USA Hockey updates from the World Junior Championships in Saskatchewan

From http://www.usahockey.org

Game One:

U.S. National Junior Team Scores Four Second-Period Goals
in 7-3 Victory over Slovakia
Team USA Wins First Game of IIHF World Junior Championship

SASKATOON, Sask. - Team USA overcame an early two-goal deficit and defeated Slovakia by a 7-3 count here tonight in its first game at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship.

"I was happy with our resiliancy after falling behind early," said Dean Blais, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "We created a lot of scoring chances, and showed a lot of poise after those two quick goals."

Slovakia established a 2-0 lead just more than five minutes into the contest with a pair of power play goals.

Team USA cut the Slovakia lead in half midway through the period when John Carlson (Colonia, N.J.) fired a slap shot through traffic and past goalie Marek Ciliak. Then, just two minutes into the second period, Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) knotted the score, 2-2, when he drove to the net, collected his own rebound and fired a shot high over Ciliak's glove.

U.S. captain Derek Stepan (Hastings, Minn./Univ. of Wisconsin) gave Team USA the lead when he fired a shot from the slot past Ciliak five minutes into the middle frame. The U.S. took a 4-2 lead on the power play when Matt Donovan's (Edmond, Okla./Univ. of Denver) shot from the high slot found the back of the net.

Following a Slovakia power-play goal, Danny Kristo (Eden Prairie, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) restored Team USA's two-goal lead heading into the third period when he buried a post-to-post pass from Stepan.

Jordan Schroeder (Prior Lake, Minn./Univ. of Minnesota) extended Team USA's advantage to 6-3, chipping a centering pass from Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.J./Univ. of Notre Dame) over Ciliak's blocker less than a minute into the third. Jerry D'Amigo (Binghamton, N.Y./Rensselaer), who was named Team USA's Player of the Game, completed the night's scoring on a give-and-go play with Kristo.

Team USA goalie Mike Lee (Roseau, Minn./St. Cloud State Univ.) turned aside 17 shots in the win, while Ciliak stopped 39 shots in a losing effort.

Next action for Team USA comes tomorrow (Dec. 27) at 3 p.m. CST against Switzerland. The game can be seen live in the U.S. on the NHL Network. It will also be streamed live in the U.S. on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: Team USA won its first game of the World Junior Championship for the third straight year and sixth time in seven years ... The 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship runs Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Regina and Saskatoon, Sask. For Team USA's full schedule, click here ... The NHL Network (U.S.) and FASTHockey.com will air every U.S. game live from Saskatoon ... For complete results and stats from the tournament, visit IIHF.com ... For full coverage of the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team, including photos, videos and features, click here.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 1 - 4 - 2 - 7
SVK 2 - 1 - 0 - 3

First Period - Scoring: 1, SVK, Gasparovic (Illo), 2:15 (pp); 2, SVK Bakos (Illo, Marincin), 5:33 (pp2); 3, USA, Carlson (Stepan), 9:34. Penalties: USA, Johnson (high-sticking major, game misconduct), 2:05; USA, Walker (high-sticking), 5:18; SVK, Jankovic (delay of game), 12:07; USA, Team (too many men), 19:00.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Morin (unassisted), 2:50; 5, USA, D'Amigo (Carlson, Stefan), 5:39; 6, USA, Donovan (Kreider, Fowler), 6:36 (pp); 7, SVK, Panik (Siska, Viedensky), 13:14 (pp); 8, USA, Kristo (Stepan, D'Amigo), 13:54. Penalties: SVK, Jabornik (interference), 6:22. USA, Jenks (cross-checking), 9:46; SVK, Illo (tripping), 9:53; USA, Gardiner (hooking), 11:22; USA, Zucker (hooking), 15:06; SVK, Stastny (roughing), 15:06.

Third Period - Scoring: 9, USA, Schroeder (Palmieri), :58; 10, USA, D'Amigo (Kristo), 6:34. Penalties: SVK, Illo (hooking), 7:07; SVK, Hrasko (slashing), 8:20; SVK, Illo (slashing), 11:57, SVK, Jabornik (cross-checking), 16:00.


Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 11 16 19 46
SVK 9 7 4 20

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Lee 60:00 9-7 7-6 4-4 20-17
SVK, Ciliak 60:00 11-10 16-12 19-17 46-39

Power Play: USA 1-6; SVK 3-5
Penalties: USA 7-35; SVK 8-16

Game Two:

U.S. National Junior Team Blanks Switzerland, 3-0,
at IIHF World Junior Championship

Campbell Logs 22 Saves in Shutout Effort

SASKATOON, Sask. - Jack Campbell (Port Huron, Mich.) stopped all 22 shots faced, as the U.S. National Junior Team shut out Switzerland, 3-0, in its second game of the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. The U.S. improved its overall record to 2-0-0-0, with two games remaining in the tournament's preliminary round.

"I thought we stuck to our game plan and eventually wore them down," said Dean Blais, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "Both goaltenders played extremely well. I thought Jack really made some key saves in the first period to keep the game scoreless."

Campbell started strong between the pipes, turning aside a a pair of Swiss breakaway attempts and helping Team USA kill a two-man disadvantage in the opening frame.

The U.S. grabbed a 1-0 lead six minutes into the second period on its first power play of the game. Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass./Boston College) redirected a Cam Fowler (Farmington Hills, Mich.) slap shot under Swiss goalie Benjamin Conz for his first tally of the tournament.

Team USA sealed its victory with a pair of third period goals. Matt Donovan (Edmond, Okla./Univ. of Denver) scored his second of the tournament with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining after collecting a pass from Ryan Bourque (Boxford, Mass.) and beating Conz low to the stick side. AJ Jenks' (Wolverine Lake, Mich.) tally four minutes later completed the scoring.

Next action for Team USA comes Tuesday (Dec. 29) at 3 p.m. CST against Latvia. The game can be seen live in the U.S. on the NHL Network. It will also be streamed live in the U.S. on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: Chris Kreider was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Nine players have combined to score Team USA's 10 goals to date in the tournament ... The 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship runs Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Regina and Saskatoon, Sask. For Team USA's full schedule, click here ... The NHL Network (U.S.) and FASTHockey.com will air every U.S. game live from Saskatoon ... In other tournament action, Sweden defeated Austria, 7-3, while the Czech Republic will take on Finland and Slovakia will face Latvia later in the day. For complete results and stats from the tournament, visit IIHF.com ... For full coverage of the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team, including photos, videos and features, click here.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

SUI 0 - 0 - 0 - 0
USA 0 - 1 - 2 - 3

First Period - Scoring: None. Penalties: USA, Walker (interference), 9:51; USA, Carlson (delay of game), 10:56.

Second Period - Scoring: 4, USA, Kreider (Fowler, Stepan), 5:57 (pp). Penalties: SUI, Schappi (holding), 5:03; SUI, Camperchioli (hooking), 6:32; SUI, Niederreiter (tripping), 12:05; USA, Warsofsky (tripping), 17:36.

Third Period - Scoring: 2, USA, Donovan (Bourque, Palmieri), 12:35; 3, USA, Jenks (Warsofsky, Morin), 16:36. Penalties: SUI, Camperchioli (tripping), 1:44; SUI, Fuglister (hooking), 9:09.


Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
SUI 14 5 3 22
USA 11 23 15 49

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
SUI, Conz 60:00 11-11 23-22 15-13 49-46
USA, Campbell 60:00 14-14 5-5 3-3 22-22

Power Play: SUI 0-3; USA 1-5
Penalties: SUI 5-10; USA 3-6
Attendance: 12,853

Game Three:

U.S. National Junior Team Defeats Latvia, 12-1,
at IIHF World Junior Championship

Team USA Clinches Quarterfinal Berth

SASKATOON, Sask. - Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass./Boston College) scored three times and three other U.S. players notched two goals each, as the U.S. National Junior Team defeated Latvia, 12-1, in its third game of the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship. The U.S. improved to 3-0-0-0 and clinched a quarterfinal berth with one game remaining in the preliminary round.

"We moved the puck well and did what we had to in the first period," said Dean Blais, head coach of the U.S. National Junior Team. "I was happy that we finished strong in the final period, because I knew that however we performed would carry over into our next game against Canada."

The U.S. jumped out to a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game when Danny Kristo's (Eden Prairie, Minn./Univ. of North Dakota) wrist shot beat Latvia goalie Janis Kalnins to the glove side. Following a Jason Zucker (Las Vegas, Nev.) tip-in goal, Kristo potted his second of the game for Team USA's first of five power-play goals on the night.

AJ Jenks (Wolverine Lake, Mich.) and Kreider each netted their second goals of the tournament on the power play at 14:40 and 19:03 of the first period. Tyler Johnson (Spokane, Wash.) completed the opening period's scoring with a backhand tally at 19:38 for a 6-0 U.S. lead.

Both teams traded power-play goals in the second period, with Kreider collecting his second of the game with a wrist shot from the slot.

