Fatty Liver

Hefney highlights. http://www.bluebombers.com/2016/05/03/hefney-highlights-in-blue-and-gold/

The timing of the fire is a bit bizarre being so early in the season but the fire itself is a natural occurrence that is part of the cycle of a boreal forest. Fort Mac did not follow the advisory of "fire-guarding" after the Slave Lake fire and now they're sadly paying the price.

Not sure, much of the fire-proof innovation comes from Australia, grass fires can be just as destructive, as Slave Lake proved. Safest place to live is in an igloo in the Antarctic where the only threat is scurvy bitten stragglers from the Scott Expedition scrounging for food.

Kelowna will burn again, hopefully people rebuilt with fire-proof technology and didn't clad in vinyl or cedar. I expect this will be a very bad year for wildfires.

I think Fort Mac has seen it's high point, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people decide not to rebuild after this.

Doug Brown's latest report Keeping pivot off the turf Job 1 for Bombers If there is any conclusion to be drawn from a three-day mini-camp where not all of the phases of the team participated — and plays were run against the air — it’s that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers seem to have an understanding of their vulnerability, and appear to be determined to do something about it. While mini-camps will tell you close to nothing about the quality and calibre of the team that will eventually take the field after weeks of condensed training camp, it does tell you exactly what your offensive or defensive co-ordinator has been obsessing about all off-season, and what weaknesses they have been itching to address from the get-go. Regardless of how instructional and fundamentally simplistic mini-camps are, the themes and concepts introduced first are usually a road map and blueprint of what the franchise wants its identity to be. As strategic and cunning as some co-ordinators can be when implementing their game plans, they most often cannot hide their eagerness and enthusiasm to jump right into those defining aspects of their scheme from their very first practice. Whether it was mentioned in passing, shared on fan forums or filed in accounts by those who were assigned to be there, the same observations and common phrases kept showing up and were seemingly repeated throughout the entire three-day ordeal. The first, and most common, was how the focus seemed to be on the quarterbacks getting rid of the ball early and often, which went hand in hand with a lot of "shorter passes, bubble screens and quick, short routes" being run. As amusing as it is to hear about "short" passes and "short" routes being run predominantly by "shorter" receivers, an ability to have a quick passing attack is one of the many options to successfully nullify a heavy-pressure opponent. While we may not see with any of these new receivers, for some time, the kind of non-verbal, instinctual communication Milt Stegall was once able to create with the pivots he played with — that allowed him to adjust his prescribed route and exploit the middle of the field any time a defence overextended itself with pressure — at least we now know we casual observers aren’t the only ones hoping to see the bull’s-eye taken off Drew Willy’s jersey this season. Despite the spot problems over the last two years with areas of the defence, run game, offensive line, inappropriate schemes and backup pivots, the underlying vulnerability that consistently led to underachievement was none other than the inability to keep the most impactful player on the field healthy and upright. In fact, one of the biggest frustrations in covering this team the last two seasons has been seeing the potential of the quarterback when he has time in a clean pocket, versus how quickly that promise deteriorates under siege. The fact there was such a huge discrepancy in performance between those pristine-pocket operating conditions and the stretches where free rushers were seemingly burying him at will with few consequences, had to have made selling out to get to Willy a safe gamble for most any defence that faced him. While it is far too soon to tell whether the new players, schemes and leadership will mesh well and complement one another, at least most of us can share in the optimism that comes with observing a team that is finally making an attempt to address the root of one of it’s most fundamental problems, and at the earliest of all opportunities. Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears weekly in the Free Press.

