GA Russell

A lot has happened while the board was down. I'll first list some pre-season analyses before they disappear: Montreal Alouettes http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086881.htm Toronto Argonauts http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086872.htm Hamilton Tiger-Cats http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086895.htm Winnipeg Blue Bombers http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086858.htm Saskatchewan Roughriders http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086894.htm Calgary Stampeders http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086886.htm Edmonton Eskimos http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086890.htm British Columbia Lions http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...ory/GlobeSports http://sports.canada.com/default.asp?c=can.../AJN4086877.htm The Globe's picks for the final standings. Winnipeg is picked both first and last! http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

The Eskimos cut Mookie Mitchell. The Argos put Eric Crouch on the nine-week injured list. The Stampeders sent Coby Rhinehart to the Als for future considerations. They also sent RB Wes Cates to Sask for Rob Lazeo. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home

Here's an interesting article from Reuters today: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,286194,00.html Apple's iTunes Now Third-Largest Music Retailer in U.S. Friday, June 22, 2007 NEW YORK — Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) digital music store iTunes is now the third-largest music retailer in the United States with 10 percent market share, overtaking Amazon.com (AMZN) in the first quarter, according to a survey released Friday. The NPD Group report highlights the growing strength of digital music in the U.S. market as physical sales of compact discs continue to slide. Apple's iTunes is third behind market leader Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) with a 15.8 percent share, and Best Buy Co Inc. (BBY) with a 13.8 percent share, according to the survey of 40,000 people aged 13 and older. Both of those retailers mostly sell music in the CD format. Online store bestbuy.com has a 1.1 percent market share with sales of both CDs and digital music.. Amazon.com Inc. dropped to fourth with a 6.7 percent share. Its sales increased but not as fast as rivals. Amazon also sells music mainly in the CD format, but last month it started selling digital music but without copy protection software such as that used by iTunes. NPD said the iTunes digital music store had benefited from sales of Apple's iPod digital music player during the holiday season. The vast majority of digital songs and albums bought on iTunes will only play on iPods, as well as the iTunes PC application. iTunes last month rolled out a new service called iTunes Plus which sells higher quality digital songs without copy protection at a premium price. NPD analyst Russ Crupnick said that iTunes had also benefited from the slowdown in CD sales, the dominant format for recorded music sales. According to sales data from Nielsen SoundScan, first quarter sales of music CDs were down by more than 20 percent year-on-year, a trend analysts don't expect to change. "With only a couple of weeks remaining in the second quarter, industry CD sales have shown only marginal improvement over first quarter levels," said Richard Greenfield, analyst at Pali Capital in a note to clients on Thursday. Though Wal-Mart is the top U.S. music retailer, it carries a relatively narrow selection of CDs. Some analysts believe its rivals are likely to consider a similar strategy. "Anecdotally we're hearing they're beginning to think about cutting back on retail space for physical (music)," said Crupnick. "But in the near term retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy are going to continue to be powerhouses."

Ticats over Bombers 24-20. Hallelujah! Jason Maas looked healthy and had a good game. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home ***** The Blue Bombers moved closer to selling the team to David Asper today. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home I'm surprised, because the team doesn't need the money, from what I've read. ***** Roughriders over Stampeders 23-21 The Sask quarterbacks were again unimpressive. Akili Smith had another good outing for the Stamps, but Henry Burris remains their starting QB. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Gam...4283502-cp.html ***** The Eskimos cut Josh Ranek today. So who will be their running back this year? http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Edm...4282547-cp.html ***** The Als cut Donnovan Carter and Keith Stokes. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home ***** I love the week leading up to the CFL's Opening Night. Many of the papers publish pre-season previews. I'll post links to all that I find.

Happy Birthday Parkertown!

It's not clear in today's LA Times obit if Medress was the lead singer on The Lion Sleeps Tonight, but even if he wasn't I thought you find the rest of his career interesting: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-...news-obituaries Hank Medress, 68; pop music producer, a member of the Tokens From Times Staff and Wire Reports June 21, 2007 Hank Medress, 68, who sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" with the pop vocal group the Tokens and went on to produce hits for such groups as the Chiffons and Tony Orlando and Dawn, died of lung cancer Monday in New York, according to publicist Diana D'Angelo. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," a catchy, doo-wop tune based on a traditional Zulu melody and a reworking of the Weavers' 1950s folk version of "Wimoweh," was a No. 1 single for the Tokens in 1961. The Tokens originated at Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1955 when Medress, Neil Sedaka and two other students joined to become the Linc-Tones. After little success, Sedaka left in 1958 for a solo career. Following several lineup shuffles, the Tokens were formed in 1960 by Medress, Jay Siegel and brothers Mitch and Phil Margo (Joseph Venneri was later added). Their first single, "Tonight I Fell in Love," reached No. 15 on the pop charts in 1961. The Tokens had several more modest hits in the '60s and started their own label, B.T. Puppy Records. It was the Chiffons who caused Medress to leave his singing career behind. He produced three top-10 hits for the 1960s girl group: "Sweet Talkin' Guy," "One Fine Day" and "He's So Fine." Medress left the Tokens in 1970, and later that year he and producing partner Dave Appell teamed up with Tony Orlando and Dawn on "Candida" and "Knock Three Times." In the late '80s Medress produced Buster Poindexter's self-titled album and "Hot, Hot, Hot" single. In addition to producing other records, he worked for EMI Music Publishing and recently served as a consultant to SoundExchange, a nonprofit organization that helps recording artists collect royalties.

From the start of my listening to rock and roll on the radio in eighth grade, I always preferred the instrumentals. I bought a number of Ventures and Al Hirt albums and then moved on to the Tijuana Brass. From there it was on to Ramsey Lewis, and I was on my way. edit for spelling

Congrats guys!

Als over Argos 34-26. Former NFLer Mike McMahon had a good game at QB for the Argos. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home The Eskimos lead the Lions 10-9 at the half. ***** Final: Eskimos 18....BC 12 Defending Grey Cup champ BC lost both of its pre-season games. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...ory/GlobeSports

I did't know that the restaurant(s) came before the sausage-in-the-store. When I was in school in the 70s I used to buy the sausage and make Bob Evans cheeseburgers. Yum! edit for typo

The Bombers gave up on former Heisman runner-up Brad Banks today. They traded him to the Als for another QB former NFL bench warmer Kliff Kingsbury. Banks started for the Bombers last week and stunk. http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/R...tsFootball/home http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Win...263305-sun.html

Thanks TTK. I can't say that either cover strikes a chord. I have a vague recollection that the album I have was called Sergio Mendes Presents, but that may not be right. I didn't know that they put out two albums. It wasn't long after the second album came out that Mendes hired Gracinha to replace Lani Hall in Brasil '66.

Happy Birthday CJ and Tom!

I had a CFL in the hall that blew out shortly after I got it. Maybe I turned it on and off too much. I think that most people who have tried CFLs find that they are not bright enough to read by.

The B side of The Chipmonk Song was a David Seville instrumental called Almost Good!

TTK, I think I have a tape of this. I can't say that I remember the cover. Is Gracinha Leporace the vocalist? I read in his obituary that Manfredo Fest was the pianist for Bossa Rio. Is he on this album? Is this the album with Girl Talk and Black Bird on it?

Sorry to hear it, but glad you're back home after only a week. Hope all goes well for you aloc!

The Ticats released both Rob Hitchcock and Mike Morreale today. The club offered both front-office positions. Both want time to think it over. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Football/CFL/Ham...4273022-cp.html Speaking of front office positions, I speculated in the Hot Stove League thread that Ron Lancaster would be the analyst for the Ticats radio games. But I guess not. When I heard the game in my car the other night, I immediately recognized the voice of Coach Sal doing the commentary. The Ticats' new play-by-play announcer is I'm pretty sure the guy who used to be the Als' sideline reporter. I forget his name at the moment. Maybe he had a connection with the Ticats new GM, who also came over from Montreal.

