That Elusive Grey Cup

Someone once said "Sports is a game played by idiots who are entertaining fools". Not sure about the accuracy of that statement but here a full 24 hours after the Saskatchewan RoughRiders gave away the Grey Cup, I am left with this hollow feeling in my stomach and a feeling of total disbelief. The RoughRiders once again became the darlings of the nation and facing the almost invincible Montreal Alouettes almost pulled it off. Well in fact they did pull it off and would have won the game had it not been for a too many men on the field penalty after a missed field goal that moved Montreal ten yards closer and this time the kick that gave them the Grey Cup 28 - 27 over the Riders.
Much has been said about the penalty. Talk shows were full of how could this happen?, fire the coach, who's the player to blame and then downright disappointment about the one that got away. Most fans were pretty forgiving, some not so much and one lady put it in to proper perspective when she pointed out that a real tragedy had occurred when a young man was killed in an industrial accident in the south east of the province. Of course she is right but the heartache remains.
Much has been said about the penalty and that was the difference but still there is other blame to go around.
1) A Luca Congi missed field goal
2) The decision to kick a field goal when the Riders were on the two yard line.
3) A costly Darian Durant interception and probably the biggest of all
4) With under two minutes left the Riders failed to gain a first down and had to kick the ball away giving Montreal a chance to move into field goal range. A couple of first downs, some ball control and the kick would never happened.
So for the Riders and the province its next year country again. Three Grey Cups in something like 100 years and a fourth one that just slipped through their fingers. Actually the Riders may have become the first team in history to celebrate four Grey Cups and win only three. After the Duval field goal sailed wide there was tremendous celebration by the Riders only to have the flags thrown, too many men, and Duval a chance to do it again and seal the deal.
Despite the heartbreak of the loss this has been a special season for the Green and White and a special season for their loyal fans. What is there about this team that so endears them to fans throughout the world? The Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers are two NFL teams that have been called America's team and loved throughout the country. But they were successful. The same can't be said about the Saskatchewan RoughRiders. Three championships in one hundred years.
Years of missing the playoffs. A first place finish this year in the West ending an unbelievable thirty three year drought.
Well perhaps this year's 2009 edition of the Riders holds the answer. Picked to finish last in the West, the Riders finish first.
Along the way they took five points out of six away from the defending champion Calgary Stampeders and then whipped the
Stampeders in the Western Final. Along the way they engineered some miraculous come from behind wins, overcame a
series of injuries and maybe the most important of all did it with more than the required number of Canadians.
Add to that a young rookie quarterback in Darian Durant who thrived and survived in a football market where quarterbacks
are regularly run out of town. Everybody likes to cheer for the little guy and the Riders stood tall as the small market team,
Perhaps that's why Canadians from coast to coast love this team and follow them religiously. Someone said no matter what city hosts the Grey Cup they are always excited to have the Saskatchewan RoughRiders come as the West representative. It becomes a fun party atmosphere with hordes of green and white painted fans, lots of watermelon heads and guaranteed success for the host city. Unfortunately for the loyal fans of the Green and White it is next year country again. Seven months from now the fever will hit us all again. The questions will be back and lets hope the Green and White answers them all like they did this year. Stand tall and proud Saskatchewan RoughRiders. You may not have brought home the Cup but you are true champions indeed. And remember you are supported by the greatest fans in the world.

CFL - David vs Goliath

It is now mere hours away. The countdown to the 2009 Grey Cup. It's David vs Goliath all over again.
Goliath, the mighty Montreal Alouettes, cruising to a 15 win 3 loss season in the regular Canadian Football League season and easily disposing of the Saskatchewan RoughRiders not once but twice along the way. The Alouettes, referred to as "The Beast of the East, strong in almost every category. In fact in eight categories that football teams are favored in and ranked, the mighty Alouettes are ahead of the Riders in six. Established as 9 and a half point favorites to win this Montreal team has it all.
And yet. Yet there is just something about this Saskatchewan RoughRider team that says don't count them out.
Picked by many experts to finish last in the West the Riders finished first. I picked them last with a 7 - 11 record and who would have predicted that this team would win two and tie one in their three meetings with the defending Grey Cup champion Calgary Stampeders. And then there was the Western final where the Riders again topped the Stampeders.
Halfway through the season Rider fans were calling for quarterback Darian Durant's head. Too inexperienced, throws too many interceptions, need someone experienced. But here is Durant leading his team on the field for the Grey Cup and along the way named as the all star quarterback.
Injuries overcome, adversity played through. Head coach Ken Miller described as to laid back. Not enough emotion. But Miller leads his team into the Grey Cup and it is his demeanor that the Rider players give credit to getting them to this point.
Strong, steady. Controlled. I believe a sports team takes on the personality of their coach. And the Riders never give up, never quit attitude is a reflection of Ken Miller.
Can the Riders do it today? Can they bring home this province's fourth Grey Cup. Well their Goliath is huge. He is strong in every category. But David did win didn't he? Someone once said it's not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, it's the size
of the fight in the dog that matters.
Win or lose. Rider fans have had a great season. A win today would put the icing on the cake

Year End Letters

It will soon be that time of the year again. You receive those annoying year end letters. We went here, we went there, we bought this, we bought that, little johnny excelled in everything again. Well here is a different kind of year end letter.

I just want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel or have them put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking ones nose (although cell phone usage may be taking the number one spot).

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt tripbecause I can only imagine how many gallons of Trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

ALSO, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.


I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's Novena has granted my every wish.


I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers..

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO YOU I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.

I no longer use Saran Wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face.. Disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phonesbecause I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore , and Uzbekistan ...


I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.


AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the brown recluse and my hand will fall off.


And I now keep my toothbrush in the living room, because water splashes over 6 ft. out of the commode.
Oh, by the way.....

A German scientist from Argentina , after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse..
Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

Same Old Dome Question

That same old dome question raised his head again in Saskatchewan this week. The reason: The Regina Hotel Association has kicked in ten million dollars toward the construction of a domed stadium in Regina. Now this would be a multi purpose facility to be used not only by the Saskatchewan RoughRiders but also a home for concerts, conventions and whatever else it could be filled with. The point is: ITS NOT JUST FOOTBALL FOLKS!
But of course the usual outcry against a stadium has gone up again from the same people who are vigorously opposed to anything that even resembles progress. The usual cry from phone in callers - Why should we build a stadium for the Riders?
Why should my tax dollars support a professional football team and on and on it goes?
The best call though had to come from a lady who emphatically stated: Lorne Calvert (former NDP Premier) would never allow this. There are homeless people out there and Lorne Calvert would never allow this. You know she is probably right and thats one of the reasons the NDP was punted (to use a football term) from power replaced by the Saskatchewan Party. People are looking for a new government with new ideas, a new way of doing business and a new stadium (hopefully domed) is part of that.
Events and conventions could be attracted to this province with an new enclosed stadium.
I am always reminded of these words in the Bible when ever the issue of progress in Saskatchewan comes up. Mark 14

3And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

4And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

5For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

6And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me.

7For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

8She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.

Not to minimize the poor in anyway. We should help those with less. We should help the homeless but do we stop the
progress of the province in order to do that. It seems to me by attracting more events to the province we would have more
with which to help those who need it the most.

Meanwhile this weeks CFL predictions:
East Final
British Columbia at Montreal - I so do want to see the Lions win this one and be crowned the East Division Champions.
Come on - The west coast BC Lions raising the Eastern Division championship banner in their building. Only in the CFL.
Reality sets in though. Montreal will win this one and advance to the Grey Cup.

West Final
Calgary at Saskatchewan.
I really should pick Calgary to win. Every time and I mean every time, I have picked someone to beat the Riders, the green and white somehow pull it out and win the game.
So with my heart in my throat - I now pick Saskatchewan to win over Calgary and advance to the Grey Cup.

Grey Cup Final
Saskatchewan vs Montreal

Canadian Football League and Ottawa

Just read Rod Petersons column this morning that the Canadian Football League is one step closer to putting a franchise in Ottawa. That is just great news both for the league and hopefully the good citizens of the Nations capital will embrace this as well. Of course it has been tried before and more than once. The old Ottawa Rough Riders were a cornerstone of the Canadian Football League until bad management took them down. Never was really clear on what took down the Ottawa Renegades but one thing is certain. Well three things are certain.
1) The Canadian Football League is a great league and needs more franchises. Eight is enough may been good enough for Jon and what's her name but it just isn't enough for a professional league. Hopefully the league will also add a Maritime franchise soon and have ten teams. It would also bring Winnipeg back to the Western Conference and do away with this ridiculous cross over format. I mean this weekend we have the west coast British Columbia Lions playing the Montreal Alouettes for the East Division championship. If the Lions somehow manage to win how incredibly stupid does that make the league look.
2) Ottawa is a great city. I have a daughter attending law school there. A visit to her combined with a CFL game. It just doesn't get any better than that. Alas by the time the CFL actually gets a franchise in Ottawa, I am sure she will have graduated.
3) The Canadian Football League is a fantastic exciting league. Why do Canadians under appreciate this league. Yeah I know I have heard it all before. I live in Saskatchewan. There is nothing else to do but watch the Riders. That may be true but have you seen more exciting games that Calgary and Saskatchewan's overtime tie or how about the BC Lions defeating Hamilton in overtime last weekend. This is a great football league and Canadians and especially you people in Ontario need to appreciate it more. I have seen the National Football League and our own Canadian football league is every bit as exciting if not more soon.

So down to this weeks CFL east and west finals
East Final
BC Lions at Montreal - I said Hamilton would defeat BC last week. Casey Printers made a liar out of me and I am sure many more but I think the Alouettes will win this weekend. Montreal is the class of the Canadian Football League. Solid everywhere.
Still Casey Printers has proven he has a big heart and a will to win and he has a good supporting cast. Casey has been a great story for the CFL but this weekend Montreal writes the final chapter with a win.
West Final
Calgary at Saskatchewan
Call me a homer. Say I'm using my heart more than my heart. Guilty but I am going to go with the Riders to win this one and advance to the Grey Cup. Why? There is just no quit in this Rider team. Games truly are not over for them until the final gun.
We have seen them down and out so many times this year and yet they rebound and win the game. Darian Durant needs another big game like he had as he dismantled Calgary 30 = 14 in the final game of the season. Calgary has all the tools but the Riders have attitude and I am thinking that will carry them to a close win over Calgary.
Oh yes they also have the 13th man and what a difference Rider fans can make.

Grey Cup Appearance
Sasktchewan vs Montreal in Calgary

CFL: The Playoffs Begin

The playoffs begin today in the Canadian Football League. And the Saskatchewan RoughRiders are on the sidelines watching but this time it isn't because the Riders failed to make the playoffs. We had far to many years of that. Nope the Riders are resting today because they finished in first place and get a bye to the Western Conference final. The Riders first place finish ended a 33 year drought. 1976 was the last time the Saskatchewan finished first. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, well 1976 was the year I got married, had more hair than I do today and on and on it goes.
So today the match ups.
East Division semi final
British Columbia at Hamilton - I would love to see the West Division leading British Columbia Lions get hot for a couple of games and win the East. It's not going to happen but to my warped mind, it would be amusing to see British Columbia hoist the
East division banner. I think the Lions can win today but it will have to be on defense. Going to pick Hamilton to win this one. Kevin Glenn has a hot hand and the Leo's are really banged up.
West Division semi final
Edmonton at Calgary - this one could be interesting. Eskimos are hot winning two in a row. Calgary lost a big one to Saskatchewan. I'm sure the Eskimos have been pouring over film of the Rider - Stampeder game to see what Saskatchewan did to dismantle Calgary last week. Again either team is capable of winning this one but I have to give the edge to Calgary. But if Henry Burris stumbles and he does that often in big games it could be Edmonton and Saskatchewan next week.

