LArge Blowout!

The title of my post is not referring to a Boxing Day/Week sale...This weekend on the Buffalo Bills' 50th Season Moment, a nightmare of a playoff game for the LA Raiders back in 1991:


Well, the San Diego Chargers won on Christmas Day, 42-17 over Tennessee. I would call that another blowout BUT with the California team coming out on top. How about any football score with a difference of three touchdowns (twenty-one points) is considered a blowout?
That means the Buffalo Bills were victims today in Atlanta, 31-3.
On a positive note, QB Brian Brohm made his starting debut for the Bills while receiver Terrell Owens became the sixth player in NFL history to hit 1,000 career receptions. Other embarrassing blowouts today in the NFL:

• Green Bay 48 Seattle 10
• Carolina  41 New York Giants 9 (each team has a great receiver named Steve Smith but Carolina's broke his arm today)
• New England 35 Jacksonville 7
• Arizona 31 St. Louis 10

The Sunday night football game could be another blowout as Dallas visits Washington. The Redskins lost 45-12 at home last Monday night against the New York Giants while Dallas handed New Orleans its first loss of the season, 24-17.
 
In my opinion, a hockey blowout might involve a difference of six goals. Yesterday, Canada shut out LAtvia 16-0 in the world junior opener for both countries. Congrats to the U.S. team, who remained unbeaten at the world juniors with a 3-0 victory today over Switzerland. (Canada should blow out the Swiss tomorrow). The U.S. team won 7-3 over Slovakia yesterday. Canada takes on the USA on New Year's Eve! Can't wait for that matchup. Plus, the "Royal Canadian Air Farce" joins comedic forces for the first time in a year on New Year's Eve.

Charging towards Christmas

The San Diego Chargers play on Christmas Day. You might want to pick them to win in Tennessee. The Chargers have won an NFL-record 17 consecutive December games. Their home stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, hosted the fifth annual Poinsettia Bowl yesterday. The Utah Utes, behind an impressive performance from hometown kid and quarterback Jordan Wynn, defeated the Cal Golden Bears 37-27.

I did some voicing featuring the San Diego Chargers (against my beloved Bills) this football season. Two months ago, you heard about it on
BILLS & balloons. Besides the Bills' 50th Season Moment there, I have just loaded two more flashbacks as an early Christmas present for you:)

• December 26th, 1965. The AFL Championship game:

Here is the link from the infamous "balloon game" from last season. Buffalo beat San Diego, 23-14.

Meanwhile, the "balloon boy parents" got their Christmas present yesterday. Richard Heene will serve 90 days in jail, the maximum proposed under a plea deal reached earlier for his role in the hoax. Mayumi Heene will serve 20 days. The sentence also bars them from profiting from the incident. That's the news...

In sports, six-year-old Falcon Heene is reportedly cheering for the Atlanta Falcons this weekend against the Buffalo Bills...no word on whether he has any brothers named Bill:)

Merry Christmas! May your Christmas be filled with THE spirit of
the season - and sports of the season...Canada going for a record
sixth-straight gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships!

Wondering where OUR snow is

Today is the first official day of winter on the calendar. We had our first snowfall of the season last Tuesday but it has now disappeared for the most part thanks to a lot of rain. If you want to enjoy some great snow in this area, go skiing or snowboarding here:

• Big White (Kelowna)
• Silver Star (Vernon) 

If you want to snowmobile, might I suggest:

"I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas" - but received a white coffeemaker yesterday from my wife! Perfect timing as the old one broke down Sunday morning...
 

Click here to see Crosby's "White Christmas" - Bing, not Sidney...

Congrats to Crosby, Colbert, Craig and Scruffy the Elf...

Canada's outstanding athlete for a second time is Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. The Lou Marsh Award is named after a former Toronto Star sports editor.

TV host Stephen Colbert is on the cover of the new Sports Illustrated:

After labeling Canadians as "syrup suckers" and "ice holes," I think I can safely say he doesn't have as many fans here as Sidney Crosby.

Sid the Kid is only 22-years-old while we have even a younger newsmaker in Kelowna.
Kevin Craig is the youngest person ever elected to Kelowna city council. He is just
19-years-old. Born in Ireland, Craig has enthusiastically adapted to many Canadian customs, including building a backyard skating rink with his brother. But Craig freely admits he's no great shakes on ice. “I know how to put on skates and go in a straight line.”  Here is the link to the front page story in yesterday's Kelowna Daily Courier.

Scruffy the Elf a demented hit was the headline on page five of yesterday's paper. Read the story here. Enjoy the video!
It has been stuck in my head this week...

Couple of Points & a pose

ONE more point - and the Buffalo Bills hit 200!
They are in Kansas City today and on the "Thurman Thomas Show" this weekend we featured Kansas City on the 50th Season Moment from 1994:

Poinsettia does not have a T in the middle...
This past week, I voiced a 33 1/2 minute PowerPoint presentation for a management training demo for a large U.S. client in the automotive repair industry. Did you know PowerPoint is twenty-five years old?

One year ago today my blog post was:
Voiceover artist on strike..I mean, strikes a pose
Well, I am at it again this year as a mannequin for Willow Park Church's annual "Living Nativity." I am a Roman soldier:

That is not a real pointy sword but that is hockey tape on my legs...Seven shows the last two nights. Doors open at 3:00 today for at least five shows.

Fastest talker? NOT me

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.

Saturday In The PARK / PA RinK

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.

T-O in TO TOnight

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.

Hockey & Football Threes

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:

Hockey voicing X 3

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.

The fabulous Flutie Factor

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!

• The BC Lions were blown out in Montreal 56-18! 
• Saskatchewan beat Calgary, 27-17.

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.

Two more sporting 100's!

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.

Easy as 100!

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.

Easy as 1-2-3?

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)

Voice Anniversaries!

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...

No average Joes/Awesome Grandma!

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.

Soccer commercials Beckham would approve of

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.

SportS StatiSticS

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...

Remembering THE Comeback and The Mask

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...

Buffalo Boys from Houston

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.

Football Females and The Huddle

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...

Painful and Pane-Full

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!

BILLS & balloons

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:

SABRES déjà vu?

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:

SABRES plus a young child in Nashville

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:

"SKATE Plus 8" TV show?

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.

Part of 4 exciting finishes!

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:

CanuCks: C factor

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.

Watch out for falling debris! NOT leaves or snow...

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:

$$urrounded by Millionaire$$?

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...

Edwards takes the snap...

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.

NO NFL team scored 13 points on the 13th

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.

I am a Warrior - not a worrier...

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!

Football FEVER!

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!

Hockey HEAT!

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!

I am faster than Usain Bolt!

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."

Happy Birthday Sidney Crosby & Herb Merriweather!

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.

Michaels and Vancouver

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.

Saluting the Red, White and Blue

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.

Finding your voice through magic?

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

DOC on the mend and on the mind

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.

Pittsburgh in six

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.

Boats and Goats

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.

It IS a Small world...

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.

Live Long and Prosper

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.

Lucky number Seven?

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.

A picture worth a thousand words? Thousands of calories...

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: