Friday, October 26, 2018
Tim Hortons Cards 2018
I am not terribly fussy
about commercials on television. I am sure that 92% of you would
agree with that comment. Recently, I watched a commercial for Tim
Hortons that made me jump out of my chair.
A Zamboni slowly edged
its way to the window for the driver to place his order. None other
than Sidney Crosby pronounced “Double double”. A translation
into English means that he was ordering two coffees, each with two
sugars, and two creams. His friend on the Zamboni reminded him to buy
some hockey cards. The commercial could have been shot in the summer
in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. Both lads are from that place. The
other rider on the ice machine is Nathan MacKinnon, a fine hockey
player in his own right, who plays for the Colorado Avalanche.
The promo was for the
Tim Hortons hockey card collection, which is currently available at
the restaurants. Some restaurants even offer special “Trading
nights”. Collectors are invited to bring their doubles or traders
on those nights to help complete their collections. There is a
trading night coming up this Thursday, October 25th, in
Belleville, at two locations. There is also a Trading Night in
Wellington. The times at both locations are from 6:00pm to 9:00pm.
As is usually the case,
there is a large collection of cards in the series, beginning with #
1, Tim Horton himself. There are 120 cards in the “Base Set”. The
last card in the set is John Tavares. He is shown in his New York
Islanders uniform, likely because they printed the set before he
became a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Max Domi is shown in his
Arizona uniform, although he is now a member of the Montreal
Canadiens.
Even the Sedin twins
are included in this year's set. It seems like eons ago when they
decided to pack their bags, and head back to Sweden.
Statistics are shown on
the backs of the cards for the last five years. As an example, the
stats for Shea Webber include his days with the Nashville Predators
for three years. He was then traded for P. K. Subban, and has spent
the past two seasons with the Habs. His first year in Montreal was
quite productive, and his plus/minus total was plus 20. He ran into
injuries last year, and only played 26 games. Goals, assists, penalty
minutes, and power play goals are included in these stats.
For those of you who
have braver hearts than I, and thicker wallets, there are insert
sets.There are: Top Line Talents, NHL All Star Standouts, Game Day
Action cards, Superstar Showcase cards, Golden Etching cards, and
Claer Cut Phenoms.
There are also really
special autograph cards, and “Jersey Relics” autograph cards. I
recommend that you do not try to buy your way into these rarer cards.
With the mandatory beverage purchase, it will set you back $ 250 000.
You read that correctly. There are also autographed Brad Marchand
Timbits cars, one in every 123 384 packs.
Personally, I am happy
with the Base Set. 120 really nice cards, the best players in the
game. Now I will share a little secret. I buy a few cards, with
beverages, just to see what is on offer. Then I make a call to a
friend of mine, and I buy the entire 120 card set from him for $ 25.
It saves a lot of hassle, and a lot of money. If you would like one
of these sets, give me a call. I am in the book. I still have a “land
line” to help me communicate with my friends.
James Hurst
October23, 2018.
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Getting to the Top-Hannah Hellyer
Hannah Hellyer
There are
two main routes to be followed if a man or a woman wants to play golf
on the PGA or the LPGA tour. Route # 1 starts after you finish
college or university.
Route # 2
starts whenever you think you are ready.
Canada's
premier female golfer today, Brooke Henderson, followed the second
route. She became a full time professional golfer while still in her
teens, without ever cracking a text book at an institution of higher
learning.
Hannah
Hellyer followed the first route which naturally takes a little
longer. The Stirling, Ontario, native honed her skills on the rolling
terrain of the Oak Hills Golf Club, under the watchful eye of
long-time pro Ralph Kuster. She earned a scholarship to play four
years at Gardner Webb University in North Carolina, where she studied
international business.
In her
youth, she spent several years as a centre on the Stirling Blues
hockey team, occasionally adding her talents to teams from Madoc and
Napanee. While working on her MBA at McKendry University in Lebanon,
Illinois, she helped coach hockey and golf.
Work began
at Windermere Lodge in the Muskokas. As a young golf pro at a golf
course, she was responsible for a variety of functions: preparing
clubs for the guests and members, assisting at the pro shop,
arranging carts for the guests. She moved on to a similar position at
St. George's in Toronto. Last year, she qualified to play in the
Canadian Open in Ottawa. The experience helped kindle the flame in
her to become a touring pro. In her second year in Toronto this year,
she decided to pursue that dream.
She knew
there was a long and expensive road ahead of her. She completed the
first stage of qualification in California, successfully, and is in
the early stages of the second round. The main group of professional
female golfers is currently on the “Asian Swing”. Those that
played on the secondary tour, called the Symetra Tour, and were in
the top group, have already qualified to play on the LPGA Tour next
year.
Hannah
played her first round of the Stage II qualifying tournament on
Monday. She scored 77. She was joined by 192 other hopefuls on the
Panther Course and the Bobcat Course of the Plantation Golf and
Country Club in Venice, Florida. Each competitor plays 72 holes of
stroke play, with no cut. The top 25 players advance to the next
stage, taking place in Pinehurst, North Carolina, in late October.
With
newcomers like Hannah, and veterans from other tours, it is not an
easy way to get to the top. Csiesi Rozsa hails from Budapest,
Hungary, and just finished her second year on the Symetra Tour. She
knows what she faces. “It is going to be a tougher field because
there is going to be fewer spots making it through”.
Each of
these “schools” costs in the range of $ 3 000. A “go fund me”
page has been set up to help Hannah along the way. Understandably so.
Not for the feint of heart.
James Hurst
October 15,
2018.
You Can't Teach Speed
One of the favourite
expressions used by scouts of all sports is, “You can't teach
speed”. Athletes can be taught pass patterns, breakout plays, base
stealing. But only a select few have the speed to be successful at
positions requiring speed.
Football is a violent
game. Every single player who suits up to play professionally knows
that before going onto the field. They have experienced the violence
from childhood, playing at the “Pop Warner” level. We use other
names for minor football in Canada, but it is still the same:
physical contact requiring significant protection.
Players wear helmets.
They are made of durable material, and are lined with foam rubber to
protect the player. Some helmets have air cushions. All equipment is
designed to give players as much protection as possible.
On most plays, the
player receiving the snap is the most vulnerable one on the field.
Penalties have been created to protect the quarterback and the
punter. There are also penalties for roughing the person who receives
punts. In Canada, players must not encroach on a punt receiver for
less that five yards, until he touches the ball. In the states,
players can indicate a “fair catch”, and no one is to touch the
receiver until he touches the ball. Good safety rules.
Most kick and punt
returners are the fastest players on the field. They run elusively,
and hope to churn up as many yards as possible before being tackled.
Unfortunately, in the United States, kick returns have virtually been
eliminated from the game. This is beyond my comprehension. One of the
most exciting aspects of pro football has been eliminated. They say
it is in the name of safety. Hogwash, I say. There are so many other
situations in football equally as dangerous as kick returns.
Most kickoffs are
returned in the Canadian Football League. One of the reasons for that
is because the fields including the end zones are shorter in the NFL.
Their kickoffs to start games, and those after touchdowns are rarely
returned. Shameful.
Mike “Pinball”
Clemons works for the Toronto Argonauts. He is the best ambassador
the league has ever known. Thousands have met him, been photographed
with him, (even before the selfie thing), collected his autograph.
But when he retired as a player from the Argos, his name was near the
top of many punt and kick return record categories for the league.
He returned 300
kickoffs in his career. The leader in that category is Henry “Gizmo”
Williams with 325. Both players lead the league for yards collected
on kickoff returns in their careers.
In the CFL, missed
field goals can be returned for touchdowns. Tied for the record of
only two in their careers are Ezra Landry and Marcus Thigpen. The
remarkable thing about all of the players I have mentioned is that
neither stands above 5' 7' tall. Even that is a stretch. Several of
the public school kids from Belleville Minor Football met Landry
after a game. “Is he ever small!” they remarked. But, I told
them, as tough as nails.
In the United States,
the list of great kick returners is led by Devin Hester, Deion
Sanders, Gale Sayers, and Dante Hall. Great players who might be out
of work in today's game.
Just one man's opinion.
Run fast, run deep, I say!
October, 2018
The Ryder Cup-2918
More than
one hundred thousand golf fans packed the fairways and the
grandstands of a golf course near Paris, France, last week, to watch
the latest edition of the Ryder Cup. Most of them were there, of
course, to watch the Americans lose.
The Ryder
Cup takes place every two years, and the trophy is named after an
English businessman who donated the cup. The first Ryder Cup took
place in 1927, in Worcester Country Club, Massachusetts. Nowadays, it
has become the scene of very bitter rivalries. American fans are
delighted to chant “USA, USA” when their players are doing well.
The Europeans reply with “Ole, Ole, Ole...” which is heard,
occasionally, at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
There has
been a bit of animosity toward the Americans for decades. It may have
come from the methods used by the Americans to help the Europeans
after the World Wars. There may be a hint of jealousy on the part of
the Europeans towards the Americans and their success in world
economics. The rivalry on the golf course is intense.
