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Went to see the playoff hungry Bills (6-7) take on the lowly and history destined Dolphins (0-13) with my brother in law Joey. We loaded up the CRV with the Coleman, some propane, beer and jumbo hotdogs. Thermal socks, fleece and winter jackets as the temperature was expected to be a few degrees below freezing, windy and ‘precipitous’ (a mix of freezing rain and snow).

We left for the game at 8:00 am sharp with the hopes of being parked and tailgating by 11:00. We were bang on. There was little traffic and it’s unbelievable how easy it is to get to Orchard Park once crossing the border at Niagara Falls. It’s about 20 minutes from border to parking most of it on major highway.

Here’s a valuable trick for parking: When you get onto 179E/Milestrip Expwy, instead of following it to Abbot Road and finding parking in that mayhem, turn R onto McKinley Pkwy which is before Abbot Road. Then, turn left on Big Tree Road. Find parking on any one of the many houses that charge you only $10 (instead of $20) to park on their lawn. We parked on the right side of the road about 200m before Abbott Road intersection. I think it was 5287. Backed in so that the car was facing the road and ready to just boot it after the game. Benefits of this spot was: not a busy road after the game, close to a couple restaurants down the street in case you need to go the washroom. About 20 cars could park there so you get a mini-tailgate feeling. Or just meander over to one of the restaurant parking lots for a bigger experience.

We were able to pull out the rarely used picnic table that comes with the CRV and set up the Coleman to cook up the dogs. It was cold out but it was fun. Had a few beers and listened to the high-powered stereo they had set up on the porch to catch the pre-game.

About 12:30ish we packed up and walked to the game. About a 15 minute walk at the most. Unfortunately our gate was at the far back corner of the stadium so we had to navigate through all of the crowds to get there.

After entering the gates I found a quiet-ish spot and called home to confirm whether Galloway was playing for TB. I was in the playoffs and needed to make a change if he were listed as inactive. Unfortunately he was listed as active and I continued to play him instead of subbing in Marshall for DEN. I consider this THE mistake of my ‘07 run for the championship as it turns out this decision alone cost me a trip to the finals.

We had seats near the top of the stadium in a corner of the endzone. Not bad seats at all and well worth the price. The game was 24-0 for Buffalo by the end of the 1st quarter. Although Miami did score 17 pts, it ended up 31-17 and was never really in doubt. That gave me some time to watch the scoreboard and guess how I was doing in the pool. My guess was that after the 1st set of games, I had a fairly good lead.

On the way home (and yes it was that easy to get out of Orchard Park thanks to the primo parking location) we stopped at Jack Astors in Stony Creek to watch the remainder of the 4:00 games and then made it home by 9:00.

Yeah, it was cold and wet and windy, my toes were frozen but it was a fun day and can’t wait to go again. Earlier in the season would be nice but not necessary. Just looking for the matchups will be the deciding factor.

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1 USD = 1 CAD on this date

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Way back in May Sonia and I went to Vegas to celebrate the big four-oh for Tara.  About 15 of her best friends went down as well.  I was pretty much the only guy there so I was able to go and do whatever I wanted.  That is, I was able to go and gamble. (more…)

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We headed down to the Jays game last Saturday afternoon to watch them play against the 2006 AL champs the Detroit Tigers.  Always a fun affair, Jays games are a little more interesting to me this year than in past years.  Not because they are a contender this year (at least before their B.J. Ryan went down with an injury) but because I own a few of the players on my fantasy team this year:  Alex Rios, Lyle Overbay and Jason Frasor.  Additionally this game I would see a couple more of my players in action ala Pudge Rodriguez and the Detroit closer Todd Jones.

The game was a high scoring affiar with the Jays losing 10-7.  Both Rios and Overbay hit HRs with Overbays being very important (at the time) in the bottom of the 8th that gave the Jays the lead 8-7, and as equally important, a win opportunity for Frasor after he blew a 7-5 lead in the top of the 8th.  Unfortunately and yet still fortunately Ryan came into the 9th to close and gave up 4 runs to leave it 10-7 into the bottom of the 9th.  The win was erased but instead I was able to pick up the save when Jones came in to close it for Detroit.  So, a very active game to watch and for me personally for the fantasy world in which I live.

There was also very rare excitement in the top of the 8th when Craig Monroe fouled off a Frasor offering directly to Sonia.  Her hands were full with OG but fortunately the ball landed directly beneath her seat unimpeded.  She was able to pluck it out before anyone else could get to it.  The first time she has had a foul ball hit to her at a major league game.  It was quite obvious on impact that the ball was going to come close.  We were in row 40, the top row of the lower level along the first base line (section 115).  Since the batter is a rightie it had a nasty curve on in it but was very predictable as long as it wasn’t deflected which it wasn’t.  There was no real concern that OG would get hit.

We plan on buying a flexpack to see 5 more games this year so one of the games we’ll head down early and we’ll head down to the field to get a signature from Frasor and/or other Jays.  They won’t be able to resist the wiles of OG.

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We were this close to going to Bermuda this spring to visit my brother one more time. An on the cheap experience that is hard to come by on that island. The trip has been delayed indefinitely for alternative plans. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to go in the fall or next year before it’s too late and Greg has to say farewall to Bermuda.

In honour of this almost vacation I’m posting some pics from our trip from late April 2003 just before the tourist season started and we had the run of the island. The beaches were empty and the towns were quiet.

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Our VW (very wonky) Jetta has gone through its share of woes lately. But it culminated last Friday in a ride equal to any coaster ride found at Six Flags.

Friday was a weather phenom if there ever was one. The day started mild and rainy causing large accumulations of water on the roads due to the ice festival that occurred the previous evening causing blockage of the sewer drains. I was forced to spend an inordinate amount of time coming into work sloshing my way through the maze of closed roads (due to downed power-lines). (more…)

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This photo is possibly the most perfect visualization of what “Pure Joy” is:

For more photos of a very cute baby please visit Olivia’s photo album of her trip to the Dominican Republic.

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On Tuesday August 22nd, one month before our milestone 5th anniversary, Sonia and I went on a very special outing.

Sonia is a fan of the Food & Beverage magazine that you can pick up for free at any LCBO outlet. It is very good for getting recipe ideas for unique and very tasty dishes. While scanning through the material, an ad with a picture of a beatiful sailboat caught her eye. Upon further reading the ad turned out to be for a tour company that offers sailing excursions out of Toronto Harbour that takes you around Toronto Island and the waters of Lake Ontario in and around the city. The price was fair (I forget exactly but something like $180 per person comes to mind) and what was offered was a 3 hr tour on a 30 ft yacht with 6-8 other people that includes lessons, wine tasting and cheese tasting followed by a 4 course meal (with a wine pairing for each course) at the Toronto Yacht Club on the island at sunset. Then a quick jaunt back into the harbour in the dark to see the lights of the city.

What sealed the deal was the wine AND cheese tasting on the boat and that one of the dinner courses was a cheese plate served with port. (more…)

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I am a huge fan of Webber and Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar (way and by far either man’s best work) and have been since I was around 7 yrs old. If you talk to my mom, she can tell you all about the funny things I used to do when ‘the rock music’ was playing on the turn-table.

The 1st Superstar album we had came on 2 LPs. It was the ‘pre-motion picture version’ and featured Ian Gillan as Jesus and Murray Head as Judas. I highlight these two ‘characters’ as they are the key to the rock opera. Without 2 singers that can scream/sing with power the soundtrack is nothing. These 2 singers were very capable with Murray Head doing an outstanding performance. In fact, I maintain until recently he was the best Judas ever. (more…)

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The Roger’s Cup was held this week at the Rexall Centre at York University.   It was the men coming to Toronto this year.  Sonia had premium VIP tickets to go see some of the action on Tuesday but had to decline at the last minute because O.G. was going through the midst of a strept throat incident.  Tuesday was reserved instead for picking up antibiotics and nursing our little one back to health.

Not to be swayed, Sonia worked the web to get 2 tickets to the early session on Friday.  1st row of the bronze (section 136) for somewhere approx $70 a seat.  With these tickets there was a good chance that Nadal or Federer would be playing.

It turns out that I was to be the holder of ticket #2 - so with Grandma willing to babysit, we journeyed to York to watch some tennis action.

Due to stupid T.O. traffic, we didn’t make it there until after the noon hr so we missed the 1st match in its entirety.  We were early enough however to be able to walk around the grounds and check out the booths/promotions/eating facilities.  If you’ve ever been to a golf or tennis event you’ll know what I mean:  the grounds are kind of like a temporary village and shopping mall where the corp sponsors peddle their wares for outrageous prices.  There are deals to be had but you have to look very hard.  And the $$ of the food is ridiculous:  6 bucks for a hotdog.  4.50 for a BOTTLE OF WATER!!!  We were able to find what we thought was the best deal:  A chicken nacho salad for $10 - and it was large enough for one salad to satisfy us both.

Fortunately I had my Amex card which allowed us access to the AMEX VIP lounge where we could drink free (yes free) water and eat free (yes free) snacks.  No alcohol but for a couple of normal non-VIP access attendees, that ain’t bad.

We did catch some of the tennis:  Andy Murray vs Jerko Niemenin - one a young British hopeful, the other a tour lifer.  The match played out the entire 3 sets so I kind of felt that I got my money’s worth.  I’ve seen matches complete within 1 hr so I was hoping for at least a 2hr match which this one turned out to be with Murray taking it in the end.

After the match - instead of watching some doubles (which doesn’t really interest me), we walked around the grounds and took in the atmosphere.  We went to the grandstand (the other, smaller court) and watched a few points of another doubles match after unsuccessfully finding an outer court where there were some big names practicing.  Admittedly, in such a small arena it is very interesting to watch these pros play up-close and pick up some hitting tips.

The atmosphere got to us and we rationalized a reason to purchase 2 more tickets for the night session to watch number 1 Federer play young phenom (yet unseeded) Xavier Malisse.  With the blessing of Grandma we hung around to watch the highlight match.  Since Nadal was eliminated the day before, the day session didn’t hold any famous or exciting players so we felt a little bit cheated.  With the night tickets we were guaranteed to see a star….even though we were up in the nose-bleeds.  But the nose-bleeds at a tennis stadium are not really that bad — nor are they cheap!  We paid roughly the same for these tickets as we did for the very respectable seats we had earlier that day.

The match was excellent although we did have to leave before it completed.  It was clear that Federer was going to prevail even though he was taken to a 3rd set.

Some tips when going to these events:

1) Bring your own water and food

2) Try to score corporate seats - allows you to get the best seat in the house as well as some complimentary food and drink in the VIP lounges

3) Bring a sweater in case you do end up sitting in the rafters.  That wind blows up there and you’re not protected!  Even though it’s a beautiful sunny day it can get chilly up there at night.

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