Non-baseball items, part II Showing 1,251-1,300 of 1,339

[C. John]

Reading about how low gas prices are getting and an interesting point was made. When the price gets low there is no incentive for companies to drill for oil as the return isn't there. When I thought about that it makes sense but it is something that never really occurred to me.

[C. John]

Looking for something on YouTube and I came across this. Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9JLi...

[C. John]

Liverpool have now lost four straight Premier League matches. What is up there?

[C. John]

Wrestling legend Abdullah the Butcher has been hospitalized and it sounds like it may be serious. I remember a friend of mine telling me while were heading to school once that Abdullah wasn't really from the Sudan but was from Harlem. I knew Perry was trying to get a rise out of me as I was a wrestling fan but he wasn't. My response was one word, 'so', which was not what he expected. I have since learned that Perry was wrong, Abdullah wasn't from Harlem, he was from Hamilton in Ontario.

[C. John]

A little late but here is the link for the pub quiz.

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

[C. John]

Here's a little something for Hallowe'en, the ten spookiest street names in London, courtesy of the Londonist.

https://londonist.com/london/festival...

[C. John]

Looking at releases by a group whose music I enjoy, World Wide Message Tribe. it is contemporary Christian music. One one of the releases there is a new mix of one of their older songs. What caught my eye was the mix's name, "More Tea Vicar Mix". With a name like that I will have to give it a listen.

[C. John]

I have to be careful. I have an elf, named Katie (my oldest daughter) wrapping Christmas presents behind my chair. Don't want to back into her.

[C. John]

Jets great Nick Mangold has passed away at age 41. Cause of death was complications from a liver disease. He revealed a couple of weeks ago he required a transplant.

[C. John]

If you are familiar with the Westboro Baptist church you may find this as funny as I did. Apparently a gentleman from New York bought a house that was for sale and was located across the street from the church. After taking possession he repainted it in the colours of the Pride flag.

[C. John]

I don't know if anyone has been following the shenanigans and such of Prince Andrew across the pond. The lease he has on Royal Lodge has been disclosed and it appears his yearly rent is one peppercorn each year, if it is requested. I admit I was a little surprised at that but have found out it is quite common. At the beginning of the lease he paid a very large sum, in the millions of pounds. The one peppercorn a year is actually quite common in this situation. I've just never heard of it before. He also spent quite a bit on renovations to the place. As well, if he does get forced out, then the body in charge of these places will owe him a few hundred pounds immediately and a certain sum annually for few years. If nothing else I have learned a few things due to this mess.
I think this is sort of like the dollar-a-year men that you found in the US and Canada during WWII.

[C. John]

Supposedly we will get a decision on the 115 charges against Manchester City by the next International Window, which is next month. I will believe it when it happens. There will be one further International Window, but it is in March. That seems late to stage a WC draw so I am thinking that qualifying should be over in November. The March window can be used by teams to get some tune up matches in.

[C. John]

That gambling mess has now touched a former NFL player

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

[C. John]

Don't know why but the gambling situation reminds me that here in Canada it is illegal for celebrity athlete to endorse alcoholic beverages. One company came up with a novel idea. It got some unknowns to endorse a brand of beer. In the ad they were identified as 'practice goalies'.

[C. John]

Carol Davis, the First Lady of Raiders Nation has passed away at age 93.

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "Don't know why but the gambling situation reminds me that here in Canada it is illegal for celebrity athlete to endorse alcoholic beverages. One company came up with a novel idea. It got some unkno..."

Maybe they are these “emergency backups” who have yet to appear in a game?

[Lance]

C. John wrote: "That gambling mess has now touched a former NFL player

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

Wonder if Gates and Billups were in these same games? Admittedly, I am more concerned about the harassment and threats college athletes are getting from bettors who lost. Here in my little slice of New York, there are lacrosse players at a nearby private school, Siena college, who have been harassed online and in texts by bettors. Both men and women. Really? A young woman playing a sport for pure pleasure since there’s no professional league for her after college deserves that treatment because maybe a bad ply she made results in a goal? That’s a bigger issue IMO than a few rich pro athletes helping to rig a poker game.

