Trade Deadline Day....

Hey yaars,

I'm here at the Cable Box waiting for MLB deadline deals to go down. Of course, because I'm waiting, nothing's happening!

It's just been confirmed Alfonso Soriano is staying with the Nats. Which is probably a good thing as he probably would have been dealt back to the Yanks had he been dealt! Seriously, you might as well give them an all-star team!

More to come from your boy...

Osama the Gooner?

Hey yaars,

Since I figured I'd post a bit more, I just read the funniest thing (well at least to me). I've been reading Bill Simmons on ESPN for a few years now and a few days back he was writing on how he would decide on which English Premiership team to support. He gave mini summaries on the teams and for the major teams had some of their celebrity fans listed. Upon reading about Arsenal, lo and behold I discovered that Mr. Bin Laden is an avid Arsenal supporter. So much that he's allegedly bought his son a jersey!

I have to say, I've been thinking about switching allegiances myself. After seeing the Yankee fans last week, I totally understand why my English cousins lambasted me for choosing Manchester United a half-decade ago. And after seeing my favourite United player just sign for Real Madrid this week, I'm a tad bit distraught. I would say Ruud leaving is almost equivalent to Mats Sundin leaving the Leafs (Yes, it's that bad!). I'll manage though, I have a few Premiership nuts who'll try their best to sway me over to their dark side!

In other news...

- Went to the Argos game yesterday were they got guillotined by the BC Lions. I think the final score was something like 28-9 - I admit I lost count after the first 3 TD's against us!

- I'm back on the mom's bad side again. Coming home at 1 Am on a saturday/sunday is supposedly way too late for any modest person. I hate to say it but at times I agree and still feel guilty! Of course as always I'll find my way to meander back into her good books, I always do :)

- Pakistan lost the 2nd Test against England at Old Trafford by an innings defeat yesterday. I wasn't amused at all! And yes, I'm sure 90% of my readers have no clue of what I just wrote.

- Watched the film Swingers last night on the way home (video iPods rule!). I sincerely believe I'm so money and I don't even know it!

- Dave Chappelle's Muslim? That explains why he's so funny!

- Lance Bass is Gay !?! Who would of thunk it? :P

Alright, I'm off to watch the Jays face of against the A's. They better not blow this game with LeROOOOOYYY Halladay on the mound! Talk to y'all l8er!

"Let's get drunk and stoned and have a good time."

Hey yaars,

Yesterday was the Blue Jays mid-season bash. Though initially we were suppose to meet at the Founder's Club (to which I was a bit excited for), we ended up going back to Gate 9 as the doors were locked and no-one had the proper key to enter!

The meeting consisted of the typical fare during any sort of staff meeting. I would elaborate but choose not to in fear of voiding my Rogers confidentiality agreement (sorry folks, I actually LIKE this job!). Nothing to crazy to talk about though, just some points to gather for moving on.

The real fun was afterwards when the good folks at the Jays decided to treat us to a grand ol' time at Grace O' Malley's. It's the third time I've been their within the year for a Jays function and I'm beginning to think it's becoming the standard for Blue Jays excellence in behaviour of the partying nature! And THIS time I had a camera to take photos with!

Though I didn't take nearly as many as I could have (come on, I had to have some fun!), I'll put it this way, it was pissa' wicked! And yes, to confirm suspicions, I think I am going to hell in a handbasket!

I'll put up my complete set of photos in a bit but in the meantime here's a selection of photos. (I'll shamefully admit to being selfish and putting pictures with me in first!)...

Here's the group whom I've affectionately coined the "Junior Jay Crew"
(Eric, Lucas, Dave, Chris, and Mike) :

Me with my corrupters, Courtney and Jason:

Derek and Kaye (Mr. and Mrs. Myers) :

Michelle and I (who would have known joviality ran in the family!)

Last (and maybe my fave), myself with Stephanie, Michelle, and Debora

OK, I promise I'll post some others in the next few days. I think I still may be shocked at not being considered ugly :P It's gotta be the hat or sweater I gather. In any event, see you on the flip side!

Yes, they still do....

THIS was a good portion of why I was unable to post over the last few weeks. The interlocking NY were in town from July 20th to 23rd. And though it's only 4 days, it feels like its weeks!

The amout of effort put in by every single department to accomodate the Yanks is awe-inducing. Extras were called in for everything from security to beer vendors to even BJ Ryan bobbleheads to accomodate the faux Bronx Zoo.

While I had no problem with genuine New Yorkers coming to see their team, I had a few qualms with "lifelong fans" with Toronto addresses who chose to come down this weekend. Surely if these fans decided to come a few more times during the year to enjoy some great baseball even our team might just be contending!

I've touched on my Yankee hating in posts last year, and I'll add now that what grinds my gears the most is their fans' feeling of entitlement ; as if we should all bow down, bend over, and allow ourselves to be stomped over!

I suppose I have a bit of a personal bias as it was THE busiest weekend bar none. The first two days had me working 7 hours sans break, while the third game was a whopping 10.5 hours! And believe it or not, it does get tiresome explaining to customers that all we had was 500 level tix for the series. I was close to slapping a customer or two for their belligirence over the matter!

The kicker of the series? Sunday afternoon a few hours after the game, when a few of us saw the Yankees bus leave the Rogers Centre parking lot, with a POLICE ESCORT! Who do they think they are, Royalty??? Foreign leaders and dignitaries, along with funeral processions are worthy of an escort, but a baseball team? Where do you draw the line? Does this mean that if I strike it rich I'll never have to wait to get anywhere ever again? I think you all can see the quasi-socialist in me boiling!

I'll sum it up very nicely - the Yanks SUCK!

What's new on my iPod...

Yes, it's the album by that dude from Linkin Park (Mike Shinoda). The first time I heard the band was while shopping at Woodfield Mall whilst in Chi-Town. "Where'd You Go" was very catchy/depressing and upon coming back to the T-Dot I figured I'd give it a listen. I'm greatfully not dissappointed.

In my humble opinion the album's surprsingly catchy. I find myself listening to the songs on loop while walking. I challenge you to give the songs a try. If you can't get pumped after hearing "Remember the name", you can't possibly have a pulse, it's just so GANGBUSTERS!

Remember The Name...

Hey yaars!

I know I know, it's been a while since I last posted (almost a fortnight according to my calculations). The last bit of time was spent furiously pumping out tickets for our beloved Blue Jays. Hopefully my strenuous efforts helps in the team winning a game or two!

There is a bunch of stuff I want to get to. And since I figure most of you peruse the blog and wouldn't be bothered in reading a 2000 word essay meandering into all spectrums, I'll try to semi-streamline my stories into individual posts. I use the "semi" tag as I'm sure I'll throw in some obligatory notes in the end! In any event, here's to it!

I wanna be known...

Hey yaars,

Spent the day chillaxing at home, thinking about odds and ends. Here's what I can remember...

- As shown in the photo above, Pakistan's tour of England begins tomorrow. The first test at Lord's begins Thursday morning and your boy's going to be watching with full intent. FYI Lord's is the spirtual home of cricket and kinda like Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, and Wembley rolled into one. In honour of the game, here's one of the famous videos people seem to ignore :P




- Went to pick up a parcel at the Town Centre. Found out it was a few monthly editions of my religious sects magazine, two months late! To cap it off, the note our postman delivered said that "you were not in on 7/7". It was delivered today! I hate this postman!

- Listened to the fan 590 and Chuck Swirsky's show. Surprisingly they were still talking about the Zidane issue. Not to say anything, but when the host and news voices during the show are of Italian origin, one shouldn't be expecting any sympathy for the French....

- Been watching a few World Cup montages. I found a good one from the BBC with a Pet Shop Boys song. Believe it or not it's pretty good. Check it out...



- Work's been very nice lately. Of course with this might be the calm before the storm, what with the interlocking NY in town in a week's time. Let's just hope there are no disasters in waiting!

- My mom asked today what the big deal was with Zidane. Everyday before she leaves for work she watches CP24. Seeing as it's usually around 5AM, she ends up watching the English version of German news and found out about it. After she read his name it was revealed to us that Zinedine is just a longer, Arabized version of my brother's name! Now if only there are some more famous Naveed's to go around. Actually scratch that, make ME famous!

- Planning on going out for a bit tomorrow. Not sure what to do, if anybody's free, shout me a holla at my email. I'm up for (almost) anything. And to answer the ultimate question, no that does NOT mean going to Hooter's or any "gentleman's establishment'". Or any freaky thing for that matter!

