Showing posts with label Logan Hofmann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Logan Hofmann. Show all posts

Saturday, 16 January 2021

Saskatchewan curlers take class to new heights

Rylan Kleiter releases a shot on January 1, 2020.
During these coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic times where there seems to be a lot of toxic talk on the local sports scene, the curling community in Saskatchewan has provided a breath of classy fresh air.

On Thursday, CurlSask announced the provincial men’s, women’s and mixed double curling championship tournament have all been cancelled due to government restrictions with the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Tuesday, the Government of Saskatchewan extended existing Public Health Orders that include a ban on team sports until Jan. 29.

On Wednesday, CurlSask had its bubble proposal to hold provincial championship tournaments rejected by the Government of Saskatchewan.

As a result, CurlSask used points system taking account the performance of teams over a two season window to determine representatives for men’s and women’s nationals. The evaluations included roster changes on teams.

On the men’s side, the Regina foursome skipped by Matt Dunstone including lead Dustin Kidby, second Kirk Muyres and third Braeden Moskowy were picked as the provincial representative for the Canadian nationals - The Brier.

On the women’s side, the Saskatoon foursome skipped by Sherry Anderson including lead Breanne Knapp, second Chaelynn Kitz and third Nancy Martin were selected as the provincial representative for the Canadian nationals – the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

The Regina duo of Ashley Quick and Mike Armstrong, who won the 2020 provincial mixed double title, have been tabbed to represent Saskatchewan at the Canadian mixed double championship tournament. They actually never got to play in the 2020 Canadian mixed doubles tournament, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All three of those nationals will be held in a bubble environment at the Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary, Alta. The Scotties runs Feb. 19 to 28, The Brier is slated for March 5-14 and mixed doubles nationals are set for March 18 to 25.

Normally, you would expect teams that are left out in the cold to be crying foul with these announcements. The opposite happened when those teams took to social media after CurlSask came out with its announcement.

Team Kleiter’s Facebook page post on Jan. 14.
The Saskatoon foursome skipped by Rylan Kleiter including lead Matthieu Taillon, second Trevor Johnson and third Josh Mattern are in their first full season on the men’s circuit after winning four straight Saskatchewan provincial junior men’s titles.

On Thursday night, the Kleiter foursome put up a great post on team’s Facebook page saying they would be cheering for the Dunstone and Anderson rinks.

The Kleiter rink post also said, “It has been a difficult year for everyone, and we are thankful for the games we did get to play. We respect CurlSask’s decision knowing health and safety is a top priority.”

The grace and class by the Kleiter side was outstanding. Kleiter has shown great professionalism and sportsmanship on the football field helping the Saskatoon Hilltops win CJFL titles in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

The class was being shared by the big rival curling teams of the provincial representatives too. On the women’s side, the North Battleford foursome skipped by Robyn Silvernagle, including lead Dayna Demers, second Jessie Hunkin and third Kristen Streifel shared a very understanding post on their squad’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

The post that rink shared on Thursday started by extended best wishes to Anderson’s rink and went on to state, “This has been a very challenging year for CurlSask navigating through a pandemic, and we thank you for going above and beyond during this challenging time. Your efforts and hard work did not go unnoticed.

“We are all Team Sask, and we will be cheering hard as per usual!”

The team one would expect to be the most upset would be the Saskatoon foursome skipped by Colton Flasch, including lead Dan Marsh, second Kevin Marsh and third Catlin Schneider.

Those who follow curling were expecting the Dunstone and Flasch rinks to engage in old school hockey style throw downs.

The Flasch rink stated over the team’s Facebook and Twitter lines on Thursday, “Disappointing news today, but understandable. We are well aware it was difficult for CurlSask.

“Good Luck to Team Dunstone as Team SK!”

The Flasch rink’s posts finished stating fingers were crossed with regards that foursome could slide into a wildcard position.

Those posts concluded with the classic “so you’re telling me there’s a chance” gif.

Overall, the curlers showed great respect to their provincial sport governing body and were outstanding with the dignity they showed each other.

Saskatchewan’s curlers showed how those in sports should carry themselves in these pandemic times.

It would be great if those on all the other sporting bodies in Saskatchewan could follow that example. A lot are, but there are too many vocal ones that aren’t.

Sask. government gives funds to WHL and SJHL

The Blades and Pats in action on Feb. 5, 2020.
The Government of Saskatchewan appears set to do what it can to help the province’s five WHL teams and junior A Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

On Friday, the Saskatchewan provincial government announced it would give $600,000 to each of the provinces five WHL teams for a total of $3-million to help those clubs navigate their way through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SJHL will receive $1-million in support, and that funding will be provided to the circuit.

The funding is being provided to help those WHL clubs and the SJHL offset revenue shortfalls due restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of the SJHL teams are community owned.

Three of the five WHL teams in Saskatchewan are community owned including the Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders and Swift Current Broncos.

The Regina Pats are owned by five local businessmen including Anthony Marquart, Todd Lumbard, Gavin Semple, Shaun Semple and Jason Drummond.

The Saskatoon Blades are owned by Mike Priestner, and his son, Colin, is the Blades president and general manager.

Of course, there were some over social media who showed displeasure about taxpayer money going to fund junior hockey teams.

I myself am fine with the Government of Saskatchewan giving financial help to those junior hockey teams get through something that no one can control.

The ownership group of the Pats and Blades owner Mike Priestner have gone beyond the call of duty over the years to make those teams go. I am good with them getting help in these unprecedented times.

The provincial funding won’t cure all the financial hurt these junior teams have absorbed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will help.

Sask. hockey not expecting game action until March ends

The Saskatoon Stars and Prince Albert Northern Bears are on pause.
The Saskatchewan Hockey Association seemed to be getting grilled by some for being the messenger.

On Thursday, the Saskatchewan Hockey Association sent out a memorandum regarding a virtual call on Wednesday between all Saskatchewan sport governing bodies and Ken Dueck from the Provincial Government’s Business Response Team.

During that call, the provincial sport governing bodies were told there would be no consideration of return to play where you would see game action for at least four weeks and a return to game play before the end of March was unlikely due to how the COVID-19 pandemic was playing out.

Saskatchewan had a number of days this past week where in led Canada in active COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.

The Saskatchewan Hockey Association said it was reviewing the state of the game and going to conduct zone meetings over the next two weeks.

Thursday’s development seemingly created a sizable uproar on social media from Saskatchewan residents regarding this development. It seemed a number of people wanted to return to game action the next day, if that could happen.

It should be noted that Saskatchewan Hockey Association general manager Kelly McClintock and his crew did a mountain sized pile of work to get game action going that did happen before November of 2020 came to a close. Even the best thought out plans can easily fail in these crazy COVID-19 pandemic times.

McClintock and his crew have been really transparent throughout the pandemic.

Also, the Saskatchewan Lacrosse Association put out a memorandum to its membership on Thursday, and that memorandum was fairly similar to the one the Saskatchewan Hockey Association released.

Bliss fireball heats up great WWE storyline

Action in the WWE is heating up literally these days.

I must admit I haven’t been the biggest WWE follower over the last 12 or so years. I did watch it a tonne growing up, and followed it fairly heavily in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

On Friday night, I found a couple of online media reports that said Randy Orton, who one of the all-time greatest heels in sports entertainment, received minor burns due to off timing on a stunt on the last Monday Night RAW.

In a cliffhanger ending of that episode of RAW, Orton was left rolling around the ring in pain after being on the receiving end of taking a fireball to the face from Alexa Bliss, who has become one of the top performers in WWE.

The stunt of Bliss shooting a fireball into Orton’s face looks very cool on video. Orton is expected to recover in short order from his minor injuries.

I noticed that Bliss was playing a very dark persona on that night, and she sold it hardcore. I ended up spending Friday night going through various videos on Youtube checking out Bliss’s storyline from the last seven months.

I knew she held multiple singles and tag team women’s championships in WWE and had been one of the company’s most popular performers that came on the scene in the last eight years.

Bliss has over five-million followers on Instagram, over two-million followers on her Facebook page and over 1.5-million followers on Twitter.

Over the past seven months, Bliss has been in a storyline with Bray Wyatt, who also goes by alter-ego persona “The Fiend,” and Orton.

