TASKER a Treat to watch on Halloween

The CBS game crew for Sunday's broadcast of Buffalo in Kansas City
is Gus Johnson with Steve Tasker. It is a déjà vu for Tasker, who hosts Bills All Access. Here is Steve's interview in KC.

Here is my Game Recap this weekend on the "Thurman Thomas Show." Close but no cigar for the Bills last Sunday against Baltimore:

I wonder how many teams will score 31 points on the 31st?

• NFL wrap: One team scored 24 on the 24th
• NFL wrap: 3 teams scored 17 on the 17th
• Arrowhead Stadium is the Chiefs' home. They are 3-0 with the home field advantage this season. BUT the Buffalo Bills have won there two years in a row. Hopefully the third time is a charm!
• The Arrows - classic Canadian rock song I loved back in 1984: "Meet Me in the Middle." Great saxophone! Crank this up! Enjoy your football and Halloween too!

Why is Buffalo THERE again?

The Sabres are in Atlanta tonight. They were just there nine days ago and won 4-1. Only 8, 820 fans showed up that night in Atlanta. I do NOT endorse NHL hockey in Atlanta - BUT I do endorse the FaffCon2 Voice Over Event on the weekend of February 25-27, 2011. Alberta, instead of Atlanta, would have been a better fit for yours truly - even though the Atlanta Thrashers host Florida and Toronto during the Unconference.

The Buffalo Bills are in Kansas City this Sunday. They beat them there in December last year, 16-10. I am expecting a much higher scoring game this year! Like when Buffalo was in KC on November 23, 2008 and we won 54-31! Here is my Game Recap from last year:

Artwork from yours truly

This is Greg Perry's cartoon - published across Canada in newspapers two days ago. He got his start doodling on the walls at Canadian Tire, where he worked with my wife way back when. Yes, I posted it on Facebook first...

Here is my Art folder from my grad year and an ad I concocted for Sony:

Black felt on the outside with pencil detail inside.

I am not sure if these guys were relatives or teachers at OKM...
Done with pencil crayons!

Did you hear the Sony Walkman died yesterday at the age of 31?

The Japanese giant sold 30,000 Walkmans in the first two months after its launch, and 50 million within a decade. The Sony scoop is here.

We are ALL artists to some extent...

Give yourself a pat on the back!

This point was illustrated very well by Voice 123's Steven Lowell yesterday:

We Are All Artists by Dr.Felicia Ruff

NFL wrap: One team scored 24 on the 24th

26 teams took to the football field today, October 24th. Only one team scored 24 and that was in the nightcap between Minnesota (24) and Green Bay (28).

• Three teams scored 23 on this Sunday - just like last Sunday. 
• The least anticipated game of the day had Carolina win their first against San Francisco, 23-20.

Two of Buffalo's division rivals, New England and Miami, were involved in the other 23 pointers.
The Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-20, while the Dolphins lost to Pittsburgh, 23-22, even though Chad Henne completed 23 passes for the second straight week.

• The Buffalo Bills lost a heartbreaker in overtime to Baltimore, 37-34.

The NBA launches a new season in two nights with three games. That means there will be 12 quarters of action. And I bet there will be at least a couple of quarters where one of the teams scores exactly 24 points.
Check the box scores in two nights and see if I'm right...
And remember, Kobe Bryant is #24 of the two-time defending champion LA Lakers!
Are you happy I said that Herb?

Food for Thought: Double Dipping & Kelowna Rockets

I haven't posted since Sunday - when I actually blogged twice, or double dipped, for the first time in the four year history of this blog.

That saying became very popular thanks to this "Seinfeld" clip involving chips and George.

Here is another classic "Seinfeld" clip with George and a long john:


In my opinion, the best long johns here in Kelowna are from the Specialty Bakery.

A former Kelowna Rocket double dipped tonight in the NHL. Two goals for Mikael Backlund! Unfortunately, he was the only Flame to score as Calgary lost to Detroit, 4-2.
Former Rocket, Jamie Benn, had three assists as Dallas won against Florida, 4-1.
In progress, another Rocket alum, Kyle Cumiskey, has scored as Colorado trails San Jose, 3-1, in the second.

NFL wrap: 3 teams scored 17 on the 17th

San Francisco beat Oakland 17-9. Quarterback Alex Smith almost completed 17 passes. He was 16/33.

San Diego scored 17 BUT St. Louis finished with 20. Quarterback Sam Bradford almost completed 17 passes. He was 18/31 for the Rams.

Finally, Philadelphia 31, Atlanta 17. Both Kevin Kolb and Matt Ryan completed 23 passes.

So many close games in the NFL today! There were three 23-20 scores:

• Seattle over Chicago
• New England beating Baltimore in overtime
• Miami over Green Bay in overtime

Two other games saw winners by three points today:
Indianapolis 27, Washington 24
Minnesota 24, Dallas 21 (Game of the day!)

(W)rapping up the week

Below is this week's Billieve Moment from the "Thurman Thomas Show."
In 1989, Buffalo left Houston in week three with a 47-41 overtime victory! The show will repeat next weekend as the Bills have a bye this weekend. Seems appropriate that Warren Moon is featured as next Saturday is a full moon...


Current Bills receiver, Steve Johnson, has four touchdowns in the first five games and leads the team in receptions with seventeen. Johnson also likes to freestyle rap. His song "Byrd Flyin' High" is about teammate Jairus Byrd. Here is the link!

