Memorial Day Meissnervations

It's Monday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is May 30th, the 150th day of 2011. There are 215 days left in the year.

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EA Sports picks Canucks to win Cup.

'94 Canucks see similarities in '11 version.

Jacobs thanks Bruins for special ride.

Saint John wins Memorial Cup.

2011 Stanley Cup Final schedule.

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Thank a Vet today. It's because of their sacrifice that we enjoy the freedom we have today.





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Ready to blow the whistle in Regina.

100th Grey Cup: Invitation to our nation.

2011 CFL Schedule is here.

Donate to the Tony Proudfoot Fund.

Visit the leagues' official website, http://www.cfl.ca/.

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Jimmy got a Dinosaur Train video for his birthday.

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Today is Loomis Day. (Linky Link)

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ST PETERSBURG -- Crooked numbers came at the right time for the Rays as their much-maligned offense got the job done on Sunday.

Crooked numbers plus seven scoreless frames from starter Jeremy Hellickson added up to a 7-0 win over the Indians at Tropicana Field.

"It's always nice [to see the crooked numbers]," Hellickson said. "We did an unbelievable job of scoring runs early. Like I said, it's easy to go out there and pound the zone and throw strikes when you have a lead like that."

Read the rest here.

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Today is Prayer for Peace Memorial Day.

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MILWAUKEE --  On a day when Buster Posey underwent season-ending surgery, the Giants offense continued its malaise in a 6-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

The Giants managed only two hits in the first seven innings and six hits overall to get shut out for the second time in four games since Posey was injured. They've scored only seven runs in the four games since their star catcher was hurt.

Read the rest here.

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Today in Elvis History:

1956 - In "Time" magazine, an article entitled "Teener's Hero" referred to Elvis Presley's appeal. It said "his movements suggest, in a word, sex."

1968 - The Elvis Presley movie "Clambake" opened at London's New Victoria Cinema.

1977 - In Florida, Elvis Presley played at Jacksonville's Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. It was his last show in Florida.

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Hernando de Soto, the Spanish explorer, landed in Florida with 600 soldiers on this date in 1539 to search for gold.

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Today in Beatles History:

1964 - The Beatles single "Love Me Do" hit #1 in the U.S.

1964 - The Beatles' "Cry for a Shadow" hit #1 in Australia.

1968 - The Beatles began recording the album "The Beatles." The album is known as the "White Album" due to its plain white cover.

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On this date in 1783, The first daily newspaper was published in the U.S. by Benjamin Towner called "The Pennsylvania Evening Post"

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Today in Sports History:

1890 - Dave Foutz hit the first Dodger home run.

1894 - Bobby Lowe (Boston Red Sox) became the first player to hit four home runs in one game.

1911 - Ray Harroun won the first Indianapolis Sweepstakes. The 500-mile auto race later became known as the Indianapolis 500. Harroun's average speed was 74.59 miles per hour.

1922 - Max Flack (Chicago Cubs) and Cliff Heathcote (St. Louis Cardinals) were traded for each other between the morning and afternoon games of a Memorial Day twin bill. They played one game for each team.

1925 - Peter DePaolo became the first man to average over 100mph at the Indianapolis 500.

1927 - Walter Johnson recorded his 113th career shutout. It was also the final shutout of his career.

1927 - Jim Cooney (Chicago Cubs) became the sixth player to record an unassisted triple play against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He caught Paul Waner's line drive, stepped on second to double Lloyde Waner and then tagged Clyde Barnhart coming from first.

1927 - Johnny Neun (Detroit Tigers) became the seventh player to record an unassisted triple play.

1932 - The New York Yankees dedicated a plaque to Miller Huggins.

1935 - Babe Ruth (Braves) played in his final game. He went hitless against the Phillies.

1937 - Pitcher Carl Hubbell got his 24th consecutive victory.

1946 - Bernard Malamud (Braves) hit a home run that shattered the Bulova clock in Ebbets Field.

1955 - Bob Sweikert won the Indianapolis 500. During the race Bill Vukovich hit the 3-car pileup of Al Keller, Johnny Boyd, and Rodger Ward. He was killed when his car became airborne and went out of the course, landing upside down and on fire.

1962 - Pedro Ramos (Cleveland Indians) pitched a three-hitter and hit two home runs in a 7-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. One of his home runs was a grand slam.

1970 - Voting for baseball's All-Star game was returned to the fans.

1971 - Willie Mays hit his 638th home run. He set a National League record of 1,950 runs scored.

1977 - Dennis Eckersley pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the California Angels.

1981 - The Los Angeles Dodgers became the quickest to get 1,000,000 people to attend games in a season. It took 22 games.

1982 - Cal Ripken, Jr., began a record streak of playing in 2,632 games. The streak ended on September 20, 1998.

1983 - Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was suspended for one week for his public criticism of umpires.

1986 - Bobby Rahal became the first driver to average over 170mph in the Indianapolis 500.

1987 - Eric Davis (Cincinnati Reds) became the first National League player to hit three grand slams in a month and set a National League record of 19 home runs in April and May.

1992 - Scott Sanderson (New York Yankees) became the 9th pitcher to beat all 26 teams.

2001 - Barry Bonds hit two home runs to move into 11th place on the major league career list with 522. 

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W.G. Young patented the ice cream freezer on this date in 1848.

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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA -- JR Hildebrand stood beside the crumpled race car and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to discern just what transpired on the final lap of the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500.

The 23-year-old Californian was a few hundred yards from being the first IZOD IndyCar Series rookie to win the race since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and creating a storyline that would follow him into the record and history books. But, as all veterans will say, nothing is for certain in 200 laps of racing on the 2.5-mile strip of asphalt.

Hildebrand's No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing car drifted up the racetrack as it was overtaking a lapped car exiting Turn 4 and smacked the SAFER Barrier, and Dan Wheldon -- the 2005 race and IZOD IndyCar Series champion -- was Danny on the spot for the victory.

Read the rest here..

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The U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established on this date in 1854. 

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CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA -- You didn't have to open a Superman comic to find Bizarro World -- Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway had all the strangeness a fan of cosmic weirdness could hope to find.

Kevin Harvick, a driver who wasn't a factor for 600 miles, won the race when Dale Earnhardt Jr. ran out of gas a half-mile from the finish line after the event went to overtime for the first time in its history.

And despite the victory, Harvick still can't stand racing at Charlotte.

"Even though we won, I'm still miserable," Harvick said after the race. "In about 30 minutes, I'll be happy, when we drive out of that tunnel and leave the month of May behind."

Earnhardt ran out of gas in sight of the checkered flag, breaking the hearts of fans who were certain until the last moment that Earnhardt was about to break a 104-race drought.

Instead, the dry spell reached 105 when Earnhardt coasted across the finish line in seventh place.

Read the rest here.

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Memorial Day was observed widely for the first time in the U.S. on this date in 1868.

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Coming Up: 

Tonight --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals 4:15pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangers 6:40pm EDT

Tuesday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangers 6:40pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals 7:09pm EDT

Wednesday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangers 1:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals 8:15pm EDT

Thursday --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at St. Louis Cardinals 8:15pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners 10:10pm EDT

Friday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners 10:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies 10:15pm EDT

Saturday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners 4:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies 4:10pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series - STP 300 at Chicagoland Speedway 8:00pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- STP 400 at Kansas Speedway 1:00pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies 4:05pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Seattle Mariners 4:10pm EDT

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That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, be sure to tell your friends about this blog. See you tomorrow.