10th annual Hockey Day in Canada is over

The 10th annual Tim Hortons Hockey Day in Canada on
CBC-TV marked the first broadcast of an NHL game in the
Inuktitut language. CBC North broadcasters Charlie Panigoniak and Annie Ford called the game between the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens in Inuktitut. Later, Punjabi broadcasts were available for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs' game and the Battle of Alberta between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers. My youngest son, Jordan, and I bet on the Vancouver/Toronto game. He is a big Toronto fan and although they had a 3-0 lead after one period, Vancouver stormed back to win 5-3 - and win me a Tim Hortons' coffee!

I did not have a chance to watch any of the Hockey Day in Canada festivities today because it was a Basketball Day in my household. I am pleased to report the grade 9 Kelowna Christian School Knights won their semifinal playoff game this morning against my old alma mater, the OKM Huskies, 66-41. Then tonight, the KCS Knights beat the bigger team from KLO in the grade 9 city final, 69-53. My son, Jordan, had a couple of
three-pointers and didn't get a rest until there was 2:21 left in the 3rd quarter. Great job players and coaches on both teams!
 
I mentioned about a year ago how I bumped into one of my former teachers at a Kelowna Rockets hockey game. Well, tonight Mickey Patryluk mentioned on Facebook that the Rockets beat Medicine Hat, 7-2. She also shared that the 50/50 draw was worth $ 4, 400 dollars and that her six digit ticket was an identical match to the winning ticket - except the last number was off by one...
 
Vancouver singer Michael Bublé was on "Saturday Night Live" tonight. He is a big hockey fan and part owner of the Rockets' rivals, the Vancouver Giants. Michael Bublé's name is similar to one of the NHL's hottest players right now: Mike Knuble of Washington. Six points in his last three games while the Capitals aim for their 10th straight win Sunday afternoon. Washington hosts the Tampa Bay Lightning and with a win they would match the franchise record for consecutive victories, established from Jan. 27 - Feb. 18, 1984.

Honored To Be Nominated!

96 people did a faux-dition for the opening to ABC's World News with Diane Sawyer. It was the brainchild of Peter O'Connell back on December 11th.

Yesterday, Peter and the judges released the names of the 11 voice finalists and I am humbled to be on the list. Please go have a listen to the folks on the list and cast a vote. Thank you very much if you throw it my way!

On April Fool's Day, 2008, I ended my blog post by linking to a faux internet newscast for the Independent Comedy Network. I voiced the opening. Two weeks after that I linked to more faux internet newscast footage on:
CNN: Caveman Neanderthal Network?

Below is another in the "not so serious" series for W4N News:

Jay, Conan or ME?

My last three posts were all published before the evening hours hit - but tonight a "Tonight Show" flashback from January, 1998 - courtesy of the creative mind of the founder of Bridges.com, Doug Manning. I worked in Sales there for five years between 1997 - 2002. I remember Doug did something like this for all the employees and it was certainly an encouragement:

Well, Jay Leno is getting his old job back hosting "The Tonight Show." Watch for it March 1 after the Olympics. Conan O'Brien's final show is tomorrow and features Tom Hanks, Canadian rock icon Neil Young and Will Ferrell. Conan receives a $33 million dollar settlement from NBC! I'm getting a nice deal tomorrow. Free lunch at IHOP! I'm meeting with one of my old radio colleagues from the late '80's, Gary Johnston, who also does voiceover work. Here is a radio flashback photo from that time:

Ross Huguet, formerly on the morning show, helped me get my voiceover career going in 2005. I mentioned this in the spring of '07. And I have played basketball in recent years with Jim Scanlon...yes, my name was spelled wrong in the newspaper ad:)   Lots of good memories here!

Football & Hockey Youth Movement

Dallas over Minnesota. Yes, I am picking the "young Romeo" (Tony Romo, 29 years old) to beat the "old fart", Brett Favre (40 years old) tomorrow as there are four more NFL playoff games this weekend. The Cowboys' head coach, Wade Phillips, coached Buffalo from 1998 - 2002.

Do you remember Dallas taking Minnesota's hockey team in 1993?
A former Kelowna Rocket is making a strong impression as an NHL rookie in Dallas this season:
Stars' rookie Benn there, done that

Last Saturday, Peyton Manning won his record fourth NFL MVP award. He received 37 1/2 of a possible 50 votes. New Orleans QB Drew Brees finished a distant second with 7 1/2 votes. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers had two votes while Brett Favre claimed one. Favre has won three MVP's in his career. All these guys are playing this weekend.

With a playoff bye in place, Peyton Manning didn't need to play too much as the Indianapolis Colts wrapped up the regular season in Buffalo. Here is the footage (with the famous Buffalo weather in play) on last weekend's "Thurman Thomas Show":

The Bono of Basketball & a new hockey BIG man

It is the 13th and my favorite player in the NBA with that number is Steve Nash. This season he launched the "13 Club." In order to join, donors agreed to pledge $13 dollars for every assist that Nash (#13) makes. Then, in the Suns' home opener versus Golden State, Nash dished out 20 assists (he has done so twice this season; no other NBA player has topped 18). Found that tidbit in a great article titled:
The Tao of Steve Nash, the Bono of Basketball

Kool on Ice pays kudos to former Kelowna Rocket and current Buffalo Sabre, Tyler Myers:

Football Flashback: January 12, 1992

Let's travel back exactly 18 years. As Sports Illustrated said:
What could have been the Great Kelly-Elway Shootout became
the Great Kelly-Elway Shutout:

Monday Night Football...predictions

A, B & D won this weekend in the NFL playoffs - but not CinCinnati with Chad OChoCinCo, who turned 32 two days ago...
Arizona 51, Green Bay 45
Baltimore 33, New England 14
Dallas 34, Philadelphia 14
New York Jets 24, CinCinnati 14
Could have been A, B, C & D moving on...

If we go with the home teams this coming weekend in the playoffs, the results will be:
NIMS This means "to steal." So, look for:
~ New Orleans to beat Arizona
~ Indianapolis over Baltimore
~ Minnesota to get past Dallas
~ San Diego charging like a river past the NY Jets

Who are you cheering for?

Clouds do have a SILVER lining

2010 - and I just printed off my first page with my new HP LaserJet 1020 print cartridge. I bought the new cartridge October 9 but by shaking the original cartridge, life expectancy increased:)
I printed off a paid client invoice and hope to do a lot more of that in 2010!
I was pretty happy with voiceover revenue for 2009. Considering the world economy, a 4.3% decline from 2008 is okay.

Big shakeups within the Buffalo Bills organization. I will be doing my final segments for the 2009 season tonight for the "Thurman Thomas Show." I hope I will NOT be delivering a eulogy...

Congrats to the U.S. for winning gold at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatoon! This officially ends my Christmas holidays. Our remaining outdoor Christmas lights are being turned off to "mourn" Canada's 6-5 overtime loss last night to the USA. So, we Canadians can't celebrate a sixth straight gold medal here on the 6th. But silver isn't too shabby either!

I would say this cheer did not inspire our young men enough...

Reaching new heights!

1. Dubai opened the world's tallest skyscraper today. It was also renamed Burj Khalifa, to honor the Abu Dhabi leader who is the president of the United Arab Emirates. The building rises 2, 717 feet (828 meters) from the desert. The $1.5 billion dollar "vertical city" of luxury apartments and offices and a hotel designed by Giorgio Armani also plans to have the world's highest mosque (158th floor) and swimming pool (76th floor). No belly flops allowed! 
2. Yesterday, 6 foot 10 inch Chris Bosh became the Toronto Raptors' all-time franchise scoring leader. Bosh finished Toronto's 91-86 win over San Antonio with 22 points, giving him 9, 428 points, eight more than Vince Carter.
3. Today I finished an 8-page elearning narration for a school district in Ontario covering Basic Ladder training!

Scoble, Schobel or Sczebel?

Robert Scoble is considered the King of social media. Who does
he consider the top-ten tech tweeters for 2009? I was made aware
of THE LIST by Guy Kawasaki, who came in at number 10.

Here is this weekend's Buffalo Bills game recap on the "Thurman Thomas Show." Not much to write home about - unless you are defensive end Aaron Schobel:

Today, Buffalo had a blowout win against the Indianapolis Colts, 30-7. It was really a meaningless regular-season finale as Indy finishes 14-2 and has a bye next week to start the playoffs. Buffalo finishes 6-10 and misses the playoffs for a tenth straight season. But, 2010 will be a better season once it starts in September. Trust me! I already predicted at the end of my last post that the Buffalo Sabres would beat the Atlanta Thrashers - and they did, 4-3. In fact Buffalo won again today, 1-0, in Montreal. Exactly halfway through the season, Buffalo is second in the Eastern Conference with 56 points and a 26-11-4 record.

How would you like to win a brand new car?
Greg Sczebel is a Juno winning singer/songwriter who is giving you that chance. Click here for all the details.

Happy New Year! New England/Boston

Welcome to 2010! I hope it will be a great year for you!
Here are 10 Things Voice Talent Could Be Doing For a Better 2010 from Stephanie Ciccarelli at Voices.com.  Yes, I contributed my two cents...

T. Thomas was very good today in the annual NHL "Winter Classic."
Tim - not Thurman:)

Boston won against Philadelphia, 2-1. Who stepped up to the mic? NBC had announcers Mike Emrick and Mike Milbury working the game while Al Michaels remembered the 30th anniversary of the "Miracle On Ice." Mike Eruzione was the captain of the 1980 gold medal U.S. team. Found at the Puck Daddy blog, here is the greatest moment of Al Michaels' career.

Other Mikes who stepped up today included Philly's goalie, Michael Leighton. There was also Mike Richards, the Flyers' captain, while Boston had Michael Ryder up front. By the way, Al Michaels will serve as host of NBC's live weekend and weekday daytime coverage of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Just 42 days away...

What's old is not happy or new when it comes to the New England Patriots beating the Buffalo Bills. 13 straight now! I got a little more air time than usual in this game recap on the "Thurman Thomas Show":

This weekend on the "Thurman Thomas Show" we'll have highlights of the loss to Atlanta last weekend while the classic flashback will be from January of 1992 against Denver. Déjà vu in the NHL shortly as Buffalo will be hosting Atlanta. The Thrashers have beaten Buffalo six straight but I predict that will change starting tonight! A New Year is all about a little change, right? Just my two cents...again...