the mad sports man

new years eve hockey what a final day of round robin in the world juniors.  sweden just beat russia 4-3 in overtime after being down 0-3.  canada beat the u.s. 3-2, slovakia beat switzerland 6-4 and finland beat the czechs 4-0.  this means canada and sweden finished first in their pools and has byes into the semis, the czechs will face russia in one quarter final and finland will play slovakia in the other.  switzerland will go to the relegation round.   meanwhile the last nhl game of 2011 will go to the kings as they beat the canucks 4-1.  see you in the new year.

a fun friday with the world juniors while at work, i met some of the czech republic players in galaxyland.  while conversing with them, i had asked if they had played their game already and one of the players said they had won 5-2 over the u.s.  another player said they're in the quarter finals and the u.s. is out.  the czech republis IS in the quarter finals and the u.s IS out and in the relegation round (huge surprise).  with finland beating denmark, group b (canada's group)  will finish with canada first and in the semi finals.  the czech republic and finland is in the quarters.  they play each other tomorrow for position and who they play from the other group.  the u.s. and denmark are in the relegation round along with latvia from group A.  the top four spots are still up for grabs.  four games tomorrow.  new years eve is going to be fun.

canada in a rout canada goes to three wins and no losses with a rather convincing 10-2 win over denmark.  pretty much all canada.  mark stone had two goals and canada scored two shorthanded goals.  denmark got both their goals on the power play.   next game for canada is new years eve against the united states.  that one should be a good one.

world juniors day three third day of the world juniors and first surprise result as finland beat the u.s. 4-1.  the u.s. for strethes outplayed finland, yet the finnish goalie kept them at bay.  two goals in 29 seconds in the third was the turning point.  canada vs czech rep. is at 6pm here.  update later. update:  canada 5 czech rep 0.  canada two wins and no losses so far.  next game is tomorrow vs denmark tomorrow at 6pm edmonton time

boxing day hockey madness it was boxing day and as usual it was busy in the shopping malls.  survived working in west ed mall.  god it was a mad house.  i manages so sneak a few peeks at the opening game of the world juniors between canada and finland.  canada blew them out 8-1.  very happy with the result.  next game is wednesday vs czech rep.

its christmas eve twas the night before christmas and the roast is in the stove, the potatoes on the stove, the veggies soon to come and the punch made.  gonna be an awesome christmas dinner with the roomate.  soon the presents willl be opened.   mmmmmm gonna be good tonight.  and beware of santa

the beginning of winter - oficcialy today around 10:30pm tonight will mark the official beggining of winter.  the shortest day of the year.  unless you're in the southern hemisphere then it's the first day of summer.  wherever you are enjoy the day.

a week from winter and 10 days to christmas unbelievable.  next wednesday is the first day of winter and its hardly felt like it.  not much snow on the ground.  not much when you can see grass still.  hasnt been that cold here either.  a coupe two or three day stretches tahts about it. on top of that we're only ten days to christmas.  its getting close fast.  somehow it always does.  watched the grinch (the tv show from 1966) on dvd last night and going to watch rudolph (tv show anyways) and more simpsons. joy.

red green, the simpsons and a bit of charlie brown finished watching the last of the red green show tuesday night.  finished of season 15 in the "geezer years" installment.  15 seasons and 300 episodes that show went.  not too bad considering i got the delinquient years (seasons 7-9), the mid life crisis years (seasons 10-12), and the geezer years (13-15) mover the span of four months. after finishing red green, i started watching season 14 of the simpsons.  i picked that up on tuesday - the same day it came out here.  happy with it so far. yesterday i watched the charlie brown christmas i have on dvd.  tonight i watch "its chrismastime again charlie brown."  its on the same disk as the charlie brown christmas.  hmmmm if i can get survivor thailand and survivor amazon i would be happy

its definitely the holiday season it's beggining to look a lot like christmas and now that it is snowing again it sure is.  the last snowfall melted a bit.  with the wind yesterday that got chaotic.  the sind was strong enough it blew a sign over in the west end.  southern alberta got some nasty winds earlier this week.  then some snow on top of that.  my christmas stuff is up already so im good there.  so in te meantime im watching it snow and getting my laundry done before going to work.

end of november already.  wow damn.  already the end ov november.  can't believe its over.  lets see, tony stewart won the nascar championship, b.c. lions won the grey cup,  nfl is into the playoff run and had its thanksgiving games this past thursday,  nhl is in full swing,  my christmas stuff is up and started christmas shopping for the roomate and had some snow.  of course november was renamed movember for its annual fundraiser to end prostate cancer.  its where the men grow moustaches and fundraise for prostate cancer research.  a good cause. 

