Friday, January 1:
HAPPY NEW YEAR
to one and all!!
The tradition started in 1975 with a famous 3-3 tie between the Montreal Canadiens and the Central Red Army team of the Soviet Union, a hockey game many believe is still the greatest ever played. That started a run of New Year's Eve classics that continues to this day and Canada's 5-4 junior win over the United States last night was just the latest in a long line. Truth be told, the Americans deserved a better fate. They outskated and outplayed Canada for 50 minutes last night but couldn't hold their 4-2 lead and eventually succumbed in a shootout. (More overtime would have been nice as the five-minute period left me breathless).
I'm looking forward to the Winter Classic today at Fenway Park. But how do you top New Year's Day games at Wrigley Field and the Fens? Yankee Stadium (Rangers vs. Capitals) is rumoured to be the 2011 site.
Yes, the "upcoming" page is true -- Sunday, I'm ditching my long-held promise of never attending a Detroit Lions home game under the Ford regime. Maybe. The meaningless game against the Bears is a "sellout" so I'll roam around outside Ford Field before game time. If I'm not offered any bargains, I'll simply drive home.
Saturday, January 2:
Nope. The trip to Detroit is off. There's good (but cold) weather here and in Motown, but the threat of major snowsqualls along the way made me change my mind about going. It's been dicey enough just driving home the last couple of nights from work.
My college bowl "sure thing" was just that last night. Everyone I talked to said Oregon had far too much offensive firepower for Ohio State. But defence and ball control are the difference in big games. The Buckeyes controlled the ball for more than 40 (!) minutes in the Rose Bowl, keeping the Ducks' high-powered attack on the sidelines.
Sunday, January 3:
Benjamin Conz. Remember that name. Because he'll try to do to Canada today what he did to Russia yesterday. Conz is the Swiss goalie who had the game of his life, kicking out 50 shots in Switzerland's stunning 3-2 win in the world junior hockey semifinals, eliminating the Russians. Can he do it again today? History would suggest no, especially with a crowd that will be against him, rather than for him. But you never know. Meanwhile, the Americans, unlike a year ago, rebounded from their tough loss to Canada to beat Finland. Another Canada-U-S match-up in the final would be a welcome sight, in the wake of their New Year's Eve classic.
What in thunder is wrong with Liverpool? By all accounts they were fortunate to earn a 1-1 draw at Reading -- a club low in the second division (League Championship) standings -- in their F.A. Cup third round match. Sure, they'll probably win the replay at Anfield but really, their only true highlight of a sorry season has been a 2-0 home win over Manchester United. Speaking of my Red Devils, they host Leeds -- the third division leaders (how the once-mighty have fallen) -- in their F.A. Cup match today. I'll never hear the end of it if Leeds wins -- the husband of The Bride's best friend is from Yorkshire and a die-hard supporter of the Whites.
UPDATE: Leeds 1 Manchester United 0. The visitors were the better team and well deserving of their win, too. And I'll never hear the end of it.
Monday, January 4:
Poop on the Pepsi advertising clowns who decided that Canada needs a new hockey cheer. The cola firm's TV ads are imploring us to learn some dopey new chant that includes "Eh" and "Oh." Dumb. And embarrassing. Nothing's wrong with "Go Canada Go." So instead of learning this new cheer, I'll run out to buy and drink Coke instead.
If it was so important to keep Peyton Manning away from dangerous competition eight days ago with a playoff berth locked up, then what was he doing on the slick field yesterday in the first half of a Buffalo blizzard? Throwing a couple of cheapie passes to Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne, that's what, so they could get to 100 receptions for the season. Then they all came out, and the Colts used the back-ups the rest of the way in their lopsided loss. But it's last week's game that Indianapolis should be ashamed of. The only reason the New York Jets are in the playoffs is that Indy and Cincinnati mailed it in against Gotham the final two weeks of the season. Not the Jets' fault. I hope they whip Cincy again next week and I hope the Colts get clocked by a wild-card survivor in two weeks. Conversely, I would normally cheer for Baltimore to defeat New England this week. But the Patriots lost star receiver Wes Welker yesterday to injury. He went down as the Pats did their best to maintain the sport's integrity by playing their stars against a Houston team that was fighting to make the playoffs (and might have, had the Bengals decided to play last night). Because of that, I'll cheer for New England. As I mentioned before, I find nothing wrong with resting star players if it's a meaningless game for both teams.
In the midst of the holiday madness, I somehow managed to post last week's picture of the week (December 27) with an almost exact carbon copy of one from two months earlier (October 25). So, I've updated it with the picture I had planned to post all along -- an exterior shot of Yankee Stadium. You can find it here: 
or by clicking on the "Pic of the Week" button on the home page.
Tuesday, January 5:
The only other "must" view college football bowl game for me besides the New Year's day Rose Bowl won by Ohio State over Oregon and this Thursday's Alabama-Texas championship tilt in Pasadena was last night's Fiesta Bowl featuring the other two unbeatens, Boise State and TCU. And as expected, the better defence won. But most, myself included, expected the better defenders to be from Texas Christian. Nope. The Broncos defence ruled the night in the 17-10 victory. I didn't really have a rooting interest in this one. On one hand, how can you not love Boise State, upset winners two years ago over Oklahoma in arguably the greatest bowl game ever played? On the other, how can you cheer against a team with the nickname "Horned Frogs," the Fort Worth school of Slingin' Sammy Baugh from the 1930s? My only regret is that they played each other, a BCS copout. I would have liked to see how they would have done against some of the traditional college football powers.
Tonight, the must-view game is the final of the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatoon, a rematch (yay!) of the New Year's Eve dandy between Canada and the United States. And please don't hate me for saying so, but a voice in my head says the Americans win this one. Hope I'm wrong.
Thursday, January 7:
As feared, I wasn't wrong the other night. Just had a bad feeling all day about that gold medal game. And I hope it's not a sign of things to come for Vancouver.
After Alabama crushed Florida and Texas barely squeaked by Nebraska in their respective conference championship games back on December 5th, it's tempting to predict an easy win for the Crimson Tide in tonight's BCS championship game. Do so at your own risk. Not only do the Longhorns have a decided edge in quarterback experience (Colt McCoy vs. Greg McElroy) but Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp held down the same post at LSU six years ago under current 'Bama coach Nick Saban, and they won the national championship together. Muschamp knows Saban like a brother. The most intriguing matchup will be Alabama's Heisman Trophy-winning running back Mark Ingram (who left Florida's defence in tatters in the SEC title game) against the Longhorns' defence, number-one in U-S college football against the run. Remember that while McCoy had a dreadful game against Nebraska in the Big-12 championship game, the Texas defence stifled the Cornhuskers all night. I'm not necessarily calling for a Texas win tonight (I think it's a toss-up) but I do expect a rather low-scoring, razor-close football game.
Friday, January 8:
Alabama 37 Texas 21. Yeah, Texas made it close in the fourth quarter for a little while but this game was over -- and I mean over -- the minute Longhorns' quarterback Colt McCoy went out with a shoulder injury just three minutes into the first quarter. Texas was only able to gain a 6-0 point on a couple of major Alabama mistakes and once the Crimson Tide got its running game in gear (what a blocking game by offensive tackle James Carpenter!) 'Bama was on its way. Three things killed Texas: 1) Marcell Dareus' devastating hit that finished McCoy; 2) the Longhorns' timeout to call for a ridiculous and botched shovel pass attempt with mere seconds on the clock in the first half that Dareus returned for a touchdown, and 3) Eryk Anders' blindside sack on Texas back-up quarterback Garrett Gilbert, whose fumble was recovered by Courtney Upshaw at the Texas' three in the fourth quarter, just after the 'Horns had clawed their way back into the game. True freshman Gilbert did have a pair of second-half touchdown passes to close it to 24-21 but his fumble and two of his three interceptions led directly to 21 Alabama points. Kudos to Texas for providing a little drama when it appeared at halftime there would be none -- but much of the blame for this one falls on the Texas coaching staff for calling that disastrous shovel pass when the only proper course of action was to take a knee, get into the locker room and regroup. After all, Alabama played far from its best game on offense. But with McCoy out and coach Mack Brown's end-of-the-first-half follies, 'Bama merely had to be good enough.
This region can drive me nuts at times. They've just expanded Stouffville Road west of Markham Road to four lanes from two, yet cut the speed limit from 80 kilometres an hour to 60. This isn't a residential area by the way, simply a country road that runs by farms and a golf course. Crazy.
Sunday, January 10:
Take that, lie-downs! The Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles, who both played like dogs in the final week of the NFL season, found out the hard way that if you take a week off, it'll come back to haunt you. The New York Jets manhandled the Bengals yesterday in Cincinnati, befuddling an over-aggressive Cincy defence with some great misdirection plays. And by failing to show up last week in Dallas, the Eagles had to play a return match in the new Cowboys Stadium and were embarrassed for a second straight week. Philly was my dark horse at the start of the season but came unglued against the 'Boys. Dallas is the healthiest team in the post-season and may just be peaking at the right time to go to the Super Bowl.
In the department of "I've-never-seen-that-before": Just as the Toronto Maple Leafs were about to be awarded a penalty shot last night in a 1-1 game against Pittsburgh, officials reviewed an apparent crossbar clang at the Leafs' end moments earlier. Turns out the puck also bounced off the inner bar. So, no penalty shot. Instead a Pittsburgh goal and a Toronto power play that went awry, ending with another Penguins score seconds after it ended. Pittsburgh eventually won it 4-1. Bizarre. And the Leafs are still second-last in the conference, nine points out of a playoff spot with six teams to pass.
Monday, January 11:
As sure as the rivers flow downstream, I was convinced that the Green Bay Packers, having won the toss to start overtime, would march down the field in seconds and break their 45-45 (!) tie at Arizona yesterday. Wrong again. The Cardinals' quick turnover-for-a-touchdown ended one of the most unpredictable and exciting NFL games I've ever seen. And Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner? Five touchdown passes and just four incompletions?! That's just sick!
Aside from that, Dallas and the New York Jets looked as if they will be very difficult to beat in these playoffs.
Tuesday, January 12:
Major earthquakes are terrible anywhere and everywhere but for a 7.0 magnitude quake to shake the suburbs of Port-au-Prince, Haiti -- as it did today -- well, it's just beyond comprehension. The impoverished, often lawless country is the poorest in the western hemisphere. I can only imagine the depth of devastation there. I remember thinking on an Asian visit that the "suburbs" of Jakarta -- shacks and shantytowns really -- would be wiped off the face of the earth if a major typhoon ever delivered a dead-eye strike. And from all accounts, Jakarta is Shangri La in comparison with Port-au-Prince.
One of the fun games at work is trying to meet the "who sang that?" challenges from my colleague, Rich. If it's the 1960s, I think I have a better than average chance of nailing it. But I can't believe I missed "Time of the Season" today, done of course, by Rod Argent and the Zombies. It was a classic hit in 1968, coming four years after they came out with "She's Not There" and "Tell Her No." It was an embarrassing miss and I claimed that in '68 I was too strung out on bad drugs to remember anything. I don't think he believed me. Good thing I wasn't -- I would have missed the Detroit Tigers' World Series win, a highlight of my teen years!
Thursday, January 14:
It's difficult to watch television with the devastation in Haiti. Like the Asian tsunami a few years ago, the reality that 100,000 or more could die in a single catastrophe is almost impossible to grasp. Some estimates suggest about three million people are in desperate and immediate need of aid. What people there desperately need is help -- and help costs money. If you haven't already done so, please take a minute and consider a contribution to an aid agency (a link to the Canadian Red Cross is on our home page and will be for a little while). As I sit here in a warm, comfortable house, the internet world at my fingertips and hours away from the start of my 58th year on earth, my silent prayers are with the people of Haiti and the strength they'll need to overcome yet another disaster there.
Saturday, January 16:
The Bride is a slave to Farmville. It took forever for her to join Facebook, another forever for her to do anything more than check in about once a month but now she's online a few times a day, fertilizing crops, planting, milking cows, the works. It is something of an addictive game and you don't "play" anyone -- you simply run your farm as intently as you desire, with lots of help from your friends.
Here we go with weekend two of the NFL playoffs. Something tells me all four visitors -- Arizona, Baltimore, Dallas and the New York Jets -- will at least cover, and it wouldn't surprise me to see all four win.
Sunday, January 17:
Take the visitors, huh? How did that work out yesterday? Not too well, I'm afraid, with New Orleans scoring at will against a swiss cheese Arizona defence and Baltimore hardly scoring at all against a strong-as-steel Indianapolis defence. Yeah, I like the Cowboys and Jets today, which should have you running towards the Vikings and Chargers.
I've spent more than 19-plus years in the newsroom at the Toronto downtown corner of King and Victoria and I don't think I ever had a busier day than yesterday. Yes, like every firm in the business, we're far less staffed than we once were, especially during off-peak hours like overnights and weekends. But it's the stories that can get you down -- yesterday, we had two major Canadian blurbs from Haiti (one listing more than 13-hundred Canadians still unaccounted for from Tuesday's earthquake and another confirming the death of a second RCMP officer who was found in the rubble there). Those stories sandwiched in word from Kandahar that another Canadian soldier had been killed in the Afghan mission. You know the sick and tasteless jokes you hear days after a major tragedy? They all start in police precincts, hospitals and newsrooms. They provide a defence mechanism to allow us to deal with tragedy (and let's be clear -- police, fire, ambulance and hospital workers are far more affected than cocooned newsies like yours truly, whose in-the-field days are behind him). Still, you have to have a healthy outlet.
Tuesday, January 19:
Some teams never get there. And the San Diego Chargers might be one of those teams. No matter how well they play in the regular season, they up and die the first time they see a little playoff pressure. The Chargers roared into the post-season on an 11-game winning streak, hotter than a pistol and played a terrible game Sunday against the New York Jets. They should have buried the visitors in the first half but let them hang around and paid the price.
Jets vs. Colts in the playoffs. Brings to mind Joe Namath and Super Bowl III, doesn't it? But no upset this time. I love the Jets' defence but I think their magic carpet ride comes to an end Sunday at Indianapolis.
I don't care if he was captain of Canada's national junior team, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League should suspend Patrice Cormier for the balance of the season plus the playoffs for his vicious elbow to the head of Quebec Remparts defenceman Mikael Tam the other night in Rouyn-Noranda. Tam is in hospital with brain trauma and minus a few teeth. Currently, Cormier is suspended indefinitely but a severe penalty is in order here. Y'know, there was a time when there was a measure of respect for the opponent in hockey. Not anymore. It wasn't that long ago when a player in an Ontario senior game died after an on-ice punch-up. One of these days, sadly, a player is going to lose his life from an intentional elbow, slash or high stick.
Wednesday, January 20:
They say you don't kick a man when he's down. They say that if you don't have anything good to say about someone, don't say anything at all. Can't help it. Tony George, ousted as CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year has resigned from the board. Except for his Indy Racing League team, he now has nothing to do with the track or the racing series he started in a fit of pique two decades ago when he didn't like the direction CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) was going. In those days, open wheel racing in North America was healthy, with a series of races on short-track ovals, super-speedways (like Indy), road courses and street courses (like Toronto). Now, it's a mess. The IRL won the war with CART (later Champ-Car) but at what cost? Take away the allure of Danica Patrick, and the series has nothing (which may happen, should she bolt to NASCAR full-time). George spent like a drunken sailor at the Speedway, putting in a road course for Formula One, which has now pulled out of Indy. Mistake after mistake after mistake. I saw my first Indianapolis 500 in 1978 when I was 25 and my last in 2003 when I was 50 (with 13 others in between). Pretty good bookends I thought at the time, promising myself that I'd never set foot in the place again as long as Tony George had anything to do with it. Will I be back? Dunno. Not this year as the old Indy gang is gathering in New York that weekend. But maybe one more time down the road -- we'll see.
The thought that a Republican would win the Massachusetts senate post vacated by Ted Kennedy's death is akin to looking to the west to see the sun rise and must have folks inside the Beltway in a panic. This could put an end to U.S. President Obama's massive health-care reform plans. Scott Brown's upset victory over Martha Coakley is bound to have far-reaching effects in the Senate -- especially with House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates on the ballot right across the U.S. in fall elections.
A cut-throat business, the media is. My thoughts are with 29 full-time and 7 part-time employees at Toronto's City-TV -- including 23-year-veteran anchor Anne Mroczkowski -- who were let go yesterday. In all, 60 City jobs were slashed in newsrooms across the country. Will it ever end?
Saturday, January 23:
Tornado watches? For Phoenix, Arizona?! Happened the other night. They are certainly having some strange weather in the U.S. Southwest. And speaking of weather, I'd like to comment on our own, mostly calm and mild winter weather. But I won't. I don't want to jinx it.
