FOOTBALL!

There are three things most associated with Thanksgiving. Turkey, beer and FOOTBALL! Oh, and family, and being thankful, yada yada, yada. But today was football day in Montreal and I was right there in the thick of things at McGill's majestic Molson Stadium to watch the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes hand it to the Toronto Argonauts. Today marked an historic moment. Not only did Montreal's starting quarterback Anthony Calvillo lead the Alouettes past Toronto 29-19, Calvillo also became the all-time leading passer in professional football history.

I am not talking about a Canadian record, I am talking about a professional football record. Calvillo passed all the pro-ballers that came before him and moved to first on the list.
The Top 5 are
5 - Dan Marino - (NFL) 61,134 yards
4 - Warren Moon - (CFL/NFL) 70,553
3 - Brett Favre - (NFL) 71,838
2 - Damon Allen - (CFL) 72,381
1 - Anthony Calvillo - (CFL) 72,384+

The next active QB on the list is Peyton Manning, who is approaching 60,000 yards. Just before the start of the 4th quarter CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon and Damon Allen were on hand to congratulate Calvillo in person. Over the giant screens, videos of Dan Marino, Warren Moon, and broadcaster Chris Berman played, congratulating Calvillo on this feat.

The Als take to the field

It was an amazing day for football in Montreal. Sunshine and 24 degrees, well above the average temperature for this time of year. Hell, it often starts snowing by the end of October. My friend Elena won tickets and invited me to the game. She knows I have a blog and as far as I know doesn't read it so I have some latitude here in what I write. I'll expand more on her driving habits another day, I'll leave it for now by saying, I drove today because she scares me when she drives.

She has never watched am North American style football game before so I spent most of the game explaining what was going on. I was tempted to explain things wrong but didn't. (Eight quarters, 6 hour game, cheerleaders double as special teams).

So, the Montreal Alouettes won, Toronto Argonauts lose, Calvillo breaks a record, it's Thanksgiving, I'm drinking beer, and I will now go eat some turkey. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Als and Argos lining up

Super Bowl Roethlisberger Burger

According to the New York Daily News the most popular food on Super Bowl Sunday is of all things, vegetables. My football Sunday has always been about pizza and beer or subs and beer. This Sunday's Green Bay Packers versus Pittsburgh Steelers game is odds on to be the favourite weekend pastime. The game pits Aaron Rodgers against Big Ben Roethlisberger. But wait a second. I'm talking about food here. Maybe it's the Roethlisburger. The folks over at We Work for Cheese, always on the hunt for the perfect cheese burger came up with this gem just in time for Super Bowl Weekend. What are the Vegas odds for this weekend anyway?

NFL 2010 Preview

You may have read ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Pro Football Weekly, TSN and every other network's preview of the NFL season. But you didn't read The Onion 2010 NFL Team by Team Guide. My team, the Cowboys are 0-2. The Onion is bang on

The Onion's NFL Team-By-Team Guide is here.

Are you Ready for Some Football?!

Looking forward to the new NFL season? Maybe the following will satisfy you in the mean time. This video was part of the award winning NFL Fantasy Files campaign that went viral when it first hit the web in 2008. A newer 2009 video is below.

"Everybody has fantasies. What's Yours?" asks the NFL.com Fantasy Files Rebook campaign.

Here is the long play Deluxe version. It showcases NFL players as they show off their impossible  athletic moves in an effort to be chosen by fans for their fantasy football teams.

Amazing football feats. Amazing editing feats. Great fun to watch. This video features Chris Cooley, Marques Colston, Neil Rackers, Jason Campbell, Braylon Edwards, Chris Chambers, Laurence Maroney among others.

Blue Room, the New York-based creative services agency, was awarded a Silver Webby Award in the category of branded content/promotion for their contribution to the NFL.com Fantasy Files viral campaign in October 2008.

Maurice Jones-Drew 2009 season video.

I have yet to find a 2010 version of NFL Fantasy Files. Post the link below if you find it.

Football and Other Profanity

I'm watching the home town Montreal Alouettes squad take on Toronto Argonauts in CFL action on TSN. On a second down drive, Montreal running back Avon Colbourne takes a hand off from quarterback Anthony Calvillo and breaks through the Argos defence. Did I hear correctly? Did the colour commentator comment colourfully? He said "Holy shit".

But that's not all. As they tend to do in all sporting events, TSN showed a replay not a few seconds later. With audio.

"Holy shit."

Thirty seconds later, as they tend to do in sports programming, a replay of the last scoring drive was shown.

"Holy shit."

I don't usually post on the fly but I thought this was worth mentioning. I wish I had a PVR. I probably got the plays wrong. But it doesn't matter. Ha ha. Montreal is winning 41-10.

Anthony Calvillo