A Crappy Weekend That Was Great

Hey peeps, and anyone else checking in.

So I am foregoing what has become my Sunday night ritual - to get a headstart on Monday mornings, by turning on my damn blackberry to sift through the 50 - 70 so-called urgent emails that are waiting for me...a perfect way to start a Monday morning...wouldn't you say?

Tonight, I'm having a glass of my favourite Port - Taylor and Fladgate's 10 Year Old Tawny Port - with some almonds and pistachios and sitting down to try to recap what was a pretty good weekend when its all said and done.

The great part of the weekend included my first round of golf this year, it has been a very busy summer (remember the patio?) so I haven't been able to get out yet. I played at one of the nicer/tougher courses in town, and was pretty happy with my game. I shot a 95, while that may not be overly impressive to most, it was a 95 that included a 44 on the back nine - with no mulligans, no gimmes, no "foot wedges", no forgotten strokes, or cheating of any kind. I left about six or seven shots on the course (lost four balls and missed 2 three-foot putts - not to mention of few "oh for f***s sakes" shots). That was on a day that was cloudy, damp, wet and kinda cold...with a few showers thrown in for good measure.

If Hazel is checking in tonight, I just wanted to say that... I got to break in my new golf cleats yesterday...they weren't "hot golf cleats" but I like them just the same. haha

For those of you that may be wondering what that is about - when Hazel was asked about how much coin NESN offered her to lure her away from Toronto - she answered only by saying - that it was enough to buy a new set of clubs...on her NESN bio her favourite article of clothing was "her 'hot' golf cleats".

In addition to my round of golf, the weekend included lots of great food - I was a BBQ'ing maniac - steaks and crab legs...some great Port and a "couple" of Kilkenny's and Smithwicks to celebrate my round of golf. Oh yeah...a call "home" this weekend to the Azores was pretty good (a couple of my cousins left Friday for a two week visit - I'm eating my heart out), I got game reports of Portugal's 2-0 win over Egypt.

Other good things this weekend - things in the world of sports that Hazel probably wouldn't be reporting on...of course European soccer heads the list.

Inter Milan, Figo's new team, beat Juventus over the weekend 1-0 - in the Italian Super Cup. The Super Cup (no Hazel jokes about super club or gold club) is the pre-cursor to the Serie A season and pits the previous year's champions vs. the winners of the "scudetto" (Inter). So Figo's debut with Inter results in victory...get used to it peeps. I wonder if NESN talks about Champions League...me thinks that before next year's World Cup, which Hazel will hopefully announce that Portugal has won, she might be talking about Inter winning the Champions League trophy (though I'd settle for Chelsea, Barcelona or FC Porto). Hazel, remember is Luis Figo - Loo'eee-shge Feeee-gou.

Chelsea - aka Portuguese National Team North - beat the hated Arsenal gunners today. Jose Mourinho is the talk of the English media for feuding with one of his star defenders (Ricardo Carvalho - pronounciation lessons for Hazel available at her request). I have gone on record as saying this is something Mourinho has planned with Carvalho (a member of the REAL national team - 5 quinas) to take some media attention away from Chelsea and some of their recent troubles and acquisitions. That is neither here nor there - Chelsea won. In other Premiership news...Cristiano Ronaldo (Hazel...remember to roll the R - like in Rrrrrrramirrrrrez) came on, and provided the cross that Ruud Van Nistelrooy potted to lead Man U to a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa (who have no Portuguese players on their roster), which would explain a lot.

The NHL was pretty quiet over the weekend - I think the league is in hangover mode after the rash of signings that took place over the first week. I think a lot of GMs are looking at what they did - or didn't do and asking themselves "what was I thinking?" Kinda like a wild night at a bar and winding up with the friend of the girl you wanted...except her friend ain't quite her in some respects...and a whole lot more than her in other respects.

In Roto news - come on, anyone checking in here must be a poolie. My roto baseball team, named after Hazel, is holding on to second place - all this without the benefit of crazy free agent spending or "less than up and up" trades that some guys pull. Hazel's boys (led by Ensberg, and a bunch of other "not household names" are fighting the good fight and look like they are going to finish in the money. I entered a fantasy football pool on Friday - it was an established league, so I got three free draft picks from unprotected list. Hazel would get a kick out of this - Hazel's Cowboys first two draft picks - Trent Green and Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs - no lie. I was waffling between Jason Whitten of the Cowboys and Gonzalez... before you say it, Hazel was not the deciding factor. I went with the numbers and picked Gonzalez, the fact that Whitten plays for my Cowboys and Gonzalez plays for Hazel's Chiefs is a "co-inky-dink".

So, a pretty damn good weekend.

The "crappy" - not that I'm a negative person (not a peep out of the peeps...or else, you are all banned! hahahaha) - the weather sucked this weekend, it rained all day Friday and Saturday. Today was ok I guess, there was some sun during the afternoon - but it was cloudy most of the afternoon and evening. It was a crazy weekend in Southern Ontario, Environment Canada reported that a couple of tornados touched down in not far outside of Toronto (Hazel's hometown).

The other bad part of the weekend happened in the NFL - I'm sure most have heard that Thomas Herrion, a 23 year old offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers collapsed and died after their game against Denver last night. 23 years old...crazy. I'm sure it won't take long for the speculation to start - about why he died....what caused it... was it something he was on, or something he took. I hope it doesn't get to that - out of respect for the young man and his family - I hope people don't start rumour-mongering and speculation. I'm sure there will be a coroner's report...let's all wait for it to come out. Pete Prisco wrote a sobering article about the young man...its worth the read. Remember the young man and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Ok, I'm out of here for tonight...in watching the NESN broadcast of the Sox/Angels game today (thanks a lot Rogers...for picking up an NESN game Hazel wouldn't be part of....Sunday aft...grrrrrrr - hahaha - I heard the Stones were playing at Fenway tonight and Tuesday. First off, I'm not a Stones fan - not in the least; and while I would like to think Hazel wouldn't see the Stones...I have to resign myself to the fact that anyone who was connected to Fenway would have to see them - the reason being, "It's the Stones." (picture me grimacing now).

I was going to nominate a Stones song for the Song of the Day on Hazelspeeps tonight...but out of respect for Mr. Herrion and his family, that doesn't seem appropriate. If Hazel is peeking in tonight...have yourself a great week!

Where's my damn blackberry?
Peesth Out!