Ahira's Hangar

Haha! Yes, the "Pacman" Jones drama is over for us now. It was a juicy story for Bomber fans and the media while it lasted. I read in the paper that Jones had uploaded a video on the internet that may or may not have ultimately caused the Bombers to drop him. In the video Jones was apparently already boasting about his return to the NFL, and how that would disappoint all his "Winnipeg fans." He was also showing off the expensive ring he had bought for his girlfriend.

Wow, what a character! Totally shameless.

Good to see Nadal back on the tennis court. I suppose it is too early (after his return from an injury) to hope for one of his and Federer's epic battles in the US Open finals, as both have mde the semi-finals...

Rain has thrown the Open totally out of whack. It will now have to conclude on Monday. I'm certainly hoping for a Nadal/Federer showdown in the final.

This evening's semifinal between Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams ended bizarrely. Serena was serving, down 15-30. The line referee called a foot fault on Serena, putting her at 15-40, giving Clijsters match point. Serena went ballistic on the referee, uttering threats. The umpire asked the referee what Serena had said. Then the tournament head honcho came out to confer with everyone...and then the match was suddenly over. Serena was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, and that meant automatically forfeiting the next point, whatever it was. Unfortunately for her, it was match point she forfeited.

Trouble is, on replays of Serena's supposed foot fault, I didn't see any such fault. Neither did the commentators. It looked like a completely legitimate serve to me. Congrats to Clijsters, but what an awful way to end such an important match.

I hate it when the officials decide a championship (or important game) based on a bad call.

But I should add that even the worst of calls do not justify huge temper tantrums on the part of the athletes.

I just heard on the news that Serena is being fined the maximum $10,000 for her behaviour. Wow. They're not fooling around.

And another shocker: Nadal lost his semifinal in straight sets to Juan Martin del Potro. I didn't catch the match, but apparently Nadal played badly.

It's like the US Open entered the Twilight Zone the last few days...

Well, Nadal is coming back from a serious injury, and he is not known for playing his best on the super hard US Open courts...

Nadal's game did look sharp to me, so that's why I was surprised he lost like that.

But my goodness, Juan Martin del Potro is no fluke. He beat Roger Federer in the final! Holy, what a huge upset...and I totally missed the match! Aaargh. It was a 4-hour, 5-set battle, too.

I also missed the Women's Final. Double aargh. Kim Clijsters defeated Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to claim her 2nd US Open. Also, she becomes the first mom to win a Grand Slam title since Evonne Goolagong Cawley at Wimbledon in 1980. And Kim is apparently the first ever unseeded woman to win the US Open. Amazing stuff!

Saw Red Wings legend Steve Yzerman on CBC's The Hour last night. He's one of those quietly intense people - doesn't really like to reveal too much of himself - but it was a good chat with the host. Talked about the Vancouver Olympics (he's in charge of the Canadian hockey team) and other things. Didn't really know Yzerman joined Detroit right when it was in the middle of the "Dead Things" era. To go from that nadir, to 3 Stanley Cups (eventually) is amazing stuff. Still, it took them 14(?) seasons to get there...and Yzerman stayed with that team through thick and thin. No wonder Detroit loves him. I hear he'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame in November. Congratulations, sir!

Yzerman is the epitome of a Detroit sports hero.

Our greatest heroes are all like him - hard working classy quiet guys who perform superbly year after year through thick and thin, good times and bad. We love hard workers who never give up in these parts.

Yes, Yzerman came in the middle of the Dead Things era. Took all hopes of he long suffering fans upon his back as a teenager, and worked his ass off for years to get the team back to winning seasons. Put up with a lot of crap like drunken team mates (I still have not forgiven Probert for his drunken playoff binges, and might not ever) over the years. Even changed his game from being a natural offensive player to becoming a premier defensive player (and giving up his chances to possibly set NHL offensive records) for the betterment of the team.

Other examples of premier Detroit heroes are Nicky Lidstrom, Al Kaline, and Gordie Howe. All of them hard working quiet family guys.

Meanwhile, in the land of the CFL...our Blue Bombers won big against the Montreal Alouettes, by a score of 41-24. It means our playoff hopes are still alive (if on life support).

Thank's I'll have a Gatorade (no comments, youknowwho, yes we all know where it was invented ) on the rocks please. Just a head's up that we all should start thinking of setting up the College Bowl Game and how to get the word out. Let's blare it on Facebook too. If someone wants to make an image logo for it, as well, that would be great. We need to get an action time line together soon-same thing with the NCAA Tourney, because these college things always creep us on all of us before we know it.

College Bowl Game? If I was clueless about the NFL, I'm even more so about college football. But, hey, if it's as simple to play as the NFL Picks, then yeah, I'll try it. I'm a sucker for punishment.

(Meanwhile, our Bombers lost last weekend's game so they're out of the playoffs. They got what they deserved - they sucked most of the season, heh.)

College Bowl pick 'em should be a one off, neo.
Once the bowl games are set, choose the winner of each and then wait for the games to be played.
Unless danlo has something else in mind...

The simplest setup is fine by me---anyone know the announcement date?--let's see the Lobos will be crushed by BYU this weekend, then a bye and two more loses to go 0-11 so we need to take serious action in about 3 weeks. We, probably, need to start an interest thread right after Thanksgiving weekend and then send out a mass email the day the selections are made. We can announce it on the Watch, but I'm not sending a mass email from there-can you believe the two people there complained about our Pick 'EM Game email there-calling it spam? Sheese...