GA Russell

By the way, the temperature in Calgary for today's game was minus 19 Celsius. Anybody know what that is in Fahrenheit? ***** The annual Grey Cup contest is now up. Go play! Good luck everyone!

It's that time of year again! It's time for the annual Grey Cup contest. (Past winners have included Noj (twice), indestructible, Bright Moments, brownie, paul secor and soulstation1.) Here are the rules: 1) Pick the winning team. 2) Pick the number of total points scored by both teams (aka the tiebreaker). Since approximately half of us will pick the winning team, picking the total points is necessary to win the contest. Your total points prediction must be a number which is a multiple of five (5). The winning tiebreaker will be the one closest to the correct answer. If two are equally close, the winner will be the lower pick. If two people pick the same thing, the first to make the pick will be the winner. THE PRIZE: A $17.00 Mosaic Records Gift Card. The $17.00 represents one CD of a Mosaic box set. Deadline: kickoff, Sunday Nov. 24, 6:00 pm eastern. ***** The Grey Cup game: The Grey Cup is awarded to the world champion of what I think is the greatest game in the world, Canadian rules football. That is to say, the champion of the Canadian Football League. The Grey Cup was first awarded in 1909. They have played for it every year since then except three years during World War One. Therefore, this year's will be the 101st Grey Cup game. Fans from throughout Canada will attend the game. This year's game will see the Western champion Saskatchewan Roughriders host the Eastern champion Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This is a surprise because both teams finished second during the regular season, and had to defeat the first place team on the road to win their division championships. The Hamilton Tigers were founded in 1869, the same year as the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The Saskatchewan Roughriders were founded in 1910, and are a mere 103 years old. The location of the game is chosen years in advance. This year's game will be played in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan fans are considered the best in the league. In addition, the Riders are the most popular team in the league because they are everybody's second favorite team. The Riders will clearly enjoy a home field advantage. The Riders are without question the better of the two teams. I think that all but one of their losses occurred when their star running back Kory Sheets was on the injured list. On the other hand, Hamilton's quarterback Henry Burris led the league in passing again this year, and is no doubt a better quarterback than Saskatchewan's Darian Durant. Burris went to Temple. Durant went to UNC. The game will be carried live on the NBC Sports cable TV channel. You can listen to the game here: http://www.tsn.ca/Toronto/ (To listen to the game, you will need Windows Media Player which you can download for free. So you might want to plan ahead if you don't already have it.) You can study articles analyzing the upcoming game as well as articles about the season as it unfolded in the CFL thread, which I will be updating during the course of this week. Good luck everyone! Here's my pick: Saskatchewan - 50 It's very hard to pick against Henry Burris, but I think that the Riders' home field advantage will make the difference.

In both the CFL and in the NFL, it is legal to tackle a man by the hair. I have long thought that if I were a coach, I would require the guys to either get a haircut or tuck their hair up inside their helmets, so as not to give the opponent an extra handle to grab. Here is an article about an NFL player who tackled a man by the hair today, and in the process came up with a handful of hair. http://ftw.usatoday.com/2013/11/jason-babin-dreadlocks-andre-ellington/ ***** EASTERN FINAL Hamilton Tiger-Cats 36....Toronto Argonauts 24 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4640892 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436850 The Argos had a 24-10 lead in the second quarter, and led at the half 24-17. In the second half, it seemed like the Argos never had the ball. Their time of possession in the fourth quarter was about 2:45. Don't be fooled by the final score. On the last play of the game, the Ticats led 30-24. The Argos had one final play. Attempting to keep the ball alive, they lateralled. Hamilton recovered the lateral and ran it in for the touchdown. ***** WESTERN FINAL Saskatchewan Roughriders 35....Calgary Stampeders 13 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4640925 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436860 The Stamps were never in it. Huf replaced Kevin Glenn at halftime with Drew Tate, but he wasn't able to do much. ***** For the third year in a row, the team of the host city of the Grey Cup will play in it. The home team won the past two games. This time it's the Riders' turn. This will be the first time the Riders have met the Ticats in the Grey Cup since 1989. Of course many people consider that game to be one of the best Grey Cups ever.

Yes! I read not long ago that Wynton's salary from JALC is $1 million per year.

Finals status report http://cfl.ca/article/status-report-whos-in-and-whos-out-for-sunday-20131116022107 Both first place teams will be missing some very important people due to injuries. I think that both second place teams have a real chance to win. ***** Finals game notes http://cfl.ca/article/2013-cflca-game-notes-division-finals-edition

Mike McCormack has died. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/sports/football/mike-mccormack-hall-of-fame-browns-lineman-dies-at-83.html?_r=0

Toronto mayor Rob Ford is under fire. He appeared yesterday at City Hall wearing an Argos jersey. A large photo of this, with "the Toronto Argonauts" mentioned by name, appears in this morning's Wall Street Journal on page A16. Here's a photo from the Breitbart web page. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/11/15/Toronto-councilors-look-to-strip-mayor-of-powers Naturally, the Argos don't want to be identified with him, and they issued a statement distancing themselves. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436597 ***** Next week is Grey Cup Week, and TSN will show three Grey Cup games per night Monday through Friday on their ESPN Classic channel. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436701 ***** CFL.ca writers Finals picks http://cfl.ca/page/cflca-writers-make-their-division-final-predictions

Here's a report of Canadian doctors who studied the brains of six deceased CFL players to determine if multiple concussions lead to CTE. The finding was that three of the six did not have CTE, so I guess multiple concussions do not guarantee CTE. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23745112

This says that that report was bogus - CTE cannot be determined for the living, only via an autopsy. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/randy-hall/2013/11/14/espn-sports-reporters-fooled-hoax-living-football-players-have-fatal-dis

Wow! Sandy, how did you get that gig? And how will we tell which pages are yours?

Grant Green - The Complete Quartets with Sonny Clark - 10.42 GBP http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Quartets-With-Sonny-Clark/dp/B000005H9T/ref=pd_sim_m_h__89 $15.80 with AutoRip http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Quartets-Sonny-Clark-Grant/dp/B000005H9T/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1384395674&sr=1-1&keywords=Grant+green+The+Complete+Quartets+with+Sonny+Clark

The Bombers fired Tim Burke today. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436518 ***** Greg Xenakes Finals picks http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4639549 ***** Dan Ralph Finals picks http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/2013/11/13/cfl_picks_defence_likely_to_decide_argosticats_playoff_game.html ***** Chris Schultz Finals picks http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/schultz/

The Baron is down to $9.98!

Coltrane OAS - 9.99 euros http://www.amazon.de/Original-Album-Series-John-Coltrane/dp/B0050I2OXI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_m_1 ***** Passport OAS, Vol. 2 - 13.97 euros http://www.amazon.de/Original-Album-Series-Vol-2-Passport/dp/B00DU3YH8K/ref=pd_sim_m_18

I'll put her in my prayers, dgs.

dgs, I'll plan to post the Grey Cup contest Sunday night or Monday. Remember, you have to pick the winner, and the tiebreaker must be a multiple of 5. No fair making your pick before I post the contest! I think the Riders have a good chance against the Stamps this week because I think the Stamps are going to miss Marquay McDaniel who is injured. I also think that the Argos are going to miss Chad Kackert, so it wouldn't surprise me too much if the Ticats beat them Sunday. However, i like Jerious Norwood, and he may do a good job filling in for Kackert. ***** Wade Miller has been Acting President and CEO of the Bombers, and today the team gave him the job permanently. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436446

This looks like it will be interesting. Different, for sure. "Far Away from Everyday," 3rd CD by Harp Guitarist/Pianist/Composer Brad Hoyt, To Be Released by Harp Guitar Music December 3 Guest Artists from the Jazz & Fingerstyle Worlds Include Jeff Coffin, Howard Levy, Evan Cobb, Joscho Stephan, Phil Keaggy, Antoine Dufour, Stephen Bennett, & Many Others November 12, 2013 Brad Hoyt originally conceived of his ambitious new album, Far Away from Everyday, as a logical expansion of his 2009 Together Alone debut for the Harp Guitar Music label. He wanted to explore the harp guitar's role in various ensemble settings and planned to build on the earlier album's piano/harp guitar duet format by adding new instruments, inviting players he'd admired, been inspired by, and occasionally performed with over the years. The result is "most often a sort of 'chamber jazz' -- a unique blend of meticulously written arrangements and wild improvisation," says co-producer (and Harp Guitar Music label head) Gregg Miner. Harp Guitar Music will release the new CD on December 3. Three years in the making, Far Away from Everyday boasts 14 original tunes and 30 musicians from around the world, including such notables as Nashville-based harp guitarist Muriel Anderson, the first woman to win the National Fingerstyle Guitar Championship; recent ASCAP Golden Note Award honoree Phil Keaggy, guitar; bassist Michael Manring; and Czech violinist Tomás Mach. Hoyt himself plays a variety of instruments including various incarnations of the piano and his one-of-a-kind 30-string harp guitar. Chicagoan Howard Levy, who has written and performed harmonica concertos and was a founding member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, was one of the first musicians Hoyt asked to appear on the new CD. Levy agreed to listen to Hoyt's music, liked what he heard, and a few months later contributed to five tracks. Jeff Coffin in turn was eager to record with Levy. They play together on two songs: "The Relative Sea," featuring Coffin on soprano saxophone and Antoine Dufour on harp guitar, and "Alternate Timeline," with Coffin on flute and Mike Doolin on his own "Doolin" harp guitar. The album, Hoyt's third following Histories, a collection of music he recorded between 1990 and 2002, and the aforementioned Together Alone, lives up to its title with a unique blend of gypsy jazz, atmospheric soundscapes, Viennese-flavored reflections, and "funked-up acoustic music" (as Gregg Miner describes it). All of the music is carried by strong melodies that in many cases once had lyrics attached to them. They take on new life here. Brad Hoyt, 42, was born and raised in Muncie, Indiana. As a Ball State University undergrad, he took lessons in both classical guitar and jazz piano and performed there in big bands and small groups, with his own blues band, and as a solo. When he began experimenting with plucked piano strings, he was so taken with the sound that he started envisioning a fingerstyle string instrument on which he could imitate that sound. A 12-string guitar or mandolin came close, but he preferred an instrument meant to be played with the fingers instead of a pick. After college, Hoyt moved to New York and freelanced. He had some of his music placed in TV and film, including NBC's Today Show. He also performed at such venues as the legendary CBGB's with the rock fusion group NightPeople. Three years later, he got married and relocated to Colorado, where he continued to write and record his compositions. In 1999, he and his wife Andrea moved to her hometown of Prague, where they had their first child. While in Europe, he recorded and performed with the group Art House, which he founded with bassist Alexander Jurman. In 2002, massive flooding in the Czech capital led to Hoyt moving back to Indiana with his family. (They currently reside in the Denver area.) He took with him a renewed fascination in stringed instruments, and finding the "portable plucked piano" he had in his head. Having become taken with the harp guitar, a guitar-like instrument with a second tier of open, non-fretted strings, he attended the 2004 International Harp Guitar Gathering in Williamsburg, Va., hoping to find a luthier who could make the model he envisioned. That man proved to be British harp guitar specialist Stephen Sedgwick, who, through a gradual and painstaking process, worked with Hoyt in introducing bold new features to the 10-string Brazilian folk guitar that served as their starting point. Dubbed by Sedgwick the arpa viola caipira -- Portuguese for harp country guitar -- Hoyt's dream instrument featured 15 bass, fretted, and super-treble double-courses totaling 30 strings. The more Hoyt has defined himself as an artist, having immersed himself in the harp guitar world, combined his fingerstyle and jazz influences, and designed his own custom instrument, the more surprised he is at how little known the string virtuosi he associates with are known by jazz's top players -- and vice versa. With Far Away from Everyday, he continues his personal mission to break down those walls. Brad Hoyt will be performing solo CD release shows in Denver at the Meadowlark Bar, 11/30, 9:00 pm; and at the Mercury Café, 12/13, 7:30 pm. Web Site: www.bradhoyt.com Follow Brad:

