Thursday, April 4, 2013

Balance in the Force

Thursday April 4, 11:41 p.m.

Well, there's been a switch in tonight's fortunes with our sports teams. The Blue Jays finally won one after losing the first two games of the season to the Cleveland Indians. They pulled off a victory 10-8; so their bats were finally firing on all cylinders although the pitching was a bit off. Just down the block, the Leafs couldn't quite catch up with the Flyers, and perhaps in worse news, Lupul may be off injured again.

Got whomped with another major translation assignment again which will probably take me into next week. And I gotta do some more changes on Saturday. When it rains, it pours.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Wednesday April 4, 11:57 a.m.

Yes, it's that time of year when all Canadians seriously talk about a topic that is enormously near and dear to our hearts on a day that is sunny but still retains that not unappealing tang of chill in the air. Right now, folks across The Great White North are glued to their I-Phones, tablets and even those ancient devices known as television sets to glean as much information as they can about the day's proceedings.

Yes, it's the NHL Trading Deadline Day...

Right from 8 a.m. EDT, TSN and Sportscentre started their days with various sportscasters, former NHL players and former NHL general managers gabbing away about what trades have been done and what trades may be pulled off in the next several hours. I think in Toronto today, people are quite smitten not only to find out if the Leafs are able to grab a veteran playoff-seasoned goalie from either Calgary or Vancouver, but also just to forget the lousy results to the Blue Jays home opener last night (Mr. Arencibia, how does it feel to be the first one in the doghouse this year? Nope, not fair....he was on the receiving end of Dickey knucklers[trying not to giggle here]).

Last year, I caught my first experience of the big day and wasn't all that impressed since not all that much happened. But I've realized from all the tweets coming in on the screen that folks are just happy to see and hear the talking heads talking about trades; any trades that do come in are icing on the cake. And if that one blockbuster trade comes in? Manna from Heaven!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Blue Jays are Back!

Tuesday April 2, 12:15 p.m.

Well, I don't think I've heard so much talk about the Blue Jays than has occurred in the past number of months. All these new players like R.A. Dickey, Melky Cabrera and the rest along with the veterans such as Arencibia and Batista. Now, after the previous season of disappointment, everyone here is just gabbing away about a possible World Series victory. Hmmm.....way too early to talk about that, in my opinion. I just heard the president of the Blue Jays himself say "You can't buy chemistry." And we have yet to see that with the so-called New Look Jays....although in several hours, we'll all get that opportunity when they take on the Indians tonight down at the Rogers Centre. At this point, I'll be grateful if they win the home opener and then eventually get into the post-season.

It's hard for me to believe that after the Jays won that dramatic 1993 World Series, they never got back into the playoffs. It was in 1994 that I went off to Japan for my long stint there, so my connection with the Bluebirds became very tenuous; I'd thought that the team had made it into October at least a couple of times. But it's been a very long drought for them. I still remember that night when the Jays took it all at Skydome. I was in a bar just north of Summerhill on Yonge with a lot of my friends when the up-and-down Game 6 unfolded like a Hollywood movie in front of our eyes. Me and the folks in the bar were suffering and exulting on every run and out. But that 9th inning was one for my life....when Joe Carter hit that home run, everyone lost it. I haven't had that feeling of joy shake my bones since that moment. And then I saw the other bars and taverns just vomit the customers onto Yonge St as car horns blared like trumpets. By the time, we got down to Yonge and Bloor, the streets were as packed as rush hour subways. At one point, we got scared that we were going to be crushed to death so we ended up taking refuge at a donut shop for an hour or two before things calmed down....relatively speaking.

We all tiredly separated around 2 a.m in the morning. I had to walk all the way east to Broadview and Danforth before I could actually hail a taxi to get home.  But those were happy days in Toronto. I wonder if the 2013 Jays will bring that joy back in October.

This is the commercial that played immediately after the Jays clinched it all. I never heard a whole bar sing a Coke jingle before.