Gary Carter passed away yesterday.  That sucks.  The guys and I were talking about the great Montreal Expos teams back in the day... they had many great players... but the team was always identified by one guy... The Kid... Gary Carter.  I wanted to be him when I was a boy.  He could hit homers, and play an excellent catcher.  And he seemed like such a nice and genuine fella.  He deserves the Hall of Fame... I'm glad he got in before cancer took him from us. (PS. The Relay for Life Kick-Off is this Tuesday at 6 at the Truro Fire Hall).  Gary was so popular, and had such a great personality, he had his share of endorsements.  I wanted to share a very cute one that starred his daughter.  Take a look... RIP Gary.  You helped baseball in Canada a great deal.

Hey all!  At the start of the NHL season... I did my team picks on who would/wouldn't make it to the playoffs and who would win it all.  I wanted to see how I was doing, and after I looked, it wasn't pretty.  Let's see who I picked and how wrong I am so far.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANTIC - Philly/Pittsburgh/New Jersey/New York R/New York I.

So far so good here... except the Rangers are first and not fourth.

NORTHEAST - Buffalo/Boston/Montreal/Toronto/Ottawa

At this writing, only 2 teams from the Northeast would make it... I thought it would be Boston and Buffalo. Big Wrong... right now it's Ottawa surging, and Buffalo being the also-ran.  Toronto could still prove me wrong.

SOUTHEAST - Washington/Tampa Bay/Carolina/Winnipeg/Florida

Washington is right... but Florida is the surprise team... with Tampa and Carolina being worse than I expected.  Winnipeg could sneak in if they get hot.

WESTERN ...

Hi.

I didn't think it was possible to ruin a novelty song.  Novelty songs are fun little tunes that are designed to make you laugh and entertain you that way, instead of entertaining you musically.  So novelty songs don't put music first.  A song that doesn't put the music first is like a movie that doesn't care about the plot (see Sylvester Stallone) or a book that doesn't care about words (see Danielle Steele) or a league that doesn't care about it's fans (see the NBA). 

So how can somebody ruin a song that actually doesn't care about the fact that it's a song.  It takes some doin'.  But it has been achieved... thanks to Disney.

Now, my kids love Disney and the fact that the Family Channel plays all the Disney shows.  The shows are safe for the kids and they enjoy it... So I'm on board.  But ...

Hey gang!

With CarPro Auto on board with our hockey pool again, it got me thinking about the NHL this year. So, here's my picks to win it all.  You tell me whether I'm full of it or not.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

ATLANTIC - Philly/Pittsburgh/New Jersey/New York R/New York I.
NORTHEAST - Buffalo/Boston/Montreal/Toronto/Ottawa
SOUTHEAST - Washington/Tampa Bay/Carolina/Winnipeg/Florida

WESTERN CONFERENCE

CENTRAL - Chicago/Detroit/St.Louis/Columbus
NORTHWEST - Vancouver/Minnesota/Edmonton/Calgary/Colorado
PACIFIC - Los Angeles/San Jose/Anaheim/Phoenix/Dallas

I think Washington will finish 1st overall... then disappoint in the playoffs again.  I think Philly gains steam during regular season, then Bryzgalov chokes in playoffs.  I think my Devils squeak into playoffs, surprise in 1st round, then stall.  Montreal misses due to blueline injuries.  Toronto finishes 10th behind Montreal.  Winnipeg's youngsters improve, but not enough to translate to wins.  Buffalo is my surprise pick to unseat Boston in the East.  But they will fall to the Western team.

Vancouver finishes ...

Some good news has come from Montgomery Gentry land!  Here's the details: