Shaq and Kobe together again?

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 Colby 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.

Vanek Attack! Bosh rocks the rim!

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.

Chris Bosh and Will Ferrell rock!

"CB4" was a 1993 comedy film (don't let the kids see it!) about a fictional rap group named CB4, named after the prison block in which the group was allegedly formed (Cell Block 4). Chris Rock was the main star. The movie featured a short segment with celebrities Halle Berry, Ice-T, Ice Cube and Shaquille O'Neal. We touched on his movie career in an earlier blog this month. Did you know Shaq had 14 straight All-Star selections before he was left off the team this year?

But CB4 (aka Chris Bosh) of the Toronto Raptors picked up the slack for Shaq as he helped the East beat the West yesterday in the NBA All-Star Game, 134-128. If you are keeping score, Bosh had 14 points AND there were 3 more CB's at the game: former Raptor Chauncey Billups, Washington's Caron Butler (part of the trade that saw Shaq go from LA to Miami) and over on the West: Carlos Boozer. Besides CB players, there are CB teams in the NBA: the Charlotte Bobcats and Chicago Bulls.
In the NHL, there are the Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets. But the NFL wins this "sporting" competition with 3 CB teams. Yes, there is another Chicago team - the Bears. And, following in the footsteps of Columbus, two more Ohio teams:
the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.

Moon madness! The full moon takes place in three nights. Two nights ago, Chris Bosh had a teammate named Jamario Moon leave his mark at the Slam Dunk competition. This link will show you how he did along with "Superman" Dwight Howard.

Jackie Moon (aka Will Ferrell) did this hilarious basketball beer commercial for the Super Bowl. He has another sports spoof movie set for release February 29. "Semi-Pro" is the title. It is NOT set in Chicago or Ohio - but Flint, Michigan.

Where there is a Will (Ferrell), there is a barrel of laughs.

Ralph goes RITZY...REAL estate

I just voiced a project for a real estate company in Beverly Hills.
The property used to be owned by Howard Hughes. The link is:
http://www.telesproperties.com/app/webroot/cahuengapeak
Once there, please click on:
- Movie: Property History
Lights, camera...action!

The writers strike is now over too!

BRI(Y)AN Power!

The Buffalo Sabres have turned a major corner and moved into the playoff picture after shellacking the Senators tonight, 5-1. There were 8 other games today and they were all pretty tight: three 4-2 scores, two 4-3 scores, two 3-2 scores and a 2-1 final. Brian Campbell assisted on Thomas Vanek's first two goals tonight. T-V scored with 4 minutes left to get his first ever hat trick and 20 goals on the season! Brian Campbell had three assists in the previous game - a 5-3 win over Florida. He is now tied for fourth in NHL scoring for defensemen and we NEED to get him signed to a long-term contract before the trading deadline on February 26!

Bryan Trottier is a Hockey Hall of Famer and a class act on and off the ice. Read the local newspaper article here.

Bryan Cox also hails from the province of Saskatchewan - like Bryan Trottier. He is a talented voiceover artist who is a finalist in the 2nd Annual Voicey Awards and the category of Lifetime Achievement. Bryan Cox started blogging last month and I like his style a lot. His most recent post plugs all the different Voicey Awards nominees but his humble nature neglects to toot his own horn - so I'm doing it here Bryan...you NFL Football lovin', NASCAR drivin', Saskatoon "Blades Of Glory" guy...

Last but not least is Brian Hart. The voiceover community appreciates his time and effort in moderating different discussions and offering encouragement at the one-of-a-kind Voiceover Bulletin Board. Brian also jumped on board with his blog last week. I'm looking forward to checking it out regularly. Keep up the good work Brian! That includes providing imaging for an ESPN affiliate, the Inside Carolina Radio Network and numerous sports podcasts and webcasts.

This morning I had some major technical difficulties with my router and modem and spent a lot of time on the phone with some customer service people getting it resolved. Who do I blame? I'm going to say my neighbour two houses over...maybe the fact he's got Christmas lights still on here on February 12 did something?!? Three trees below believe it or not...

Nash & Shaq & my basketball play-by-play!

Steve Nash has got to be smiling with the arrival of his new big target from Miami, Shaquille O'Neal. After seeing the interview with Shaq this morning, I believe he can lead the Phoenix Suns to the promised land: an NBA championship. He is very elephant...I mean, eloquent. Seven-foot-one and 325-pounds, Shaq already has four titles. I know he would like to reach the six Michael Jordan has!

When it comes to Hollywood though, Shaq has a better resume than Michael as far as I am concerned...My agent just had me audition as a basketball announcer for an industrial video. The project could end up on
the Internet as well. Have a listen here to my little tribute to Michael Jordan.

I hope I can be as eloquent as Shaq tomorrow (Friday) morning on CBC Radio Daybreak South with Marion Barschel. I am dropping by the studio at about 6:45 am (PST) for some hockey fun as the legendary "Hockey Day In Canada" happens Saturday on CBC-TV! Click on Kelowna Friday morning here if you want to listen in:)

What's in a Name? Part 2

This is a sequel to a recent post. If your name is Manning, you will have won the Super Bowl the last two years. We covered Peyton on this blog almost exactly a year ago. His brother, Eli, orchestrated the New York Giants' upset of the undefeated New England Patriots in last weekend's Super Bowl, 17-14. Tom wins! Coach Coughlin - NOT Tom Brady, who was sacked five times and hurried a dozen more by a bruising defense.

Beyond the Boards is a blog written by the Buffalo Sabres Website Manager, Brian Wheeler. He joined the Sabres prior to the 2003-04 season and has a recent post here about his early days on the job.
It's a funny read with a great punchline - pun intended:)

Another Brian Wheeler enters his tenth season as the radio play-by-play voice of the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers. Here is a recent article he wrote: In Honor of Brandon Roy, 7 Reasons Why the Trail Blazers Will Make the Playoffs. Derek Roy of the Sabres will be leading us into the playoffs it seems. He has 12 points in seven games since returning on January 18 from a shoulder injury. Tonight the Sabres beat Boston, 4-2, to move within 4 points of the Bruins and the eighth and final playoff spot. We meet them again Friday while tomorrow sees the Sabres at home against New Jersey (tied for fifth) - our first home game after seven straight on the road.

Thank you Doctor!

My doctor says he doesn't want to see me for a couple of years. I am happy with that scenario because I checked out well during my physical this week! Our health is something we cannot take for granted...my cholesterol level went down by 4.37% and my cholesterol/HDL risk ratio improved by 21.56% over the last year-and-a-half.

But, my blogging level is way up:) I had zero posts the last time I saw my doctor and hit 52 posts last month. 8 posts in January topped my previous highs of 6 in both December and November '07. Buffalo Sabres hockey in February is brought to you by Upstate New York Transplant Services reminding you that “You've been given the Gift of Life. Give it back." That is an actual sponsor read this month on MSG-TV.
Click here if you don't believe me. Good advice, don't you think?

I am also pleased to report my January voiceover income topped my November Number$$ by 9.1%! Thank you to my great clients - including new ones like Guelph Hyundai and Gridstone Research. For the latter I did a 5-minute tutorial (click here) and the former was a 60-second commercial (click here).

I want to beat January's totals! And I hope YOU do too:)
And because it is a Leap Year we have an extra day in February!
So I hope there is no slowdown...Enjoy the Sabres' "Old West Showdown" below against the New Jersey Devils from January 12!