By JIMMY D / Remembrance Day no fantasy excursion | Jimmy's archive

Jimmy is never in a fantasy mood on Remembrance Day, which is all about hard, grim reality.

When he failed to attend a Remembrance Day ceremony this weekend, despite the obvious excuses of kids at rinks for games and practices, he didn’t feel very good about it.

Wearing 50 poppies and watching the History Channel all week isn’t as meaningful to you or our veterans as attending an event, as Jimmy learned in covering many events as a reporter.

You see things there that remain with you and that you will remember on Remembrance Days when you convince yourself you are too busy to go.

Broken old men in wheelchairs who you would probably walk right past if you saw them resting on a sidewalk or at the mall. But you don’t because these men are decked out in their military finery, usually with medals dangling and clattering.
Weathered and tired-looking widows, still coming out in the snow and wind 60 or more years after they got the heartbreaking news from the war front.

And if you care to look around, you’ll see plenty more to stop you in your tracks.
Like an 80-year-old gentleman in a wheelchair, beckoning urgently to his grown son to help him stand when he hears the first notes of O Canada. And to watch him stand as straight as his bent body will allow, struggling to raise an unsteady hand high enough to salute the flag.

And when he is still shaking too much, you can admire the determination and effort it takes him to gently force that wavering hand to his head near his temple, pushing hard enough with his fingers to keep it steady, while you see knuckles turning white.

You will see plenty to remind you of heroes and struggles and reality, which is the absolute least we can do to show our appreciation and respect.
Jimmy didn’t go this year. Shame on Jimmy.

Jackals rebound with Jimmy jr.

A week after putting 11-year-old Jimmy jr. in charge of his hockey head-to-head league, the Jackals rebounded from a 10-0 to win last week 7-3. Vinny Prospal was the engine driving Team Jimmy (he has two goals, six assists, 14 shots on goal and a +6 ranking) and the pickup of rookie Thrasher goalie Ondrej Pavelec helped the Jackals win all four goalie categories.

For the record (and somewhat embarrassingly), this is the third Thrasher goalie Jimmy has plucked off waivers: Kari Lehtonen, Johan Hedberg, now Pavelec.
With the Thrashers winning under GM and interim coach Don Waddell, the kid could get a long, serious look. Lehtonen’s groin seems to a constant problem and inflexibility in that region is not conducive to a long or successful goaltending career.

Westbrook tops in NFL Fantasy

A week after Adrian Peterson generated nearly 50 fantasy points in Yahoo! style formats, only one running back managed more than 19 in Week 10. And without a dominating fourth quarter where the Eagles rallied against the Redskins, Brian Westbrook would not have reached the threshold either.

But he scored three times, including a stellar 57-yarder, making him the league’s top fantasy producer with 36 points.

Only Peyton Manning could throw six INTs and still be in the Top 10 for quarterback scoring. He was awful, threw a career-high 56 passes and completed 34 (and six to the Chargers). After all that, the Colts still should have beaten San Diego where Philip Rivers was booed roundly by the home side.

dam Vinatieri inexplicably and uncharacteristically shanked a 29-yard field goal that would have won the game.

CFL, NASCAR ends; Bowl season looms

Some lesser fantasy sports pursuits come to close this weekend. NASCAR poolies watch their final race of the season with the Ford 400. And CFL fantasy players watch the East and West finals before next weekend’s Grey Cup.

And next up on the horizon for college football enthusiasts is Bowl Season. There are contests galore where you can pick winners in the 35+ bowl games played by the top teams in US college football.

If the season ended today, your national title game would pit LSU from the SEC against Oregon of the Pac 10.

Stay busy, stay lucky.

Jimmy D