You may (or may not) be wondering why I've been to just one (1) OHL game in the past few seasons (and that was as much a social event as anything else, reuniting with friends). I hate the direction hockey is going and with the NHL turning a blind eye to head shots, the juniors -- without the maturity to rein in raging adrenalin -- take it to the extreme. Michael Liambas. Zack Kassian. Patrice Brisbois (of the Quebec League). All of them serving or facing major suspensions for their actions. Two of them (Kassian and Brisbois) are highly drafted players with tremendous upside. And none of them should be playing hockey again this season. (Liambas was suspended for the balance of the season, whereupon a minor pro league picked him up and he immediately committed a suspendable offence; Kassian received 20 games, perhaps because he's a star player on a star-studded team -- and if that's the case, commissioner Dave Branch should be ashamed of himself; and Cormier's suspension will be handed down Monday). Dave Perkins of the Toronto Star is right. Some day, some innocent player isn't going to wake up from a head shot. And maybe then, the culture of the sport will change.
Sunday, January 24:
It's the biggest game in the history of the New Orleans Saints. For the first time in their mostly sad history, they are hosting the NFC championship game today against the Minnesota Vikings. Cool as it would be to see Brett Favre in the big game again, I want to see the Saints reach their first-ever Super Bowl. New Orleans is a wonderful place and the city has suffered greatly in the years since hurricane Katrina. I won't pick the Saints because that's the kiss of death but I really hope they prevail. And if they do, that would leave just four franchises without a Super Bowl appearance and some additional shame for the Detroit Lions, who deserve all they get. I've also changed my opinion about the AFC title game. Tuesday, I said the Jets' post-season ride will come to an end today in Indianapolis. Upon reflection, I think they'll pull it out -- as long as Mark Sanchez continues his solid post-season run. There were times during the regular season when he looked everything like the raw rookie he is. But he's been good in the playoffs if he plays mistake-free football today then I can see the Jets advancing. Almost everything else is in their favour. New York is a good running team against a Colts' defence that was 24th in the league against the run (although they did shut down Baltimore's run attack last week). Indy's running attack is even worse -- last in the league -- against a very run New York run defence. So the Colts will pass and will try to neutralize star cornerback Darrelle Revis. Lots of advantages for the Jets. The one great equalizer? "18." Payton Manning is so good it's scary and if he's given time and has pin-point accuracy, it doesn't matter what the Jets do. But New York has something they didn't have in the 15th game of the regular season at Indianapolis -- confidence. If Indy didn't rest their stars partway through that game, the Jets would not have come from behind to make the playoffs. I think they'll make Indy pay for that mistake today.
For the third time in four games, the Detroit Red Wings coughed up a two-goal lead and it cost them in a 3-2 home loss to Los Angeles. Detroit is tied for 8th in the West (if the playoffs started today, they'd be out via a tie-breaker) and it's going to be touch-and-go to reach the post-season. A big fall from a team that should have won the Stanley Cup back in June. And the Toronto Maple Leafs, 14th in the East, are 8 points out of 13th, 11 points shy of a playoff spot, have 6 teams to pass and just 29 games remaining. Teams 9 through 13 all have at least one game in hand on Toronto. Turn out the lights, the party's over. Again.
Monday, January 25:
The very first play in their history -- a kickoff return -- resulted in in a touchdown. It's been mostly downhill in the 43 years since -- until last night. The New Orleans Saints are going to the Super Bowl. How? Beats me. Few teams have dominated a football game like the Minnesota Vikings and lost -- and they have only themselves to blame. First downs? Minnesota, 31-15. Yards passing? Minnesota, 310-189. Yards rushing? Minnesota, 165-68. Total net yards? Minnesota, 475-257. Turnovers? Minnesota, 5-1. And that was the difference. Especially near the end of the fourth quarter when Brett Favre made an ill-advised pass that was picked off. Just outside field goal range, all Favre had to do was turn the corner, run for a few yards, take a slide and watch Ryan Longwell attempt an admittedly long but (for him) makeable three-pointer for the win. Instead, the Saints survived, won the toss in overtime, marched down the field (thanks in part to a couple of Vikings penalties and three reviewable plays) and won it on a field goal of their own, 40 yards out from Garrett Hartley.
So now they play the Colts. I had opined that if Mark Sanchez didn't somehow screw it up (as rookies often do in big games) the Jets would prevail. He didn't and they lost anyway. They gave it a pretty good shot, led by 11 at one point, but couldn't stop Indianapolis in the second half. What a job by the Colts' offensive line. Aside from a couple of early sacks, New York couldn't touch Peyton Manning despite repeated blitzes. And they also blew open some large holes for the running backs as Indianapolis outrushed the Jets, 101-86, a huge surprise. That allowed Manning to sit back and dissect the Jets secondary in the second half. So now we have Peyton Manning going up against father Archie Manning's former employers in two weeks time in Miami. Should be fun.