Talk to y'all later folks. In the meantime, watch the videos! They're pissa wicked!

Farewell Legend...

Hey yaars,

I'd be remiss if I chose to not mention this past Sunday's World Cup Final. For all of you that know me, you realize I'm a bit of a football nut and was anxiously anticipating the final. After watching it, it's taken me a few days to really think about the man that is Zidane. And of course what the hell happened.

Unabashedly, I admit that I've been a fan of his since France '98, when I first saw him steer France to a victory over Denmark in the group stage of the tournament. And from France's victory in that World Cup to today, I've admired Zizou for his skill and calm temperament. Simply put, it must have been SOMETHING to have led him to flip like that.

From the various reports I've read, overall concensus was that something really nasty was said.

Simply put, I can see why he lost it.

After injuring his shoulder in extra time, it looks as if Materazzi made a point to shall we say "massage" the right shoulder to make sure he was as uncomfortable as possible. I'm sure many of us after getting injured and being taunted in a vile manner would resort to some form of violence. Regardless of why he should or shouldn't have, I can understand. We've all heard our fair share of "yo mama" jokes, but when your actual Ma is seriously ill, I can see how it would hit a raw nerve.

One of the things that's semi-bothering me is the complaints of some of the Italian fans who claim that the world can't stand to see them win at football and are finding a reason to shit on their parade. PUH-LEASE! Y'all do that EVERY TIME you get kicked out of a tournament! This time there's actual justification. Their Azurri were beaten from pillar to post for about 100 minutes of the game and only managed to be victorious because of ONE penalty miss. I could easily point to their "fluke luck" in getting this far as they dived their way past Australia. Only they could find a way to be sore winners.

Regardless of the hubub that's happened this week, I still respect Zidane for his game and for being probably the greatest player I'll ever see. He's won at every level, be it World Cup, Euro Cup, Champions League, Italian Scutdetto's, or Spanish titles. That's something you can never take away. As they say, legends live forever!

OK OK, this was a bit of a rant post I admit, but I'm still a bit sore over the game. I truly feel the better team did not win and am tiring of the incessant boasting by so-called Italians. These are the same people who speak not a lick of Italian, have little real links to Italy, and probably have never gone. I'd be amazed if they could name their team's starting 11 without flinching (I can do that and I'm not even a fan!). Let's see if these fans are still there during the Rugby World Cup, the Olympics, and the next World Hockey Championships waving their flags outside their cars.

Alright I think I'm done now. I do hope the Italians enjoy this, because them winning another tournament is as likely as me having that good ol' pig explosion pizza!

Dirty Bingo...

Hey yaars,

Yes, I did it. I played Dirty Bingo. After trying my best to avoid attending, I figured I'd be a sport and go out with the crew to try this scary game. Upon arriving at the Firkin I nervously shifted to the back where we all met. And of course, with the luck only I could have, yours truly won the first game of the night. The reward you ask? I'm still not even sure exactly what it was but it was some sort of clitoris metallic thingy that I wanted nothing to do with. It could have been worse, I could have won the 18 inch "Anaconda"!!!

Beforehand was just as fun. I agreed to meet up with Koji and Travis to watch the replay of the Germany/Italy semi-final. I figured I'd kick around the Eaton Centre for a bit and on the way made sure to avoid watching the Tv's at Hooters, The Duke of Argyle, AND the Fox and Firkin on the way. Upon arriving outside the Hard Rock Cafe I saw them and Nicola waiting outside. Why you ask? Because the live game was still going on and the replay wouldn't start till after (of course we didn't want to know what happened without watching the WHOLE game!).

So we waited for a few minutes outside, while periodically seeing Nicola or Koji jump in to check, until they saw their group sales intern watching in the suite TV. Of course after 3 seconds they decided to kick him out and watch there. I still get a kick out of how easily they got him booted!

After minutes of watching billiards on TSN waiting for the replay to start (so that we wouldn't know the result), I managed to see the reflection of the Hard Rock TV's on the glass of the suite to which I yelp "Shit! I just saw the game in the reflection!". Koji instinctively looks and thinks he sees what happened, and decided to go on a "fuck you Naveed" tirade for a few minutes. Thankfully all is subsided after a few and we head out to the Hard Rock to watch.

