Beijing 2008 wrap-up: The 24-hours without a medal it's time to panic edition

Day 12

Your daily Olympic wrap-up.

Notable Canadian performance: Stubby Clapp –The team I’ll get to in a minute, but first let’s celebrate Clapp who hit a home run in what was his last competitive baseball game of his career. Every athlete should be so lucky to go out like that. Clapp was a mediocre ball player (by professional standards), but he rose to notoriety by blooping a single in 1999, loving his country and always giving it his all. It’s a bit cliché, really, but we’re all saps for it when you get right down to it. Thanks Stubby.

Notable international performance: – There could be three today. I touched on Bolt below, Natalie du Toit, the amputee swimmer is truly inspiring and, as regular reader Dennis Prouse points out in the comment’s section from yesterday, there is no shame in admitting that you had a lump in your throat after watching German superheavyweight weightlifter Matthias Steiner hold up the photo of his late wife after he captured gold (by going nearly 20 lbs higher than he had ever done before).

So, you pick.

Maple Leaf gold: Thomas Hall The man that Neate tipped for a possible medal a month ago rebounded from a tough heat to win his semi-final race this morning. He’s in the hunt.

Maple Leaf silver: Emilie Heymans - Another diver that has “pulled a Canada” a few times in her career. But, not yesterday where she placed third in qualifying and is in the hunt for bronze (no one is touching the Chinese).

Maple Leaf bronze: Gary Reed: But, by default really as it was a quiet day for Canada. Reed made it through to the 800m semis as a fastest loser, but will need to improve greatly to move forward.

Maple Leaf tin medal: The baseball team. It was a bit like watching the Jays, wasn’t it.

The WTF was the Ceeb thinking award: So. Much. Dead. Time. It being a quiet day for the Canucks the Ceeb decided that replaying old events and interviewing former Olympians about those events was the way to fill the air rather than, say, showing sports.

Honorary Canadian award: The Jamaican track team. As Canadians we can only dream of having the type of day that Jamaica did on the track, taking two gold medals (Bolt and 400m hurdler Melaine Walker) in less than 20 minutes.

Canadian highlights for day 11: Heymans – Hopefully the maturity of another four years will help her perform to her abilities in the platform final. If she does, she’ll grab Canada’s 14th medal, equaling Sydney.

International highlight for day 11: The women’s gold medal match in beach volleyball. Yes, they have nice bums (most athletes do, they just aren’t in bikinis), but more importantly the beach volleyball players are great athletes. Added for its sex appeal and TV potential no doubt that doesn’t mean that beach volleyball isn’t an amazingly entertaining and compelling event. Tonight the American’s Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor try to extend their wining streak through two Olympics. And that would be impressive even if they were wearing an old pair of track pants.

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Olympic Vacation

After a brief trip to Ireland I am back! I left dreaming of a country where, if everything I was previously told was correct anyhow, the streets would either be paved with Leprechaun Gold or were - in fact - Rivers of Beer! (I think I dreamt of riding down the O'Connell Beer River on a Beer Gondola for a good week leading up to this trip!)

Due to a lack of seniority at work the only week I got off throughout the summer unfortunately coincided with the Olympics. And due to...well, reality I guess...there were no Beer Gondola's or Streets of Gold awaiting me on the Emerald Isle either. But what I did find beyond a nice break from the daily grind was an equally refreshing take on the Olympics, switching up the normal Games routine I was used to and taking it all in from another perspective.

Checking out the sports section of the Ireland Independent News site alone was enough to make me realize things were about to become quite different as the poll that ran the day before I left read: "Do you think that Ireland will win a medal in the Beijing Olympics?" I knew that Ireland was never considered an Olympic power, however I admit I didn't realize there had only been 20 Irish Medals since they first represented themselves at the 1924 Paris Summer Games (which makes the 3 medals they've assured themselves thus far in these Games all that more impressive!).

As one kid said to his friends on the bus trip from Cork to Galway, when discussing Irish odds at these Olympics; "Ireland just can't compete with the bigger, drug enhancing countries of the world!" Needless to say the expectations I encountered over there were certainly not the same put forth back home for our Olympic team. And that really did kind of calm me down, even when Canada struggled to win a medal of any colour at the start it was hard to complain. In comparison to the Irish we Canadians are Olympic gods amongst men!

I had an amazing time on my trip and met many, many people from all over the world - and that was the best part of my Olympic experience, sitting in a hostel watching with an event with Frenchmen, Italians, Spaniards and Americans all together. There was always a mix of that nature when I was able to catch an event, and watching the reactions and emotions of everyone was always fun. Even better though were the polite attempts to surpress reactions when one's country beat someone else's who was likely sitting right there beside them, classic!

The broadcast schedule shake-up I received watching the Games thru RTE, the BBC and Eurosport was also nice, even if I did get a heavy dose of the Brits with their incredible medal improvement, and a heavy dose of Boxing: the Irish specialty! (how a land that includes drinking with every aspect of life succeeds in a fighting sport may remain one of those questions one can never answer...)

A very welcome break away from the norm in many ways, there's nothing like viewing it all thru the eyes of someone else from time to time. Thanks to the changing ways of the Games via Internet, I plan on doing this now as much as possible. And now, back to my regular Olympic scheduled programming.

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BREAKING NEWS: MJ Bolted out of record books

For those that don't follow track and field it might be difficult to understand just how impressive Michael Johnson's 200m world record was. Set in 1996, there were many that suggested at the time that it would never be beat. That he had reached the peak performance possible by humans.

A couple years ago I was involved in a discussion on the Internet forum SportsJournalists.com on the topic of what was the most impressive athletic performance the posters had ever seen. Keep in mind that, although a public web page, SportsJournalists.com is a pretty exclusive club. Many of the biggest names in sports writing read and comment on the board. So, it was a group that had collectively seen a lot of big sports events. Although there were a lot of suggestions, one of the few that received widespread attention was 19.32 seconds, Johnson's time in Atlanta.

I guess they have a new performance to consider. By running 19.30 Usain Bolt has become the man of the Olympics. That doesn't discount what Phelps did. No, it simply glorifies what Bolt is doing (and the Jamaican 4X100m team is going to be something to watch).

What is the greatest individual sporting accomplishment you have ever seen?

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Note from the Super: SportsBlogNet.com launches into Beta

The following is a paid announcement ... with guiters? (What? No guitars? Fine then.)

As you can see on the right-hand column, Out of Left Field is part of a new Sports Blog Network at SportsBlogNet.com, which is launching today across North America.

SportsBlogNet.com is a site that feeds in over 50 great sports blogs and links back out to all of them. They drive traffic to our site and also sell ads for all the blogs in the network.

At SportsBlogNet.com you can.

• Read all the quality blogs in the network
• Write for a blog in the network
• Discover new blogs
• Build a new free sports blog
• Join the network as an additional revenue and traffic source for your blog

Currently SportsBlogNet.com has approximately 56 blogs in the network with a reach of approximately 200,000 unique visitors per month which is growing daily.

Check it out.

They are interested in hearing your feedback.

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Stef-fing out; a NHL prospect walks away, quite possibly for real

Everyone's going to have a theory about what would possess Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Stefan Legein to apparently quit hockey at the ripe old age of 19.

(Bethany's Hockey Rants, by the way, had this first. Others, presumably, will have much more.)

Breaking out the jump-to-conclusions mat -- maybe he's going to sign in the KHL, maybe he doesn't want to play for the Blue Jackets -- is a normal reaction to news that's too much for your usually shockproof B.S. detector. There is no room, none at all, in Canada's hockey consciousness that allows one to easily digest the news that Legein might drop out of hockey (just read the comments at TSN's website, where the player's father has denied the story).

It would not be a a shock if (emphasis on if) this was borne from Legein having some sort of personal crisis, the kind of thing that, pre-political correctness, was called a nervous breakdown. This could be 100% off-base, but since theories are like fingers (everyone's got 10 of them), what the hell. Depression is a prevalent enough illness, but the wider society, let alone the emotionally stunted sports word, has a hard enough time understanding the condition that's it worth using the Legein story as a jumping-off point. By no means is this the case here.

Speaking from experience, a common trap depressives can fall into is being unable to avoid emotional reactions to everyday situations. It's easy to see a scenario where a young person, unable to work through it, told people close to him that he was quitting the one activity that he had come to be identified through. It serves three purposes. It's a way to punish yourself through self-denial, lay a guilt trip on loved ones and put off working your way through that which you must work through.

Only a true believer would expect hockey fans to not look at Stefan Legein as someone who's throwing away a shot at every Canadian boy's dream of playing in the NHL. No one, though, has any right to ridicule or scorn. No one has to make a cause-of-the-week out of him either, but at the very least you should try to understand it from the player and human being's point of view, just this once.

The Canadian junior hockey system is not famous for being sympathetic to teenagers, let alone sensitive types who might bruise easily. Players are drafted at 16 and are forced to develop a keen survival instinct in a hurry, because they have no rights, none at all, except to ask for a trade (and then they get branded as a "brat" or a "hot dog"). There are probably a few players who develop thick skin to the exclusion of an actual maturation within.

In this context, the self-portrait Legein offered for sportsnet.ca in the lead-up to last season's World Juniors is kind of chilling:

" 'You have to hate everyone out there,' Legein confirmed. 'They hate you and they're trying to hit you and hurt you and they're trying to beat you so you have to have that same hate back.

" 'I have no friends on the ice. Once the game's over, sure everything's fine but once we're on the ice there are no friends.' " -- Dec. 7, 2007

In hindsight, you could read between the lines that Legein was trying to tell the adults who control his hockey destiny what they wanted to hear. It's ironic that he said he emulated Sean Avery, the NHL's premier agitator. Avery is at least as famous for the lengths he goes to to show the world how much he's bored by playing hockey as he is for playing hockey.

Avery's off-ice notoriety, the Vogue internship, all that, could be how Avery handles his ambivalence toward playing a game -- that's also happened to make him wealthy and a much more eligible bachelor than he would have been otherwise. (It's kind of hard to imagine Elisha Cuthbert would have ever shown up on a red carpet escorted by a guy who teaches Grade 9 math in Ajax.)

Of course, the fear when you try to act like someone else is that's what you'll end up becoming -- someone else. That's contributed to a crisis for more than one athlete in a violent collision sport such as hockey or football.

There are obviously other scenarios that could be at work.

(This might have nothing to do it, but ShysterBall has linked to a Pat Jordan Sports Illustrated profile of Bo Belinsky, who was kind of a Sean Avery of his generation. One quote from Belinsky that's kind of haunting: "I could never give up enough of myself for success." Does that not sound like, as Duane notes, clinical anxiety?)

It's bad enough to have already violated Legein's privacy by wondering if his mental state might have influenced his reported decision to walk away from hockey. It's not even out of the realm of possibility that taking time away from the sport is part of making a commitment to trying to become a NHL player. He probably never had And yes, perhaps something scandalous or prurient that will come out in a matter of days. Last, but not least, someone will connect the dots between Legein and 16-year-old Western Hockey League prospect Brandon Regier also retiring and argue that Canada's hockey system offers as quick a road to early burnout as it does to the NHL.

Sports fans don't always accept that players who have a chance to realize what you always dreamed of doing don't necessarily embrace that dream. It would be easier for us to understand if Legein had physical problems that made it too risky for him to keep playing high-level hockey, like the heart condition that forced the University of Denver hockey player David Carle to give up the game this spring. When it's something like depression, which is a very common condition, there's absolutely no understanding and that's just plain wrong.

That's not to say this is what's afoot with Stefan Legein. If not him, though, then it will be for some other promising athlete soon enough.

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Do you support the home team?

In the ongoing efforts to make sure BMO Fields is pro-Canada for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier there are many that are, well, humourless about the idea of a Canadian, even a hyphenated one cheering against the home team.

Although no one wants it to happen, there is the potential of, um, words being spoken at the game if a Mississauga born and raised "Jamaican" finds their way into the pro-Canada section tomorrow.

But, as this video shows, we can leave our hatin' at the stadium gate and just have a little fun with it outside of game time.



Humour. It's a wonderful thing.

(but the gloves are off between 7:30 p.m. and about 9 p.m. tomorrow).

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Beijing 2008 wrap-up: The where are all the haters now, eh edition

Day 11

Your daily Olympic wrap-up.

Notable Canadian performance: Simon Whitfield: If you are tired of the “well I did my personal best” lines by the Canadians then you should love Whitfield. Excellence. Competing to win. Intensity. Those are the words he uses to describe his goals. Although he’s a soft-spoken guy, he’s a fierce competitor that doesn’t play to finish top eight.

The endurance events are often the most difficult to predict since there are so many intangibles. That Whitfield was able to run to the podium while dealing with the suffocating pressure we tend to put on our medal hopes is an amazing accomplishment. With the win he’s put himself on the short list of greatest Canadian Olympian ever.

Notable international performance: He Chong– The diver was a bloody robot in roasting the field for gold. Even though it was a Canadian that finished second, you couldn’t help but be impressed with his total dominance.

Maple Leaf gold: Speaking of that diving Canadian…Alexandre Despatie: He overcame injury earlier in this year and poor early form to be the best of all those not named He Chong…which was all any of the non-robots could hope for on the day.

Maple Leaf silver: Adam van Koeverden - Again. All The Great Canadian Hope did today was go out and set a world’s best time in the 500m heats. No pressure Adam. There are only 33 million people that need you to win.

Maple Leaf bronze: Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep: Yes, I know that it’s the same silver and bronze today as yesterday, but she did win Canada’s first track medal in 12 years. And the where-the-hell-did-that-one-come-from bronze is always a highlight of any Games.

Bonus points are earned for being Dwayne De Rosario’s cousin too.

Maple Leaf tin medal: No one: That was as good a day as this country ever has in the Olympics. I will give a tin medal to the trampoline judges who jobbed Jason Burnett out of a gold medal because the Chinese fans cheered loudly. Seriously, how hard would it be to put judges in a sound proof area. Also, are we close to being able to produce technology that would enable judges to watch performances on a digital TV screen with all identifying marks removed?

The WTF was the Ceeb thinking award: When Lopes-Schliep crossed the line it appeared that she had medaled(slowing the ole’ PVR down revealed that she was at worse third—and it still looks like she was second), but yet you wouldn’t have known that Canada was about to break a 12-year track medal drought by the commentary. The entire focus was on the American that won. It’s understood that the Ceeb shouldn’t slip into the jingoistic style of NBC, but they could spend a second to let biewers know tha a Canuck medal may be coming.

Canadian highlight for day 12: The fastball team can medal with a win against Australia. If they do, it will be Canada’s first team medal in the summer games since 19 bloody 36 (and that barely counts since it was basketball and there was only two teams that could play the sport at the Games. So, it was like women’s hockey, I guess) They play ball early tomorrow morning.

International highlights for day 12: I was incorrect yesterday in saying that the 200m was today. So, yeah. The 200m. Bolt. Match race with Phelps. That again.

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The women of Friday Night Lights...

you can't spell malediction without "male." Posting videos and photos of actress/model types is normally not a big thing, but when it's Friday Night Lights, well, personal rules are cast to the breeze, and all that ...



If the embedded video doesn't work, here's a fail-safe: GQ: The Girls of Friday Night Lights

Minka Kelly, who plays the lovely Lyla Garrity, was always a personal favourite, but reading that Adrianne Palicki is a from a family of Detroit Lions fans might be pause to reconsider. Someone who's cheered for the Lions is probably also willing to put up with stupidity.

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Bleeding Tricolour: Expanding the brand

Queen’s University Athletics and Recreation will reveal its highly anticipated new brand identity and uniforms on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 5:00pm in Kingston, Ont..

As part of the official launch, Queen’s University Athletics and Recreation will also announce its new apparel sponsor who has furnished the 2008-09 uniforms in all new designs coordinated with Queen’s Athletics & Recreation new brand. — press release

The skinny gleaned from a chat with Queen's SID Michael Grobe is that the school's new look and logo will "say Queen's." The aim is to have a little more uniformity between the various varsity teams, which isn't a bad idea.

It will be interesting to see what is unveiled next week.

Also of note in OUA football, and perhaps it should be getting its own post: Scott Puillandre, a Guelph Gryphons linebacker, has left the team to join the Canadian Armed Forces, reports our friend Greg Layson.

(Puillandre was the hardest hitter in Norfolk County during someone time's at the Simcoe Reformer. Wish him well.

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CIS Countdown: #22 Waterloo Warriors

Fast facts: Can be counted on to beat York, Toronto, and maybe someone else: have finished 3-5 or 2-6 every year since 2004 ... Last year, were 3-0 for the first time since 1998, but lost the next five to miss the playoffs ... New football stadium this year -- on their own campus! (see below) ... Lots of recruits this year; coach is excited ... Third-year and part-time QB Luke Balch was 22nd out of 26 qualifying quarterbacks in adjusted net yards per pass attempt last year ... Three participants in the 2008 East-West Game: receivers Sean Cowie and Joshua Svec; defensive back Patrick McGarry ... On the web: www.athletics.uwaterloo.ca, waterloowarriorfootball.com ...



Coach: Dennis McPhee (2nd season, 4th in CIS). McPhee's a longtime Hamilton Tiger-Cats assistant (linebacker coach during the 1999 Grey Cup win). In his two years at St. FX, he was named AUS Coach of the Year once and made the playoffs twice.

Co-ordinators: Joe Paopao (offence), Rob McMurren (defence), Hank Ilesic (special teams). Yes, that Hank Ilesic.

Enrolment: 22,368

Alumni in the CFL: OL Chris Best (Saskatchewan), who also played three years with Duke.

Famous non-football alumni: Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, co-CEOs of BlackBerry-producing Research In Motion; comedians Rick Green and Steve Smith of The Red Green Show and other projects. Ten points if you can pronounce "Balsillie" correctly.

Three-year record: 8-16, 8th out of 10 in Ontario

2007 units ranking: 24th on offence, 19th on defence

Key losses: LB Stephen Campbell, LB Shane Everest, DE Darren Kisinger. All have used up their five years of eligibility. Campbell, Everest, and Kisinger recorded the first-, fifth-, and seventh-most tackles on the team last year, and combined for five sacks and three turnovers. That may not sound like much, but when you lose 45-0, every bit helps.

