oscar.

My voiceover friend on the prairies, Bryan Cox, had a role on "Corner Gas" a while back and talked about it on his blog. Here is a quick montage from Bryan's episode - and just :28 seconds in - you will see his name in the credits. Way to go Bry!

The Oscars two nights ago should have paid tribute to the late great Don LaFontaine BUT they didn't! Thanks for bringing that to our attention Bryan. Stephanie Ciccarelli posted the classic "5 Men In A Limo" video today on Voices.com. Enjoy!

at 7:13 PM

U.S. President Barack Obama was in Ottawa today on his first foreign visit. It was a good day trip. The Vancouver Canucks also conquered Ottawa on the ice, 5-2, and are on a real roll right now.

I did a day trip too - heading south to Penticton, BC.
Penticton is NOT Hockeyville.

Here is my interview on The Giant FM.
Call it my 14 minutes of fame. Click here to see which celebrity coined the term 15 minutes of fame.

The Buffalo Sabres were tied 3-3 tonight against Philadelphia until there were 14 minutes left in the game; then the Sabres went lame. The Flyers got a couple of empty net goals too so the 6-3 loss wasn't as bad as the score looks.

at 1:24 PM

There will be NO upbeat MSG-TV opener from me tonight.
There was a tragic plane crash last night in Buffalo. Many Sabres players live in the area and they talked about the tragedy earlier.

My voiceover friend in Buffalo, Peter O'Connell, emailed this morning
and I would like to echo his sentiments:
"As is the case with any tragedy, when the passenger list is
announced many lives will be changed forever. So I would like to ask
you - whatever your religious persuasion - to please say a prayer for
the victims of the crash...those on the plane and those left behind.
Today our city is heartbroken."

at 7:14 PM

The Vancouver Canucks are playing in Phoenix tonight and handling VO (voiceover) duties on the TV broadcast here is JOhn Shorthouse with color commentator JOhn Garrett. On the radio side, JOey Kenward is calling the game. Former Canuck, Ed JOvanovski (Jovo Cop), is on the blueline for Phoenix now. He also used to be with Florida, just like Phoenix's second leading scorer this year, Olli JOkinen. Olli was traded from the NY Islanders to Florida in the summer of 2000, along with Roberto Luongo, in exchange for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha. JOvanovski and JOkinen both assisted on a late second period goal by Derek Morris past Luongo.

JOaquin Phoenix had a strange appearance last night on "The Late Show with David Letterman." He did a horrible job in promoting a new movie or a "new" career as a hip-hop musician. There is a picture here and an article from The Washington Post. VERY bizarre! When I saw that photo, I thought he was trying to fit in with ZZ Top or something...

Last night, the Buffalo Sabres debuted a very special video before their home game against Ottawa. It will be running before every other home game this season too as they fight for the playoffs. The story behind the video and the video itself are here. Wish I could be in the building tomorrow for all the atmosphere as the mighty San JOse Sharks come to Buffalo! Listen for my opening VO on MSG-TV. In the meantime, here is another VO I did in December when another California team came to Buffalo. Warning: there is a bit of Christmas music:)

at 8:16 PM

I have some recent voiceover work here with video footage that includes:

Fitness

Fighting

Biting

Sounds like a clip involving Mixed Martial Arts? No thanks. The latter two are Buffalo Sabres' openings on MSG-TV. Both aired on a Friday night and featured some fisticuffs. By the way, we beat Montreal this past Friday, 3-2. The first opener ran against the Maple Leafs December 12/08 and the second against the New York Rangers a month ago on January 9/09. Check it out here. But first enjoy this one-two punch:

at 8:16 PM

This is my 100th post! Maybe my last one should have paid tribute to Wayne Gretzky - #99? The Sabres saw "the Great One" on Saturday as Buffalo blanked his Phoenix Coyotes, 2-0. Phoenix came close in yesterday's Super Bowl classic but the Arizona Cardinals lost to Pittsburgh, 27-23. Can you believe James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown as halftime hit? Topping that was Super Bowl MVP, #10 Santonio Holmes, keeping his feet in bounds and hauling in the winning touchdown pass with 35 seconds left in the game! Talk about playoff inTENsity!

Other sports highlights I would like to bring to your atTENtion:
Last Tuesday, the Sabres scored 10 goals in embarrassing Edmonton, 10-2. It all started just 10 seconds into the game as Drew Stafford got his 10th goal of the season. He would add two more to finish the night with 12. Drew is the nephew of longtime Oilers equipment manager Barrie Stafford.

This past Friday in Kelowna, the Rockets bombed Medicine Hat 10-1. Before the game I had a chance to meet Rockets Skills Development coach, Kim Gellert. Nice guy who also happens to be employed by the mighty Sabres as an Amateur Scout. Have a look here near the top of the list. Kim is #15 on the list while another Amateur Scout, Bo Berglund, is #10. Belated Happy Birthday to Rockets/Sabres draft pick, Tyler Myers, who turned 19 yesterday.

The famous "Russian Rocket", Pavel Bure, wore #10 for the Vancouver Canucks. I am guessing Canuck fans would have preferred him here (right now!) than 37 year-old Mats Sundin, who has only mustered two goals in his first nine games. Sundin is a minus 6 with 16 penalty minutes. Ouch! Mats (or Moses - as Flames GM Darryl Sutter referred to him) turns 38 next Friday - the 13th. That makes him older than Bure, who turns 38 on the final day of March. Pavel had 254 goals in his days with the Canucks.
It was 10 years ago in January that Bure was traded to Florida. I came across that tidbit in Hockey Now, who just had their 10th anniversary.

Also pay atTENtion to these upcoming dates:

April 10 - Good Friday (the NHL regular season ends April 12)
May 10 - Mother's Day (it would be great if the Sabres were still playing at this time!)

at 4:21 PM

It was a long time ago that I held political office...

I'm the tall guy in the back row...

Sitting behind me at last Wednesday's Rockets game was one of my former teachers, Ms. Mickey Patryluk. She said she would have never recognized me had I not said hello. She remained at OKM until she retired in 1999 and is currently the President of the BC Liberal Party.

I am predicting Pittsburgh and the "burger boys" will win Super Bowl 43 on Sunday:

Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and British Columbia born punter, Mitch Berger.

at 1:48 PM

Moments ago I launched the Buffalo Sabres' broadcast on MSG-TV with a script that went like this:
IT HAS ALREADY BEEN A DRAMATIC WEEK FOR OUR COUNTRY....
(INAUGURATION FOOTAGE)
AND THE SABRES ARE KEEPING WITH THE THEME!
(RICK JEANNERET'S CALL OF SHOOTOUT WIN MONDAY VS FLORIDA)
BUFFALO HAS RESPONDED TO LINDY’S CALL FOR CHANGE...
AND AS THE SABRES TOUR NORTH AMERICA OVER THE NEXT
TWO WEEKS THEY’LL TRY TO KEEP CLIMBING IN THE POLLS.
TONIGHT...TAMPA BAY.
SABRES....LIGHTNING...NEXT ON MSG!

Unfortunately Tampa is up 2-0 after the first period! I won't have another Sabres opener to voice until February 4 as the All-Star Game is in Montreal this weekend and then MSG-TV is not broadcasting the west coast swing of four games between January 27 and February 2. In the meantime, my other amazing hockey client, Shaw-TV, has 6 broadcasts in that span beginning tonight in Kelowna and finishing February 3rd in Calgary. Grant Wilkins is the producer of the Shaw broadcasts from Vancouver and is battling the flu tonight. Tonight's game on Shaw-TV was promoted like this:
WHL Hockey is live on Shaw… Catch the N-H-L stars of tomorrow today… The Western Hockey League… building the world’s finest talent…Watch, Wednesday, January 21st when the Vancouver Giants and Kelowna Rockets duke it out with B-C bragging rights on the line…
WHL Hockey… only on Shaw…

I really liked Grant's script that I voiced a week ago for Shaw's upcoming March 3rd broadcast. The middle part was mmm, mmm good:
Watch, Tuesday, March 3rd when the Moose Jaw Warriors look to avoid the menacing bite of the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Here is a recent Mitsubishi Motors TV commercial I voiced.
I hope you think it is varoommm, varoommm good...

This week I had the chance to stick up (pun intended) for the Western Hockey League on a very motivating voiceover/hockey post by Jeffrey Kafer. Inspiring words Jeff!

One of the best leaders in the NHL is Jarome Iginla. He has a lot in common with President Obama and you can read it about here in a column by Hall of Fame writer Eric Duhatschek.

at 2:49 PM

My voiceover for tomorrow night's game in Tampa Bay will include inauguration footage! I will publish the script tomorrow but I need to be a Sabre secret agent man until it runs on MSG-TV. Did you know when you take the initials of the leaders of our countries:
Barack
Obama
Stephen
Harper
BOSH is spelled out. Yay for Raptor Chris Bosh! I wrote about him quite a bit early last year. We are all hoping President Obama gets through all the "hoops" ahead of him over the next four years. Yes We Can is the name of this video from NBA-TV.

My last blog post was on the day I went to a Kelowna Rockets game. They lost 5-2 to Moose Jaw and Kelowna's best player was a kid who had just turned sixteen. Shane McColgan of Manhattan Beach, California will be a skill player fans here will enjoy watching for several more years. Tomorrow night I'll be at another Rockets game as the mighty Vancouver Giants come to town. Their professional counterparts, the Canucks, are really struggling. They have lost six in a row on home ice. Former Sabre, Steve Bernier, has 11 goals so far for the Canucks. He goes against another one of his former teams, the San Jose Sharks, tonight. Bernier's nickname is Big Bear and I will leave you with some hockey footage with skating bears...

at 1:34 PM

Kelowna's first baby of the New Year was Linden Anthony Tancek. He was born at our hospital New Year's Day at 6.42 am to Mom Laurie and Dad Jeff. Yes, Linden was named after recently retired Canuck, Trevor.

Detroit defeated Chicago 6-4 in the New Year's Day NHL Winter Classic. The ratings on NBC were excellent! Maybe another Detroit team, the Lions, could improve their game by playing on ice instead of a football field?

Here is the tribute for a winless team.

The true meaning of 'team' was captured in this feature on NBC-TV between the first two periods of the Winter Classic game. Dale Tallon is the Chicago Blackhawks general manager. In the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft he was the first ever player drafted by the Vancouver Canucks. Tallon was number two overall while the Buffalo Sabres nabbed Gilbert Perreault at number one. Perreault went on to a Hall of Fame career with the Sabres and is still involved as a Corporate/Community Relations Liason. He is more than 500 points ahead of anyone else in Sabres history.

The Sabres had an early game today and beat the top team in the league, the Boston Bruins, 4-2. It was the first home loss for the Bruins since October 23. Matt Ellis was the unlikely hero of the game for the Sabres and he is featured this week on "The Sabres Show." If you want to hear me do the intro, you have to wait 1:10 seconds:)

Also with an early game today and their first ever Bowl appearance were the University at Buffalo Bulls. UConn came back to win the International Bowl game 38-20. The Bulls were recently at a Sabres game and here is that football footage from "The Sabres Show."

at 8:08 PM

The Washington Capitals came into Buffalo last night and won 4-2. On Boxing Day, the Caps edged us as well, 3-2, thanks to another highlight reel goal from Ovechkin. I guess that was to be expected since we referred to the "amazing Alex" in the opener on MSG-TV. That script and an article on yours truly was featured on THE Washington Capitals blog known as "On Frozen Blog." Thanks to my voiceover colleague and friend, Gary Kriebel (aka Gustafsson at OFB), for the plug! I have thrown the spotlight on Gary here a couple of times before.

I mentioned in my last post about Trevor Linden's number 16 being raised to the rafters at Vancouver's GM Place. Well, Washington retired number 11 recently and Gary was there to provide some awesome visual evidence. Mike Gartner is the player in question and he is actually my best player on my current WhatIfSports.com fantasy hockey team.

DC (David Ciccarelli) came calling yesterday in the form of an email letting me know about "The Report on the Voice Over Industry 2009." DC is the CEO and President at Voices.com. I know it will be very informative and educational to read...I'll get to it in 2009 David:)
Happy New Year everyone!

at 6:08 PM

TLC is an abbreviation for many things. The most popular would be Tender Loving Care and The Learning Channel. How about That Lazy Cat?

This is ours, Bunzo, looking out the front window yesterday at the basketball hoop surrounded by snow. Yes, it is certainly hockey weather! Last night at GM Place in Vancouver they retired the number 16 jersey of Trevor Linden.

TLC

Trevor Linden, Canuck
Tremendous Leader, Captain
Totally Loves Children

You will see what I mean for the last one 82 seconds into the Trevor Linden tribute video that played on the GM Place scoreclock prior to the jersey ceremony yesterday. Thanks a LOT for Caring Trevor!

at 2:30 PM

This weekend, "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is the big movie release in theatres. Last weekend it was "Three Days That Ralph Stood Still" at Willow Park Church's annual "Living Nativity."
I was the milkman mannequin.
No voiceovers allowed!

Today I came across this crime north of us: Thieves break in, drink milk.

To the east of us one province over is Alberta. Further east is Saskatchewan. Medicine Hat is on the Alberta side of the border.
To the south is Montana. Little Plume Church in Medicine Hat is running this ad featuring yours truly promoting a Christmas event tomorrow.

The Medicine Hat Tigers junior hockey team is here in Kelowna on January 30 next month. I am hoping to attend that game. The Tigers
are a plus 10 in the win column right now and the Kelowna Rockets are an impressive plus 7. Tyler Myers of Kelowna was the Sabres' first pick in the NHL draft this year - 12th overall. Tyler Ennis of Medicine Hat was the Sabres' second first round pick at #26.

One of Medicine Hat's hometown heroes is Trevor Linden. He played his junior hockey there and had a great NHL career! In four short days the Vancouver Canucks will be retiring Linden's #16. Thanks for the memories Trevor - and being a great role model for the kids!

at 10:43 AM

Hass, Bass and Sapp (not a law firm) did NOT win on "Dancing with the Stars" this week. I have an alibi: I did not get to audition:)

Congratulations to Brooke Burke, who won it all! She is not the turkey but Brian Burke, the former Duck, is. He abandoned the Anaheim NHL ship earlier this month and waddles into Toronto today as the new general manager. Burke has a six-year deal to turn things around in Toronto.

