Monday Morning Meissnervations

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

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

Today is November 12th, the 317th day of 2012. There are 49 days left in the year.

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

NHL, NHLPA discuss player-contracting issues in latest session.

Geoffrion stable after surgery for skull fracture.

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

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

Today's Birthdays: Neil Young is 67; Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) is 54; figure skater Tonya Harding (Olympic ice skater involved in attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan) is 42; Ryan Gosling is 32; Anne Hathaway is 30.

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

U.S. Junior Select Team Beats Canada West, 6-3, to Capture World Junior A Challenge Championship Team captain Vince Hinostroza tallies two goals and two assists YARMOUTH, N.S. – The U.S. Junior Select Team won the 2012 World Junior A Challenge tonight by defeating Canada West, 6-3, at Mariners Centre. Team USA scored four unanswered goals through the second and third periods to collect its fourth tournament title in five years. "This was a complete team victory," said Brett Larson, head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team. "We got goals from our big scorers, everyone blocked shots and our goaltender (Eamon McAdam) made key saves. I thought the turning point of the game was killing the five-on-three in the third period. We stayed composed and disciplined and stuck to our plan to play as a team and it paid off. I'm extremely proud of this group." Team USA took a 1-0 lead on J.T. Stenglein's (Greece, N.Y.) first of two goals on the night. Sheldon Dries (Macomb Township, Mich.) made a no-look, backhand pass from the left corner to the top of the left circle, where Stenglein ripped a shot into the net. At 16:32, Vince Hinostroza (Bartlett, Ill.) cut across the low slot and capitalized on the power play to make it 2-0. Canada West responded with three straight goals over the first 10 minutes of the second period to take its only lead of the game. Austin Cangelosi (Estero, Fla.) knotted the game at 3-3 as he sped into the Canadian zone, took a pass from Hinostroza and flipped a backhand shot into the net at 12:31. Less than three minutes later, the U.S. regained the lead, 4-3, when Stenglein banged in a perfect cross-crease feed from Luke Johnson (Grand Forks, N.D.). Early in the third period, the U.S. maintained its narrow lead by killing off two minutes of five-on-three power play time for Canada West. At 9:05, Team USA established a two-goal cushion, 5-3, on an Alex Kile (Troy, Mich.) tap-in. Hinostroza drew the defense's attention to the left side before slipping to puck to Kile at the right post. Hinostroza completed the scoring with 2:54 to play on a breakaway in which he was tripped by a defenseman, got back on his feet and deked the goalie to his forehand. Goaltender Eamon McAdam (Perkasie, Pa.), who notched each of Team USA's four tournament wins, turned aside 26-of-29 shots, including all nine in the third period. NOTES: Team captain Vince Hinostroza had two goals and two assists and was named the U.S. Player of the Game for the third time in four games ... Hinostroza led the tournament with six goals. He and Ian Brady (Lombard, Ill.) tied for the tournament lead for points (8). Brady had eight assists ... The World Junior A Challenge completed its seventh tournament. This marked the sixth entry for the United States in the event. In addition to the United States, the 2012 field included Canada East, Canada West, Czech Republic, Russia and Switzerland. The official event website is available here ... Follow @USAHockey and @USAHockeyScores on Twitter for live scoring updates during the tournament and join the conversation by using #WJAC. For additional coverage, visit usahockey.com and USA Hockey's Facebook ... Brett Larson (Sioux City, Iowa), head coach and general manager of the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers, is the head coach for the 2012 U.S. Junior Select Team ... The assistant coaches are RJ Enga(Chicago, Ill.) and Derek Lalonde (Green Bay, Wis.). Enga is an assistant coach for the USHL's Chicago Steel, while Lalonde is the head coach of the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers ... For the complete U.S. roster, click here ... The U.S. roster includes 13 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. The 22 players represent 10 states. Six players hail from Minnesota, while Michigan (5), Illinois (3) and Massachusetts (2) also have multiple players. Other states include Alaska, Colorado, Florida, New York, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania ... Ten USHL teams are represented. Leading the way are the Waterloo Black Hawks, who have five players on the roster, and the Green Bay Gamblers, who have three. GAME SUMMARY Scoring By Period Team 1 2 3 F Canada West 0 3 0 3 USA 2 2 2 6 First Period – Scoring: 1, USA, Stenglein (Dries, Brady), 7:42; 2, USA, Hinostroza (Cangelosi, Dries), 16:31 (pp). Penalties: CAN-W, Richardson (high-sticking), 2:04; USA, Brady (tripping), 12:14; CAN-W, Stecher (hooking), 15:48; CAN-W, Morley (high-sticking), 16:48. Second Period – Scoring: 3, CAN-W, Lloyd (Toews, Dieno), 0:59; 4, CAN-W, Richardson (Lloyd), 4:41; 5, CAN-W, Toews (Stoykewych, Hadley), 9:31; 6, USA, Cangelosi (Hinostroza), 12:40; 7, USA, Stenglein (Johnson, Brady), 15:15. Penalties: CAN-W, Toews (checking from behind), 1:17; CAN-W, Toews (misconduct), 1:17; USA, Stenglein (elbowing), 2:16; USA, Heinrich (holding), 2:48; CAN-W, Murphy (goaltender interference), 2:48; CAN-W, Ripley (delay of game); USA, Fitzgerald (tripping), 18:46. Third Period – Scoring: 8, USA, Kile (Hinostroza, Brady), 9:05; 9, USA, Hinostroza (unassisted), 17:06. Penalties: USA, Wade (boarding), 2:19; USA, Stenglein (roughing), 2:19; USA, Fitzgerald (slashing), 18:27. Shots by Period 1 2 3 Total Canada West 6 14 9 29 USA 8 14 11 33 Goaltender (SH/SV) 1 2 3 Total Canada West, Imoo, 60:00 6/8 12/14 9/11 27/33 USA, McAdam, 60:00 6/6 11/14 9/9 26/29 Power Play: USA 1-5; Canada West 0-6 Penalties: USA 7-14; Canada West 7-22  2012 World Junior A ChallengeNov. 5-11 • Yarmouth, N.S. • Mariners Centre Date Opponent Venue Time Sat., Nov. 3 Canada West (exhibition) Barrington Municipal Arena L, 3-4 SO Mon., Nov. 5 Canada East Mariners Centre W, 9-1 Tues., Nov. 6 Switzerland Mariners Centre W, 4-3 Fri., Nov. 9 Switzerland (semifinal) Mariners Centre W, 7-4 Sun., Nov. 11 Canada West (championship) Mariners Centre W, 6-3

