I can't remember if it was Owen or Chas who had a local's interest in Morgan Geekie. That discussion was probably ten or fifteen Jackies ago. But regardless, an update:
Geekie got his 30th goal/53d point last night (don't get me started on how the Broons drubbed NooJoisey last night - clearly, the players and coaching staff didn't read the memo about losing the rest of the games in order to secure a top-5 draft pick).
Geekie ends the season as an RFA, and he has had the good fortune to be skating on the same line as Pastrnak for a while now, which has unquestionably helped his production. But the kid is better than anyone dared hope.
Bottom line he came in as eiither undervalued or potentially damaged goods last season, when Don Sweeney was dumpster diving, and has proven to be incredibly valuable to the team - even more so given that Sweeney traded away half the scorers about a month ago. This article, if it doesn't trigger a paywall, explains.
Geekie likes Beantown, or claims to, and it's pretty clear Boston would like to keep him. I know that I would. The local sports network, NESN, has an annual fan poll called "7th Player." It's awarded to the player that impacted well beyond expectations during the season. Geekie is the odds on favorite, and deserves to be. Broons fans would've been pleased with 20 goals/40 points.
Edited by - eagleisland on 04/09/2025 15:56:41
Geekie, being from a prairie stone’s throw away from Owen’s humble abode, has some distant connection with the aforementioned Owen, , if I recall it’s a somewhat tenuous thread regarding a friend of a friend of a SIL , or some such , who knows the nephew of the Geekie on the Broons squad.
Unrelated , here is a baseball play or non-play that I nevah hoid o’ afore.
fb.watch/yS_dXDqHTP/?
Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/09/2025 21:01:13
Jackie can't figure out that play either.
Nah Chuck, I have a direct pipeline ..... my wife and Geekie's granny are sometimes at the same weekly knitting group.
As for "throwing" prairie stones here's how we did when I was a kid.
It was commonly called "picking stones" but when mechanization prevailed, the stones* apparently became rocks ... i.e. rock pickers
As for the biesbol play, I think there's a rule that empowers umps to come up with a rule to cover any situation not specifically addressed in the rule book. Not sayin' that's what happened in this instance, but ............ ??
* One of my neighbours, who still hand-picked 'em after most had switched would euphemistically say he was "... going out to pick some watermelons."
Edited by - Owen on 04/10/2025 07:40:33
As a misguided youth eschewing school studies I worked on tobacco farms for a few years. “Picking stones” before planting time was a one of the rites of spring,,, we had Nelly the old work horse pulling the stone boat, happy to be out of the barn after a long winter.
We had a stone boat, but it's role was pretty much limited to hauling manure from the barn, and bringing in small square bales on the return trip. When those jobs were still being done by older brothers, us young'uns would "practice" shooting sponge balls / being the goalie with the well-house as a backstop, 'til time came to hook our home-made sleighs to a honking big spike at the end of each "runner" and skijoring* along.
* ... don't recall just what our term was but it surely wasn't ^^ ... maybe "sleigh ride"??
Well, with the Blackhawks beating the Broons as the “big” story, I thought I’d turn to more baseball ,, it is spring, btw, in spite of what Jackie and her entourage might think.
John Olerud, batting champ with the Blue Jays back in the day, was notorious for rarely chatting much. So this is weird seeing him speaking at a podium… and deadpanning his way through a funny story.
facebook.com/reel/162165587180...fs=e&fs=e
Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/10/2025 19:46:35
quote:
Originally posted by chuckv97Well, with the Blackhawks beating the Broons as the “big” story, I thought I’d turn to more baseball ,, it is spring, btw, in spite of what Jackie and her entourage might think.
This member of Jackie's entourage would historically watch IIHF under-15 women's world championships time-delayed from Latvia if that's all that was available in July. That said, rumor has it the Red Sox actually have the makings of a team, so things could change this summer.
'Twas a splendid night for Boston hockey. Chicago embarrassed the Bruins (and Uncle Nick got a pair. I miss that guy). With but two games remaining before the locker room gets cleaned out, a top-5 pick is increasingly likely - especially considering that one of those games is against playoff-bound Joisey.
