Showing posts with label Sage Watson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sage Watson. Show all posts

Saturday, 15 August 2020

Possible Hilltops, Thunder football friendlies could have unique potential

The Hilltops and Thunder go at it last season in Regina.
    If the powers that be gave their approval, it would be great to see the Saskatoon Hilltops and the Regina Thunder face each other in a series of exhibition games.
    On Aug. 6, the CJFL officially cancelled its 2020 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Hilltops have won the last six straight CJFL titles and nine out of the last 10 league championships.
    The one title the Hilltops didn’t take out of that run was claimed by the Thunder in 2013.
    In recent days, there has been banter about the two sides going head-to-head in a series of exhibition games or scrimmages.
    The Hilltops and Thunder have developed an intense and high level provincial rivalry over the last decade. If the two sides could get together for a series of friendlies, it would provide a much needed familiar sight in the fall.
The Thunder defence wraps up Hilltops RB Carter McLean, middle.
    Of course, the biggest hurdle is those clubs would have to come up with a plan that would need to be approved by the Saskatchewan Health Authority. Considering the Saskatchewan Health Authority hasn’t approved a start date for the Saskatchewan Hockey Association to begin playing sanctioned games, getting football off the ground seems like an enormous task.
    One way the Hilltops and Thunder might be able to satisfy health authorities might be to shelf playing 12-versus-12 football for now. If they want to get some football action in, maybe the two teams should pitch playing games in the six-man or nine-man format.
Hilltops R Keegan Dicks, right, looks to get past a Thunder defender.
    In rural Saskatchewan, six-man and nine-man football is big. It is common for Saskatchewan towns to shut down in order to allow everyone to turn out for the six-man and nine-man high school games that take place in the fall.
    Of course, high school is the highest level you can play the six-man and nine-man games. At the post-secondary level, you can only play the 12-man game.
    Still, the six-man and the nine-man games have a deep history in Saskatchewan.
    It would be neat if the province’s two junior teams attempted to plays those types of games in an exhibition setting. Of course, the drawback is you are not creating a chance to gain more experience at the 12-man game.
Thunder QB Blake Scherle fires a pass downfield under pressure.
    On the other side, the novelty of seeing the Hilltops and the Thunder play six-man or nine-man games would be something that could peak people’s curiosity.
    The biggest selling point to the Saskatchewan Health Authority would be these types of games would cut down on the size of traveling parties.
    Unfortunately, another drawback is the Government of Saskatchewan has capped crowds for outdoor sporting events at 150 spectators.
    On the plus side, you could possibly get Regina’s Access Communications to broadcast those six-man or nine-man games between the Hilltops and Thunder on television.
    The Access feed could be shown on the Shaw community channel in Saskatoon.
    Even if the games rotated between cities, you might be able to convince Access Communications to broadcast the games Saskatoon.
It is always intense when the Hilltops and Thunder collide.
    Access Communications does that same thing when the WHL’s Regina Pats face the Blades in Saskatoon. 
    You would have to think a few football starved fans would check out those encounters between the Hilltops and Thunder on television. They would likely be popular among the football communities of both cities.
    You could make the broadcasts more fun by getting Hilltops head coach Tom Sargeant and Thunder head coach Scott MacAuley to wear microphones for the game, since these are exhibition tilts.
    Even without microphones, both can still be heard from the sidelines by spectators in the stands.
    The Hilltops and Thunder could play a best-of-three series that could build up to play a 12-man contest.
The Hilltops and Thunder have a compelling rivalry.
    The first contest could be a six-man game, the second a nine-man encounter and the third could be a 12- man match.
    That type of progression might increase the confidence of the Saskatchewan Healthy Authority for allowing a 12-man contest.
    With all that noted, it still seems like a pipe dream of seeing the Hilltops and Thunder face each other on the field in 2020.
    However, everyone is permitted to dream.

Thumbs up to CEBL for crowning champ, other notes


    The Edmonton Stingers were over the moon this past Sunday.
    Guard Xavier Moon sank a game-high 31 points to power the Stingers to a 90-73 victory over the Abbotsford, B.C., based Fraser Valley Bandits in the Canadian Elite Basketball League championship game in St. Catherines, Ont. Moon was named the CEBL Championship Finals MVP.
    The Stingers title victory capped the CEBL Summer Series tournament that saw all seven teams on the circuit play in a bubble environment at the Meridian Centre. All of the CEBL Summer Series games were played without spectators.
    Chief executive officer Mike Morreale, who was once a star receiver in the CFL, and the crew running the CEBL deserve major applause.
    The CEBL was only in its second season of existence and the professional circuit managed to hand out its championship trophy despite the fact the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged the sports world.
    The CEBL used the Elam ending rule to add intrigue.
    The rule sees the game clock turned off at the first stoppage of play inside of the final four minutes of the fourth quarter. At the CEBL Summer Series, nine points is added to the total of the winning team at the time, and both squads push to hit that target score to end the contest.
    The rule was designed to prevent stoppages with fouling by the team that trails on the scoreboard inside of the final four minutes of the game.
    At the moment, the CEBL is the only team sports league that exists within Canada’s borders to crown a champion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The tournament was broadcast by CBC either through live television or on an online stream.
    The fact the CEBL was able to pull this off is a big win for that circuit. It builds huge confidence that CEBL is going to be here to stay over the long term.
    It was able to play through a set of obstacles that are capable of crushing a fledgling league and has tripped up established and storied sports leagues.
    The CEBL had a great inaugural season in 2019 that saw the Saskatchewan Rattlers win the league title at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. It would have seemed unfair if that turned out to be the end of the CEBL’s story.
    Now, it appears the CEBL has a high likelihood of being with us whenever the COVID-19 pandemic comes to a close. Here is hoping the CEBL will have a long and prosperous run.

