It's Wednesday

It's Wednesday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is July 23rd, the 204th day of 2014. There are 161 days left in the year.

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NBC Sports Group announces 2014-15 schedule.

Dubas joins Maple Leafs as assistant GM.

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

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Today's Birthdays: Edie McClurg (Mr. Rooney's secretary Grace in Ferris Bueller's Day Off) is 63. Woody Harrelson is 53. Alison Krauss is 43. Daniel Radcliffe is 25.

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Tampa, FL. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning will be featured on national TV five times during the 2014-15 season as announced by NBC Sports Group on Tuesday.

Read the rest here.

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The first lighthouse in America was authorized for construction at Little Brewster Island, Massachusetts on this date in 1715.

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Roster for 2014-15 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team Unveiled

Eleven Players Return From Gold-Medal Winning 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- USA Hockey announced today the 17-member roster for the 2014-15 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. The squad was selected following a two-day tryout, July 12-13, that included 52 players in Williamsville, New York. The group includes 11 returnees from the gold-medal winning 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team. Goaltender Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) is back for his 10th season with Team USA. He backstopped the U.S. to gold medals at the 2010 and 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. On defense, Team USA welcomes back Tyler Carron (Fort Collins, Colo.) and Nikko Landeros(Johnstown, Colo.). Additionally, Josh Pauls (Green Brook, N.J.) moves to the blue line after spending time as a forward in recent seasons. Both Landeros and Pauls are two-time Paralympic gold medalists. Seven forwards return from the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team, including Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.), who was voted 2014 Best Male Paralympian by the International Paralympic Committee. He is joined by Dan McCoy (Cheswick, Pa.), Kevin McKee (Davenport, Iowa), two-time Paralympic gold medalist Adam Page (Lancaster, N.Y.), Paul Schaus (Buffalo, N.Y.), Josh Sweeney (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Brody Roybal (Northlake, Ill.). The newcomers to the 2014-15 roster are goaltender Kyle Huckaby (Port Author, Texas); defensemen Sam Mumper (Dublin, Ohio) and Billy Hanning (Festus, Mo.); and forwards Chris Douglas (Saint Cloud, Fla.), Luke McDermott (Fort Worth, Texas) and Josh Misiewicz (La Grange, Ill.). Huckaby, Mumper, Hanning, Douglas and Misiewicz were members of the 2013-14 U.S. National Developmental Sled Hockey Team. For the complete U.S. National Sled Team roster, click here. Head coach Jeff Sauer (Madison, Wis.) begins his fourth season at the helm for the U.S. National Sled Team. The roster for the 2014-15 U.S. National Developmental Sled Hockey Team was determined today as well. The squad trains regularly with the U.S. National Team. For the complete U.S. National Developmental Sled Team roster, click here. Notes: The 2015 International Paralympic Committee Ice Sledge Hockey World Championship will be hosted by USA Hockey at the HARBORCENTER in Buffalo, N.Y. The tournament will run April 24-May 2. The rest of Team USA's schedule will be released at a later date … Dan Brennan (Colorado Springs, Colo.), director of sled and inline national teams for USA Hockey, is serving as the general manager of the 2014-15 U.S. National Sled Hockey Team. Additional staff members include team physician Mike Uihlein (Grafton, Wis.), athletic trainer Mike Cortese (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and equipment manager Joel Isaacson (Houghton, Mich.) …Mike MacMillan (Buffalo, Minn.), USA Hockey's national coach-in-chief, is the head coach of the U.S. National Developmental Sled Team. Former U.S. Paralympic Team members Kip St. Germaine (East Falmouth, Mass.) and Mike Blabac (Hamburg, N.Y.) are serving as associate head coach and assistant coach, respectively. Jeremy Kennedy (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey manager of membership and disabled hockey, is the general manager. Rett Talbot(Delray Beach, Fla.) and Bill Sandberg (Parker, Colo.) are serving as physiotherapist and equipment manager for the U.S. National Developmental Team. ************************************************* The first swimming school in the U.S. opened in Boston, MA on this date in 1827. ************************************************ Regina, SK. -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders today announced the signing of international running back Will Ford. Read the rest here. The Riders were off this past weekend. Their next action is this coming Saturday, July 26th, when they host the Toronto Argonauts, in a rematch of their week two game, won by Toronto 48-15. Game time at Mosaic Stadium is 10:00pm EDT, with Rod Pedersen calling all the action. Catch the broadcast on 620 CKRM, the Rider Radio Network and 620ckrm.com. The game can be seen in Canada on TSN and in the U.S. on ESPN2. ************************************************ On this date in 1829, William Burt patented the typographer, which was the first typewriter. ************************************************ . Video: Bighill Mic'd Up vs Montreal. Cauz: In praise of Chris Jones and the Eskimos. Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca. ************************************************ 46 billion: Estimated spending, in dollars, by students and parents on back-to-school college necessities. Things like bedding, microwaves and mini-fridges, gadgets, etc. ************************************************ Tampa, FL. -- Shutdown Corner is previewing all 32 teams as we get ready for the NFL season, counting down the teams one per day in reverse order or our initial 2014 power rankings. No. 1 will be revealed on Aug. 2, the day before the preseason begins with the Hall of Fame Game in Canton. Read the rest here. ************************************************ Beginning in late August, FXX will air a 12-day 24-hour-a-day marathon of all 500-plus episodes of the Simpsons in chronological order. [So there is an upside to being unemployed.] ************************************************ St. Louis, MO. -- The answer from Rays manager Joe Maddon was cliche, but after a disastrous start to the season, it has been the best way for a team once lacking hope to rise to prominence. Read the rest here. ************************************************ On this date in 1904, The ice cream cone was invented by Charles E. Menches during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, MO. ************************************************ Philadelpphia, PA. -- The Giants received a big reward for their extra labor Tuesday night. Read the rest here. ************************************************ Samsung is introducing a 105-inch curved television that's priced at $120,000. A Samsung "Field Engineer" will also visit your house to help you sit it up. ************************************************ Good hit Jimmy! ************************************************ You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as having two appointments in one day, isn't it? ************************************************ Today in Elvis History: 1966 - Elvis Presley's "Love Letters" hit #19 in the U.S. ************************************************ The "Telstar" communications satellite sent the first live TV broadcast to Europe on this date in 1962. ************************************************ Today in Beatles History: 1964 - The Beatles participated in the charity event called "Night of a Hundred Stars."  1965 - The Beatles single "Help!"/"I'm Down" was released in the United Kingdom.  2001 - Paul McCartney proposed to Heather Mills. The marriage was planned to take place in 2002. ************************************************ In an experiment, five Paris hotels have launched a plan allowing guests to "pay what you want". The three- and four-star hotels are a little away from the city's tourist centers and hope the novel idea will increase business. The owners of the hotels are optimistic and confident that clients will not abuse the plan. ************************************************ Today in Sports History: 1969 - U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew threw out the first ball at the major league All-Star Game.  1972 - Eddie Merckx of Belgium won his fourth consecutive Tour de France bicycling competition.  1985 - Oddibe McDowell became the first Texas Ranger player to hit for the cycle.  2000 - Lance Armstrong won his second Tour de France.  2000 - Tiger Woods became the youngest player to complete a career Grand Slam when he won the British Open. He was 24.  2009 - Mark Buehrle (Chicago White Sox) pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history. The Sox beat Tampa Bay 5-0.  ************************************************ An Irish pub in Ireland (Waterville) is being criticized for a sign on its door reading, "No Bus/Coach tours or loud American's. Thank you." A local business association has responded to the incident, claiming that the sign in the pub "in no way represents the views of the Waterville business community as a whole." ************************************************ Coming Up: Tonight -- MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies 7:05pm EDT MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at St. Louis Cardinals 7:15pm EDT Thursday -- MLB -- San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies 1:05pm EDT Friday -- MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 10:15pm EDT Saturday -- Nascar Nationwide Series -- Lilly Diabetes 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 4:30pm EDT MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox 7:10pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 9:05pm EDT CFL Football -- Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Toronto Argonauts 10:00pm EDT Sunday -- Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Crown Royal Presents, The John Wayne Walding 400 at the Brickyard 1:00pm EDT MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays vs Boston Red Sox 1:40pm EDT MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Los Angeles Dodgers 8:07pm EDT ************************************************ That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow.