Happy New Year to all readers, I’ve never done much for New Year’s Eve.  I view it as ‘amateur night’ and a time to stay at home.  Plus do you want to take a chance with going out on a December night in Canada?

Sister and her boyfriend were heading home a few days ago and had an accident involving black ice on the 401.  No injuries luckily but car was damaged and they had to stay at a hotel overnight.  Weather forecast was OK too when they left.  So all readers be careful out there tonight if you are going out.

Friday Night a brand new episode of the radio show.  Live from 6-8pm.  Think I’ll get a few clips from past interviews in 2009.  I’ll work on a blog post with links to all the interviews from the year on the weekend.

Back on air Friday with the first show of 2010.  Plan to do a bit of a year in review for 2009 but not completely sure.  Worked over Christmas so this is my 4 day stretch of not working.  So trying to relax and do as little as possible.  I said on Christmas that I thought I had too many interviews to cram into 2 hours and that’s true.  I’ll write a long blog post later in the week with links to the interviews from 2009.  Lot of them.

Christmas went well when I had some time off.  Working Christmas Night a bit longer than usual from 10pm-7am.  Which messed up the holiday more than I thought.  You have to get some sleep on the 25th and then on Boxing Day you’re too tired to go out and do anything.  Oh well.  But I have New Year’s Eve off.  Whew.

Just got the revised 2010 CFRC Queen’s Hockey/Basketball schedule.  Going to have a couple of busy weeks ahead of me in the new year.

Hockey
Queen’s Vs. RMC. Wednesday January 6th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. U of T. Friday January 8th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. Nipissing. Friday January 15th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. RMC. Wednesday January 20th, Constantine Arena @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. RMC. Thursday February 4th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Queen’s Vs. Ryerson. Wednesday February 10th, Kingston Memorial Centre @ 7:30pm

Basketball
Queen’s Vs. Ryerson. Saturday January 9th, Kingston PEC @ 8:00 PM

Queen’s Vs. Carleton. Friday January 22nd, Ottawa @ 8:00 PM

Queen’s Vs. Ottawa. Saturday January 23rd, Ottawa @ 8:00 PM

Queen’s Vs. York. Saturday January 30th, Kingston PEC @ 8:00 PM

With the hockey and basketball broadcasts this Friday will be the last full 2 hour episode till January 29th.

Wrote a long post with NFL picks and hit publish and the entire post disappeared.  What a nice way to start Christmas Day. Skip NFL picks today, write that later on the weekend.

Tonight at 6pm I’ll be on CFRC for 2 hours with the show.  Christmas music from Jenn Grant, Christa Borden, Great Big Sea and Andrea Gauster.

Merry Christmas to all readers.  I’m working tonight so if you have the day off enjoy it.

Strange that I’m putting this up after it’s come through Kingston.  But footage from YouTube of the Torch when it hit Newfoundland.

First up from RetroWinnipeg reports from NTV News the day before it came to St. John’s.  Included is Toni Marie anchoring at noon, Glen Carter at 5:30pm and Fred Hutton & Lynn Burry at 6pm.  Later you’ll see Toni chat with Seamus O’Regan from Canada AM as he was also a torchbearer in the area.

NTV News – Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay – Newfoundland (November 12, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mzz2chBucs

Now this is what we call a WINDY day.  Toni at Cabot Tower with the torch before her run as a speech was wrapping up.  Bit of a laugh as you can hear 2 guys saying “we love you” as she starts the walk.  I told you she’s popular.

Toni Marie Wiseman at Cabot Tower Olympic Torch Relay 2010 St. John’s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6urmopPsMw

I missed seeing this next clip before, not sure how.  The flame with all that wind, did go out for a few seconds.  Which does happen along the way.  You won’t see that on the news though. So a chance to see how it really is.

“This is just after the ceremony was held at the top of Signal Hill at Cabot Tower, as Toni Marie Wiseman started walking down the hill at the very top, the torch with all the wind went out for a few seconds and was relit again – here. It was very windy at the top and impossible to avoid, but as Toni Marie moved her way down the hill, the wind was calmer. “

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHIqiBtwsw

Another one I missed before, probably because there wasn’t a description on the video.  But the file says “Toni with Horses” so it’s easy to figure out.  With the high winds they had extra people around her and even police on horseback.  Large crowd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z665k9i7Ck

Apparently the handoff is called “the kissing of the torches” as you have your torch light up the next one.  Luckily it worked even in this extreme weather.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaXeUIsRJcc

Move on to NTV News again with reports from that Friday’s news.

