Sports in Canadian culture

[blueandgoldguy]

CPL sure won't be happening next year. Half a year from the supposed start date that was proposed and there is no schedule, no teams, coaches, players, etc. 2019 is the earliest the CPL will start. Maybe we see a handful of friendlies with some cobbled together teams by next summer.

[elly63]

Two USports players selected to prestigious U.S. university all-star game
Justin Dunk 3downnation.com November 24, 2017

Two Canadian university football players will get a chance to show their skills in front of pro scouts at an American all-star event.

University of Alberta offensive lineman Mark Korte and University of Montreal receiver Regis Cibasu have been selected to the East-West Shrine Game, the oldest college football all-star showcase in the United States. It features a week of practices in front of NFL and CFL coaches and talent evaluators followed by a game broadcast on NFL Network on Jan. 20.

The Shrine Game has served as an NFL launching point for Canadian players such as tight end Antony Auclair (Bucs), offensive lineman Geoff Gray (Jets), defensive lineman David Onyemata (Saints) and offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (Chiefs) in recent years.

Korte was the Canada West conference Most Outstanding Lineman in 2017. The Spruce Grove, Alberta native was an integral part of the Golden Bears offensive line that paved the way for running back Ed Ilnicki to set a new conference single-season rushing record with 1,468 yards.

Alberta head coach Chris Morris, who won three Grey Cups as a player with the Edmonton Eskimos (1992-2005), describes Korte as an “old school” offensive lineman. He is very athletic and should be able to compete well south of the border.

Cibasu burst on to the USports scene as a freshman with 90 receiving yards in Montreal’s 2014 Vanier Cup victory and earned game MVP honours for his effort. Since then Montreal’s talented receiver has developed further and added more muscle to his already impressive frame. Carabins head coach Danny Maciocia said from day one when Cibasu stepped on campus that he could have a chance to play in the NFL if full potential is reached. Physically, Cibasu already has a pro body – one NFL scout believes he has the size – and possesses natural ball skills and run-after-the-catch ability.

Montreal’s offence is more about ball control and limiting turnovers so there weren’t many passes being thrown around. Cibasu had 27 catches for 387 yards and two touchdowns, which included a 99-yarder, in seven games as a senior with the Carabins. Over four years in USports, Cibasu has 145 receptions for 1,797 and seven touchdowns.

The last receiver from the Quebec conference to get a Shrine Game invite was Samuel Giguere in 2008 who spent parts of four seasons with the Colts and Giants before coming north to the CFL where he’s played six seasons.

[elly63]

Canada tops Bahamas at FIBA WC qualifier
The Canadian Press November 24, 2017

HALIFAX — Brady Heslip wasn't going to take all the credit for Canada's first victory at the FIBA Americas qualifier.

Heslip had a game-high 22 points as Canada's men's national team opened their bid to get back to the World Cup with a 93-69 win over the Bahamas on Friday in the opening game of the tournament.

The Oakville, Ont., native, who hit six three-pointers and went 7-of-11 overall from the floor, says teammates Philip Scrubb and Xavier Rathan-Mayes made it easy for him to get good looks.

"All the guys just really found me when I was open. I didn't have to dribble too much," Heslip said. "Phil and Xavier made a couple of great passes and when those guys are doing what they're doing and finding me wide open, they do all the work and I'm just shooting open shots."

The Bahamas kept it close early before Heslip caught fire to help Canada build a 21-11 lead by the end of the first quarter. The former Baylor University guard scored five of his three-pointers in the first half.

Canada played suffocating defence in the second quarter as the Canadians limited the Bahamas to just six points. They went to the dressing room leading 45-17 at the half.

Scrubb, a former Carleton Ravens standout, added 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for Canada.

Canadian coach Roy Rana was happy with his team's effort.

"The guys really committed to the game plan and that's a testament to them," he said. "They were very good at communicating with each other on the floor."

Jaraun Burrows led the Bahamas with 15 points and Shaquille Cleare had 12.

Bahamas coach Mario Bowleg said his team came out flat-footed in the first half.

