What a timely trip to the City of Champions. This was an unexpected trip to Edmonton because at the beginning of the season I was not slated to make the trek to where it all began for me some 30 years ago. Then I received a phone call from Paul Graham, Vice-President & Executive Producer of Live Events for TSN, and he notified me that Edmonton was interested in having me get involved with the Canadian Football Hall of Fame Weekend by emceeing a few events. That got the ball rolling for yours truly to get out to my old stomping grounds and have a chance to call the Montreal at Edmonton game, plus get involved with the aforementioned HOF events. Bonus! I could not believe how lucky I was. You see, of the six inductees selected into the Hall this season I had a direct link to five. Crazy! I played with all four players going in and yelled at the other for fourteen years while playing. Why? Well thats easy. It was the legendary CFL official John "Jake" Ireland. We definitely had our nose-to-nose, get-it-all-out, knock-down, drag-out confrontations before. But now we are friends and it meant for some pretty good ole stories out in Edmonton this past week. And like I said before, Id played and was teammates with Brian Fryer, Dan Ferrone, Earl Winfield and Miles Gorrell. Don Loney, "Father of Maritime Football" and legendary coach at St. FX, was the other deserving inductee. Mr. Loney passed away in 2004 so his brother Ted and his lovely wife Jan were in attendance to accept the honor bestowed on Mr. Loney. Needless to say the hospitality suite was rocking each night we were in Edmonton, giving all the inductees and their families a chance to celebrate and tell some lies and endless hilarious stories. This made the week one that took a serious toll on the remaining brain cells I have left. It all started with the Jacket Presentations on Wednesday evening, the bust unveiling on Thursday morning, the dinner and speeches Thursday evening then the Hall of Fame Game Saturday afternoon. I cant tell you how proud I was for the class of 2013 but also for the City of Champions. Although the professional sports in Edmonton may not be living up to the top billing lately, the people of Edmonton and their fans certainly are once again! Over 1,100 folks attended the Edmonton Eskimos Gala Dinner in conjunction with the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame celebration and the Induction Ceremonies for the class of 2013. Dave Randorf co-hosted the induction portion of the evening with me; basically we just tried not to screw things up because Aquila Productions had everything under control. It was truly a stellar evening. The work and effort that goes into something of this magnitude is overwhelming and often a labour of love for all involved. A Big "slow clap" for Executive Director of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame Mark DeNobile and Manager, Marketing and Events Sarah Lajeunesse. Id be remiss if I did not mention the ageless and wonderful Allan Watt, Vice Presiden,t Marketing and Communications for the Eskimos and the beautiful and talented Amy Moats, Marketing and Game Operations Coordinator for the Esks. The man usually in charge of everything Aquila was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately the brilliantly talented Don Metz was ill and in the hospital. Only good thoughts for Don and a speedy recovery! You would have been proud of your team, in particular Glenn Wiun. A tip of the hat to everyone involved in an unforgettable weekend recognizing the CFHOF Class of 2013. Nike Vapormax 97 Metallic Gold . Pistorius denied the allegation that he said to the close friend of the girlfriend he killed: "How can you sleep at night?" The accusation by Kim Myers provided a bizarre twist during the trial of the world-famous double-amputee Olympian, who is facing 25 years to life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder for shooting dead Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, at his home last year. Air Max 97 Mens Clearance . Sami Vatanen had a goal and an assist and Anaheim used a four-goal first period to extend their winning streak to six games with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. http://www.outletairmax97.com/nike-air-max-97-just-do-it-black-total-orange-white-at8437-001.html . CHAUNCEY BILLUPS (Pistons): Yes they got Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings in the off-season and Andre Drummond is a beast (teams are kicking themselves for passing on him - he rebounds and block shots every game - thats two more discernable and significant skills than most guys in his draft class), but dont for a second discount the impact of having a savvy veteran like Billups on your team. Nike Air Max 97 Plus Sale . Mauer struck out to end the inning, with a runner on third base in the seventh on Wednesday and the Twins trailing 1-0. Everybody does this, of course, in a sport with a 30 per cent success rate at the plate long proven to be a benchmark of excellence. Air Max 97 Factory Outlet . Terry came from Boston along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce but has appeared in just 35 games after a knee injury, averaging 4.5 points on 36 per cent shooting. Evans was a favourite of fans but not coach Jason Kidd, who used him in just 30 of their 51 games.ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rick Porcello went to his normal spot on the Detroit Tigers bench after the eighth inning. He had every intention to finish what he started. With a few pitches to spare, Porcello got his first career shutout, a 6-0 three-hitter over the sinking Texas Rangers on Thursday night for Detroits seventh consecutive victory. "This is extremely special to me," Porcello said. Porcello (10-4) threw 105 pitches through eight innings. With relievers moving around in the bullpen, manager Brad Ausmus and pitching coach Jeff Jones discussed what to do with the right-hander, who did his best to avoid eye contact and then needed only 10 pitches in the ninth to get three groundball outs. "You just worry about the pitch count. We dont want him going much above 115, maybe top out at 120," Ausmus said. "A 15-pitch inning is a good inning, so its kind of a tall task to ask him to get through the inning, but he was able to do it." Porcello limited the Rangers to three singles and benefited from three 4-6-3 double plays (second baseman Ian Kinsler to shortstop Eugenio Sanchez to first baseman Miguel Cabrera), including one after Texas had consecutive hits in the sixth. "The ability to get two outs with one pitch is huge. I was able to execute those sinkers," Porcello said. "Without those guys, I dont know that I would have been able to go nine." The right-hander struck out six and walked three, throwing 72 of his season-high 115 pitches for strikes. It was only the second complete game for Porcello in 164 major league starts -- all for the Tigers since 2009, and he has won at least 10 games in each of his six seasons. Miguel Cabrera had four hits and Austin Jackson hit a two-run single for the AL Central leaders, who completed a three-game sweep. While the Tigers have the longest winning streak in the majors, Texas has the longest losing streak at eight in a row. The Rangers, who last lost eight in a row in August 2005, are 1-6-1 their last eight series overall and 16-22 at home. "We know were a way better team than the way were playing right now," said shortstop Elvis&nnbsp;Andrus, who grounded into that double play in the sixth.dddddddddddd. "Hes got a pretty good sinker. We all knew that. He made the right pitch at the right moment." Rangers rookie Nick Martinez (1-5) allowed six hits and walked five of the 18 batters he faced in 2 1-3 innings. Detroit went ahead to stay in the second when Torii Hunter drew a bases-loaded walk before Cabreras deep inning-ending flyout with the bases loaded. Victor Martinez drew a walk to start the third before a double by Nick Castellanos set up Jacksons two-run single. After two more walks, Nick Martinez was pulled and Kinsler greeted reliever Scott Baker with an RBI single that made it 4-0. Kinsler, the three-time All-Star for the Rangers who was traded to Detroit for Prince Fielder last off-season, homered in his first at-bat Tuesday in his return to Texas as an opponent. Kinsler went 6 for 14 in the series with four runs and four RBIs. With two hits in all three games, Kinsler extended his streak of multihit games to five and is hitting .302 on the season. He has 31 multihit games, one behind Houstons Jose Altuve for the most in the majors. J.D. Martinez had a sacrifice fly for the Tigers, but went 0 for 4 to snap his 14-game hitting streak that was the longest active run in the majors. Cabrera had three singles before his AL-high 28th double in the eighth drove home Kinsler. "Were playing good baseball as a team, and were confident as a group right now," Kinsler said. "Its just a lot of fun playing ball that way." NOTES: It was the fourth shutout for the Tigers this season. Texas was held scoreless for the fourth time. ... Rangers LHP Derek Holland, on the DL since off-season left knee surgery, took fielding practice off the mound. He is scheduled to throw a simulated game Saturday in Arlington. Holland said he feels great, "like I can do everything." ... Texas GM Jon Daniels said his team cant focus on all the injuries -- a major league-high 14 players on the disabled list. He said a big thing right now is player development at the big league level with the youngsters having to play. ' ' '