That wonderful man, Ernie Harwell, turned 92 today. Ernie is dying of cancer and it's nice that he was able to enjoy one more birthday. When the sad day comes, all of Michigan will be in mourning and lowering flags.
Wednesday, January 27:
Hard to believe that a veteran hockey team like the Detroit Red Wings can't seal the deal in close games anymore -- especially at home. Last night they held a 4-2 lead on visiting Phoenix with two minutes remaining and lost 5-4 in overtime. I guess the eventual fall was bound to happen in time as they've been solid Stanley Cup contenders for more than a decade. But it's tough to watch, especially seeing how close they came last June to winning it. They'll be touch-and-go just to reach the playoffs this season.
Not much fun these days for either Detroit or Toronto sports fans. The Raptors are the best thing going in Hogtown these days. In the Motor City, the Wings may miss the playoffs, the Pistons will miss the playoffs, the Tigers have had a fire sale since their choke job and the Lions -- hahahahaha! Both Michigan football and basketball are having problems, Michigan State football needs its own prison wing -- and that leaves Spartans hoops as the lone bright spot. Tom Izzo's outfit won another squeaker last night at U-of-M to remain unbeaten in the Big-10 and all but guarantee the Wolverines will be without a dance partner when the NCAA names its 65 tournament participants.
Friday, January 29:
Ladies and gentlemen: your Toronto Raptors! Duds in the first quarter of the season, the city's NBA team is finally starting to jell. A win over the Lakers last week. They beat Miami the other night. A comeback win in Manhattan last night. If this team finishes strong and manages to win at least one playoff round then maybe Chris Bosh might be tempted to stay instead of leaving via the free agent route. He does like the city but doesn't want to waste the best years of his career playing for a middle-of-the-pack franchise. The Raptors now embark on a stretch of rather winnable games. Time will tell if they will start to carry a swagger against lesser opponents or play down to their level.
Saturday, January 30:
Yes, they got it right -- so right. Clara Hughes is the perfect person to carry the flag for Canada at the opening ceremonies of the upcoming winter Olympics in Vancouver. Hughes, who went through some troubled times in her youth, is the only Canadian to win a medal in both the winter (speedskating) and summer (cycling) games. A deeply committed humanitarian, she's also a wonderful ambassador for sports and for the country and gives freely of her time for worthy causes. And if they pick Terry Fox's mom to finish the torch marathon and light the cauldron, then that would be just about perfect.
It's Hockey Day in Canada and here in southern Ontario, it's a perfect day for it. Crisp, cold and sunny. While there are three NHL games featuring the six Canadian teams for fans to watch, I hope some people will be outside on frozen ponds, playing for hours and finally coming in for hot chocolate when the sun starts to sink. That's Canadian!
Sunday, January 31:
Say, if you use Microsoft's newest version of Internet Explorer to access this web site, you know as well as I do that it looks like crap. Sorry about that. This is a pretty rudimentary site and until I buy and read "CSS For Dummies" -- which should teach me something about cascading style sheets -- then I'm afraid it will stay that way (I use Firefox and it generally displays the site the way it's intended to be seen). Someday this year, if I have the time, I will embark on a project to freshen up the site but I'm afraid it's not something I'm going to get to anytime soon.
And out goes January -- a month with bitterly cold temperatures sandwiched around a mild spell. And virtually no snow. Here in the northeastern 'burbs we still have a snow cover thanks to a rather nasty early December blast that fell mostly as rain down in Toronto. So now we await the verdict Tuesday from that albino rodent up Wiarton way. The silly critter predicted six more weeks of winter a year ago and by the weekend, temperatures were soaring and (as it turns out) the worst of winter was long gone. Two years ago, Willie called for an early spring and we were still digging out from massive snowstorms in April.
Apologies to the municipality. Three weeks ago I took it to task for cutting the speed limit from 80 to 60 on a just-completed expansion of Stouffville Road west of Markham Road from two lanes to four. I guess the construction wasn't 100% complete because now the speed limit is back to where it used to be -- 80 along the rural stretch and 60 when it approaches the town. And that's the way it should be.