IT WAS SICK! Ze Germans are dunzo! I told y'all they were overrated! For what they had they played a great tournament, they just weren't of the same class as an Italy on the day. And when del Piero blasted the beautiful lob to make it 2-0 seconds later, it was pissa' wicked! I ALMOST felt Italian for a few minutes :P

Anyhow, I'm a bit zonked now, just wanted to make sure I posted as I promised Nicola I would. And to answer everyone's question - No, I did NOT keep my dirty bingo prize!

L8er!!!

No War. Shoot for Peace...

Hey yaars,

Just got home from work, having been forced to be a "bus bitch" for the first time in about two years. You see, after Friday night/Saturday morning, I've lost my car keys and have been stuck waiting for buses. I don't mind the subway at all, just waiting for slow ass buses is really frustrating. And today when I reached the bus stop at 8:35AM to wait for the scheduled 8:37AM bus, I found it flying away as it was actually early! I'm sure you can imagine the look on my face! Luckily with the help of some efficient RT and subway cars, I actually managed to make it 20 minutes EARLY to work! I know, even I'm shocked!

Work's been a bit hectic this weekend. With the new 1% reduction in the GST, all the ticket prices seem to end in odd numbers, meaning we have to open ALL our change. Subsequently it takes an extra few minutes at the end of the night to count it up, more time to wrap it up to put in our bag, and more time for finance to verify the amounts. And for what - 50 cents TOPS per ticket! I'm sure I'll get use to it, but the Jays must be the only team in sports to have ticket prices that don't end in even numbers!

OK, I think I need some sleep now. After consecutive nights of 5 hours or less of sleep, I start seeing things I shouldn't. An example being my mom actually trying to talk nice with me now. I ain't budging from my silent treatment 'till I get my keys back! :P

Game. Set. Match. - Goodnight!

GOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!

So the quarter finals of the world cup are complete, setting up the semis. My thoughts....

- Though expected, it was a bit of a shame England went out to Portugal on penalties. I found myself cheering for them today not only because of my ongoing bets, but there's just something magnetic about their team. It's very reminiscent of Leafs nation, I imagine like an old flame you go back to time and time again - you're bound to be burned but there's something that brings you back! I was very close to going into shouts of "Eng-LUND!" during the match/work!

- THEY SHOCKED THE WORLD! The French did it again. Not a soul believed me when I said they could knock out the Samba boys of Brazil but they pulled it off in grand style. There was just something lacking with this Brazil team. Perhaps a case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. With all the talent in the world, it seemed they just didn't have the gelling that champion teams do. Don't get me wrong, they still are arguably the most talented team on the planet, they just seemed frustrated when unable to penetrate the remarkable French defense. I was always under the impression that the French WEREN'T frigid :P

- Zizou is back. Y'all must of forgot France '98 when Zinedine Zidane carried the French side in winning the Jules Rimmet trophy. While he's past his prime, he's like the Gretzky of football - when he needs to turn his game on he's there. Today being case in point!

- I was 2 for 4 in my picks for the quarters. To be fair to me though, both of my misses came out of matches that went to PENALTIES, where everything is a crapshoot!

- Why do teams send out defenders to take penalty kicks? Their job is to BLOCK the shots, not take them! Each and every one that's tried this world cup has missed miserably. From the ones I've seen (Ayala, Carragher, Simao), it's crystal clear at least to me that they are not comfortable in taking the kick. I think I had a 75% success rate at saying if the kick would go in or not and that's not because I have any ESP powers whatsoever, it's just simple body language!

It's times like this I wish Pakistan would be decent enough at football to make the world cup. Then people would actually listen when I spoke of their greatness at sport. (Their series against England starts with the first Test on the 13th FYI). Let's hope Zesh Rehman helps the PFF at least come close to making the 2010 tournament!!!!

Aii I'm half dead right now! After only 4 hours sleep I had to unexpectedly take the subway to work, which was on holiday timings. Then I ended up having to work near 11 hours (instead of the scheduled 8) as there was nobody scheduled to work till end of the game. Let's just say that Red Bull, Advil, and Caffeine kept me alive today! Talk to everyone later!