Returning starters: QB Luke Balch, QB Evan Martin, RB Tanner Forsyth, RB Will Oud, WR Sean Cowie, WR Joshua Svec, WR Ray Nattress, LB Mitch Nicholson, DE Andrew Heeley, DB Patrick McGarry, DB John Boonstra

Players to watch: WR Sean Cowie, DB Patrick McGarry, RB Tanner Forsyth, WR Joshua Svec, QB Evan Martin

For future reference: The massive number of recruits (52, apparently) precludes listing even half of them. They include QB Jon Roney, which is good for Waterloo, given that neither of their quarterbacks set the league on fire last year. Roney's from North Vancouver and you can find YouTube highlights set to Wolfmother here. There are also a couple of local incoming defensive linemen in Djordje Gavrilovic out of Sir John A. in the middle of nowhere northwest Waterloo and Dan Wickens from St. David. Seriously, 52 recruits?

Home field advantage?: This year, Waterloo will play at Warrior Field, located on the north part of campus. Thousands of students live in residence just across the street, so you'd figure some of them would be more likely to attend this year. Having not been in Waterloo since April, I haven't seen the changes in person, but this field will likely be the very definition of "temporary." Today in The Record, we learn that the bleachers and press box haven't been installed. In any case, and at the very least, this means the Warriors will be playing at Laurier's field one time instead of five.

Radio coverage: Reports of its death were greatly exaggerated. Home games will be on 100.3 Sound FM, but good luck picking up that radio signal within Waterloo, he said from experience. Listen online at ckmsfm.ca, and if you want to hear road games, try the other team's broadcast.

Schedule (swing games in bold):
Sept. 1 @ U of T
Sept 6 McMaster
Sept. 13 @ Western
Sept. 20 @ Ottawa
Sept. 27 Laurier
Oct. 4 Guelph
Oct. 11 @ Windsor
Oct. 18 Queen's

The Warriors will miss York in the OUA's schedule rotation.

Final analysis: York and Toronto were usually the automatic wins for the Warriors. Without the Lions on the schedule, it will be tough for Waterloo to make a difference in the OUA. Even last year's 3-0 start, schedule-assisted as it was, didn't make them into contenders: they were utterly blown away in four of their five remaining games, and lost the other one by 16.

Their offence was at the bottom of the league and they're a pretty inexperienced bunch. A cynic would say they'll beat the Blues and nobody else, but let's give them the Windsor game. Make it 2-6, out of the playoffs.

(Contributors to this preview: Duane Rollins, and Christine Rivet from The Record.)

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CIS Countdown #23: McGill Redmen

Fast facts: McGill's season, like its 2007 campaign, could be one where the emphasis is as much as on records than the team's record. QB Matt Connell could become the first player in CIS history to throw for 10,000 yards in a career, which is testament to how prolific -- and how durable -- he's been while playing in what, at least from afar, seem like trying circumstances. McGill, which was competitive in 2006, fell to 0-8 last season, in part due to injuries and a lack of depth. It got to the point that one game McGill dressed 14 freshmen, which made it hard to have a balanced team.

The playoffs are going to be a longshot in the QUFL, but McGill has shown they can put up points.

Coach: Sonny Wolfe (2nd season, 21st overall)

Co-ordinators: Sonny Wolfe, offence; Clint Uttley, defence; Skip Rochette, special teams. Both Uttley and Rochette are in new roles this season.

Undergraduate enrolment: 23,758

Alumni in the CFL: Stampeders DT Randy Chevrier, Argonauts LB Jean-Nicolas Carrière

Famous non-football alumni: Neurosurgery pioneer Dr. Wilder Penfield (whom most of you need this reminder -- "Dr. Penfield! I smell burnt toast!" -- in order to know who he is); Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Babcock; singer-songwriters Anna and Kate McGarrigle, the sister-in-law/aunt and husband/mother of Louden Wainwright III and Rufus Wainwright; Olympic gold medal-winning hockey goalie Kim St. Pierre; NHL forward Mathieu Darche; criminally underappreciated actress Jessalyn Gilsig (Boston Public, Friday Night Lights); and James Naismith, inventor of basketball.

Last but not least, there's Denny Crane himself, William Shatner, who learned his fluid running form at McGill.

Three-year record: 5-19*

2007 unit rankings: 23rd offence, 23rd defence

Key losses: LB Jean-Nicolas Carrière, OL Ben Walsh, OL Louis Nolin, LB Kevin Nanne

Returning starters: 7 offence, 6 defence

Players to watch: Connell, who was granted a sixth season of eligibility -- he appeared in just one game as a freshman in 2003 -- might become the CIS career leader in pass completions on McGill's first series in its Sept. 6 opener vs. Sherbrooke, since he needs only five. He also needs 2,000 yards for 10,000 in his career. His main targets are wide receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte, who caught a CIS-record 72 passes in 2007, and Erik Galas, an Ottawa native. McGill allowed 28 sacks last season after giving up just 11 in '06.

Rush end Luke vanRuyven, along with DBs Schuyler O'Brien and Greg Landry, return to a defence that took its lumps last season, and will be young again.

For future reference: OL Mike Alam, LB Mario Lavallée and DL Kyle Nash, from the Myes Jr. Riders program in Ottawa, have been touted as key recruits. DB Marc-Étienne Vien, a CEGEP recruit, is a 22-year-old newcomer, which means he could play right away.

Schedule (swing games in bold):
Sept. 6 @ Sherbrooke
Sept. 12 Concordia
Sept. 20 Bishop's
Sept. 27 @ Montreal
Oct. 3 Laval (RDS)
Oct. 11 @ Saint Mary's
Oct. 18 Montreal (RDS)
Oct. 25 @ Laval

McGill faces Laval and Montreal twice.

Final analysis: McGill is light-years from the U of T debacle and it's not alone as a prestigious university that's gone a while without a football championship (Queen's, Alberta and UBC have gone a combined 45 seasons without winning their conference). Regardless, a winless season can really put a school behind the 8-ball and hurt its word-of-mouth in the Quebec recruiting battles. McGill Athletics has had its share of triumphs -- the women's hockey team won the national championship last year and the men's team went to the University Cup -- but it's tougher to get to the top in football than in hockey.

It stands to reason that all the youth on defence and along the offensive line, where three starters graduated, will make it hard for McGill to keep it together for four quarters. The schedulemaker also didn't do them any favours, as they travel to Saint Mary's for a cross-over game on top of having Laval as a home-and-home opponent. No one should ever want to wish back-to-back winless seasons on a group of players, so keep McGill in your thoughts.

(Contributors to this preview: Rob Pettapiece.)

(*includes two forfeited games from the 2005 season.)