Until
recently, there was a certain dignity on golf courses. Marshalls and
course personnel hold up signs to quieten the crowds while players
prepare to putt. For the most part, that is still respected. What is
somewhat bothersome is the mean-spirited way fans explode when one of
the rivals misses an easy putt. It's like cheering a double fault in
tennis. Just rubbing it in.
I am certain
that all of this commotion has an effect on the players. Many
American players who are normally unfazed by the clamour played very
poorly in France. The team was defeated 17 1/2 points to 10 1/2
points. In golfing circles, a pretty sound thumping. Bubba Watson,
Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth, Rickey Fowler all suffered defeat in the
singles competition.
Francisco
Molinari is the first golfer in history to win a major tournament,
and then end up with a perfect 5-0 record at the Ryder Cup. He was
mobbed by his fans after he drained his putt to defeat Phil
Mickelson, ahead by 4 holes with two holes to play.
Sergio
Garcia defeated Fowler in his singles match. With his victory, he
became the winningest competitor in Ryder Cup history. The European
team consists of players from Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Italy,
Germany, Spain , and France.
The next
Ryder Cup will take place at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisconsin. Two
years later, the championship will be held in Italy. Molinari seemed
to be in agreement with that decision.
It made for
riveting television. The format is match play, and players can make
substantial gains when opponents have a couple of bad holes. Tiger
Woods, who recently won his first tournament in several years, was
weary after the Cup. “It's been a long grind,” he told ESPN's Bob
Harig. “This is my seventh week of golf out of the last nine weeks.
I believe I've been grinding at it.”
When they
lifted the golden goblet out of its case, you could almost hear the
roar on this side of the Atlantic. Rest assured, if the Americans are
successful in Wisconsin in a couple of years, there will be plenty of
“USA” cheers. Guaranteed.
There are
still a few nice golfing days remaining. Hit 'em straight.
James Hurst
October 10,
2018.
REDBLACKS Football-Dodging the tornados
Hunter Loft with Jean-Christophe Beaulieu
The wicked
winds of September streaked across Ontario last Friday night. By the
time they reached Ottawa, they had formed three tornadoes, with
sufficient strength to cause hundreds of millions of dollars of
damage. One of the whirlwinds jumped across the Ottawa River, causing
extensive destruction in Gatineau, Quebec. Non-partisan winds.
Ever the
troopers, we jumped in the car Saturday morning and headed to our
nation's capital for the REDBLACKS' game against the Edmonton
Eskimos. We had no idea about the extent of the damage. But once we
entered the inner city, we knew something was amiss. None of the
traffic lights worked, and there was chaos on the roads.
More than
150 000 hydro customers were affected by the storm. Fortunately, for
us football fans, there was power in and around Lansdowne Park. Game
on, girls and boys!! The stands filled slowly as people struggled to
get to the game. We took the advised route by going to Canada Post
headquarters, (the building where mail is stored!) and taking the bus
from there. A normal half hour journey took more than an hour.
The game
began at 4:00pm, in brilliant sunshine. The little flags on the top
of the goalposts danced only slightly, indicating little or no
significant wind on the field. In the first half, neither team was
able to get the ball into the end zone on most opportunities.
Fortunately for the REDBLACKS, their rookie kicker, Lewis Ward, was
right on the money throughout the game. He blasted seven field
goals through the uprights for the second time this season. Late in
the game, Ottawa quarterback Trevor Harris hit Greg Ellingson for a
touchdown to complete the scoring. Final score: Ottawa 28, Edmonton
15. (Or should that read: Lewis Ward 21, Ottawa 7, Edmonton 15.)
The score
was close throughout the game. Ottawa would nudge ahead, only to be
caught by the Eskimos. Teams began the second half with Ottawa
leading 12-7. They rolled down the field, but failed to move the ball
on second down in the red zone. They got 3 points on their field goal
to edge ahead 15-7. The Eskimos stormed back on a touchdown pass to
their brilliant receiver, D'haquille Williams. Their two point
convert tied the score. But those were the last points that the
Eskimos tacked onto the scoreboard.
The game was
marred by penalty flags, turnovers and bad decisions. But all of
those things, as well as some brilliant play, made for an exciting
afternoon of football. The REDBLACKS now enjoy a bye week, whereas
the Eskimos will face the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on September 29th.
Our
grandson, Hunter, spent an hour after the game meeting with many of
the players from both teams. They were all very pleasant and
courteous, Chatting with him, signing his Belleville Minor Football
League jersey. One player gave him his headband. Another told him
that he was sorry, that he could not give him his gloves because they
cost $ 45, plus tax, and he had to pay for them himself!!
We drove
back to The County after the game, hesitating at all of the
non-functioning traffic lights. A great way to spend a very fine
Canadian autumn day!!
James Hurst
September
25, 2018