Damien Cox is a columnist for The Toronto Star and his ESPN column last week made light of the best NHL quotes through the first part of the season.

The media will love Brian Burke in TO. He always has something to say!
Here is a quote from Brian Burke at the Top 77 ice hockey quotes at Hockey Tribute.com:
”Hockey is a man's game. The team with the most real men wins.”
That made #46 on the list.

Former goalie Sean Burke placed at #20 with: ”It's too easy when you're not winning to look for excuses and point at others for reasons. ”You can say "Oh well, it's this guy's fault or they don't do this well" or you can say "I've got to play better and contribute more". You've got to find another gear and come up with big games.”

Right behind at #21 is Buffalo Sabres color commentator Harry Neale:
”Last season we couldn't win at home and we were losing on the road. My failure was that I couldn't think of any place else to play.” This went back to when Harry was coaching the Canucks during the 1981–82 season.

Harry also made the list at #24: ”Our system of forechecking is to shoot the puck and leave it there.” And he cracked the top 10 hitting #10 with: ”I know my players don't like my practises, but that's OK because I don't like their games.”

Two big wins in a row for the Sabres! 4-3 over Pittsburgh last night and 3-2 against Boston on Wednesday. Tonight we hit the road against Montreal with my "turkey opening" on MSG-TV...

at 9:57 PM

Here is the overview of tonight's "The Amazing Race." Believe it or not, one team member had to enter a marked chicken shack in Kazakhstan (try saying that ten times quickly voiceover colleagues!)
and search among 30, 000 chickens for one of only seven golden eggs. Meanwhile, last Tuesday on "Dancing With the Stars", Olympian Maurice Greene was eliminated. He ended nearly every dance with his catch phrase “Winner, winner, chicken dinner.” Does anyone know what that means? Other questions I am wondering about:

Why did the chicken cross the road?
Why did the chicken cross the dance floor?
Did the Sabres "hit the dance floor?"

at 12:34 PM

The Bills are in New England tomorrow to take on Bill BeliCHICKen and the Patriots in a battle for first place. The Bills haven't won against the Patriots in Foxborough since 2000. On December 7, the Bills are playing a home game in Toronto against the Miami Dolphins. Here are the details on a chicken promotion around the game.

This is a pretty funny chicken flavored commercial from Rice Honeywell and the crew at Spinnaker Sound. He didn't intentionally send me something that included mafia and electricity elements after I had mentioned that on my Halloween post about recent Buffalo Bills scripts.

Congratulations to Kelowna's Acro Media on their tenth anniversary!
To mark the occasion they did something special involving chickens.

Finally, the most famous chicken in the sports world is here.
And, he even has a blog...

at 5:01 PM

Two nights ago Barack Obama was elected as the next President of the United States. He is certainly a gifted speaker! Last night my Buffalo Bills' Game Recap for the "Thurman Thomas Show" had a political theme and I got to say the President-elect's name to start off this weekend's show. Sportscaster Mike Toth (a great hybrid mix of humor, hockey and hair!) had an excellent column today about Obama's big win. Click on that link and find out which retired football star has already been dubbed "Canada's Obama"
by one Toronto newspaper.

Meanwhile, you can listen to the Obama song here in this link for Obama City, Japan. Maybe one day Obama will come to Oyama?
It is a small community just north of where I live. I believe that WON'T happen - but I believe I will meet Mike Toth one day...probably not in Oyama though...

at 8:15 PM

Yesterday, Sabres Executive Producer Matt Gould had me update one of our sponsor reads. Have a listen and see if you can tell which one is the "real deal" and which is Halloween hijinks. Matt writes my openers on MSG-TV for the Buffalo Sabres. My partner in crime for the Buffalo Bills is Senior Producer Kevin McCabe. The scripts for my Game Recaps for the "Thurman Thomas Show" have had some cool themes the last two weeks. This weekend it's a "Sopranos"/mafia theme while last weekend it was an electricity theme. We will get some footage up in the near future...stay tuned!

at 3:34 PM

That might describe a Halloween pumpkin at your place...we don't have ours out yet. Or the Syracuse Orange - just like the movie photo in my last post. Our local junior football team (the Okanagan Sun) is big and orange - just like our provincial pro team: the BC Lions. The NFL team that resembles Syracuse are the Cleveland Browns. They will be in the national spotlight on Monday Night Football on November 17 when they will lose in Buffalo! The Bills are currently 5-1 while the hockey Sabres are just as good with six wins and one shootout loss to start the season. Last night, the Sabres beat the previously unbeaten Minnesota Wild 4-3 in a shootout. My prediction was 4-2 and was included with my opening voice file on MSG-TV to the guys behind the scenes:

THE PIGEON HAS FOUND A NEW COOP (click here for the story)...

BUT IT'S OWNER IS STILL A GUY BETWEEN THE PIPES!

RYAN MILLER KEPT THE BOYS IN BLUE IN THE GAME...

AS BUFFALO PULLED OUT ANOTHER DRAMATIC WIN AT HOME.

TONIGHT...THE FIRST OF TWO IN THE WILD, WILD WEST...

WHERE MINNESOTA IS A PERFECT 4-AND-O.

A BATTLE OF TWO OF THE LEAGUE'S BEST...NEXT ON MSG!

I have also predicted the Philadelphia Phillies to win the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The series is currently tied at one. The hockey teams from those cities are off to very slow starts. The Philly Flyers are not big and orange right now. They are ranked 15th out of 15 Eastern Conference teams with only three points after six games. And Sabres fans will be happy to know that Danny Briere has an injury that could keep him out of the lineup for at least three weeks.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay is ranked 13th with five points.

Big and orange at football stadiums? Gatorade!

My wife, Darlene, and I were part of a great team of volunteers - NOT at a Buffalo Bills tailgate party - but at the Okanagan International Marathon on October 12th. We handed out water and Gatorade. The guy with the Canucks hat (some nerve!) is Al Gillespie. He ran the half marathon.
Good job Al! Hope to see more of your blog too...

at 10:19 PM

H2O for short:) Yes, water has turned to ICE as the Buffalo Sabres got the second short-handed goal of the season from Thomas Vanek tonight as they beat the previously unbeaten New York Rangers 3-1. Buffalo now has a perfect 3-0 record while the Rangers fall to 5 wins and 1 loss. Congratulations to coach Lindy Ruff who became the 23rd bench
boss to reach 400 career victories!

Next up for the Sabres in two days is my second favorite team - the Vancouver Canucks. My second-ever blog post mentioned how both these teams entered the NHL at the same time in 1970. I also talked
about a client in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in that post - and I just noticed Thomas Vanek played some of his early hockey for the Sioux Falls Stampede in the United States Hockey League.

