Divisional playoff weekend in review

/ Greg / 2 Comments

After a disappointing wildcard weekend, the divisional weekend slate of games produced wall-to-wall drama.  Here’s what I saw in the four matches:

Ravens-Broncos:  Wow.  Aside from Eagles playoff games (ah, those were the days), I can’t remember a playoff game that had me glued to the TV like this one.  Deep passes, turnovers, special teams TDs and inconsistent officiating all came together to produce a spectacular double overtime win for Baltimore.  Truly, I didn’t think the Ravens would play consistent enough to make the AFC championship, but they’ll be back there for the second year in a row.  Aside from all the spectacular plays, a few more subtle things caught my eye in this game: Continue reading →

Wildcard weekend in review

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I’m a pretty big football junkie, but three of the four games this weekend bordered on unwatchable for long stretches.  Thankfully, the last game on Sunday provided a full sixty minutes of entertainment, and possibly a story line to last through the offseason.  Here’s what I saw in the four games this weekend:

Bengals – Texans:  In what was one of the least appealing playoff games in recent memory, the Texans won by six points and by the balance of play, should have won by three touchdowns.  Letting Cincinatti hang around, the Texans were within an Andy Dalton overthrow of AJ Green late in the 4th quarter of losing.   For the third time in four years, the Bengals flame out on wildcard weekend.  Continue reading →

Looking back on 2012

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Banff and Lake Louise.  Toronto.  Ottawa.  Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland.  Denver.   Even considering plans for trips to Trinidad and Pittsburgh that didn’t work out, it wasn’t too shabby a traveling year.  It’s hard to sum up a year’s worth of seeing and doing things in different places and the trips there and back, but here are a few of my favourite travel-related memories that will stick from 2012.

Best travel days:  The day trip outside of Reykjavik to see Iceland’s “Golden Circle”.  So much natural beauty and so peaceful.  It was the day that cemented my love of Iceland and ensured a return visit in the not too distant future.  In a similar vein, seeing the Sognefjord in western Norway was the reason we included the country on our Scandinavian trip.  Jaw dropping natural beauty was the story of that day.  Last but not least was a rushed visit to Lake Louise due to a string of forecasted bad weather that forced us to change our travel plans.  Even with limited time, looking out over a frozen Lake Louise on a serene day in the Rockies made me feel more connected to my country.

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Denver, delicious

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The last word on my recent trip to Denver will be all about the food.  I spent remarkably little money for some truly delicious eats.  Here are a few of the highlights…

Euclid Hall – On a recommendation from a colleague, I headed here for dinner the first night and had what was probably the most unique of the dishes I sampled on my trip – a green chile and pork cheek poutine.  It was a perfect blend of sweet, hot and salty:

Euclid Hall Continue reading →

Denver Nuggets Game

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The NHL lockout cost me a chance to see my Nordiques (I refuse to call them the Avalanche) play Chicago while I was in Denver, so I took the opportunity to see only my second NBA game, taking in a Nuggets – Jazz game on a Friday night.  A small crowd gave me the chance to snag a snazzy club seat at a fraction of the cost, making for an economical and fun way to spend my last night in the city.

Once in the arena, I found my way down to the lower level seats to take in some of the shoot-around (thanks to the usher who turned a blind eye to me sneaking in to seats that weren’t mine):

Sneaking down to the good seats Continue reading →