  • On Monday, longtime TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie announced over Twitter he was heading into semi-retirement. He joined TSN in 1986 after starting his media career working for print publications including stops with the Toronto Star and The Hockey News. McKenzie, who will turn 64-years-old on Sunday, will still be doing draft rankings for TSN and working as part of the crew that covers the World Junior Hockey Championships.
  • On Tuesday, the NCAA’s Big 10 and Pac-12 conferences each voted to postpone football and other fall sports season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Both conferences are holding out hope about having their fall sports play in the spring of 2021 but action at that time is far from guaranteed. That means there will be no November football clash between Michigan and Ohio State, who are storied Big 10 rivals.
  • On Wednesday, the Regina Leader-Post reported the Regina Intercollegiate Football League high school circuit won’t begin regular season play any earlier than Sept. 28 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, the Saskatchewan High School Athletic Association was going to allow practices to start Aug. 20, but that has been moved back to Sept. 14.
  • On Thursday, 37-year-old Nashville Predators defenceman Dan Hamhuis announced he was retiring from the NHL. Hamhuis played in 60 regular season games for the Predators this past season posting eight assists and a plus-eight rating in the plus-minus department. The Smithers, B.C. product played in 15 NHL seasons from 2005 to 2020 appearing in 1,148 regular season games split between the Predators, Vancouver Canucks and Dallas Stars posting 59 goals and 297 assists. He played in the WHL for four seasons for the Prince George Cougars from 1998 to 2002 appearing in 247 regular season games collecting 34 goals and 122 assists. Hamhuis was named the WHL’s player of the year for the 2001-02 campaign. In the current day, Hamhuis is a co-owner of the Cougars.
  • On Friday, the QMJHL announced it still intends to start its regular season on Oct. 1. The circuit said games in the province of Quebec would be played without fans and details were still being worked out for teams in the Maritime provinces.
  • The tweet of the week goes to Canada track and field star hurdler Sage Watson. Known for her trademark ruby red lips on race day, Watson is pitching a new shade of red lipstick for L’Oreal Paris.
    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, 21 June 2020

Much respect to those in sports who keep marching on

Riley Pickett is training for a season in the fall of 2021.
    The elite athletes and those that make a living in sports have to be given tonnes of respect for marching on, while the COVID-19 pandemic keeps casting a shadow over the world.
    Even with the fact there is no certainty of when a next competition or a season will occur, there are a tonne of athletes still training all over the place trying to ensure they will be at their best when action resumes.
    Canadian Olympic level track athlete Sage Watson usually does most of her training in the United States and usually competes around the world in her specialty the 400-metre hurdles. Last year in Lima, Peru, she won gold in the women’s 400-metre hurdles at the Pan American Games.
    When the shutdowns started to occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 11 and 12, she returned to her family ranch near Medicine Hat, Alta. Watson’s family has been in the ranching business for over 100 years in that area.
    Since arriving back home, she has continued to train on her own. She was set to represent Canada at the Summer Olympic Games that were originally slated for July 24 to Aug. 9 in Toyko, Japan.
    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, those games have been postponed to run from July 23, 2021 to Aug. 8, 2021.
    At this point, Watson doesn’t know when her next competition will be. Still, she can be found training on her ranch or at the Rotary Track in the Crescent Heights neighbourhood of Medicine Hat striving on her own to be the best she can be.

