Monthly Archives: June 2022

CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 04: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs looks to pass during the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 4, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes is know to put on a show in practice that's just as, if not better, than what fans see on Sunday.

And at Wednesday's minicamp practice, the four-time Pro Bowler was seen slinging another one of his no-look dimes to a member of Kansas City's staff.

Mahomes look-away pass started to receive some viral reaction from fans on Twitter.

"Football needs to come back asap," replied a member of Chiefs Kingdom.

"Is anyone else eye-banging the QB?" asked a Chiefs fan account.

"Tyreek crazy," laughed another user.

"Oooooooh that no look pass game already looking tightttttttt AF," tweeted another KC fan.

"The fact that this is a drill for him is so badass."

Patrick Mahomes may not have invented the no-look pass in football but he's certainly mastered it.

Looking forward to seeing the former MVP sling the rock all around the yard come fall.

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Look: Video Of Patrick Mahomes Practice Throw Going Viral - The Spun

NEW HAVEN Its not every coffee shop in America that has a resident rescue mutt from Puerto Rico named Captain Peanut, customers art on the walls, activities almost every night of the week almost all of them programmed by patrons and a tiny stage thats pretty much there for the taking if you want to perform.

But Gather, the still-pretty-new coffee shop that opened late last year at 952 State St. in the East Rock section, isnt trying to be every coffee shop in America.

It may even be the antidote to all those other coffee shops right down to its semi-regular drag shows, Dungeon & Dragons nights, comfy chairs, crafts nights and the Iranian art films it sometimes shows on Cinema Night aka Wednesday.

Its all about community.

When talking about Gather, its hard to separate it from its heart and soul, owner Sultan Thahir even if some of Thahirs most loyal patrons say that Peanut, often found sleeping on her little rug just to the left of the door, is the star of the show.

When talking to Thahir, however, its often also hard to separate Gather from its patrons, a vast number of whom seem to come and go all afternoon and live either upstairs or, like Thahir, across the street.

I wanted to have the shortest commute possible, Thahir said in dry tones. It may or may not have been a joke.

How did Thahir, a Miami-, Massachusetts- and Rhode Island-raised former professor of film at a college in New Hampshire, end up in New Haven working from early morning until late night at a community-centered coffee shop right across the street from his apartment?

Love, he explained.

But while that (love) didnt work out, things seem to be working out just fine at Gather, the hip, eclectic, queer-friendly joint where there was a biweekly Drag From The Dumpster show the night Thahir was speaking.

Everythings free, Thahir said. If a band wants to make money, its up to them how to do that, whether that be a tip jar, a Venmo or Paypal pitch or selling tickets via EventBrite or some other means.

Im just providing the venue and the space, Thahir said. However anyone wants to use it is up to them.

Thahirs goal when he left his last job was to open a nonprofit arts venue; Gather sort of accomplishes a similar goal in a more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants way.

Want to play chess or Jenga or Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble or any other game you can think of? Chances are theyre on a shelf somewhere in the place.

Want to hang out and drink tea? Gather has about 35 varieties stored in glass jars on a rack, not including chai, dirty chai, hunny lemon ginger and ceremonial grade matcha.

Coffee? You name it, with oat milk, almond milk, whole or skim.

Hungry? You can get hummus, a grilled cheese and a variety of other flatbread sandwiches.

Thahir recently announced that Gather is going entirely vegetarian and vegan but he appears to draw the line at grilled cheese, which remains on the menu using the real stuff.

He currently has an application pending for a liquor license, which might help support Gathers other activities. The citys Board of Zoning Appeals recently gave its blessing to the plan, Thahir said.

One thing about Gather is that while it may sometimes get quiet, youre never really alone.

Sitting quietly on a comfy chair as Thahir spoke was Ryland Galasso of North Haven, the customer, friend and entrepreneur who organizes the drag shows including one that night. He does it once a month. The day sometimes changes. Last time, performers including one from New York and three from Massachusetts, he said.

I enjoy it and people come out and they enjoy it, Galasso said. They tip the performers really well. Im just so glad that Sultan gives the people the stage.

At some point, Melanie Devorak organizer of both Dungeons & Dragons nights and crafts nights wanders in, sits down and starts working on her laptop.

She just moved upstairs, although shes been coming to Gather for a while now. In fact, she met her new roommates there playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Gather is a real good way to meet the community, she said.

On this particular day, I came for the Wi-Fi, said Devorak, chief technology officer of a small tech startup in Trumbull. She actually met Thahir on Reddit before Gather ever opened, she said.

He was looking for someone to run D & D nights, she said.

The thing she likes about Gather is that literally whatever people want to do, they can do.

A little later, Eddie Daniels, who runs trivia games at Gather, wanders in. He also lives across the street. Daniels began running trivia games on Zoom during the height of the pandemic, but moved them to Gather a few months ago.

I feel like the more you hang out here the more likely you are to do something in the way of programming, Daniels said.

Awhile back, one customer even organized a Sea Chanties Night. So far, that was a one-off activity.

Jamie Maldonado, who also lives upstairs and is one of Devoraks roommates was a regular at Gather for four months. Now, Maldonado, who prefers they/them pronouns, works there theyre Thahirs only employee, coming in at 7 a.m. some mornings so Thahir doesnt have to.

I really love to get to meet people from the community, Maldonado said. Theres people moving into East Rock all the time and were one of their first stops. Its really cool being the welcome ... for so many kinds of people.

As is the case with many things at Gather, Maldonados employment began as a joke. I wasnt really happy with my other job at a liquor store and I said, If youre going to hire someone, you should hire me.

So Thahir did.

When people ask Maldonado about Gather, I say its a coffee shop by day and a community space all the time, they said.

Ive got friends I never would have met had I not been hanging out in this coffee shop, Maldonado said.

Sammi Bechard, who was hanging out drinking a strawberry-banana smoothie, agreed.

I like it because it builds community, Bechard said. This place is super-cool. Its like my favorite place. ... Its really like a nice, chill environment.

Excerpt from:

At Gather, New Haven's new coffee shop in the East Rock section, it's 'all about community' - New Haven Register

Henry Burris and Nik Lewis are now officially honoured members of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Members of the classes of 2020 and 2021, respectively, Burris and Lewis were inducted on Friday night and share yet another link in their football journeys.

Teammates for seven seasons, Burris and Lewis were core members of a Calgary Stampeders renaissance and won the 96th Grey Cup together in 2008, along with then head coach and fellow 2020 inductee John Hufnagel. Nearly half of Lewiss CFL record 1,051 career receptions were thrown by Burris and, more than a decade after their time as teammates came to an end, the bond between the two remains.

Its such an honour to (have) seen Henry grow from 2005 when he got (to Calgary) to who he became to win the Grey Cup, Lewis told me when I chatted with him last week. Hes always the best quarterback Ive ever played with, he had tremendous arm strength, he could run the football. You always need your dance partners and for me, I was so fortunate to be around Henryfor so long.

RELATED Recap: Riders top Elks in Week 2 finale Recap: Argos outlast Als in season opener Recap: Stamps storm back to win OT thrillerRecap: Bombers clamp down on REDBLACKS in road win

[1 of 71] (Chris Tanouye/CFL.ca)

Lewis and Burris sustained three disappointing playoff exits together before finally getting over with their Grey Cup win in 2008. It was Burriss first title as a starter and the first championship period for Lewis. While theyd both go on to win again later in their careers, 2008 really set the trajectory for a pair of Hall of Fame careers.

Hes a guy who people said couldnt do this, couldnt do that, but all he did was just make plays, Burris reflected when talking about Lewis. Day in and day out, he was a consummate professional, he brought that attitude of never say die, he was always ready to kick peoples butts each and every day. He went out there with the mentality that he was going to run through people

When you have a guy who plays like that, who brings that type of standard, that type of mindset, you only want to put the ball in hands. I knew anytime I threw the ball in his direction, he was going to catch it or nobody was going to catch it.

Defensive backs all respected him, all defenders respected him, coaches respected him because they knew he was a guy you could not play around. They knew when they saw Calgary on the schedule82 was going to make sure the guy covering him was going to have a very bad day. Trust me, when you know theyre afraid of a guy like that, you feed him the rock and feed him the rock all the time and thats exactly what I made sure I did.

Congratulations to Burris, Lewis, Hufnagel, Clyde Brock, Freddie Childress, Greg Vavra, Will Johnson, Mike Walker, Orlondo Steinauer, Don Wilson, Marv Levy, Doug Mitchell, and the late Larry Uteck. Combined, those are your two classes of 2020 and 2021 and it was awesome to finally see them all get their day.

Silver linings

Edmonton and Ottawa are both 0-2 to start the season, but theres reason to be optimistic in both cities.

The Elks fought hard in Saturdays 26-16 loss to Saskatchewan and, against a quality opponent, took massive steps forward from their season opener. Kenny Lawler has lived up to the big-ticket hype in his first two games, while Edmontons defence made life difficult on the Riders for a good chunk of Saturday night. New head coach Chris Jones knows what hes doing, and that was a positive performance week over week.