I am disappointed the Sabres are NOT in Vancouver to play on Friday.
That would have been a real possibility to attend. Instead, the game is
in Buffalo, where the Sabres won early last year (January 19/07) in a shootout, 4-3. Here is my opener from that game on MSG-TV. Bit of a blooper if you ask me...watch to the end to see what I mean. The Hockey News Yearbook predicted both Buffalo and Vancouver to finish 11th out of 15 teams in the Eastern and Western conferences respectively. Based on what I have seen so far this season (and an undefeated pre-season for the Canucks), I am betting both these teams will finish top 8. That means playoff spots - just like the Buffalo Bills are aspiring to. They are currently
4-1. A great football movie has hit theatres now. Go see this:

at 1:55 PM

Michael Phelps has been everywhere it seems after starring at the Olympics. Tonight, he will be on the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live." That means "The Thurman Thomas Show" (with voiceover work by yours truly) will have some competition on 3 of our 6 affiliate stations. Check out the TV listings here. The Buffalo Bills had an amazing first week game against the Seattle Seahawks winning 34-10. Here is some of my game recap.

Maybe this TV gig for Mikey will lead to a movie career? If I were his agent, I would try and get him opposite Ashton Kutcher in a sequel to "The Guardian." And, since it is my friend Tom Dheere's birthday today, I would cast him to replace Kevin Costner. That guy is 53 now...Tom is probably only half that:)

at 9:54 PM

I consider myself very lucky to be part of the voiceover community. My voiceover colleagues are caring, encouraging and talented.

It was about this time yesterday that I learned of the unfortunate passing at the age of 68 of THE voiceover king, Don LaFontaine, through Stephanie's heartfelt post at the Voices.com blog. Many people like myself left a comment because Don LaFontaine made an impact in our lives and careers. He also made time for folks again and again.

Bob Souer has linked to many voiceover blogs that paid tribute to Don today. Take time to have a look - and even a listen - to THE voice of the late great Don LaFontaine.

at 8:21 PM

I notice the last four images that I have posted on my blog all have the color red in them...
I just picked my son up after his first long shift at Wendy's. That company is known for it's popular red logo. You can see it (along with many other restaurants that use red to their advantage) by clicking here. It's the client list of Trimen Food Service, for whom I narrated a corporate video today. Trimen is a leading food service equipment manufacturer located in North York, Ontario.

My friend, Guy Kawasaki, has a birthday today and he blogged three days ago about The Power of Red. You will also want to check out Guy's list of the five most important lessons he has learned as an entrepreneur. Happy Birthday Guy!

Same wish to you Liz de Nesnera!
I am sorry I didn't get you tickets to the US Open...
Liz was in a giving mood on her birthday with her first blog post
in almost two months:
Question of the Week: How Do You Define Yourself?
Liz's last post tied in tennis with voiceover. Good stuff Liz!
I love TV (short for tennis & voiceover)...I am actually in a fall tennis league here in Kelowna but after meeting with my doctor today to go over my back x-rays, he feels a minimum of five more visits to the chiropractor are needed before I can start playing again...

at 10:59 AM

No, that is not a football score. It is the length of two audio clips I am linking to in this post. The first was recorded for the NHL Sabres last week as we get ready to put out a "Winter Classic DVD." You'll notice it references the famous football stadium in Buffalo. When the finished product comes out, you will hear my parts total 2:24 seconds.
Here is my post shortly after the "Winter Classic."

Are you ready for some football? Ralph (Hass - and Wilson) is ready for some football! I heard last night from the NFL's Buffalo Bills that I was chosen to provide energetic game recaps during "The Thurman Thomas Show" on US affiliates for ABC-TV and CBS-TV along with Citytv in Toronto. Here is a sample from my audition. My favorite NFL team was the Seattle Seahawks. But I will be cheering harder for the Bills as they open their season September 7 at Ralph Wilson Stadium against the Hawks...I predict a 24-20 win for the Bills...

at 1:53 PM

The ¡Three Amigos! was a pretty funny movie that came out in late 1986. Enjoy the clip above featuring one of our family favorites, Steve Martin, cast as the character Lucky Day. In my last blog post I shared a recent radio aircheck. I remember on my very first radio shift in 1981 that I played Steve Martin's "King Tut."

Twenty years ago today, the historic trade of Wayne Gretzky from the champion Edmonton Oilers to the LA Kings took place. The NHL’s Communications Department has put together an excellent overview here examining this amazing event. Gretzky's famous number 99

was retired league-wide at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game.

Now an LA Dodger, Manny Ramirez finally settled on number 99 after numbers 24 (Walter Alston) and 34 (Fernando Valenzuela) were denied

by Dodgers' brass. As the new Sports Illustrated says:
What makes Manny unique is that he does not seem to know

the meaning of the word failure - or, most likely, Gretzky.

at 10:55 PM

I have NOT had one slush or slushie or slurpee this summer. Pretty hard to avoid though with all the great flavors available - like "live bait." Salmon slush anyone?

I took the picture above at a nearby gas station on Friday. The attendant said it was okay if I did - even though I got just $20 dollars worth of gas and turned down her request to buy a lottery ticket:) Nobody matched all 6 numbers on Saturday for $36 million dollars so the Lotto 6/49 jackpot will be an estimated $43 million dollars this Wednesday. Yes, that would be a wonderful anniversary present for my wife next Wednesday as we celebrate anniversary #20 on the 13th! I worked on my summer "pro tan" two weeks ago at the family cabin. I came away with a red lobster chest...ouch!..for you fans of the Boston Red Sox, let's just say I was "Coco Crisp"....

Many more Canadians are now on the Red Sox bandwagon after the $20 million dollar man, Manny Ramirez, was traded to the LA Dodgers while Trail, BC's Jason Bay came over from Pittsburgh.

Congratulations to the voice of the Seattle Mariners, Dave Niehaus. It was"Dave Niehaus Day" yesterday at Safeco Field. He has been with the Mariners since their inception in 1977. Just eight days ago he entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence. Here are many more links to explore for this legendary storyteller.

Finally, here I am "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" Well, actually it was "Live from Kelowna Saturday Afternoon!" on July 5, 2008. Click here for my radio aircheck. It starts off with the crazy details of that famous hot dog eating contest in New York, bad local drivers and the US state which is the fattest.

at 11:19 PM

Justin Morneau of New Westminster, BC won the Home Run Derby two nights ago at Yankee Stadium! Here is an interview after Justin's big win. But you'll notice they spelled my last name wrong on the billboard sign behind him:)

Morneau played hockey growing up, and attended a training camp with the Portland Winter Hawks as a goaltender on the team's 50-man Protected Player List. Morneau chose his jersey number (33) for legendary NHL goalie Patrick Roy. He has been swinging a hot bat lately! Last Thursday, Justin Morneau tied a career high with 5 hits in a game as his visiting Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 7-6 in 11-innings. He hit what went on to be the game winning home run to finish the day 5 for 5 with a walk. Justin scored the winning run for the American League last night in the MLB All Star Game at Yankee Stadium. It went 15 innings, the longest All-Star Game in history.

Just in...Just out...of the park! 15-year-old Justin Hass (above) of Kelowna, BC had the best game of his baseball career last Sunday!

He smashed two home runs over the center field fence 260 feet away and

the Kelowna Cubs beat Ladner to finish third in the Valley of Champions bantam tournament.

Toronto, Ontario saw home run history made last Saturday as Alex Rodriguez hit home run number 537 as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays,

9-4. A-Rod moved past another Yankee legend, Mickey Mantle, for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list. 13 is also a good number for Justin. He was born on June 13 and it was July 13 he had the game of his life!

By the way, after Justin's birthday last month, our three kids now have a cumulative age greater than mine...so you can consider me a younger man now...and shorter...you see, Justin recently passed me (5 ft 10 1/2 in) in height.

at 3:44 PM

Yesterday I did some on-hold messaging for a company in Sweden. Some might say Mats Sundin is a Swedish "meatball" for not accepting the Vancouver Canucks' $20-million, two-year deal this week. If he does return to the NHL, I think he would opt for a team that has a real chance at the Stanley Cup - like the Detroit Red Wings, who got the "steal of a deal" by signing Marian Hossa to a one-year deal worth $7.4 million dollars. Sundin's countryman, Markus Naslund, has left the Canucks for the New York Rangers so I don't think that move will sway Sundin to the west coast - even though super Swedes like Daniel and Henrik Sedin (click here for their hilarious commercial), Mattias Ohlund and former Kelowna Rocket Alexander Edler are still in the fold.

The Canucks traded for Buffalo winger, Steve Bernier, today while Buffalo got a solid defenseman from San Jose, Craig Rivet.
Buffalo has some solid Swedes in their future plans:
defenseman Dennis Persson and goalie Jhonas Enroth.
As far back as 1984 and 1985, Buffalo picked Swedish-born players in the first round of the draft. You can see all the draft results here.

Young hockey players (17 and under) will be taking to the streets of Buffalo next month. Click here for details on HockeyFest.

at 10:49 PM

The big winner on the opening day of the NHL Free Agent season was former Buffalo Sabre Brian Campbell. The Strathroy, Ontario native has joined the up and coming Chicago Blackhawks, where he signed an eight-year deal worth $56.8 million dollars!

Buffalo native and the NHL Rookie of the Year, Patrick Kane, is one of the young guns Campbell will be passing to a lot. Here are my voiceovers for the before and after MSG-TV footage of Patrick Kane leaving a memorable mark in Buffalo last season. Former Kelowna Rocket, Duncan Keith, had a great season on defense for Chicago and even made the All-Star game roster in January - just like Brian Campbell. After the season (which he finished with San Jose), Campbell made the NHL's 2007-08 Second All-Star Team. There is another Kelowna connection to Chicago: Kyle Beach. He was picked in the first round, 11th overall, in last month's NHL Entry Draft. His Uncle Gregg is helping coach my son Justin's summer baseball all-star team. We are known as the Kelowna Cubs. This year the Chicago Cubs are playing very well and might win their first World Series in 100 years!

Selected right behind Kyle Beach at #12 in the draft by the Buffalo Sabres was Kelowna Rockets' defenseman Tyler Myers. His teammate on the Rockets, Luke Schenn, was picked at #5 by Toronto. Here is a local write-up on the "three musketeers." Best of luck at the next level boys...men...

at 1:44 PM

NBA MVP Kobe Bryant had 22 points for the LA Lakers last night but even if he doubled that, they wouldn't have won. The Lakers were trounced by the Boston Celtics 131-92 as Boston won their 17th NBA Title on June 17. Finals MVP, Paul Pierce, had 17 points in the decisive game 6.

It took six games to determine the NHL Stanley Cup champion and my prediction in my last blog post was correct! Detroit beat Pittsburgh 4 games to 2. Tiger Woods ticked off a lot of hockey players I'm sure when he didn't really care who would win the series. To get even, I would encourage all hockey players to not play golf this summer:) Coming up soon here in Kelowna is the Sandman Harvest Celebrity Golf Classic. It's a great fundraiser for charity and Chuck Kobasew of the Boston Bruins is lending his name to the event for a third straight year.

So, the Red Wings were winners and Tiger and his family were decked out in red as he won the US Open this past Monday! Tiger Woods played through the pain but announced today he will miss the rest of the 2008 golf season to undergo more knee surgery. Here's to a speedy recovery Tiger!

at 12:15 AM

May 24...
NBA MVP Kobe Bryant (#24 on your scorecard) had 22 points for the
LA Lakers last night (and was a plus 24) as the Lakers walloped San Antonio 101-71. Kobe's crew is up 2-0 in the Western Final. Only 14 of the 222 teams to fall behind 2-0 in best-of-seven NBA playoff series have come back to win, including the Spurs in their second-round matchup with the New Orleans Hornets. So, don't count out the defending champs!

Kobe turns 30 in three months on August 23. The next day, August 24, my wife has a birthday! We also celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary on August 13! In two months, July 24 - 27, the BC Summer Games come to Kelowna with more than 2, 700 young athletes participating in our province’s largest multisport competition for developing athletes.

Tonight, game one of the Stanley Cup Final takes place between Detroit and Pittsburgh. I am picking Detroit to win it all 4 games to 2. Both teams have a #24 in the lineup. The Red Wings' Chris Chelios has played more NHL playoff games in history than anyone with 260 while Pittsburgh's Kris Beech only played 25 games in the regular season divided among three teams. He has yet to skate in the postseason.

Detroit coach Mike Babcock lost in the Finals five years ago with Anaheim to New Jersey. Way back when he played for the Kelowna Wings in the Western Hockey League in 1982–83. That team from our city eventually moved to Spokane, Washington where Mike coached them for six seasons between 1994 - 2000. Tomorrow, the Spokane Chiefs are in the final of the Memorial Cup. It is in Kitchener, Ontario as they take on the hometown Rangers. Below is a WHL playoff promo I voiced for
Shaw-TV and here is a link to how the WHL playoffs went. By the way, the Kelowna Rockets started here in 1995 after moving from Tacoma, Washington. We were the 2004 Memorial Cup champions!

To my friends and colleagues in the US, I would like to wish you a nice and meaningful Memorial Day on Monday, May 26.

at 1:39 PM

Seeing is believing - and so is hearing in many cases. I was reading my Buffalo buddy Peter O'Connell's blog today and the article “if only i could take back what i said.” I clicked on the link, Sue Simmons’
f-bomb on a live newscast promo, and was glad there was no audio link - just a visual link from the New York Times. While reading the latter, I noticed the New York Times' link to their Fashion and Style section and the article Where Ralph Buys Blouses.

Please rest assured that article has nothing to do with yours truly...I have never even worn a kilt:) But I bet Peter O'Connell has. He has Irish blood...and a real f sense...that stands for fashion...and friend...

at 9:48 PM

Last night, Kristi Yamaguchi, 1992 Olympic figure skating champion, won the crown on "Dancing With The Stars." I predicted on March 18 she would win. I shared this news on Vox Daily today while following in the footsteps of Stephanie's tough tongue twister:)

Last month, Karen Commins' blog, A Voice Above The Crowd, tied in "Dancing With the Stars" with 12 valuable lessons that can be applied to a voiceover career. Read the post here and be inspired to new heights in your voiceover career!

Today at Vox Daily, Stephanie reviewed "Word of Mouth: A Guide to Commercial Voice-over Excellence, 3rd Edition." First published in 1987, it was the first-ever book written that focused on voiceovers. The edition printed in 2006 (the edition Stephanie reviewed) addresses technological changes that have developed since the initial printing. It was authored by Susan Blu in collaboration with colleagues Molly Ann Mullin and Cynthia Songé. This excerpt from Stephanie's review hit close to home (and my heart):
Want to Be a Working Voice-Over Actor?
You'll need:
1. Talent and passion
2. Perseverance
3. A belief in oneself that can't be shaken, rocked or questioned
There is always room for excellent new performers who will risk and take the chances to allow their creativity to come through.