[C. John]

British actress Prunella Scales has passed away at age 93. Her husband, actor Timothy West, only passed away a few months ago. They were married for six decades. You may know her as Sybil in Fawlty Towers.

[C. John]

The head of FIFA may not be happy. There is a good chance that Lionel Messi will not be playing in next year's World Cup.

[C. John]

Looks like the House of Commons and the House of Lords over in the UK are going to be playing ping pong again. Always good for a few amusing lines over breakfast, especially from the Commons side. Everyone knows how this will all end so I don't know why they bother after the first time. Sorry Brina but that description of what is happening as ping pong is one I love. Come to think of it I once heard international sports competitions described as diplomacy under another name. And in the ancient days when the Olympic Games were held all wars stopped for the duration of the games. Wouldn't that be nice nowadays.

[C. John]

The stadium for the Derby County Football team is called Pride Park. I've wondered why it was called that so I looked it up. Only thing I could find was that the area it is located in is also known as Pride Park but no reason for the same is given. One interesting tidbit of information I had forgotten though. Derby County's original stadium was known as The Baseball Ground.

[C. John]

Kai Trump will be making her professional golf tour debut next month. She is the grand daughter of President Trump. Not sure who her parents are though. Article didn't say, at least the bit I could read.

[C. John]

There are betting scandals and then there are Betting Scandals.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...

[C. John]

Claire Williams, the daughter of the legendary F1 owner Frank Williams is thinking of running in the next UK General Election as a Conservative. Interestingly, before he became the current FIA chairman Max Mosley worked for the Conservative Party. Of course being the son of Sir Oswald Mosley would suggest politics was in his blood. Ms. Williams was at one time deputy director of her father's racing team so she has been involved in the sport.

[Brina]

Listening to Blackhawks at Jets- no tv here- and it’s like when Brady came back to Boston with Tampa Bay. I keep forgetting that Toews is no longer on Blackhawks and it will only be worse when Jets come to Chicago.

[C. John]

It was announced that Ben Winston and Scott Givens will be teaming up to present the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic games. I am going to be interested to see what anyone says about this.

[C. John]

Whoever was doing the writing on part of the Morning Brew newsletter today. The following quote appeared

Markets: The three major indexes must have been going as Elphaba, Shrek, and Beast Boy for Halloween, because they ended the afternoon and headed into All Hallows’ Eve as green as could be. I daresay a lot of people might not know who the last person referenced is.

[C. John]

Lately I think I have been reading more about the Prince Andrew situation than UK Football. Wonder why that is.

[C. John]

Spotify's AI DJ has decided I should listen to "Don't Touch Me There" by The tubes. I am not complaining, I happen to like this song. However I am a bit surprised to hear it. Don't think he has played it before.

Here's the song courtesy of YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8e0i...

[C. John]

While fooling around on YouTube I came across this one which was just too good to not share. New Kids on the Block: Boys in the Band (Boy Band Anthem)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvOPo...

[C. John]

Interesting item on Erling Haaland of Manchester City. He mentions how managers of fantasy Football teams would react to his being taken out of the game after scoring two goals.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...

[C. John]

Up here the Federal Finance Minister is out shopping for a new pair of shoes today. Makes sense actually, given what is taking place tomorrow.

[C. John]

This is from this morning's Morning Brew newsletter. Since I don't watch US football I cannot attest to the veracity of the statement.

But let’s be honest — nothing over Halloween weekend was more terrifying than watching the Commanders last night. Good grief.

[C. John]

Only posting this because when you give it some though this is funny. The Kent County Council in England after the last round of municipal elections is controlled by the Reform UK Party. reform is somewhat to the right of the Tories. As such it is very big on people having the right to fly either the Union Jack or the St. George flag. So what appears in the Political London Playbook but the following item.

