Showing posts with label NASCAR Cup Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASCAR Cup Series. Show all posts

Wednesday, 3 June 2020

“Kickstart My Heart” – Let action at the Wyant Group Raceway go green flag!

The SSCRA’s super late model class jets into action in 2017. 
    Right now, there is a sizable community inside Saskatoon that feels “the need for speed!”
    Usually, the Saturday of last weekend would have marked the start of the new Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association season. Normally, that would mean you could look forward to Saturday nights at the Wyant Group Raceway watching a mix of racers in seven different classes ripping around the track like their hair is on fire.
Aaron Anderson zips around the track in the pro truck class in 2017.
    These racers are good too, and they are running around the track in pricey toys that can go at high speed comparable to what see with NASCAR races on television. Some of the cars in Saskatoon’s super late model class cost around $34,000, and they perform just as good as or even better than NASCAR cars.
    Unfortunately due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we are robbed of seeing the exploits of Aaron Anderson, Neil Schneider, Kevin Dyck, Lachlyn Anderson, Sam Howlett, Blake Erb, Mike Rea, Matthew Shirley and Jim Gaunt.
Matthew Shirley in super late model action in 2017.
    The Wyant Group Raceway is home of drivers from Saskatoon and mid to northern parts of Saskatchewan.
    It is also the home track for Prince Albert, Sask., product Shantel Kalika. Kalika has made appearances the past two seasons on the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, which is a minor league series that prepares drivers to compete one day at NASCAR’s top level – the Cup Series.
    While competing on the Pinty’s Series, Kalika has continued to race in the pro truck class at the Saskatoon track.
The Wyant Group Raceway can pack in the fans.
    The best part about the crew at the Wyant Group Raceway is that they are all good people and there are countless names of drivers you could include in this column that are fun to watch. Even if you only have a casual interest in racing, it is a blast being out there.
    When you head out there, it is pretty obvious there is a sizable segment of the community that has found the charm of that track. It is common to see a gathering of at least 1,500 on most race nights.
    The Wyant Group Raceway is a NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop, and that has become the local annual two-day Super Bowl type spectacle at that track during a Tuesday and a Wednesday night in late July.
The Wyant Group Raceway enjoys healthy support in Saskatoon.
    The local classes take centre stage on the first day. On the second day, it is common to see the stands that can pack in 3,319 spectators full to check out two 125-lap NASCAR Pinty’s Series with a local Saskatoon class holding a feature race of its own between the two Pinty’s Series runs.
    Unfortunately, this year’s NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop set for July 28 and 29 in Saskatoon has become a COVID-19 casualty.
    At the moment, Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association isn’t throwing in the towel as far as the 2020 campaign is concerned. It hopes to start its season at the beginning of August.
Shantel Kalika, left, is one of the SSCRA’s best known racers. 
    The NASCAR Cup Series has already restarted its 2020 campaign in the United States racing in events without fans.
    The top professional level has shown it is possible to hold stock car racing in these COVID-19 pandemic times.
    The racers are shielded from coming into physical contact with each other, because they are inside their cars. The pit crew teams are all spaced out from each other.
    Inside each team, you do work together in close quarters, but the Cup Series races have shown the pit crew teams can get things done just with wearing protective masks.
    On top of that, the drivers at the Wyant Group Raceway are putting a tonne of their own money into their cars and operations. Of course, most of the racers have sponsors, but they are not bringing in big paydays.
Shantel Kalika (#49) races in the pro truck class in 2017.
    Usually the top prize for winning a local class feature race on the NASCAR Pinty’s Series race days is $1,000, which isn’t a whole lot of money in the race world.
    These drivers are out there, because they love what they are doing and they love being at the track.
    If the races have to go on without fans, it would be wise to see of Access7 in Regina could come up to Saskatoon and broadcast the races from the Wyant Group Raceway on the community channels run by Access7 and the stripped Shaw cable company.
Neil Schneider in action in the sportsman class in 2017.
    These races are something the SaskTel Network could look into showing province wide too. The action at the Wyant Group Raceway is a product made for television.
    Actually, if the province could lax up on the restrictions for mass gatherings to allow the Wyant Group Raceway to operate at half its spectator capacity, the track could rock and roll with that.
    Last weekend in Canada, you had gatherings of 3,500 in three cities rightfully protesting to bring an end to racism, and the Wyant Group Raceway’s capacity comes in just under that.
Jim Gaunt is the steady veteran at the Wyant Group Raceway.
    Stock car racing is a long time summer tradition in Saskatoon. The tradition goes back to 1954 when the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association started out as the unincorporated Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Club operating on the 8th Street Racing Oval called the Motordrome.
    The track moved to the grandstand area at Prairieland Park for a couple of years in 1970 and 1971.      
    The action moved to the Bridge City Speedway from 1972 to 2005 before the City of Saskatoon annexed that land to build the residential neighbourhood of Evergreen.
Kevin Dyck (#10) makes a charge in a super late model race in 2017.
    Since 2006, the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association has called the immaculate Wyant Group Raceway home, which has 15 corporate chalets on its grounds.
    Stock car racing is something that is doable in these COVID-19 pandemic days. Come on medical health and government officials, let’s make this happen.

White named interim CEO of U Sports, other notes

Dick White, right, with Christine Stapleton in 2001.
    Dick White couldn’t stay retired and has answered the call from Canada’s university sports scene once again.
    On Tuesday, White was named the interim Chief Executive Officer for U Sports. White takes over from departing president and CEO Graham Brown, who had served in that role since October 2015.
    White is best known for being the director of athletics for the University of Regina from 1995 to his retirement on Dec. 31, 2014. He served as the president of U Sports for two stints including from 2005 to 2009 and the 2013-14 season.
    He graduated from the U of R in 1974 with bachelor of education. White initially joined the U of R’s athletics program in 1981 as administrative assistant and would continue to work in a variety of roles at the university before becoming the director of athletics in 1995.
    White was inducted into the Regina Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 as a builder. Since his retirement, he was inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame (2015), the U of Regina Sports Hall of Fame (2019) and the inaugural class of the Canada West Hall of Fame (2019).
    “I am pleased to take on this role and am committed to working with our teams and membership in navigating the current environment and positioning the Canadian university sport delivery system to achieve best-case outcomes,” said White in a release. “I strongly believe U Sports will further its important role as a progressive facilitator and advocate for university sport and to advance future opportunities for athletes.”
Dick White, right, with Ralph Nilson in 2002.
    White helped navigate U of Regina athletics out of tough economic times in the early to mid 1990s. Under his watch, U of Regina athletics grew from its original six varsity teams to 16 teams.
    That include having the CJFL’s Regina Rams join the U Sports ranks as the U of Regina Rams in 1999 to play alongside the rest of the varsity teams that operate as the U of Regina Cougars.
    White had a big hand in allowing a new gym in the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport to be built and open on the U of Regina campus grounds in 2004.
    With the world gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lot of uncertainty.
    White has vast experience in dealing with government officials during his career, and this will be a huge asset for U Sports as it tries to get itself through these crazy current days.
    White has a great passion for U Sports, and you can bet he is coming into this position to make a huge positive difference.
    In all reality, White has done his part for “king and country” when it comes to Canada’s university sports scene, and he could have deservedly gone on enjoying the retired life. He still regularly attended as many U of Regina athletics events as he could just to enjoy things as a spectator.
    It is pretty big for U Sports that he has come back to action in these unprecedented days.

  • On Tuesday, Country Thunder pulled the plug on its festival for Craven, Sask., set for July 9 to 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The big tripping was the uncertainty regarding continued restrictions for large public gatherings. Country Thunder said everything was postponed for until July 8 to 11, 2021, when the next festival was planned for Craven.
  • On Monday, Baseball Manitoba announced it has been given clearance by medical health and government officials to start executing a return to play plan during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Manitoba, sanctioned baseball training is slated to resume this coming Monday. The start date for when competitions may resume hasn’t been determined, but a July 1 target date has been set.
  • On Sunday, members of the Saskatoon Stock Car Racing Association took part in an iRacing virtual event that was broadcast online. Many of the cars the Saskatoon racers used included their real life paint jobs. The video of that race was posted on Youtube and can be found by clicking right here.
  • Phase 3 of the Government of Saskatchewan’s reopen plan is slated for this coming Monday. If you drove through downtown Saskatoon on Wednesday night, you would notice the staff at Hudsons Canada’s Pub was preparing the establishment’s patio area for the reopening. It was a site that helps increase things in the hope department.
    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Sports will be “the wild west” when action resumes

Will the Hilltops get to enjoy another CJFL title win in 2020?
    The sports world will likely have a “wild west” look when leagues and teams return to action in the midst of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
    In North America, we’ve received a small glimpse of the differences with the return of UFC and NASCAR. The UFC has held fight cards in venues without fans and NASCAR had held race nights at tracks without fans.
    Also during NASCAR races, it is easy to see most of the people in the pit crews and working around the track are wearing protective masks. Even drivers don protective masks after they remove their race car helmets after the night’s action wraps up.
    Both circuits seem to be trying to squeeze as much action in on a tightened schedule. The NASCAR Cup Series is closing the month of May running five races in a period of 15 days.
    The five race run started on May 17 with The Real Heroes 400 at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., and will conclude on Sunday with the Food City presents the Supermarket Heroes 500 at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn.
    Some of the premier soccer leagues are going in Europe and the Korean Baseball Organization is running in South Korea. The KBO is starting to collect a North American following.
Will Brendon LaBatte (#57) and the Roughriders fire fast out of the gate?
    In North America, tentative plans have come out to see restarts of the 2019-20 NHL and NBA campaigns, while MLB is working to get its season off the ground.
    Outside of the professional leagues, sports like minor baseball and softball are looking to have modified seasons running likely in July and August. Much of that return to action depends on the loosening of regional restrictions.
    The CFL is hoping to hit the field in September with a shortened season.
    The Canada West Conference in U Sports has already put forward tentative plans for modified shortened schedules. The CJFL is hoping to play a modified shortened slate.
    Junior hockey at the major junior and junior A ranks might ultimately end up playing shortened schedules.
    The NHL said on Tuesday it will jump right into playoffs with a 24-team format to be played in hub cities. With the NHL having paused action on March 12, it is wide open how this post-season could play out.
    The dates of these games haven’t been determined, but there is hope of a return in August.
    With that extended break, any trends from the regular season have to be thrown out the window. Whoever jells first will have the advantage.
    It will become clear quickly which players stayed in shape over the break and which did not.
How will Jesse Kuntz and the Huskies looking in 2020?
    Maybe goaltending will make the difference. This might be the perfect set up for a team like the Montreal Canadiens who had a 31-31-9 regular season record to ride star netminder Carey Price to a title run.
    Montreal is slated to face the Pittsburgh Penguins in a best-of-five qualifying round series.
    The NBA is talking about returning to play in July at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida. The plans of how play is to resume are still more on the loose side.
    There has been talk of a 16-team playoff format or group stage play like World Cup soccer involving 20 to 24 teams followed by playoffs.
    It is still possible all of that circuit’s teams could return. The NBA was the first league in North America to pause its season back on March 11.
    All of the teams would be housed in hotels near the complex. Again, any trends from the regular season can be thrown out the window with that long of a layoff.
    The teams with the most talented players will likely have the edge, which means LeBron James might lift the Los Angeles Lakers, who had the second best regular season record at 49-14, to the NBA crown.
    At the moment, MLB is hoping to play an 82-game regular season, but the league and the MLB Players Association can’t agree on the issue of player compensation. Thanks to that deadlock, no one is predicting a start date.
How will Collin Shirley and the Huskies fair in a shortened season?
    In Canada, the football seasons are looking like they will be a sprint. The CFL is hoping for an eight-game regular season while Canada West is hoping for a five-game regular season and the CJFL wants to get in a four or five game regular season.
    The team that can catch fire fast will do well. Teams that bring back most of their rosters from the previous season might have a head start in doing well.
    That could favour teams like the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, the defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers or the Calgary Stampeders. On the Stampeders front, you know star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell will be ready to go.
    The CFL is looking to play their game in hub cities, which adds a new dimension to the mix too.
    Due to the shortened seasons, it is possible there will be players in the CFL, Canada West Conference and the CJFL who decide not to play.
    In the CFL, players coming from either the United States or across Canada have to question if the shortened season is worth the travel.
    In the Canada West Conference and the CJFL, players might elect to sit out a season to stay home and help their families ride out the COVID-19 pandemic. They might elect to work at a place of employment and continue to train for the prospects of a full season in 2021.
    Of course, the prospects of work are hampered by the self-imposed recession/depression created by the world to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. With that noted, a player might definitely take a year off, if they have a job.
Will Jessica Vance get to show her greatness again in 2020-21?
    The University of Saskatchewan Huskies and University of Regina Rams football teams might not see some of their out of province recruits this season. Some of the out of province returnees might elect to not return this season too.
    The six-time defending CJFL champion Saskatoon Hilltops and their main rivals the Regina Thunder mainly recruit in Saskatchewan. Still, some players on both of those squads may elect not to show due to the current state of the world.
    If players know they are going to be down on the lower end of a practice roster in a shortened 2020 campaign, those player might use that reason to elect to pass on this season and comeback in 2021.
    The teams in other sports in the Canada West Conference are in the same boat. Just looking at the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams, basketball teams, soccer teams and volleyball teams, you wonder which veterans will elect not to return this season due to how world events have played out.
    You wonder which recruits will elect to come this season or hold off for a better world outlook in 2021.
    Of course, all athletes can do in any league is train for now. At the moment, the medical health officials have all the power as to when sports will return.
Will the Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders battle in 2020-21?
    That alone produces constant chronic stress for athletes and all those involved with leagues and teams along with minor sports bodies.
    Heck, media outlets don’t know how they will be covering these events when they return to action. There might be a lot of press conferences done online via Zoom.
    Still, it would be great if things worked out that “the wild west” frontier in sports could play out. Just think about all the unpredictable storylines that could be remember for years from a sports season that would be unlike any other.

Bears slated to get Esso Cup in 2021, other notes

The Bears have been named the hosts of the 2021 Esso Cup.
    The heartbreak the Prince Albert Northern Bears experienced in March was alleviated a bit on Wednesday.
    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hockey Canada elected effective March 13 to cancel all its sanctioned activities for the rest of the 2019-20 campaign. That meant the cancellation of all Hockey Canada sanctioned national championship tournaments including the Esso Cup female AAA under-18 national championship tournament slated to be held in Prince Albert in April.
    Of course, the Bears were set to play in that event as the tournament’s host. The Bears deserved to host nationals as they have been one of the strongest female under-18 programs in Saskatchewan dating back to the inaugural season of the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League in 2006-07.
    The Bears won league titles in 2009 and 2017 and appeared in the 2017 Esso Cup. They also have a loyal following in “Hockey Town North.”
    On Wednesday, Hockey Canada announced the Bears will be the host team for the 2021 Esso Cup. Lloydminster was originally slated to host the tournament in 2021, but the centre that sits on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan will now host the Esso Cup in 2022.
    The Lloydminster Steelers, who play out of the Alberta Female Hockey League under-18 ranks, will be the host team for the 2022 Esso Cup.
Jessie Herner, left, and Brooklyn Anderson won’t play in the 2021 Esso Cup.
    Big kudos should go to Hockey Canada for making this decision. The Bears lost the chance to host the Esso Cup through no fault of their own in 2020.
    In this case, it feels like justice will be served, if Prince Albert hosts Esso Cup in 2021. Of course, there is still an uncertain fear the COVID-19 pandemic could wipe out a 2020-21 winter sports season.
    With that noted, five Bears players exhausted their under-18 eligibility after last season came to an abrupt end in captain Brooklyn Anderson, Jasper Desmarais, Jessie Herner, Tori MacDonald and Lauren Willoughby. On top of that, defender McKenzie Mayo, who could play one more year for the Bears, is slated to join the Trinity Western University Spartans women’s hockey team for the 2020-21 campaign.
    That group of six was denied of the chance to play at the Esso Cup in their home rink this past April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They won’t get that opportunity back, and that is unfortunate.
    Still, it is a great thing that the Bears will get another chance to host Esso Cup, and you can be sure their organization and the Prince Albert community will put on a great show.

  • Hockey Canada also announced on Wednesday all its summer camps for national teams have been cancelled through to Sept. 1 due the COVID-19 pandemic. Hockey Canada will offer virtual camps for prospects for the under-18 women’s team, the national women’s development team, the goaltender development camp, the national male under-17 programs, and the national men’s junior team. The Program of Excellence coach seminar will be delivered in an online format too.
  • With the NHL officially declaring an end to the regular season for the 2019-20 campaign, Edmonton Oilers centre Leon Draisaitl became the winner of the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer. The 24-year-old product from Germany appeared in 71 regular season games with the Oilers piling up 43 goals and 67 assists for 110 points. Draisaitl became the first alumnus of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders to become the NHL’s regular season scoring champion and the first player from Germany to capture the NHL’s scoring title. Draisaitl played two seasons for the Raiders from 2012 to 2014.
  •  Jackson Caller, who is a former defenceman with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, has committed to play for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds men’s hockey team in the U Sports ranks. Caller played about two-and-a-half seasons with the Blades from 2016 to 2018. Last season, he played as an overage in the junior A ranks with the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League. In 55 regular season games with the Vipers, Caller netted five goals and 12 assists.
  • On Tuesday, it was announced the Prince Albert Exhibition Summer Fair won’t be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was slated to run July 28 to Aug. 1.
  • On Tuesday, it was announced Prince Albert’s Polkafest won’t be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Polkafest is usually held in late August.
  • On Wednesday, the Western Canadian Baseball League announced its 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to cancel the campaign was a unanimous one from the league’s board of governors. The WCBL is a wood bat summer league that consists of teams in Saskatchewan and Alberta who are made up of players from the university ranks in the United States and Canada.
  • With having to work from home due to all the shutdowns with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic starting on March 11, the data I’ve used on my mobile phone from the start of March up to today has been my lowest usage since I have ever owned a mobile phone.
  • On Wednesday, the Walt Disney Co. announced plans to reopen its Walt Disney World theme park in Florida in phases beginning on July 11. The reopening plan awaits the approval of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
  • On Sunday, the Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon announced it is still hoping to hold a local stock car racing season with hopes of a season opening race in early August.
  • The University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team took up the #SocialDistancingChallenge. Spread out seemingly all over the place, the Cougars players put together a fun pass the puck video from a number of different locations.
    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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Sunday, 17 May 2020

Sunday fun day with NASCAR

Any type of live sports makes COVID-19 pandemic life better

Kevin Harvick leading a NASCAR race on my TV.
    I think I just became a fan of Kevin Harvick.
    The 44-year-old race car driver from Bakersfield, Calif., dominated my television screen on Sunday as the NASCAR Cup Series returned to action after pausing 10 weeks due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Sunday’s race would be the fifth of the 2020 season for the Cup Series.
    Driving his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford, Harvick posted his 50th career victory on NASCAR’s top circuit taking The Real Heroes 400 held at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. He led for 159 of 293 laps and became just the 14th driver to win 50 career Cup Series races.
    Over the past eight days, folks were able to follow live sports in North America thanks to UFC and NASCAR. It was a welcome development.
    UFC got the ball rolling holding three fight cards at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena without fans. The first was UFC 249 held on May 9 and a pair of fight night cards followed on Wednesday and Saturday.
It was great to have a NASCAR Cup Series race on TV.
    I didn’t watch any of those cards live, but I ended up catching the highlights and post-fight interviews on a TSN channel. While Mixed Martial Arts is not something I watch on a regular basis, it was great to see highlights on major Canadian sports networks of something that happened that day.
    It felt normal to see Robin Black on TSN doing analysis after those fight cards. Way back on Aug. 23, 2015, I covered the UFC Fight Night card that was held at the SaskTel Centre, and Black was in town working that event.
    While I was new to that world and only in it for a short time, Black and I hit it off right away, and he pretty much took me under his wing. I tried to soak up as much of his insight as I could, and he was a huge help in guiding me through why fights would unfold as they did.
    Still, I was looking forward to seeing NASCAR’s top level return to action once I found out there would be a live race on Sunday. I covered local level stock car racing during my time in Medicine Hat, Alta., from 2004 to 2014 and a handful of events at the Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon.
Jimmie Johnson is coming right into the living room.
    The Wyant Group Raceway is usually home to an annual NASCAR Pinty’s Series stop, which is of the minor league circuits that prepares drivers for the NASCAR Cup Series.
    I admit I wouldn’t even consider myself a casual follower of NASCAR. I am one of those that will watch it once in a while and knows when the Daytona 500 is on.
    With that noted, any time I watch any type of car racing I love it.
    Of course, Sunday’s race at the Darlington Raceway wasn’t your normal race. There were no fans in the stands, and it seemed like everyone on the track that appeared on television were wearing protective masks.
    Prior to Sunday’s race, the last time drivers were in their cars came 71 days prior on March 8 at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
    NASCAR is not holding practices or qualifying for the first four races back except for the qualifying of the Coca-Cola 600, which will be held this coming Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.
The NASCAR field comes down a straightaway on my TV.
    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were new safety protocols including health screenings, social distancing rules and mandatory masks. Some the racing teams had personnel that would normally be at the track performing their roles remotely at other locations.
    Considering the drivers were basically coming in cold without having raced in real cars for an extended time, the race itself was fun. Outside of seeing people in protective masks and noticing there were no fans in the stands, I thought the race proceeded like normal and the quality of the driving was high.
    I got excited when there was a driver I knew in veteran Jimmie Johnson, who has won the NASCAR Cup Series title seven times, jump into the lead during the early portion of the race. My heart dropped when Johnson’s day ended after he crashed into the wall after rubbing with another car before 100 laps were in the books.
    Shortly after the race passed 100 laps, Harvick jumped into lead and remained in front of the field for seemingly the rest of the race.
Kevin Harvick is on his way to victory on my TV.
    It felt like everything he did on the track was clean including when he entered and exited the pits.
    Harvick crossed the finish line with a healthy edge on second place finisher Alex Bowman, who was driving his No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Hendrick Motorsports, and third place finisher Kurt Busch, who was driving his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing.
    During these crazy COVID-19 times, it was a treat to see Sunday’s Cup Series race. It made life feel more normal and increased optimism that other sports might come back sooner than later in North America.
    Thinking about the Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon, it would be cool, if it could get going on the local level with the same format as Sunday’s NASCAR race.
    While Shaw doesn’t have the ability broadcast local events anymore, it would be sweet if Access 7 could come up from Regina and show Saturday action from the Wyant Group Raceway live across the community channels on its network and Shaw without fans in the stands.
It would be great to have Wyant Group Raceway action on TV.
    Local golf courses in Saskatchewan are open to anyone in the public to go hit a round, but competitive provincial golf events have been held yet.
    On the racing front, NASCAR at the highest level has shown a way for stock car racing at the local level in Saskatoon to get going.
    Now we just need the medical health officials in Saskatchewan to give the green light to make it so. Dreaming and imagining what can be are always good things.

NASCAR Pinty’s Series simulation is a treat

Cayden Lapcevich in action in 2017 at the Wyant Group Raceway.
    I also learned on Sunday watching a simulated sports even can be a fun thing too.
    After the real life The Real Heroes 400 NASCAR Cup Series regular season race was held at the Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, TSN showed a virtual race from the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, which is a minor league circuit to the Cup Series.
    The virtual Pinty’s Series race was computer simulated to look like action was going down at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ont. The actual competitors from the Pinty’s Series were driving their cars on simulation machines at their respective homes.
    Outside of noticing the obvious computer graphics, the race looked real. I was glued to see how one of my favourite drivers in the young 20-year-old Cayden Lapcevich was doing.
    Lapcevich has made a name for himself on that circuit over the past four years.
    I watched the first half of that simulated race before going on to do other things with my day.
    Still from what I saw, I can see why people would enjoy watching simulated sporting events, when real sporting events have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    In Saskatchewan, I know the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has been streaming simulations of its junior A league playoffs. Those simulations seem to be attracting a sizable following and have drawn good reviews.
    On Friday, the Pinty’s Series cancelled the twin races set for July 29 at the Wyant Group Raceway in Saskatoon. It would be sweet to see a simulation held for those two races at some point in the future.
    If most live sports continue to stay on the shelves in Canada and North America, here is hoping other leagues will follow through with showing simulated games, because they do help get your mind off of what is happening in the current day with the COVID-19 pandemic.

CFL’s former training camp day passes quietly, other thoughts


    It was somber Sunday for CFL fans and anyone who has a stake in that league.
    Sunday was the day main training camps were supposed to open across the circuit. Unfortunately, the CFL’s activities have been shuttered at the moment thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Currently in North America, only the UFC and NASCAR Cup Series circuit have come back to life holding live events.
    For a number of years, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have held training camp in Saskatoon. This year, the Roughriders were going to hold their training camp in Regina, but they were supposed to come to Saskatoon this coming Saturday for their “Green and White Day” at Saskatoon Minor Football Field, which was to include a mock game type scrimmage.
    The fact that the Roughriders weren’t hitting the field anywhere for camp activities made the COVID-19 pandemic appear even more real to football fans in the province.
OG Brendon LaBatte (#57) takes part in Roughriders training camp in 2015.
    Followers of various other sports like hockey have seen those worlds come to a stop due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so they have dealt with what CFL football fans are now feeling for some time.
    On the Roughriders front, it would have been cool if fans could have been chasing down star quarterback Cody Fajardo for autographs or debate the team’s chances for topping the West Division for a second straight year or possibly winning the Grey Cup at home in November.
    Now fans of the CFL just hope the circuit survives the pandemic.
    During the final week of April, news came out that the CFL was looking for financial assistance from the Canadian federal government.
    The CFL is looking for $30-million in Canadian funds now to manage the impact of COVID-19. The circuit is asking for additional assistance for an abbreviated regular season and up to another $120-million in Canadian funds for a completely lost season.
    In other words, the CFL is looking for $150-million in financial assistance if its nine teams are unable to play the 2020 regular season and playoffs.   
    CFL fans hope the silence on the football fields for practices and games won’t become a permanent thing.
    It would be uplifting if the CFL was able to return to action in 2020.

  • Alan Poirier, who was my first managing editor at the Medicine Hat News, put together a column on his blog “On Second Thought” that looked into a couple of theories regarding the origin and start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Poirier is a conservative thinker, but he has penned a lot of good columns that make you question why things are the way they are in a good way. He has a knack of making observations and speculations that turn out to be correct. I’ve seen a lot of his columns over the years, and I thought this one ranked near the top as one of the best. Feel free to check it out clicking right here.
  • It was sad to hear Canadian Forces Snowbirds public affairs officer Capt. Jenn Casey died, when a Snowbirds plane crashed to the ground in Kamloops, B.C. on Sunday. That is a tragedy and condolences go out to all of Casey’s family and friends.
  •  This COVID-19 pandemic has made me miss a lot of friends in the hockey world. In recent days, I have missed visiting with former Regina Pats general manager Brent Parker at various games in media an scouts lounges. I miss being in my spot in the SaskTel Centre press box next to Saskatoon Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk. We have had a lot of good visits talking about all sorts of subjects. It was great to say “hi” to former Blades general manager Daryl Lubiniecki at a CO-OP grocery store in Saskatoon about a week ago.
  • I’ve enjoyed rediscovering Madden 2008 for the Sony PlayStation 2. I’ve been using the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos for the season I am currently playing. I pretty much rebuilt the Panthers team through free agency, which included signing receiver Calvin Johnson. Over a 16-game regular season, Johnson hauled in 83 passes for 2,398 yards and 23 touchdowns. Now that was fun.
    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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