Team USA extended its lead in the third period, as Derek Stepan (Hastings, Minn./Univ. of Wisconsin) scored twice and Jeremy Morin (Auburn, N.Y.) collected a power-play goal of his own. Kreider completed his hat trick on a penalty shot, beating Kalnins low on the forehand with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

U.S. goalie Mike Lee (Roseau, Minn./St. Cloud State Univ.) finished the night with 18 saves, while Kalnins stopped 50 shots.

Next action for Team USA comes Thursday (Dec. 31) at 7 p.m. CST against Canada. The game can be seen live in the U.S. on the NHL Network. It will also be streamed live in the U.S. on FASTHockey.com.

NOTES: Tyler Johnson, who contributed one goal and one assist in the contest, was named Team USA's Player of the Game ... Derek Stepan (2-2) and Kyle Palmieri (Montvale, N.Y./Univ. of Notre Dame/0-4) led Team USA with four points each ... With a win against Canada, the U.S. would clinch first place in Group A and receive a bye into the tournament's semifinal round ... The 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship runs Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Regina and Saskatoon, Sask. For Team USA's full schedule, click here ... The NHL Network (U.S.) and FASTHockey.com will air every U.S. game live from Saskatoon ... In other tournament action, the Czech Republic defeated Austria, 7-1, while Canada will take on Slovakia and Russia will face Sweden later in the day. For complete results and stats from the tournament, visit IIHF.com ... For full coverage of the 2010 U.S. National Junior Team, including photos, videos and features, click here.

GAME SUMMARY

Scoring By Period

USA 6 - 1 - 5 - 12
LAT 0 - 1 - 0 - 1

First Period - Scoring: 1, USA, Kristo (McRae, Palmieri), 2:30; 2, USA, Zucker (Bourque, Donovan), 9:40; 3, USA, Kristo (McRae, D'Amigo), 11:12 (pp); 4, USA, Jenks (Lashoff, Morin), 14:40 (pp); 5, USA, Kreider (Schroeder, Stepan), 19:02 (pp); 6, USA, Johnson (Lashoff, Gardiner), 19:38. Penalties: LAT, Vilkoits (tripping), 3:55; LAT, Upitis (high-sticking), 10:54; LAT, Mazins (hooking), 13:49; USA, Schroeder (holding), 15:42; LAT, Ulescenko (hooking), 18:07.

Second Period - Scoring: 7, LAT, Kauss (Bukarts, Cinks), 7:00 (pp); 8, USA, Kreider (Schroeder, Stepan), 9:38 (pp). Penalties: LAT, Lipsbergs (hooking), 1:22; USA, Lashoff (high-sticking), 4:25; USA, Warsofsky (slashing), 4:53; USA, Warsofsky (roughing), 4:53; LAT, Freibergs (roughing), 4:53; USA, Bourque (slashing), 5:42; LAT, Upitis (high-sticking), 7:51; USA, Bourque (hooking), 11:46; USA, Team (too-many men); 18:56.

Third Period - Scoring: 9, USA, Stepan (Johnson, Palmieri), 1:22; 10, USA, Zucker (Ramage, Gardiner), 7:49; 11, USA, Stepan (Palmieri, D'Amigo), 9:42; 12, USA, Kreider (penalty shot), 18:46; 13, USA, Morin (Palmieri, Ramage), 19:30 (pp). Penalties: USA, Donovan (high-sticking), 4:11; LAT, Cinks (tripping), 4:57; LAT, Cinks (interference, penalty shot), 18:46; LAT, Mickevics (hooking), 19:10.

Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total
USA 20 17 25 62
LAT 6 6 7 19

Goaltenders (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total
USA, Lee 60:00 6-6 6-5 7-7 19-18
LAT, Kalnins 60:00 20-14 17-16 25-20 62-50

Power Play: USA 5-8; LAT 1-7
Penalties: USA 8-16; LAT 9-18
Attendance: 11,494

Monday Morning (or maybe afternoon, who knows?) Meissnervations

Happy Monday y'all!

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It was another busy week in the NFL. Week 16 started on Christmas Day, with San Diego obliterating Tennessee 42-17.

Yesterday, Tampa Bay showed signs of becoming an actual football team, coming from 17-0 down, to win in overtime 20-17 against the Saints in New Orleans, thanks to a Connor Barth 47 yard field goal. Cadillac Williams rushed for 129 yards and Josh Freeman threw for 271 yards and Michael Spurlock, the first player ever to run a kickoff back for a TD in Bucs history just a couple of years or so ago, and who was just signed early last week, tied the game with a 77 yard punt return TD. A missed field goal by the Saints Garrett Hartley with just seconds remaining, gave the Bucs the break they needed to win in OT. It's Tampa Bay's second consecutive win and the first time in NFL history that a team with 13 wins lost to a team with only 2.

Also yesterday, Atlanta steamrolled Buffalo 31-7, Cincinnati edged Kansas City 17-10, Cleveland beat Oakland 23-9(Last week's heroics weren't enought to get DeMarcus Russell a second chance for the Ray-duhs), Green Bay beat the daylights out of Seattle 48-10(Weren't the Seahawks in the Super Bowl just three years ago?) and Houston edged Miami 27-20.

Pittsburgh slipped past Baltimore 23-20, it was Carolina plastering the New York football Giants 41-9, New England beat Jacksonville(voted as most likely team to move to L.A.)35-7 and it was Arizona 31-10 over St. Louis(Kurt Warner beats his former team again).

San Francisco beat Detroit 20-6, Philadelphia beat Denver 30-27(Remember when the Broncos were 6-0? Will they somehow miss the playoffs now?), The Jets beat Indianapolis 29-15(Colts built a lead, then benched their starters and ended up losing their first game of the season. Morons.) and Dallas blanked Washington in the Sunday Night game 17-0. This week's Monday Night game should be a good one, as Minnesota travels to Chicago(Let see if Brett Favre stops trying to be Head Coach and just concentrates on playing quarterback this week).

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The Tampa Bay Lightning split two games last week, losing 5-2 to Philadelphia last Wednesday, then rebounding for a 4-3 win over Atlanta on Saturday. Zenon Konopka and Victor Hedman scored against the Flyers, while Steve Downie, Mike Lundin, Alex Tanguay and Ryan Malone scored against Atlanta. Mike Smith went the distance in net in both games for Tampa Bay.

The Lightning host Boston tonight at 7:30pm EST, Montreal on Wednesday at 7:00pm, and Pittsburgh at 3:00pm on Saturday. All games can be heard on 620AM WDAE and the Lightning Radio Ntework. The Boston and Pittsburgh games will air on Sun Sports TV.

Tampa Bay is 14-15-9 for 37 points, 12th in the East. They trail Atlanta and the Rangers by 3 points for the final playoff spot.

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The Oregon State Beavers lost the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas last Tuesday. BYU showed they were a better team, especially along the line on both sides of the ball. The Beavers scored first, but BYU took things over from there, rolling to a 44-20 win.

Read all about it right here:

http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/122309aaa.html

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Tell me why, when a family can't find work and needs assistance, that the governmeant counts money collected through unemployment against what they could receive in assistance to pay bills and rent? It's criminal, that's what it is. In Florida, you won't get assistance if you bring in over $300 in any manner, including unemployment. Tell me fixing that crap isn't as important as fixing health care.

There are families all across the country doing all they can to stay off assistance. But, it should be there when they truly need it. Tell me how anyone can run a family(housing, food, utilities) on $300 a month. I'd really like to know.

And NOWHERE does it say that an unemployed person can't have nice things, especially IF those nice things were purchased BEFORE that person became unemployed. So, I guess some people figure that once you lose a job, you're instantly supposed to forfeit all your possessions and sleep on the street. And I guess that means you can't spend a few minutes on the computer every other day or so doing something enjoyable, like updating your blog, after spending time searching for employment. Well, I don't bloody freeking think so. Because of the one anonymous jackass, who doesn't have the courage to stand behind what they wrote, anonymous comments are now disabled for everyone. That includes the spammers from Japan, and the scumbag who sent links to nude photos of Miley Cyrus. Wading through and rejecting that crap just isn't worth my time anymore.

One more thing: If you don't like or agree with what you read here, you are most welcome not to come back.

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Jimmy turned 19 months old yesterday. He is such a joy. And we were happy that Santa was good to him. Our "angel" in Kearney, Monica, is sending him some things too.

It's unfortunate that the person where Kim used to work, who professed to being her friend, and who had promised to follow through on her to help Santa get Jimmy some Christmas presents, backed out on the deal without so much as an explanation.

One thing we will be sure to teach Jimmy when he gets older, is that people sometimes don't follow through on their promises. What a shame to have to teach him that lesson.

And as far as I'm concerned, health wise, that is, my surgeon in Orlando wants me to have another colonoscopy. I've had so many in the past four years, that I've lost count. As long as I don't have to drink anything with the word "Lytely" in it, I'm good. I feel like I'm closer to finding out what's going on.

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Apparently, getting to http://rodpedersen.com/ on a mobile device is a bit difficult these days. If you have the same problem, try the link on the right side of this blog. Roddy has THE best blog in Canada. Try it, you'll like it. It's a great place for news on the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the offseason.