Remembrance Day And Honoring My Dad

It is Remembrance Day. The day we set aside, albeit far too briefly, to honor those who sacrificed so much not only in the two Great Wars but also in all the wars that have unfortunately dotted mankind's existence.
My Dad was part of "the greatest generation that ever lived". A generation that sacrificed so much to go through not one, but two great wars in far too short of time. Many of these young men and women were only 18, 19 and 20 years old when they lay down their lives to give us the freedoms we enjoy so much today.
I watched with interest and satisfaction on the National News last night that Remembrance Day is making a comeback of sorts.
More people seem interested in the observance of Remembrance Day than in past years. I imagine the war in Iraq and Afghanistan has something to do with it with so many of our young Canadian men laying down their lives over there.
It was also nice to note that Saskatoon has the largest Remembrance Day service in the country with Credit Union Center usually filled to honor and salute our fallen soldiers.
My Dad was one of the lucky ones, I suppose. He came back which I guess makes him really one of the lucky ones but he also suffered greatly in later years with stomach problems which he traced back to the German buzz bombs that were used in that day. These were bombs, I'm not a very technical person, but apparently equipped with some sort of motor. They were filled with enough fuel to reach their intended target. When the fuel ran out, the intention being at the point of the target, the theory was that they would fall from the sky and destroy the lives and facilities below. Dad remembers lying there listening to these things sputter, cough and die and then wondering where they would land or if they would land on the place where he was. Frightening and not something that most of us can relate to.
Dad was also lucky in another way. He was a gifted musician, a pianist. Early in his military career ( do you call it a career when you are called to war), he was spotted playing the piano by a ranking officer. Dad loved the piano. If there was one around to be played he found it and he played it. The story goes that he was playing in a night club or hall of some description when he was spotted playing the piano by this officer. Very quickly there after he was removed from his unit and deployed to the Royal Canadian Military Band where he spent the rest of the war traveling, playing for troops and lifting their morale from the ugly realities of war. So who knows the gift of music that he was so richly blessed with may have saved his life. Which is fitting. Music was his life. Upon returning from the war he became a piano teacher teaching and touching many lives with his gift and carrying out a full time job as well.
I am sure if he had the opportunities that are available today he would have been a full time music instructor probably at
a high school or something but back then that option just wasn't open to him. So today as we honor our veterans, I also honor my Dad and am thankful to God that he came back and for the impact that he had on my life and hopefully today I am a better man because of him. My Dad - Alfred Curtis Hiatt.


In Flanders Fields
by John McCrae


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

SaskatcheWIN RoughRiders: First Place

Riders' Durant proves naysayers wrong


Color me wrong. Count me among the naysayers. I have been on and off the Darian Durant bandwagon so many times.
I mean I always agreed Durant was a good one. A keeper, one the Riders should hang on to. They have let so many good ones get away. BUT I didn't think he could do it this year and my thought were the Riders should secure a very good experienced quarterback just in case.

Well to be honest, Darian Durant hasn't done it yet. I mean the ultimate prize is the Grey Cup and two more wins are required before the Riders can claim that. BUT first place after a win over the Calgary Stampeders. The end of a 33 year drought.
I got married 33 years ago. 33 years is a long time and thats the last time the Riders finished in first place. 33 years ago.
1976.
I mean think how improbable that is. For much of the time there were only five teams in the West. For the rest of those 33 years there were only four teams in the West. And the Riders have not managed first in 33 years. I mean even the Toronto Maple Leafs would have a shot at first if there were only five teams. Ok so the Maple Leafs are a bad example. But they might have a shot at the playoffs if four teams got in. But anyway the drought is over. And the man to end the drought is quarterback Darian Durant.
Good for him and good for the Riders and Ken Miller for their faith in this man.
The Riders win first this week with a 30 - 14 win over the Stampeders and I was wrong as I picked Calgary to win.
In the other games this weekend Edmonton destroyed British Columbia 45 - 13 to grab the final playoff spot in the West.
BC then had to wait for Hamilton to defeat Winnipeg 39 - 17 to give the Lions the cross over playoff spot in the East.
Only in the wacky Canadian Football League can you have the west coast BC Lions play for the Eastern Division championships.
Wouldn't it be great to have British Columbia win the East Division championship.
In the other game Montreal hammered Toronto 42 - 17.
So the playoffs next week.
West semi final - Edmonton at Calgary
East semi final- British Columbia at Hamilton

Predictions - Ricky Ray always struggles against Calgary but call this wishful hoping, I am going to go with Edmonton to pull an upset and wipe off Henry's smile with a win over Calgary.
In the east - BC is so banged up. Wally Buono may have to dress as quarterback. Due to the injuries I have to go with Hamilton to win this one as much as I would love to see the Lions win the East.

CFL: Final Week

So here it is. The final week of play, prior to playoffs, in the Canadian Football League. And the Saskatchewan RoughRiders find themselves hosting the Calgary Stampeders with first place on the line.
What does first place mean? Quite simply it's the difference between playing three games to win the Grey Cup and playing two to win the ultimate prize in Canadian football.
There has been a lot of talk about flu and H1N1 this week. Head coach Ken Miller says the Riders are healthy. No word from
Stampeder coach John Hufnagel on his team but apparently unlike their cross town cousins, the Flames, the Calgary football team did not jump to the front of the line on the vaccination scene.

So predictions for this week.
Calgary at Saskatchewan - oh this is hard. But I have to go with Calgary to win this one. The Riders just looked so bad against Hamilton. Darian Durant was dreadful, the offensive line was worse and the running game just didn't exist. Can all that be corrected in one week. Well hopefully it can.
In other games this weekend:
Edmonton at BC -another huge one. Both the Lions and the Eskimos need to win this one. The winner is in. The loser may become the crossover team depending what Winnipeg does. Tough one to call but I will go with Ricky Ray and the Eskimos to pull this one out.
Montreal at Toronto - the Argos season ended before it started. For the Als its a tune up for the playoffs. I'll go with Montreal but that may change if the Als rest some starters or play them sparingly.
Hamilton at Winnipeg - If Hamilton wins, the TiCats get second and the Bombers are gone. If the Bombers win most likely they would get third depending on the outcome of the Edmonton BC game.
All in all what a fantastic finish for the Canadian Football League as every game but one has some significance in the standings and thats the way it should be.

Hockey's Hypocrisy

So now we have two victims in the Ontario Junior Hockey League's decision to suspend Michael Liambas for the remainder of the season and playoffs thus ending the twenty year olds junior hockey career. The other victim of course is 16 year old Ben Fanelli who lies in a Hamilton hospital with among other things a fractured skull.
After watching video of "the hit" over and over again I am left with several impressions. After spending some thirteen seasons as a play by play announcer with junior hockey teams I have seen plenty of hard hits resulting in injuries. On March 1st, 1987 I watched as Brad Hornung of the Regina Pats was hit from behind leaving him paralyzed from the neck down. I don't recall any life time suspensions from that hit. Perhaps there should have been but thats another story.
What's troubling to me in this latest incident is "what role does junior and professional hockey play in this? It's easy to suspend one player, to make him look like the bad guy and then just move on until the next incident occurs. That has been the history of hockey. One player died recently from a hockey fight. There was a great outcry for a fleeting moment. Then forgotten until the next incident.
Both junior and professional hockey need to take a hard look at themselves. Hitting is encouraged, well more than that hitting is expected. Hard noses coaches demand that the players play it tough. Fans themselves rise from their seats with excitement at a thunderous body check and then quieten down just a bit when a player happens to be injured. And in this incident Ben Fanelli was injured far more than anyone could have predicted. But should Liambas be the only one to take the bullet. In a hockey world where if the coach says hit you hit, and if you don't you are gone from the team and most likely your junior career is over.
Then there is the issue of the helmets. Junior players have these helmets on their head so loosely that they fall off on almost any contact. Why? Because the looser the helmets are, the more quickly the players can throw them off so they can engage in a hockey fight. There isn't a coach behind the bench in junior hockey that doesn't know that and there isn't a coach in junior
hockey that will do anything about stopping it. Making sure their players have the helmet properly fitted and strapped on
tightly. Could you imagine a football player having his helmet so loose it popped off on almost any contact just in case he
might get into a fight.
Looking at the replay of the Liambas hit on Fanelli again, you are left wondering how serious the injuries would have been
if the helmet had stayed on. Perhaps the league should be issuing a two minute minor penalty to any player who's helmet falls off during play. Not likely that will happen.
No the OHL will be satisfied to let Michael Liambas take the fall for this one. They'll point to his past history. Already television stations have dug up video of his hit on John Tavares as if to say, see he hits like that all the time. It was just a matter of time before someone got hurt.
I don't believe much in the old case of people being "a product of their environment" but in this case Michael Liambas was and is. A hockey environment that encourages hitting, fighting and all round violence even ahead of the sheer skill of the game.
Little wonder someone got hurt. Little doubt that it won't happen again.