By the way, I predict "Dancing With The Stars" runner-up, Jason Taylor, will have a great voiceover career as a football analyst once his playing days are done.

at 2:15 PM

Pittsburgh can wrap up a sweep against Philadelphia in a couple hours. Then they will be in their first Final since 1992. The game will be on CBC TV here in Canada. Last night, TSN ran a great Top 10 list: Top 10 Mike Lange Calls. Since 1975, Mike has been a vital part of the Pittsburgh hockey scene and the voice of the Penguins, having never missed a broadcast. If you don't have time to click on the link above, I've transcribed them here:
10. Scratch my back with a hacksaw
9. Smoke ‘em like a bad cigar
8. Get that dog off my lawnmower
7. Michael, Michael Motorcycle
6. Cry or wind his watch
5. Get in the fast lane Grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll
4. Buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too
3. Ladies and Gentleman, Elvis has just left the building
2. Beat him (goalie) like a rented mule
1. Lord Stanley, get me the brandy

No doubt, there were plenty more in the running. In fact, the Mike Lange Tournament of Quotes recently took place. Mike also grabbed the top spot on a recent list of the 5 Best Announcers In Sports.

For us Buffalo Sabre fans, enjoy these Top 10 Rick Jeanneret Calls.

at 4:30 PM

D and P WILL meet in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Western Conference Finals have Detroit and Dallas battling it out. Game 3 goes shortly with Detroit up 2 games to nothing. Dallas has won four of their last five home games and hopefully for them that streak continues. The Eastern Conference Finals have the battle of Pennsylvania with Pittsburgh up 2-0 in games against Philadelphia. Philly has problems on "D" right now: missing 2 key defensemen, Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn.

Last week at the Dallas Zoo, an animal considered to be the world's oldest living gorilla in captivity celebrated her 55th birthday. Jenny the gorilla enjoyed a frozen fruit cake and banana leaf-wrapped treats at her wooded home in the complex. Her caretakers say that Jenny, about 210 pounds, has a few joint issues and her eyesight isn't what it used to be, but she still looks good for an old ape. In the wild, gorillas normally would live to about 35.

4 different Moms had a chance to enjoy this lovely chocolate cake at our home yesterday on Mother's Day. My Mom was here a couple of days earlier on Friday, when our youngest son, Jordan Michael, returned from his school trip to Vancouver. He was born on March 29, 1995. That night the legendary Michael Jordan scored 55 points against the New York Knicks in his second comeback. It was just days earlier (March 18) that Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release:
"I'm back."

In today's new Sports Illustrated it says: Michael Jordan has a nickname for Larry Brown, his new Bobcats coach: Seabiscuit. Brown and Jordan were playing golf with Roy Williams and Jerry West, and Jordan saw brown's peculiar gait as he walked down the fairway - Brown, 67, has had multiple hip surgeries - and rechristened him after the famed horse.

at 11:13 PM

I voiced this TV commercial today for the first Kelowna Beer Festival at the end of the month. It isn't the best quality video but it will be bigger and better on the big screen beginning Monday...

I had a couple of great new clients come aboard in April:

B-103 - Kelowna's Best Country. They were my #1 client last month in terms of revenue! My next "sessions" there will be tomorrow (and every Saturday from 1 - 5 on the air) and Sunday (9 am to 1 pm).

Independent Comedy Network imaging. This is the series I have done five intros for. One of my contacts there sent through this testimonial today: "Ralph was the first voiceover artist our company worked with, and he made the first-time experience seamless and smooth. His speediness and attention to detail was top notch! His vocal range was impressive, and most importantly he was a true professional, a genuinely nice person, and took our project seriously. We’ll definitely be using his services again soon. There’s no denying that Ralph HAS The Voice!"

- Jamie Flam, Independent Comedy Network, VP Content Development

Westside Eclectic, Creative Director

Thanks Jamie!

I really have some amazing clients. One, Greg Krantz, of Pro Voice Greetings, headed out on vacation today to France and Ireland. But he still had time to email me:
Hi Ralph,
Just a note to let you know I am heading out on vacation and will be out next week. If Kari needs that order while I am gone I am pretty sure I can work something out. I put your check in the mail this afternoon so you should have it next week. Have a great week!!

at 2:26 PM

99 - Wayne Gretzky's old number. On April 18, 1999 it was retired league wide in the NHL. There is a new book out called "The 33-Year-Old Rookie." Chris Coste is a baseball catcher with the Philadelphia Phillies. His road to the big leagues was not as easy as Gretzky's. I love stories like this about perseverance and pursuing a dream! I am hoping Philadelphia's hockey team loses tonight in the opening round of the playoffs. Game 7 against the Washington Capitals. I have 2 Caps in the radio station playoff pool! The other game 7 tonight sees Calgary against San Jose. I'm hoping for the Sharks over the Canadian team as I have 3 "Sharks in the pool" - including their best player, Joe Thornton.

The last time I was in radio (until this month at B-103) I was 33 - 11 years ago. Earlier this month my friend, Stu Gray, turned 33 and he made a list of the first 33 things that came to his mind dealing with things that he has been learning, some quotes that he likes, and just random thoughts. One for every year of Stu's life so far. The list starts off with legendary basketball coach, John Wooden. Last month I referenced Coach Wooden's inspiring website too. I learned a lot by reading Stu's list. Check it out:)

According to government estimates, the world's population will hit 6, 666, 666, 666 on May 10. For what it's worth, that's also the day President Bush's daughter, Jenna, is scheduled to be married in Crawford, Texas. Husband Appreciation Day was yesterday (April 21) so Jenna is off the hook this year...

at 9:46 AM

Here's the story I saw this morning on CNN. A link to the earliest voiceover artist? Here is his demo. More creativity from "Cavemen" by clicking here.

In other news, CBS has put an end to rumors that Katie Couric might be exiting from her CBS Evening News post before her $15-million-a-year contract expires in 2011. A week ago, CBS said in a statement, "We are very proud of the CBS Evening News, particularly our political coverage, and we have no plans for any changes regarding Katie or the broadcast."

I continue my news career by introducing the crazy antics on W4 News. Episode 2 was released ten days ago and currently has almost 9, 500 views on YouTube. Episode 3 was released this week. Stay tuned for Episode 4...maybe Elvis will do the weather?

at 12:44 AM

Kansas beat Memphis Monday night, 75-68 in OT, to win the NCAA basketball title. I predicted that! You can ask my teenage son, Jordan.
He picked Memphis. I also exchanged emails with Joe Pinter, one of the producers for the MSG-TV Buffalo Sabre broadcasts. My Kansas prediction was in my email while Joe wrote earlier: Your voiceovers have really added a nice element to our broadcasts, and I'm very happy that you have been in "our mix" the last 2 seasons.

Unfortunately, it is Sayonara to the Sabres for this season as we just missed making the playoffs. But I am doing playoff reads for Shaw TV as we are now into round two for the Western Hockey League. I also just finished my third e-learning project in the last ten days for NogginLabs. Later today I will start on a banking tutorial for the Edcomm Group that should involve an estimated 11-hours of recording time. I have over a week to do that one - but the last weekend of March saw me put in long hours on one that had 221 pages to record.

