Some of TundraTalk Nation is under siege...

As most of you know, North Dakota (particularly Fargo) is in big trouble. They have had a few problems with some flooding, then a blizzard, then some thunder and rain, then more snow. The map above says it all. Alot of TT nation is in North Dakota. Ivy, Nick Chase, Shannon Just, Todd Holdman, are in the Fargo/Moorhead area. I know Shannon has been spending his days filling sand bags but I am unsure how the other guys are doing. Drop TT nation a note when you get dried out and let us know what happened?

I really wish I could get down there and do some good but work is keeping me here in Regina. The pic to the right was taken by Todd Holdman. I am unsure if this is in his backyard or what, but that shit is crazy. Keep fighting it Todd. I got your back. Oh and if there is anything any of you fine people in Fargo need that I can help you with, let me know.

Maybe I will write another award winning screenplay about your fight. Of course my first great screenplay was about the flood of 97 in Grand Forks starring everyones hero Tony Mutzenberger. I am unsure if he was deployed this time to Fargo. If he was we all know that he will kick that floods ass.

Hazen had its share of flooding last week also. I am not sure if this has ever happened in the past but man oh man is this crazy. Look at that photo. That is east of town near the golf course. My parents condo is a the bottom of the picture. That little row of trees at the top was the Knife River. Small little river that rose up and kicked some major ass this spring.

As for the flood in Hazen, Jody Murschel said that the river has receded a bit and all will be okay if the snow that they got while the flood was in progress melts at a normal rate. Good luck Hazen. The pic to the right is a shot from south of Main street Hazen. This of course is the home set and studio for WhiteHot productions earliest films. You remember those, Communist Uprising in Middle America, Star Trek Wars, Dakota Vice, and the cult classic Bonanza '87. Hazen was the center of the film universe for me back in the '80s.

Good luck to all of you in North Dakota I am thinking of you.

NEXT: I guess you are wondering why I have a pic of some random guy in line. Well that is the view of the line up for Saskatchewan Riders season tickets. I stood in line last week to see if I could get some for the upcoming season. Well TT Nation, I was successful and have two seats to every game this season. So if any of you ND geeks want to come up and see Weston Dressler light it up in Rider Green, come on up. I have got you covered.

Just jump on Riderville dot com and check the schedule. If you want to come on up and stay at the Peterson stronghold you are certainly welcome here. I can take you to a CFL game, buy you a Pilsner Beer, and we can cheer on the best team in the CFL. Sounds good to me.

NEXT: I went to see the Doodlebops with the kids the other day and man did it suck. I of course have plenty to say about a kids show, see the post about the Dora the Explorer show I took McKenna to. Oh and no one can forget the unedited rant about the Blues Clues show. I will post my opinions on the Doodlebops next week sometime. Yes I was the guy in the crowd yelling Freebird the whole time. Look out cause it is gonna be good.



FINALLY: In the 'It's about time you bastard" column, I will be interviewing Mitch Davis, of the Regina Brother In Law Davis', tomorrow for his Entourage audition. I will get it edited as soon as possible and up for you to listen to. Marty Frey will be up right after that.

Have a good weekend and Fargo stay dry okay?

Let's play a bit of catch up...

Alright. Yup I have been slacking a bit. Okay, you are right, I have been slacking a ton. I have been kinda busy but that is no excuse. I cannot make excuses to you, the TundraTalk nation. In fact a few of you have been feeding me ideas and I have just been out of it. I had every intention of putting up a massive rim rocking post today but I just have been slacking off. Sorry if this one is a bit long so as to catch up...

A lot of things have happened in the past few weeks to talk about. In fact, the queens somehow managed to beat the Packers, Barack Obama managed to whip McCain and that dumb ass hockey mom and is working on turning America into a commie nation (that is so funny that anyone believes that), I went to see Lenny Kravitz and Bob Dylan in the span of two days, the I saw the Riders get their ass handed to them in the playoffs, I got the results from my wonderful operation (no Donna is not pregnant), and McKenna broke her wrist on the playground yesterday fighting with an 8th grader who said something not very nice about the Green Bay Packers. Okay, she just fell off the slide, I just wanted to add a bit of drama. I am telling you though if some 8th grader started talking shit about the Pack she would totally take care of business. Word.

Okay one thing that happened this fall that I just heard about it the passing of Tedd O'Connell. Read the article here. Tedd was my News Director at WGBA in Green Bay. As you all know I usually spit vitirol about News Directors I have had in the past. Maybe in these pages later I will do a post describing the worst ND's I had. That would be good. Tell some of the crazy shit that ND's always try to pull. Now I know those of you who work in the 'real world' have shitty bosses also, but it is a weird breed of person who wants to be a ND. They really are mosty just mall cops who run news organizations. I hate mall cops.

Tedd did not fit that mold, most of the time. Tedd was my ND for less than a year but I learned more about news, and more importantly journalism, than I have learned from any of the other Bozos I have worked for. Mike Chaussee, of the Bismarck Chaussee's, you are not included in the Bozo the Clown category. You are more into the Hamburgler the clown category. I am sooo funny. Anyway, Tedd knew his shit. He was also a hard ass. You knew where you stood with this guy and he didn't like anyone kissing his ass as most newsrooms and ND's are wanting you to do.

Check the jacket he is wearing in the pic above. You have to be a hard ass to be able to wear a jacket like that, ON TV! I also like the weather map in the back with the magnets on it. Old school. I tell ya, if stations would drop all this super doppler radar crap that reads the weather down to your street and went back to that I might start paying attention to them again. Seriously.

Tedd, was a no bull shit guy. I remember once when the Daryl Marquardt, of the Madison Marquardts, had his office upstairs (which was taken away by the dickhead ND who came after Tedd) a few of the shooters had some down time and we were in Daryl's office shooting the shit watching Braveheart when some Production weasel (who will remain nameless because I cannot remember his name), not Marty, walked by and thought we should not be all in one place let alone watching a movie. You know the old adage "A camera guy with out a camera on his shoulder is sluffing off". He went to Tedd and told on us. Tedd told this loser to go away and mind his own business. Sweet.

My favorite Tedd story is early on at WGBA when me and someone else(can't remember who, maybe Hauser?) were sent out to do a live last second in Oshkosh at the court house. The engineers had been working on the live truck all day so we jumped in and took off. Well, the generator that runs the thing is attached to the gas tank in the truck. If it gets to a quarter tank left the generator will not run so as you do not run your gas tank out running the generator then you cannot get home because you have an empty tank of gas.

I guess you can see where this is going. I did not look at the gas tank when we left. When we got to Oshkosh we started to set up and I went over to start the generator. No go. We tried shore power but the cable was not long enough. Needless to say we had around 20 minutes to get gas and then get back to get the live set up and on the air. Tedd was not pleased. We did get the shot up and on the air but it was hairy.

When I got back to the shop Tedd was waiting for me in his office. He tore a strip off of me up one side and down the other. He told me as he held up his index finger, and I quote, "Chris. That's your one. And you only get one." I said okay and started to walk out of the office when I remembered that we did get the shot up. I turned around and told him that despite all the difficultieswe did get the shot up and it all worked out in the end. He smirked at me and said "Yes you did. Now go home."

We did not have issues after that. I think he just wanted you to stand up for yourself and he respected that. The ones in the newsroom who were chickenshit and just wanted to get by he had problems with. Tedd had my respect, and I would like to think I had his.

Another thing I liked about him is the 'morning meeting newspaper phenomena'. In most newsrooms during the morning meeting all the 'decision makers' would sit around and read the paper for their news story ideas. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Hated that. By the time we do the story it is two days old. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Tedd told us that we were supposed to do the stories before the paper had them. While I was there Tedd would take the stories out of the paper that we did the day before and post them. If I remember correctly there were a lot of stories up on that bulletin board. The papers were watching us and copying OUR stories. Way cool.

Derek Venckus, of the Tenneessee Venckus's, has a great Tedd story...

Got a a hundred of em.....most of which are unsuitable for print, broadcast, or blog. Try this: We've just started up the news operation at WGBA. Our sports department consists of four people. Two of them are in Atlanta for the Olympics. That leaves Packers training camp two a days, etc to be covered by Bill Wixie and me. Well, this means six or seven day work weeks at about 10 or 11 hours per day. So, I hand in my time card with 20 hours of overtime and Tedd explodes.

Tedd: "What the f*** is this?

Me: My timecard.(bad answer)

Tedd (screaming); You think your smarta** bullshi* is funny? Well, it's not. I have a budget and you just fu**ed the whole thing up. And guess what?

Me: What?

Tedd: Because you f**ked the entire budget up, you're going to pay. You're not travelling to the Packers game this weekend so we can save the money you just blew. Maybe then you'll get your f**king act together.

Me: Let me get this straight, Tedd. I work my a** off covering Packers training camp...having the time of my life as a one man band. And, because I work my a** off, you're going to punish me by not letting me go to the game? That's absolute bulls***.

(Long Pause)

Tedd screams: Fine, then go to the fu**ing game.

Sometimes I think he enjoyed someone challenging him. Crazy dude.

Venckus

Great story Derek. Tedd was a one of a kind. Marty Frey, of the Hollywood is burning Frey's, sends his classic Tedd Story. Take it away Marty...

When old Tedd first got hired - he was picked because he was part of Mr. T's (Jim Tomlin - GM) good ol' boy network and was available.. I think T knew him from his years in Madison and he still had a respected name and was working as a News Director in a small market in Maryland. So - the first real meeting that we had together was with me, Mr. T, Jay Zollar and Tedd and we were talking about the promotion strategy for the news launch. I went through a couple of ideas and the launch of news was to co-incide with the Atlanta Olympics so - I had decided to tie-in Olympic awareness with NBC-26 news awareness - both of them being the biggest things to happen in many years. Not a real mental promotional stretch - but it was in the brilliance of the execution that I was hoping it would
pay off..

Well - T also wanted me to do something with Tedd where he was talking about the building of the newscast and he would be giving updates on the physical building as well as putting together the people that would make up the news and that seemed like a good idea to me as well.

So Tedd and I started doing these "Building NBC-26 News promos" together.. I would write up a script and Tedd would look it over for minute or two before we shot - but it was never tough to do and these were easy to finish and there was a logical progression to them..

After about a month of this, we met again to discuss everything about the switch and the building of the newscast and Jay Zollar said "I was talking with my wife and she really didn't get the promos with Tedd in them - she didn't know who he was, and it just didn't click with her and her friends". There was utter silence while Tedd reflected a moment with his pen tapping away like he always did... Looked Jay in the eye and said "Well - maybe your wife should be doing these promos, if we're going to be basing all our research on her and her friends". Then he calmly got up and left the room..

Jay's face was as red as a beet and Mr.T just looked around the room and
said - "Let's do this again next Tuesday"...

I believe there is still a scar on my tongue where I was biting it,
trying not to laugh..

Marty

Well Marty, glad you brought those promos up because I believe I have one to show everyone...



Shawn Hauser, of the Green Bay Hauser's, also has something to say about the passing of Tedd...

Hopper told me something about that a couple of weeks ago, sad day man....regardless of anything fromthe past.....I still feel the man was a genius and knew what the hell was going on!

Hope all is well up north, by the way.....keep your damn cold air up where it belongs!

Hauserinskinov

Thanks Hauser. Tedd O'Connell RIP.

NEXT:

James Grandy, of the Minot Grandy's sent me this note...

After watching your rider clip, it must bring up the debate. Who are the best/craziest fans in pro football? RIDER or PACKERS. I was at Taylor field this summer (yes its still Taylor field), it was freakin nuts. A nice argument for sure, but even YOU would have to admit the green and white beat the green and gold.

James Grandy
Grandy Video Productions

Thank you James. Nice job getting the plug for Grandy Productions in there. Don't do it again, I am the only one that is allowed to plug. My site, my rules.

It is a debate that I have participated in. I agree with you on a few of your points. First, yes, it is called Taylor field. I hate all the corporate sponsorships that take away the names of great stadiums. Candlestick, Soldier Field, Lambeau Field will always be known under those names as far as I am concerned. Next thing I will agree with you on is the crowd is freaking nuts. You are correct there. They go all out. I have enjoyed every game I have attended at Taylor field. When you sit on the lower level you can totally get in the kitchen of the players if one chooses to. I, of course, ALWAYS choose to get in to a player wearing the wrong jersey grill. It is a must.

Now, as for the fans at Lambeau Field. The Packers have a huge advantage on the Riders. If it were face value as for being there no matter the weather, having a sold out barn even in the lean years, noise on the field factor, and I guess over all crazy it is about even.

BUT, and this is a HUGE but. You can Taligate at Lambeau, you can't at Taylor. By tailgate, I mean pull up in your rig, load out a grill and a cooler, then burn yourself some raw meat and tip yourself a few tasty beverages with around 71,000 of your closest friends. Toss the football around, toss a queen fan around, punch a bear fan, you know. Tailgate. Here at Taylor the closest thing you have is you come in, stand on the practice field, BUY a brat that someone else cooked(a good one I might add), BUY some beer at an inflated price (Pilsner, also very good), and stand there. It is nice, but it ain't tailgating. Sorry, the edge goes to the Pack. Thanks James for bringing it up though.

If anyone else would like to share their opinion I will be happy to listen to it then disregard it completely. Thank you.

NEXT:
I just thought I would share a few Brett Favre things. First one is Terry Bradshaw speaking on what he thinks the Packers should have done and where they would be had the just kept Favre. Terry B is usually whacked out of his mind, which I kinda like in a rubbernecking kind of way, but he is right on in this video. He went off on Ted Thompson and Mike McCrappy. Said what I have been saying all year long. CLICK THIS LINK, type in Fired Up Favre on the search and then click on the Favre clip. It would not allow me to link directly so sorry about this weak instructions.

Now I want to show you a clip from NFL Network. I know a lot of you don't get the NFL Network so I will share. After the Jets game on Thursday Brett was on the set with the hosts. This is another thing I miss about Number 4. Just the way Brett is. Watch Favre on Set and see what I mean.

LAST:


Don King promo from hamiltongbp on Vimeo.

Here is a video that we did way back at KXMB TV in Bismark. Don King was in town to promote a fight that Virgil Hill was doing and we managed to get him on camera. This is how great a promoter he is no matter what you think of the man personally, he is a brilliant promoter. He was set to have a look at the Bismarck Civic Center and we had a camera there. He jumps out and with out anyone cueing him he spouts our slogan for KX. He did his research. He later did the promo in front of the sign with the sports guy. You know the sports guy did it because it was not lit and it is framed incorrectly. I have issues sorry.

We rush back and put this promo together thinking this would be great to have since he did not spout KFYR's promo, just ours. I think it is an okay promo for 1992 standards. The GM in his infinite wisdom told us to not run it because King was a convicted felon and it would 'reflect poorly on KX'. Moron. Anyway this promo never got any airtime, UNTIL NOW!!!

Enjoy and GET BACK TO WORK!!!!!

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!!!!!!

SUPERSTAR!!!!!

Okay, so Trev, of the Regina Trev's, and me went to the Rider game on Saturday. It was against the Montreal Allouettes. Anyway, I was geeked and so was Trev. We totally had good seats, 24 rows up on the 40 yard line. Sweet.

It was really rainy right up to kick off. We stood underneath the stadium to partake in tasty beverages and delicious bratwurst. As we were doing so I noticed a TSN Camera jockey taking pictures of the water that was draining off the stadium. Now me being the low keyed guy that I am naturally decided to stay away from the camera and not risk being noticed. Yeah right. I walked right up to the camera and said hello. Nice. Well after that I then recieved several phone calls letting me know that I made the show. NATIONWIDE BABY!!!. Yup, that is how I roll.

CLICK HERE to see me on the highlights. I rule.

Then the rain stopped, we took our seats, the we had more tasty beverages, we sang a few songs, saw Elvis, high fived several complete strangers, saw a rainbow, and oh, yeah, THE RIDERS BEAT THE SNOT OUT OF THE ALS. In that order. Gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Outstanding game to watch. The Riders knocked a ball loose on a kickoff, picked off a pass, and scored a brilliant TD to win. All in the last three minutes or so. AWESOME.

Riders are 4-0, first time since 1970 they have been 4-0. Ahhhhhh, I remember that year well. I was three years old and just finished a mini movie on toilet training. Very successful year for me. Hosted by Chad Weiser, of the Seattle Weiser's.



TSN Superstar from hamiltongbp on Vimeo.

You want to be in my posse. You know you do. Hell, I want to be in my posse. You want to roll with me. As Jim Rome said, "You are who you roll with". Word Up. You know that wherever you go, you will be recognized. Recognized for being cool, phat(not fat), smooth, smart, happenin' (without the g), chillin' (again without the g), and most of all really, really, really, really, neato. Yes, I am bringing Neato back.

Okay, so I still have not gotten Tony on the Podcast. I will, I will. This week I promise. I have been kinda busy, you know being a National TV star and all.