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

Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez have split. [You think it's easy having to share a hairdryer?]

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

STANFORD, Calif. - No. 13 Oregon State forced four turnovers and Storm Woods rushed for 94 yards against the NCAA's top-ranked run defense, but the Beavers lost at No. 16 Stanford, 27-23, Saturday afternoon. The Beavers are now 7-2 on the season and 5-2 in Pac-12 action.

Read the rest here.

Visit the Oregon State Athletics department official web site.

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

... Star Wars seven is coming. [It'll be just like all of the other Star Wars movies, but Chewbacca will have gray fur and always want the ship to stop at the Country Buffet.]

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






Boatmen sail past Esks in Eastern Semi-Final.

Joseph on Nichols: "He'll be back."

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

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

The hit book Fifty Shades of Grey gets a tasty parody this week (November 13). Fifty Shades of Chicken follows the adventures of Miss Chicken, a young free-range, from raw innocence to golden brown ecstasy, in this spoof-in-a-cookbook that simmers in the afterglow of E.L. James's Fifty Shades trilogy. Like Anastasia Steele, Miss Chicken finds herself at the mercy of a dominating man, in this case, a wealthy, sexy, and very hungry chef.

... Some of the recipes in the book: Dripping Thighs, Sticky Chicken Fingers, Vanilla Chicken, Chicken with a Lardon, Bacon-Bound Wings, Spatchcock Chicken, Learning-to-Truss-You Chicken, Holy Hell Wings, Mustard-Spanked Chicken, and more.

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



Three Riders selected for CFL West Division all-star team.

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

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

James Bond debuted atop the box office once again over the weekend. Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig as 007 for a third time, grossed an estimated $87.8 million. Skyfall broke the record previously held by Quantum of Solace for biggest opening ever for a Bond film.

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

Tampa, FL. —Tampa Bay scored on offense, defense and special teams in its 31-24 win over the visiting Chargers on Sunday and got enormous contributions from some unlikely sources to improve to 5-4

Read the rest here.

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

THANKSGIVING FOOD - Thanksgiving's a week-and-a-half away and the results of an important new poll on Thanksgiving food are out. OK, it's not that important, but let's see where you match up on this: What is the one food or dish that you most look forward to eating on Thanksgiving Day?

Turkey - 46% Stuffing/dressing - 17% Pumpkin pie - 6% Mashed potatoes - 6% Sweet potatoes/yams - 4% Ham - 3% Other pies - 3% Cranberries/cranberry sauce - 2% Vegetables - 2% Salad - 1% Casseroles - 1% Other desserts - 1% Everything - 2% Other - 6%

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

Nobody's home Mommy.

