Rockin', Rollin' and Ridin'

Watched the Oscars for the first time in years - I usually just catch the highlights - and Ben Stiller was hilarious. His reprisal of Joaquin Phoenix's bizarre appearance on Letterman was massive. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself and favour and YouTube both interviews. Guaranteed laughter.

As for the weekend in sports, Mats Sundin's return to Toronto went the way everything is going for the Canucks these days - perfect. The Leafs, the crowd and in the end, Sundin himself played their roles to perfection. His shootout winner on the 10th anniversary of the ACC will go down as one of the unforgettable moments in his Hall of Fame career.

In a complete contrast from Januray, the Canucks can do nothing wrong thus far this month. Even when they don't play well for the bulk of the game (like in Toronto), they find a way to pick up a win. Even when Roberto Luongo allows a soft goal by his standards (like in Calgary), he shuts the door the rest of the way and backstops the Canucks to victory. And even when one of the top two lines isn't going, the other seems to carry the mail for the night.

The big question right now is... what do the Canucks do at the deadline? Mike Gillis has repeatedly stated that he's already made his big move by getting Sundin; it's his way of taking a preemptive strike against the inevitable "when are the Canucks going to make a move?" question that surfaces at this time each year. On one hand, the Canucks could use a defenseman to bolster what has been an inconsistent powerplay or an all-around forward that provides equal parts scoring and size. However, this organization isn't currently deep enough to trade away high draft picks or one of the few prospects it has in order to get a rental player. If prices are high to get the likes of Keith Tkachuk, don't expect much - if anything - to happen in the next nine days unless Vancouver deals for a player they can sign going forward.

IRONMAN UPDATE

Some exciting news in my quest to conquer this summer's Ironman Canada in an effort to raise money to fight cancer. A donation page has been created and the link is now posted on the right hand side of this blog. And I've got a big donation to kick things off!



The Vancouver Giants invited me and other media types to gather as many loonies as we could in one minute on the ice last Friday. All money I grabbed was then doubled and will be donated to teh BC Cancer Agency. I WAS ABLE TO GATHER THE MOST MONEY - $645 - WHICH MEANS $1290 IS GOING TO THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER!!!

Sponsors are also beginning to jump on board; Powerbar is going to support this endeavour and we're just working out the details as to how that will happen. I'll be posting a training log on the Powerbar website in the near future. Until then, I'll be training my assets off as gameday is only six months away.

And So It Begins... IRONMAN!

You may have been listening this morning when I made the announcement on the air - I am trainging for Ironman Canada. This is easily the most daunting physical challenge I have ever attempted, but there's a very good reason for it.

Like many of you, my life has been significantly affected by cancer in recent years. If you've been in the BC Cancer Agency or similar treatment facilities, you know that there are so many people that need help in battling this disease.

After watching these people confront the challenge of their lives, it has inspired me to challenge myself. I will train to swim 3.8km, cycle 180km and run 42km on August 30th in an effort to raise money for cancer treatment.

In the next couple of days, I will have more information for you. There will be a link to a donation page should you choose to support this cause, and there are some exciting announcements on the horizon with regards to some corporate sponsorships.

Stay tuned!

Fun in the Sun

Jetted down to California for the weekend to hang out with my wife while she undergoes some training for her new job. I love Canada, but you can't beat the sunshine after so many days of cold in the Great White North.

Couple of things for you as I post this from poolside down in Irvine:

Super Bowl
Great finish to what was shaping up as a lackluster game. Kurt Warner will be haunted by James Harrison in his dreams for years to come; the Cardinals could very easily be gripping the Lombardi trophy today if not for what will go down as one of the biggest defensive plays in the history of the Super Bowl. I thought a couple of the calls during the game were borderline at best (roughing the passer for a little push in the back on a qb as big as Roethlisberger?!?), but I'm glad the Steelers had to make a big play to win it. That grab by Holmes was unreal, and it was worthy of the game that it won.

Commercials
I was a big fan of the Pepsi Max ad where guys were getting hit in the head with golf clubs and being electocuted only to respond "I'm good." I also enjoyed the E-trade commercials with the babies that talk like adults -"Shankopotamous" is entrenched in my vocabulary now. That said, the freaky Conan O'Brien Bud Light ad was outstanding, and I'm going with that as my favorite. I know Doritos won the popular vote, but Conan made me howl with that Swedish commercial spoof. If you missed the Super Bowl ads, go to www.hulu.com and check them out.

Cranky Canucks
Shane O'Brien sounded off after practice today. Apparently he is none too pleased with his role as a healthy scrtach for back-to-back games. Alain Vigneault says he needs O'Brien to cut down on the needless penalties he's been taking. That's reasonable, but O'Brien has a case for himself too - he was +7 in the atrocity known as January in which the Canucks won two of twelve games. Mattias Ohlund was -10 during the same stretch and Kevin Bieksa was -8. Vigneault can sit whomever he wants, but he'd better hope the beaking by O'Brien is just an isolated incident. If more players start voicing their displeaure with their individual roles, start planning tee times. This team has NO chance of winning if they all start worrying about their personal agendas.