Monday, December 21, 2015

Joshing You With A Bit Of Humor

Four days until Christmas and only two NHL teams have four games this week: the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars.
O Holy Night! The Stars are brightly shining...

Dallas takes the ice in Minnesota tonight.

Tuesday, December 08, 2015

Santa Claus Connecting With His Shot - and Christmas!

There are five NBA games on Christmas Day - including the Houston Rockets and James Harden hosting the San(ta) Antonio Spurs!

Don't be deceived! Santa knows how to dunk cookies - and more...

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Stephen Curry Connects With His Shot - and Canada!

Hope your MOvember is going/growing well! I am glad to see Thursday roll around because that is my basketball night with the boys!
I am not going to be able to finish what I started for MOvember as I have to be clean-shaven for Santa Claus duty at the mall beginning November 21st. I apply an adhesive tape on my smooth skin for my big beard and some special glue on the Santa moustache!

I share a birthday on March 14th with Stephen Curry (above) of the Golden State Warriors. The defending NBA champions are off to an impressive 5-0 start and it looks like there is no stopping them! But hey, how about those Toronto Raptors at 5-0?!

Steph Curry has a soft spot for Toronto as his dad Dell played for the team between 1999 - 2002. His coach, Steve Kerr, compares him to Canada's best basketball player ever, Steve Nash. Read more here.

I loved watching two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash inducted into the Suns Ring of Honor at the half last Friday night! Sign me up for those announcing jobs!

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Props for Sam and The Fonz!

Props to Sam Reinhart for scoring his first NHL goal last Saturday!


Some fun props surrounded me on the set of my first movie on the 14th last week!
I was a background performer in a couple of different scenes after getting up before 4:00 am and working until almost 6 pm. The Hallmark movie of the week should be coming out around Valentine's Day in a few months.Until then, my lips are sealed...

I had the chance to chat with a veteran background performer named Sue H late in the day. With over 30 years in the biz, she said her favorite actor to work with was Henry Winkler, followed by Sir Anthony Hopkins. Of course, Henry Winkler was known as "the Fonz" back in the '70's on "Happy Days" with a trademark leather jacket! I am wearing one above - which was not my own. Production on the office scene I was involved in was held up as they tracked down a leather jacket for me.

Henry Winkler was one of the celebrity speakers yesterday at We Day at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Have a look at the photos here as young people are empowered to change the world!

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Diamonds Among Us!

I am wondering if the Buffalo Sabres are superstitious because they have NO games this season on a 13.

The Vancouver Canucks, who had Mats Sundin in the lineup in his final season in 2009, have three games on a 13 - including Mats' main team (those Leafs) in town on his birthday in February.



13 is a great number. As I mentioned in my last blog post, my wife and I were married on a 13. Our oldest son, Justin, was born on a 13.

You saw our daughter's radiant birthday smile on my last post. This tops that as she just got engaged!

My wife shared this on Facebook: Three years dating, and what seems like "forever" best friends...finally came to this! Ralph and I sooooo appreciated you coming to us and asking to have our blessing before you asked our daughter to spend the rest of her life with you. God's best for you both as you travel this amazing world in HIS care and learning all that our amazing God will teach you! Love you Ashley and Nathan!!!!

That wasn't the only diamond on my path this week. Tennis with my better half on Monday captured these:

Friday, August 07, 2015

Peach, Teach and PreaTch

I like Mikes (Michael is my middle name) and Mics (I am a voiceover guy)...

Our daughter, Ashley, recently turned 24. Guess what her favorite fruit is?
Clue: it rhymes with teach.

As a teacher though, she may get more apples. Congratulations Ashley!
I was 24 when I got married. That was almost 27 years ago: August 13, 1988. My wife, Darlene, was almost 24 when we got married.

Darlene, Ashley and my friend Herb Merriweather (who is also celebrating a birthday today!) are all awesome at walking the talk.
You have all inspired me!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Hockey IS Coming & Seeing Red On The Baseball Diamond

Wednesday the 22nd on the calendar. 23 Fridays until Christmas...
Only 11 more Wednesdays until the new NHL season begins!

Seeing red? I am actually wearing a Habs t-shirt now. Meanwhile, those Flames will have a better season than the Canucks for sure.

Even though I have Standard First Aid and CPR now, I don't think I can resuscitate the Canadian dollar:(

With the Canadian dollar at it's lowest level in ten years, it's a great time for voiceover cheques from across the border!

Wish my cheques were as big as this guys'

This is blog post #467. Getting closer to 500...

The Big Red Machine. That sure brings back Cincinnati baseball memories! They won the World Series in 1975 and '76. Then in 1990, they swept the Oakland A's with Lou Piniella behind the bench. The 2015 World Series will be the 111th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series. The tentative start date is October 27th.

My last blog post had footage of Chicago's NHL coach throwing a tantrum. Lou Piniella was known for doing that too. Here he is "losing it" in Chicago a few years ago managing the Cubs...