    Watson turned 26-years-old on Saturday and has enjoyed reconnecting with her family in a way she hasn’t been able to since she moved away from home at age 18 to compete in the NCAA track and field ranks.
    If you are fortunate enough to get to know Watson’s family for even a short time, you know she will always make her father, Wade, and mother, Jolene proud. They are likely feeling blessed that their prodigal daughter has been home for an extended stay.
Brant Morrow is training hard for a season that is uncertain.
    You can bet Sage has enjoyed bonding with her younger brother, Waylon. Waylon, who turned 15-years old in April, was a member of the Medicine Hat AAA All-Stars baseball team that won the Canadian Junior Little League Championship last year.
    Since arriving back home, Sage has shared a number of posts hanging out with Waylon on her Instagram account.
    In all parts of her life, Sage Watson keeps writing an ultimate feel good story.
    Besides looking at Watson’s example, you can find lots of athletes that keep working at their craft. University of Saskatchewan Huskies defensive lineman Riley Pickett keeps training, even though he won’t see any regular season action until the fall of 2021.
    You can find Saskatoon Hilltops defensive back Brant Morrow going hard, and the six time defending CJFL champion Hilltops aren’t guaranteed of a campaign in 2020.
    Big respect goes out to Hilltops president Chris Hengen-Braun and the Hilltops team board and executives.
    They are spending tonnes of hours trying to make a 2020 season a reality.
    At the WHL level, the same goes for Saskatoon Blades general manager and president Colin Priestner and director of business operations Tyler Wawryk for the upcoming 2020-21 campaign.
Blades GM Colin Priestner and staff are working hard on a 2020-21 plan.
    If you travel from Saskatoon up Highway 11, you can find Prince Albert Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt and business manager Michael Scissons are doing their best to try and make a 2020-21 season a go.
    Numerous administrators for minor sports bodies are getting up every day putting in a solid effort trying make things happen.
    All these sports people are trying to do their flat out best, when the reality is a health or government official could easily strike down the most innovative idea to make action happen.
    Of course, the concern about returning to action is real, when you consider the constant stories coming out of the United States this past week about positive COVID-19 tests in the sports world. It has gotten to the point it is hard to keep up with the information on the positive tests.
    Late this past week, positive tests were confirmed in Major League Soccer, the National Football League, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball.
    The MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies shut down their facility in Clearwater, Florida, and the Toronto Blue Jays did the same in Dunedin, Florida, due to COVID-19 concerns. The Phillies had five players and three staff members test positive and one Blue Jays player showed symptoms.
Raiders GM Curtis Hunt and staff are working towards a 2020-21 plan.
    The San Francisco Giants closed their facility in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a visitor and one family member exhibited symptoms.
    A report surfaced on Friday from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun that Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews tested positive for COVID-19, and he is apparently self-isolating at his home in Arizona.
    On Saturday, media reports surfaced that at least 30 players from the defending NCAA football champion Louisiana State University Tigers have been quarantined due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
    With all that noted, you have to love how elite athletes continue to train and administrators and executives bring a top level effort on a daily basis, even if that work does not produce a result due to factors beyond anyone’s control.
    At the moment, it appears those in the sports world are going up against a stacked deck.

No COVID-19 vaccine thoughts fires up anxiety, other thoughts

Downtown Saskatoon was deserted early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
    During the COVID-19 pandemic, a couple of thoughts come up that fire up anxiety regarding the idea of a vaccine.
    One thought is what happens if a vaccine isn’t developed for COVID-19 or the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease?
    The other thought is what happens if it takes a long time to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 or the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease?
    I try not to think about those questions, but they do cross my mind from time to time.
    The COVID-19 pandemic is often compared to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 was a deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus.
    The first licensed flu vaccine didn’t appear in North America until the 1940s. When the Spanish Flu pandemic hit in 1918, the frequency of cases about 15 months later dropped to negligible levels.
    In an apples to oranges comparison, medical science has developed light years from what the world knew in 1918. Back in 1918, people still died of all sorts of ailments, and it was still a frequent occurrence in North America to see babies pass away within the first three months of being born.
    You have to hope it doesn’t take over 20 years to develop a vaccine for COVID-19.
    On the front of thinking about a vaccine not being developed, HIV/AIDS comes to mind.
    HIV/AIDS was first identified in the early 1980s. There still hasn’t been a vaccine developed for the HIV virus that causes AIDS or effective treatment for HIV/AIDS. It has been classified as a pandemic for decades.
    The HIV virus mutates quickly, which makes hard to develop a vaccine for it.
    In thinking about those two situations, one wonders if we are going to have to figure out a way to live with COVID-19 for the long stretch. Over the past week, there have been constant media reports that several states in the United States have seen a record number of cases in recent days.
    There has been a steady stream of positive COVID-19 tests from the sports world in the U.S., which gives further proof as to how easily this virus spreads.
    Looking at past historical examples, it is possible the COVID-19 pandemic could continue for some time without a vaccine. There are no clear paths on how to react, if that becomes the case.
    Thinking too much about all of that just does damage on the mental health front with regards to anxiety, so the best move is to try to stay focused on day to day tasks.

