Monday Morning Meissnervations

It's Monday, start of another work week for some and for me, another day hanging out with Jimmy and talking to all of you. Here's what's happening....

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Today is July 25th, the 206th day of 2011. There are 159 days left in the year.

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Summer with Stanley 2011 blog: Tuuka Rask.

Canadiens re-sign Josh Gorges.

Report: Isles, Alexi Yashin discussing reunion.

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Todays Birthdays: College Football Hall of Fame coach John Robinson is 76; model Iman is 56; actress Illeana Douglas (Ugly Betty, Cape Fear) is 46; actor Matt LeBlanc (Friends) is 44.

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Riders grab first win of 2011 with upset at Montreal

MONTREAL, Quebec -- When a team is winless, looking bad in the process, little is expected of them. And that's often when a team is their most dangerous. The Saskatchewan Roughriders, winless in three starts and coming off what was best termed as a poor effort in week #3 in Hamilton, came into play Sunday night a decided underdog, but ignored the critics and rose up to beat the Montreal Alouettes 27-24 in front of 24,434 at Percival Molson Stadium in Montreal, Quebec.

Montreal got three points on their opening possession 5 minutes into the game, thanks to a 40 yard field goal by Sean Whyte. The Riders were quickly in business the first time they touched the ball, as Hugh Charles ran the ensuing kickoff to the Als' 50. After one first down, Eddie Johnson came on for his own 40 yard field goal with 7:38 remaining in the opening quarter, tying the game 3-3. Later on in the first, Saskatchewan started at the Montreal 54, the third straight time they started on the Als' side of centre field. The drive stalled after one first down and Johnson came on for a 34 yard field goal, which wobbled wide left, resulting in a single with 1:14 to play in the first, putting the Roughriders ahead for the first time this season in any game, 4-3. Also much in evidence in the opening quarter was a more active defense, with much better ball pursuit than at any other time to date in the early part of the 2011 season.

Johnson would drill a 45 yard field goal on Saskatchewan's next possession, extending the Rider lead to 7-3, with 13:05 to play until two quarter time. Montreal responded quickly, with a 5 play, 75 yard drive, culminating in an Adrian McPherson plunge into the end zone from one yard out. Whyte's convert with 8:30 left in the half put the Alouettes back on top, 10-7. The lead lasted just a blink of an eye. Weston Dressler, who had slanted in, then turned out at the 50, caught a strike from Darian Durant in stride, streaking down the left sideline for a 75 yard catch and run major. Johnson's convert with 7:55 remaining in the second, putting Saskatchewan back on top, 14-10. A Sean Lucas interception on the very next play gave the Riders excellent field possession again. A big 22 yard gainer on a roll out by Durant took the ball down to the 4, where Ryan Dinwiddie took over after Durant was shaken up. Charles was stopped for no gain, then Dinwiddie's second down pass was knocked down. Johnson came on again, drilling an 11 yard field goal with 5:00 still to play in the first half, giving Saskatchewan a 17-10 lead. Montreal, with McPherson subbing for a banged-up Anthony Calvillo, had two more possessions late, but was unable to generate much in the way of a scoring chance on either possession, running out the clock and sending the two teams to halftime with the Riders holding on to that 17-10 lead.

Saskatchewan opened up the second half with Tristan Jackson taking the opening kick to the 37. From there, the Riders quickly moved into the red zone, with Wes Cates diving over from the one to cap the 10 play, 73 yard scoring drive. Johnson kicked the convert and Sakatchewan took a two major advantage, 24-10, with 8:53 to play in the third. Cates' touchdown, his third of the season, gave the Riders their second major in four possessions, after going without a six-pointer in their previous 20 possessions. The Alouettes would drive deep into Saskatchewan territory on their next turn with the ball, but turned it over on downs at the 24 with around 3:00 still to play. After holding the Riders to two and out, Montreal thought they'd get another chance with the ball, but Johnson would get roughed on the punt, allowing Saskatchewan to retain the ball and their 14 point lead through to the end of the third quarter. The Riders would hold the advantage in total offense, 270 yards to 200 through three quarter time.

McPherson found Brian Bratton in the right corner of the end zone for a major score at the end of a 9 play, 73 yard drive. Whyte's convert with 4:55 remaining in regulation time drew Montreal within 7, at 24-17. Saskatchewan aided by a first down on an illegal contact with a receiver call with 4:00 minutes remaining, retained possession of the ball, instead of having to punt. Durant then ran for 16 yards, but a major foul on Gene Makowsky at the end of the play pushed the ball back 15 yards. After a short gain, Durant ran for 16 more yards and a big first down on the play after the three minute warning. On the next play, the Als' Dwight Anderson was called for unnecessary roughness on Dressler away from the ball, giving the Riders a huge first down with 2:15 left. Three plays after that, Johnson came on and drilled a 36 yard field goal with 1:21 to play, extending the Saskatchewan lead to 27-17 and making it a two-score advantage for the Roughriders. A face mask call against Saskatchewan's Nick Graham covering on the kickoff would set Montreal up at the 51 with 1:13 to go. From the 30, a collision in the end zone resulted in the receiver Jamel Richardson and receiver Eddie Russ, resulted in the ball bouncing off both and into the hands of James Patrick. The pass was initially ruled incomplete, but on review, the Riders were awarded the ball at the 25. On the next play, Charles dropped the ball and the Als' picked it up and returned it to the Saskatchewan 7, with 37.7 seconds left. On second down, McPherson spun out of pressure and scooted in for the major score. Whyte converted with 24 seconds still to play, the Rider lead was cut to 3, at 27-24. Efrem Hill leaped high in the air to recovering the short kick at the Montreal 54 and from there Durant would kneel down twice, then on third down, Saskatchewan would take a time count penalty penalty with 1.1 seconds to go. Durant then took one more snap and that was it, as the Roughriders grabbed their first win of the 2011 CFL season, 27-24, their first win in Montreal since the Grey Cup winning 2007 season.

For Saskatchewan, Darian Durant was 14-for-20 for 177 yards and 1 touchdown, while being sacked once. He also rushed 7 times for 71 yards. Ryan Dinwiddie saw some brief action in the second quarter, having his only pass of the game knocked down. Wes Cates ran the ball 14 times for 69 yards and 1 touchdown, and Weston Dressler caught 3 passes for 85 yards, including a 75 yard touchdown reception. Eddie Johnson had a big game for the Green-and-White, kicking 4 field goals, 2 converts and 1 missed field goal single, while also punting the ball 5 times for a 37.4 yard average. For the Alouettes, Anthony Calvillo 7-for-14 passing for 91 yards with 1 interception, before being knocked out of the game with an apparent eye injury suffered on a second quarter hit by the Riders' Dario Romero. Adrian McPherson had a solid game in relief, going 12-for-19 passing for 98 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. McPherson also rushed 10 times for 41 yards and 2 touchdowns. Brian Bratton had the only receiving touchdown and Sean Whyte kicked 1 field goal and 3 converts.

Saskatchewan had 177 passing and 169 yards rushing and 328 yards total offense. They had 21 first downs, 6 passing, 11 rushing and 4 via penalties, allowed 1 sack and turned the ball over once and were penalized 13 times for 120 yards. Montreal had 189 yards passing, 116 yards passing and 294 yards of total offense. They had 16 first downs, 8 passing, 7 rushing and 1 by penalty, allowed 1 sack, turned the ball over 3 times and were penalized 8 times for 101 yards.

With the win, the Riders improve to 1-3 on the season, while Montreal's loss, their first of the season, drops them to 3-1. The Riders are home this coming Saturday against the Calgary Stampeders, who lost at home to Edmonton 24-19 on Saturday, July 30th. Kickoff at Mosaic Stadium in Regina is set for 9:30pm EDT, with Rod Pedersen and Carm Carteri calling the action on 620 CKRM and the Rider Radio Network. Montreal travels to Hamilton this coming Friday, July 29th, with kickoff set for 6:30pm EDT.

Visit the team's official website at http://www.riderville.com/.

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Captain America: The First Avenger topped the North American box office over the weekend with $65.8 million in ticket sales to take the No. 1 spot away from Harry Potter. Opening up this coming Friday:  Cowboys & Aliens, The Smurfs and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

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Video highlights of the Riders big win at Montreal last night.

2011 CFL Schedule is here.

Donate to the Tony Proudfoot Fund.

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

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Carrie Underwood is the top earning former American Idol contestant between May, 2010 and May, 2011, with an estimated $20 million.

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Help! I can't see where we're going Mommy!

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Highly detailed but fake Apple stores have popped up in China selling counterfeit Apple products. (In America we call that eBay.)

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KANSAS CITY -- Tampa Bay badly needed a win on Sunday. And after a weekend's worth of miscues and misfortune, the Rays secured a 5-0 win over the Royals before a crowd of 23,735 at Kauffman Stadium.

The Rays ended a two-game skid against the Royals and moved to 53-47 on the season and to 1-2 on the current 10-game road trip that includes stops in Kansas City, Oakland, and Seattle. Boston and New York both won, leaving the Rays 9 1/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox and 6 1/2 behind the Wild Card-leading Yankees.

Read the rest here.

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The man who gained viral fame by shedding tears at the sight of a double rainbow wants to be your next Commander-in-Chief. Paul "Bear" Vasquez is running on the primary platform of "Emergency! Alternative Energy!"

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Before hitting the road to visit the White House and begin a highly anticipated National League Championship Series rematch with the Phillies, the Giants wanted to make sure they focused on taking care of the Brewers, another playoff contender.

Madison Bumgarner did most of the heavy lifting for San Francisco, throwing 7 2/3 innings and scoring a run in his second straight win at home as the Giants beat the Brewers, 2-1, and took the series victory in AT&T Park on Sunday. The lefty gave up a homer to Ryan Braun in the first but calmed down after that despite saying he didn't have his best fastball, striking out eight -- all swinging -- while scattering eight hits and allowing no walks.

Read the rest here.

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New research shows many people feel upset and lonely when they are deprived of access to the Internet. The study revealed that 53% feel upset when denied access and 40% feel lonely if they are unable to go online. (The other 7% reportedly miss the Johnny Blog!)

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Today in Elvis History:

1962 - The Elvis Presley film "Kid Galahad" premiered.

1970 - The live Elvis Presley album "On Stage-February 1970" hit #13 in the U.S.

1997 - The themed restaurant Elvis Presley's Memphis opened to the public.

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In New York City a woman's 15-pound cat was grabbed by a red-tailed hawk and given a lift, then dropped from a height of about five stories. The cat lived and the hawk flew off.


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Today in Beatles History:

1964 - The Beatles album "A Hard Day's Night" hit #1 in the U.S. and the U.K.

1967 - The Beatles and other U.K. rock groups urged the British government to legalize marijuana. Their comments were made in a London Times advertisement signed by all four of the Beatles.

1987 - The Beatles "All You Need Is Love" hit #47 in the U.K.

2002 - In Liverpool, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II attended the opening of a new terminal at John Lennon Airport.

2002 - In Liverpool, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II attended a showing of Paul McCartney's paintings at Walker Art Gallery.

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Aaron Burr visited New Orleans on this date in 1805 with plans to establish a new country, with New Orleans as the capital city.

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Today in Sports History:

1850 - In Worcester, MA, Harvard and Yale University freshmen met in the first intercollegiate billiards match.

1947 - Fortune Gordien of Oslo, Norway set a world record discus throw of 178.47 feet.

1978 - Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Red's broke the National League record for base hits in consecutive games as he got a hit in his 38th straight game.

1987 - The Salt Lake City Trappers set a professional baseball record as the team won its 29th game in a row.

1990 - Rosanne Barr sang the National Anthem in San Diego before a Padres baseball game. She was booed for her performance.

1999 - Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France. He was only the second American to win the race. He won the race again in 2000. 

2004 - Lance Armstrong won his record sixth consecutive Tour de France.

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EDMONTON, Alberta -- Winning the Edmonton Indy two years ago was quite likely the most significant event in Will Power’s racing career.

Winning the second one Sunday wasn’t so shabby either.

“My first win here was very pivotal in keeping my ride at Penske,” said the Australian.

“This win, I guess, is very pivotal in keeping in the championship points race,” he said of his fourth win in the IZOD IndyCar Series this year and his 13th career victory in 81 starts.

“Both had pressure. But two years ago here I knew I had to execute that day if I had any chance of keeping my ride,” said the driver who had been hired to drive the Helio Castroneves car while the Brazilian was successfully defending himself from a tax evasion charge.

It was a fascinating race as Power joined Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais as two-time Edmonton Indy winners.

A mere 1.1 seconds separated Power, teammate Castroneves and third-place Dario Franchitti, who saw his series lead over Power reduced to 38 points.

It was a 1-2 finish for Team Penske, the 40th 1-2 finish in the long and storied history of Roger Penske’s team in open wheel racing.

Read the rest here.

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics 10:05pm EDT

Tuesday --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies 7:05pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics 10:05pm EDT

Wednesday --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies 7:05pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics 10:05pm EDT

Thursday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics 3:35pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies 7:05pm EDT

Friday --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Red 7:10pm EDT

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

Saturday --

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

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Red 7:10pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series -- 30th Annual Kroger 200 at Lucas Oil Raceway 7:30pm EDT

CFL Football -- Calgary Stampeders at Saskatchewan Roughriders 9:30pm EDT

Sunday --

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway 1:00pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds 1:10pm EDT

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

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That's all for now. Be sure to tell all your friends about us, okay? Enjoy your day, see you tomorrow.