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay – Newfoundland (November 13, 2009, Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGrKMbRtbYI

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay – Newfoundland (November 13, 2009, Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpXVKFS56vQ

Finally Sunday’s news with Toni Marie and Larry Jay as the relay left the province.  And you get to see her torch at the end on the set.  It’s now residing at her parents’ house as a gift.  Quite nice of her.

NTV News – Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay – Newfoundland (November 15, 2009)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnFfbE1UC9o

I typed Kingston and Torch into YouTube and only got 3 results.  Part of that is we got lucky with someone from Winnipeg grabbing the NTV clips from satellite.  Manitoba and Newfoundland aren’t two places thought of being together very often.

http://www.archive.org/details/SaltWaterMusicDec11th2009Hour1

Some Christmas music and a Curling song from R.J. Lautenschlager.

Songs from Teresa Ennis’ latest CD “Stars” and go back to 2004 with The Irish Descendants as they’re coming to Kingston in March.

http://www.archive.org/details/SaltWaterMusicDec11thHour2

Start off with a chat with two Olympic torchbearers from the Kingston area, Laurie Walker and Rev. Gerry Moore. Then with Kirsten Mihailides from the Coca-Cola side of the Torch organizers.

Couple of songs from Kenny Butler then tracks from Ian Foster’s ECMA nominated instrumental album. Almost 30 minutes worth of that.

I will be doing the show live the next few weeks.  Hard to believe but this Friday is the last non-holiday episode till January 8th, 2010.  Think the holidays are sneaking up on a lot of us.  After this week the shows will be on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

On the 25th I might do a bit of an end of year wrap up.  However I think I’ll save that for New Year’s Day.  Trying to combine a Christmas episode with the “End of the Decade with no name” might be a bit much.

[Note to Neate who might be reading this : Yes, I know there was no Year Zero.  LOL.]

Not only do we have to get used to writing 2010 in a few weeks, but no more saying Two Thousand and…. whatever.  Back to short form so we can say Twenty Ten.

Luckily the night before both holiday episodes I’m not working so I’ll be well rested.

After a Sunday with no football talk I’m back again.

No one picked Browns over Steelers, I’d say even family members of the Browns bet on Pittsburgh.  Yahoo Sports said 3% of users picked Cleveland to win.  Troy Polamalu is the most valuable player to his team this season.  Difference between him playing and not is huge for Pittsburgh.  Which is quite strange when you think he’s only one player on the defensive side of things.  But, something happens to the Steelers without Troy.

Onto Sunday’s games.  First up Saints over Falcons.  Didn’t catch Redskins-Saints live last week thankfully.  Slept a few hours after work and woke up right after the game had ended.  Saw the score then saw how Washington let that one get away.  Seems like New Orleans would go for 16-0 unlike the Colts.

Colts over Broncos.  Sounds like Indy hasn’t learned the lesson from their SuperBowl year.  Other years they always rested everyone for 1, 2 or 3 weeks.  Never got to the SuperBowl when they did that.  They won the season they didn’t have that layoff.

If they meet the Chargers in the playoffs they’ll lose anyway.  San Diego is Indy’s Kryponite.  They always struggle against them.  Knocked them out of the playoffs last season and the last time they were undefeated this late in the season it was San Diego who ended that.

Seahawks over Texans.  Both are 5-7 and you don’t know what you get each week.

Patriots over Panthers.  Add injured ribs to Brady’s list of problems this year. Pats are 6-0 at home and it’s home game.

Bills over Chiefs. Ravens over Lions.  Not wasting words with those teams.

Vikings over Bengals.  Favre hasn’t done well outdoors in the last few winters.  But they’re in the dome this week.

Jets over Bucs.  Unless Tampa pulls out the orange uniforms again [their only win this season] the Jets should win.

Dolphins over Jags.  Two more teams you can’t figure out.

Packers over Bears.  Green Bay’s 8-4 but I don’t trust them to get very far after their two losses to Minnesota.

Titans over Rams.  Raiders over Redskins.  Not much to say.

Chargers over Cowboys.  The usual December slide for Dallas began last week.  Cowboys media attention is completely out of whack with their playoff success.  No playoff victories since 1996!  My Mom couldn’t believe that when I told her recently.  She got into Queen’s run for the playoffs and we were talking about Dallas.

December 1996, month after Bill Clinton was re-elected.  That is a long time ago.  Heck, my team the Redskins have two playoff victories since then.  But you still have “experts” who pick the Cowboys to get to the SuperBowl in pre-season rankings.  Have them win ONE game first.