Hmmm, what's next for me? Let's see, big screen twice, Nationwide TV on TSN, and on all the highlight shows all night long (TSN,SNet, and Score). Done all that. Well I guess, next stop is Hollywood. Marty, make some room on your couch, there is a superstar on his way. WHooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Oh, and Brett Favre was on the ESPYS this weekend. Nice. He was funny. Oh and the video that they showed was pretty amazing. Made me again realize why he is the greatest.

Here is his appearance...



Okay now GET BACK TO WORK!!!!!

Rider game of destiny...

So my homey Trev, now of the Regina Doroshenko's, gave me a hook up to the season opener of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Which I might also add was against the hated Edmonton Eskischmos. Of course I was not going to turn it down. I am so excited to have football back. It is only a matter of time until the NFL is back. There is nothing better than football on a hot summer afternoon. Especially when your team get the chance to whip the snot out of the Eskimos.

Some of you now might be saying, "Wait, Chris. Did you not at one time have season tickets to the Esks?" I would have to answer yes, at one time I was a ticket holder at Commonfilth stadium. Everyone makes mistakes in their life. I have made many. But everyone is also given a second chance, a new lease on life if you will.

I was shown the light by Dan Kepley on that fateful day back in 2002 when he threatened my life at Eskimos practice. I realized that I was backing the wrong horse. I have changed my ways and moved away from the Evil Empire to a more righteous team. Not unlike God's team, the Green Bay Packers (That is what the G on the helmet stands for is God). The Riders are community owned, just like the Pack. They issue stock, just like the Pack. And they travel well, just like the Pack. You go to a game in any other barn in this country and you will find more Rider fans than the locals. Oh and the S on the Riders helmet stands for, uh, SuperAwesome, uh, I think. So lets get back to the issue at hand, the Riders beating the snot out of the Esks on Saturday.

Trev and I decided to head to the stadium early enough to get a Pilsner and a Bratwurst. As we were enjoying the fine Saskatchewan weather and one of the tastiest brats this side of Lambeau Field, Trev noticed a dude that looked strangely like the commisioner of the CFL. After a few moments of discussion and disputing, we decided that it was him and I decided that I needed to get a brush with greatness photo. How could I pass up the opportunity to get a pic with the commish? The guy on the left in the pic is Commisioner Mark Cohon, and the dude on the right is the CEO and President of the Riders Jim Hopson. Oh and the good looking dude in the middle is me. How cool is that? The Commisioner of the freaking league and the CEO of the Riders was hanging out drinking Pilsner in the tailgate area. Only in the CFL. Cohon also told Trev that he has Pilsner shipped out to him in Ontario he likes it so much. Nice.

As we were taking that fine picture Mr. Hopson commented on my awesome Ray Elgaard jersey. I mentioned that I was a big fan of Ray and he told me that Ray was at the game today. I have been trying to get Ray's autograph for a long time. Apparently he does not come back to Regina much. Mr. Hopson then laid out the plan on how I was going to get my jersey autographed by the big WR. Sweet, this game was turning out great already. A Bratwurst, a few tasty beverages, I met the commishioner, AND I get Ray Elgaard's autograph. Hopson told us to meet him in the green and white room and he would make it happen. You do not have to ask me twice.

Ray was totally cool and even gave Trev some shit. Trev told Ray that he was a big fan and Ray said "So that is why you chose to back DeFrance (74 jersey that Trev was wearing)." Sweet.

The game hasn't even started yet. So then we roll to our seats to watch the game. We again aquired a few tasty beverages to cool our parched throughts.



The commish came out gave a little speach and they played this video up on the big screen. It was awesome. It would be good for those of you south of the border to see what the CFL is about. Just a little bit of love for the CFL. CLICK HERE and then click on "This is our league" to see it if perhaps you cannot see the video above.

The Riders started slow but finished strong and whipped the Eskischmos 34-13. Even better during the game Me and Trev managed to get on the scoreboard three times. I have said it before and I will say it again... It helps when you know the guys who run the cameras. Great time had by all.

So for those of you south of the border, if you per chance want to come up to a CFL game, and get on the scoreboard, give me a call. Just do it soon because most of the games are sold out. I highly recommend a trip to Taylor field for a brat, a few tasty beverages, and most importantly a Rider win.

McKenna shares the Cup with her school...

