It's Friday

It's Friday. Here's what's happening....

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Today is April 11th, the 101st day of 2014. There are 264 days left in the year.

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Maple Leafs name Shanahan as new team president.

Jackets president Davidson 'proud' of playoff-bound team.

Visit the official league website, http://www.nhl.com/.

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Today's Birthdays: Meshach Taylor (Anthony on Designing Women) is 67; Jennifer Esposito (Crash, TV's Blue Bloods) is 41; Singer Joss Stone is 27.

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Tampa, FL. -- It was another ounce of adversity and another opportunity for someone to step up. Netminder Anders Lindback did just that in a 4-2 win versus the Philadelphia Flyers Thursday at the Tampa Bay Times Forum.

Read the rest here.

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The Universal Studios theme park is getting a $1.6 billion makeover. [Finally, visitors won't have to bring their own roller coaster seat belts.]

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The NAHL's Midwest Division semifinal series, led by the Wild 2 games to 1, will shift to Wenatchee for games 4 and 5 (If necessary) tonight and tomorrow, April 11th and 12th with game time set for 7:05pm PDT both nights. Individual and group game tickets for all home playoff games are on sale now. Call 509.888.PUCK (7825). WILD 2.0 UPGRADE ************************************************ A twin-screw propeller steamboat was patented by John Stevens on this date in 1803. ************************************************ Farmer Voted Best Male Athlete by International Paralympic Committee 16 Year Old Tallied Three Goals, Five Points En Route to Gold Medal COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Declan Farmer (Tampa, Fla.) of the gold medal-winning 2014 U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team was named the International Paralympic Committee's Best Male Athlete of the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, as determined by a public vote. Farmer tied for the Team USA lead in both goals (3) and points (5). He tallied two goals and an assist in the 3-0 semifinal win against Canada. In his Paralympic debut, the 16 year old notched a goal and an assist versus Italy. The U.S. became the first nation to win back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in sled hockey by defeating Russia, 1-0, in the gold-medal game. Josh Sweeney (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored the game-winning goal and Steve Cash (Overland, Mo.) made six saves. Overall, the U.S. posted preliminary round wins over Italy (5-1) and South Korea (3-0), plus a semifinal triumph against Canada (3-0). Team USA avenged its only loss, a 2-1 setback versus Russia in the preliminary round, by topping the host country in the gold medal rematch. Earlier this month, the U.S. Paralympic Sled Hockey Team received "Team of the Paralympic Games" honors at the United States Olympic Committee Best of U.S. Awards Show. The inaugural event honored outstanding U.S. performances from the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. ************************************************ The stenotype was patented by John C. Zachos on this date in 1876. ************************************************ Pedersen: Riders sharing the love internally.

Centre of attention: Norman inks extension with Leos.

Please visit the league's official website, cfl.ca.

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In a recent photo taken by the Mars Curiosity Rover, there's a light that has caused a fuss. So much fuss, in fact, that NASA actually had to come out and clarify that it wasn't, in fact, anything of consequence. One possible explanation for the bright spot in this image is a glint from a rock surface reflecting the sun.

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Tampa, FL. — This week's mailbag yields questions on wide receivers both in free agency and the upcoming draft, as well as a bit of skepticism about the purpose of pre-draft visits from prospects.

Read the rest here.

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If you love selfies -- taking them and looking at them -- prepared to be Selfeed. Selfeed.com is a website that shows every selfie posted on Instagram with the #selfie hashtag in real time. The site presents an endless stream of self-portraits, each one on the screen for less than a second.

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Kansas City, MO. -- Thursday afternoon brought nothing new on the status of Matt Moore's troubled left elbow.

Read the rest here.

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On this date in 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon that was disrupted when an explosion crippled the spacecraft. The astronauts did return safely.

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San Francisco, CA. -- Tony Campana was the hero and Pablo Sandoval was the goat. At least that's how it ended up Thursday night at AT&T Park.

Read the rest here.

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Chocolate and strawberry milk are already a fake-nutritious thing, so why not Jellybean Milk? we have Prairie Farms Dairy to thank for this. Those who've tried it say it takes like, yes, candy.

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I got 13 necklaces!

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You're reading the Johnny Blog. Almost as much fun as cleaning house, isn't it?

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Today in Elvis History

1956 - Elvis Presley's single "Heartbreak Hotel" hit #1. It was his first #1 single.

1959 - The album "Elvis," a 14-track expansion of the compilation album "For LP Fans Only" was released in the U.K.

1962 - The Elvis Presley movie "Follow That Dream" opened in Oscala, FL.

1964 - Elvis Presley's single "Viva Las Vegas" hit #17 in the U.K.

1965 - Elvis Presley began pre-production work on "Frankie and Johnny."

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On this date in 1974, the Judiciary committee subpoenas U.S. President Richard Nixon to produce tapes for impeachment inquiry.

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Today in Beatles History:

1964 - The Beatles singles "You Can't Do That" and "There's a Place" were #48 and #74 positions on the singles chart.

1970 - Paul McCartney announced a "temporary break with the Beatles." He cited "personal differences" and adding that he will no longer record with John Lennon.

1970 - Paul McCartney's first solo album "McCartney" was released.

1991 - Ringo Starr was a guest on Fox TV's "The Simpsons."

1997 - Paul McCartney performed a 20-minute concert on a London rooftop. 
  
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Kellogg's stopped giving tours of its breakfast-food plant on this date in 1986. The reason for the end of the 80-year tradition was said to be that company secrets were at risk due to spies from other cereal companies.

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Today in Sports History:

1907 - In New York, umpire Bill Klem called a forfeit in favor of the Phillies when Giants fans disrupted play with snowballs. 

1921 - The first live sports event on radio took place this day on KDKA Radio. The event was a boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.

1940 - Andrew Ponzi set a world's record in a New York pocket billiards tournament when he ran 127 balls straight.

1947 - Jackie Robinson became the first black player in major league baseball history. He played in an exhibition game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1999 - Spain's José María Olazábal won the 63rd Master golf tournament.

2001 - In Johannesburg, South Africa, 43 people died during a stampede at a soccer match at Ellis Park stadium. Another 160 were injured.

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IN THEATERS THIS WEEKEND - Draft Day (PG-13); Oculus (R); Rio 2 (G)

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Coming Up:

Tonight --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 7:10pm EDT

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning vs Columbus Blue Jackets 7:30pm EDT

Nascar Nationwide Series -- VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway 8:00pm EDT

NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild vs Minnesota Wilderness 10:05pm EDT 

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Colorado Rockies 10:15pm EDT

Saturday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 1:10pm EDT

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 4:05pm EDT

Nascar Sprint Cup Series -- Bojangle's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway 6:30pm EDT

NAHL Playoff Hockey -- Wenatchee Wild vs Minnesota Wilderness 10:05pm EDT (If necessary)

Sunday --

MLB -- Tampa Bay Rays at Cincinnati Reds 1:10pm EDT

NHL Hockey -- Tampa Bay Lightning at Washington Capitals 3:00pm EDT (Final game of regular season)

MLB -- San Francisco Giants vs Arizona Diamondbacks 4:05pm EDT

Verizon Indy Car Series -- Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach at Long Beach, California 4:40pm EDT

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That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!