Giants over Eagles.  Andy Reid with a contact extension which means he’ll cost his team a game this week with some of his horrible decisions.  Or McNabb will throw up/dry heave because of the pressure of a Sunday night game.  Recently saw a NFL Films program on NFL Network and they had a clip of McNabb throwing up during a game from years ago and his team having to call a timeout.  Ahhh, the Eagles.

Cards over 49ers.  Almost want to pick San Francisco.  Arizona can be like a see-saw.

New shows all throughout the holiday season.  This Friday, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Kingston is not just a town where the Olympic Torch is coming through, but one of the places chosen to have a community celebration.  So the relay stops here overnight.  Which means you have a chance on Monday night and Tuesday morning to see it.

As I write it I’m getting things lined up for a couple of interviews involving the torch run for Friday’s show.  After I’ve already shoveled three times this morning.  School buses canceled all over town and just miserable weather outdoors.

Here is a rundown of the stop in Kingston and the things going on.  Got this from the City of Kingston website.  Might have some more details on the weekend.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2009
5:30 p.m. Limestone Choristers

6:00 p.m. Introduction by the Vancouver Olympic Torch Relay Committee
Aboriginal Community Welcome by the Katarakwi dancers
Musical performances by Le Clan D’estin and Tea for the Voyage

7:00 p.m Vancouver Olympic Committee prepares crowd to welcome the Olympic Torch Relay to Market Square

Torch Arrives in Kingston

Entertainment provided by Olympic Torch Relay sponsors Coca Cola and the Royal Bank of Canada continues until 8 p.m.

Well wishers encouraged to line relay route in Kingston.

En route to Springer Market Square, the Olympic Torch will travel in Kingston from:

* The Parade Square in Fort Henry (starting about 6:20 p.m.) toward the La Salle Causeway. It is expected to pass the Memorial Arch at the Royal Military College at approximately 6:30 p.m.
* Along Ontario Street over to West Street.
* Up to King Street to pass in front of the City Park statue of Sir John A. Macdonald.
* Loops back toward Springer Market Square along King Street aiming to arrive in the Square at 7 p.m.

The Olympic Torch Relay leaves Kingston on Tuesday, Dec. 15 along this route:

* Tours Portsmouth Olympic Harbour (the sailing venue for the 1976 Montreal Olympics) by boat starting at 6:43 a.m.
* After landing near the foot of Yonge Street, the Relay jogs along Logan Street and then up Mowat Avenue to King Street.
* The Relay turns up Portsmouth Avenue and continues along it all the way to Princess Street. It is expected to pass the Ongwanada Resource Centre at about 7:14 a.m.
* The Relay will turn up Princess Street heading toward the Ambassador Hotel – its final stop in Kingston – where it is expected to arrive at 7:39 a.m.
—

Think I forgot to give the links to some video of Toni Marie’s torch run.  I’ll put that up on the weekend as well.  Such strong winds they had some mounties on horses blocking the gusts from possibly putting out the flame.  Never happened though.

Both hours from Friday night are now online.

http://www.archive.org/details/SaltWaterMusicDec4th2009Hour1

Hour 1 with brand new music from Teresa Ennis’ CD Stars.  Then Amelia Curran’s album which is up for some ECMA awards.  Including a song called The Mistress, which made for an obvious Tiger Woods reference.  End the hour with some songs from Jenn Grant’s recent concert in Kingston.

http://www.archive.org/details/SaltWaterMusicDec12th2009Hour2

Hour 2 we move to pop/rock side of things with In Flight Safety and Hey Rosetta!.  End the hour with a chat with Neate Sager about the Queen’s Golden Gaels Vanier Cup winning season.

The return to doing the show live is on Friday night.  Back to regular schedule for me for the first time since…. August!  Did have one live show between then during a playoff bye.  But it was only an hour leading up to a Queen’s hockey game.  That 10-1 loss to McGill.

Wrap up the Golden Gaels’ football season on Friday as I air an interview I did with Neate Sager.  About 30 minutes or so.  Might divide it up into parts during the show.

Then new music that I’ve gotten over the last few weeks.  Got a lot of artists to find through the internet as well with MusicNL handing out their awards and the ECMA nominations coming out.  So next few weeks will be easy to program.

The scheduled CFRC hockey broadcast for Saturday is not happening.  Game will be added in the new year.  It was a road game in Ottawa and after the long football season I think another road trip would a bit much.  Need to give the guys a bit of a break.

Here are couple of links for University sports fans to visit.

http://www.cisblog.ca

http://www.ssncanada.ca/

Post will be a bit long since the 2010 ECMA nominations came out today.  Friend of the show Ian Foster is up for Instrumental Recording so that’s great news.  Singer I’ve been in contact with since the first summer of the program, Jessica Rhaye’s up for a couple of awards as well.

Getting plans co-ordinated to interview Jenn Grant in the new year so is another nominee.  Will be playing some songs from her Kingston concert in the upcoming weeks.

One category was fun to read.  Broadcast of the Year in the Industry category. 4 of the 6 titles have EAST COAST in them.  One of those times I have to try and remember which show is which.

ECMA 2010 MUSIC & INDUSTRY AWARD NOMINEES

MUSIC AWARDS:
Entertainer of the Year

Classified (NS)
Dave Carroll (NS)
David Myles (NB)
Gypsophilia (NS)
In-Flight Safety (NS)
Joel Plaskett (NS)
The Divorcees (NB)

Female Solo Recording of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter
Catherine MacLellan (PE) – Water In The Ground
Coco Love Alcorn (NS) – Joyful
Erin Costelo (NS) – Fire and Fuss
Jenn Grant (NS) – Echoes
Jessica Rhaye (NB) – Good Things
Kim Wempe (NS) – Where I Need to Be

Group Recording of the Year

Caledonia (NS) – We Are America
In-Flight Safety (NS) – we are an empire, my dear
Madison Violet (CB) – No Fool for Trying
The Motorleague (NB) – Black Noise
The Novaks (NL) – Things Fall Apart
Two Hours Traffic (PE) – Territory

Konica Minolta Male Solo Recording of the Year

Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel
Classified (NS) – Self-Explanatory
Dave Gunning (NS) – We’re All Leaving
Dave Marsh (NS) – The True Love Rules
Joel Plaskett (NS) – Three
Lennie Gallant (PE) – If We Had A Fire
Pascal Lejeune (NB) – Adélaïde

FACTOR Recording of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter
Classified (NS) – Self-Explanatory
Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel
Dave Gunning (NS) – We’re All Leaving
Duane Andrews (NL) – Raindrops
Jenn Grant (NS) – Echoes
Joel Plaskett (NS) – Three

Rising Star Recording of the Year

Caledonia (NS) – We Are America
Haunted Hearts (PE) – Thank You, Goodnight
Kim Wempe (NS) – Where I Need To Be
Share (NS) – Slumping in Your Murals
Sleepy Driver (NB) – Steady Now
The Danks (PE) – Are You Afraid Of The Danks

Vibe Creative Group Single of the Year

Alert the Medic (NS) – Atlas
Caledonia (NS) – Scott’s House
Classified (NS) – Anybody Listening
In-Flight Safety (NS) – Model Homes
Joel Plaskett (NS) – Through & Through & Through
Joel Plaskett (NS) – You Let Me Down

SOCAN Songwriter of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – “The Mistress” (Performed by: Amelia Curran)
Brenley MacEachern & Lisa MacIsaac (CB) – “Small of My Heart” (Performed by: Madison Violet)
Catherine MacLellan (PE) – “Take A Break” (Performed by: Catherine MacLellan)
Coco Love Alcorn/Chris Hockey (NS) – “Revolution” (Performed by: Coco Love Alcorn)
Dave Gunning/Jamie Robinson (NS) – “Made On A Monday” (Performed by: Dave Gunning)
Joel Plaskett (NS) – “Through & Through & Through” (Performed by: Joel Plaskett)
Mullane, Goodsell, Nicholson, Ledwell (NS) –“Model Homes” (Performed by: In-Flight Safety)

Video of the Year

Classified (NS) – Anybody Listening (Directed by: Harv)
Down with the Butterfly (NS) – Tanks (Directed by: Aram Kouyoumdjian)
George Canyon (NS) – Just Like You (Directed by: Colin Minihan)
In-Flight Safety (NS) – Model Homes (Directed by: Drew Lightfoot)
Joel Plaskett (NS) – Through & Through & Through (Directed by: RT!)
The Motorleague (NB) – Hymn For the Newly Departed (Directed by: Marc Savoie)
The Tom Fun Orchestra (CB) – Throw Me to the Rats (Directed by: Alasdair Brotherston & Jock Mooney)

Alternative Recording of the Year

Caledonia (NS) – We Are America
In-Flight Safety (NS) – we are an empire, my dear
Sleepy Driver (NB) – Steady Now
The Danks (PE) – Are You Afraid Of The Danks
The Easy Bleeders (CB) – The Easy Bleeders
The Slate Pacific (NB) – Safe Passage

Bluegrass Recording of the Year

Catherine Lawrence (NS) – Sweet Memories
Cousin Cletus and the Six-Fingered Stringband (PE) – DISCOGRASS
Ryan Roberts (NS) – Ryan Roberts
Smokin’ Contra Band (NS) – Slim Pickins
The Grass Mountain Hobos (PE) – ZOOT!
The Spinney Brothers (NS) – When The Golden Leaves Begin To Fall

Blues Recording of the Year

Chris Kirby (NL) – Vampire Hotel
Easley Stevenson Arsenault (NS) – Nine Steps
Rick Jeffery (NS) – 13 Vultures
The Hupman Brothers (NS) – Countin’ Quarters
The Terry Whalen Band (NB) – A Wicked Driving Rain

Country Recording of the Year

George Canyon (NS) – What I Do
JD Clarke (NS) – Satisfied
Karla Pilgrim (NL) – I’ll Think of You
Melanie Morgan (NB) – Goodbye Birmingham
Rik Reese & Neon Highway (NB) – Mama Raised a Good Boy
The Divorcees (NB) – Last of the Free Men
The Keats (NL) – Good to be Home

Folk Recording of the Year

Amelia Curran (NL) – Hunter, Hunter
Andrew White (NS) – Walk in Light
Catherine MacLellan (PE) – Water In The Ground
Jessica Rhaye (NB) – Good Things
Joey Kitson (PE) – STAN
JP Cormier (CB) – The Messenger

Instrumental Recording of the Year

Andrea Beaton (CB) – Branches
Curtis Andrews (NL) – The Offering of Curtis Andrews
Darren McMullen (NS) – Decade
Ian Foster (NL) – Found: Music from the Unmade Film
Spanner (NL) – Dark Boat
The Dardanelles (NL) – The Dardanelles

Jazz Recording of the Year

Bill Brennan (NL) – After Hours
Gypsophilia (NS) – Sa-ba-da-OW!
Jeff Torbert (NS) – This Weather Honest
Les Paiens (NB) – PYRAMYD
Paul Tynan (NS) – BiCoastal Collective: Chapter One
Swingology (NS) – Swingology

Loud Recording of the Year

Big Game Hunt (NS) – Goliath
Black Moor (NS) – The Conquering
Shelter with Thieves (NS) – Confessions of a Toxic Generation
The Motorleague (NB) – Black Noise
Uncooperative Death (NS) – Uncooperative Death
We, the Undersigned (NB) – Bleed the Constants

Pop Recording of the Year

Jenn Grant (NS) – Echoes
Joel Plaskett (NS) – Three
Mel Keith & The Strombachs (NB) – Mel Keith & The Strombachs
Stephanie Mainville (NB) – Out of Nowhere
Tim Chaisson and Morning Fold (PE) – Broken Hearted Beat
Two Hours Traffic (PE) – Territory

Sirius Satellite Radio Rock Recording of the Year

Alert the Medic (NS) – We, The Weapon
Andrew Hunter & The Gatherers (NS) – Andrew Hunter & The Gatherers
Carleton Stone Drives The Big Wheel (CB) – Carleton Stone Drives The Big Wheel
Dave Marsh (NS) – The True Loves Rules
Smothered in Hugs (PE) – The Healing Power Of Injury
The Novaks (NL) – Things Fall Apart

Roots / Traditional Solo Recording of the Year

Allan Ricketts (NL) – Rivers
Anna Ludlow (NS) – Reel To Reel
Colette Cheverie (PE) – Hours Before Dawn
Gillian Boucher (CB) – Elemental
Lennie Gallant (PE) – If We Had a Fire
Samantha Robichaud (NB) – Collected

Roots / Traditional Group Recording of the Year

Dawn and Margie Beaton (CB) – Taste of Gaelic
Lazy Jacks (PE) – East Coast Live
Shanneyganock (NL) – Volume VII
The Navigators (NL) – Sea Miner
The Once (NL) – The Once

Aboriginal Recording of the Year

Forever (CB) – Reborn
Gary Sappier Experience (NB) – Project III
Lone Cloud (NS) – Live at North Street Church
Richard Poulette (CB) – Let Go, Let God

