Friday 12 October 2012

Lulay, Lions dominant in win over Ti-Cats

Travis Lulay was all business Friday night in Hamilton leading his BC Lions to a convincing 37-17 win over the Ti-Cats.  The win boosts the Lions record to 11-4 as they continue to sit atop the West and atop the overall CFL standings.
Lulay started with a TD on the opening drive extending his TD streak to 26 games.
The game also saw Lions star Canadian running back break a 45 year-old CFL record for most yards from scrimmage by a Canadian.

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FIFA nails Canada's Sinclair instead of looking in mirror

FIFA, the world's governing body for soccer, today announced that it would fine and suspend Canadian Women's National Team member Christine Sinclair for four international games.  FIFA suspended Sinclair for what they termed "unsporting behaviour towards match officials".  Presumably, FIFA was referring to comments Sinclair made after an Olympic semi-final loss to the United States Women's National Team in London.  Sinclair and other members of the Canadian team voiced displeasure at some very strange and seldom made calls by the Finnish ref.  The Canadians also referenced US Women's National Team member Amy Wombach, under who's influence, the referee made a game-changing series of calls.

By now, everyone knows the story.  In a bizarre sequence, an American player committed a hand-ball foul in her own penalty area, the result of which should have been a penalty kick for the Canadians which went unseen or uncalled.  Moments later, the Canadian goal-keeper was fingered for an almost-never-called delay of game penalty, under the urging of US player Abby Wombach who influenced the decision and intimidated the referee by counting out loud as the Canadian keeper rose to her feet after making a save and proceeded to play the ball. The referee awarded a direct kick to the Americans inside the Canadian 18yd box.  On the ensuing play the ball went off an unsuspecting Canadian player's arm as she turned away to shield herself from the ball kicked towards her from close range.  The result of the play was a game-tying penalty for the US team.

Needless to say, this turn of events led to much controversy and harsh comments towards the referee and FIFA from all corners of the globe.  The Canadian team was understandably outraged by what had taken place and found it hard not to voice their displeasure when confronted by members of the media after the game.  The Canadian team, determined as ever, went on to beat France in the Bronze medal game but will forever be wondering "what if" the officiating in their semi-final hadn't all but handed the Americans the game. 

As of the writing of this blog we have not received word if FIFA has named Abby Wombach its official time-keeper, or if this rarely-called foul can only be called when an American player asks for it to be called.  We have also not received word on whether FIFA determined Wombach's behaviour to be "unsporting" or not.

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Wednesday 10 October 2012

Heard in Canucks dressing room during last year's playoffs...

ALAIN VIGNEAULT after 1st intermission of Rd 1 Gm 3 vs the LA Kings:

"OK, guys. We busted our ass, and totally outplayed them. We had them running around in their own zone and we got a hard-earned 1 goal lead...NOW, let's spend the next 2 periods in our own zone and hope they don't get one by us.
What's that Henrik? We're one of the highest scoring teams in the league and we've been very successful with our aggressive fore-check and our incredible puck possession game?
OK...let's just forget that and play 'dump-it-out, dump-it-in' the rest of the way and hope for the best."


Henrik Sedin: But, you've got the last 2 Art Ross trophy winners and a bunch of career 30 goal scorers up front and some decent offensive defensemen too! You're turning us into checkers?
You can play that style with Minnesota's roster...what do you need us for?"


ALAIN VIGNEAULT: "OK, MayRay...I'm gonna double-shift you for the rest of the game. Try to keep the falling-down-for-absolutely-no-reason down to 3 times per shift, k?
And if I catch ANY of you carrying the puck into the other team's zone, driving the puck to the net, or setting up in the offensive zone, you're getting benched the rest of the way.
Oh! And Scheids, expect to be under fire for the rest of the game, k?"





Tuesday 9 October 2012

What if... we lose another season?

With labour talks between the NHL and the NHLPA appearing as though they have met another impasse, and more and more October days tick off the calendar, it looks like we might have to start bracing ourselves for the possibility that we might lose another season.

With now over 100 NHLPA members seeking employment in Europe, and the NHL owners keeping in line behind their fearless leader Gary Bettman, it looks more and more like we are in for another pissing contest instead of a constructive negotiation.

From this humble blogger's standpoint, having been a huge NHL fan long before Mr. Bettman arrived on the scene, I have noticed that the league just hasn't been the same since he became league commissioner.  The man carries himself with a certain arrogance that, frankly, makes me want to hurl.  He constantly talks down to people and answers reporters questions as though they are something he just scraped off the bottom of his shoe.  This is not a pleasant man.  Just the kind of guy you want leading your negotiation team if you're an NHL owner, but certainly not who you want running your favourite sports league if you're an NHL fan.

This is now Mr. Bettman's THIRD lockout in less than 20 years.  It took him about 7 minutes to fire up the first one when he got the job back in 1993.  Everyone knew we were headed for another lockout this year because this is Gary Bettman's negotiation style.  He could care less about the game.  He has no time for a reasonable negotiation where both sides come away with something.  No.  He wants the players to grovel.  he wants the players to kiss his shiny loafers AND thank him for the privilege.  This is what Gary Bettman wants.  During the last lockout, after losing an entire season, the owners got the players to finally agree to a hard cap.  Fast forward 6 years and, somehow, this is not good enough for our friend Gary.  In fact, it is so terrible that he was forced to lock the players out rather than start the season and continue to negotiate...this is WITH a cap!  If the owners can't figure it out with a hard cap in place, maybe they need to take a look in the mirror, or better yet have a good long look at the man who is leading them down this path.

