Non-baseball items, part II Showing 1,051-1,100 of 1,139

[Lance]

Ken Dryden, six-time Stanley Cup winner with the Canadiens and winner of the Vezina trophy as the best NHL goalie, has died at age 78. Wrote one of the best hockey books ever, The Game

[C. John]

Just thinking, you mentioned Tim Hortons in a post somewhere Brina. Tell Mendel if he is in one and notices some numbers on a coffee carafe that they are just telling the staff when the pot was made. This tells the staff how old the coffee is and if they should put a fresh pot on.

[C. John]

Lance wrote: "Ken Dryden, six-time Stanley Cup winner with the Canadiens and winner of the Vezina trophy as the best NHL goalie, has died at age 78. Wrote one of the best hockey books ever, The Game"

He was also an MP and Cabinet Minister for several years, sitting as a Liberal. He won several elections even when the party lost, not really surprising for a Liberal from Montreal.

[C. John]

Here is the weekly Saturday Pub Quiz.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/play/quizzes...

[C. John]

Today was National Read a Book Day.

[Lance]

Well, got through about 300 of a 400 page biography on Mike Tyson today on the bus to and from Yankee Stadium. Does that count if I finish it tomorrow?

[C. John]

Sure. You don't have to read the entire book, just start it at least.

[C. John]

The Prince and Princess of Wales each attended a World Cup Rugby match today. However they attended different matches. That sounded odd until I read the article. William is the Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union so he was at the Wales/Fiji game. Kate meanwhile is the Patron of the Rugby Football Union and thus was at the England/Australia game.

[C. John]

England defeated Australia in World Cup Rugby by a score of 47-7. This means that England win their pool while Australia comes in second. As a result in the Quarter-finals England will play Scotland while Australia gets to play Canada.

[C. John]

Rick Davies, the co-founder of Supertramp has passed away at age 81. He had been battling cancer for awhile it seems. Rick is no relation to the Davies brothers (Ray and Dave) of The Kinks.

[C. John]

The sister of Timberwolves star Naz Reid was apparently shot in NJ by her boyfriend. Toraya was Naz' older sister. There is a younger sister who it seems is acting as the family's spokesperson.

[C. John]

Here are the scores for the first four matches in the AFL (Australian Football League) playoffs. You will notice that the scores are written differently.

Qualifying Finals
Collingwood 11.13 (79) vs. Adelaide 8.7 (55)
Geelong 16.16 (112) vs. Brisbane Lions 11.8 (74)

Elimination Finals
Hawthorn 16.11 (107) vs. Greater Western Sydney 13.10 (88)
Gold Coast 11.14 (80) vs. Freemantle 12.7 (79)

The two semi-finals will be next weekend. They will see the winners of the Elimination finals play the losers of the Qualifying Finals while the winners of those two games have byes to the Preliminary Finals. The losers of the Elimination finals are eliminated from the playoffs.

[C. John]

I read that they are starting to throw green dildos onto the field for NFL games. I don't think it has quite the impact as in the WNBA due to the difference in size of the fields of play. Apparently an onfield official simply picked it up and tossed it off the field. A lot of people didn't even know what had happened. This is not without precedent. It seems Tom Brady used to have pink dildos thrown at him.

[Brina]

Well yeah because a lot of women who knew nothing about sports started watching the NFL because he is a good looking guy. Green ones I have no idea and what it’s in reference to. I just watch the games.

[C. John]

A quote I came across in the Politico Canada Playbook newsletter. You may have to read it twice to realize what is being said. I did.

— And DAVE FESCHUK in The Star: “Dryden wasn’t only a great Canadien. Thanks to a sprawling post-playing career, he was also a great Canadian.”

[C. John]

The World Cup qualifier over the weekend between Austria and Cyprus had to be restarted. It seemed that a sinkhole opened up on the pitch. Groundskeepers were able to get the pitch in a playable condition and the game resumed, with Austria winning.

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "The sister of Timberwolves star Naz Reid was apparently shot in NJ by her boyfriend. Toraya was Naz' older sister. There is a younger sister who it seems is acting as the family's spokesperson."

Yeah, it’s a sad and complicated situation

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "A quote I came across in the Politico Canada Playbook newsletter. You may have to read it twice to realize what is being said. I did.

— And DAVE FESCHUK in The Star: “Dryden wasn’t only a great Ca..."

I got it the first time. And…while I know he was a politician in Canada, didn’t he write a book on Canadian politics as well as his hockey books?

[Brina]

Lance, not even asking for bragging rights. The Bears might have a new coach but the same players as last year. Hence I’m not getting my hopes up. I even like the Vikings qb because he played for Michigan and I wanted the Bears or Patriots to draft him. So here we go.

[C. John]

These are the only two non-hockey books by Dryden that I can find out about. everything else is either about hockey or might be autobiographical. Both books could touch on politics. Might have to be on the look-out for them.

His fifth book, In School: Our Kids, Our Teachers, Our Classrooms (1995), written with Roy MacGregor, was about Canada's educational system. Becoming Canada (2010) argued for a new definition of Canada and its unique place in the world. Wikipedia has a listing in its entry for him of all the books he wrote. There are quite a few and they seem to all be non-fiction,.

[Lance]

Becoming Canada is the one I had in mind

[C. John]

I thought I might have that one but it is not one my bookshelves so I guess not.

[C. John]

Just discovered today was International Literacy Day. I forgot to change my desk calendar this morning.

[Brina]

And I was right. Kind of hard to get too excited when your team hasn’t won a playoff game in 15 years. Feh.

[Lance]

Incredible - McCarthy looks horrible for 3 quarters, then brilliant in the 4th. Especially on his TD run. And Reichard with that 59 yard FG. I’ll take this win.

[C. John]

We have had the first managerial sacking in the Premier League this season. The manager of Nottingham Forest, Nuno Espirito Santo, has been sacked. His relationship with the owner, Evangelos Marinakis, had soured apparently. Mind you Erik ten Hag has already been fired by the German team he was managing.

[C. John]

This item was in today's Telegraph Sports Briefing. No link included due to a paywall. What's the sense of posting it if you can't read it.

And finally, Great North Run organisers have apologised after medals handed out to 60,000 participants featured a map of the wrong river and city. The River Wear, which flows through Sunderland, was incorrectly included on the event memento rather than the Tyne, which runs through Newcastle, where the race takes place. A statement said: “Wear sorry!”

[C. John]

If anyone remembers who Oliver North and Fawn Hill were the two of them were married late last month.

[C. John]

England downed Serbia 5-0 in Belgrade in a World Cup Qualifying match. There was bit of controversy as a laser pointer was used on one or two of the England players. The match was played in a half-empty stadium as well. This was punishment for actions taken by Serbian fans in a previous match against Andorra. Racist chanting I believe.

[C. John]

Another World Cup qualifying score. Australia defeated New Zealand by a score of 3-1. An interesting note, the New Zealand Football team are known as the All-Whites as their uniforms are all white.

[C. John]

In another item that brings together sports and politics Jim Gavin, who was the most successful manager of the Irish National Football Team has put himself in the running to be the next President of Ireland.

[C. John]

Not sure if anyone in this group does Sudoku's (I do occasionally) but yesterday was International Sudoku Day. Seems to be nothing on tap for today.

[C. John]

The Canadian Men's football team defeated their Welsh counterparts yesterday 1-0. Obviously this was not a qualifying match for the World Cup for two reasons. First both teams don't play in the same continent and second as a host Canada has already made it to the tournament. However, you still want the team to be match-ready when the tournament starts so the host teams will play a number of international friendlies over the coming months. There are some rules for this type of thing but they don't come into effect until after the draw has been made as to who is what group.

[C. John]

At least four of Belichick and Hudson's trademark filings were denied. These were all for the same reason so I am not sure if they got Golddigger or not as the reason for denying it would be different. Article doesn't say. Oh and he is probably more annoyed with the Patriots now.

https://larrybrownsports.com/football...

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "Not sure if anyone in this group does Sudoku's (I do occasionally) but yesterday was International Sudoku Day. Seems to be nothing on tap for today."

I do one every day…been addicted to them for a long time

[C. John]

We all know what today is so I won't belabor the point. I will note that I has heading to work and the night manager at what was then Mac's Milk told me two planes had crashed into the towers. When I got to work we where hosting a meeting of Store Managers and they were in the employees lounge with the television on. If memory serves we were in the middle of renovations at the store and the tv's in Home Entertainment were not connected yet so I couldn't put them on.

[C. John]

In some Football news apparently the summer transfer window will open in the early stages of the World Cup next year. Since this is a competition between countries that will have no effect. They had an early start this year so that new players could compete for their new teams in the Club World Cup, the next one of those isn't until 2029.

[C. John]

The upcoming Davis Cup matches between Canada and Israel will be played in an empty stadium apparently, though the matches will be livestreamed. This is for security reasons. Of course there are those who don't want the matches played at all.

[C. John]

The NHL has announced that the five players involved in the sexual assault court case can sign with teams on Oct. 15th and return to action on December which is when their suspensions end. I doubt this is the last we will hear on this matter. There are a sizable number of people who feel they should not be allowed to come back, even though they were acquitted. I also wonder how many teams are going to decide its not worth the trouble it might cause to sign any of them. We shall see how it goes.

[C. John]

Just thinking, the qualifying games for the World Cup must be coming to an end soon. As the cup is next year the draw for the group stage should take place either late this year or early next year. It is common after the draw for teams to arrange friendly matches in the host country/countries. However they are not allowed to play the other teams in their group, nor can they play in the stadiums being used for the competition. So keep an eye out if you live or near a major city. You might just get a chance to see some pretty decent soccer before the World Cup.

[C. John]

In some non-sports news out of the UK, the assisted dying bill is heading back to the House of Lords next week for either second or third reading. Amendments are allowed so it is not first reading. It seems about 191 peers have indicated they wish to speak on the bill. There is some thought that this is a record. There has been a so-called 'wrecking amendment' tabled and it will be interesting to see what happens there, presuming the Speaker of the Lords even lets it get to a vote. After that I suspect we will be playing 'ping pong' for a bit,

[C. John]

The NBA owners, other than the Clippers, are out for blood it would seem. An article on possible punishments for the Clippers. It references what happened to the Timberwolves in 2000 as a guidepost.

https://larrybrownsports.com/basketba...

[C. John]

You cannot write material like this, as Alan King used to say.

We are a big store but they were very lucky we had enough boots in stock that were the right size. They paid between £200 and £230 for each pair and £30 for the shin guards. We have had the odd player come in because they have left their boots behind but never the entire team” – a local sports shop owner in Bergen, Andre Gullord, had a day to remember after a number of Manchester United players’ boots were lost en route to their Women’s Bigger Cup qualifier game at Brann on Thursday. United were forced to buy replacements just hours before the crucial first-leg tie, which they lost 1-0. “We are investigating how this happened,” sighed a club statement, with the bill thought to be around £4,000. “In the meantime, we have secured new boots for all the affected players.” In cost-saving measures that are sure to please penny-pinching billionaire Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe, midfielder Lisa Naalsund, who is from Bergen, asked her mother to bring some boots to the stadium for her.

[C. John]

Some AFL action. The first Semi-Final has been held and the score was Hawthorn 14.17 (101) - Adelaide 10.7 (67)

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "The NBA owners, other than the Clippers, are out for blood it would seem. An article on possible punishments for the Clippers. It references what happened to the Timberwolves in 2000 as a guidepost..."

That hurt the Timberwolves for years. I don’t expect them to do the same to the clippers- it’s an LA team after all. Plus, I think they saw it was too harsh. Just like there will never be another “death penalty” in college football like what was done to SMU in the 80’s

[C. John]

Lance wrote: "C. John wrote: "The NBA owners, other than the Clippers, are out for blood it would seem. An article on possible punishments for the Clippers. It references what happened to the Timberwolves in 200..."

The rest of the league do expect them to hit the Clippers with a massive punishment. There is a suggestion of loss of draft picks and having the contract voided but it would still count against the Clippers' salary cap.

[C. John]

Interesting situation in Finland. The federation that governs Figure Skating in Finland is making a rule change which will allow two young ladies to compete together as a team in Ice Dancing. However this is not what you are thinking. The two are merely good friends who have known each other since age five and enjoy being a team. Still, I daresay there will be complaints from some.

[C. John]

Here is this weeks pub quiz from The Mirror.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/play/quizzes...

[C. John]

Fun item from today's Morning Brew

Good morrow. It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author with a fan base as devoted as Jane Austen’s must be in want of a massive birthday blowout. With the 250th anniversary of the novelist’s birth looming in December, Janeites are convening in Bath, England, this weekend for a 10-day celebration filled with Regency era-inspired fun. In addition to balls (of course), there’s a parade that organizers say holds the Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people dressed in Regency costumes.” Even if you don’t own any bonnets, you can still pretend to be in an Austen novel by falling in love while whispering in corners about other people’s incomes.

—Dave Lozo, Brendan Cosgrove, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein

Reminds me that one episode of Midsomer Murders takes place at some sort of Jane Austen event. A young lady is found having been murdered. When Barnaby and Winter show up they are confronted by the person running the event who tells them contemporary clothing is not allowed. Winter just holds up his warrant card and states "It is now".

[C. John]

And more evidence that the end is nigh.

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