There are some people out there who really dig music.  Others happen to follow sports.  Me, well, I like both–along with movies, Quebec politics, fattening food and college-girl baseball-bat bukkake (‘cept maybe for that last one).  Thus, there sometimes comes a time when I am forced to choose.  No, not between whether I should go vote or go out for dinner; rather it’s music and sports that often sing to me, Paul Stanley-style.  And it’s not always an easy choice, either.  For instance, last weekend I missed the Seahawks at St. Louis to head down and see Saint Vitus in concert.  Okay, maybe that one was a no-brainer.  Did I mention the Hawks lost?

However, as a supporter of several Western teams now living out East, I gotta say, it gets tough.  A die-hard Leafs fan could probably pull it off (and not just during the lockout), y’know, watch the game, then head out to the gig afterwards.  Almost any major sporting event that occurs on the East Coast is over by 9:30-10, so you might miss the opening band at worse.  It’s a different story when you’re following teams on the left side of the continent, however.  When the Flames are on Hockey Night in Canada, the puck drops just after 10 pm, and by the time the game’s over, well, so’s the gig.  If I’m watching the Flames on a weekend, then that’s what I’m doing that evening–I can’t really make other plans.

Mind you, that point is probably moot.  It’s safe to say I won’t be seeing the Flames, or any other NHL team, anytime soon.  But the CFL stretch run is heating up, and while I’ve been able to squeeze my Stamps games around my concert schedule for the most part this season, there are times when the two go head-to-head for my attention.  Tonight is one of those times.

Of course, CFL games aren’t held to the strict scheduling standards of Hockey Night in Canada.  They can occur any day from Thursday to Monday and start at any time between 1 and 10 pm.  The league is somewhat beholden to TSN’s TV schedule, however.  As the exclusive national broadcaster, they’re able to fit CFL games around their otherwise scheduled programming, though we see a bit less of this now that they’ve also got an alternate TSN2 channel.  In any case, it’s not TSN that’s troubling me this time.  They’re showing some boxing match that took place a month ago in prime-time tonight.  Rather it’s the B.C. Lions’ decision to host the Stamps at 7 pm Pacific Time–combined with the three-hour time difference–that has my plans for this evening thrown into a tailspin.

Y’see, there’s a pretty sweet gig going on a few blocks south of my place tonight, and I wouldn’t think twice about attending–were it not for the big game.  And it really is a big game; the two top teams in the CFL West doing battle in a must-win for Calgary if they want to clinch the division.  This is the kinda game I circled on my calendar once I realized the West would be a two-horse (pun not intended) race this year; must-see TV.  But that day on my day-timer filled up in a hurry when I heard that Monobrow‘s coming to town.

I first saw the Ottawa power-trio at All That Is Heavy II back on Mother’s Eve, and I remember being knocked out by their exuberance, their raw power — and their punctuality.  Paired up with their Torontonian doppelgangers Galaxies in the River and my ol’ buds in Ol’ Time Moonshine, well, that’s one helluva bill.  But the bands will be going on at the same time as the Stamps and Lions do battle, and the bar doesn’t even have a TV.  (Believe me, it wouldn’t be the first time I’d asked a concert venue to put the game on for me.  I’ve got two eyes here, after all.)  So now I’m left with a tough decision to make.  I might as well just flip a coin…

Oh shit, it’s a 100th Grey Cup loonie.  Well, I guess that settles it…

GO STAMPS GO!!!!!!

(Sorry guys.  Next time…)