The REDBLACKS, on the other hand, could be feeling a little empty with nothing to show for two good efforts against the two-time Grey Cup champs. But despite a pair of losses to Winnipeg, Paul LaPolices team looks solid. Free agent additions Jeremiah Masoli, Jaelon Acklin, and Darvin Adams have all been strong, while Ottawas defence held an explosive offence under 20 points twice in a row.

For both the REDBLACKS and Elks, I see more building blocks than things to be discouraged by.

Quick hits

Speaking of the Bombers, you know theyre not satisfied with the way things have gone despite their 2-0 record, which is a scary proposition for the rest of the league. It feels like Winnipeg is a high-end sports car working its way to peak performance but can still flex with the flick of the accelerator. Kind of like those last two fourth quarters.

We all know how much discussion there was about Saskatchewan not stretching the field last season. Through two games of 2022, though, that conversation seems to be on hold. Weve seen Cody Fajardo take deep shots in Riders wins over Hamilton and Edmonton, including a nice 41-yard hookup with Shaq Evans on Saturday. Its a positive development in what has already been a very nice start to the season.

How much fun was that overtime thriller between the Stamps and Tiger-Cats? I give Calgary a lot of credit, because it would have been really easy to pack it in down 24-3 at halftime. Led by great individual performances from the likes of Rene Paredes, Titus Wall, and backup running back Peyton Logan, the Stamps figured it out and made big plays in the fourth quarter to move to 2-0.

And finally, as weird as it was to see Andrew Harris and Brandon Banks wearing Argos double blue on Thursday, it was equally as cool to see them perform the way they did. Banks reeled in Torontos only receiving touchdown and did so in vintage form, while Harris, in typical fashion, went over 100 yards of total offence.

Continued here:

Steinberg's MMQB: Connections in CFHOF classes of 2020, 2021 - CFL.ca

The right team needed a hero, and Andre Burakovsky provided the heroics in overtime.

The Avalanche took Game 1 of The Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-3 at Ball Arena following Burakovskys overtime tally. Colorado led 2-0 and 3-1 before the Bolts fought back to even the score. But from that point forward, the Avs shut things down, and were able to come away with a victory.

The right team won the game, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. So give them credit for pulling it out.

Listen to The Right Team Won on Spreaker.Tampa Bay was held to just eight shots in the final 28 minutes of the game as the Avs outshot the Bolts 37-22.

Weve got better in us, Cooper said. I dont think by a country mile did we give them our best game and we still had a chance to pull it out. But to beat a talented like that, weve got a better game in us.

The evening started with the Avalanche feeding off an energetic crowd one thats waited 21 years for a moment like this. Colorado scored twice before the 10-minute mark as Gabriel Landeskog and Valeri Nichushkin beat superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Even after Nick Paul got one back for the Bolts, the Avs struck again before the break thanks to Artturi Lehkonens tipped shot on the lengthy 5-on-3 power play.

Our fans have been great through the playoffs and tonight it was exceptional, Avs defenseman Bowen Byram said. Really fun to play in front of all of our fans.

The Avs had a power-play opportunity to close out the third period, one that carried over into overtime. They were unable to score on the remaining 36 seconds, but sent out its new-look second line to try to end the game. Center J.T. Compher shot the puck, but it was blocked by the defender before finding its way to Nichushkin.

Already with a goal in the game, Nichushkin flexed his playmaking abilities, sending a pass to Burakovsky freezing the goalie in his crease and allowing Burakovsky to shoot it into a nearly open net.

Huge X factor, hes been doing that for us for a couple years now, Avs coach Jared Bednar said. He had some real good scoring chances for himself, and obviously a big play at the end to set up Burky.

The Avalanche had a successful night on the special teams as a whole. Aside from their power-play goal, they held Tampa Bay to just three power-play opportunities and killed off all six minutes on the penalty kill.

Perhaps the most important player on the kill, goaltender Darcy Kuemper was paramount in keeping Tampa Bay from capitalizing on its first opportunity. The Bolts had the first man advantage when the game was still scoreless and Kuemper needed to make some stellar saves to keep them from getting the first goal.

Hes been our rock all of playoffs on the PK, Byram said. He made a couple huge saves, which we need sometimes. Our goalie has got to be our best penalty killer. He came up huge.

His performance wasnt perfect. But it was a good start for a guy that missed most of the Western Conference final with an injury.

The last week of practice he was doing a bunch of work to get back after the Edmonton series, Bednar said. Darcy is a guy we leaned on heavily all year long. Its why we relied on him to do this job. I thought he was pretty good tonight.

Listen to The Right Team Won on Spreaker.

Read more:

Burakovsky is the hero: Avalanche strike first in Stanley Cup Final to take 1-0 series lead over Tampa Bay - Mile High Sports