Traitors! Kent County Council has ruled that union and St. George’s flags in Harrietsham must be removed for the village’s traditional Christmas lights to be put up, owing to “safety concerns” if they are not removed, according to the Guardian’s Caroline Davies. A Green councilor called the move “beyond ironic.”

As one old time stand up comic once said "You can't write material like this".

[C. John]

The winner of the Melbourne Cup, Australia's premier horse race, was Jamie Melham. One of the other jockey's in the race was her husband Ben.

[C. John]

I know this is early but this item was apparently released today. It is the 2025 Christmas ad from John Lewis. John Lewis is a department store in Britain and their Christmas ad is looked forward to every year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5S4...

[C. John]

Depressing news from the world of Football. The coach of Radnicki 1923 collapsed 22 minutes into his team's match against Mladost in Serbia's top league. He had suffered a heart attack and subsequently passed away. Photos show the Radnicki players on their knees crying while the Mladost players are in utter shock. The game was paused while he was taken from the field and sent to hospital, then restarted and finally stopped when word of his death reached the stadium.

[C. John]

David Beckham was knighted this morning so he is now Sir David Beckham. His wife will now be Lady Beckham. However since Knighthoods are not hereditary the children will not see any changes to their names.

[C. John]

So what are members of the general public going to pay more attention to, your off-year election or the NFL trade deadline happenings? I have my suspicions.

[Lance]

Definitely the NFL trade deadline…although it’s not as crazy a deadline as is MLB or the NBA.

[C. John]

Lance wrote: "Definitely the NFL trade deadline…although it’s not as crazy a deadline as is MLB or the NBA."

Kind of thought so. Not sure how many Canadians probably paid any attention to either. Mind you we had the first budget of Carney's time as PM today so if you think about it the day was kind of busy.

[C. John]

Got my morning chuckle a few minutes ago. Over in the UK parliament today is what they refer to as Prime Minister's Questions during Question Period. The PM attends and gets to answer questions posed to him by the Leader of the Opposition, among others. However Starmer is attending the COP30 climate summit so he won't be there. Thus London Playbook labelled today 'Deputies Day'. We know the deputy PM will field the questions but we have no idea who is going to ask them for the Tories. They have chosen someone but they aren't telling us who it will be. Should be interesting though

[C. John]

Happy Guy Fawkes day. This is a British holiday. Guy Fawkes was one of the leaders of a Roman Catholic plot to blow up parliament in 1605. The intent was to assassinate the King (James I) and other prominent Protestant politicians and such who would be in attendance.

[C. John]

Apparently there seems to be a consensus that cloning a family pet, as Tom Brady has done, is just a wee bit bizarre.

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

[C. John]

For those interested Mary Earps memoir is being released today. Earps was the former Lioness number 1 goalkeeper until she was replaced in the pecking order by Hannah Hampton. She has made a number of comments about that and some of those comments have received pushback from other team members. Unfortunately I don't have a title. There are several books on her, but the one titled Mary Earps My Autobiography might be the one.

[C. John]

Marshawn Kneeland, defensive end for the Cowboys has passed away at age 24. Apparently it was suicide. He had been involved in a car chase with the police.

[C. John]

Should have posted this earlier but better late tan never. The new new teams in the PWHL now have names. They are the Vancouver Goldeneyes and Seattle Torrent.

[C. John]

Here's an interesting little tidbit for you. As you probably know the 2026 Grammy nominees were announced yesterday, One of the categories is Best Audio Book, Narration and Storytelling Recording (formerly Best Spoken Word Recording). Among the nominees for this one are The Dalai Lama, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown and Fab Moran (who was one half of Milli Vanilli). Also nominated are Kathy Garver, the actress who portrayed Cissy Davis and Trevor Noah, an entertainer. Now that is what I call an eclectic mix.

[C. John]

Paul Tagliabue, longtime NFL Commissioner, has passed away at age
age 84. Cause of death was heart failure complicated by Parkinson's disease.

[C. John]

Basketball HOFer Lenny Wilkens has passed away at age 88.