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.