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We always knew this Posnanski guy would make it big

Joe Posnanski really has been the water carrier for a lot of would-be writers, so this something to share in vicariously.

That’s why I’m really excited about the big blog news that I’ve been teasing for the last few weeks. Starting next week, Sportslllustrated.com — si.com, for short — will be reprinting this blog. Don’t even ask how that happened. And, even more thrilling, starting next week I will write one column a week for the Sports Illustrated dot-com — I believe it will appear on Wednesdays.

There are any number of cool things about this. For one, this blog should not change at all. SI just wants to reprint it. Also, I’m still writing columns for The Kansas City Star, which has been home and family for a dozen years now. And finally, I will be writing for Sports Illustrated, which is where it all began for me.

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CIS Countdown #24: York Lions

Fast facts: First-year York coach Mike McLean, whose one-word résumé would be "winner," is trying to turn around a program that has resumed second-fiddle status. The Lions were 1-7 in 2007, marking the fifth straight season where they failed to improve on their previous season's record, which hastened a change. This will be a transitional year, but they do have an experienced QB, as Bart Zemanek, who's less than 1,000 yards away from becoming the most prolific passer in school history, has come back for a master's degree. York has 13 starters back, which is more than in past seasons.

Coach: Mike McLean. McLean, who's in his mid-40s, earned rave reviews for helping shape Saint Mary's defence into the best in the country this year, and as you probably know, he guided the Edmonton Huskies to back-to-back Canadian junior titles. Edmonton was 0-9 the season before he took over there, so he knows from reclamation projects. 

McLean has inherited some talent in his area his speciality, considering the Lions defence managed to stay mid-pack in the OUA yards-per-rush and yards-per-pass allowed last season despite being on the field way too much.

Co-ordinators: Beau Mirau, offence, McLean, defence. Mirau, who will also have the assistant head coach tag, was also on McLean's staff in Edmonton.

Undergraduate enrolment: 39,100

Alumni in the CFL: Argos RBs Andre Durie and Jeff Johnson, Lions DE Ricky Foley

Famous non-football alumni: Federal finance minister Jim Flaherty; actress Rachel McAdams; Joel Cohen, co-executive producer of The Simpsons; Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies.

Three-year record: 5-19

2007 units ranking: 26th on O, 25th on D

Key losses: WR Steven Hughes (2007 first-team OUA all-star, reportedly transferred to Ottawa); S Robin Legault; DB Jared Corbin, DL Sean Simms, OT David Gauer, QB Mike Crabtree, LB-ST Brian Zuzek

Returning starters: 5 offence — RB Jason Marshall, OLs Boris Radulovic, Patrick Assinck, Bryan Blackmore and Mike Connelly; 8 defence — DB-PR Jerome Walker, DL David Mills, DLs Stephen Rykov, Paul Fenech and Nigel Alleyne-Orange; LB Anthony Tombler, and DBs Chris Russell, DB Adrian Ferenc

Players to watch: Undersized LB Aaron Adusei was the Lions' leading tackler as a true freshman in 2007, while Walker also emerged as a capable punt returner in addition to his defensive duties.

The offence without Hughes will need a playmaker; Marshall did have the team's longest play from scrimmage last season, a 77-yard TD catch. Zemanek, who played in a semi-pro league in Finland in 2007, has 4,379 career passing yards, putting him within range of late-'90s standout Billy Barbosa's school mark

For future reference: QB Nick Coutu, out of Niagara Falls, is York's most ballyhooed recruit. He won a championship last fall with his high school team, Sir Winston Churchill, and Mirau main building block in the reconstruction of the Lions offence.

Schedule (swing games in bold):
Sept. 1 Windsor
Sept. 6 @ Ottawa
Sept. 13 @ Toronto
Sept. 20 Western
Sept. 27 @ McMaster
Oct. 4 Queen's
Oct. 11 @ Guelph
Oct. 18 Laurier

The Lions will miss Waterloo in the OUA's schedule rotation.

Final analysis: Let's be quite honest, York is Team X of the OUA, but the program is a blank slate for McLean to inject a little Alberta attitude into the program. York will probably show more progress on D this year; they could have a group who won't be easy to get anything off of, and might look at winning as a nice if not necessary adjunct to leaving the opposing offence with some bumps and bruises.

(Contributors to this preview: Rob Pettapiece.)

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To get to South Africa you have to turn right at the CN Tower

Distracted by the Olympics and the big playoff push by the Blue Jays (*cough*), you might be forgiven for not realizing that the World Cup returns to Canada tomorrow as Canada takes on Jamaica in the first game of CONCACAF semi-final qualifying at BMO Field.

It’s a must win. A must, must win. No, really. MUST. The last cycle Canada was eliminated before it really got going by only taking one point out of two home games off the top. Once again our Canuck heroes open up the campaign with back to back home dates (Sept. 6 in against Honduras in Montreal is next) and to suggest that two wins are imperative is to point out that breathing is important. Drawn into an insanely hard group (by CONCACAF standards) any team that fails to take care of its home games is going to be in trouble.

Below the jump Canada’s line-up and a preview. If you have an hour to spare, or room on your iPod, you can listen to me ramble on about some of the same things on The Score’s The Footy Show podcast. And no, I don’t know why I wasn’t sitting closer to the mic.

Canada has called up a predictable line-up for the game, made up of many of its best European based players. Relying on players from Europe is always a bit risky as you never know what their professional clubs (who tolerate European World Cup qualifying, but view CONCACAF qualifying to an affront of their sensibilities) will do to the player once they return and you are always dealing with players that are jumping off a plane to compete. In that line, Jamaica has named a team that is missing some of its top guys. Instead it is going with a lot of relatively untested domestic players.

There are pros and cons to both approaches (having players that are familiar with each other is always a good thing), but in a hyper competitive group it does seem a bit odd that a team wouldn’t want to bring its best. In the last cycle, Canadian manager Frank Yallop went outside the box with some of his selections and it was a bloody disaster. And the Jamaican league is likely worse than the USL, which is where Yallop went for his bizzaro selections.

The Canadian line-up, with projected starters indicated (* indicates that starting position is unclear. ** indicates a late injury):


GK- Pat Onstad (Houston Dynamo – MLS)*
D - Mike Klukowski (Club Brugge – Belgium)
D - Kevin McKenna (FC Köln – Germany)
D/M - Adrian Serioux (FC Dallas - MLS)*
D/M - Paul Stalteri (Tottenham – EPL)
M - Julian de Guzman (Deportivo La Coruna – Spain)
M - Issey Nakajima-Farran (FC Nordsjælland – Denmark)
M/F Tomasz Radzinski (Skoda Xanthi – Greece)
M - Atiba Hutchinson (F.C. København – Denmark)
M/F - Dwayne De Rosario (Houston Dynamo – MLS)
F - Rob Friend (Borussia Mönchengladbach – Germany)

Subs:
F - Ali Gerba (MK Dons – England, league 1)
D - Richard Hastings (Inverness CT – Scotland)
D/M Daniel Imhof | (VfL Bochum – Germany)**
D/M - Jim Brennan (Toronto FC- MLS)
M - Patrice Bernier (FC Nordsjælland – Denmark)
F - Iain Hume (Barnsley – England, Championship)
GK - Greg Sutton (Toronto FC - MLS)

There are three main questions about the Canadian set-up. The first is in goal where it is a battle between the veteran Pat Onstad, 40, and the younger, but more inconsistent Greg Sutton (There is a third keeper in the mix, Lars Hirschfeld, who is likely the most talented but who is struggling to get playing time at his club in Romania. That, and that Sutton and Onstad are in season, is why he’s been left off for this call-up). Although it remains unlikely that Onstad will feature if Canada actually makes it to the World Cup, he’s likely the best choice here based on both his experience and his form in big games (he’s been the starting keeper for Houston the last two years as it has captured back-to-back MLS titles).

In the midfield Canada will go with five men. An argument can be made that the Canucks have the best midfield in the region, with Dwayne De Rosario, Julian de Guzman and Atiba Hutchinson providing a spectacular offensive touch. Normally the choice here would be whether to line-up in an attacking stance, which would see De Rosario placed up top and given a sort of rover role, or to play with a holding player to help with the centrebacks. When they play the less aggressive formation, it would be likely that Daniel Imhof that would get the start ahead of Issey Nakajima-Farran. But, he's hurt for this one. However, look for that type of line-up once Canada hits the road.

I mixed up my injured midfielders...Imhof is in, Kakajima-Farran out...

What causes Canada fans to wake up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat is the middle of the back line. Kevin McKenna appears to be the best of a weak bunch, but his utter lack of pace is petrifying. Richard Hastings , who, God love him, scored the golden goal that propelled the red and white to the 2000 Gold Cup win, is even slower than McKenna. So, that leaves Adrian Serioux, who is likely the least talented of Canada’s starting XI, to likely fill in beside McKenna. Since Jamaica will probably play a counter game it’s important to keep as much speed on the pitch as possible, so it seems unlikely that Hastings and McKenna will be on together.

Meanwhile, many Canadian fans are attempting to do their part by contributing to a positive home field advantage for Canada (which isn’t always the case). Through the efforts of several individuals (notably Mississauga’s Dino Rossi who bought literally thousands of tickets himself to distribute to Canadian fans) and with some historic assistance from the CSA it appears that there will be loud, vocal support for Canada in each of the four corners of the stadium.

A unified march to the stadium is also planned, timed to arrive at the stadium at about 7 p.m. (it’sa 7:30 p.m. kick-off). The march will leave the Rhino (Queen and Dufferin), where the North End Elite and the Voyageurs will be, at 6:30 p.m., before traveling south down Dufferin to King to meet U-Sector at the Dufferin Gate, then east along King to Shoeless Joe’s where the Red Patch Boys will join up. From there, the march will zigzag through the Liberty Village area before crossing the CN tracks through the Go Train tunnel at Exhibition. All (wearing red) are welcome.


Type rest of the post here

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CIS Countdown #25: Simon Fraser

Fast facts:
- According to the CIS database, SFU's last win came on October 23, 2004, when they beat Calgary 14-12. Since then, they had a 41-36 loss to Manitoba finish out that year, and then put up three straight winless seasons. They've lost 23 in a row, and will be hoping to snap that streak this year.

- SFU's had a long history of football, but most of it's been under American rules. Their university was established in 1965, and they beat their chief rivals, the UBC Thunderbirds, in the first Shrum Bowl in 1967. Two years later, in 1969, they joined the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and started competing against American schools in American-style college football, which they played until 2002.

- SFU plays games all over the place. Their main home stadium is Burnaby's Swangard Stadium, the home of the Vancouver Whitecaps USL soccer franchise. However, they also have home games scheduled for B.C. Place (as part of a doubleheader with the CFL's B.C. Lions) and Abbotsford's Rotary Stadium this year.

-SFU has played 30 Shrum Bowls (annual competitions against UBC, named after Dr. Gordon Shrum, a physics professor at UBC from 1925 to 1961 who became SFU's first chancellor in 1964 and established their athletics program) against UBC.

- However, the Bowl has changed drastically over the years. SFU won four of the first five matches and tied the other one. Their dominance put the match on hiatus until 1978. By this time, SFU was well-ensconced in the American rules of NAIA competition, while UBC played by the Canadian rules of the CIAU (the predecessor to the CIS). The new bowl was played under Canadian rules from 1978-1982, favouring UBC, and the Thunderbirds won four out of those five matches. However, the game was then suspended again until 1987. When it returned, the game again went by American rules until 1996, when they switched back to Canadian rules. The 30th Shrum Bowl was held last year, and was the first one ever played on SFU's campus.

- Unfortunately, that 30th Shrum Bowl didn't live up to the billing, as UBC crushed SFU 31-2 in a one-sided tilt. Afterwards, head coach Dave Johnson told The Peak (the SFU student newspaper), "We stunk. We were an embarrassment. We didn’t play with any passion. We didn’t play with any poise. ... We are awesome in practice . . . [but] we are not ready to play college football. We'll see if SFU's ready to play this year.

Coach: The aforementioned Dave Johnson returns for his second year at the helm of the Clan. Johnson, a former UBC head coach*, only joined the program in February of last year, though, so this will be the first full recruiting year he's had. It will be interesting to see how the team does under him when he’s had a bit more preparation. He’s a former Clan linebacker as well. In addition to his experience with UBC as both a head coach and a defensive/special teams co-ordinator, he’s also coached with the University of Calgary. He’s also spent time coaching in junior and high school football and even in Scotland: he was the head coach of the Glasgow Lions in 1991, when they put up an undefeated season.

