Twas the Night (Week) Before Xmas

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CardiacKid
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Hambone wrote:Well done Blitz. I sure the hell hope that's separate beds Cardiac. Shouldn't be much fear of that I suppose as other than in a mirror I haven't seen any sign of Lions gear here in my 5th of 28 days in Mazatlan. I did see some of that Rider green stuff though.

Feliz Navidad :clown:
Never fear Hambone! The wife and the pets have dibs on the bed sharing department. The dog has his own Lion's nightshirt but we need some Leo pj's. Maybe the team can sell some onesies like the RedBlacks?

Wow, getting a mention in a Lionbacker Christmas story, I feel flattered! A merry Christmas to all Lionbackers and CFL fans across the globe!

Hambone, i haven't been to Mazatlan but our last trip to Cabo we started seeing Sugar Skulls done up with NFL logos and the occasional CFL one. I found one Lion's skull in all our travels; maybe they have become more plentiful....
Blitz
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Can't complain Blitz. Beers in the bars are running 25 pesos which is about $1.25US or $1.75CDN. Hambone
I'll share a funny story with you Hambone. I took my first trip to Mexico in 1984. Mazatland had just experienced a storm. I had booked a 3 star hotel, thinking that was mid-range. In Mazatland, at the time, a 3 start hotel was worse than a 1 star hotel here.

On my first night in Mazatland, I went down to the bar and ordered a tequila, sprite, and lime. I asked how much and the waiter told me in pesos. I paid him, thinking that was the price. I ended up paying him $16.50 for the drink. I would learn the next evening how much I had overpaid. Of course, as my two weeks progressed I got better at both bargaining for cabs as well as realizing that prices were never set in those days.

On my last night in Mazatland, I was in the hotel bar, spending my last pesos. A new tourist had arrived and was sitting at the next table. He asked how much for his first drink and was told in pesos and I knew it was about $16.50, the price I had paid on my first night. I didn't know whether to tell the tourist or not. I decided not to. I figured the waiter needed the money more than him and sometimes life's lessons are best learned by experience. I hope the waiter's children ( I had learned he was married and had four children) got a few better meals out of our very, very expensive drinks. :wink:

Dano T - I enjoyed your post and your sharing of Jennings comments. Good for Jennings, who obviously has a sense of humour, even though Jennings renogiated contract before training camp turned out to be up to be less than Lulay's contract as our backup contract.

Wally being cheap (or frugal, depending on how one looks at it) is sometimes good and sometimes not funny at all. It wasn't humerous when Wally brought players like Paris Jackson and Bobby Singh in and forced them to renogiate their contracts substantially down or Wally said he would release them, with Wally knowing that they were B.C. boys with strong involvements in the community - Jackson was coaching a local team and Singh was on the School Board. Those are just two Leo players that Buono has done that to.

But on the lighter side of things, Carl Kidd was one of my favorite Leos ever. He drove Wally nuts because he was not a "Yes, sir, No sir, Three bags full sir" type of player but he was so good in his hay day that he was one of the rare players that could get away with it under Wally. I rememver Carl Kidd saying, when another player was negotiating his contract..."C'mon Wally, open up that wallet, don't be cheap" and laughing his head off.

But then again, a Carl Kidd's comment, after a Leos victory, in which Kidd played incredible, he was interviewed after the game is perhaps my all time favorite. Every one of Kidd's fingers and his thumbs were taped and he could hardly bend a digit. Kidd's hands had taken a beating in his career. So Kidd had to tackle without much use of his fingers or thumbs.

A sports reporter, looking at Kidd's taped fingers and thumbs, asked Kidd what the toughest challenge he had to deal with, based upon his fingers and thumbs being so taped up.

Kidd just dead panned the reporter and said "Going to the bathroom at half time" and then chuckled. :wink:
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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Hambone
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Re: Singh
It seemed like he was a Lion a lot longer than he really was. He played in BC only 4 years; a 3 year stint 2004-06 and in his final CFL season 2009. According to Wikipedia, which can be taken with a grain of salt, he signed a 4 year extension prior to 2006. He was released after the 1st year of that deal. According to the article Singh offered to take a pay cut but was still released due to SMS reasons per Buono. Keep in mind this was also when the new SMS kicked in with all teams having to make tough decisions to rework their payrolls for the realities of the new SMS world. Singh was always battling injuries throughout his career which likely also factored in the decision. He missed 13 games in those 3 seasons 04-06 including 6 in 06. After leaving BC he bounced from Calgary (17GP in 2007) to Winnipeg (4GP in 2008) and back to BC (10GP in 2009) before retiring.

I have one of his game helmets as a prized part of my collection. I have a big melon, 7-5/8. When I put Singh's bucket on I can just about turn it right around on my head. Singh has one big coconut. Must be size 8!
You're as old as you've ever been and as young as you're ever going to be.
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Hambone
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Lol to the Mexican coins of that Era Blitz. My first trip to Mexico was to PV about the same time you made that trip to Mazatlan. I recall thinking if a guy fell off a dock with a couple dollars worth of Mexican coins in their pockets they'd sink like a rock.
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Blitz
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Hambone wrote:Lol to the Mexican coins of that Era Blitz. My first trip to Mexico was to PV about the same time you made that trip to Mazatlan. I recall thinking if a guy fell off a dock with a couple dollars worth of Mexican coins in their pockets they'd sink like a rock.
I recall thinking if a guy fell off a dock with a couple dollars worth of Mexican coins in their pockets they'd sink like a rock.
:wink: :wink: :wink:

One walked around a lot heavier in Mexico in those days for sure Hambone.

I'm surprised that there is no Leos gear in Mazatland Hambone. In recent times I've always gone to Neuvo Vallarta. The Royal Decameron Hotel there is a Mexican four star hotel....clean, friendly, a ton of Canadians return to the place, which says a lot.

They've always had some knock off Leos gear at the market in Bucerias. Last time I was there, a couple of years ago, as I went past a stall, the Mexican vendor tried selling me a B.C. Lions poncho for $50.00 claiming it was a great deal. As I went past the stall, on the opposite side of the stall another vendor came out and said "I heard what he said to you, trying to sell you that poncho for $50.00. That is bullsheeeeet. I will sell you the same B.C. Lions poncho for $25.00". I turned him down.

About 2 hours later, after wandering through the town, I came back. The vendor who had tried to give me the better deal on the B.C. Lions poncho for $25.00 seemed to forget that he had offered it to me earlier. As I approached the stall, he said that he had B.C. Lions poncho for a great deal for $50.00. I said "No thank you". As I walked by, on the opposite side of the stall, the vendor who had tried to sell me the poncho for $50.00 approached me and said "I heard what he said, trying to sell you that Lions poncho for $50.00. That is a bullsheeeeeeet price. I will sell it to you for $25.00".

I laughed and said "Are you two brothers or best friends?. Because when I walk one way, one of you tries to sell it for $50.00 and the other offers to give it to me for half price but when I walk the other way, the situation reverses itself. The Mexican vendor laughed and said "You are toooo smart seeeeenior, you will not get fooooled by time share". C'mon in and look around.....I have the best junk in the market". We both laughed long and hard.

Then he said "If you come back at 6 p.m. I have party favors...would you like to have a date? I said not if the date is your 'seeeester'. He thought that was hilarious and said "My seeeeester is very pretty" and I said "Only your mother thinks so" and he laughed heartily again". So I bought a piece of junk from him. :wink:

They're smart guys when it comes to business. Makes me wonder why Wally goes to Hawaii every winter. He could fleece a Mexican and it wouldn't even be a fair contest. :wink: :wink:
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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