GA Russell

At age 72, Bob O'Billovich has announced his retirement. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=415219 ***** Having already let Cory Boyd go, the Eskimos have traded Jerome Messam to the Als for a low draft pick. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4563537 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=415296 ***** Jeff Reinbold has landed with the Ticats as their new special teams coordinator. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=415295

If I were a Niners fan, I would be upset that they didn't run a multi-lateral kick return like the Stanford Band Play on the final play of the game.

http://dfw.cbslocal....contemplations/ the tight end was covered. it was the flankers responsibility to back off the line. ------------------------------------ the only announcer who had a coherent thought or clue yesterday was boomer esiason, both on radio color and tv at half time. the other legions of old player announcers were worthless, and personally, i can't stand boomer I watched much of the game on mute. But I don't primarily blame the announcers. I primarily blame the network executives who give them their instructions. Let's dispense with the jargon. In plain English, what does it mean to "cover" or "shield" in this case?

Well, you certainly seem to have the facts on your side, so I will concede. But how do you explain that your link says that there may be more than seven men on the line? Wasn't that the problem, then?

Dude, that was an illegal formation. People were standing still and there it was. It's like, line up, set, and UH-oh! If you need more explanation, see here: http://www.teamspeed...oying-penalties Pretty unambiguous, really. Jim, I don't like the explanation you linked to. I also don't think it is relevant to this play. The play referred to in the link is a common error in the CFL, called "No End." It happens when the curve of the offensive line on passing plays is bent too much at the snap of the ball, so that the tight end is technically in the backfield. In the play last night, I believe that SF had eight men on the line. In the CFL, the left tight end would have been an ineligible receiver because only the two players at the extreme ends of the line may be eligible receivers. I think, but I'm not sure, that the tight end caught the pass. Therefore, it was an "ineligible receiver" penalty. But I'm not NFL expert, so I may be wrong. No, you might be right. But I believe the refs called "illegal formation" and the replay showed and explained why, Phil Simms even saying, yeah, before the play even ran, I'm thinking, that's an illegal formation. (not an exact quote but pretty close). It might have been the last time I wanted to hear Simms explain anything all night. Either way, it wasn't an interpretive call of a play in motion. A formation is either legal or it isn't. Perhaps I should keep my mouth shut because I have never read the NFL Rule Book. Just last year I read the CFL Rule Book. In the CFL, that was not an illegal formation. The link you provided mentions that there may be more than seven men on the line. In the CFL, only the two on the outside (one on each end) are eligible receivers. Someone else on the line caught the ball. So I would guess that the NFL and CFL rules are the same in this case, and that it was an ineligible receiver problem, not an illegal formation problem.

Dude, that was an illegal formation. People were standing still and there it was. It's like, line up, set, and UH-oh! If you need more explanation, see here: http://www.teamspeed...oying-penalties Pretty unambiguous, really. Jim, I don't like the explanation you linked to. I also don't think it is relevant to this play. The play referred to in the link is a common error in the CFL, called "No End." It happens when the curve of the offensive line on passing plays is bent too much at the snap of the ball, so that the tight end is technically in the backfield. In the play last night, I believe that SF had eight men on the line. In the CFL, the left tight end would have been an ineligible receiver because only the two players at the extreme ends of the line may be eligible receivers. I think, but I'm not sure, that the tight end caught the pass. Therefore, it was an "ineligible receiver" penalty. But I'm not NFL expert, so I may be wrong.

That's what I was thinking, Larry. My first thought was that in regard to its goal of spending time before taking a safety, Baltimore was in a no-lose position, and the holding was therefore meaningless. I wonder if the coaches thought of that.

My thanks to MG for reminding me of The Creator Has a Master Plan. I think that that's my favorite.

It was a good non-call. The refs had been letting that go all game. It would have looked bad if they decided to call it there. Plus, it looked liker the receiver pushed off with a hand to the defender's face/hemet. I think you are referring to a different play. I am referring to the safety, when the punter ran around in the end zone and took 8 seconds off the clock. The Baltimore offensive lineman was beaten by the San Francisco lineman, and the Balt guy wrapped both arms around the SF guy's waist from behind, preventing him from tackling the punter. I don't know NFL rules, so I don't know if that penalty would have made any difference. But that was the most outrageous hold I've ever seen in my life.

NONSENSE I like Red Garland's All Morning Long.