This past weekend saw me bring on a fantastic new client,
B-103 - Kelowna's Best Country. They want me to be me Saturdays from
1 - 5 pm and Sunday mornings from 9 am to 1 pm. The last time I worked in the radio building was in 1997 with a rock format. I went through training last Thursday and Friday with Dave Pears on the midday show and it brought back memories of 1981, when Dave did the same thing when I was a young and impressionable grade 12 student.
...oh, how things change...and stay the same:)

I had fun aligning country music and timing things out for the news at the top of the hour. Did three breaks an hour and didn't do anything shocking - unless you count the movie passes I gave away to "The Ruins."

I didn't strut either. I also didn't sit. I stood the whole time...hopefully offering a better vocal performance...

at 7:55 PM

How was your April Fools' Day?

My son, Jordan, and I went to a concert in Buffalo...

My opener on MSG-TV tonight said: THE SABRES SURVIVED OVERTIME ON SUNDAY TO LIVE ANOTHER DAY. THREE GAMES LEFT...ALL “MUST WINS”...ALL ON THE ROAD. FIRST STOP...THE A-C-C. THE LEAFS ARE OUT...AND WILL TRY TO DISMISS THE SABRES FROM THE RACE FOR THE PLAYOFFS.

Buffalo scored with just over five minutes left (#33 for Thomas Vanek!) to tie it up (3-3) and then in the sixth round of the shootout, Maxim Afinogenov, faked right and shot left against Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft to give us the victory! A-R is a former Bruin and we beat Boston in overtime on Sunday, 2-1. Needed those two points as well! The Sabres' slim playoff hopes remain "on their last breath" (that was in my script Sunday) with two games left: Montreal on Thursday and Boston this Saturday.

Last Saturday, my son Jordan became a teenager! On March 19, Billy Pinter did too. His dad, Joe Pinter, is one of the producers for the MSG-TV Sabre broadcasts. Unfortunately, Joe has had to work on his son's birthday for six straight years!

Last week, another Voices.com lead came through for me. It was imaging for the Independent Comedy Network for a faux internet newscast. This afternoon the first episode of W4 News was released and that's me "getting the ball rolling" with my voice. Look and listen at that link and you will laugh! Four more episodes to come...

at 8:59 PM

I haven't shared any Sabres' scores with you since March 12, when Pittsburgh overpowered us. Buffalo followed that up with three key wins in convincing fashion: 7-1 over Carolina, 6-2 against Toronto and an incredible comeback versus Tampa Bay with 6 goals in the third period resulting in a 7-4 win. Unfortunately, the tables were reversed tonight when Ottawa paid a visit to Buffalo. They scored five straight in the third to pretty well eliminate us from the playoff picture.
Final score: Senators 6, Sabres 3. We have stalled in the standings and sit five points behind Boston in the eighth and final playoff spot with six games left. The Bruins beat Toronto tonight 6-2. Buffalo does meet Boston twice more before the season wraps up but it is not looking good for us.

Montreal is the number one seed in the Eastern Conference right now and we also play them twice more before this season is done - including this Friday, March 28. If you can't beat 'em , join 'em.
Here is the link to my YouTube site and 4 openings on MSG-TV featuring the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres.

Here is a local newspaper article from two days ago promoting a Kelowna kid who is contributing to Montreal's success.

at 4:38 PM

Just two games in the NHL on St. Paddy's Day. Minnesota, with quite a bit o' green on their uniforms, beat Colorado
3-1. Joe Sakic scored the Avalanche's only goal - number 621 in his illustrious career and his 8th on St. Patrick's Day. His next assist will give him an even 1, 000 as he's stuck on 999 right now....Number 99, "The Great One," and his Phoenix Coyotes lost 3-1 yesterday to the Vancouver Canucks, who are 12-5-1 all-time on St. Paddy's Day. Famous hockey nicknames was an article on NHL.com yesterday so besides Gretzky, you can read about who is known as Grease, Grumpy (he's on Minnesota), Gronk and Gator.

Who is the NHL's best skater? Marian Gaborik of Minnesota finished first at 32%. Scott Niedermayer in Anaheim was second at 21% while Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh Penguins checked in at 11%. It was a recent Sports Illustrated NHL players poll. Bret Hedican of the Carolina Hurricanes was 6th on the list. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I will root for Bret's wife, Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic champion figure skater, on the new season of "Dancing With The Stars." The ladies get their first turn tonight! Hopefully this prediction of mine works out as well as the one I did for "The Amazing Race."

Which team has the best fans in the NHL? This player's poll was in last week's Sports Illustrated. Montreal was on top at 35% and Minnesota came in second at 13%. A bunch more Canadian teams followed.

Over the weekend my blog was included on this extensive list from the crew at Voices.com. They have a LOT of fans (like myself!) in the voiceover world and those numbers will
increase based on excellent resources like this one.

at 9:27 PM

My kids' school ended up on top at the Provincial basketball tournament recently! Way to go guys! The senior girls also had a strong showing. My daughter, Ashley, is the sign changer at school. At our house today we got our new basketball hoop up and running! But Ashley was not around to enjoy it. She is part of the team of 70+ youth who headed off to Los Angeles on Friday for 10 days at spring break. The ministry Willow Park Church youth are partnering with is called "The Dreamcenter." Details here: http://www.dreamcenter.org/
It will be a life changing experience for her!

Going to California and the San Jose Sharks at the trade deadline on February 26 has worked out well for former Sabre, Brian Campbell. He had an assist in his first game against Columbus, which San Jose won 4-2. The Sharks won their next 8 before finally losing tonight in a shootout to Edmonton, 2-1. Campbell had a chance to win it late in overtime but the goalie gloved it and Campbell flipped his stick away in disgust.

Couple of California basketball coaching legends shared page 20 in the March 10 Sports Illustrated. The news was positive for UCLA's John Wooden after breaking his left wrist and collarbone in a fall at home. He is 97. Amazing guy! He also received two blood transfusions at the hospital because doctors discovered that he was anemic. John Wooden's website is filled with many inspiring quotes. Check 'em out! Pat Riley guided the LA Lakers to NBA championships in 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. Two years ago he led the Miami Heat to the title but this year they are a miserable 11-54 - prompting this quote: "I feel like a mosquito in a nudist colony. I know what to do; I just don't know where to start."

Happy 63rd birthday coming up on March 20 Pat!

Yesterday, "Mr. Hockey" Gordie Howe had a big 80th birthday bash thrown in Vancouver. His actual birthday is March 31.

at 11:53 PM

Tonight's Sabres opener went like this on MSG-TV:
IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR...
ONE EYE ON YOUR OPPONENT...AND THE OTHER EYE ON THE OUT-OF-TOWN SCOREBOARD. JUST AN EVEN DOZEN GAMES LEFT FOR THE SABRES TO MAKE THEIR MOVE. AND TONIGHT THE ROAD DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER.
A DEPLETED DEFENSE FACES ONE OF THE MOST POTENT OFFENSES IN THE LEAGUE.
CAN BUFFALO DIG DEEP TO STAY IN THE RACE?
(RYAN MILLER interview clip: "Stage is set...I guess we'll find out")
PENGUINS...SABRES...NEXT ON MSG!
I'm sorry to report Pittsburgh prevailed 7-3. Not much has changed in the playoff hunt since I last blogged ten days ago: The Sabres are in ninth place right now, 3 points back of Philadelphia, who hold down the eighth and final playoff spot. As of right now, Buffalo is 4 points behind Philly and the final playoff spot. Sabres fans can give a BIG thank you to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who beat Philadelphia tonight, 3-2. Even bigger was yesterday's comeback for the Leafs against the Flyers, winning 4-3 in overtime. Toronto was down 3-0 before their "miracle on ice."

