It's Saturday

It's Saturday. Here's what's happening....

************************************************

Today is June 23rd, the 175th day of 2012. There are 191 days left in the year.

************************************************

Run on D, big trades dominate Draft.

New Jersey, Philadelphia to host next two Drafts.

Visit the official league website, http://www.nhl.com/.

************************************************

On this date in 1836, the U.S. Congress approved the Deposit Act, which contained a provision for turning over surplus federal revenue to the states.

************************************************

















Pittsburgh, PA. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning selected defenseman Slater Koekkoek (Coo-coo) with the 10th overall pick at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania tonight, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Read the rest here.

Pittsburgh, PA. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning selected goaltender Andrei Vasilevski with the 19th overall pick at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania tonight, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Read the rest here.

************************************************

On this date in 1860, the U.S. Secret Service was created to arrest counterfeiters.

************************************************




A tale of two teams: Lions ride, Esks slide into new year.

Veterans Dorian Smith, Clint Kent among Bombers cuts.

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

************************************************

Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention that he called a "Type-Writer" on this date in 1868.

************************************************

Regina, SK. -- It took all of the night's 60 minutes of football to decide the second and final pre-season game of the 2012 CFL season, as the Calgary Stampeders edged the Saskatchewan Roughriders 33-31 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Calgary took the opening kickoff and picked up one first down, reaching the Rider 51 before the drive stalled. Rob Maver came on and snuck a punt across the goal line for a 52 yard single, putting the Stamps on top 1-0 2:08 into the contest. Calgary would drive deep into Saskatchewan territory on their next possession, but a Brent Hawkins interception of a Drew Tate pass for the Riders killed that opportunity at the 25. The Stampeders would quickly move into scoring possession on their next possession, before settling for a 30 yard field goal by Rene Paredes with 4:06 left in the quarter, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead. Calgary recovered a fumble moments later, returning the ball to the Saskatchewan 16 yard line. They would reach the 3, but settled for a Paredes field goal and a 7-0 lead with 1:26 left, an advantage they would take into quarter number two.

The Roughriders would finally move the ball heading into the second quarter, with running back Kory Sheets leading the way with an electrifying 28 yard run deep into Stamps territory. The drive reached the 9, but went backwards on the next two plays. Chris Milo would then come on and drill a 27 yard field goal with 2:58 gone in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to 7-3. The next Calgary possession would feature big plays by Arjei Franklin and Jon Cornish before the Saskatchewan defense stiffened and held the Horsemen to a 21 yard Paredes field goal with 7:35 left in the half, giving Calgary a 7 point lead once again, at 10-3. Two quick passes from Darian Duarnt to Justin Harper and Weston Dressler had the Riders on the move, leading to a 32 yard field goal for Milo, making it a 10-6 game, with 5:01 to go in the first half. Sheets would strut his stuff again on his team's next turn, busting a 34 yard run to the Stampeder 44. A facemask penalty downfield would keep the play alive at the 30, a missed call that benefitted Saskatchewan moved the ball to the 20, a pass to the 12 then Sheets would finish the 8 play, 75 yard drive, with a great spin move giving him the space he needed to drive the ball into the endzone. Milo converted with 2:01 left, putting the Riders up 13-10. Calgary would get one more turn and strike late to regain the lead, scoring with 11 seconds left on a 22 yard touchdown pass from Tate to Nik Lewis. Paredes converted, putting the Stamps up 17-13 at two-quarter time. Calgary had 233 yards total offense in the first half, Saskatchewan  212.

On the second play of the second half, Drew Willy hit Chris Getzlaf with a 47 yard pass, putting the Riders into enemy territory at the 38. Two plays later, Dressler took the ball 28 yards from Willy to the 4. Aftyer a run gained nothing, Willy found a wide-open Getzlaf for Saskatchewan's second major of the game on a 6 play, 80 yard drive that took just 4:40, putting the Roughriders back on top, 20-17. With 8:05 left in the third, Milo would kick a 53 yard punt single, giving the Boys in Green a 21-17 advantage. The Stampeders would threaten on their next possession, which included having a lost fumble overturned on challenge. Matt Walter scored at the end of a 4 play, 75 yard drive, carrying the ball in from 4 yards out. Paredes would convert, putting Calgary back on top 24-21, with 6:35 to play in the third quarter. On their next possession, Paredes would split the uprights from 29 yards out with 2:55 to play in the third, increasing the Horsemen's advantage to 27-21, a lead they would take into the final quarter.

Milo would cut the deficit to 3 when he boomed a 52 yard field goal 48 seconds into the final period, slicing the Calgary lead to 27-24. Later in the fourth after a couple of short possessions by Saskatchewan, the Stamps would benefit from a short field, with Paredes kicking another field goal, this one from 40 yards out, giving Calgary a 30-24 lead with 5:04 to play. The Riders' Eddie Russ made an acrobatic interception on the Stampeders' next turn on offense, setting Saskatchewan up with the ball at their own 52, with 2:24 to play. They would reach the Calgary 37 with 1:18 to play, as J.T. O'Sullivan connected with Sinorice Moss over the middle, a play that survived an officials' replay challenge. On third and 10 with 1:02 left, O'Sullivan scrambled left out of pressure and heaved the ball to the endzone, where a wide-open Ismael Bamba made the catch for the major. The convert by Milo was nearly blocked, but Milo was able to push it through with 50 seconds left in regulation, giving Saskatchewan  a 31-30 lead. The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, taking no time off the clock and giving the Stamps the ball at their own 45. A long pass fell incomplete, Bo Levi Mitchell hit Marquay McDaniel for a first down, Derrick Locke ran to the 35 with 27 seconds left, Locke went down at the line of scrimmage with 4 seconds left, then Paredes would come on for a 42 yard field goal with no time left, drilling the ball through the uprights and sending Calgary home with the 33-31 win.