Maybe your favorite TV show is mentioned in this rap that is approaching three million views on YouTube. No better time than Sunday to share this by Tamara Lowe.

KENYA believe it?!

Former Buffalo Bill and future Hall of Famer, Terrell Owens, will probably get in trouble for a Tweet he sent out before the Cincinnati/Tampa Bay football game. It was for a good cause though: his work with a charity that helps children in Kenya. T-O is executive producing "In The Nest" -  a gripping portrait of Kenyan street children.

I had a chance to narrate a preview video for a missions trip in Kenya last year by ICCL. Some breathtaking shots here by my friend with the Buffalo Sabres, Matt Gould, before my voiceover kicks in at the :51 second mark:


Here is a great Kelowna/Kenya  connection story involving 18 grade seven kids from Ann Mclymont Elementary school:

The full story is here on the HuStream blog.

10/10/10 = Brett Favre's birthday

As mentioned in passing (something Brett Favre is VERY good at!) on my late August post, Football and the "Lost" conspiracy?, Brett Favre shares a birthday with my dad this Sunday, which happens to be 10/10/10 on the calendar.

Brett got an early birthday present this week as Randy Moss was traded back to Minnesota from New England. Today at NFL.com, Favre and Moss show up prominently on a list of the top five most impressive individual records.

Moss didn't catch a pass this past Monday night against Miami but the week before he lit up the Buffalo Bills. Here is my voiceover for that game from the "Thurman Thomas Show":

You can see Randy Moss in action again next week on "Monday Night Football" as he and Favre take on one of Brett's former teams, the New York Jets. I'll take Minnesota in that one because Minnesota's baseball team is down 2-0 in their playoff series against the New York Yankees.

Introducing HFI and Mark Messier

A couple of weeks ago I heard Rob Higgins interviewed on Dan Russell's "Sportstalk." Like me with HTV.com, Rob could be identified with these three letters: HFI.com. That is short for HockeyFantasyIndex.com.

Like Rob, I get to combine my passions of writing, hockey and music on this blog. However, he is a real musician! Rob's band is Dearly Beloved. Rob recently blogged about Buffalo Sabre Tim Connolly. Good fantasy hockey picks are guys in the final years of their contracts trying to prove their worth$$
Here is the link to the Sabres, while you can click on your favorite team up top.

Rob Higgins' Fantasy Hockey Philosophy recently appeared on PuckDaddy.com. Maybe it can help you as the season starts in two days. He has also written the book, Higgins Hockey Fantasy Index: 2010-2011. Get a copy here.

Allow me to introduce my team drafted in the annual London Drugs Hockey Pool with sixteen others (including my brothers-in-law and son Justin) a week ago:

1. Zach Parise (New Jersey)
2. Paul Stastny (Colorado)
3. Erik Johnson (St. Louis) - 1 of 2 mandatory d-men. I had Johnson last year too along with my 7th round pick below.
4. Patrick Elias (New Jersey)
5. Jason Pominville (BUFFALO!)
6. Jussi Jokinen (Carolina)
7. Kristian Huselius (Columbus)
8. Ray Whitney (Phoenix)
9. Jakub Voracek (Columbus)
10. Kevin Bieksa, D (Vancouver)

Spares I could sub in at the all-star break:
John-Michael Liles, D (Colorado) and Nikolai Kulemin (Toronto)

That is the team taking me to the promised land!

Let the chips (ice or potato) fall where they may...

Don Cherry starts hockey season Thursday

Don Cherry "is the face, spirit and personality" of Hockey Night In Canada according to this Globe and Mail article. Former HNIC producer Ralph Mellanby figures Cherry may have another ten years left in the tank. He is 76 now!

You can watch "Coach's Corner" for the first time this season on Thursday as two NHL season openers will be on CBC-TV: Montreal at Toronto followed by Calgary at Edmonton. I am sure Don Cherry will talk about the retirement of former Maple Leaf, Darcy Tucker, the other day. Because Tucker was known as a hockey pest and trash talker, that should score points in Cherry's book.  However, on this "Coach's Corner" clip, Don Cherry took a shot at Tucker and other hockey players for not having enough of a mean streak BUT talking about steak and dinner plans.

My fondest Darcy Tucker moment goes back to him playing junior hockey with the stacked Kamloops Blazers in 1995 with Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Nolan Baumgartner, Brad Lukowich, Tyson Nash and Ryan Huska (currently coaching the Kelowna Rockets). They won the Memorial Cup that year and also in 1994 and 1992.

The future will see Darcy Tucker as a player agent. Based on the clip below, I don't think acting is up his alley:

The Buck(cherry) Stops here for Baseball!

Sportsnet ran the "Jays Connected" show before their Minnesota game today and they had the best highlights of the year accompanied by this rockin' song, which I also thought would be perfect for the weekend!

Yes, eat (or sing) your heart out Lionel Richie!

Baseball BUCKS leaving their mark on the Blue Jays this season:

• TV announcer Buck Martinez
• Catcher John Buck, who has had a career year with twenty home runs and a .279 average. Those homers are a franchise record!

Before this year, John Buck spent his first six big league seasons in Kansas City. That is where Buck Martinez (also a catcher) started his career in 1969. He spent his first eight seasons in KC and then wrapped up his career by playing six seasons with the Blue Jays, finishing in 1986. Martinez hit 35 home runs as a Blue Jay.