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Well, that's it for this week. Have a Happy New Year, okay?!?!

Tuesday's Tidbits

Main Entry: tid·bit
Pronunciation: \ˈtid-ˌbit\
Variant(s): also tit·bit \ˈtit-ˌbit\
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from tit- (as in titmouse) + bit
Date: circa 1640
1 : a choice morsel of food
2 : a choice or pleasing bit (as of information)

Now that I've made myself clear, here we go....

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The Oregon State Beavers meet BYU tonight in the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas. Kickoff is set for 8:00pm EST on http://www.kpam.com and the Beavers Sports Network, also Sports USA Radio Network and Armed Forces Radio. ESPN will televise the game live. The Beavers are 5-3 all time vs BYU.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning started a six-game road trip by going 0-3-1, continuing a downward spiral that had dropped them out of an Eastern Conference playoff spot. Instead of going in the tank, the team rebounded to win the final two games of the trip, including last night's 4-2 win over the New York Islanders.

Steven Stamkos and Vincet Lecavalier scored second period goals for Tampa Bay, to offset a first period Islanders goal by Trent Hunter and a second period goal by Nate Thompson, tying the game 2-2 through 40 minutes. Ryan Malone then took over in the third, scoring twice to propel the Lightning to the win. Mike Smith made 36 saves for Tampa Bay, who also went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-of-6 on the penalty kill. Attendance was a paltry 10,864.

The Lightning are now 13-14-9 for 35 points, 4th in the Southeast Division. The currently trail the Florida Panthers by 4 points for the final playoff spot in the East. Tampa Bay hosts Philadelphia tomorrow night at 7:30pm EST. The game can be heard on 620 WDAE Radio and seen on Sun Sports TV.

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Week 15 is complete in the NFL. On Thursday, Indianapolis stayed unbeaten with a 35-31 win over Jacksonville. On Saturday, Dallas handed New Orleans their first loss, 24-17. On Sunday, it was Houston 16, St. Louis 13, Atlanta 10, the Jets 7(YAAAAAAAWN!), Tennessee 27, Miami 24(The Titans started 0-6 and are now 7-7, but are still a longshot for the playoffs), Arizona beat Detroit 31-24(Cards clinch the NFC West) and New England beat Buffalo 17-10(10th straight year Bills miss the playoffs).

Cleveland beat Kansas City 41-34(Mike Holmgren has signed on as President of the Browns. How quickly do you think he'll add Head Coach to his portfolio?), Oakland edged Denver 20-19(Jamarcus Russell off the bench to save the day), Tampa Bay(SAY WHAT?!?!) overcame a sluggish first half to hammer Seattle 24-7, Baltimore rolled past Chicago 31-7(I don't hear anything about the Bears printing playoff tickets, do you?), Philadelphia beat San Francisco 27-13 and Pittsburgh scored on the last play of the game to neat Green Bay 37-36. The Giants pounded Washington in the Monday Night game, 45-12.

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Still looking for the change promised us in the last election. When a guy can't even get a callback for a paper route opening, what does that say about the state of the union? I don't see how anyone can blame things on the previous administration now.

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Jimmy continues his cuteness martch through life. Mommy bought him a toy cell phonme yesterday and he won't move an inch without it. This morning, he was walking around the office with it in his hand, while wearing Daddy's trash can on his head. What a fine time not to have the camera ready. Oh well. What a sweetie he is!

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Florida does a L-O-U-S-Y job of taking care of it's citizens. I don't need to go into particulars as they apply to us, but needless to say, my wife and I are not pleased. Even she is disapointed enough to allow me to expand my job search nationwide, instead of insisting we stay here until Jimmy graduates from high school. Things in this state are THAT bad. Charlie Crist hasn't proved to be that effective of a Governor. I wonder how badly he'll screw things up if he gets elected to the U.S. Senate. As Ron White once said: "Things that make you go oohoohoohoohooh."

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In the USHL, the Green Bay Gamblers have built a 10 point lead in the East over the defending Clark Cup champions from Indiana. In the West, the Omaha Lancers lead Sioux Falls by 8 points. Bliss Littler has his kids playing real well. If they can avoid injuries and get off to a fast staart in their post-Christmas schedule, they may well put away the West by mid-February.

My old team, the Tri-City Storm, sit 4th in the West. They have already equalled last seasons' total of 11 wins and, most importantly, their attendance is finally starting to rise. While I'm still disapointed with how my time there ended, I still have many friends there, and I know and appreciate how much their team means to them. Therefore, I hope they do well.