Francophone Recording of the Year

BLOU (NS) – Noël Blou
George Belliveau (NB) – Prise 2
Joseph Edgar (NS) – Y’a un train qui s’en vient…
Nathalie Renault (NB) – La chance
Pascal Lejeune (NB) – Adélaïde
Soleil (NS) – Soleil

Gospel Recording of the Year

David John Hensman (NL) – Find Me
Elizabeth and Scott Rhyno (NS) – Something Beautiful
Evangeline Inman & Women Who Worship (NB) – Evangeline Inman and Women Who Worship
Matt Brouwer (NS) – Where’s Our Revolution
The Ascensions (NB) – No Greater Love
Tim Milner (NS) – Kiss the Son

Rap / Hip-Hop Single Track Recording of the Year

Classified (NS) – Anybody Listening
Hotbox (NB) – Knowledge is Wealth feat. Radar
Mischif (CB) – C.B. Summer
Mista Mack (CB) – Gone with the Breeze feat. Mischif
Shiest (NL) – Nuttin New
Three Street (NS) – How it Goes

R&B/Soul Single Track Recoding of the Year
Chris Kirby (NL) – Come Clean
Gary Beals (NS) – Jump Off feat. Blessed
Jamie Sparks (NS) – All I Need – Remix
Mark Duggan (NS) – Sambaiosis

Industry Awards:

Broadcast of the Year

Atlantic Airwaves
Cape Breton Christmas Daddies
East Coast Countdown
East Coast Music Show
East Coast Road Trip
That East Coast Show

Event of the Year

24th Annual Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival
Celtic Colours International Festival
Festival acadien de Caraquet
Halifax Pop Explosion
Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival
New Glasgow Riverfront Jubilee

Independent Company of the Year

Malkin Music
Marcato Digital Solutions
Music Marketing International
SpinCount
Sonic Entertainment Group
The Joseph Scott Entertainment Agency

Industry Professional of the Year presented by CARAS – The Junos

Bruce Morel
Darren Gallop
Eirinn Fraser
John Poirier
Lyle Drake
Tony Murray

Manager of the Year

Bruce Morel
Christopher K Daw
Heather Gibson
Jeff Liberty

Media Person of the Year

Doug Gallant
Kurt Fawthrop
Jeff Liberty
Jimmie Inch
Marc Xavier LeBlanc
Tom Bedell

Record Company/Distributor/Independent Label of the Year

Avondale Music
Diminished Fifth Records
Forward Music Group
Sonic Records
Sound of Pop Records
Warner Music Canada

Studio of the Year

Big Grey Sound Studio
Denmark Productions
Ferguson Music Productions
Lakewind Sound Studios
Soundpark Studios
The Sonic Temple

Studio Engineer of the Year

Dennis G. Field
Jamie Foulds
Jon Matthews
Mike “Sheppy” Shepherd
Scott Ferguson
Tim Feswick

Venue of the Year

Fredericton Playhouse
Harmony House Theatre
Membertou Trade & Convention Centre
St. Mary’s Church, Indian River
The Company House
The Oxygen Complex

Visual Artist of the Year

Cheryl Smith
Chr!s Sm!th
Jessica Rhaye Design
Jocelyne Vautour
Kelly Clark
Mat Dunlap

Only caught the end of the Grey Cup, but that was the only part that mattered.  I will copy my Facebook status.

“As a Bruins fan I’d like to welcome the Saskatchewan Roughriders to the “too many men penalty against Montreal in a big playoff game” club. After 30 years we have company.”

Got to sleep later than usual so when I got up Montreal had won and I heard about how they won. Luckily had TSN on the PVR and rewound it.  Damn.  Talk about a game where the losing team really did give away the victory.

I forgot earlier to mention Mike Giffin is on the Montreal roster.  He didn’t play last week with an injury and was questionable for the Grey Cup.  So either was Queen’s was going to have an alumni on the winning side.

TSN’s technical problems continued.  As I watched TSN The Reporters Sunday morning I saw a graphic for the TV schedule that afternoon.

“2009 Grey Cup : Blue Jays vs Tigers”

Wow.  And to make sure I didn’t imagine that with my lack of sleep Chris Zelkovich saw it as well.

http://thestar.blogs.com/sportsmedia/

Another columnist at The Toronto Star mentioned missed plays by the cameramen and announcers as well during the Vanier Cup.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/cfl/article/732186–woolsey-roughriders-no-1-in-fans-feverish-fervour

TSN pushed the blame for the Vanier Cup errors.  So it was fitting that graphic thing happened to show the last 2 weekends of errors were not just someone else’s fault.