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

You're reading the Johnny Blog. Beats cleaning the house, doesn't it?

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





San Francisco, CA. --Anniversaries can simply mark the passage of time. Or they can symbolize something deeper.

Come Saturday, 20 years will have passed since owners of National League franchises voted to approve the sale of the San Francisco Giants to an investor group led by Peter Magowan. This was a dramatic event, since Giants owner Bob Lurie had agreed to sell the team to a group that would move it to Tampa-St. Petersburg. Favoring franchise stability, Major League Baseball gave Magowan and his loyalists -- including Larry Baer, now the club's president and chief executive officer -- just enough time to engineer a competitive offer that would keep the Giants in the City by the Bay.

Read the rest here.

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

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: DON'T BUY AN iPAD FROM A GUY AT A GAS STATION - In Arlington, Texas, a guy pulled up beside some gas station customers and said, "Hey, you know I have some iPads and stuff. I got a laptop. Y'all interested in buying some or whatever?" The answer was apparently yes ... and the customers say all they got for their $200 were pieces of wood painted silver to look like an iPad.

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

Today in Elvis History

1936 - Songwriter Mort Shuman was born in Brooklyn, NY.

1955 - Elvis Presley was voted Most Promising Country And Western Artist in the annual U.S. DJ Poll.

1960 - Bill Black, former bass player for Elvis Presley, hit #11 in the U.S. with his version of "Don't Be Cruel."

1977 - The Elvis Presley album "Les 40 Grands Plus Succes" (the French pressing of "40 Greatest") hit #56 in the U.K.

2002 - The documentary "Elvis, The King In Hollywood" was released.

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

Andrew Ellicott Douglass witnesses the Leonids meteor shower from a ship off the Florida Keys on this date in 1799.

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

Today in Beatles History:

1963 - A concert at the Guild Hall, Portsmouth ('The Beatles Autumn Tour') was postponed because of Paul McCartney being sick.

1965 - "The Beatles In Italy" was released in Italy.

1988 - The 7th episode of a BBC series, essentially based on 'The Beatles At The Beeb' collection, aired.

2001 - Paul McCartney released the album "Driving Rain."

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

The first drive-up banking facility opened at the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, IL on this date in 1946.

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

Today in Sports History:

1892 - William "Pudge" Heffelfinger became the first professional football player when he was paid a $500 bonus for helping the Allegheny Athletic Association beat the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.

1920 - Judge Keneshaw Mountain Landis was elected the first commissioner of the American and National Leagues.

1931 - Maple Leaf Gardens opened in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was to be the new home of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the National Hockey League (NHL).

1933 - In Philadelphia, the first Sunday football game was played.

1953 - The NFL policy of blacking out home games was upheld by Judge Allan K. Grim of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.

1967 - The Detroit Lions set a National Football League (NFL) record when they fumbled the ball 11 times. They only lost possession five of the eleven times.

1972 - Don Shula, coach of the Miami Dolphins, became the first NFL head coach to win 100 regular season games in 10 seasons.

1996 - "Dennis Rodman's World Tour '96" debuted on MTV. 

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

On this date in 1954, Ellis Island, the immigration station in New York Harbor, closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since 1892.

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

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Brad Keselowski has long since proven he's an elite talent behind the wheel and a glib, if somewhat irreverent analyst in front of the microphone.

Now we can add prophecy to his list of accomplishments.

We can also add fisticuffs to the repertoires of the Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon crews, who brawled in the garage after Gordon wrecked Bowyer and dashed his championship hopes on the next to last scheduled lap.

Read the rest here.

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

On this date in 1980, the U.S. space probe Voyager I came within 77,000 miles of Saturn while transmitting data back to Earth.

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

Coming up:

Tonight --

Nothin' Doin'

Tuesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Wednesday --

Nothin' Doin'

Thursday --

Nothin' Doin'

Friday --

Nothin' Doin'

Saturday --

Nascar Nationwide Series -- Ford Eco Boost 300 at Homestead - Miami Speedway 4:00pm EST

Empire South Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Space Coast Hurricanes 5:15pm EST

EJHL South Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Space Coast Hurricanes 8:00pm EST

College Football -- Oregon State Beavers vs California Golden Bears 10:30pm EST

Sunday --

Empire South Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Space Coast Hurricanes 9:30am EST

EJHL South Junior Hockey -- Tampa Bay Juniors vs Space Coast Hurricanes 12:15pm EST

NFL Football -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers 1:00pm EST

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Ford Eco Boost 400 at Homestead - Miami Speedway 2:00pm EST

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

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!