Potpourri

Well I guess I'll combine a couple of different topics into one blog.

First off, since I am in a weight loss "challenge" with Kate Bilo (you can find a link to her blog over there --->) and she is in Weight Watchers and weighs in every Tuesday I will stick to that schedule as well. I put challenge in quotes because she doesn't respond to any of my taunts and where is the fun in that? Without further ado, the total is down 1 kilogram for the week and a total of 6.91 kgs since I have started.

Second topic is the NHL playoffs. In my last post I noted that God's team, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn't qualify to compete for Lord Stanley's Cup and have already cleaned out their stalls and headed for the golf course. That leaves me with the question of do I continue to watch with interest or just ignore the goings on? I think I will pay attention and cheer for a Calgary/Buffalo final, which I am sure will annoy the New York suits to no end.

And speaking of New York suits, I see an article in today's Globe and Mail that Gary "Baby" Bettman has ticked off the folks at CBC. It seems thanks to the NHL playoff schedule there will be NO Canadian teams playing on Saturday night. The Ottawa Senators are scheduled to play that day but at 3 in the afternoon to accomodate NBC which pays exactly ZERO dollars for television rights as opposed to the $65 million cheque the CBC writes. I guess in this case, those with the gold do not make the rules. Keep alienating the Canadian fans who built this sport and soon there will be no fans left, except for a handful in Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

Oh and for those taking some sort of perverted glee in the fact the Leafs missed the playoffs, I will point out that both of last years Stanley Cup finalists (Carolina and Edmonton), the Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers and Colorado Avalanche are also sitting at home.

Oh and I found my remote and clock has finally been changed.

Headed for the golf course...

are the Toronto Maple Leafs. After missing several chances to take care of business themselves, they had to wait for the New Jersey Devils to help them sneak in the back door of the playoffs. And as might be expected, that help was not to arrive. I give the Devils full marks for making a game of it and sending the game to a shootout. But the Leafs played the same Islanders last week and lost the game that might have eliminated the Islanders before today. And then there was the game in Buffalo where they blew a 4-1 lead in the third period. And to add to the list, there was Toronto's woeful record in shootouts. Ah well, there is nothing that can be done about it now and it is time to either enjoy the playoffs or move on to other things.

Happy Easter.

Go Devils Go!

I hate that the Maple Leafs didn't take advantage of their opportunities in the last couple of weeks to make the playoffs on their own. They caused countless cases of heartburn and ulcers with their performance tonight yet somehow managed to blow a 3-1 lead and then overcome a 5-3 deficit to win 6-5. Now they have to hope that the New Jersey Devils win on Sunday afternoon against the New York Islanders. It must be a helpless feeling knowing your playoff fate is being decided by 40 other men who are about 1200 kilometres away from you. For the next 24 hours, I am a fan of the New Jersey Devils. I hope Lou Lamierello starts his best lineup especially Martin Brodeur in net.

Until then I am going to enjoy the last installment of the 2006-2007 Battle of Alberta.

P minus 5 days

That means there are 5 days left in the NHL regular season and 5 teams left to compete for the last 3 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Since my last update, the defending Stanley Cup champions have been eliminated from the playoffs so they will not be able to defend their championship.

In a quick side note, the team they defeated, the Edmonton Oilers are sliding quickly into oblivion. Not that they are getting blown out every night but the team has been demoralized by the trade of Ryan Smyth. If they lose their last 2 games and St. Louis and Phoenix win all of theirs, the Oilers will have gone from competing for a playoff spot at the trade deadline to finishing last in the conference.

Here are the standings before the games tonight on Wed April 4.

Tampa Bay 92 pts, 80 GP
NY Rangers 92 pts, 80 GP
Montreal 90 pts, 80 GP
Toronto 89 pts, 80 GP
NY Islanders 86 pts, 79 GP

It'll still take a lot of help for the Islanders but they still have a chance with an extra game to play. Thursday through Sunday will be very interesting when all 5 teams will decide whether they make the playoffs or not.

The race for the playoffs has begun!