The storyline contains a mix of darkness, scary disturbed stuff and humour. Like many storylines from the late 1990s and early 2000s, this one is all shades of grey as opposed to having clearly defined good guys and bad guys.

The villains that get a following ultimately become antihero types.

Bliss has kind of a persona like comic book villain Harley Quinn taken a step further on the evil spectrum. In the storyline, Wyatt at “The Fiend” pulled Bliss over to embrace the dark and evil side.

Together, Bliss and Wyatt can be playful and comical from a dark humous side and switch to being outright cool and ruthless. The storyline plays them out to being connected to the supernatural.

They feud with Orton, who still plays his classic egotistical legend killer persona to perfection. His character is always being cunning and manipulative looking to strike with a sneak attack at any time while being outright ruthless.

Orton actually sets Wyatt in his persona as “The Fiend” on fire in a late December pay per view. That of course eventually led to Bliss’s fireball attack this past Monday.

Overall, that whole storyline and feud has been the most enjoyable WWE storylines I’ve seen in the past 12 years. Usually over the past 15 years, I’ve found the main event performers in WWE to be enjoyable, but I’ve usually felt the rest of the company’s roster doesn’t have the depth it once had.

I found a lot of the storylines to be bland.

The Bliss, Wyatt and Orton storyline was a fantastic change from that.

For me, checking out that storyline from various clips on Youtube provided a night of great escapism.

Hofmann featured in video on Young Bucs account

Logan Hofmann is getting some love from the communications crew of the MLB’s Pittsburgh Pirates.

On Thursday, Muenster, Sask., product was featured on a video placed on the Young Bucs Twitter account, which brings news and features on the young players coming up through the Pirates minor league system.

In the MLB Draft that was held on June 11, 2020, Hofmann was selected in the fifth round and 138th overall by the Pirates. The right-handed pitcher, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 190 pounds, signed a rookie contract with the Pirates on June 27, 2020.

The 21-year-old has developed strong command of four pitches in his fastball, change-up, curveball and slider. He is good at getting to help out youngsters who are coming up through Saskatchewan’s minor baseball system, when he gets back to his home province.

Hofmann gives Saskatchewan lots of love in the video on the Young Bucs Twitter account. The video can be found below.

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, 11 September 2020

CJFL extends eligibility for two oldest age groups

Decision a welcome development for junior circuit

Mason Ochs, right, can play for the Hilltops in 2021.
    The CJFL’s elder statesmen have a reprieve on the eligibility front.
    Back on August 6, the CJFL announced the entire 2020 season had been cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. With that development, one wondered if that announcement would end the careers of the players that were to step on the field at age 22.
    In junior football in Canada, the final year players are allowed to play on the circuit is the year they turn 22-years-old.
    On Tuesday, the CJFL announced players that were slated to turn 22-years-old and 21-years-old for the 2020 campaign would be granted an extra year of eligibility. Those players that would have turned 22-years-old this season can play in 2021, and players that were to turn 21-years-old this season can play through to 2022.
    To be eligible for this extension, affected players must have been on a 2019 CJFL roster or registered with the CJFL – including those that have signed letters of intent – prior to August 6.
    For the veteran players in their 21 and 22-year-old years, the CJFL’s eligibility extension is a welcome bit of news.
    There will be talk that the CJFL could have given all five of its age groups one-year eligibility extensions. Players must be aged 18 to 22 to be eligible to play at the junior level in Canada.
    Still in the big picture, the CJFL could have elected to not do anything on this front and just let all players age out as normal.
Rylan Kleiter (#7) can play his fifth year for the Hilltops.
    In most other sports in Canada, there are no ongoing talks to extend eligibility for players with regards to age guidelines.
    In major junior hockey, the overage players for the 2020-21 campaign have to be born in the year 2000. If there ends up not being a season in the CHL, which oversees the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, those players born in 2000 won’t likely get an extra year of eligibility to play in 2021-22.
    There was no talk in sports like baseball, basketball, softball or volleyball about extending age parametres. In high school athletes, Grade 12 students who graduate this year won’t get to attend Grade 12 again next year to play any possible sports they might have missed out on.
    To be blunt honest, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken the chance to enjoy some special moments seemingly from everyone.
    That includes taking part in regular graduation activities be it high school or university, large family weddings or special vacation trips. In the sports world, many athletes have already lost opportunities to pursue championships that can span from league or national titles.
    Many veteran athletes were denied a proper farewell, like the overage players that skated in major junior hockey this past season. Those players were told their respective seasons were over and were unable to experience a final salute from their respective home crowds.
    The CJFL could have elected to not adjust anything with regards to its age eligibility rules. The 18 members clubs elected to budge and extend eligibility for its two oldest age groups.
    This should be applauded as a good thing.
    For a team like the venerable Saskatoon Hilltops, they won’t have to say a sudden goodbye to players like Rylan Kleiter and Mason Ochs, who would have played their 22-year-old seasons in 2020. The Hilltops have won the last six straight CJFL titles, and Kleiter and Ochs were key members in the last four championship wins.
Davin Williamson can return to the Thunder in 2021.
    Over the past four seasons, Kleiter has been the sure-handed receiver who can handle all the kicking duties. Ochs has been an all-Canadian all-star in each of the past three CJFL campaigns holding down the left tackle spot on the Hilltops powerful offensive line, and he took part in the training camp of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2019.
    The Hilltops pride themselves in playing for their fifth-year players, and it wouldn’t seem fitting if they had to say an early goodbye to players like Kleiter or Ochs. The Hilltops also began practising together this week and will continue the welcomed bonding time for a total of six weeks this fall.
    The Regina Thunder also have to feel thankful they won’t have to say an early farewell to their players who would have been 22-years-old this season. That group would include standout linebacker Davin Williamson.
    It is not easy to make decisions in the current COVID-19 world, and the decisions that are made won’t always be perfect.
    For now, it is great the CJFL will allow its most veteran players some extra time on the circuit.

McCrimmon sells WHL’s Wheat Kings

Kelly McCrimmon mans the Wheat Kings bench in March of 2016.
    The ownership guard is changing in the “Wheat City.”
    On Tuesday, Kelly McCrimmon, who is the long time owner and governor of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings, announced he has sold the hockey team to J&G Group of Companies. J&G Group of Companies is a Brandon firm led by Jared Jacobson, who is the president and CEO.
    McCrimmon will continue to hold down the role of alternate governor with the Wheat Kings. The sale was unanimously approved by the WHL’s Board of Governors last week, and the franchise will officially change hands on September 15.
    On top of his roles with Brandon’s WHL franchise, McCrimmon joined the NHL ranks in August of 2016, when he became the assistant general manager of the Vegas Golden Knights.
    In early May of 2019, McCrimmon, who is 59-years-old, became the Golden Knights general manager.
    The Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup final in 2018 falling to the Washington Capitals. Vegas has advanced to the best-of-seven Western Conference Championship series in this year’s NHL post-season against the Dallas Stars.
    On Thursday in Edmonton in bubble conditions, the Stars downed the Golden Knights 3-2 in overtime to take Game 3 of that series and a 2-1 edge in the series set.
    Way before he ever owned the Wheat Kings, McCrimmon, who is originally from Plenty, Sask., joined the Wheat Kings as right-winger for two seasons from 1978 to 1980. He helped the Wheat Kings win a WHL championship in 1979. 
Kelly McCrimmon gives directions during a WHL conference final in 2016.
    McCrimmon would rejoin the Wheat Kings in 1988 as an assistant general manager and became the club’s general manager in 1989. In 1992, McCrimmon became a minority owner of the Wheat Kings purchasing one-third of the franchise.
    He became the club’s sole owner in 2001. During those years with the Wheat Kings starting 1988, McCrimmon served as the team’s head coach on a number of occasions.
    He was the Wheat Kings head coach and general manager when they won the WHL title in 2016. He was the general manager when the Wheat Kings won the WHL championship in 1996.
    Those league title wins allowed the Wheat Kings to appear in the CHL championship tournament – the Memorial Cup. The Wheat Kings went to the Memorial Cup on two other occasions under McCrimmon’s watch.
    They got there in 1995 as the runner up in the WHL final as the tournament was hosted by the WHL champion Kamloops Blazers, who did win the Memorial Cup that year.
    The Wheat Kings were the host club of the 2010 Memorial Cup and fell in the tournament final to the Windsor Spitfires.
    In the 28 seasons McCrimmon has been the owner of the Wheat Kings, they missed the qualifying for the playoffs on only three occasions and appeared six times in the league championships series.
    “This was an extremely difficult decision for our family,” said McCrimmon in a release. “The Wheat Kings have been our life, from playing here for two years and then operating the team for 31 years, 28 of those as an owner.
Kelly McCrimmon, centre, is composed behind Brandon’s bench in 2016.
    “There have been so many incredible moments, the victories, the people, the staff and of course the many players over the years that have worn our uniform. I started as GM when I was 28-years-old. Brandon became our home, we love the city and we love Manitoba.”
    McCrimmon was happy to turn the club over to a strong Brandon area leader in Jacobson.
    “We believe this is the right decision,” said McCrimmon in a release. “The game has been so good to my family.
    “I am fortunate now to be part of a great organization in Las Vegas with the Knights, and it became apparent a succession plan was needed. I feel good for people in Brandon and western Manitoba that the Wheat Kings will be in great hands with Jared (Jacobson) and will always be a big part of the City of Brandon.”
    Since 1988, it would be hard to argue that McCrimmon has been the top executive in the WHL. He is one of the few that is astute in both the hockey operations and business sides of the game.
    As a coach, he always pushed his players to be at their best, and he was able to accomplish that in a good father figure type way. The Wheat Kings were often viewed as the favourite road team in the WHL circuit amongst hotel and restaurant staffs due to how well the players conducted themselves off the ice.
    That reputation was something McCrimmon was very proud of. The discipline the Wheat Kings players conducted themselves away from the ice with translated in the professional way in which they played the game.
The Wheat Kings celebrate an OT win in Game 2 of the 2016 WHL final.
    Jacobson and his ownership group will have humongous shoes to fill. It is a challenge Jacobson is looking forward to.
    “This is a very exciting day for myself, my family and business partners,” said Jacobson in a release. “Our ownership group is looking forward to adding new energy and new ideas to one of the most storied franchises in the Canadian Hockey League.
    “We are committed to providing the fans with not only a great on ice product, but the best fan experience possible. I would like to thank Kelly (McCrimmon) for this opportunity. The Wheat Kings mean everything to Brandon, Manitobans and fans across Western Canada.
    “We look forward to building on the past successes of the organization.”

