Okay, I have a lot to cover so strap in...

Okay, I know I have been away for a while, and I will get to that shortly. But first, I will get to what you all have been patiently waiting for, or in Venckus' case IMPATIENTLY. The Entourage interviews. I completed the final interview about three weeks ago, Shawn Hauser, of the Green Bay Hausers. We discussed many things including, the Packers, WGBA, the Packers, Camera dude stuff, and Brett Favre. Now we here at TT have always maintained the fact that Shawn used to roam the sidelines at Lambeau and send in plays via hand signals to Number 4. All the while never really giving one shred of proof. Cause that is how we roll. Well, I was scouring the internet the other day when I saw this picture. BANG! Proof. There he is on the sideline right as Brett is running the play that he sent in. Deal with that haters. There is by no way any funny business with that photo. It is totally legit. As you can see with the Entourage photo on top, I am not that good with Photoshop, YET.

Anyway, if you want to listen to his interview CLICK HERE or just click the link up and to the right. Hauser kicked major ass on this one. He even said that he had not listened to any of the other ones so as to not be influenced or intimidated by the others. Well Hauser, now that yours is over, LISTEN TO THE DAMN PODCASTS. I am not doing this for myself. Or am I?

Okay, now that I have had time to listen to all of them, compare my notes, eat a few bags of Funyuns, and watch the new season of Entourage, I will post the results. Yes, and I will do it in less than a year. I will drag it out a bit though, we do need some drama.

Just so you know what is at stake here. I will tell you. We will not just have a main posse, which will consist of five dudes and me. Six total. I am going to announce a 'Second Team Entourage'. Two total. Kinda like being Second Team All American. No shame, just if one of the boys in the main group is unable to fulfill his duties. For instance, if we are on our way to the Grammys, and for the sake of an example, Posse Member Number 3 has a conflict (which there are only a few excuses I will detail when I give out the Official Posse Handbooks) a call will be made via the bat phone for a back up. Whammo you are in the show.

Now, for those of you who may be picked for the second team, there is no shame in that. You will be kinda like the Packers Stock that they sold back in 1999. You are an official shareholder, and can attend the meetings, but you are not allotted a vote in the official proceedings. You are the shareholders in the company that is the Posse. Very important.

Okay. I will be announcing the Second team first and will have an announcement later in the week. Good luck to all who participated.

NEXT: The topic that has had the NFL network's panties in a bundle. Yes, the NFL network wears panties because they have yet to invest in REAL cameras for their so called camera guys at each team. Man their video sucks balls. Until they invest in real cameras I will consider them a 'panty wearing' network. Anyway back to the story, Brett Favre finally did the right thing. He decided to NOT put on the ugly purple jersey and sell out to the worst team in the history of the NFL the Minnesota viqueens. All the while they sold a shit pile of those number 4 jerseys to the hapless queen fans. Ha, that is almost as funny as the moron who tattooed 'Super Bowl XXXIII Champs on his arm, before the team even made it to the game. And then said he would just add another 'I' next year when they win that one. Moron. It is always 'next year' in queen land.

I am quite pleased in the outcome for several reasons. One being that I do not have to move the Favre Fathead to the garage. Or I do not have to take the Favre jersey off the wall. The other reason being is how he lead all of queen land on this wild goose chase for a whole summer then dumped on them. Kind of like the actual team does every season. HA.

Now the real question is why? Well I will tell you. I will take credit for this decision. Yup, I am not afraid to stand up and accept your thanks. You are welcome TT nation. You are welcome. I think it all goes back to the letter I penned, or typed, for him back when this ugly, nasty, and might I say, downright shitty rumour came out back in early May. I beleive in his heart last week after a great lawn mowing session, he sat back with a cold Leinie's (Honey Weiss or perhaps an Original), tuned in to Jesse James is a Dead Man, opened a bag of Funyuns, logged on to TundraTalk and re-read my plea. After all who can argue with my logic. I know Donna can't, or gave up trying, one of those two.

No one wants to play for the viqueens. That is a fact. Adrian Peterson, no relation, doesn't. He is just biding his time until he can get the big pay day and go to play for the Raiders and suck. His first choice on draft day was the Pack, it is a fact. Look it up, when you find it send it to me so I can read it for myself. Anyway, Favre is not a queen, in the literal putting on the purple jersey sense. He IS a bit of DRAMA Queen though. Thank you Brett for finally retiring. Now you can move on to Canton. No Brett, they do not have a team there you can play for.

NEXT: Where have I been since June 21? Well I will just break it down a bit. Since this is not a forum for me to just spout off everything I am doing (that is Facebook). This is a forum to spout of on the silly things I am doing and to wax prophetic on anything that is Packers related, or just to show everyone how really immature I am. I will just give you a short list and some pics and video...

Took a bit of a vacation to North Dakota and the Black Hills. Blew some shit up on the Fourth of July and then saw Mount Rushmore and some wild life. I was there when Greenpeace put the banner on the mountain but not at Rushmore that day. Missed it by that much. That would have been cool to see. The Black Hills were great fun had by all.