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Snoopy and Smoke are looking forward to Christmas. How? Well, they keep rattling the tree stand, removing ornaments and knocking over the manger scene. Ah, but we still love them anyway!

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Here's hoping tomorrow's doctor visit goes off as scheduled. They left a message yesterday to confirm, but at just after 11 this morning, no one answered the phone when we called with questions about the message they left. World class surgeon, subpar office staff.

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May you and yours have the most blessed of holiday seasons. God's blessings on you, from The Meissners. John, Kim, Jimmy, Snoopy and Smoke.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Matthew 1:20-23

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:32-33

If your team has ever lost the "big game"

A couple of weeks ago, was a real "down" week for me, football-wise speaking. First, the Saskatchewan Roughriders lost a heartbreaker in the Grey Cup to Montreal, then the following Thursday, the Oregon State Beavers lost the Civil War to the Oregon Ducks, denying them their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1965. Soon after that, an article appeared on my friend Rod Pedersen's blog. Rod is the radio voice of the Riders, as well as the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, whom I had the great pleasure to work with on occasion when the Pats visited Portland. Here, with his permission, is a guest column that appeared on his blog, http://rodpedersen.blogspot.com/ during that week.















From Hall of Fame writer Bob Hughes. Nobody can write better than this in my opinion:

http://www.exitrealtyfusion.com/bob-hughes.html

Oh no! Not again!
By Bob Hughes

In the suffocating moments right after the Saskatchewan Roughriders had crash-landed on McMahon Stadium’s cruel turf, knocked out for the count as it were, and the Montreal Alouettes had flown off into the night with the Grey Cup, the phone rang in our house.

“Dad,” my oldest son said from Calgary, “why does this always happen to us?”

Like the little kid with his face pressed flat against the candy store window, the Roughriders just couldn’t get in. They were close enough that the nearly 50,000 people in McMahon Stadium and the millions more in bars and house parties across the nation were rising to their feet in exhilarating joy as the final seconds ticked down in what would turn out to be a Grey Cup for the ages. Only trouble is, the Loyal Disorder of Rider Priders aged so rapidly, it was astounding.

The Big Green Machine had done what it has done too many times in past Grey Cups. It had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It had tripped at the finish line. It had missed a six-inch putt. It flew a shot over the empty net. It had struck out with the bases loaded. You never saw so many parties come to a crashing halt as you saw on that treacherous Sunday night at the end of November in the year 2009 in a place called Calgary.

Son, let me tell you why “this always happens to us.”

It happens because it happens.

It happened in 1967 because a usually sure-handed receiver named Eddie Buchanan dropped a sure touchdown pass from Ron Lancaster that turned the game around and saw the Riders lose 24-1 in the Grey Cup.

It happened in 1972 because for most of the game the Rider defence had kept Hamilton tight end Tony Gabriel in check. Then, in a moment of obscure coaching genius, the Riders pulled linebacker Wayne Shaw and put in rookie Bill Manchuk, figuring that the younger, faster, taller Manchuk could stay with Gabriel better than Shaw.

“The reason Gabriel didn’t hurt us,” said Shaw, “was because he spent most of the game on his ass. That’s where I put him.”

With Manchuk in the game, Gabriel caught three clutch passes, Ian Sunter kicked a field goal, and Hamilton won the Grey Cup, 13-10. Shaw was so mad that he left Ivor Wynne Stadium, drove to Toronto, and caught the first flight home.

It happened in 1976 because the Riders were unable to move the ball, and eat up the clock. They had to punt. And on a play that everybody in the world knew was coming, including the Rider defence, Tony Gabriel broke free down the middle, caught a pass from Tom Clements, and scored the winning touchdown in a 23-20 Ottawa victory.

It happens. And, it’s never fair.

But, never has anything like this happened to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It’s one for the books, maybe the next book on the history of the Riders, which should come out in about 100 years or so.

If there is anything that so sadly displayed the cruel and sinister irony of this year’s Grey Cup game, it came in Saturday’s Grey Cup parade. Marching alone was a fan dressed in the garb of the Riders and carrying a sing which boldly declared,

“The 13th Man. Your Worst Nightmare!”

Indeed, it was. Because it was the inability of the players, the coaching staff and everybody outside of the officials to realize that Saskatchewan has 13 men on the field for what would have been the final play of the game. Either the Montreal kicker made it for the win, or missed it. When he missed it, the Rider Nation went nuts. So, did the players and the coaches. They figured the game was over, and they had won.

“The 13th Man. Your Worst Nightmare!”

Indeed, it was. Because the Riders were called for having 13 men on the field. The penalty gave Montreal another shot at winning the game, and they did, and it was like somebody had come out of nowhere and landed a body blow that knocked the air out of the whole province. If you wanted to know what the Riders mean in this province, you needed only to go the corner of Victoria and Albert in downtown Regina.

The police were ready for the fans who would surely flow to the corner when the game ended, knotting traffic, celebrating. They had barricades ready to be set up, and they would close down the streets to handle the biggest party this province had ever seen. Instead, in the hours after the game, only one lonely soldier of the Loyal Disorder of Riders was there. He stood at the intersection, arms raised to the sky, his green and white uniform glowing in the night, wondering sadly, “Where is everybody?”

You could hear Don Meredith singing, “Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”

This will be a loss that will be harder for the Riders to get over than anybody can imagine. It’s one thing to lose in a Grey Cup, it’s another thing to lose the way the Riders did.

One play. One lousy play. One lousy mistake. On what should have been the last play of the game. Too many men on the field. How, everybody wondered, could all the coaches and some of the players not take the responsibility of counting how many players were on the field? The officials did it, so it couldn’t have been that tough. But they blew it, and the fallout is far from over.

But, was it that one misguided, ill-fated moment that cost the Riders the Grey Cup?

Of course not. The Riders played a brilliant game offensively and defensively for three quarters. They corralled the Montreal offence, moved the ball, and got field position from their specialty teams. Sitting on a 16-point lead with just 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, it’s as if the Riders drifted inexplicably and quietly into some sort of a never-never land. Their defence stopped attacking, and started watching. The offence played as if walking on egg shells. And, rapidly, Montreal took over, and before you knew it, it came down to the final play of the game. A 16-point lead had evaporated as quickly as Saskatchewan’s dream of winning the Grey Cup.

The Riders are a young team, on average five years younger than the Als. They made great strides this year. And, if anything good comes out of this Grey Cup loss, it is they learned a valuable lesson.

As the great New York Yankee Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over until it’s over.”

Or, as Ron Lancaster once said after a Grey Cup loss, “Every guy in this dressing room should remember the sick feeling he has in his gut right now, and vow never to have that feeling again.”

Catching up

Hi there everybody. Sorry I've been away for awhile, but I'll try to do better.

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The Oregon State Beavers lost 37-33 to the Oregon Ducks on December 3rd. The game was a hard fought, back-and-forth contest, with Oregon overcoming a 9 point 3rd quarter deficit. LaMichael James ran for 166 yards and three touchdowns for the Ducks, who ended USC’s seven-season reign atop the league. Oregon’s 8-1 conference record gave them their first Pac-10 title since 2001, when they went to the Fiesta Bowl. The Ducks will face Ohio State on New Year's Day. Sean Canfield threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns for the Beavers. Jacquizz Rodgers, who finished second to Pac-10 rushing leader Toby Gerhart of Stanford, rushed for just 64 yards and a score.

The Beavers(8-4 overall, 6-3 in the Pac-10) will face BYU(10-2 overall, 7-1 in the Mountain West) in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl on Tuesday, December 22nd. Kickoff is set for 8:00pm EST. The game can be heard on http://www.kpam.com/ and the Beaver Sports Network, as well as the Sports USA Radio Network and Armed Forces Radio. ESPN will televise the game live. For the Beavers, it is their 9th bowl appearance in the past 11 seasons.


OSU and BYU have met eight times previous, but not since November 15, 1986 when the Beavers upset the Cougars 10-7 in Provo. In that game, current BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall was a junior starting safety for the Beavers and made four tackles. OSU also has victories over the Cougars of 34-0 in 1955, 35-0 in 1961, 29-3 in 1972 and 24-19 in 1977. BYU’s victories include 31-13 in 1967, 37-14 in 1973 and 10-6 in 1978.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have gone 2-8-1 since our last report, with their lone wins coming on December 5th against the Islanders(4-0) and last night against St. Louis(6-3). The Lightning are now 12-14-9 for 33 points, 4 points back of third place Florida in the Southeast. Tampa Bay, Montreal, the Islanders and Rangers all trail Florida for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Poor play, struggles on special teams and spotty goal tending have plagued the team, forcing coach Rick Tocchet to bench some players. Hopefully, last night's win at St. Louis will help point the team in the right direction.