Less than 2 weeks left in the NHL regular season and there are 6 teams battling for the last 3 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. All 6 teams were in action and when all is said and done, the teams are seperated by a grand total of 3, yes I said THREE points. Someone was marvelling earlier this year about how the Northwest Division teams were so close and I said then that they had only played around 20 games and if it was still that close with 10 games to go, then you can get excited. So to summarize the last 3 spots currently are occupied by the
NY Rangers; 77GP - 87pts,
Tampa Bay; 77GP - 86pts and
Montreal 77GP - 86 pts.

On the outside looking in are
Carolina; 76GP - 84pts,
Toronto; 76GP - 84pts and
NY Islanders 76GP - 84pts.

It is going to be fun and every game will count.

Leafs better shape up

It was the best of times, it was the worse of times. For fans of God's team aka Toronto Maple Leafs it's a little of both sometimes combined in the same game. I had to work Friday so I took my Sirius satellite radio along so I could at least monitor the score. Imagine my glee when I glanced down and saw the Leafs had a 3 goal lead in Buffalo with 16 minutes left in the third period. Needless to say, the glee was shortlived when I heard Dennis Beyak's voice tell me the Sabres tied the game, took the lead and won 5-4. How could a team that is fighting to make the playoffs suddenly have a colossal 20 person brain fart like that?

Of course, the schedule maker gave the Leafs an opportunity to make things right by scheduling another game against Buffalo at home. Thankfully, the boys in blue and white again took a 4-1 lead but played much better and hung on to win by that same score. Because all the teams they are chasing also won tonight the Buds are in 11th place but are only 4 points out of 6th. They have 7 games left to play and pretty much will have to go 7-0 to make the playoffs. Still hope springs eternal.

Welcome to my humble abode.

I have no idea who may or may not read this blog. Who knows, it may only be little old me but I guess it won't be the first time. Maybe some friends from various message boards may stumble across this and I promise that I will try to not embarrass you too much.

I guess this is where I tell you all about myself and what I hope to talk about on here. Well, I was born in the same small town I currently live in. My parents and grandparents are all deceased, I have a younger brother and sister and 2 teenage nieces and a young nephew along with a golden retriever named Angel. I was born the same year as the Ford Mustang and the original Terminal 1 at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.

I am tall, 190.5 cm to be precise, or 6'3" for those of you who live in the only country who refuses to use metric, right Kate? Maybe I'll upload a photo of myself someday, but I don't want to be blamed for breaking the internet. Mostly dark hair with a little red mixed in and even a little *gasp* gray! I remember my Grade 1 teacher telling my mom that she could tell my mood that my hair was more red when I was happy. Who knew I was a walking mood ring?

If you are wondering about the title of this blog, it is because I spend a lot of time on the highway, specifically the MacDonald-Cartier Freeway in Ontario or "the 4-0h-1" as it is popularly known. Especially the stretch between Highway 409 in the west end of Toronto to Kingston. My employment comes from driving an airport shuttle van taking people to and from the airport. I get to meet a lot of nice, generous folks, some nice folks and some others. I also get to see a lot of strange sights on the highway and if I get a camera phone I may share some of those photos with you.

I am a big, and big in a couple different ways, fan of hockey and stock car racing. Even though I cannot skate an inch, I love the game of hockey, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs who may one day stop wandering in the wilderness and bring Lord Stanley's Cup home to Toronto. And in NASCAR, my favourite driver is Ken Schrader. Did you know he was the first driver ever to win a race in all 3 national touring series when he won the third race ever run in the Craftsman Truck Series in 1995. An don't worry with NHL playoffs starting and teams still looking for playoff spots and all the fun in NASCAR I'll be sure to have a few things to say.

And finally, assuming I haven't bored you to tears yet, I am hoping to use this to document my battle of the bulge. I have always been heavy but it has gotten extreme in the last few months. The doctor has put me on high blood pressure medication that goes away when I lose weight. One of my co-workers who I would consider to be much healthier than me had a mini-stroke last month and needless to say, it scared the hell out of me. So to make a long, internationally copywritten story short I bought a scale on March 5/07 and was disgusted by the number I saw there. I then bought an exercise bike and resolved to lose a lot of blubber. So far, I am down 6.4 kgs from that original number and leaves me 0.5 kg shy of my first goal of 5. The ultimate being a somewhat svelte 100 kg (220 lbs for those in State College).