GA Russell

It's that time of year again! This year's Grand Final will be this Saturday (Friday night in the US) - the Collingwood Magpies vs. the Geelong Cats. My Hawthorn Hawks almost upset the defending champion Magpies in the semi-finals Friday, but fell just short. The game will start at half past midnight eastern time, 9:30 pm Pacific time in the US. As in the past, I expect that you can listen to it at 3AW's website. Last year I found it on another website as well, so I guess more than one network carries the radio broadcast. http://www.3aw.com.au/

Thanks for that, Tom! I don't remember that, but it reminds me vaguely of the music of the 70s private eye shows.

British Columbia Lions 42....Saskatchewan Roughriders 5 http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4439123 I thought this would be the most interesting game of the week because both teams had momentum. Instead, the Lions took a 30-0 lead in the second quarter. ***** Toronto Argonauts 25....Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24 http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4439165 Crazy game, in part because the Bombers had the best record in the league, and the Argos the worst. Maybe the most interesting game of the season so far. Lots of key injuries. Winnipeg's Buck Pierce, Fred Reid and Alex Brink and Toronto's Stephen Jyles were knocked out of the game. Joey Elliot was already on the injured list, so Winnipeg had to finish the game with their fourth-string quarterback. ***** Hamilton Tiger-Cats 55....Calgary Stampeders 36 http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4439350 This was the annual Maritimes game, this year again in Moncton. Terrific first half, but the Ticats blew it open in the second. Marcus Thigpen returned a missed field goal 118 yards for a touchdown. ***** Following up on the idea that the pennant races are unusually good this year, I note that the three teams with the best records (Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton) lost this week. This goes along with my view that no matter how good all the teams are, two will not make the playoffs; and no matter how bad all the teams are, one will be awarded the Grey Cup. I've been following the CFL on a weekly basis since 1974, and this is the first year that I can recall that the better teams were so unreliable. The cup is truly up for grabs this year.

Here's an article about Clear Channel relaunching its iHeartRadio.com website to compete with Pandora. They claim to have a much larger music selection. http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/09/23/clear-channel-taking-aim-at-pandora-with-relaunch-iheartradio/

This is an article from the same people who brought you the lists about the 8 beers whose sales have declined and the pro teams whose ticket sales have declined. Here are the teams with the most expensive ducats, as they say in the sports pages. I assume in every case that it's the corporations that buy tickets at these prices, although that may not be right for the NFL with its short (few games) schedule. http://247wallst.com/2011/09/22/20-major-league-teams-with-the-most-expensive-tickets/

Congrats FFA! It's possible that the radio broadcasts of many of the sports you enjoy are available on the internet, so you might want to look into that.

Here's an article that says that you can now see who has de-friended you! http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/23/new-facebook-layout-enables-user-to-see-who-doesnt-want-to-be-friends-anymore/

Quincy, the players on not on strike. They've been locked out.

Montreal Alouettes 34....Edmonton Eskimos 21 http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=376576 The Als led the whole game. Brandon Whitaker scored three touchdowns. Calvillo left the game late in the third when he was clobbered by DL Marcus Howard.

Happy Birthday Ron!

I checked in at the ECM - USA facebook page, and was reminded that the Chick Corea-Stefano Bollani album Orvieto will come out Tuesday.

Maybe this should be in the Artists forum. This is an impressive (to me, anyway) mural. Each block was painted by a different artist. If you click on each block, you will see a close up of what the artist painted. http://www.muralmosaic.com/Cochrane.html

I don't understand how anyone, even Kobe, is worth $700,000 per game for playing basketball in Italy. I don't get the numbers. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/kobe-bryant-gets-67-million-offer-to-play-in-italy/article2177642/

I don't believe that DVDs will disappear unless the companies pull the plug like they did with LPs in 1988. I think the situation is comparable to eBooks. I expect that there will always be a demand for print books.

Tom, that one's very enjoyable, isn't it? I got it early last year, and I still listen to it fairly regularly.

Umar Ali Week 13 preview http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfl/news/news.aspx?id=4438754 ***** One of the Alouettes is suing another over an investment deal. Perhaps there is a clubhouse problem. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=376523

My first thought was the guys twenty years ago who claimed they had discovered cold fusion.

Globe Week 13 picks http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/football/week-13/article2176982/

You beat me jazz train! Here are my calculations. 4x+2y=360 x+y=105 2x+y=180 2x=180-y -[x=105-y] x=75 y=105-x y=105-75 y=30

Sounds great!

You beat me Paul!

Correct, Jim! I saw in the paper the day before yesterday (Tuesday) that it was her birthday, so that gave me the idea.

spotify: Caravan - The World is Yours - The Anthology

LOL! Evan, that's the same photo we used before!