Happy Birthday 2013 Eric!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you... My Mother the Car - $18.72 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G5N6C8U/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Chad Kackert broke his ankle during practice Friday. He's gone for the season. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436456 ***** Semi-Finals highlights video http://cfl.ca/video/index/id/92797/autostart/true

Calvillo said today that he is leaning toward retiring. http://cfl.ca/video/index/id/92747/autostart/true http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436389

Death in Paradise (Series 1 & 2) - 11.25 GBP http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Paradise-Box-Set-DVD/dp/B00ER15JGS/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1384222217&sr=1-3&keywords=Death+in+paradise ...Season 1 - $31.48 http://www.amazon.com/Death-in-Paradise-Season-One/dp/B00D49YE4W/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1384222821&sr=1-2&keywords=death+in+paradise+series+1+-+2-dvd+set ...Season 2 - $31.48 http://www.amazon.com/Death-in-Paradise-Season-Two/dp/B00DC5JZTW/ref=pd_bxgy_mov_text_y ***** Downton Abbey: Series 4 - 19.50 GBP http://www.amazon.co.uk/Downton-Abbey-DVD-Maggie-Smith/dp/B00AQVMZ1U/ref=sr_1_11?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1384222217&sr=1-11&keywords=Death+in+paradise ...$34.96 http://www.amazon.com/Masterpiece-Downton-Abbey-Season-U-K/dp/B00F1BFRA6/ref=sr_1_11?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1384222708&sr=1-11&keywords=Downton+Abbey

I receive a couple of emails a week from oldies.com. Over the weekend I went window shopping over there, and I was surprised to see an unadvertised special: free shipping for orders over $35. I have to think that they are doing this to match Amazon's new policy.

Happy Birthday 2013 S-O-W!

Here's a column from last Monday by Matt Dunigan in which he analyzes the playoffs' quarterbacks. http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/matt_dunigan/?id=435856 ***** Hamilton Tiger-Cats 19....Montreal Alouettes 16 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4638794 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436312 http://www.cfl.ca/statistics/statsGame/id/10713 Very low scoring game. It was raining and windy in Guelph. CJ Gable scored late in the fourth quarter to give the Ticats the lead, but the Als came back to tie it at 13 with a Sean Whyte field goal as time expired. In OT, the Als got a FG, and Dan LeFevour quarterback-sneaked it in from two yards out to win it. ***** Saskatchewan Roughriders 29....British Columbia Lions 25 http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4638852 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=436328 http://www.cfl.ca/statistics/statsGame/id/10715 The Lions dominated the first 3 1/2 quarters of the game, but the Riders came back with 13 unanswered points in the fourth to win it. It was very cold in Regina. Chris Milo put the Riders ahead for good with a field goal.