Rambling on Everything

Ramblings on a snowy Saturday morning......

- The Toronto Raptors, always second fiddle to the Leafs, are suddenly a very good team. They just beat the Lakers last night and are now 8-2 in the their last 10 games. They are leading the Eastern division by 3.5 games and are fourth in the Eastern Conference. During yesterday's game, the Toronto fans were chanting 'MVP - MVP'. They are, of course, directing their enthusiasm to starting All Star- Chris Bosh, whose attitude has been a breath of fresh air when compared to the selfish ego that was Vince Carter. But it's not only Bosh, there's Calderon, TJ Ford and rookie of the year candidate- Andrea Bargnani. Go Raps!

- The other T.O. sports team (not usually mentioned second), the Toronto Maple Leafs are also playing well, and are ahead of where they should be, especially with all the injuries. They are 5 games above .500 and are 7-3 in the last 10 games. They are right on the border of making the playoffs, and so should provide some excitement in the next couple of months, especially when Tucker, Wellwood and Peca rejoin the squad.

- Another major Toronto sports team, the Toronto Blue Jays, open their training camp in a week. In a week!!! Despite having the Yankees and Red Sox in the same division once again (with their goofy payrolls), the Jays should be competitive again and an outside chance to make the playoffs if all goes well.

- I've been wanting to do a sports trip for a few months now and so I'm heading to a city that has always eluded me through the years.... Cleveland, Ohio. From Waterloo, it's actually a shorter drive than usual.... So the timing is right. It's funny, over the years of sports road-tripping, Cleveland has been planned many times but has always evolved to something else. Last time, I ended up heading to New Orleans instead (and with no regrets), another time - Cleveland turned into a weekend in New York City, and I recall diversion to Beantown (Boston). But, not this time - I'm heading to Cleveland in first weekend in March, and already have my Raptor/Cavaliers ticket and have booked my downtown hotel. Taking half of Friday off as well as all of Monday so I'm really going to explore the city. Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame is on the agenda as well as some sort of improv/stand up or jazz/blues clubs. Another sports trip over Easter is also planned - Detriot. Seeing the Tigers/Jays. Pistens/Cavaliers, and various other local sports teams (including the Lansing Lugnuts, Toronto's Single A farm team). I feel like it's the 80s all over again as I used to do these kind of sports trips all the time...

- Earlier this week, I blogged about the dumbing of America. And then, almost on cue, the gold-digger to end all gold-diggers, Anna Nicole Smith passed. If you tune into the cable news stations, the coverage of her death is predictably, wall-to-wall and intense. The coverage is there because people tune in to watch. And so the numbing and dumbing of America continues... Maybe Jeb Bush has a chance afterall?

- Re that Astronaut who drove across the country in diapers to face the "other woman" - nice to see that there are crazies in every walk of life, not just in project management. Sort of comforting, actually... Next time I storm over to a manager's office to question his/her lack of progress, I'll wear some diapers so I don't have to slow down and waste valuable "yelling time" in the bathroom... Yep - good tip.

- Strange timing: the Conservative party are running election style attack ads on the Liberals and their new leader Stephane Dion. I guess they are scared of him. This could backfire on Harper though, as it may bring sympathy to the Liberals. But then again - Harper's political instincts have been remarkably astute, with some notable exceptions. Interesting to see how this plays out...

-Imus In The Morning. Don Imus is a pain in the a$$ but his morning show (on US radio and MSNBC) is very entertaining and remarkably informative from a political standpoint. I have to admit though, it is an acquired taste. He has been surrounded by the same cast of charcters thoughout the years, including long time newsman Charles McCord. They are like an old married couple, bickering back and forth. One particular morning, Don Imus, acting like an 10 year old as he does at times, keeps substituting the word 'election' with 'erection'. Apparently, this is a loooong running joke wth Don Imus over the years. Well Charles, the consumate newsman, had enough of this childishness and let Don have it. Here is a (quality-challenged) clip of his rant. In contrast, here's another clip of Charles McCord is being interviewed and some insight on their history together: See it here. More various clips of Imus in action: clip 1, clip 2, clip 3 (this one talks about a pet peeve of mine - the free pass the US media gave Bush/Chaney and Rumsfeld on Iraq - also be warned there is some accidental profanity), clip 4, clip 5, clip 6, (as always with YouTube, some clips may suddenly disappear so be forewarned). Also, the folks at the Imus In The Morning Show have a running blog you might want to check out.

- One more week until Dave Keon is at the ACC and I'm starting to get excited. Hmmm...I better wear a diaper.