Good way to lose some weight I guess...

Wednesday, June 03, 2015

Give Blood! It IS More Important Than Hockey

As this blog gives you post #466, please note how important it is to give blood. Give with a friend - like I did yesterday.
The Stanley Cup Finals begin tonight and I would say the blood pressure of Chicago's coach, Joel Quenneville, could take a turn for the worse quicker...
...than the calm, cool and collected nature of Tampa Bay's coach, Jon Cooper, who hails from Prince George, BC. Meet the Lightning's leader behind the bench here.
I want to give the Cup to TB - but forgive me if I am wrong...

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Hockey Best-of-Sevens and 77! Go Kelowna Rockets!

Ladies first:)


NBA MVP Stephen Curry made 77 three-pointers in a row during practice! His Mom (along with four other basketball Moms) made this
5 Favorite Sports Moms list.

Taking my awesome 77-year-old Mom to this spectacular 7-letter production this Saturday!

=======
Lights! On his Camera and Action! Matt helped me get hired for voiceover with the Sabres. 7 seasons so far:)


The Kelowna (7 letters) Rockets (7 letters) host Brandon (7 letters) tonight in game 4 of the WHL Championship series. This best-of-seven could wrap up tonight as my hometown team has won the first three games!
Cue my voiceover!


Game 7 tonight in New York (7 letters) as the Rangers (7 letters) host the Capitals (8 letters). Have to pick New York to move on to the East final versus Tampa Bay. The Western conference final will feature Anaheim and Chicago (7 letters each). I will go with the Ducks and their size advantage in that series.

Monday, April 13, 2015

What's In A Golf Name & Lucky number 14 Jamie Benn!

The Masters was interesting to watch over the weekend. Bill HAAS tied for 12th with a total of six under par while the top two finishers had the same names as my sons:)

Green IS the color of the day at the Masters as the winner gets the coveted green jacket!

I actually won something green this morning - but that isn't me below with my headphones. I went for the green shirt because underneath Feeling Lucky, it says Since 1964, which is my birth year! (I did the math for you on my previous post).

The top hockey player in green? Former Kelowna Rockets player, Jamie Benn, who won the NHL scoring title on Saturday! And now comes word he needs hip surgery, proving again hockey players are the toughest athletes out there:)

Monday, March 30, 2015

Fun with Hockey Numbers & Family Birthdays!

As time March-es on, I love having fun with numbers - and birthdays!


Since turning 51, that number has come up for me the last two weeks playing Sportsnet's Fantasy Hockey contest. What are the odds?:)
Actually, odd totals the last 4 weeks but even the previous 3. 


Two weeks left in the NHL season and only Alex Ovechkin has a chance to score 50 goals. He had two yesterday and could hit the magic 50 tomorrow night against Carolina. Next year he should hit 500 career goals!

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres could hit 50 points with a win tonight against the second worst team in the league. Will they conquer the Coyotes on the road in Arizona? NEXT SEASON WILL BE BETTER!

Monday, February 02, 2015

Super Bowl Car Ads Were BAD - Just Like The Ending To The Game!

There were no WAS a (updated 4:39 pm) BMW car ad yesterday!
How could I forget seeing this from Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric?

*Updated 4:49 pm. Another one: 
The all-new Chevy Colorado offers built-in 4G LTE Wi-Fi.

Brady, Marshawn and Wilson put on quite the show. Too bad Marshawn and Wilson couldn't work together at the end of the game to seal the deal for the Seahawks!
New England 28 Seattle 24

From the NFL.com website:
Bill Belichick and Brady are champions for a fourth time. Butler's play ended a wild back-and-forth game between two great quarterbacks and two titanic coaches. It was a game worthy of the two best teams in the sport this decade. It was a game that reminded everyone watching why we love football so much.

I enjoyed watching most of the commercials. How about you?
The worst Super Bowl ads included the Mercedes-Benz "Fable" Commercial at #3:

The number 2 spot went to the Fiat “Blue Pill” commercial while the worst Super Bowl commercial, according to Superbowl-Commercials.org, was “Make Some Noise” from Lexus.

Other car ads during the Super Bowl included:
Seahawks players and fans are still furious right now!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Less IS More When It Comes To Bryan Adams

The one and only Bryan Adams performs in Kelowna tonight for the 30th anniversary tour of "Reckless." He was in his hometown of Vancouver last night.


On #ThrowbackThursday‬, I am reminded of the time Bryan was the headliner in Revelstoke in the "Summer of '91" when the BC government had these Music '91 Roadshows take place. The Doobie Brothers performed at Kelowna's City Park on June 9th that year too.

I was winding down my radio career in 1991 and had a quick interview with Bryan Adams in Revelstoke. Later that year I began working for Warner Music Canada for five years. Adams' management company, run by Bruce Allen, was on the same floor in Vancouver's Gastown as the Warner office but I never bumped into Bryan... ‪#‎Reckless‬ ‪#‎RalphLess‬