"We're an athletic team and we are a better shooting team and a better defensive team than we showed," Bowleg said. "Not taking anything away from Canada, they played great defence and made their shots."

The Bahamas came alive in the second half and outscored Canada 52-48, but never got closer than 22 points the rest of the game.

"It's tough to play when you're up that much," said Canada forward Owen Klassen. "I know you never want to have a letdown and give up so many points in the second half. They switched their defence that gave us a little bit of trouble when it first happened."

Cleare thought his team didn't play their style in the first half and that's why they fell behind so early.

"It put us in the hole," Cleare said. "In the second half we played with more fire and played Bahamas basketball."

Scrubb said the Bahamas was way more aggressive in the second half.

"We didn't really match their aggressiveness and kind of got back on our heels and let guys defend 1-on-1 instead of a team defence," said Scrubb, who thinks the little bit of adversity Canada faced in the second half will help down the road.

The Canadians get on a plane early Saturday to fly to the Dominican Republic for its second qualifying game on Monday.

[elly63]

Amazing comeback

McMorris returns to slopes with big air gold after devastating crash
The Canadian Press November 25, 2017

Regina’s Mark McMorris made his triumphant return to the slopes on Saturday, winning gold in the men’s big air competition at the Beijing World Cup.

It was McMorris’s first competition since a harrowing accident in the backcountry near Whistler, B.C., eight months ago.

McMorris broke his jaw and left arm, ruptured his spleen, fractured his pelvis and ribs and suffered a collapsed left lung in March when he crashed into a tree.

But he showed no ill effects on Saturday, taking the top spot in his qualification heat with a score of 83.00. In the final, McMorris impressed the judges, performing a frontside triple cork 1440 mute and a backside triple cork 1440 indy to grab a combined score of 187.00.

New Zealand’s Tiarn Collins won silver and Norway’s Torgeir Bergrem was third.

McMorris’s victory is a step toward qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He won slopestyle bronze at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

Narrowly missing out on a spot in the final, Brooke Voigt of Fort McMurray, Alta., was the top Canadian female finisher in eighth. Winnipeg’s Gillian Andrewshenko was 11th.

[blueandgoldguy]

Western beats Laval 39-17 in the Vanier Cup. Congrats!

[isaidso]

Congrats Western. Nice to see Laval soundly beaten for once.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Congrats Western. Nice to see Laval soundly beaten for once.

But did the price we had to pay have to be Western??

[elly63]

Part one of the long process ends poorly for Canada
Doug Smith thestar.com November 29 2017

Many Canadians have had much better trips to the Dominican Republic than the senior men’s basketball team did.

They were beaten – 88-76 and that kind of flattered them – in the second game of the FIBA qualifying thing on Monday night and close this “window” on the 2019 World Cup with a 1-1 record.

What’s it all mean?

It’s tough to say because the process is so long and a bit complex; they still have four games to play and three of the four teams in their group move on so it’s not like they’re dead in the water. Right now, Dominican Republic’s 2-0, Canada and U.S. Virgin Islands are 1-1 and Bahamas is 0-2 so getting through – which is the object of the whole process still looks like a bit of certainty.

We can deal with that a lot more in February when they get together again – they play the 22nd in U.S. Virgin Islands and the 25th in Bahamas – before coming home to play June 28 and July 2. We don’t know who’ll come out of other group and what their records will be – games against teams that advance are carried forward – so trying to figure it out is, well, math and I don’t do math particularly well.

The crazy thing is that this group, which has been together for a whole week, may never be together again and that’s the crux of the convoluted issue.

Getting teams in Europe and Asia and North America to release their players for another week may not be as easy the second time around. Canada couldn’t secure the releases of a key player like Mel Ejim this time around, whose team wouldn’t let him go and who might have helped last night.

What’s to say that Brady Heslip or Phil Scrubb, who was the best Canadian player overall in the two games, might not meet the same resistance in February.

It’s the hardest part of this whole process, to tell the truth, and it’s a bit surprising that Canada was able to assemble the team it did.

Going 1-1 was, actually, what I kind of expected. Winning at home with the adrenaline flowing and the fans in the joint and the opposition wasn’t a surprise, nor was losing in the cauldron of the Dominican Republic.

Now, rattling off four wins to finish this first-round group is paramount and it will come down to who they can get to play in February. And until they even start thinking about it, we can’t really start talking about it.

They would hope they have basically the same team with maybe an upgrade or two but no one knows and that has to be the frustrating part. It’s the same for every team, though, and is truly the flaw in this convoluted new process.

But I’m going to say this:

The players who’ve been around this week deserve some credit for being there, even though they couldn’t sweep the two games.

A guy like Marc Tresolini travelled from Japan to Halifax to Dominican Republic just to play for his country. He played about 18 minutes over the two games.

A guy like Owen Klassen was in Greece when the call came and he answered, playing about 24 minutes over the two games.

No matter how this process ultimately shakes out – and I think it ends with Canada getting back to the World Cup for the first time since 2010 – those guys deserve some thanks from the fans.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by GlassCity

But did the price we had to pay have to be Western??

It does seem to be the same schools over and over and over. Laval, Montreal, Western, McMaster, Calgary ....

[elly63]

Originally Posted by isaidso

It does seem to be the same schools over and over and over. Laval, Montreal, Western, McMaster, Calgary ....

That's why they need the 8 team SuperLeague

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by elly63

Amazing comeback

McMorris returns to slopes with big air gold after devastating crash
The Canadian Press November 25, 2017

Regina’s Mark McMorris made his triumphant return to the slopes on Saturday, winning gold in the men’s big air competition at the Beijing World Cup.

It was McMorris’s first competition since a harrowing accident in the backcountry near Whistler, B.C., eight months ago.

McMorris broke his jaw and left arm, ruptured his spleen, fractured his pelvis and ribs and suffered a collapsed left lung in March when he crashed into a tree.

But he showed no ill effects on Saturday, taking the top spot in his qualification heat with a score of 83.00. In the final, McMorris impressed the judges, performing a frontside triple cork 1440 mute and a backside triple cork 1440 indy to grab a combined score of 187.00.

New Zealand’s Tiarn Collins won silver and Norway’s Torgeir Bergrem was third.

McMorris’s victory is a step toward qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. He won slopestyle bronze at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

Narrowly missing out on a spot in the final, Brooke Voigt of Fort McMurray, Alta., was the top Canadian female finisher in eighth. Winnipeg’s Gillian Andrewshenko was 11th.

Good job Mark! still blows my mind that our best snowboarder ever comes from Regina!

[blueandgoldguy]

So the Winter Olympics are only 2.5 months away. I wonder what the expected medal count will be and who Canada's gold medal contenders are aside from the obvious - hockey, curling. It's hard to believe it has been nearly 8 years since the Vancouver Olympics!

[EpicPonyTime]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

So the Winter Olympics are only 2.5 months away. I wonder what the expected medal count will be and who Canada's gold medal contenders are aside from the obvious - hockey, curling. It's hard to believe it has been nearly 8 years since the Vancouver Olympics!

I'm not as confident in Canada's gold medal chances in hocket this year (sacrilege, I know). If the NHL and KHL aren't participating, the Elitserien and SM-Liiga become the sources of the best players in the tournament. Sweden is going to have a huge leg-up this year.

[Horus]

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2018 Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team (for now). If KHL players are prevented from participating, 19 of these names drop off.

Forwards:
Taylor Beck
Rene Bourque
Gilbert Brulé
Matt Ellison
Matt Frattin
Ryan Garbutt
Rob Klinkhammer
Brandon Kozun
Eric O'Dell
P.A. Parenteau
Teddy Purcell
Kyle Robinson
Derek Roy
Max Talbot
Linden Vey
Wojtek Wolski

Defense
Simon Després
Stefan Elliot
Chad Genoway
Shawn Lalonde
Chris Lee
David McLeod
Maxim Noreau
Mat Robinson
Karl Stollery

Goalies
Barry Brust
Ben Scrivens


btw - I made up two of the names in the list above.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by elly63

That's why they need the 8 team SuperLeague

No thanks. We need more parity. Those schools that insist on running things like a hobby need to step aside and let sports management people take over.

[isaidso]

Looks like the Canadian media have finally wrote an article about something I've talked about for years. I'm not crazy after all.

How Canada invented ‘American’ football, baseball, basketball and hockey


Toronto's Foxy Irwin introduced the fielder's glove to baseball


The combined revenues for the four major North American pro sports leagues are pretty close to $50 billion a year. That's in Canadian dollars. And, yes, we should measure in Canadian dollars. That's because, despite the tub thumping from our southern neighbours, the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball all have Canadian roots.

America’s Pastime? Sorry, Abner Doubleday, Canada played it first. And a Canadian baseball hall of famer also takes credit for the earliest baseball glove. Plus, we patented the bases.

American football? Canadians introduced the U.S. to a new game that borrowed a lot from rugby. James Naismith? Everybody knows the Canadian invented basketball. Hockey? Well, of course. But let’s have a quick review anyway, just in case you need to marshal your arguments for the next time you tipple with American friends.

Full article: http://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/ent...all-and-hockey

[Acajack]

So a few months into the AHL season and the Rocket de Laval are averaging about 6300 fans per game.

That seems pretty good to me, as Greater Montreal is notorious for not supporting any level of hockey but the NHL Habs.

[elly63]

Riders draft pick Antony Auclair registers first NFL catch
Drew Edwards 3downnation.com December 3, 2017

Quebec native Antony Auclair registered the first catch of his NFL career on Sunday.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end caught a pass from quarterback Jameis Winston on the second play from scrimmage against the Green Bay Packers. It went for 11 yards and was good enough for a first down (according to both the officials and Auclair.)

The Saskatchewan Roughriders draft pick was signed as an undrafted free agent with the Buccaneers immediately after the 2017 NFL draft. The Riders selected him in the fourth round, 30th overall in the 2017 CFL draft.

The six-foot-five, 254-pounder had 17 catches for 229 yards and two touchdowns in eight regular-season games for the Rouge et Or last year. He recorded a team-high 70 receiving yards and one touchdown in Laval’s 2016 Vanier Cup championship victory.

Then he garnered an invite to the East-West Shrine Game. After showing well in Florida, 17 NFL teams travelled to Quebec City to see Auclair perform at his pro day. That made 10 NFL teams bring him in for a visit.

During training camp in Tampa Bay, Auclair performed well while sharing his Canadian pride.

Auclair has played in four games for Tampa this season and finished Sunday’s 26-20 loss to the Packers with the single reception.

[elly63]

Rogers exploring possible sale of Toronto Blue Jays, CFO says
Chief financial officer Tony Staffieri also mentioned the company is considering selling off its stake in Cogeco.
Natalie Wong Toronto Star December 5, 2017

Rogers Communications is considering selling assets such as baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays and a stake in media company Cogeco Inc. to free up capital for other investments, chief financial officer Tony Staffieri said.

The Toronto-based telecommunications giant wants to get more value for the assets, though no deal is imminent, Staffieri said at the UBS Global Media and Communications conference in New York.

Rogers plans to increase investments in its wireless network as part of a plan to capture a surge in data use, chief executive officer Joe Natale told the Globe & Mail this week. Rogers shares have soared 26 per cent this year, outpacing rivals Telus and BCE (Bell) by more than double, as wireless revenue soared and customer retention improved.

The company has said before that it’s exploring ways to get more value from its portfolio of assets, including the Jays, but Staffieri’s comments Tuesday were more specific. Rogers still wants rights to sports programming but doesn’t have to own a team to have that, he said, pointing to the company’s 12-year deal with the National Hockey League.

Rogers’ media business made up about 15 per cent of sales last year but only about 3 per cent of operating profit, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The company has been a longtime investor in Cogeco and now holds about a third of the media company and a fifth of its cable unit, Cogeco Communications Inc.

“There were some strategic benefits that we had hoped for with Cogeco and those seem to be further and further away,” Staffieri said. “As we think about an environment where interest rates start to go up and compare it to the yield that we’re getting on the asset today, we think there’s probably better use for that capital.”

[EpicPonyTime]

Sell the Jays and throw that stupid statue of Edward Rogers into the Lake where it belongs.