Hofmann featured in Howe Happenings, other notes

Logan Hofmann signs a ball for a young player in Saskatoon.
    I was busy adding new content to the Howe Happenings blog run by the Gordie Howe Sports Complex this week, and the feature story I posted is a cool one from the baseball world.
    I caught up with Muenster, Sask., product Logan Hofmann, who is a right-handed pitcher who was selected in the fifth round and 138th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the MLB Draft held on June 11. He signed a rookie contract with the Pirates on June 27.
    The 20-year-old Hofmann is a pretty impressive young man to talk to. During the off-season, he enjoys working with young players in Saskatchewan to help them before better persons and players.
    My story on Hofmann can be found by clicking right here.
    I also posted a story on ZONE Sports Physiotherapy, which has a location on the Gordie Howe Sports Complex grounds and does great work there. The story on ZONE can be found by clicking right here.
  • The Regina Rams were saddened by the passing of one of their beloved alums last Saturday in former player and assistant coach Denis Losie at age 46. Losie played on the Rams defensive line during their CJFL era from 1991 to 1995 and was a member of three straight CJFL title winning teams from 1993 to 1995. He became a defensive line coach in 1996 and stayed with the Rams when they joined the U Sports ranks as the University of Regina Rams in 1999. The Rams won the CJFL title in their final two years on that circuit in 1997 and 1998. Losie took on duties as the special teams coordinator in 2000, while still serving as the defensive line coach. He held those roles through the end of the 2003 campaign and saw the rise Jon Ryan, who went on to be a star punter in the CFL and NFL. Losie returned to the Rams as special teams coordinator for two seasons in 2012 and 2013.
  • On Tuesday, the University of Lethbridge announced it was suspending is Pronghorns women’s soccer team for breaking sport cohort COVID-19 protocols. While the Canada West Conference and U Sports soccer seasons are cancelled, the Pronghorns had still been allowed to hold practices. The Pronghorns women’s soccer program and its practices will resume based on the advice of Alberta Health Services. The about the Pronghorns suspension from LethbridgeNewsNow can be found by clicking right here.  
  • On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that around 266,000 coronavirus cases could be linked back to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in August in Sturgis, South Dakota. That story can be found by clicking right here.
  • The SaskTel Centre, home of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, is going to serve as a home base for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s and women’s hockey teams for the 2020-21 campaign. The Huskies moving in their gear on Wednesday. The Huskies had to find a new home as their home rink Merlis Belsher Place is serving as a “Linus blanket” COVID-19 field hospital in waiting. Just to clarify, the “Linus blanket” term is used in all sincerity.
  • On Thursday, the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Polytechnic announced they will continue with remote learning and online classes for the winter semester of the 2020-21 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All three institutions are already conducting classes online for the fall semester, which has just started.
  • On Thursday, CBC’s web platform produced an in-depth look on a string of suicides among young men in Medicine Hat, Alta. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
  • On Thursday, 650 CKOM in Saskatoon produced a story on its web platform from an interview with veteran University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team receiver Yol Piok. Piok shared his experience with suicide. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
  • Thursday was World Suicide Prevention Day. As a result, a number of media outlets produced stories related to suicide.
  • Gregg Drinnan has his latest round up of how COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on the sports world in his Taking Note blog. His latest post notes Curling Canada has cancelled six more 2021 championships. Drinnan’s latest entry can be found by clicking right here.
  • On Thursday, the WHL and RE/MAX of Western Canada announced that over $585,000 has been raised over three seasons that it has run its RE/MAX Presents: WHL Suits Up to Promote Organ Donation program. The WHL was able to hold 14 out of its 17 games last season in that program before the tail end of the 2019-20 regular season and the entire CHL post-season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    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, 13 June 2020