As St. Patrick's Day approaches in five days, here are some more Pats that have left a mark in the NHL:
Pat Hughes (50 games with the Sabres in '85/'86 among his 573 career games)
Pat Falloon (575 NHL games)
Pat Verbeek (1, 424 NHL games)
Pat Boutette (a former Maple Leaf and Penguin)
Pat Hickey (another former Maple Leaf and New York Ranger)
Pat Conacher
Pat Flatley

The following 3 all played for the Washington Capitals at some point.
Pat Peake
Pat Elynuik
Pat Riggin
My voiceover friend, Gary Kriebel, is known as Gustafsson at the On Frozen Blog site. It is focused on the Washington Capitals, who are just one point behind the Sabres and also shooting for the playoffs. Any other Pats you can think of Gary? Or YOU reading this blog? The Sabres will try to help both our playoff dreams by beating Carolina Friday night - and I'm confident the Caps can beat Atlanta too:)

at 8:22 PM

Today's Sabres opener went like this on MSG-TV:
The red-hot Canadiens poured on the power Friday night sending a chill through HSBC Arena. Cold is the only way to describe Detroit in February...And we're not talking weather. The Red Wings enter March in a slump as the rest of the West closes the gap. Will the Sabres keep 'em cool...and keep pace in the race for a playoff spot?
Find out...next on MSG!
Unfortunately, Detroit beat us 4-2. They remain the top team overall in the NHL with 92 points. The top gun in the East now is Montreal, who also beat us on home ice on Friday, 6-2. The Canadiens have 81 points after 66 games. Pittsburgh has 81 points after 67 games while New Jersey and Ottawa have 80 points after 66 games apiece.

The Sabres are in ninth place right now, 3 points back of Philadelphia, who hold down the eighth and final playoff spot. In two days we tangle with them again...deja vu? Just a week ago I blogged: The Sabres hold down the eighth and final playoff spot with 68 points. Tomorrow we tango with the ninth place team, Philadelphia, who are only one point behind us. Buffalo lost that one in a shootout, 4-3. We NEED both points in Philly Tuesday so, YES, it is the biggest game of the year!

Buffalo-born Patrick Kaleta got his second goal of the season today and was the third star of the game for the Sabres. Another Buffalo-born Patrick who had an even better day was Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. He scored two against Vancouver giving him 16 for the season and assisted on his 39th. It was Chicago 4, Vancouver 1. Other Patricks powering up for the Hawks were Patrick Sharp with his 32nd goal of the season and Patrick Lalime in net. Besides Patrick Kane, there is one other Chicago player who should be in Buffalo. Not so much because of his skill like Kane, but his name is a perfect fit: Dustin Byfuglien (pronounced "Bufflin"). Check out this article on NHL.com called: A buffer Byfuglien is a better Byfuglien.

Other Patricks that have left a mark in the NHL include these former Sabres:
Pat LaFontaine (Hall of Famer)
James Patrick (currently an Assistant Coach for Buffalo)
Plus:
Patrick Roy (another Hall of Famer)
Pat Quinn
Pat Price (Big Bry, that one is for you in Saskatoon!)
Lester Patrick
Patrik Elias
Patrick Marleau (born in Aneroid, Saskatchewan.
Bryan, Is that near Steroid, Saskatchewan?)
Patrick Rissmiller (a San Jose Shark - just like Marleau)
Patrick Eaves
Patrick O'Sullivan
Patrik Stefan
Patrick Thoresen
Glenn Patrick
Craig Patrick
Patrick Poulin
Patrick Leahy

at 8:48 PM

Those two have quite a history! They patched up their differences in January, 2006. Shaq's first game with Phoenix was four days ago against Kobe and the Lakers, who won 130-124. My kids' school's Senior Boys basketball team features a "Schack and Colby" tandem. Lenny Schack is a grade 12 leader and power forward on the team while Colb

y Maier is a young grade 10 who can "do it all." Last night, our Knights beat the rival Mustangs 69-64 in a barnburner for the Valley Championship! Both teams advance to the Provincial Tournament.

The 80th Annual Academy Awards went tonight and here is the Oscar website. "No Country For Old Men" won a couple of the big awards: Best Picture and Best Director.

My last post mentioned how the Buffalo Sabres are going green.
Well, the Academy Awards did that too!

Yesterday's Sabres opener on MSG-TV had an Oscar feel to it:
We’re a day away from Oscar Sunday...
But the Sabres enter Saturday with enough drama to fill any Hollywood feature.
Injuries...A playmaker returns while the captain is shelved.
Intrigue...A former captain returns for his first visit in Broadway Blue.
Suspense...The clock ticks as trade deadline day approaches.
But the biggest part of this plot is the payoff at the end of the night.
Watch the story reveal itself live....NEXT on MSG!
Unfortunately, the New York Rangers beat the Sabres yesterday, 4-3.

The Rangers rolled past Florida today, 5-0. They are 4 points up on us but have played two more games. The Sabres hold down the eighth and final playoff spot with 68 points. Tomorrow we tango with the ninth place team, Philadelphia, who are only one point behind us.

The 2nd Annual Voicey Awards took place last Thursday.
Congrats to all the winners!

Finally, here is the article from last Wednesday's paper plugging yours truly. Thought I would share the layout below. The PDF opens at the above link.

at 11:20 PM

Scripts are not written any better than this one tonight...Sabres losing
3-1 with 2:21 left in the game. Thomas Vanek scores to pull us within one. Then 36 seconds later, he ties it up! In overtime, Vanek scores AGAIN (a natural hat trick!) on home ice to WIN it 4-3! Buffalo is now in a three-way tie with Boston and Philadelphia for seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Fifteen months ago Steve MacNaull wrote a really nice newspaper article about my voiceover business. He did a follow-up today in the daily newspaper's Business section paying special attention to the Beverly Hills real estate project I mentioned a week ago. I will post a link very soon to Steve's article.

Here is a TV commercial featuring the Sabres' Paul Gaustad reading a newspaper - and doing a fine job encouraging viewers to do their part in
saving the environment. I do the announcer lines towards the end.
Here is another one in the series - again rated PG...for Paul Gaustad.

Let's go from posh Beverly Hills to Bosh in Toronto. Chris Bosh had 40 points tonight as the Raptors rolled past "Superman" Dwight Howard and his 37 points for Orlando. The final: Raptors 127, Magic 110.
Chris Bosh gives back to his community. Here is the link for the Chris Bosh Foundation - a non-profit organization promoting social enrichment, education and physical fitness among youth.

Has The VOice...On and Off the Ice

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