Basically what this guy is describing is a fire storm, the worst nightmare imaginable if you live in a heavily forested area. Thoughts on the wildfire situation in Fort McMurray Just some thoughts from a former AB gov't wildland firefighter... Basically what this guy is describing is a fire storm, the worst nightmare imaginable if you live in a heavily forested area. Conditions pretty much cannot get worse than this for Alberta. This afternoon, temperatures soared to over 32C, with very low RH values in the mid teens. When the RH is lower than the temperature, we call this "crossover", which aids in intense fire behaviour - especially when the fuel source is tinder dry. When winds are high (this afternoon roughly 20 gusting 40km/h), fire growth occurs rapidly. The peak burning period is typically near 5PM during the warmest time of day when RH is also lowest. A worst case scenario is one like today's, when an out of control wildfire is being fanned by the wind directly toward populated areas. Wildfires are actioned according to their priority, so those that threaten human life, communities, watersheds and soils, infrastructure, etc get more resources thrown at them accordingly. The trouble is, when you have what we call "Rank 6" fire behaviour in the form of a continuous crown fire (spreading primarily through the upper canopy of a predominantly coniferous forest), with flame lengths several metres high, fire suppression is nearly impossible during the peak burning period. In short, if it seems like not much progress is being made this afternoon, it's because there isn't. Any water or fire retardant must be dropped aerially on the perimeter of the fire to stop its spread since it is too volatile for ground crews to work close to the fire during peak burning conditions. However, with such intense heat, most or all of the water vapourizes before it even reaches the flames. It is truly a desperate feeling knowing you cannot stop such a natural process. Fire suppression is more effective at night and in the early morning, when temperatures normally cool, winds die down, and RH increases. During the night, while ground crews may be able to get in, all VFR aerial support is grounded. If winds continue to blow through the night, this recovery period may not occur. Tomorrow is forecasted to be roughly a carbon copy of today being hot and windy, with less recovery overnight tonight than we'd hope. Thus, we can expect the extreme fire behaviour to continue, unfortunately. Fire whirls, pyrocumulus clouds in excess of 20000 feet, large flame lengths, and spot fires are all signs of extreme fire behaviour and we have been seeing all of these today. Compared to Slave Lake in 2011, surface winds of 70-90km/h contributed to the rapid rates of spread then. However this year it is hotter and drier overall, and still with moderate winds. http://stormchaserkyle.blogspot.ca/2016/05/thoughts-on-wildfire-situation-in-fort.html?m=1

Kent Austin taken to hospital, released Hamilton Tiger-Cats vice president of football operations and head coach Kent Austin was taken to an area hospital on Tuesday afternoon but was released a few hours later and is “fine,” according to a team source. No officials details on his condition were immediately available but sources say he suffered from a suspected allergic reaction. After a brief visit to the emergency room at Hamilton General – where his presence was noticed by a Ticat fan and made it’s way to social media – Austin returned to his Burlington home. Austin is in his fourth year with the Ticats and recently presided over the team’s mini-camp at Tim Hortons Field. In addition to his head coaching duties, Austin also served as offensive coordinator following the departure of Tommy Condell in early April. The 52-year-old Austin has three children with wife Shelley, as well as a granddaughter.

Wasn't there another N. AB. town that had to evacuated 2 years ago when grass fires raged out of control?

With the retirement of George it appears the Riders are down to Jeff Knox Jr. as the last remaining defensive starter from 2015. Now that's an overhaul.

Also released QB Anthony Boone, I thought he looked like a decent prospect in game action last year. Here is the entire list of Als. cuts. Anthony Boone QB Duke Will Brown DB Missouri S&T Jonathan Bryant WR Georgia Southern Telvion Clark LB Towson University Sharrod Golightly DB South Carolina Terry Johnson CB Florida A&M Jamahl Knowles* DB Calgary Kelvin Muamba* WR Wilfrid Laurier Kevin Régimbald* LB Sherbrooke Tommy Shuler WR Marshall

Trade them Hefney.

It appears Jones is wearing too many hats to bother with due diligence. According to some Ti-Cat fans that attended their mini-camp Austin spent the 3 days running around the field like a headless chicken trying to cover up for departure of Condell. The entertainment value of an over-stressed Austin on the sidelines....priceless. I hope TSN has plans for a full-time "AustinCam" with audio in the works.

Is it too much to ask for a member of the Wpg. media to contact this guy and ask him flat out, "What are your plans for the remainder of the season?" Hopefully Walters already does this every time Bilukidi or Mulumba get cut.

When you wish upon a star Makes no difference who you are Anything your heart desires Will come to you.

C'mon man, it's totally understandable. Every Canadian player should have the opportunity to fulfill their childhood dream and play for the best organization that everwas!!!

Ah, maybe that's why they brought in Zach.

Wow, Norwood is a beast, must be salary related. The price for re-signing Laurent is taking it's toll.

Both Chungh and Richards attended the Giants tryout camp last year. On the left of the photo below you can see Richards unsuccessfully reaching for a food voucher.

The NY Giants seem to give a lot of CFL bound players try out opportunities but looking over their roster the only Canadian I recognize is Brett Jones. They're the gateway drug of the NFL.

Lapo's wrap on mini-camp. @Darren_Cameron Our offensive mini camp earlier this week was the product of months of planning by possibly our best offseason acquisition in offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice. LaPo lives and breathes this stuff. For the last four months, he has been hunkered down in his office or his quarterback meeting room, with a full-wall white board, scripting his plans for the season. As I’ve mentioned, he and I worked together here from 2010-2012 when he was the Head Coach, so we know each other well and it’s really great to have him back around the building. A few Saturdays ago, I was walking by his office and he called me in. He wanted to show me a play he’d created. Obviously I can’t go into specifics, but as he described it and showed me how it will work, his eyes lit up like that of a mad scientist’s admiring his latest creation. So when he popped by my office the other day, I had to ask him his thoughts on the three-day mini camp. Coach LaPolice is a teacher, and in conversations with players following the camp, they all raved about how he doesn’t stop teaching on the field. He was noticeably more vocal at practice than he was as a Head Coach, but that’s normal and understandable given a Head Coach’s role is different during practice than a coordinator or position coach. So, I asked him, what did you think of the three days? And off he went, eyes lit up. “We worked on motions, we worked on cadences; guys now understand the tempo we want, the speed at which we want to do things. We put in three days of installation, installing parts of the offence. Guys are going to be more prepared offensively than if we hadn’t done this, no question.” The offensive staff had actually carded 105 plays – and with the help of some Bisons players standing in as defenders, Coach LaPolice and his staff were able to run through the 105 plays that were drawn up going against a stand-in front seven defence. “It was a huge help for us, especially for the offensive line and running backs, so they would know who to block in certain scenarios. We had it drawn out so guys could see how the play would develop and where they would need to go, blocking wise.” Coach LaPolice has implanted a communication software program so all of his offensive guys can join a network, and communicate not only to him and the other players, but the coaches can send them all film, plans etc. As he sat in my office, his phone rang. “Oh, Julian Talley just joined the receivers group,” he said. This stuff makes him tick. Here are a few other notes from the offensive boss’s brain following mini camp. On Drew Willy: “Stood out, as we expected. Very good leader and very good quarterback. Solid. Threw the ball well. Short and deep very well. He performed at a high level.” On Ryan Smith and Weston Dressler: “They studied and practiced the way we expected them too. Effort and attitude, they’re professionals and are going to be huge for the younger guys in training camp on offence.” On what fans can expect come main camp: “More of the same. Keep teaching them, but also installing more concepts and then start fine-tuning it all. We want the offence churning full-go come June 24.” On being back on the field coaching after three years off: “It was pretty cool, to be honest. I loved my time at TSN but to be back out there teaching and coaching with Coach O’Shea and the entire staff, it’s what I love to do.”

This is interesting. Wasn't Jeff Hamilton running a blog? ✔ ‎@PaulWiecek Give my colleague @jeffkhamilton a follow. You're going to be seeing a lot of his fine work in the Freep in the days, months and years ahead

You sure didn't. Edit: Fixed it!

Post Media is reporting staggering quarterly losses and print media in general is circling the drain. Most people are not willing to pay for on-line news, the next couple of years will be interesting to see what evolves.