March Madness On Demand

I laugh at those studies about lost productivity during March Madness. CBS doesn't help with it's MMOD website that streams every single game live in "High-Quality" (and in lower varieties as well so you don't hog the office's bandwidth) that utilizes MS Silverlight which ruling out Chrome use, but is ok with Firefox, Safari and, of course, IE.


It isn't the full TV experience though. They switch to some no-name commentators for a separate half-time show feed and they don't let you flip to another game which it goes to commercials which is kinda annoying. But it does includes a "Boss Button" to switch off the broadcast to make it look like you're actually working.

Hockey Math: Why the Calgary Flames are Better than the Oilers

So if the Buffalo Sabres beats the Edmonton Oilers 10-2 and the Calgary Flames beats Buffalo 5-2, does that mean the Flames would beat the Oilers 25 to 2? Also does this show that the Flames are 12.5 times better? Trust me, it's an easy proof to do :-)

The Oilers were pounded was so bad, even our local sports radio station had to mention it in a song. For all those fans of the Oilers and the Kinks (or are curious about cross-dressing):

Goal (sung to the tune of Lola by the Kinks)

"But when Jochen Hetch scored, you must've known you were screwed..."

I was camera-less for the game, but the Flames did put on "Military Appreciation Night" where some season ticket holders donated their ducats to local soldiers. During the pre-game ceremony, they had a video montage playing some Johnny Cash that was so good, it even had the Flames starting line-up pull back from the blue line so they could check it out on the jumbo-tron. Another nice touch was that all the side games during the tv timeouts had soldiers vying for prizes. As for the game itself, Kipper made two ridiculous saves and the linesmen should have waved off two icing calls against the Flames (luckily they didn't cost us a goal). You usually only hear the "Oilers Suck" chant when they come to town, but the fans busted it out anyways as the Flames pulled ahead in the third period.

Superbowl XLII

Ya know the game's a big deal when they get Russell Crowe to do the intro voiceover... Unless my beloved Seahawks are in it like back in 2006, I don't really care who wins, just hope it's not a blowout... Tho there is a little more to see if indeed the Pats can go a perfect 19-0. But for those lucky enough in Canada to get to see the U.S. feed, we know it's all about the commercials.

You got your usual movie spoofs, this year by Audi (Godfather) and Budweiser (Rocky). Pepsi's launched it new 'Max' brand to go against Coke Zero. But this year, they missed the boat as it's all about the vitamin water! Supermodel + Lizards + Thriller = Sobe Life = This year's sexiest ad. Can Nintendo sue Southwest Airlines in their commercial? Oh yeah, Randy Moss finally catches a ball with 22 seconds left in the first half.

Noticed some Arcade Fire in the background music when Fox comes back after the half time show. BTW, a little disappointed that Tom Petty didn't play Mary Jane's Last Dance. Don't think another Janet Jackson incident will ever happen or would you with the last few acts that have played.

Yeah, I get the juxtaposing with Shaq being a horse-jockey, but what's with the kid picking his nose in this vitamin water commercial? Gotta love E-trade. Yeah, the talking baby thing is a little cliched, but it is comic gold when he pukes. Guess they knew they had a good thing going by having another one with a clown. Charlie Brown didn't get the Red-headed girl, but he does get the red-capped Coke bottle during the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. The Amp energy drink tow truck guy charging his nipples is so wrong...

Back to the game... Finally some football-related drama in the fourth quarter, a few touchdowns and a fourth and short gamble. Then a ridiculous scramble by the other Manning with 59 seconds left. Just when it looks like the Giants will only get a field goal and send the game into OT, with no more timeouts, they get a first down and then Burress is wide-open in the end zone for the lead. Brady gets the ball back with 30 seconds and their full complement of TOs, but his Hail Marys go unanswered.

All of 2008 Superbowl ads can be viewed over at MySpace.com. Enjoy, O.

NHL Winter Classic

A few thoughts during the game:

1) Don't try to predict the weather

2) Canadian national anthem played even tho both are US-based teams. Doesn't happen here at the 'Dome.

3) My CBC HD feed goes out 3 minutes into the game... stuck watching NBC HD or CBC SD :-(

4) Bad ice, both goals scored early on in the beginning of the first two periods.

5) More Zambonis!!! Don't think I've ever seen one break down before...



6) What's with those blue Penguins jerseys!?!

PS. Happy New Year! Best for 2008 to all my friends & family. -OP

NHL 2007 Playoffs

With March Madness over, the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs picks up where it left off. Four grueling best-of-seven series to hoist the Lord Stanley's mug. Tons of tradition and history. Spent the morning (quickly) making my picks. Based my players on the teams that I think will make the Final 4: New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Ducks, and the San Jose Sharks with the Sabres winning it all.


My Calgary Flames just limped into the playoffs but I predict will knock off the top-seeded Western Conference team, the Detroit Red Wings in 7 games with the final game going into sudden-death overtime.

Superbowl Commercials

Most folks up here may not be able to see Fed-Ex (Britney's latest ex-hubie, not the courier) daydreaming in a $US2.6M commercial, but it looks like AOL.ca has them all online so you won't have to youtube for them... The majority of Bud Lights were pretty good, but the most original had to be Sprint's Connectile Dsyfunction parody and the grossest had to be the Sierra Mist's Combover clip.

PS. Actually watched the half-time show... Interested to see that Prince actually covered the Foo Fighter's "Best of You", since the FFs do a rendition of the Symbol's "Darling Nikki" during their concert sets.

When Fighting Was Still Allowed in the NHL

I managed to go to a Calgary Flames & Anaheim (Mighty still back then) Ducks game through a buddy of mine back on December 8th, 2001. I was looking forward to seeing Paul Kariya play and was instead treated to a late game brawl that went multiple rounds. The best was when Dave Lowry flipped the puck out to free up Craig Berube from the penalty box who then chased Jeff Friesen (who ironically is now a Flame). Youtube.com still has links to revisit that great experience:

• Long Version (22:47) with HOF Peter Maher Commentary
• Medium Version (6:51) edited
• Short Version (3:15: with music)

PS. Here's a bonus Flames Red Hot music video circa 1987.