Tournament, interprovincial travel ban clamps down Sask. summer sports season

There is no interprovincial travel for minors sports teams in Saskatchewan.
    It will be all about house leagues and city leagues, if competitive sports are played in any form this summer in Saskatchewan.
    After Saskatchewan entered Phase 3 of its reopening plan on Monday, minor sports organizations and teams waited to hear announcements for dates of when the first and second parts of Phase 4 would occur.
    The reopening plan was created to start returning Saskatchewan to action in a world that is in the grip of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
    In the first part of Phase 4, sports and recreational activities for children and adults may resume including activities taking place on soccer fields, volleyball and basketball courts, baseball diamonds, lawn bowling greens and football fields.
    The second part of Phase 4 will see indoor pools, indoor rinks, libraries, museums, galleries, movie theatres and casinos and bingo halls open to the public.
    Full contact sports like tackle football, rugby, wrestling, boxing, martial arts and ice, ball and field hockey with checking will not be allowed during any part of Phase 4. Athletes can do conditioning and skills training in those sports, but won’t be able to engage in competitions with the way these plans unfold at the moment.
    During a press conference on Thursday, the Government of Saskatchewan said it plans to announce a date for the first part of Phase 4 early next week.
    At that same press conference, deputy premier and minister of education Gord Wyant said kids’ sports and activities will go ahead this summer. He proceeded to add there would be no tournaments or interprovincial travel for sports teams and no handshakes.
    The big bomb there was the fact tournaments and interprovincial travel for sports teams was nixed. It would be safe to say most sports organizations likely weren’t expecting that to come down the pipe.
    It is safe to say minor sports bodies were hoping to conduct competitions within the province including provincial championships.
    The Government of Saskatchewan did not define the length of this tournament and interprovincial travel ban for sports teams. One has to wonder if it will extend into September, October, November or December, when the weather turns cold and the winter sports season usually starts up.
    On Tuesday, Baseball Sask announced it was cancelling all of its provincial championship tournaments citing it couldn’t wait any longer for a date to be announced for the first part of Phase 4.
    Softball Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Soccer Association haven’t announced what the fate will be of the provincial championship tournaments each of those bodies run.
    The tournament and interprovincial travel ban will likely end the hopes of Saskatchewan Rugby hosting provincial championships as well.
    Golf Saskatchewan annually hosts a pile of provincial championship tournaments in junior, men’s and women’s amateur, men’s and women’s mid-amateur and men’s and women’s senior amateur play. All of those have sizable followings, and all of those events have to be thrown into doubt.
    Since golf is an individual sport, it might be able to get around the tournament and interprovincial travel ban, because groups of players traveling together wouldn’t be considered teams. Still, the Government of Saskatchewan didn’t provide any clarity on this front.
    On the summer hockey front, it is considered a contact sport and there is a tournament and interprovincial travel ban, so it is likely the rinks won’t see any sort of games this summer.
    The announcement of the tournament and interprovincial travel ban was skillfully tucked in with announcements regarding grad ceremonies and places of worship on Thursday.
    Outdoor grad ceremonies can have 30 graduates for class and 150 in attendance overall.
    Places of worship will be allowed to have one-third of the seating capacity of a building or a maximum of 150 people whichever is less.
    Those two announcements drew the bulk of the attention on Thursday. Concerns about graduations or attending places of worship actually far exceed concerns people have about returning to the world of sports.
    As for the provincial sports scene, it is possible that the Government of Saskatchewan and the medical officials could make new decisions making a return to play more of a possibility for even contact sports.
    Still, there are a tonne of questions about the tournament and interprovincial travel ban for sports teams. Hopefully, more details about the travel ban will emerge sooner than later.