For the Stampeders, Drew Tate was 13-of-21 passing for 174 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Kevin Glenn was 7-of-9 passing for 122 yards and Bo Levi Mitchell was 3-of-5 passing for 57 yards and 1 interception.  Matt Walter scored a rushing touchdown, Nik Lewis caught a touchdown pass, Rene Paredes kicked 6 field goals and 2 converts and Rob Maver had a punt single. For the Roughriders, Drew Willy was 9-of-11 passing for 96 yards and 1 touchdown, Darian Durant was 9-of-12 passing for 92 yards and J.T. O'Sullivan was 5-of-10 passing for 70 yards and 1 touchdown. Kory Sheets rushed 6 times for 81 yards and 1 touchdown, Chris Getzlaf caught 6 passes for 82 yards and a touchdown and Ismael Bamba caught 1 ball for a 28 yard major. Chris Milo kicked 3 field goals, 3 converts and 1 punt single. Calgary won the total yardage battle, 437 to 411.

With the win, the Stamps finish the pre-season at 2-0, while Saskatchewan finishes at 0-2.

The Roughriders will open their 2012 regular season schedule next Friday, June 29th at the Hamilton TigerCats, with kickoff set for 7:00pm on 620CKRM and the Rider Radio Network, TSN in Canada and ESPN3.com in the U.S. Calgary will open their regular season on Sunday, July 1st at home against the Montreal Alouettes.

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

************************************************

The first lip reading tournament in America was held in Philadelphia, PA on this date in 1926.

************************************************










Jimmy on the mic, playing a contest.

************************************************

Let's see, what's on the agenda for today....pay some bills and little else. How 'bout you?

************************************************

Philadelphia, PA. -- After a lengthy delay, Friday night's Rays-Phillies game at Citizen's Bank Park was postponed due to inclement weather.

Friday night's game was scheduled to begin at 7:05 p.m. ET, but never got started. The news of the postponement finally came at 9:53 p.m.

The game will be rescheduled as part of a day-night, separate admission doubleheader on Sunday.

The regularly scheduled 1:35 p.m. game on Sunday will now begin at 1:05 p.m. The second game, which is the Friday makeup, will begin at 6:35 p.m.

James Shields, who was scheduled to start Friday night, will start Saturday afternoon's contest.

************************************************

Wiley Post and Harold Gatty took off from New York on the first round-the-world flight in a single-engine plane on this date in 1931.

************************************************

Oakland, CA.-- The Giants enjoyed a big night Friday. Not only did Tim Lincecum deliver an encouraging performance, but they also surged for four ninth-inning runs to outlast the Oakland A's, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game Interleague series.

Read the rest here.

************************************************

Marineland opened near St. Augustine, Florida on this date in 1938.

************************************************

Today in Elvis History

1968 - Elvis Presley recorded the song "If I Can Dream."

************************************************

The movie "Batman" was released nationwide on this date in 1989.

************************************************

Today in Beatles History:

1940 - Stuart Sutcliffe was born. He joined an early version of the Beatles on bass in January of 1960.

************************************************

Apple Computer Inc. unveiled the new Power Mac desktop computer on this date in 2003.

************************************************

Today in Sports History:

1904 - The first American motorboat race took place on the Hudson River in New York.

1917 - Ernie Shore (Boston Red Sox) replaced Babe Ruth and retired all 26 batters he faced. Ruth had been ejected from the game.

1917 - Molla Bjurstedt won the women's U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title for the third straight year.

1922 - Johnny Weissmuller broke his own world records in the 300, 400, 440 and 500 meters in a swim meet in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1972 - U.S. President Nixon signed the Higher Education Act of 1972. Title IX of this congressional act barred sex bias in athletics and other activities at colleges receiving federal assistance.

1991 - A Mazda became the first Japanese car to win the Le Mans 24 hour race.

1996 - Michael Johnson broke the world record for the men's 200 meter race. He ran it in 19.66 seconds.

************************************************

Roger Ebert received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on this date in 2005.

************************************************

Coming up:

Tonight --

Nascar Nationwide Series -- America Sargento 200 at Road America 3:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies 4:05pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Oakland Athletics 7:15pm EDT

IZOD Indy Car Series -- Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Newton, Iowa 10:00pm EDT

Sunday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies 1:35pm EDT

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, CA 2:00pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Oakland Athletics 4:05pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Philadelphia Phillies 6:35pm EDT

Monday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals 8:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 10:15pm EDT

Tuesday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals 8:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 10:15pm EDT

Wednesday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals 2:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 3:45pm EDT

Thursday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds 10:15pm EDT

Friday --

CFL Football -- Saskatchewan Roughriders at Hamilton TigerCats 7:00pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series -- Feed The Children 300 at Kentucky Speedway 7:00pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers 7:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds 10:15pm EDT

Saturday --

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds 4:05pm EDT

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway 6:30pm EDT

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers 7:15pm EDT

Sunday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Detroit Tigers 1:40pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Cincinnati Reds 4:05pm EDT

************************************************

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you'll do so tomorrow too. Thanks again!