99th grey cup in vancouver the b.c. lions are grey cup champions with a 34-23 win over the winnipeg blue bombers.  the lions were ahead 14-6 at halftime and were up 14-9 when they scored 17 unanswered points.  the bombers made it close, but paul mccallum added a field goal to put it out of reach.  travis lulay was named most valueable player for the grey cup.  andrew harris was named most valueable canadian.  so thats it for another CFL season.  next game isopening weekend around canada day.

happy thanksgiving state side adn nfl football happy thanksgiving to everyone in the united states.  time to pig out on turkey and other fixings.  this starts teh holiday season there (gah). today is the annual turkey football day with three nfl games.  the first game just ended with the green bay packers beating the detroit lions 27-15.  miami at dallas is next and san francisco at baltimore is at 6:20.  updates on those games later. update 1:  dallas 20 miami 19   dallas wins it on last second field goal. update 2:  baltimore 16 san francisco 6.  first time two brothers as coaches ever faced each other.  john harbaugh beat younger brother jim.

final race of season done, while final cfl game of season is set tony stewart is 2011 nascar champion after winning the ford 400 in homestead.  even though carl edwards finished second, stewart made up the three points necessary.  stewart and edwards had the same points, but stewart had 5 wins to edwards one.  congrats to tony on his third championship meanwhile the 99th grey cup is set as the b.c. lions will play the winnipeg bluebombers.  the bluebombers beat the hamilton tigercats 19-3 on a cold and blustery day.  it was -10 with a -16 windchill.  in the west b.c. beat the edmonton eskimos 40-23.  a flattering score considering b.c. once had a 33-9 lead.  the grey cup game is one week  from today at b.c. place stadium in vancouver.

winter is here.  so is the snow.  as predicted, we got hit with a snowstorm AND as predicted, it got cold.  wake up weather tomorrow is forecast for -28c.   BRRRRR.   supposed to warm up by next week.  keep an eye on the forecast and we well see.  don't know much we got here, but the plows are around and people have been shoveling.  ugh.  stay warm.

winter has arrived. boy has winter ever arrived.  got some snow today and supposed to get some more overnight.  thursday is forecast for snow as well.  and it is supposed to cool off to the minus teens for the weekend.  needless to say the roads will be slick.  not a good time to drive.

kasey ends drought, cfl division finals set kasesy kahne ended a 81 race drought by winning in phoenix this afternoon.  carl edwards finished second and tony stewart third.  with stewart leading the most laps, he is still three points behind edwards.  5x champ finished 14th.  final race of the season is next sunday in homestead.  will carl edwards win or will tony stewart cath edwards and win the championship? stay tuned. while that happened, the hamilton tiger-cats shocked the montreal alouettes 52-44 to go to the east final against the blue bombers in winnipeg.  quite the high scoring game. after that game, the edmonton eskimos are going to b.c. to face the lions after beating the calgary stampeders 33-19.  edmontons first home playoff game in seven years and they took advantage going up 25-9 at the half, but hanging on in the end.  the hamilton/winnipeg east final game and the edmonton/b.c. west final game is on the 20th.

remembrance day it's the day of the year where we all should take time out of the day to remember the war veterans - past and present - that served this country.  lest we forget.

a note to all royal canadian air farce fans don ferguson will be signing books celebrating the air farce's 40th anniversary here in edmonton at the wal-mart in south edmonton common from 7-9pm on tuesday.  he will be in toronto vancouver and calgary as well.  i gotta go get myself one.  we will see.

smoke does texas four step tony stewart won his fourth chase race by beating out carl edwards in texas.  he also closed the gap to three points behind edwards.  5x champ jimmie johnson spun out and ended up 14th.  he is 55 points back.  with the new points system, i hate to say it but i think jimmie's run is done.  i hope tony wins it though.  two races left anything can happen