Went to a few Rider games and got on the score board several times. I am a superstar, oh and I know the right camera dudes, errrr persons. McKenna also performed at half time of one of the games with the Rider Cheer Team. That was awesome. Dakota yelled at a crazy fan for taking off his shirt and McKenna got really good at yelling Calgary Sucks. My kids rule.




Went to the lake and did some boating, swimming and grilling. We got a late start on the season this year but have been trying to make up for it. The weather has not be great but when it is we take full advantage of it. Love boating on the lake.





Took the kids to Buffalo Days for rides and greasy food. McKenna is fearless when it comes to rides and will ONLY ride the rides with her hands in the air. Chip off the old block. We also saw MC Hammer and I did a duet with him on the world wide hit, Turn This Mutha Out. Word, as the kids say these days. They still say that don't they? Check the video. Oh, and as for the bad video near the end, McKenna pulled my hat down over my eyes as she was sitting on my shoulders so that is my excuse. Deal with it.


Hammer at Buffalo Days 'Turn this Mutha Out' from hamiltongbp on Vimeo.



Whew, now that you are all caught up,

GET OUT OF HERE AND GET BACK TO WORK. I HAVE A POSSE TO PICK.

Just a few things on a Friday...

First thing I want to share with you is this. No we are not moving again and this isn't our new house. I wish. I know one guy who will recognize this house. Hauser, of the Green Bay Hauser's, spent a few days at the end of this house's driveway this summer. This is Number 4's house in Green Bay. Apparently it is for sale. In the article the author calls this house "simple". Uh yeah. Simple. My ass.

This house is amazing. I would love to live in this house. The house we sold in Edmonton was simple, this one is not. 4890 square feet of simpleton in the greatest city in the USA, Green Bay Wisconsin. Oh and did I mention that it used to house the family of the greatest QB ever to play in the NFL? The house that we had in Edmonton was around 1200 square feet. It did not have a formal dining room, had a modest kitchen, three bedrooms, and only one bathroom. That is simple. The only thing that is simple, and I guess it is because of all the economic problems that W has caused over the last 4 years, is the price, $475,000.

Now some of you are now screaming at your screen "Are you out of your beer and bratwurst filled mind?" "Hey Chris, how the hell are you considering that 475 g's simple?" I know it sounds crazy, but let me finish my thought. AND do the math. How do I base this? Well the house we had in Edmonton which I have brought up here a couple of times we bought it in 2001 for what I thought was way too much. Still nowhere near 475.

Now fast forward to 2007 when we decide to move to Saskatchewan. We managed to sell the house at more than what we paid for it, which is good investing right? What we got I will not get into because I do not want to seem to be bragging here on TundraTalk (which I never do). I will say it was more than what Favre is asking for his house. I of course would like to say that it was my shrewd investing sense that led us to purchase that home and that I knew that I would make serious coin on it and that if you want my financial advice to just give me a call and I can help you out. Oh and soon you will see my infomercial on late night TV shilling a CD on how to become wealthy overnight. But the real truth is that I could not balance a check book if you asked me to and we almost felt embarassed asking the price that we did. The market for houses in the area dictated the price of our home and we got what we wanted.

What I wish would have happened is that Favre would have called me and we could have come to some sort of deal for his house shortly after we sold ours. That would have been awesome. Move back to the holy land AND live in Number 4's house. Now Donna of course told me that neither one of us would have work in Green Bay. Details, details. I told her we could give tours of the house and charge 20 bucks a pop. Who would't want a tour of the house that Brett Favre lived in for 6 months out of the year? That's right No One. They would be lined up around the block.

Here is how it would go..."Okay, please do not touch my bobble head collection or my game ball signed by Brett. Thank you. Over there you will see an area of the house where Brett used to watch TV. Here is where Brett ate his TV dinner. Oh and out there in the living room, is where Brett slept when he came home drunk out of his mind." The tour group goes..."Ohhhhhhhhh."

Yup, it could have been great. You know what. I am going to buy this house. Right after I make my millions and put my Entourage together. This will be the house we stay in on game weekends in Green Bay. How great would that be? "Hey Chris you going to the game this weekend?" "Yup, flying out this friday, staying in Brett's house." I can see it now. Just gotta get that screenplay done.

NEXT: I would be remiss to not mention the passing of a legend. A guy who was the subject of one of the first "Just a little love on a Friday" emails. Way back in the early 2000's. Reg Dunlop, or Paul Newman, of Slapshot. Slapshot is the greatest sports movie of all times and Reg Dunlop was huge in it. Paul died on September 26th of lung cancer. I can not tell you how many times I have seen this movie. I do know that every hockey team I have know has ALWAYS had a copy of this movie on their bus, plane, or computer. It is mandatory. In fact I think I am going to break that one out this weekend, just for Paul.