How about that hold on the safety play at the end?

I noticed at the coin toss that the referee referred to the game as "the 2013 Super Bowl". I've never heard the Super Bowl referred to by the calendar year before.

How the people of New Orleans feel about the Commissioner: My server at breakfast displays the local sentiment about the NFL's commissioner. #superbowl47 pic.twitter.com/zGQEkU00 — David William Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) February 3, 2013

Now here's an artist of a unique sort! The inventor of the Etch-a-Sketch has passed away. RIP. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-andre-cassagnes-20130203,0,6933080.story

aloc, I think that article is Rick Reilly trying to impose his trip on somebody else. He should butt out.

Happy Birthday 2013 Thom!

My car radio has stopped working, so this morning I went to the car audio shop where I bought it. I wore my 2009 Grey Cup hat (which I bought because the 2009 game was the 100th anniversary of the Grey Cup, and because the hat was on sale for $5.00). While waiting, I saw a young man wearing a CFL watch cap! He was speaking with a salesman, so I didn't interrupt. He disappeared before I had a chance to speak with him. By the way, my salesman told me that my radio was shot and that I needed a new one. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was hoping it only needed a new fuse.

Happy Birthday!

Unconfirmed rumor has it that the league as agreed to give TSN/RDS exclusivity for a few more years to broadcast all of their games. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/tsnrds-to-retain-exclusive-cfl-broadcast-rights/article8104468/ ***** In anticipation of Feb. 15, the Als have released Adrian McPherson, Brian Bratton and Trent Guy. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=415001

Mike Reilly was going to become a free agent on the 15th, so Wally traded him to Edmonton for a second round pick, and Reilly then signed a contract. Along with Nichols, that gives the Eskimos two unproven but very attractive young QBs. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=414907

...that its supplier in England has been including horsemeat in the Whopper meat. http://www.dailymail...ost_read_module

I listened to this one today for the first time in a long time, and I liked it much more than I did the last time.

The expansion Ottawa team has named Marcel Desjardins as its first general manager. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=414823 ***** The Als have interviewed Jim Zorn to replace Marc Trestman. You may recall that Zorn finished up his playing career with the Bombers. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=414805 ***** Romby Bryant was scheduled to become a free agent Feb. 15, so the Stamps have released him two weeks early. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=414820

In the mid-90s I was a homebrewer. In fact, I twice won awards, both in '93 as I recall. My India Pale Ale won first place (a blue ribbon) in the Georgia state competition, and my Irish Stout won third place (a red ribbon) in the Southeast Regionals competition. At that time I lived 20 miles outside Atlanta. Using a countertop water filter, my water was quite good. In '95 I moved another 20 miles further out, and the water wasn't as good for my beers. The beers were still OK, but the thrill was gone. Eventually I gave away my equipment. Recently I have given serious thought to going back to homebrewing. And talk about a stroke of good fortune, this week LivingSocial is having a half-price sale on equipment. $64 gets you $126 worth of equipment including two cases of beer. In addition to that offer, I expect that you would need to purchase a pot and lid for $60, a book for $10, two cases of beer bottles for $24 total, and another $35 or so for items such as a glass carboy and a large funnel if you want to go first class. In addition to all that, I recommend that you spend $100 on a countertop water filter. Here is the link for the LivingSocial deal. I think that it is good for Canada as well as the US, but I'm not sure. If so, the US shipping would be $14 and the shipping to Canada would I'm confident be more. https://www.livingsocial.com/deals/588148?ref=conf-jp&rpi=102964310 As with all LivingSocial deals, when three referrals make a purchase, the original customer gets his purchase free. If you decide to go for the deal, you are welcome to post your own link on this thread. The LivingSocial deal expires in six days. Cheers!

Is anyone here familiar with Winkler? JAZZ SINGER/LYRICIST MARK WINKLER TAKES A CHANCE ON THE SONGS OF 60S POP ICON LAURA NYRO THE LAURA NYRO PROJECT WILL BE RELEASED ON APRIL 16, 2013 Quick Links MARK'S WEBSITE LISTEN TO 'AND WHEN I DIE' FOLLOW MARK ON TWITTER Although his last three CDs have placed high on the Jazz Week charts, and his lyrics have been regularly recorded by over 150 singers (including Dianne Reeves, Cheryl Bentyne, Jackie Ryan and Bob Dorough), for his latest work jazz singer and lyricist Mark Winkler has created a new album dedicated to fresh interpretations of the work of his own favorite singer/songwriter: Laura Nyro. "I love the songs of Laura Nyro", says Winkler. "I am moved by both her music and her words. Her songs create their own worlds, conjuring up cities, cockleshells, exotic lands...and deep passions that touch and inspire me. She mixes Jazz with Broadway and Soul and Folk, and somehow, it all comes out great. I became aware of her brilliance while still a young man living at home with my family. Ever since then, I've had a burning desire to do her music. I decided that, at last, the time is right for me to tackle it...so I set myself the task of finding the "jazz side" of her amazing work. I'm hoping that today's music lovers will discover that her songs are so good that they really deserve a place in the Great American Songbook." The Laura Nyro Project is not Winkler's first exploration into the musical legacy of another songwriter. His 2003 release Mark Winkler Sings Bobby Troup received a four-star review from Allmusic.com, while Jazzreview.com raved: "Even the artist himself (Bobby Troup) would be proud..." In his last release, Sweet Spot, Winkler also included interpretations of great songs by other legendary tunesmiths, notably George and Ira Gershwin and Leiber and Stoller. (Sweet Spot was named as the #5 Jazz vocal CD of the year by the Jazz Times critic Christopher Loudon in 2011). Still, an attempt to shed new light on an artist with as devoted a fan base as New York-bred Laura Nyro is a brave move for the Los Angeles-based Winkler. "It has been so interesting-and, at times, frustrating and challenging-to create a Mark Winkler interpretation of Laura Nyro's music", he notes. "The first challenge: Hey, I don't sound anything like her! I am not from the belting, melismatic school-my voice is lighter and more conversational and quite a bit lower. I had to find a way to fit my baritone-ness into her world of soprano side streets and soaring street-corner passions". The task required collaboration with inspired musicians. Winkler tapped the talents of arranger and SNL Music Director Eli Brueggemann ("simply one of the best musicians I have ever worked with") to finesse nearly half of the CD's 11 tracks. "Eli understood Laura's idiosyncrasies and found parallels for them in the world of Jazz and the Great American Songbook", explains Winkler. "One of my favorite arrangements of his is "Time And Love." When I told him I wanted to turn this mid-tempo shuffle into a ballad, the remarkable musical reference book in his head led him to turn for inspiration to Ahmad Jamal's arrangement of "Moonlight In Vermont," transcending genres and decades in a musical micro-second." Many other A-list musicians helped Winkler bring his ideas to fruition...the album is chock full of fine work by the likes of Eric Reed ( who supplied his own arrangement and piano for "Billie's Blues" and then plays killer stride on Winkler's offbeat take on Laura's 60s anti-war anthem "Save The Country"), Anthony Wilson ( who cools it down with his solo on "Emmie"), and the sons of the original Mills Brothers ( who apply their inimitable style to backgrounds on a New Orleans-infused version of "Sweet Blindness"). Saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarists Pat Kelly and Larry Koonse and bassist Dan Lutz also made major contributions to this musical adventure. Prior to his work on The Laura Nyro Project, Winkler had released 11 CDs in the US, developing a substantial fan base of his own. The 2011 release, Sweet Spot, led to a feature article on Winkler's work in Jazz Times, which noted that he is "as both vocalist and lyricist, a master weaver of tunes that seem to demand gin, vermouth, a T-Bird convertible and the occasional femme fatale". In that same profile, Winkler's sometime singing partner Cheryl Bentyne (of Manhattan Transfer) says "He's a consummate writer, a wonderful interpreter of these incredible songs, and he does it all with wit, charm and warmth". Winkler and Bentyne have been touring around the country in a jazz show paying homage to the creators of the West Coast Cool sound, a recording of which will be released in the fall of 2013. Besides the writing, singing and touring, there is another aspect of Winkler's career: teaching. He is in his seventh year as a teacher at UCLA Extension, for which he created a course called "Crafting Great Lyrics: A Songwriter's Workshop," which is now one of the most popular courses at the school. Though there is plenty to keep him busy, Winkler plans to devote a lot of time and attention to his Laura Nyro Project. "It's something I've wanted to do for so long, and I was lucky enough to get some of the best people in the business to work with me. I'm proud of this album, and I 'm hoping that Laura's legions of fans will welcome it and feel that I have been faithful to her unique and provocative vision".