How To Catch The Swine Flu In Five Easy Steps

Great article by Meghan Telper

1. Eat Candy and/or Booze It UpNow I am not talking about one or two candy bars or drinks the night of Halloween, maybe a treat the next day and then being done with it. If you want on the flu team, you should think about having a piece of candy/cake/alchy bevvy with or after every meal, tucked in to your lunch bag, a little sweet greeting when you arrive home, and maybe a night cap of a Kit Kat. You worked hard on Halloween to collect all that candy, so you better eat it and kick that immune system to the ground.
2. Stay Out Really Late and Lose SleepYou can’t make up sleep. Not really. You can sleep in, you can rest, but insufficient sleep has already begun to weaken immune function. When we have the flu, we feel our best in the morning, after we have “rested.
3. Take On More Than You Can HandleThis is my personal speciality. It seems that chronic stress impairs the immune system’s capacity to respond to glucocorticoid hormones that normally are responsible for terminating an inflammatory response following infection and/or injury. Psychological stress (which, lets face it, is largely self-induced) raises catecholamine (‘fight or flight’ hormones), which suppresses the immune system, thus raising the risk of viral infection.
4. Forgo All Hygiene Practices
Right so basically for this easy step to catching the flu, the idea is to touch as much stuff as you can- hand railings, door handles (especially the bathroom kind), handles on public transit vehicles- you get the idea. You also want to do your best to breathe deeply when in confined spaces with lots of people,and invade others’ personal space.
5. Line Up for Hours on End In The Rain with Other People Who Believe Themselves To Be High Risk of The Flu in Order to Receive a Vaccine for a Pandemic That Is Neither Pan Nor Demic But Has Simply Been Awesomely Hyped By The Media Using The Usual Flavour of The Month: Scare Tactics.

No Concern For The Riders

Halloween weekend has come and gone in the Canadian Football League and really nothing scary happened. True, the Toronto Argonauts dressed up as the Saskatchewan RoughRiders and were mauled 24 - 6 by the Hamilton TigerCats.
But despite that Wally Buono and his Lions did the Riders a favour by losing to the Calgary Stampeders 28 - 26. So when the Halloween apples have all been counted what it amounts to is the Riders still have a shot at first place and hosting a Western final for the first time in, well can anyone remember the last time the Riders hosted a Western final. Granted its a tall order.
The Riders must defeat Henry Burris and the Stampeders to accomplish that, and of course that task will be easier said then done.
Its tough to try and figure out why the Riders imploded so badly against Hamilton. Even more worrisome is the fact that the coaching staff doesn't seem to be at all concerned.
The Riders lack of a premier running back doesn't worry Ken Miller. He calls Wes Cates a thoroughbred despite that fact that Cates and the Riders are dead last in every category that relates to running the ball. Come playoff time with wintery conditions a team without a running game doesn't go far.
Quarterbacking doesn't seem to concern Miller either. Darian Durant is still the man despite a dreadful performance against Hamilton. No problem with that. Durant should be. But will Miller continue to wait until its to late before he replaces him.
And can his replacement, Steven Jyles get the job done. It didn't look that way against Hamilton.
Didn't hear the coach comment on his offensive line but that too probably is no concern despite giving up six quarterback sacks.
In the other games this weekend the Edmonton Eskimos pounded the Toronto Argonauts 36 - 10 and Montreal defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 48 - 13. My record on predictions this weekend. An horrible 1 - 3 record.
Oh and unlike Coach Miller and the Riders, I am concern.