Dave, this is for BMG, not Your Music: $5.99 CDs, plus free shipping when you order five or more: JU7B3 Offer good until 6/20/07.

When I was a boy I was an AFL fan. Their games were routinely more exciting than the NFL games IMO. One of my favorite players was Jim Norton of the Houston Oilers. He was a defensive back, the punter and also a kick returner. He was one of my favorites because he would often hurdle the tacklers when returning the kicks. The announcer (and ex-pro QB) Paul Christman would always say that one day a tackler would grab him by the shoe and he would land teeth first and learn his lesson. But to my knowledge he never stopped hurdling the tacklers! Here is his obit from today's Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports...nt/4899759.html June 18, 2007, 8:46PM Jim Norton, star on original Oilers squad, dies at 68 By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle The Oilers lost an integral member of their history with the passing of safety Jim Norton, the franchise's leader in interceptions. Norton died in Garland on June 12. He was 68 years old, according to an obituary released by the Gonzalez Funeral Home. The cause of death was not disclosed. Norton, an original member of the Oilers, was drafted out of Idaho in 1960 by the Detroit Lions, but ended up signing with the American Football League Oilers that same year. He spent nine seasons with the Oilers and remains the franchise's leader in career interceptions with 45. Norton, who also handled the punting duties from 1961 until his retirement following the 1968 season, was the first player to have his number (43) retired by the Oilers. Only five others have received the honor. Elvin Bethea, Earl Campbell, Mike Munchak, Bruce Matthews and Warren Moon are the others. "Not only was Jim a great original Oiler, but he was also a real good man," Oilers/Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams said. "He was personable. He was popular with his teammates and well-respected by them. "He was such a hard-worker, a leader. He was the kind of player that those Oilers teams took so much pride in." Norton was rookie the year when the Oilers won the first AFL championship in 1960. He moved into the starting lineup in 1961 and was integral in helping the Oilers repeat as champions. In 1962, he earned his first trip to the Pro Bowl while also helping the Oilers back to the AFL title game. Many still regard that game as one of the best pro games ever. The Oilers lost in double-overtime to the Dallas Texans in what was at the time the longest pro football game ever - 77 minutes and 54 seconds. Norton ended up reaching the Pro Bowl two more times in his career - 1963 and 1967. His 519 career punts were a franchise record until Craig Hentrich passed it in 2004. "Jim is going to be missed by many, and I want to offer my condolences to his family," Adams said. Norton is survived by his wife, Ginny; a brother, John Norton; a sister, Janet Cooke; three sons and two daughters. A memorial service is scheduled for June 29 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson, Texas.

Yes, of course. I had a feeling that "almost" didn't sound right.

Congratulations m333! PS - What's the password to see the photos?

Just the other day on the radio I heard Ronnie Laws' Almost There being played by a group that sounded like The Rebirth Brass Band of New Orleans. It got me to thinking that maybe Almost There is a standard because it was such a big hit. Can't say how many other people have recorded it, though.

I'm sorry that race is part of the picture. Let's suppose she was white. I don't think a stripper with that history should be able to ruin the reputations of college students. Well, I hate to say I told you so. I was glad to see that the State Bar Disciplinary Board specifically stated that the cause of this was Nifong's desire to get elected. In the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill/Cary metro, Durham has most of the blacks. Nifong was courting the black vote. To my knowledge all of the black spokesmen sided with the stripper. None of them said, "Wait a minute. Just because we're black doesn't mean that we want to be associated with a stripper." I think that was a big mistake. I don't think that the blacks of America will get the respect they deserve until their spokesmen differentiate between the vast majority and the low lifes among them.

TTK, when I was in high school, Constant Rain was my favorite song!