If you are “Canada’s Sports Leader” then stop making excuses.  They had too much coverage on the weekend for their resources it came back to bit them. Queen’s/Calgary suffered as I heard the halftime show was spent on the Grey Cup.  How about talking about the game at hand?

Let’s hope these problems don’t come up at the Olympics.  If they can’t handle Queen’s/Calgary properly I’m not hopeful for all the sports they have to help cover.

The Score had much better coverage this season when they were handling CIS Football.  They are 3rd place among the sport stations and games on The Score didn’t have all those technical issues.

Other blogs about the Vanier Cup.

http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2009/11/28/1177088/vanier-cup-champions-queens-golden

http://www.cisblog.ca/2009/11/vanier-cup-laval-sets-standard-for-host.html

By the way, it is still stupid the Grey Cup is only available on cable TV now.  Should be TSN doing the game for CTV so more Canadians can watch.  Last year I found out the contract between TSN and the CFL does not allow that. Not everyone has cable/satellite.  I still read about many fans who can’t watch the game across the country.

Now we’re in the situation where the SuperBowl is on CTV but you have to have pay to watch the Grey Cup.  Slightly backwards.

Glad to find the Atlantic Schooners group got to the Grey Cup this year after a 1 year absence.  Found out about them a year ago or so.

Quick history lesson.  Atlantic Canada did get a CFL expansion team, once upon a time.  Halifax was awarded a franchise in 1984.  When cell phones were the size of a shoe box.

Years before the failed US expansion which didn’t make sense then and still doesn’t.  If you’re going to expand to the US, go to states near the border.  Baltimore worked out.  But picking places like Sacramento and Memphis was head scratching.

Team didn’t start up because financing couldn’t be found for a new stadium in Halifax.  You’d think between 1984 and today the league would look at the east coast instead of Ottawa, again.

In case you’re wondering if that’s the only CFL team to fold before they began, you forget the Miami Manatees.  Don’t laugh that was a real name.

The Las Vegas Posse had ceased operations and a group from Miami wanted to start it up again.  One of the stranger ideas since the team’s players had already been dispersed in a draft a year earlier.  Then what were they buying exactly? Not sure but the price was less than an expansion team.  Go figure.

The Miami story has one link to this Sunday’s Grey Cup.  Starting QB for the Las Vegas Posse was Anthony Cavillo.  The Posse was his first CFL team.

You can use that trivia at a Grey Cup party if you like.

Back to the Schooners, they have some places on the web to keep track of them this Grey Cup weekend.  And more information in general.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlantic-Schooners-DownEast-Kitchen-Party/166866339252

http://twitter.com/DEKitchenParty

http://www.atlanticschooners.com/

One of the “urban legends” of the team I had heard before.  Story goes the owner in preparing for the expansion team bought the old scoreboard from Foxboro Stadium.  It would’ve been used in the new stadium.  That never was built so the legend is that scoreboard still sits in a warehouse in the Halifax/Dartmouth area.

The other one is that the owner had also bought turf for the new facility.  He didn’t keep that.  Rumour is he dumped the turf into the Atlantic Ocean….. OK then.

Can we believe these stories? They’re not any stranger than before the playoffs the league saying it wanted to reduce the amount of Canadians on each team.  Nice timing on that guys.

“It’s OUR League”, except for the East Coast and the fact we want less Canucks on the teams….. other than that it’s Canada all the way.

They are having a regular season game in Moncton next year which is a good step in the right direction.  If they can take their eyes off the Ottawa obsession.

I lived in Ottawa for 3 years [1998-2001] when there was no CFL team.  I honestly cannot remember anyone complaining about not having a team. The previous ownership was a big reason for that. Went to high school in Pembroke and the Red Riders were covered more for their wacky owners than any on the field success.

Less said about the Renegades the better.  Any franchise that had to be taken over by the Gliebermans deserved to be eliminated. [I won't go into those guys, it would take too long.]

Back to present day.  Usually I watch some of the Grey Cup, but after the long day with the Vanier Cup broadcast and work I’ll have to skip it this year.  Might catch the tail end.

The Golden Gaels are the 2009 Vanier Cup champions after erasing a 25-7 deficit at halftime to beat Calgary 33-31.  First win since 1992 and Queen’s fans on Twitter exploded at the end of the game.  Searched “GAELS” and there was a tonne of messages.