*Digression: Johnson has now joined the ranks of those who have coached or played on both sides of a big rivalry, and the even-slimmer ranks of those who went directly from one rival to the other. There's some pretty cool names in that list, including Mo Johnston (the current Toronto FC general manager who played for both Celtic and Rangers), Babe Ruth and Johnny Damon (among others who have played for both the Yankees and Red Sox: Roger Clemens also makes the first list, but he had several stopovers in between), Frank Mahovlich and Red Kelly (Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings: the best I could find for Leafs-Canadiens was recent Hall of Fame inductee Dick Duff, who played for both clubs but had a short stint with the Rangers in between), Adam Vinatieri (Patriots to Colts) and Bob Toledo (who served as a secondary coach with USC and an offensive co-ordinator and head coach with UCLA, but made other stops in between). Add any other great turncoats you can think of to the comments!

Co-ordinators: Lou DesLauriers, defense, and Shaun Olson, special teams. Both are ex-UBC guys: DesLauriers was the head coach at UBC from 2002-2005, while Olson was UBC’s star quarterback in the late 1990’s and was part of the 1997 Vanier Cup-winning team. DesLauriers also has CFL experience, playing three years with the Edmonton Eskimos and one with the Toronto Argonauts back in the 1980s. Olson has played in Europe with the Vienna Vikings and was with them for all of their four straight Eurobowl wins from 2004-2007. In addition to playing on the 2004 and 2005 teams, he also acted as offensive co-ordinator and recruiting director. In 2006 and 2007, he was the co-head coach and offensive co-ordinator.

Enrolment: 28,207 (25,009 undergrads) as of 2006.

Alumni in the CFL: For a school that has struggled lately, SFU has a lot of prominent football alumni. They have five current CFL players, which puts them in a four-way tie for seventh-best with UBC, Regina and Ottawa, ahead of stronger current teams like St. Mary’s, Guelph and Queen’s. Those players are B.C. centre Dean Valli, Saskatchewan kicker Luca Congi (seriously, what is it with SFU guys named Luca?), and Winnipeg wide receiver Aaron Hargreaves, offensive lineman Ibrahim Khan and linebacker Neil McKinlay.

Famous non-football alumni: Some good ones here too: SFU sent eight athletes to this year's Canadian Olympic team, among them Carol Huynh of gold-medal wrestling fame. Their other athletes included soccer's Randee Hermus (a Langley product!), softball's Melanie Matthews (from Surrey, so also very cool), Erin McLean and Erin Cumpstone, long-jumper Ruky Abdulai, and wrestlers Kyla Bremner and Ari Taub. Their other notable alumni include Daniel Igali (wrestling gold-medalist at the 2000 Olympics), a certain Terry Fox who needs no introduction, and historian and current Queen's VP (Advancement) David Mitchell.

Three-year record: 0-22. Not very good.

2007 units ranking: They were 27th and dead last in offence last year (a lousy 8.8 points per game, 63 per cent below conference average). They weren't much better on defence, either, placing 26th with an average of 36.8 points conceded per game (57 per cent below conference average).

Key losses: Star WR Aaron Hargreaves (now with Winnipeg), QB Jason Marshall, who's second in SFU's CIS history in both rushing yards and passing yards and WR/K Chris Passaglia.

Returning starters: The offence is mostly new faces, but the defence includes returning secondary members CB Anthony DesLauriers and free safety Ray Wladichuk . On offence, returning players Bernd Dittrich (Vienna, Austria) and Jordan Scheltgen (another Surrey product) will battle it out for the starting QB job. Dittrich is a prized recruit Olson brought in with his Austrian connections. Brings a whole new meaning to importing Europeans to help the football team out! The main running back will be Josh Havey, a fifth-year veteran.

Players to watch: The offensive line. Johnson said in a release that shoring up that unit was his key recruiting priority in the off-season. A strong offensive line can turn mediocre quarterbacks into good ones, and good ones into great ones, so his new crop of linemen may be able to make up for Marshall's departure. Key new line recruits include right guard Brent Robbins, left guard Valentin Gruber (another Austrian recruit) and left tackle Dale Furber, all of whom are expected to start alongside veteran centre Bryan Thiessen and right tackle Taylor Buis.

For future reference: The Clan have a new quarterback prospect in Adam Berger, from Surrey's Lord Tweedsmuir High School. According to All Canada Gridiron, they also have some star defensive recruits, notably DT Casey Laprise and DE Brad Erdos.

Schedule (swing games in bold):

Aug. 23 vs. UBC

Aug. 30 at U of A

Sept 13 vs. Saskatchewan: (They aren't too likely to win it, but it's at B.C. Place as part of a doubleheader with the B.C. Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders. According to Scott McLean, the SFU athletics media relations spokesman, this is the first-ever CIS/CFL doubleheader. The CIS game is at noon, followed by a street party at 5 p.m. and the Lions' game at 7.).

Sept. 20 vs. Calgary

Sept. 27 at Regina

Oct. 3 vs. Manitoba

Oct. 9 at UBC: This one's the official 31st Shrum Bowl (the earlier contest doesn't count, as it's only once a year).

Oct. 18 at Saskatchewan

Final analysis:
Don't expect a drastic turnaround from SFU. Still, Johnson's recruits may yet pay off and the Clan may be able to take a game or two. My prediction's that they'll go 1-7, edging out a win either over Calgary or UBC. We'll see what happens.

(Contributors to this preview: Rob Pettapiece, Scott McLean of SFU Athletics (his preview is here).)

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Beijing 2008: sometimes a silver feels golden

Simon Whitfield is a freakin' beast. A warrior. Clutch. Whatever cliche you want to throw at him it likely sticks.

Today, he ran a near perfect tactical race beating all of his main rivals. The only error he made was to let one unknown German out sprint him in the last 200 meters.As a Canadian the final three minutes of today's triathlon were the first true heart in your throat, standing in front of the TV screaming like a bloody fool moment of the Games.

Although no one keeps the statistic, it's pretty clear that Canada has the worst "conversion rate" (converting world championship medals to Olympic medals) at the Olympics in the world. "Pulling a Canada" generally means failing to make the final after being hyped by CBC for six days (eg. Hayden, Brent).