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Monday 8 October 2012

NHLers loitering on the sidelines

I attended the BC Lions v Calgary Stampeders game at BC Place on Saturday night and I noticed that a group of Vancouver Canucks had been invited to watch part of the game from the BC Lions sideline.  If I'm not mistaken Kevin Bieksa, Ryan Kesler, Jason Garrison, Alex Edler, Mason Raymond and Cory Schneider.
Everyone knows that the Canucks have a lot of extra time on their hands due to the NHL lockout.  It seemed surreal to me to see them standing there in street clothes, supporting another local team, which, by the way, I thought to be a classy move.  They were supposed to be playing a game at Rogers Arena, or on a road trip, or resting up for another game.  It really was quite bizarre to see them there instead of on the ice all because of Gary Bettman's 3rd lockout.
Then it hit me....the 2012 CFL team salary cap is $4.3M.  Yup.  If you add up the salaries of the entire BC Lions roster it is equal to, or less than, $4.3M.  Ryan Kesler makes $5M.   Jason Garrison makes $6M+ per season.  Edler and Bieksa aren't that far behind.
What must that have been like for them?  Watching 2 teams go at it 100% banging heads, sacrificing limbs, and giving it their all in front of 30,000+ at BCPlace and hundreds of thousands more on TSN, knowing that their annual salary is more than the entire payroll of each of the two teams they were watching.  It kinda puts things into perspective as far as how much money NHLers really make.
The thing is, we can't look at NHL players as just athletes playing a game and being compensated with massive amounts of money.  It is important to realize that the players are a product.  They are a product that generates large amounts of money for the owners and they should get their piece of the pie.  The sooner the owners stop treating the players as employees, or cattle, and become business partners with them, the sooner we can get hockey players off of CFL sidelines.

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Sunday 7 October 2012

Canadians featured at running back in the CFL

Unlike any other time in the CFL have we seen the quantity and quality of Canadian running back as we have in the last few seasons.  Sure, there have been many good Canadian running backs in CFL seasons gone by, such as Normie Kwong, Orville Lee, Sean Millington and others but for the most part, the role of the Canadian running back was that of a fullback, or blocking back, making holes for the import running back.  That's just the way its always been...until now.
We are witnessing a golden generation of Canadian running backs; not just good enough to get playing time, but dominating at the position.
Last year we saw Jerome Messam have a dominant season for the Edmonton Eskimos winning Top Canadian honours and getting a shot in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins where he was a late cut.  Messam is back with the Eskimos and has fellow Canadian Calvin McCarty in the backfield with him.
But the two biggest stories this year are New Westminster, BC's Jon Cornish of the Calgary Stampeders who currently leads the league in rushing, and BC Lions star and Winnipeg native Andrew Harris who has a chance to have 1000 rushing yards and 1000 receiving yards by the end of the season.
These two are leading their teams and dominating CFL defenses this season.  While both have a lot in common as far as CFL success goes, their path to pro-football couldn't have been any different.
Jon Cornish starred in the NCAA for The University of Kansas, while Harris played BC junior football.

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Lions hold off Stamps for 1st in West

The BC Lions strengthened their hold on first place in the CFL's Western Division by holding off the Calgary Stampeders by a score of 27-22.  Calgary threatened late, driving the ball upfield looking for a game-winning touchdown, but a fantastic interception by Ryan Phillips thwarted the Stampeders late charge.
Despite not having star regulars Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce III, and Khalif Mitchell in the lineup, the Lions powered through behind strong performances from Phillips, Travis Lulay, Andrew Harris and Adam Bighill.
The BC Lions improve their record to 10-4 with 4 games to play in the regular season, while Calgary falls to 8-6.

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Saturday 6 October 2012

Sporting Vancouver now on Blogger

Hello gracious readers,

Thanks for following the Sporting Vancouver blog to its new home here at blogger.  Just seems like a better fit.

Let's get down to it.  Here's what's going on in the Vancouver sports world.

The Vancouver Whitecaps hammered Chivas USA 4-0 on Wednesday on the Bell Pitch at BCPlace Stadium.  It was a much needed win for the Caps who have gone win-less for too long and were in danger of falling out of the 5th and final playoff spot in the West.  ever since their mid-season roster shake-up, the team seems to have had difficulty finding its identity and flow in their game.  Here's hoping that this game is their turning point heading into the playoffs.

The BC Lions head into a crucial game tomorrow against the Calgary Stampeders at BCPlace without several key starters.  Among them Geroy Simon, Arland Bruce III, and Khalif Mitchell.  These key injuries come at  an unfortunate time with Calgary only 2 points behind them in the race for first in the division.  The Lions will need key contributions from other receivers such as Nik Moore, Marco Ianuzzi, and Kierie Johnson, not to mention a big game from Andrew Harris to attempt to make up for the loss of 2 of the greatest receivers the CFL has ever seen.

The hockey world was taken by surprise to find out that Gary Bettman and Bill Daly met with Donald Fehr at the NHLPA headquarters in Toronto.  Just a few short days after the NHL cancelled its first two weeks of the regular season, wiping out a total of 82 games it looked like lines had been drawn in the sand and the two sides were waiting for the other  to blink.  This surprising and seemingly unscheduled meeting has some in the hockey world cautiously optimistic about the possibility of an agreement bringing hockey back before Christmas.
Colour me pessimistic, but I think there is a long way to go before these two sides get on the same page.  The NHL, led by the ever arrogant Bettman appears to want the NHLPA to not only kiss their feet but also thank them for the privilege to do so.  If I were the players, I would just assume the season is lost and look for work elsewhere.  Maybe another lost season is just what the zombie owners need to realize they need to get rid of Gary Bettman.  One can only hope...

You can follow Sporting Vancouver on Twitter @vansport