CFRC hit the maximum amount of online listeners within a few minutes of kickoff.  If we could have had more listeners we would have since TSN’s technical difficulties caused a lot of headaches.  Their feed wasn’t working at the start of the game and it went out 2 more times in the 1st quarter.  Little embarrassing for “Canada’s Sports Leader”.

Glad the refs didn’t decide the ending because that was a bad officiating crew.  At halftime on CFRC we had someone from the Calgary broadcast drop by and he also agreed about the blown calls by the refs.

But back to the positives, congratulations to the team on the victory.  It looked a little bleak at halftime.  I did say to someone at the station “holding Calgary to some field goals in the first half is a good thing”.  Queen’s took over the second half and holding Calgary to less points in the 1st half was a big difference in the game.  Made the deficit a manageable one.

In my 4th season of working on the Queen’s broadcasts they win the entire thing.  That means I can’t put the win in in perspective as Alumni or fans can.  But you can search on Google for those who have been fans for a long time.  They can put the victory in words better than I can.

I’m glad the season is over since I can get a regular amount of sleep on Saturdays before work again.  Whew.

Another post coming up, thought I’d separate them.

With 3 Thursday games in honour of American Thanksgiving I better do an early post this week.  So happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and family members living in the U.S.

First up this afternoon Green Bay vs Detroit.  Lions with a great win last Sunday, especially after you see the NFL films footage of Stafford since he had a microphone on during the game.  After he got hit you can really hear how much in pain he was in.  Told the coach couple of minutes later he could throw the ball and went in and got the winning TD.

Best part was him on the bench awaiting the extra point.  Still in pain but able to get out this about the kicker “Come on Jason Hanson, do what they pay you for baby”  Couldn’t have written that, especially that he said the kicker’s first and last name.  In case we weren’t sure who he was talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEaFYsKg-7c

4 minutes in is after the hit.

After all of that, Stafford isn’t playing today.  Damn.  So I’ll go with Green Bay, but they better not take Detroit for granted.

4:15pm game is Oakland at Dallas.  Cowboys should win this but after that terrible performance against the Redskins I’m not positive.  A 7-6 win?  Stars-Capitals could have a 7-6 game.

Night game Giants vs Broncos.  NY with the win here.  Last year Denver fell apart but had a different QB and coach.  Must something in the Colorado water lately.  I wasn’t sold on the Broncos and when I finally picked them they started their losing streak.  Go figure.

Sunday games I’ll go through quickly.

Dolphins over Bills, Seahawks over Rams, Eagles over Redskins, Falcons over Bucs, Texans over Colts [one of these times Houston will beat them], Bengals over Browns, Panthers over Jets, Chargers over Chiefs, Jags over 49ers, Titans over Cards, Vikings over Bears and Ravens over Steelers.

Monday night Patriots vs Saints in New Orleans.  Hmmm.  If it was a Sunday game I’d barely pick the Pats.  But Saints at home on a Monday night is going to ramp them up even further.  New Orleans by 3.

I won’t be watching much of the Grey Cup. But easy pick of the Roughriders over the Als.  Montreal chokes in this game on a frequent basis.  1-6 record the last 7 times!  That’s insane.

Kingston’s Rob Bagg is with Saskatchewan.  He was with Queen’s when I started at CFRC so be nice for him to win.

As for Saturday’s Vanier Cup I’ll pick Queen’s over Calgary.  Wild guess of a score of 35-28.  But honestly I don’t know much about Calgary’s team.

Kick off at 12pm with a pregame starting around 11am on CFRC.  It’s getting a lot of attention in town.  The Ale House downtown is opening at 11am on Saturday for the game.  Wow, for a Queen’s football game.

It’s on TSN for those who want to watch the game.  But who wrote the TSN promos for the Vanier Cup?  It keeps saying Canada’s COLLEGE football championship.

No.  The U.S. has College Football we have University Football.  Why The Score calls their coverage “University Rush”.  Very sloppy mistake from TSN.  And I’ve seen different ads in which say ‘college’.

Friday’s show I think I’m going to play a lot of songs from The Band’s The Last Waltz.  Bring out the hour I played on Canadian Thanksgiving.  Then some bonus songs I have.  With one of the boxsets they had songs from the rehearsal of the concert.  Very rare to hear those.

Next Friday finally back LIVE on the show.  First week in December by the time that rolls around.  Will have Neate Sager on to talk about the Queen’s Football season, win or lose.

http://neatesager.blogspot.com/

http://www.cisblog.ca/

Now offline for a while.  Watch some NFL football this afternoon.