Whitfield most certainly didn't pull a Canada today. And, although he didn't win the gold his silver is exhibit 1A for why some of us love this whole Olympic thing.

During the broadcast today it was mentioned that enrollment in youth triathlon programs when through the roof in 2000 after Whitfield's gold. Eight year's later another boom seems likely. And, I'm sorry, but that's more than worth the $1,500 a month that "the taxpayer" is burdened with to "support" athletes in this country.

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CIS Countdown #26: Mount Allison Mounties

Fast facts: The Varsity Blues of the AUS, perhaps? A 34 game losing streak was broken in 2006, but they haven't exactly wowed since then. They haven't won more than 2 games in a season since 1999, when they won 3. No playoffs since 1998, when they went 6-2 and finished first.

Coach: Kelly Jeffrey (Interim, 1st season, 5th overall), former quarterbacks, special teams, and offensive coordinator, as well as former head coach at Mayville State University.

Co-ordinators: Patrick Le-Pain (DL), Peter Estabrooks (DC, DBs), Travis Tait (LB)

Enrolment: 2,200

Alumni in the CFL: None (Wow, both teams I preview today are the only ones without any)

Famous non-football alumni: Ian Hanomansing, PEI Premiers Angus MacLean and Catherine Callbeck

Three-year record: 3-20

2007 unit rankings: 15th offence, 24th defence

Key losses: SB Jonathan Dyer (2nd on team in receptions, 1st in yds/rec), LB Matt Harding (1st on team in tackles), Starting OLs Zack Macaulay & Gaetan Richard

Players to watch: QB Kelly Hughes led the AUS in passing yardage and total quarterback offence last year, WR Gary Ross led in all-purpose yards with almost twice as many per game (242) as the #2 thanks to his work in receiving, punt returns, and kick returns. DB Jermaine Oram was third in the AUS in tackles, while DL Dustin Timothy led the sack category.

For future reference: A couple of Nova Scotia high school stars lead the recruiting class, as the Eastern Conference offensive and defensive players of the year, RB Calum Hardie and LB Justin Richard, both of Tantramar Regional High School, will suit up for the Mounties this year.

Schedule (swing games in bold):
Sept. 6 @ St. FX
Sept. 13 Sherbrooke
Sept. 19 @ Saint Mary's
Sept. 27 St. FX
Oct. 4 @ Acadia
Oct. 11 @ Concordia
Oct. 18 Saint Mary's
Oct. 25 Acadia

Final analysis: With their one win last year a decently convincing 25-13 home victory over St. FX, and with the away rematch a close 41-35 in favour of the X-Men, that's the most likely part of the schedule to be competitive. A 6-point road loss to Acadia in the 07 season opener and a 3-point overtime loss at home also indicate those two could be competitive again. The offence was fine last year but the defence let them down consistently save for the one win. With the team losing a few key contributors, 4-4 would be a miracle. Still, unlike their similarly struggling OUA counterparts in Toronto, they will be able to keep far more games respectable and entertaining. The four against Saint Mary's, Concordia, and Sherbrooke, however, might get ugly.

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CIS Countdown #27: U of T Varsity Blues

Fast facts: 49 consecutive losses. No wins since 2001. No winning season since 1995. But at least they have a new stadium, and have come close to breaking the streak in the past two seasons, with an end of game missed field goal the difference in a game against York last year, and a narrow loss to Waterloo the year before. The departure of head coach Steve Howlett does not mean the school is prepared to take the program seriously; when probed about it, school administrators will regularly try to change the subject.

Coach: Greg DeLaval (1st season, 1st overall)

Co-ordinators: Bob Howes (Director of Football), Other coaches not yet listed

Enrolment: 73,185

Alumni in the CFL: None

Famous non-football alumni: Paul Martin (Jr. and Sr.), William Lyon Mackenzie King, Adrienne Clarkson, Lester Pearson, Bob Rae, Paul Shaffer, Donald Sutherland, Margaret Atwood, Conn Smythe, and a heck of a lot more.

Three-year record: 0-24

2007 units ranking: 25th offence, 27th defence

Key losses: DL Mike Goncalves (2007 OUA Russ Jackson Award nominee), DB George Polyzois (2nd team OUA All-star), K Joe Valtellini, coach Steve "I think I'm a great coach" Howlett

Players to watch: DB Derek Batchelor (1st in OUA in solo tackles, 1st team all-star), QB Andrew Gillis (without question one of the most exciting field generals in the league, a scrambling left-hander who split most of his time with Mark Hamilton last year), WR Mark Stinson (or at least his blog, already with two entries unlike the failed experiment when Queen's Athletics tried the same thing with a few of their football players last year).

For future reference: Since he actually plays for the team, let's leave it to Mark Stinson - "I'm impressed with the size, confidence, and professional demeanor of an O-lineman named Steve - he's my pick!" All-Canada Gridiron lists no recruits for the team and CIS Football Recruiting Database only lists OL Patrick Yan of St. Andrew's. So let's go with Steve.

Schedule (swing games in bold):
Sep. 1 vs. Waterloo
Sep. 6 @ Windsor
Sep. 13 vs. York
Sep. 20 vs. Queen's
Sep. 27 @ Guelph
Oct. 3 @ McMaster
Oct. 9 vs. Western
Oct. 18 @ Ottawa

Final analysis: Opening against Waterloo might give the team some form of momentum if they can at least compete, but there's little to suggest this is the year the streak is broken. I love Andrew Gillis as starting quarterback and think he's their best chance at breaking the streak, but it's nothing to bet on. Nonetheless my official prediction is a 3-5 record with wins against Waterloo, York, and Queen's. Why? I'm secretly a Blues fan.

But more seriously and importantly, Stinson's blog makes an excellent point about this team - "For some guys on our team it's their fifth and final year. Guys like Cory Kennedy, Jeff Laforge, Cam Deans, Andrew Brankley and David Scott-McDowell have given everything they could and have yet to be rewarded for their efforts and commitment to our program."

That's something I talked to Mike Toth about when Queen's visited Toronto and I had him on the CFRC halftime show. A bevy of players have gone through a full football career, likely giving the same full effort of every other player in the league, and not been rewarded with a single win. The fault without question lies with a university administration that has deliberately ignored and, in earlier times, sabotaged this team to ensure its failure. This is a former university football powerhouse and its current state is one of the biggest things holding back the reputation of the OUA and broader CIS.

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