Now I never got to meet the man, but it was not for lack of trying. I did once participate in a scrum interview with him at the Grand Prix of Edmonton. He was an onwer of a team so he was there every year. Of course you know me, the autograph hound that I am, I spent many an hour just haning out with a photo waiting for him to come by areas that I knew he should be near. I was seconds away from it once. Cory Blashill, of the Edmonton Blashill's, came by the paddock once whilst I was waiting and told me he was right around the corner. Well, he never came around the corner and I waited forever and did not get the auto. Too bad. I would have been a centerpiece of my collection. I had the picture of him on the bench, the one up above.

So here's to you Reg. I am foiling up in your honor. The next time I step on the ice I will play old time hockey. Oh, and the next time I hear the national anthem I will yell at someone that I am trying to listen to the song. Reg, you will be missed.



NEXT: I will leave you with this video of a fight at the Rider Stamp game last week in Calgary. Seems that someone has not learned that you do not mess with a cop, ever. Enjoy.

Now GET BACK TO WORK!!!!!!

This American Life and Second round picks...

Okay so round one of the NHL playoffs is over and I was wrong on three of the eight series. The Thrashers, Wild, and Predators did not win but I was right on the rest. How will I do in round two? We will see.

First though I have to show you some video. I picked this off of the B-roll dot net site. A great site for all you photogs out there. Lots of good discussion on everything to do with cameras and cameraguy stuff. The clip is from a show called 'This American Life" that runs on Showtime. We do not get it up here so I cannot attest to it's goodness or badness. I hear that it is good though. This clip talks about kids in a playground pretending to be camera guys. Kinda funny. Kinda has some meaning to. Just an all around good clip. Have a look...

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO

Got this note from Robyn Young, of the WRGZ Young's...

Hey Chris!

Greetings from Buffalo!

What’s your rant on our Buffalo Sabres?

Hope all is well.

Robyn Young

P.S. I’m going to law school this Fall.


Well Robyn, I will tell you what I think of the Sabres here shortly and all is well. Plus, going to law school? Great another lawyer in the TundraTalk Nation. I need all the protection I can get so good luck Robyn, I hope you kick major ass in Law School.

Well, on to the second round...


BUFFALO SABRES(1) vs NY RANGERS(6)

So you want to know what I think of the Sabres. Well, Robyn, here it is. I want them to win the cup. For several reasons. One, for the way they got screwed back in 2000 when Brett Hull DID NOT SCORE in OT and Bettman gave the cup away too fast before he looked at the instant replay to see that BRETT'S FRICKING SKATE WAS IN THE CREASE. So I think the Sabres are due. Second, I like Chris Drury a lot. Former Avalanche player is a great leader, a former Little League World Series champ, former rookie of the year, and the list goes on. Third, Ty Conklin is on this team. He is of course a former Green Bay Gambler, TundraTalk vetran, and a great guy. I would love to see a Gambler's name on the Cup. Plus, he got major league screwed by the Oilers last year and I would love for Ty to win the cup and come back to Edmonton with a cup ring on his middle finger and see him show it to everyone in Edmonton. I like Buffalo to embarass Hauser's Rangers. Just out class them on all levels. Buh Bye. Buffalo in six.


OTTOWA SENATORS(4) vs NEW JERSEY DEVILS(2)

Once again this is a team that has a former Gambler on it. Tom Preissing is on my playoff team and he is a good guy. Ottowa is Mitch Davis, of the Regina Davis's, team and they look ready to make the next step. Plus I hate the way the Devils play hockey. Slow, clog up the middle, wait for the other team to make a mistake. Brodeur showed some weakness in the last series so I think this one will go toward Ottowa. Ottowa in six.


DETROIT RED WINGS (1) vs SAN JOSE SHARKS(5)

Well, what do I do here. I have been to San Jose, never been to Detroit. Preacherman and Trev are big wings fans. The Avs hate the wings. I hate the wings. Screw the Wings. Wait, I like hot wings, I just want people to understand that. I hate the RED wings. I am happy that the Wings beat the Flames. The Flames did not deserve to be in the playoffs, but that is where it ends. I felt dirty cheering for the Wings in round one. Dirty. Sharks in 7.

ANAHEIM DUCKS (2) vs VANCOUVER CANUCKS(3)

I discussed in the last round why I did not like the Ducks. I will add to that. Last year during the playoffs with the Oilers, Conference Finals. There were whole sections of the rink that did not have any people sitting in the seats. There was a whole Luxury Box that was empty. Go ahead and look at the seats during the game. There will be tons of empty seats in the lower bowl. I guarantee it. The city of Anaheim does not care about this team, a good team, so they do not deserve to win. I hate that Bettman put teams in cities where they do not care about hockey. The people of Winnipeg are dying to have a team and would fill the arena every night, but NOOOOOOO Anaheim has a team. Screw Anaheim. Screw their stupid arena, screw their big d man, screw their half assed fans, screw them all. Vancouver in 7.

There you have it, my picks, not necessarily for you to run to Vegas and bet on because there is no science or math involved, just me and my ego.

Have a good day and get back to work!!!