  • On Thursday, former NHL and CHL player Daniel Carcillo and Garrett Taylor, who played in the WHL for the Lethbridge Hurricanes and Prince Albert Raiders from 2008 to 2010, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against the CHL and its three member leagues in the OHL, QMJHL and WHL in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto over hazing. The allegations haven’t been proven in court. Carcillo played in the OHL from 2002 to 2005 with the Sarnia Sting and the Mississauga IceDogs. This appears to have the potential to get extremely ugly and drag out for years before it is done. The allegations that have been made are extremely ugly. Rick Westhead of TSN did a story, and it can be found right here.
  • On Friday, the Government of Canada approved a cohort quarantine proposal by the NHL. The proposal makes players and staff exempt from the 14-day quarantine period for anyone entering Canada. Instead of quarantining individually, the cohort quarantine would keep NHL players and staffers separate from the general public. The move clears one hurdle towards making a Canadian city a hub city for NHL post-season play.
  • On Friday, the 17-member Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference cancelled all sports season play for the fall of 2020. For sports that are only conducted in the fall in golf, cross-country running and soccer, the ACAC is planning to run those sports in April of 2021.
  • On Friday, the Camrose, Alta., based University of Alberta-Augustana Campus Vikings, who play out of the ACAC, announced the program was withdrawing from men’s hockey, women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball and men’s and women’s volleyball from the 2020-21 campaign. Vikings Athletics cited economic and COVID-19 pandemic concerns for the decision along with aligning a plan of action with what the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas programs have done at the U Sports level.
  • Over this past week, I thought social media was a little more kind than it was in the week previous. It seemed a little rough on Saturday. That was just from my subjective observation, but other might have not had the same experience.
  • I am fine with sports administrators and executives trying to find ways to make their sports work in these COVID-19 pandemic times. Besides trying to prevent falling off people’s radars, many sports teams and organizations in Canada are just trying to find ways to survive.
  • Starting about seven days ago, New Zealand began holding professional rugby games allowing full stadiums with no social distancing guidelines. One game at Eden Park in Auckland on June 13 drew around 43,000 spectators. The moves were done after New Zealand got down to zero active COVID-19 cases. It helps that New Zealand is an island nation with about 4.9-million people. As of the time this post went live, Worldometer, which accurately tracks various worldwide statistics, stated New Zealand has nine active COVID-19 cases. New Zealand observed strict lockdowns to originally get down to zero cases, so one has to wonder if those lockdowns will return. Still, it was cool to hear one country held large sporting events with no restrictions.
  • Just want to add a disclaimer that what I write or say about the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t matter in the big picture of things. I am not a government official or a health official that has power to make decisions on that front. In the big picture, what I say doesn’t really mean much on that front. I just try to navigate the waves on day by day basis the best I can, because I don’t have control over anything else.
  • I am pleased I wrote a review on Friday’s #CFLsim broadcast put together by The Rod Pedersen Show. It appears the simulation game broadcast and my review gave people some much needed fun and helped provide some relief from the difficult times the world is experiencing. I think the public at least in Saskatchewan misses seeing comments like the one below from Fake Gainer.

    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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Saturday, 21 March 2020

Cononavirus scare results in weird and eerie week

At work in the home office on Saturday night.
    If I need a quick reminder of how the world has changed, all I have to do is turn on my mobile phone.
    The first thing that comes up is an emergency services warning stating that due to the COVID-19 pandemic anyone who has returned to Saskatchewan from outside the country must mandatorily self-isolate for 14 days and failure to do so will result in a $2,000 fine.
    A short time ago back on Friday, March 6, I was covering a WHL regular season game that saw the host Saskatoon Blades down the Regina Pats 2-1 in overtime at the SaskTel Centre. Sophomore left-winger Kyle Crnkovic scored the winner 74 seconds into the extra session to allow the Blades to lock up a berth in the WHL playoffs.
    At that time, life was proceeding as normal.
    Tuesday, March 10 seemed like the last normal day. From that day until now, you will likely be able to find a number of posts on social media lines that didn’t age well due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
    Because of the scare it has created, most people in Saskatoon are virtually living in lockdown and self-isolating at the time I am making this post go live.
The Huskies sign autographs for little fan on March 11.
    Looking back at March 10, I suspect I’m not the only one who has made social posts that said things that didn’t age well. I stumbled on a CBC timeline story about COVID-19, and it showed a Saskatchewan provincial government press conference from Wednesday, March 11.
    During that press conference, it was said the party was on for the Juno Awards, which are Canada’s national music awards, slated for this past Sunday in Saskatoon. Words of reassurance were offered noting there was low risk in Saskatchewan with regards to COVID-19.
    The conference occurred before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and the NBA suspended play that same day.
    The Junos were cancelled the next day as cancellations and postponements poured in across the sports world.
    On March 11, there were a total of 110 COVID-19 cases in Canada and one death. At the time of making this post go live, there were 1,328 COVID-19 cases in Canada and 19 deaths.
    On March 12, the Saskatchewan government confirmed its first presumptive case of COVID-19. As of today, Saskatchewan has 25 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 19 presumptive cases.
    The Saskatchewan government declared a state of emergency this past Wednesday. Since that time, more and more measures have been taken to shut down society in the province, which has been mirrored in the rest of the country.
The Huskies pose for a picture at the March 11 rally.
    Over the past 10 days, it is safe to presume most in Canada have seen video of what has taken place in Italy, where that country of just over 60-million people has seen its health care system overrun by the COVID-19 pandemic.
    At the time this post went live, Italy leads the world in COVID-19 deaths at 4,825. In a 24-hour period on Saturday, Italy had 793 deaths due to COVID-19.
    The drastic measures in Canada and Saskatchewan have been taken to try and prevent the health system from being overrun like Italy’s has.
    In my view, we are faced with the options of bad and less bad. The decision makers in Canada have decided to go the less bad route and try and not let COVID-19 run wild through the country.
    When this scare does ultimately pass, it will likely leave behind a devastating economic toll. At the moment, we are all in this together, so we will all face that reality when it comes.
    Knowing how it seems a lot of people have short memories, I can already see people being upset when we are in economic shambles when the COVID-19 pandemic passes. The fact death was escaped all of sudden gets forgotten.
    If you search hard enough, you will likely find a person or two that prefers to die now than face life after the COVID-19 pandemic.
    The reality is the world will be a much different place after the COVID-19 pandemic passes. Still, it is unhealthy to dwell on what the future can be even a month or two down the road.
I made Thursday a hockey jersey day.
    As for me, I have really only started to full out process what has gone on since March 11 starting on Friday. I had to get caught up on work related projects that were started before all the craziness began to occur.
    Strange as it sounds, this past Monday and Tuesday were basically normal work days for me. I had been tracking the developments of closures and cancellations and new restrictions brought in by governments during those normal work days too.
    As of Thursday night after I was all caught up, I began to wonder what Friday would be like, when I had more time to think about what all has happened.
    My mind began to worry for old friends I made over my life who have gone into the nursing profession.
    I remembered how fun it was to attend the celebration rally for the U Sports national champion University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s basketball team at the Physical Activity Complex during the lunch hour on March 11. The gold medal winners from the Huskies track and field and wrestling teams were also honoured.
    All that occurred before the NBA suspended play.
    I do wonder what different things I would have done had the COVID-19 pandemic not happened. For a short time when cancellations or postponements happened, there were other things on the go that filled the time that was committed to what I was originally going to go to.
    On Saturday, March 14, I was to have been in Medicine Hat, Alta., to celebrate Bob Ridley calling his 4,000th game as the play-by-play voice of the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.
    Tonight was to have been a special night in Saskatoon, as the Blades were to honour their long time former head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken, who always treated my family unbelievably well. I had been looking forward to tonight at the SaskTel Centre.
I have been working out in my basement dungeon.
    I don’t think I have totally comprehended how odd and eerie the world is at the present time in the shadow of COVID-19.
    I have spent more down time with my mom. We took a drive to downtown Saskatoon, and it was unsettling to see that part of the city be basically abandoned.
    As downtown Saskatoon neared, there seemed to be less and less life out in the street.
    I’ve had moments where I was thankful I was no longer working in the mainstream media, because I know reporters would be working 18-hour days when something like the COVID-19 pandemic breaks out. The sports staffers all of sudden end up helping the news staffers.
    I’ve had moments where I’ve gone emotionally in the tank. I’ve had other moments where I have felt good thinking about all the special moments I have covered in my career covering sports.
    In a lot of ways, I have had way more good experiences than most will ever have in their lives.
    I am glad there are things that have run their normal course. The NFL has been business as usual with that league’s free agency period underway.
    I will note it feels uncomfortable to hear all-time great quarterback Tom Brady signed a two-year $50-million US guaranteed contact with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at age 42. You could divide that figure and give out $50,000 US to 1,000 persons in these challenging times and it would be more of a benefit to society than giving all that cash to one person to throw a football.
Some of my mementos that have been collected over the years.
    With that noted, the NFL is not immune to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sean Payton, who is the star head coach of the New Orleans Saints, has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, and he is self-isolating at home.
    At the moment, the only certainty is uncertainty.
    As I said before, all anyone can do is take things one day at a time and remember we are all going through this difficult time right now together.
    Hopefully by following self-isolation and other directions by the governments in Canada, we will get to the other end of this sooner than later.

Watson goes Rocky IV training in self-isolation, other notes


    One of the most inspiring videos I saw this week came from the Instagram account of elite Canadian track and field athlete Sage Watson.
    The 25-year-old, who holds the Canadian record for the women’s 400-metre hurdles, returned home to her family ranch near Seven Persons, which his just southwest of Medicine Hat in Alberta. Watson came back home after training in Arizona and has put herself in self-isolation for 14 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    Watson is currently training to go to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, which are slated to start on July 24 and run through to August 9.
    At her family ranch, Watson has been running on gravel roads and working out in a gym she created.
    She posted one of her gym workouts, which included doing box jumps on hay bales. That scene was reminiscent of the fictional character in boxer Rocky Balboa training in the snowy countryside of Russia in the movie Rocky IV.
    Watson does a great job of creating a lot of inspiring posts on her Instagram account, and I would encourage you to give her a follow @sagewatson like more than 55,300 others already have.

  • When the SFMAAAHL handed out its league awards on March 13, Regina Rebels forward Neena Brick was named the winner of the league’s Hayley Wickenheiser Most Valuable Player award, the Kelly Bechard Top Scorer award and a first-team all-star. Brick piled up 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points to help the Rebels top the SFMAAAHL regular season with a 27-2-1 record. The female midget AAA playoffs across Canada were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Saskatoon Stars graduating goaltender Arden Kliewer was named a second team SFMAAAHL all-star. On a young rebuilding Stars team, Kliewer posted a 6-10-1 record, a 2.78 goals against average, a .921 save percentage and one shutout. Over her four seasons with the Stars, Kliewer posted a 44-13-2 record, a 1.91 goals against average, .923 save percentage and 11 shutouts. She sits second in the history of the SFMAAAHL for career regular season wins. Kliewer helped the Stars win the SFMAAAHL title and appear in the Esso Cup national female midget AAA hockey championship tournament in 2018 and 2019. The 18-year-old will join the University of Regina Cougars women’s hockey team next season.
  • With the WHL having cancelled the rest of its regular season game due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 18-year-old Spokane Chiefs left-winger Adam Beckman won the regular season scoring title. The Saskatoon product appeared in 63 games with the Chiefs piling up 48 goals and 59 assists for 107 points. He posted a plus-44 rating in the plus-minus department.
  • The Dog’s Breakfast fundraiser for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team originally scheduled for April 30 has been postponed until Thursday, September 3 at Prairieland Park. The Huskies made the postponement announcement on Friday. Jim McMahon, who was the quarterback of the NFL’s famed 1985 Chicago Bears that won the Super Bowl, will be the guest speaker. Glen Suitor, who was a safety with the CFL’s 1989 Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders, will be the master of ceremonies. Tickets for the Dog’s Breakfast can be found by clicking right here.
  • Now graduated Saskatoon Hilltops left guard Ryder Klisowsky has elected to continue his post-secondary football career in the U Sports ranks joining the University of Manitba Bisons, Klisowsky, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 310 pounds, played with the Hilltops for the past five seasons helping the storied club win the CJFL national title in each of those campaigns. The Hilltops have won the last six straight CJFL titles overall.
    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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Friday, 1 June 2018

Instagram is insta-crack

Instagram on my phone.
    I tried to resist as much as possible, but bit by bit I am getting taken down by the power of Instagram.
    Due to working in media and communications, I find I pile up way too much screen time dealing with the social media platforms of Facebook and Twitter. I long resisted going on Instagram.
    I constantly see people in their late teenage years and early 20s buried on their phones even during nights out to the nightclubs and Instagram was the platform they were usually hooking into.
    I started my account in late 2014 and didn’t really actively start using it until about a year ago.
    I found it to be a useful platform to share my action shots from sports.
    I have found I am taking more selfies, which is something I don’t really do a lot of.
    I try to use Instagram the way veteran colourful hockey executive Brian Burke uses Twitter and follow virtually nobody.
    I have slowly worked my way to following 13 different entities due to the fact you can follow people and organizations.
Sage Watson’s Instagram profile on my phone.
    I am still in the process of studying how people and organizations conduct themselves on that platform.
    I check out how people conduct themselves that don’t have a big public profile to those in the other end of the spectrum in Canadian track and field star Sage Watson.
    She caught the attention of the tabloid and paparazzi type media in Europe since the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, due to her extremely attractive looks.
    Watson is an old friend I have known a long time from Medicine Hat, Alta., and it amazes me how she gets glamorously portrayed in the tabloid press in Europe causing her to have over 51,000 followers on Instagram.
    Recently, I have found the charm to Instagram at least for myself.
    Out of all the social media platforms, Instagram is the one I find I am most often triggered in a good way.
    I constantly see pictures of people in happy times at least when I have gone on the account.
    Besides pictures of high moments in sports, I see pictures with people in happy settings like parties, a night out, going to the beach, attending weddings, graduations and a whole host of other fun activities.
The Instagram news feed on my phone.
    I used to see an influx of these photos on Facebook around a back of years from 2007 to 2014.
    People used to use simple digital point and shoot cameras and download their photos from fun times to their accounts.
    However, the cameras on mobile phones have become so good people in recent years just post their photos to the Instagram account.
    Instagram is so easy to use on your phone too.
    As for how good cameras on mobile phones have become, my phone takes normal portrait and set up shots better than my digital SLR camera I used to shoot sports action with.
    I can see how going through photos on Instagram can give people constant Dopamine hits. \   Dopamine is a neurochemical in the brain that provides people with a sense of pleasure.
    In recent years, I find people are placing less of their photos from fun times on their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
    As a result, you get left with a host of written posts were people are giving their two cents regarding the news of the day be it Donald Trump, school shootings, Roseanne Barr or Canadian Politics.
An  Instagram picture on my phone.
    When you engage in debates on any of those subjects, it seems all you do is go down a toxic road.
    Besides getting into verbal fights with people you know, you end up spending way too much time in verbal altercations with people you only know online. It seems like people won’t agree to disagree and want to keep on fighting.
    I know for myself there have been way too many times I can’t stand looking at my news feeds on Facebook or Twitter, because it triggers me into moving emotionally into a negative space.
    On Instagram, I haven’t seen anyone one pushing political or social justice agendas looking for a confrontation.
    People can write hurtful things under the comments sections in pictures, but you have to click into them to see them.
    The fun photos make Instagram a more upbeat place to be than Facebook and Twitter, which seems devoid of fun photos these days.
    Here is hoping Instagram can be a more fun escape type place in the future.
    Judging by the numbers that use it, it is a social network you have to be on these days.