Bonus: BU advanced to the NCAA finals. So tomorrow, the Fates willing, I shall watch BU demolish Western Michigan in the evening, and then watch Pittsburgh clobber Boston Sunday afternoon. These outcomes would make for a most splendid weekend.
Edited by - eagleisland on 04/11/2025 05:35:33
Seems the NCAA commentators have taken a page from the CHL ..... increasingly what seems to matter is the high draft picks and how they're gonna have long and impactful NHL careers.
Too bad teams don't follow the example Doug And the Slugs set back in the day, whenever that was! Who needs Terriers when we could have Jack Hughes and Chopped Liver or Quinn Hutson And The Stiffs?
Go Broncos!
Edited by - Owen on 04/11/2025 09:21:59
^^ that reminds me of a team in the Vancouver (?) Kosmic Softball League ..... back in the day [1970ish]. I got this second hand from a friend who went out one summer [I eschewed* that, either to work as a sewer rat or to go to summer school]. Apparently the league was about as "laid back" as is possible ... no set number of players, "innings" lasting 'til somebody/anybody decided to switch; no score kept, etc. I'm told that a group of ladies (?) entered a team called "9 Easy Pieces."**
* where's Don Cherry when you need 'im?!?!?
** not to be confused with the Macon Whoopee.
Edited by - Owen on 04/11/2025 14:31:32
Not sure if this is big news in Russell, but this 21 year-old kid’s parents are Canadians from Friendly Manitoba,, moved to the Cayman Islands years ago. He qualified for the Masters but didn’t make the cut to continue.
Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/12/2025 11:23:35
I did not know any of ^^. But the buzz on the street* in Russell is that a Canadian is [was??] among the leaders.
* all 6 of 'em [Not counting Hwy. #16]. 
But there's probably equal interest in this https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/article/demolition-of-foothills-stadium-marks-end-of-an-era-for-baseball-in-calgary/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJnnpFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHp_UvaKqzE6h-rvpk-4NBttU1bI_NBw23hKHQcc68Kef-cif1CUUt0lIEYFC_aem_ok824z4PN-q9XCvGaDBh-w
^^ Had me recalling a pleasant hour or so on a hillside overlooking Mewata Stadium one summer evening about 29 years before it was torn down.
Alas, no such memories regarding Foothills. 
quote:
Originally posted by chuckv97The guy that surprised me getting a law degree was Stu (“The Grim Reaper”) Grimson
One that surprised me was Brian May of Queen getting a PhD in astrophysics. And Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish becoming a lawyer. But, then, they played electric guitars, so I suppose it doesn't mean as much.
Grimson actually got an on-air apology from MD after MD called him, Chris Nilan, and Jim Thomson "pukes" and "hypocrites" for being former enforcers and then criticizing the fighting.
Nilan and Rick Green are ona regular YouTube cast with a reporter from the Montreal Gazette. When asked who on the Flyers gave him the most trouble, Green replied, "Paul Holmgren," the immediately added, "What an ass!"
Owen
Alas, I missed watching the AAA Calgary teams, but I do remember the old PONY league (Pennsylvania, Ontario, New York) back in Ontario. The Hamilton Cardinals were the Ontario team, batting 1.000 crossing the USA/Canadian border/bordre. They captured the Class 'D' championship in 1955, playing in Civic Stadium which was adjacent to Ivor Wynne Stadium (now Tim Hortons Field).
Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/12/2025 16:32:00
For whatever it’s worth, the Boston University – Western Michigan NCAA finals game is on right now on ESPN2. Not sure if that exists in Canuckistan,, but I thought I’d let you lads know. Good game so far.
quote:
Originally posted by Paul Rquote:
Originally posted by chuckv97The guy that surprised me getting a law degree was Stu (“The Grim Reaper”) Grimson
One that surprised me was Brian May of Queen getting a PhD in astrophysics. And Barry Melton of Country Joe and the Fish becoming a lawyer. But, then, they played electric guitars, so I suppose it doesn't mean as much.
It never surprised me. Brian Maye built the guitar he plays to this day when he was something like 15 years old. The guy is obviously a genius. You can't play that well if you're not. The question is: does it translate elsewhere? In his case, it did.
And Rockstars doing great things after is not inheard of.. Geoff Baxter, Guitar Player for the Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, is a major consultant to the US on missile defense. The bass player for The Knack is an attorney, and one of the leading players in the Innocence Project.
Ira Gitlin, BHO member, was a winner on Jeopardy. He also won the banjo contest at Winfield.
quote:
Originally posted by eagleislandFor whatever it’s worth, the Boston University – Western Michigan NCAA finals game is on right now on ESPN2. Not sure if that exists in Canuckistan,, but I thought I’d let you lads know. Good game so far.
Good all the way!! Though les 'abs were on at the same time, I only got to see it/them during the F.F. intermissions, and never got to check in on the Jets at all.
I don't know the ins-and-outs of NIL and the "portal" but the number of references to player movement makes me a bit leery ... is $$$ affecting things more than is "good" for the game?
Are the players that jump to the pros now [i.e at the end of U. hockey] taking/completing a regular academic load? Doesn't the regular academic university year go on for a bit more?
Academics?? In USA university sports? Tell me it ain’t so…!
Watched the Blackhawks/Jets,, a good game,, back and forth, to & fro…
Jets win in a shootout and clinch first place in their division,, conference, or whatever it’s called now.
Alec Martinez and Pat Maroon shake hands with all the Jets,, it being their last game before retiring.
A niece of ours [from SK] ran track for 4 years, on an academic scholarship at Louisville.* Apparently her B. Sc. was good enuff to get her into a masters program at S'k'toon .... if I'm not mistaken she will get her D.V.M. at the end of this term. Maybe she's the exception? [I haven't heard any scuttlebutt about her entering a practice before the end of the academic term.]
* And, in case anybody's wondering, that's Lou-vuhll ... NOT Lew-e-ville!!
Edited by - Owen on 04/12/2025 19:52:54
quote:
Originally posted by chuckv97Ira Gitlin, BHO member, was a winner on Jeopardy. He also won the banjo contest at Winfield.
So ... which win means more? 
quote:
Originally posted by Paul Rquote:
Originally posted by chuckv97Ira Gitlin, BHO member, was a winner on Jeopardy. He also won the banjo contest at Winfield.
So ... which win means more?
Methinks the Jeopardy win gatners more street cred..... and likely more loot
Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/12/2025 20:27:54
quote:
Originally posted by chuckv97quote:
Originally posted by Paul Rquote:
Originally posted by chuckv97Ira Gitlin, BHO member, was a winner on Jeopardy. He also won the banjo contest at Winfield.
So ... which win means more?
Methinks the Jeopardy win garners more street cred..... and likely more loot
But what's more personally pleasing? In music, my most revered moment was carrying Elizabeth Cotten's guitar for her at the Mariposa Folk Festival (until, years later, my daughter, in high school at the time, accompanied me in leading the music at the annual New Year's Eve mass for our small community, at a friend's house).
^^^^ I dare say one would have to ask Ira personally. He once remarked on this august forum that the entries at Winfield were a weak “field” that year.
My personal musical highlights, if I may “trump” up some of my experiences, was chatting with Doc Watson in 1982, having an album on which I played banjo (thnx Mrs. Lindsay) aired on CBC radio by Sylvia Tyson, and playing banjo in the Calgary Stampede Parade last summer, passing by 350,000 people on a float (actually a 1952 International pickup truck).
Be that as it may, pride goeth before the fall....so I should mention my musical lowlite, as per the title of this dignified thread; our ramshackle, jittery bluegrass band was summarily fired after 2 songs in Guelph's Ambassador Hotel, a C&W dive, in 1975.
Edited by - chuckv97 on 04/12/2025 22:16:27
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