Austin and the Grey Cup at MacNeill School from hamiltongbp on Vimeo.

As you all know, the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup recently. Because the Peterson's moved to Regina. Yup, when we move to a city, their teams automatically win a championship. It is a proven fact. Look it up. I dare you.

We teach McKenna to give and share with others as much as possible. It is important to instill in our kids to give back to the community whenever possible. So, today McKenna gave back. She knows that the reason the Grey Cup came to Sask was because of our family so she wanted to share the Grey Cup with her school. So she arranged to have the head coach, Kent Austin, bring it to the school for a photo op today. What a great kid. I am so proud of her. That is her front and center in the red shirt.

The coach, whose kids go to McKenna's school, brought it in, told some stories (rated G stories) and then let the kids take a pic with the cup. There were of course a lot of dads in the house. Including me of course. But at least I did not send McKenna up with 5 championship hats to autograph. That is sooooo obvious sending your kid up to get autographs. Five caps? C'mon, what kid is going to bring five caps to get auto's on? Only the kid whose dad wanted to get one for himself, one for his buddy, and three to sell on ebay. Loser. I did not even get an auto. I only shook the man's hand and congratulated him. First class all the way. Really, I just forgot to bring something to sign. I suck.

Needless to say she got her class to pose with the cup, and she was front and center for the class pic with the cup. Nice job McKenna. Too bad your old man can't take a pic to save his life.




Oh, and you will notice that in the class pic, she is touching the cup. I am so proud of her. Man tears, on the spot.

Oh and one more thing. Yup, I got a truck. I am soooooo cool. Have a great weekend!!!!!!1

You're Welcome Saskatchewan...

Well, we did it again. That's right. Yet another championship under the Peterson's proverbial belt. In case you missed it, and I figure most of you in the states did, last night the Saskatchewan Roughriders went to Toronto, played the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and won the Grey Cup. Now most people would say, "Chris, what the hell are you talking about YOU did it again?" Well, if you would just shut up and listen to me I will tell you.

It seems that every time the Peterson clan makes a move, the local team wins a championship. So it has nothing to do with their team, skill, or management. It has everything to do with the location of my stuff. Let's see, where do I start.

Most might think that it all starts in Green Bay, well, I beg to differ. When we moved to Des Moines, shortly after we got there the Des Moine Suckaneers won the Gold Cup. The National Junior A championship. I believe the Iowa Barnstormers under the grocery bagging Kurt Warner won the AFL championship (under coach John Gregory). So that was stop number one.

Stop number two was the holy land. Green Bay Wisconsin. That was around 1995-96. We all know that at that time Brett Favre was in his second year of MVP'n and he led the team to Super Bowl 31 and the world championship. Now you playa hatin' queen fans will point out that that is when he was hooked on vicodin. Wrongo, moosebreath, that is when he KICKED vicodin and the rest of the NFL's ass.

Also whilst the Peterson's were in Green Bay the Gamblers, of the USHL junior A hockey, won two Gold Cup National Championships under Coach Don Granato. Lead in goal by TT vetran Ty Conklin. Oh and the baddest D man to ever skate on USHL ice, Jeff 'give 'em the' Finger. Nice. Oh and an also ran was the Arena Football team the Green Bay Bombers who won the title in 98.

Oh, but it did not stop there. We then travelled north to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Let's see, the Eskischmos won two Grey Cups while we were there. The AAA team the Edmonton Trappers won the championship and the U of A Golden Bears won many hockey championships. The Oilers made a run at the Stanley Cup but came up one period short of winning it. Oh, the junior football team, the Huskies, won a national championship also.

Which brings us to today. The Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup last night in Toronto. It was awesome. We spent the day at the Davis' and watched the game. Lots of kids, lots of food, and a great game.

Shortly after the game we all piled in the car and went downtown to witness the chaos on Albert Street. McKenna and Dakota went also. Dakota watched it all from her car seat and Donna and McKenna got out and high fived all the crazy Rider fans in their cars driving up and down Albert. Well, there wasn't much driving just a lot of sitting in traffic. Albert Street runs the length of Regina and it was bumper to bumper from North to South. Amazing. Fireworks, honking, cheering, and tons of open containers. Of course as the leader of TundraTalk Nation I took my camera to document the proceedings. Here it is, enjoy...


Untitled from hamiltongbp on Vimeo.