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In the NFL, week 12 ended with New Orleans beating New England 38-17. In week 13, the Jets beat Buffalo 19-13, Philadelphia topped Atlanta 34-7, Carolina slipped past Tampa Bay 16-6, Chicago beat St. Louis 17-9 and Cincinnati beat Detroit 23-13. Indiana knocked off Tennessee 27-17, Miami edged New England 22-21, Jacksonville bested Houston 23-18 and Denver blasted Kansas City 44-13. Oakland squeaked past Pittsburgh 27-24, New Orleans did the same to Washington 33-30, San Diego beat Cleveland 30-23, the Giants bested Dallas 31-24, Seattle edged San Francisco 20-17 and it was Arizona over Minnesota 30-17. Green Bay beat Baltimore in the Monday Night game, 27-14.

In week 14, Cleveland tipped Pittsburgh 13-6, New Orleans edged Atlanta 26-23, Baltimore steamrolled Detroit 48-3, Green Bay beat Chicago 21-14 and Houston beat Seattle 34-7. Indianapolis beat Denver 28-16, Miami edged Jacksonville 14-10, Buffalo tipped Kansas City 16-10 and Minnesota stomped Cincinnati 30-10. New England doubled Carolina 20-10, the Jets beat Tampa Bay(probably the most inept team in the NFL) 26-3, Tennessee blew away St. Louis 47-7, Washington knocked off Oakland 34-13 and San Diego edged Dallas 20-17. Philadelphia out slugged the Giants 45-38 and, in the Monday Night game, it was San Francisco over Arizona 24-9.

Week 15 started on Thursday with Indianapolis staying unbeaten, thanks to a 35-31 win over Jacksonville.


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Jimmy continues to develop his vocabulary at a steady pace. He has said his name once, his favorite word these days seems to be cookie and now, he is also beginning to communicate with us in a more direct manner. He points to something he wants and when he's hungry, he'll walk over to his high chair, grab the legs and start shaking it. He sure is a cool little guy!

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Florida now has the second highest unemployment rate in the country and the Tampa Bay area, where we live, is nearly a point higher than that. Leaving here for greener pastures is becoming a more desirable idea with each passing day.

Yeah, that change we were promised in the last Presidential election sure is working out great, isn't it?

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BTW: Have I mentioned lately how very much I love my wife? Just thought I'd let you know.

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We continue to look for answers as to what ails me. Constant abdominal pain of one degree to another, that varies in intensity and location, has baffled each doctor I've visited. At the suggestion of the the first surgeon we consulted with, we scheduled an appointment with the surgeon who did my colon resection three years ago. Upon arriving at his office this past Monday(after a two-hour drive from our home), we were told the appointment had been cancelled, because the doctor was out of the office all week. Turns out, when my wife scheduled this appointment three weeks earlier, the person in the doctor's office failed to enter our new information into their system. So, when they tried to contact us, they used a phone number we haven't had in three years. Oh well, we did manage to turn it into a day out as a family, which was fun. We'll try it all over again next Wednesday. Hopefully, this visit will yield the answers we seek, which will lead to a plan of action. Simply put, I'm ready for this pain to go away. Your thoughts and prayers are be most appreciated.

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Our "new" car, a 1990 Ford Escort, is doing well. It has a red grill and red left front fender, while the rest is white. We've named it "Snowball, the Red-Nosed Escort." It's nice to have a car that gets 10mpg more than our previous one, that's for sure!

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Oh, in case you missed it earlier, I love my wife!




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Snoopy and Smoke are doing great. And, thankfully, they "tolerate" their little two-legged brother. Part with our four-legged boys if times get tougher than they are now? NEVER! NEVER, I say!!!!

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Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. See you soon and Happy Holidays to you!!!!

Run for the roses in the Civil War tonight

The Oregon State Beavers and Oregon Ducks meet tonight at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, in the 113th edition of the Civil War. And for the first time in the storied rivalry between these two long time rivals, a berth in the Rose Bowl goes to the winner.

The Beavers are looking for their first trip to the Rose Bowl game since 1965, when they lost to Michigan 34 to 7. The Beavers lost the 1957 Rose Bowl game to Iowa 35 to 19, and beat Duke in the 1942 Rose Bowl game 20 to 16. The 1942 game was played in Durham, North Carolina, due to concerns about security after the Japenese attack on Pearl Harbor 3 weeks earlier. It is still the only time the Rose Bowl game was played someplace other than Pasadena, California.

The Oregon Ducks are looking for their first New Year's Day trip to Pasadena since 1995, when they lost 38 to 20 to Penn State. The Ducks lost to Ohio State(This year's Rose Bowl participant from the Big Ten) 10 to 7 in the 1958 game and beat Pennsylvania 14 to 0 in 1917.

Kickoff tonight is set for 9:00pm EST. You can hear the game at http://www.kpam.com/ and the Beaver Sports Network. Tonight's game will be televised live on ESPN.