Return of Cougars wrestling teams should always be open

The Carillon after the Cougars men’s wrestling team’s second national title.
    I knew it was coming, but it still felt strange to see the dropdown menus eliminated on the University of Regina’s athletics website for the Cougars men’s and women’s wrestling teams.
    The two storied programs along with the University of Regina Cougars men’s volleyball team were eliminated without warning on April 30 due to a budget crunch felt by the athletics department. The dropdown menu for the men’s volleyball team is no longer there too.
    In about a week after the cuts came down, Global News in Regina produced a story off a confidential recording of a meeting between Harold Riemer, the U of R dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Health Studies, and members of the U of R women’s wrestling team.
    That story reported that in 2016-17 campaign the administration in the athletic department was told they needed to raise $580,000 in fundraising and fell about $220,000 short. During that fiscal year, Riemer said in the Global story that the U of R athletics department had expenses totally $3.1-million and with $2.7-million coming in to support the department, there was a deficit of $400,000.
    Out of the $2.7-million brought in to support athletics, $2.3-million comes from the recreation and athletics fee that is charged to students and is split between the universities teams and other recreation programs. The athletic teams only collected $445,000 in gate revenue, sponsorships and Sask. Sport Inc.
    Riemer said the U of R didn’t want to rely on fundraising to operate the teams.
    There has been a lot of push back against this decision. An online petition has been started to bring back the wrestling programs.
A couple of items of Cougars wrestling gear.
    If there were thoughts that the athletes would go away quietly when these programs were cut, the administration at the U of R was mistaken.
    With that said, a month has passed and the reality of next school year is approaching. The next three months will fly by.
    Athletes that were with the cut U of R programs are actively exploring their options, because they have to.
    When I was covering the Memorial Cup in Regina, I met personable and talented Regina Leader-Post photographer Troy Fleece. Fleece did a compelling photo essay following the life of Sara Tokarz, who just finished her rookie season with the Cougars women’s wrestling team and is trying to figure out the next move in her life.
    Her older brother, Paul, was with the Cougars men’s wrestling team, and he is searching for another program to join.
    This past season at U Sports nationals, the Cougars women’s team finished fifth in the team standings, while the Cougars men’s team placed eighth. At the school’s athletic awards night in April, Lucas Hoffert of the Cougars men’s wrestling team was named the winner of the U of R’s highest individual honour in the President’s Award for outstanding achievement in athletics and academics.
    Cutting the Cougars wrestling teams is a major blow to the identity of the U of R’s athletics department. You can’t just go and erase those programs storied histories.
    At Memorial Cup, I wore my University of Regina Cougars Wrestling team T-shirt under my suit and tie for a round robin game and the title game at the CHL championship tournament as a show of support to bring back those programs.
    The post I wrote about the U of R Cougars Wrestling team cuts being startling is my fourth all-time most viewed post with over 5,800 page views. In another development since the U of R team cuts were made, my old post of Brock Lesnar of UFC and WWE fame coming to the U of R to compete against the Cougars was rediscovered.
    I originally wrote that post when a UFC card was held in Saskatoon in August of 2015, and it was at 1,000 views at the end of April. It is now my sixth all-time most viewed post with over 5,400 views.
    Those numbers show there is a sizable amount of people that care about the U of R Cougars Wrestling teams. The U of R will face the inevitable of having to induct wrestlers and wrestling teams to its U of R Sports Hall of Fame.
    Due to the fact the athletes from the U of R programs attend all sorts of academic faculties, hopefully, the school can find a way to spread the costs of the athletics program throughout the institution.
    Here is hoping the pressure continues to bring these programs back.
    The online petition to bring back the Cougars Wrestling teams can be found here.
    Troy Fleece’s photo essay on Sara Tokarz can be found here.
    My May 3 post on the Cougars Wrestling teams can be found here.
    The August 21, 2015 post of Lesnar competing against the Cougars can be found here.

Leschyshyn signs with Golden Knights

Jake Leschyshyn has signed an NHL contract with the Vegas Golden Knights.
    Saskatoon product Jake Leschyshyn took another step towards one day playing full time for the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
    On Friday, Leschyshyn, who just completed his third season playing centre for the WHL’s Regina Pats, signed a three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Golden Knights.  The 18-year-old returned to the Pats lineup early on this past season after recovering from tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee on February of 2017.
    During the 2017-18 campaign, Leschyshyn, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 188 pounds, appeared in 64 regular season games with the Pats collecting 18 goals and 22 assists. He added three goals and two assists in seven WHL playoff games, and he scored one goal in five games at the Memorial Cup.
    The Golden Knights selected Leschyshyn in the second round and 62nd overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft.

Blades sign prospect, trade for another prospect

    The Saskatoon Blades signed a prospect and traded for another prospect on Thursday.
    The Blades signed 15-year-old defenceman Marek Schneider to a standard WHL standard players’ agreement. The Prince Albert, Sask., product was selected in the second round and 30th overall in the WHL Bantam Draft held this past May.
    Last season, Schneider, who stands 6-feet and weighs 176 pounds, appeared in 30 regular season games with the bantam AA Raiders collecting three goals and 19 assists. He also dressed in six regular season games with the Prince Albert Mintos midget AAA team. Schneider expects to play next season with the Mintos. He isn’t eligible to make the Blades full time out of training camp until September of 2019.
    On the trade front, the Blades acquired 17-year-old prospect forward Nakodan Greyeyes from the Seattle Thunderbirds for a conditional sixth round selection in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft.
    Greyeyes, who stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 175 pounds, netted 24 goals and 29 assists appearing in 36 regular season games with the Rink Hockey Academy midget prep team in Winnipeg. He also played two games in the junior A ranks with the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.
    Greyeyes is eligible to make the Blades this coming season.

    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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Saturday, 23 May 2015

“Mohawks” name brings out the best in Hat High


Quinton Slack tears downfield during a Mohawks practice in 2012.
    The name "Medicine Hat High School Mohawks" brings out a vast array of positive images.
    When that name is mentioned, the first pictures turn to football with head coach Quinn Skelton guiding the Green and White to another big win. He has been the Mohawks head coach for 25 seasons and was named the NFL Canada youth football coach of the year in 2008 due to the positive impact he has had on his players.
    You also see players that carry themselves with class including offensive lineman Dan Federkeil, who played for the NFL's Indianapolis Colts and is now with the CFL's Calgary Stampeders, and receiver Nathan Coehoorn, who plays with the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos. Both have returned to Hat High to either help with football camps or give great life building speeches for players. Their professional jerseys hang in the trophy case located in the school's main entrance.
    Hat High rosters in recent years included quality individuals like Quinton Slack, who was a starting quarterback and is now just focusing on post-secondary studies, and running back Tristen Getzinger, who is a recruit of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies. Both are the perfect examples of the type of people you want in the community representing your program, because all they do is make the team look good on so many levels.
    While the Mohawks football program is usually the first team that comes to mind when one thinks of Hat High, athletes and coaches involved with all the other teams at the school also come away with similar high quality experiences. The girls teams go by the moniker of "Kwahommies," which is a cute play coming off spelling Mohawks backwards.
    Grade 11 point guard Isabel Rattai helped the Kwahommies senior girls' basketball team win the 4A Alberta Schools Athletic Association title in March, and she has been a gem away from the court. A starter since her Grade 10 season, Rattai gives big support to the rest of Hat High's teams at rallies, and she is spectacular when it comes to interacting with young players that play her sport.  
    The teachers and staff at Hat High do a stellar job of helping their students excel academically, so they are prepared to move on to the next step of their lives in a trade or moving on to post-secondary studies.
The Hat High Mohawks logo.
    Being associated with the Mohawks and Kwahommies teams is the aspect that makes the high school experience that much more special. Hat High has had a long time feeling over decades where being a member or supporter of one of its teams is something you take with you for the rest of your life like memories of doing the "Cha Cha Slide" during halftime of games at the Methanex Bowl in the Gas City. For most alumni and alumnae of Hat High, they will always see themselves as Mohawks and Kwahommies.
    That is the type of attachment all athletic teams try to achieve, but only few do. Hat High's athletic teams have achieved that type of attachment. It is common for Hat High grads to post their team's logo on items like hard hats, helmets in the military or clothing years after leaving high school.
    Unfortunately, a specter finally caught up to Hat High.
    Over the last 15 years in North America, a large number of teams that have had a moniker linked to a First Nations culture have changed their team nickname due to concerns about racism. The successful holdouts have mainly consisted of professional clubs in the NHL, NFL and MLB.
    In the view of political correctness, the general sense is that using any term linked with a First Nations culture as a team name is not appropriate unless the team is made up of players of First Nations descent.
    The only program immune from that political correctness generality is the Florida State University Seminoles of the National Collegiate Athletic Association due to the fact the Seminole Tribe of Florida has officially sanctioned that post-secondary institution to use the names and images associated with Seminole history.
Mohawks HC Quinn Skelton, left, with Nathan Coehoorn in 2014.
    In an interesting twist, the Seminoles track team features Hat High grad and Canadian Olympic hopeful Sage Watson, who is a standout sprinter in the 400-metre dash and 400-metre hurdles. She also has reputation of being an outstanding and modest person.
    Despite all the things that surround the Mohawks and Kwahommies teams, news came out of Medicine Hat recently that Suzanne Tripp, who is a Grade 12 student at Hat High, has started a petition to have the school change the nicknames of its sports teams or specifically the "Mohawks" name. Tripp told CBC that she felt that the use of Hat High's team monikers represented First Nations people as "terrifying and savage."
    She also said the "Mohawks" nickname didn't make sense geographically, because the Mohawks tribes were from the area that spans the present day eastern Ontario to southern Quebec.
    There is concern that Tripp's petition alone would be enough to eliminate "Mohawks" and likely "Kwahommies" as names for Hat High's teams.
Isabel Rattai of the Kwahommies.
    In 2014 in Saskatchewan, Regina's Balfour Collegiate and Saskatoon's Bedford Road Collegiate both ceased respective use of the nickname "Redmen." In both cases, "Redmen" originally was used to signify the team's colours and First Nations logos were added later on. Both schools also have storied histories with their athletic teams.
    The push to change the name of "Redmen" at Bedford Road took on a bigger life in 2011, when Erica Lee, a Bedford Road graduate, made a Facebook page calling for the change. It is a move that draws parallels to what is happening currently in Medicine Hat. 
    Balfour Collegiate changed its name on the recommendation of an elders advisory council set up by the Regina Public School Board. The advisory council was formed in March of 2014 when heat was building up regarding the use of the "Redmen" name by Bedford Road.
    When you talk to people in the streets in Regina and Saskatoon, the notion often comes up the minority won out over the majority regarding the elimination of the use of the "Redmen" name.
    In Medicine Hat, the petition calling for the end of the use of the "Mohawks" name has been met with a petition calling for a stay in the proceedings on changing the moniker or basically a call to allow Hat High to keep its team nicknames. The petition was started by Rick Preikschas, who is a Hat High alumnus from the Standoff reserve.
    The fact remains that before Tripp started her petition, the words "terrifying and savage" have never been used in association with Hat High's teams.
    The Medicine Hat High School Mohawks and Kwahommies are frequently associated with the words "pride, honour and class."
    If the Mohawks First Nations people, who are located a lengthy distance away from Medicine Hat, wanted to give sanction to Hat High to use the "Mohawks" moniker, it would be a good thing.

    If you have any comments about this blog, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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