Third Saskatoon Black Lives Matter rally draws 1,000

Protesters take a knee at Saturday’s Black Lives Matter rally in Saskatoon.
    Saskatoon seems to have the magic touch when it comes to hosting peaceful anti-racism rallies which have been held across the world to support the Black Live Matter movement.
    The third such rally occurred in downtown Saskatoon on Saturday and around 1,000 people turned out. The rally ran from noon to about 4 p.m.
    The march started at Kiwanis Memorial Park, moved to the police station, cycled down to city hall and finished up back at Kiwanis Memorial Park. The protesters in the march filled the air with chants and a number of people carried signs.
    There were speakers who took centre stage addressing the crowd at each stop of the march. At the police station, the protesters at the rally took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds to remember George Floyd and other minorities who lost their lives unjustly at the hands of police.
    These demonstrations were triggered due to the death of Floyd, who is African-American, on May 25 after he was arrested by police in Minneapolis, Minn.
    Video of the arrest showed Floyd being pinned on the ground with a police officer identified as Derek Chauvin driving his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck.
    Four officers were fired over the incident including Chauvin, and at first, Chauvin, who is Caucasian, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter over Floyd’s death. The charges against Chauvin were increased to second-degree murder on June 3.
    The three other officers - Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao – were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
    The crowd at the Saturday rally in Saskatoon was about 60 per cent between the ages of 18 to 24. The rest of the crowd encompassed various age backgrounds.
    The rally seemed to attract a number of families too. A wide variety of cultures were present as well.
    The rally wasn’t as big as the one held in Saskatoon on June 4, which was called the “Justice for George Rally.”
    It is now estimated the crowd at the June 4 rally contained around 4,000 people. About 95 per cent of the people at that rally were age 18 to 24.
    The one noticeable difference was the presence of the Saskatoon Police Service. At the June 4 rally, members of the Saskatoon Police Service mingled with those at the rally, which include posing for pictures.
    The Saskatoon Police members did a great job of blocking off streets to allow the June 4 march to happen without any hiccups.
    Since that time, a number of other stories have come out in the mainstream media regarding police clashes with minorities and a couple of high profile cases in Canada involving interactions with police and people of First Nations decent.
    Some of the stories include clashes between those attending Black Lives Matter rallies in Montreal and the police service in that centre, where protesters were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed.
    The organizers of Saturday’s rally asked for the Saskatoon Police Service to not have a presence at that rally. The Saskatoon Police members kept their distance and efficiently blocked off streets to allow Saturday’s march to take place.
    There were calls at the Saturday rally to defund the police in order to transfer money into social programs to deal with issues of racism and mental health. The “defund the police” line originated in the United States due to the continuing racial turmoil in that country.
    The people in the Saturday rally in Saskatoon made their voices heard, and everything went off in a peaceful way.
    If the rallies continue to happen in a peaceful way, it will help those organizing the rallies to get their anti-racism message out.

New heights for COVID-19 frustration, other thoughts

People in the COVID-19 pandemic want to get after each other like this.
    One has to wonder if frustration over the COVID-19 pandemic is reaching new heights at least in Saskatchewan.
    Over social media lines, it seems there are a large number of people that want the province to start returning more to normal due to the low number of COVID-19 cases in the province. As of Saturday, there were 23 active cases in Saskatchewan including one person in intensive care in Saskatoon and one receiving in patient care in the northern part of the province.
    Between the four western Canadian provinces in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, there are a total of 67 hospitalizations as of today due to COVID-19 with nine of those cases needing intensive care.
    There are a lot of people on social media lines who want restrictions to be relaxed, and they do not want society to be held down by those low hospital rates. These people want to be out and about and live their lives like normal.
    There are still others who view the COVID-19 pandemic as a serious crisis and believe restrictions are being relaxed too quickly and everything should be locked down. Those people fear leaving their homes.
    There are a handful of people who look at the Worldometer statistics to try and determine how dangerous COVID-19 is. Worldometer seems to be extremely accurate in counting deaths in real time.
    At the time this post went live, Worldometer stated 432,475 deaths due to COVID-19 this year. Worldometer also stated so far this year there have been 3,711,624 deaths by cancer, 2,259,154 deaths caused by smoking, 1,130,291 deaths caused by alcohol, 759,706 deaths by HIV/AIDS, 484,615 deaths by suicide, 443,281 deaths by malaria, 220,187 deaths by seasonal flu and 139,684 deaths from mothers giving birth.
    It should be noted that HIV/AIDS has been a pandemic for decades.
    The Worldometer also stated at the time this post went live there was over $180,792,000,000 spent on illegal in the world so far this year.
    No matter where you sit in belief on how dangerous COVID-19 actually is, it does seem people only look at the situation from their own person perspective. There doesn’t seem to be much empathy for those who see things differently.
    If you have a job in an industry that is keeping you financially sound at the moment, it seems some in that situation don’t care if others slip to poverty due to the fact those others work in an industry that could totally collapse due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    It is almost, “I’m glad that is not me, and tough luck to the other person.”
    It is safe to say chronic stress regarding this situation that has no end date is affecting a lot of people.
    If everyone could find a way to a touch more kind and empathic, that would help.
  • Blake Nill, who is the head coach of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds football team, agrees with the cancellations of the fall sports seasons announced by U Sports, the Canada West Conference, Atlantic University Sport and Ontario University Athletics that were announced on Monday. Nill told J.J. Adams of Postmedia for a Tuesday article, “Ultimately, universities have to provide leadership. They have to set an example. And this is absolutely about that.” Adams’s story can be found by clicking right here.
  • On Thursday, multiple media reports out of Regina stated late University of Saskatchewan Huskies football team running back Samwel Uko tried to seek help for mental health issues from a Regina hospital twice on May 21, which was the day he died. The 20-year-old died of an apparent suicide by walking into Wascana Lake. Overall, this is just a horrible thing to hear about.
  • Gregg Drinnan, who was the best ever when it came to covering the WHL, posted a lengthy column on his Taking Note blog on Friday about the various difficulties the sports world is encountering with the COVID-19 pandemic. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
  • A year ago today on June 13, 2019, the Toronto Raptors downed the Golden State Warriors 114-110 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. With the win, the Raptors took the best-of-seven series 4-2 to capture the first NBA title. There were huge watch parties across Canada including in downtown Saskatoon to view that win. Right now, there are likely a lot of people in the country who would want to go back to that moment.
  • On the uplifting front, big congratulations go out to Muenster, Sask., product Logan Hofmann. On Thursday, the 20-year-old right-handed pitcher was selected in the fifth round and 138th overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the MLB Draft. Hofmann played this past season with the Northwestern State University Demons baseball team in the NCAA Division I ranks. With the Demons in a shortened season, Hofmann pitched 28 innings without allowing an earned run. He won all four of his starts striking out 38 batters earning second-team all-American honours. Hofmann will turn up from time to time to train at the Gordie Howe Sports Complex here in Saskatoon.
    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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