Tag: RJ Currie

Scattershooting on a Sunday night after getting a real deal on cheap gas . . .

scattershooting

On Sunday, Westhead tweeted that “Branch said OHL commissioned an ‘independent investigation’ after a player reached out via its ‘player communications tool’ to report alleged incident.

There was a time when MLB had the best playoff format of them all; of course, that was before TV money came to rule the roost. But back in the day the American and National League teams with the best regular-season records met in the World Series. Now they are bickering over whether 14 teams should get into post-season play. That’s like holding a debate over whether to add more chopped lettuce to a Subway ham sandwich.

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Here’s Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, in a column about what’s on the MLB commissioner’s consideration list: “Expand playoffs, for the fans’ good! Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame solely because he expanded the playoffs. Hmmm. Our side has proposed expansion of playoffs to 14 teams, the players say they’ll go for 12. Why be so exclusive, like the playoffs are some snooty country club? Propose 32-team playoffs! We have only 30 teams, but we could add two minor-league teams to even out the brackets.”

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Headline at TheOnion.com: MLB owners propose CBA that offers players college credit in lieu of salary.

The price of gas hit $1.95.9 a litre in Kamloops at some point on Sunday. But don’t feel sorry for me because I was able to find one station at $1.75.9. With a deal like that, how could I not stop and fill up even though the gas gauge still was above half?

ICYMI, the pandemic is over. Done. Finis. It is because the NFL says it is. On Thursday, the NFL told its 32 teams that life is back to normal. No more protocols related to COVID-19. No more mandatory testing. As Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) tweeted: “Being around everyone is back.”

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Meanwhile, David Rising of The Associated Press wrote this on Sunday morning:

“The official global death toll from COVID-19 is on the verge of eclipsing 6 million — underscoring that the pandemic, now in its third year, is far from over.

“The milestone is the latest tragic reminder of the unrelenting nature of the pandemic even as people are shedding masks, travel is resuming and businesses are reopening around the globe. The death toll, compiled by Johns Hopkins University, stood at 5,996,882 as of Sunday morning and was expected to pass the 6 million mark later in the day.”

At the same time, Johns Hopkins had the U.S. death toll at 958,437. Through Friday, the seven-day average was 1,541. . . . What about Canada, you ask? Johns Hopkins had the death toll at 36,998, with a seven-day average of 62 through Friday.

The NFL is right. What pandemic?

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T. Ryan Gregory is a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Guelph . . .

Fixes

If you’re a sports fan who loves great anecdotes, you can’t go wrong with The Baseball 100. This marvelous book was written by Joe Posnanski, a veteran writer who obviously is a huge baseball fan. He rates his top 100 baseball players of all-time, and has provided an essay on each one of them. The key is that the essays aren’t over-populated with numbers; rather, he has stories to tell about each of the players. The book is pricey — the Canadian cover price is $54 — but it’s 700-plus pages of great reading. Get your hands on one and thank me later.

Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, isn’t taking sides in the baseball mess. As he explained: “Neither side is worthy of praise or support. If you ‘take sides’ here, you are merely selecting the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs.”

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My wife, Dorothy, who underwent a kidney transplant on Sept. 23, 2013, is taking part in her ninth kidney walk, albeit virtually, on June 5. She has been involved in every walk since she had her transplant. If you would like to sponsor her, you are able to do that right here.

After a Global AgeWatch Index ranking of the world’s top 96 places for seniors to live, RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com noted: “Its top three are Switzerland, Norway and the L.A. Lakers.”

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

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Or, for more information, visit right here.

Beer

Advertisement

Scattershooting on a Sunday night after not watching Canucks and Flames . . .

Scattershooting2

If you think MLB has a problem with pace of play, how about a high school girls softball game in Montgomery, Alta., in which Park Crossing defeated Sidney Lanier, 46-45?  The winners struck for 11 runs in the first inning but had to come from behind in the final inning for the victory. . . . The teams combined for 20 hits and 14 errors. But there were 65 walks — that’s right! 65!!! Oh, there also were 29 HBPs. One player got to plate eight times and was 0-for-0 with seven runs. She had five BBs and three HBPs. . . . It took almost five hours to play the game.

Stud

Dwight Perry, in the Seattle Times: “Park Crossing High School’s 46-45 win over Lanier in the Alabama Class 6A girls softball regionals featured 29 batters hit by pitches and 65 walks. Somewhere, Bob ‘Just A Bit Outside’ Uecker was smiling.”

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Perry, again: “Albert Pujols, just released by the Angels and signed by the Dodgers, has grounded into an MLB-record 403 double plays in his career. Instead of having a street renamed in his honor, maybe he should be awarded his own 643 area code.”

You easily can make the argument that no one athlete in Saskatchewan’s history has had a larger impact on the province than George Reed, one of the two biggest names to have worn the green and white of the Saskatchewan Roughriders — the other being Ron Lancaster, of course. . . . There isn’t anything shocking about that statement. . . . What might be a surprise to you is what Reed faced in Regina, especially in his early days with the Roughriders. . . . Jason Warick of cbc.ca has that story right here and it’s a great read.

Did Joey Meyer of the Denver Zephyrs, a Triple-A baseball team, really hit a 582-foot home run at Mile High Stadium on June 2, 1987? . . . Benjamin Hochman tried to find out and ended up with a great story that is right here.

Bob Molinaro of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot has a question and the answer: “Is anyone’s enjoyment of a baseball game enhanced after being told the exit velocity of a batted ball? Of course not.”

I would suggest that we may never find out exactly how many NHL players were hit by COVID-19 this season. Consider this from Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun, following a post-game Zoom session after the Jets beat the visiting Vancouver Canucks, 5-0, on Tuesday night:

“Jets forward Dominic Toninato, an unheralded free-agent signing in October who has languished on the taxi squad most of the season, revealed he’d come down with COVID in November and had some concerning complications from it, delaying his return.”

Makes a guy wonder just how many similar cases there have been in the NHL. Also has a guy wondering if that’s an upper- or lower-body injury in the NHL?

“Standard Magazine reports heavy-metal fans are among the most anxious and depressed in the world,” notes RJ Currie of sportsdeke.com. “In fact, they rank a close second to followers of the Toronto Maple Leafs.”

Coyote

Dorothy will be taking part in her eighth Kamloops Kidney Walk, albeit virtually, on June 6. If you would like to be part of her team, you are able to make a donation right here. . . . Thanks in advance for your generosity.

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If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

JUST NOTES: The junior B Fernie Ghostriders of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League are in the market for a new general manager/head coach with the news that Jeff Wagner has left to join the BCHL’s Coquitlam Express as associate coach and director of scouting. Wagner spent three seasons with the Ghostriders. . . . The BCHL’s Surrey Eagles and head coach Cam Keith have signed a contract extension through the 2023-24 season. He has been the Eagles’ head coach since March 2019.

Grandpa

Scattershooting for the last time in 2020 while waiting for fireworks to start . . .

Scattershooting

Peanuts

Some questions and some thoughts as we jump into 2021:

1. When did so many people develop such a lack of respect for healthcare workers?

2. When it starts to snow, why does it never seem to know when to stop?

3. Taking Note doesn’t salute a team of the year, but if it did the 2020 award would go to the junior B 100 Mile House Wranglers. In announcing in September that the Wranglers would sit out the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League season, team president Greg Aiken told Kelly Sinoski of the 100 Mile Free Press: “We’re concerned for the health of our community, just bringing 35 foreign bodies to our town is a risk. To me, that just doesn’t make sense with this pandemic going on. Who knows what is going to happen with the kids going back to school . . . I can guarantee there’s going to be a spike in cases. It’s not getting better.”

4. If you were wondering, the 2021 World Junior Championship really gets started in the Edmonton bubble on Saturday with quarter-final games.

5. The NBA season is off to something of a ragged start with blowouts and some horrid shooting — New York Knicks’ starters were 0-for-23 shooting threes on Thursday night. You wonder if that’s a precursor for an NHL season that will start about two weeks after training camps opened and without the benefit of exhibition games.

6. A “random thought” from Janice Hough, who is at leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “The NBA season is very young. But there appear to be some very bad teams. Wonder if the Washington Wizards could beat the Washington Generals?”

7. We are almost a year into this pandemic, so how is it that some people still can’t follow the one-way arrows on the floors of malls and stores?

8. So . . . that domestic terrorist who blew up part of Nashville the other day apparently was a believer in the lizard people conspiracy. Somehow, I wasn’t aware of the lizard people until The Sports Curmudgeon clued me in on Thursday. That conspiracy really does explain 2020, so I know that I will sleep better tonight.

9. I really do hope that you got to watch Kelli O’Hara sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir over the festive season.

10. “Rumour has it two members of the Red Deer Rebels believe in Santa,” writes RJ Currie over at sportsdeke.com. “The rest are Rebels without a Claus.”

I don’t know how your 2020 ended, but it couldn’t have been any better than Ray Ferraro’s . . . You can bet they’ll be playing street hockey at the intersection of Ferraro Drive and Allison Way, too. . . . 

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If you have some time on your hands for some entertaining reading, click right here and you’ll find Dave Barry’s 2020 in review.

Politics

The first three paragraphs of an editorial written by The Editorial Board of The New York Times:

“Look no further than the storied Rose Bowl game to understand the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s disingenuous and perilous posturing about the sanctity of its athletics programs while the coronavirus has ravaged the country and college campuses.

“Ignoring health officials who have deemed the annual playoff matchup too dangerous to be held on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, Calif., amid a massive spike in Covid-19 cases, the N.C.A.A. simply allowed it to move to Texas, where local officials are willing to let some 16,000 fans attend. It’s the worst kind of forum shopping.

“The N.C.A.A. likes to tell itself that it is in the business of educating students about the virtues of competition and sportsmanship. What it is showing them now by example is that some sports — the moneymaking kind — are more important than public health.”

And the last paragraph . . .

“Delaying the basketball season is the right choice. After a folly-filled football season, university and college administrators and the N.C.A.A. can show real leadership by putting the safety of their players and their communities first.”

The complete editorial is right here.

Amazon

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Giraffe

G’night and Happy New Year. See you in 2021.

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering if the Christmas lights will work or if I’ll need more extension cords . . .

Scattershooting

If you haven’t already seen this, take a few minutes out of your day to give it a listen/watch. This one will make you think about what not to do if you ever end up with a stinky, rotting whale on your beach. . . .

How did I spend my Sunday? Thanks for asking. The two rather large trees in our front yard got their haircuts on Friday, So on Sunday most of the outdoor Christmas lights and decorations are up and ready to shine. Another hour, hopefully on Monday, and it’ll be all done for another year. . . . Temperature on Sunday afternoon reached 11 C, so it was quite enjoyable out there. . . . Oh yes, we also had our first taste of this festive season’s fruitcake. Merry Christmas!

After the Boston Red Sox brought back Alex Cora as manager, Greg Cote of the Miami Herald wrote: “Adjusted bromide: ‘Cheaters Almost Never Prosper.’ ” . . . Cora served a one-year suspension after being manager of the Houston Astros during their cheating scandal.

Closed

Headline at TheOnion.com: Cora gets another kick at the can in Boston.

The USHL has been having its issues with COVID-19, and has had to postpone/reschedule a number of games. The Waterloo Black Hawks and Tri-City Storm both played on Saturday night and were supposed to face each other on Sunday. But the game, according to the league, “has been declared a No Contest. Per league safety protocols, minimum standards were not met to play (Sunday’s) game.”

A news flash from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: Dateline Washington, D.C.: Donald Trump finally concedes he lost — to the Baltimore Stars in the 1985 USFL playoffs.

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Perry’s Tweet of the Week came from @Southampton FC, which, upon finding itself atop the Premier League standings for the the first time tweeted: “Stop the count.”

Come April 6, it will be three years since 16 people were killed in a crash HumboldtBroncosinvolving the bus belonging to the SJHL’s Humboldt Broncos. Michelle Straschnitzki and her husband, Tom, are two Broncos parents who aren’t prepared to give up on wanting to have seatbelts declared mandatory on medium and large highway buses and school buses. Bill Graveland of The Canadian Press reports that these parents “are angry at what they see as inaction from the federal and provincial governments on measures that could prevent another tragedy.” . . . Michelle told Graveland: “It’s just disgusting that nothing has changed. It should be legislated as of yesterday. It should be across the board, across Canada. It makes me nuts. This is not OK. We should not be fighting for this 2 1/2 years after the bus crash. It’s not right.” . . . Graveland’s story is right here.

ICYMI, St. Mary’s, Remsen beat Montezuma, 108-94, in an Iowa eight-man football state semifinal the other day. Interestingly, St. Mary’s had only 144 yards through the air, while Montezuma QB Eddie Burgess threw for 744 yards and nine TDs, then told the Cedar Rapids Gazette: “Credit to them. They kept us contained for some of the game.” . . . Blaine Harpeneau, the winning QB, was named player of the game after running for 354 yards on 40 carries. He scored four TDs and threw for four more. The teams combined for 1,497 yards of offence.

RJ Currie at sportsdeke.com: “Vasek Pospisil’s three-set loss in the Sofia Open final made Canadians 0-6 in ATP finals in 2020. You might call it Mission Im-Pospisil.”

A few years ago — actually more years ago than I care to remember — I took a whllook at the first 25 years of the WHL in four lengthy stories. The other day, someone who stops by this space on a regular basis wondered if I might post those pieces again. . . . So I have dug them up and they will appear here over the next while. Keep in mind that they were written more than 20 years ago, and I will post them as they were written. Also please keep in mind that they don’t pretend to be all-inclusive; they include some highlights and some lowlights and hopefully will help keep the past alive.

This is an all-time favourite hockey photo. Never mind the great stuff on the ice, take a look at the faces in the crowd . . .

Burger

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CBC North: 10 new cases of COVID-19 found in Nunavut, with signs of community spread in Arviat.

Ana Cabrera, CNN: US surpasses 11 million coronavirus cases. It took just 6 days to go from 10 million to 11 million.

Seattle Times: Gov. Inslee orders sweeping restrictions on indoor gatherings, restaurants, bars, gyms as COVID-19 cases surge in Washington state.

CBC News: 2 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Newfoundland and Labrador. Both are travel-related. The province has 10 known active cases, including 1 person who is in hospital.

CBC News: New Brunswick is reporting 3 new cases of COVID-19 for a total of 22 known active cases in the province. The new cases are in the Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton regions. 1 is travel-related and the other 2 are being investigated. All 3 new cases are self-isolating.

CBC News: Quebec is reporting 1,211 new cases of COVID-19. The province also added 15 deaths to its total, 2 of which occurred in the past 24 hours. The province has seen a total of 123,854 cases, including 6,626 deaths and 104,848 recoveries, since the pandemic began.

CBC News: Ontario is reporting 1,248 new cases of COVID-19, including 364 in Toronto, 308 in Peel and 125 in York Region. Provincial Health Minister Christine Elliott says an additional 1,062 cases have been resolved and more than 42,200 tests were completed.

Global News: Person in 20s dies from COVID-19 as Saskatchewan reports 2 deaths, 181 new cases.

CBC News: Calgary’s emergency management chief says Alberta needs a 28-day lockdown to battle COVID-19 — now.

CTV Edmonton: With 991 new cases, there are more than 9,600 active cases of COVID-19 in Alberta.

Global News: 10 more COVID-19 deaths in Manitoba Sunday, 494 new cases. There are 220 people in hospital with 41 in intensive care, and the number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 162.

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The eight-team South Coast Women’s Hockey League has cancelled its 2020-21 season. The league, which features teams from Kamloops to Vancouver Island, had hoped to open in January, but ended up cancelling. . . .

The U of Vermont has delayed the start of its men’s and women’s basketball and hockey seasons until Dec. 18. “Our state is obviously seeing a significant increase in COVID-19 cases and it’s important that our programs are operating in a manner that is consistent with guidance from state officials,” Jeff Schulman, the director of athletics, said in a statement. . . . If you are wondering what former NHL head coach Mike Babcock is doing these days, he’s a volunteer advisor to the coaching staff with Vermont’s men’s hockey team. The Catamounts play in Hockey East, which is scheduled to start up next weekend. . . .

Jim Boeheim, the longtime men’s basketball coach at Syracuse, has tested positive. Boeheim, 75, is asymptomatic and is self-isolating at home. One other person in the program also tested positive, although it’s not known if it’s a player, coach or somebody else. The school also has stopped all basketball-related activities. . . .

The University of Massachusetts-Lowell paused men’s basketball activities last week after two positive tests. Practices are expected to resume on Wednesday.

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Remote

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering what to do with the day’s extra hour . . .

Scattershooting

JulieHotel
Julie Dodds soaks up some fresh air and sunshine after being discharged from hospital on Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Allan Dodds)

Julie Dodds of Kamloops, who underwent a kidney transplant on Wednesday, was discharged from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver on Sunday. . . . She will spend the next few weeks in Vancouver — for now, she’s staying in a hotel close to St. Paul’s — while her medical team monitors her levels through regular bloodwork. . . . Julie, who has a genetic kidney disease, is from Kamloops. The married mother of three young boys received a kidney from a living donor — her younger brother, Jason Brauer of Port McNeill, B.C. . . . After giving up a kidney on Wednesday, Jason was discharged from hospital on Thursday.

If you haven’t listened to this blurb with baseball fan Bob Costas talking about Game 6 of the World Series and MLB’s pace-of-play issue, this is well worth your time.

The book, from Penguin Random House, is to be published on April 6. The title is Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL’s First Treaty Indigenous Player. . . . The author is Fred Sasakamoose, and if you don’t know who he is, well, Google is your friend. . . . Yes, I eagerly await the arrival of this one.

If you were to take one bite of a hot dog every time you saw a football coach — NCAA or NFL — improperly wearing a facemask you would be as big as the Goodyear Blimp after just one weekend’s viewing.

Here are a couple of hockey chirps left over from the other day when I lifted a few from a Twitter thread started by Jason Gregor of TSN1260 in Edmonton . . .

“Playing junior in PEI and one of the teams had recruited a Newfoundlander who played defence. He got beat 1-on-1 and scored against and while skating past our bench to go off the ice someone said ‘Come by plane, go home by boat.’ ”

“Pushing during faceoff, other guy says, ‘Easy there cheese burger.’ Buddy on my own team was in tears. I was a little portly. Nickname has stuck with me ever since.”

Mess

“At the end of the first half, an all-out physical brawl erupted at midfield between Florida and Missouri football players,” notes Janice Hough, aka the Left Coast Sports Babe. “But, sure, these young men are mature and disciplined enough to play football during a pandemic.”

Disaster

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

MLS postponed one game and cancelled another after more positive tests. . . . Los Angeles FC had three positives so its Sunday night game at San Jose against the Earthquakes was postponed. The league is working to see if it can be rescheduled. . . . Minnesota United had a positive test come up on Wednesday and another one on Saturday. Its game at Sporting Kansas City was cancelled because it wouldn’t have any impact on the playoff picture. . . .

The United Soccer League cancelled its Sunday championship final after what it said were “multiple” positives on the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who were to have played the Phoenix Rising in St. Petersburg, Fla. Head coach Neill Collins was among those who tested positive. . . . The league said it was cancelling the final “for the health and safety of everyone involved.”

“One of the shortest marriages in NFL history was Evelyn Lozada filing for divorce from wideout Chad Johnson after 41 days,” reports RJ Currie over at sportsdeke.com. “Or as football receivers call it — a quick out.”

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

If the West Van Hockey Academy, which had been the home of the Warriors, is to operate again it seems it won’t be until at least 2022-23. The academy had been running its academics out of Sentinel Secondary in West Vancouver, but the school district didn’t renew its contract after last season. The pandemic then got in the way of a possible relocation to Seycove Secondary in North Vancouver. . . . Jane Seyd of the North Shore News has that story right here.

JUST NOTES: Are you ready for Tuesday night and whatever circus that arrives with it? . . . When a team is really poor, like the Dallas Cowboys, there should be a way for the NFL to keep it off TV. . . . The Cowboys didn’t score even one offensive TD in either of their past two games. They are scheduled to play the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. The Steelers are 6-0. The Steelers have the NFL’s best defence. . . . The best nickname in sports today belongs to Damon Harrison, aka Snacks, a veteran nose tackle who is on the Seattle Seahawks’ practice roster. How large is Snacks? About 6-foot-3 and 350 lb. . . . The SJHL concluded its exhibition season Sunday and now will open regular-season play on Friday. All games will be played before a maximum of 150 fans.

Puzzle

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering if Randy Moth had a fly pattern in his arsenal . . .

Scattershooting

Is there anything more entertaining than a four-year-old child? Seriously!

Their eyes as they wonder and learn. Their laughter . . . oh yes, their laughter. Their rushing everywhere . . .

KaraPet
Kara introduces her new pet – Randy Moth? – to her family.

We spent a couple of hours in Burnaby on Sept. 20, visiting with our son, his wife and their two daughters — Averi, who was born Aug. 8, and Kara, who is four.

Yes, Averi slept through the entire two hours.

Yes, we brought the obligatory presents, including a game for Kara for which we paid $20 or $25, although the price never matters when a grandchild is involved, does it?

Of course, the game didn’t captivate her interest on this afternoon. Oh no. Like a kitten playing with wrapping paper on Christmas morning, Kara was more interested in a moth.

We met in a park that included lots of green space, along with a play area that was on a knoll about 20 feet from a picnic table at which we were lunching. At one point, Kara approached the picnic table with something in her left hand. It was, she said, her “pet moth.” I wanted to call it Randy Moth, but she wouldn’t go for it. (If you’re a football fan, you’ll understand.)

As she held up her left hand, we thought the moth was, uhh, deceased. But then she let go of it and it flew away . . . well, away being a few feet.

Kara scurried after her new pet, recaptured it, held it up, let it go . . . and repeated that three or four times until the moth apparently got tired of the game and disappeared.

Shortly after and accompanied by Grandma, Kara returned to the play area. She was climbing on one of the play structures when she noticed a young boy a few feet away with something in one of his hands.

“That’s my pet moth!” Kara exclaimed.

I have no idea how she knew that was the only moth in that particular park on that particular day, but she did. Thankfully, the boy let go of the moth and it disappeared into the wild blue yonder before there was a confrontation.

Kids . . .

Meat

Headline at fark.com: The PAC-12 de¢ide$ to re$ume football for $ome rea$on.

If you are planning a move to Moose Jaw, you should know that there is a criminal element in the community. . . . For proof, consider this Facebook post from Rob Carnie, an old friend who has been at CHAB in Moose Jaw since 1986 and has the city covered like a blanket: “From the daily Moose Jaw Police Service blotter: ‘2:33 pm — Mischief — There was a report of cheese slices being left on a homeowner’s door handle. The parents of the suspects were spoken to and were going to speak to their kids about the incident.’ ”

“Because of coronavirus restrictions, only 1,000 fans per day will be allowed into this year’s French Open at 35,000-seat Roland Garros Stadium,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “In other words, plenty of good seats not available.”

Cafe 3.440 is a restaurant located 3,400 metres above sea level at a ski resort in the Austrian Alps. As RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com notes: “Great food but not much atmosphere.”

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One more from Currie: “A Scrabble player was once kicked out of the U.S. national championship for hiding wild-card tiles. When asked to explain himself, he drew a blank.”

Serling

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CB A.J. Terrell of the Atlanta Falcons didn’t play on Sunday against the visiting Chicago Bears after a test he took Friday morning came up positive. Terrell was the Falcons’ first-round selection in the NFL’s 2020 draft. He was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list on Saturday, becoming the first NFL player to go on that list during the season. . . .

The MLS postponed a Sunday game between visiting Sporting Kansas City and Colorado after the Rapids had a player and three staff members test positive. This is the first MLS game to be postponed because of positive tests since the teams returned from their bubble tournament in Florida. . . . As well, defender Nick Hagglund of FC Cincinnati has said he tested positive and is self-isolating. . . . Cincinnati went ahead with its Saturday game, which it lost 4-0 to host New York City FC. . . .

Things would appear to be on the precipice in parts of North Dakota where school sports look to be under siege from COVID-19. There’s more right here from the always thorough and reliable Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald. . . .

DB Jevon Holland of the Oregon Ducks, a likely first-round NFL draft pick, announced Saturday that is opting out of the Pac-12’s 2020 season. . . . Oregon lost cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Thomas Graham Jr., both of them making the decision to opt out when it appeared that there wouldn’t be a season. . . . Oregon LT Penei Sewell, perhaps the NCAA’s top offensive lineman, also has chosen not to play this season. . . .

Georgia State was to have played a football game at the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday. But the game was postponed on Friday after the Panthers reported positives tests. On Sunday, Georgia State said it all was a mistake. . . . From a school news release: “The positive COVID tests that caused Georgia State to postpone Saturday’s scheduled game at Charlotte turned out to be the result of errors in reading the test results.”

If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:

Living Kidney Donor Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

6A Providence Building

1081 Burrard Street

Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6

Tel: 604-806-9027

Toll free: 1-877-922-9822

Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

——

Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney 

Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street

Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9

604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182

kidneydonornurse@vch.ca

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Adrian Sakundiak, a former SJHL sniper, died at his home in Calgary on Sept. 20. Sakundiak, who had battled brain cancer, was 54. . . . A native of Springside, Sask., he had one assist in five games with the Saskatoon Blades in 1983-84. . . . In 1985-86, with the SJHL’s Estevan Bruins, Sakundiak put up a remarkable 155 points, including 81 goals, in 60 games. In 121 games with the Bruins, he totalled 120 goals and 121 assists. . . . He also had 22 goals and 33 assists in 58 games with the Yorkton Terriers in 1983-84. . . . Sakundiak went on to the U of Saskatchewan after his junior A career was over, playing for the Huskies while earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a Bachelor of Commerce in Health Care Management, and an MBA in Business Strategy. . . . There is an obituary right here.

Carter Brooks of gameonhockey.ca reported Saturday that the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals have signed a pair of WHL prospects, including F Connor Geekie, who was the second overall selection in the WHL’s 2019 bantam draft. Geekie, from Strathclair, Man., had 18 goals and 35 assists in 26 games with the U-18 Yellowhead Chiefs last season. . . . Virden also signed F Braeden Lewis, a sixth-round pick by the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL’s 2018 bantam draft. Lewis was the captain of the U-18 Southwest Cougars last season, while he scored 20 goals and added 44 assists in 46 games. . . . The MJHL is planning on opening its regular season on Oct. 9. Both players are expected to leave the Oil Capitals in mid-November as the WHL teams prepare for what they hope will be a Dec. 4 opening.

Frank

Scattershooting on a Sunday night while wondering how many points Drake scored . . .

Scattershooting

Newspaper

To little fanfare Canada lost another newspaper the other day when the Saskatoon Express, a weekly that was completely local and gave readers an option of sorts to Postmedia’s Saskatoon StarPhoenix, closed its doors. The Express was home to a couple of long-time friends — Dale Brin, a former publisher of the Kamloops Daily News, was its publisher; Cam Hutchinson was the editor.

The Express also was home on a weekly basis to some of the musings of RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. As the Express went down, Currie filed one last observation:

“Boston swept Carolina out of the NHL playoffs with a 4-0 Game 4 shutout. The Bruins’ defence was so numbing, it turned the Hurricanes into the Novocaines.”

Hey, CHL, I don’t know what’s in your agreement with Rogers Sportsnet, but I’m guessing you’re not getting the exposure out of it that you expected. Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, hit the nail hard on its head when he told Donnie and The Moj on TSN 1040 Radio in Vancouver: “It was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Sportsnet . . . it’s a terrible deal for the league. We should have gone with TSN.”

The WHL’s annual general meeting is scheduled for June 11 and 12 in Kelowna. Have to wonder if national TV coverage might be on the agenda.

——

The Guelph Storm dumped the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, 5-2, at the Memorial Cup in Halifax on Saturday. . . . On Sunday, the host Halifax Mooseheads got past the Storm, 4-2. . . . On Monday, the Prince Albert Raiders, who lost 4-1 to Halifax on Friday, will meet the Huskies. . . . Halifax is the only unbeaten team, at 2-0, and is guaranteed at least a semifinal game. Guelph is 1-1, with Prince Albert and Rouyn-Noranda both 0-1. . . . The Storm and Raiders are to play on Tuesday, with the Mooseheads and Huskies meeting on Wednesday to conclude the round-robin portion of the event.

“Schick Razors has bought Harry’s for $1.37 billion,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “Shaving profits soar this time of year — every time a team gets eliminated from the NHL playoffs.”

Headline at TheOnion.com: NHL Warns Hockey Fans that Banging on the Glass Scares Players.

——

Headline at Fark.com: Michigan’s John Fellein has agreed to become the future ex-coach of the Cavs.

Oldwomanshoe

“Tiger Woods has missed the cut in the PGA Championship,” noted Janice Hough at leftcoastsportsbabe.com on Friday. “So to CBS, which is televising the tournament, thoughts and prayers.”

——

One more from Hough: “Russell Wilson, who just signed a four-year $140-million contract, with a $65-million signing bonus, bought his mom a house for Mother’s Day. Wilson didn’t say where the house is, but we know it’s not in San Francisco. He’d have needed a bigger contract.” . . . Yes, Hough lives in the San Francisco area.

F Simon Boyko, a 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., scored twice on Sunday to help the host Brooks Bandits to a 4-3 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings in the final game at the national junior A championship tournament. . . . Brooks led 4-1 after two periods. . . . The host team has won four of the past five titles. The Portage Terriers won in 2015, the Cobourg Cougars in 2017 and the Chilliwack Chiefs in 2018.

Defensive end Chris Long of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles ended his playing career on Saturday. Long, 34, played 11 seasons in the NFL and is a two-time Super Bowl champion. Here is his retirement announcement.

It’s the middle of May. A federal election is scheduled for Oct. 21. The Conservative Party of Canada already is running attack ads. Oh joy . . . only five more months of being inundated with such unimaginative junk.

Spidey

Scattershooting on a Monday while wondering if we’ve seen last of snow . . .

Scattershooting

“The fumble-fingered Seattle Mariners entered May on pace to commit a whopping 187 errors this season,” notes Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “So if the M’s host a Sesame Street Night this season, chances are it’ll be brought to you by the letter ‘E.’ ”

——

One more from Perry: “From the Sometimes These Items Just Write Themselves file comes word that Houston Astros farmhand Seth Beer hit home runs on back-to-back Thirsty Thursday beer discount nights — April 25 and May 2 — for the Fayetteville (Ark.) Woodpeckers. As for fans of beer and Beer, that’s what you call a doubleheader.”

When Brighton and Hove Albion scored in the 75th minute of a 1-1 draw with Newcastle in a recent Premier League soccer game, it was the club’s first goal in 12 hours 15 minutes of playing time over seven games. Seriously!

Airlines

Headline at TheOnion.com: Retired Marshawn Lynch goes into Yeast Mode while baking.

Starting pitcher Chris Sale of the Boston Red Sox started 0-4, 7.43 this season, which resulted in RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com noting that “the only pitcher looking worse lately is the Trivago guy.”

“Oregon is producing more marijuana than it can legally sell, as in a surplus of 1 million pounds,” reports Perry. “In a related story, demands to be traded to the Portland Trail Blazers just shot through the roof.”

WIFI

Once a pro league goes down the video review rabbit hole there isn’t any turning back, which is why the NHL has to take an immediate look at all major penalties that result in game misconducts next season. . . . And don’t make me laugh by claiming that this will only lengthen game times. Hey, it isn’t like there are four of these penalties a game.

Is Pierre McGuire the only broadcaster in captivity who is able to speak without breathing, something that allows him to just keep on talking and talking and talking . . .?

In case you are wondering why old friend Jack Finarelli is the Sports Curmudgeon, here’s a recent example:

“I read a report recently that a school district in Central New York will not use any pesticides on any of the athletic fields in the district.  Folks there have run across some “organic stuff” that will be applied to the fields and that will supposedly take care of all the pests that might be associated with large grass fields in that climate zone. How ecologically friendly is that?

“I wonder why they don’t take the next rather obvious step here and end the use of mowing equipment whose 2-cycle engines spew all sorts of environmental nasties into the air.  For the cost of a bit of fencing the school district managers could get a few goats and turn them loose on the field to let Mother Nature really take over there.”

Now you know my he’s a must-read on a daily basis.

It is Friday, 11:25 a.m. There are six Rogers Sportsnet channels available on our satellite TV feed. One of them is showing darts. Of course, it is. . . . The St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs are just starting a game on another one. On the other four? The game from the previous night between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels.

If you’re wondering what all went down after the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated has the story right here.

Hunch

Scattershooting after watching Cubs and Dodgers, Tigers and Red Sox, Yankees and Angels . . .

Scattershooting

The great Al Arbour won 29 playoff series as the head coach of the NHL’s New York Islanders. Yes, that is a franchise record. Who’s in second place? Barry Trotz, Jack Capuano and Terry Simpson, each with one.

“Look,” writes Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, “Tiger Woods is one of the greatest athletes of our time. And he’s been great for golf as a sport. But a Presidential Medal of Freedom? Is Trump awarding it to him for his Masters’ win, or for being a fellow example of success and applause after repeatedly cheating on his wife?”

——

Richmond, B.C., blogger TC Chong: “Tiger said he would reciprocate by giving Trump an autographed copy of the Nine Commandments.”

Hough, again, this time on the mess in which New England owner Robert Kraft finds himself: “How perfect that the Patriots finally are on the other side of being unknowingly videotaped?”

RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com weighs in on the Tampa Bay Lightning getting ousted in shocking fashion by the Columbus Blue Jackets: “With the Lightning suffering a Round 1 sweep, I’ll spare them electrical puns, like lacking a spark, feeling re-volted or the Jackets being amped up. I’ll only say this: Watt happened?”

So . . . you’re watching all the upsets in the NHL playoffs and you’re wondering two things:

  1. What does the regular season really mean?
  2. Is this parity or parody?

A baseball note from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “If Milwaukee Brewers slugger Christian Yelich got to play all 162 games against St. Louis, based on his first seven games against the Cardinals in 2019, his season numbers would read: .500 batting average; .625 on-base percentage; 1.542 slugging percentage; 185 home runs; 231 runs scored; 440 runs batted in.

One thing that never changes when watching an NHL playoff game go into overtime . . . I always wonder why the referees bother coming out of their dressing room.

Headline at TheOnion.com: Dedicated Russell Westbrook Stays Late After Practice To Miss 100 Extra Shots

So . . . Sportsnet picked up Game 7 between the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks from NBCSN on Tuesday night. That meant that play-by-play man Gord Miller and analyst Ray Ferraro, who normally work for TSN, were doing a game on Sportsnet. Interesting!

Chess

The Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets will play an NHL game at 33,000-seat Mosaic Stadium in Regina on Oct. 26. Tickets went on sale to the general public on Thursday morning. According to the Regina Leader-Post: “Prices ranged from $164.50 to $369.50. It appeared that about half of the stadium’s seats were booked up within the first half hour of the public sale.” . . . Yes, many Regina hotels already are full up that night.

It’s officially baseball season now that the first round of the NHL playoffs is over. By this point of every NHL season, I am tired of watching NHL referees ignore the rule book at their choosing, and my attentions turn to Major League Baseball. This spring shall be no exception.

Scattershooting on a Wednesday, after watching lightning hit Tampa Bay’s outhouse. . . .

Scattershooting

“Arizona beat the Dodgers on March 29 in the longest regular-season game in Dodger Stadium history — 6 hours, 5 minutes and 13 innings,” reports Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times. “L.A. fans were so confused that, after leaving early in the seventh inning as usual, they came back twice more so they could leave again in the 10th and 12th.”

“The defending NHL champion Washington Capitals and their captain Alex Ovechkin visited the White House,” reports RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com. “Afterwards, President Trump denied any involvement with the Russian.”

A couple of Robservations from Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post . . .

Pet peeve: References to someone setting a “new record.” The “new” is unnecessary.

Another pet peeve: Media types who make a statement and then expect an interviewee to answer. Some of the worst offenders are veteran reporters. How difficult is it to ask a question?

ICYMI, Earvin Johnson has resigned as the president of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, or, as Vancouver comedian Torben Rolfsen noted, “Magic lived up to his name — by disappearing.”

“I’m so old,” writes Janice Hough, aka The Left Coast Sports Babe, “I remember when the Clippers were Los Angeles’s dysfunctional NBA franchise.”

Headline at The Onion: Engineers Unveil New Driverless Car Capable Of Committing Hit-And-Run.

——

Headline at Fark.com: Hapless Mariners can’t even get a rebuilding year right.

——

Headline at SportsPickle.com: Will Trent Richardson and Johnny Manziel have to wait 5 years to be inducted into the AAF Hall of Fame?

It was Thursday afternoon in Kamloops when two stories broke.

First came this one, with the lead from Kamloops This Week:

“Stormy Daniels is coming to Kamloops.

“The award-winning porn actress who wrote a tell-all book about her encounter with U.S. President Donald Trump — and the ensuing $130,000 payment he made to her — will be at The Duchess, 377 Tranquille Rd., on June 2 for a meet-and-greet event, according to her website.”

That was followed by this from the local WHL team: “The Kamloops Blazers have announced that the hockey club and head coach Serge Lajoie have mutually parted ways.”

Which one do you think created more buzz in the city that used to be known as Little Montreal?

——

James Miller, in the Kelowna Daily Courier: “Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran needs to immediately impose economic sanctions on the City of Kamloops. First, Kamloops ends the Kelowna Rockets’ season in a single-game showdown for the final berth in the Western Hockey League playoffs. Next, they secured the biggest book tour of 2019 — Stormy Daniels. How are these things possible?”

Dorothy and I spent Monday on the road. We went from Kamloops to Salmon Arm, then over to Vernon, down to Kelowna, and back to Kamloops. A couple of observations: There are no speed limits on the highways we travelled. Those signs with numbers on them on the sides of those highways? They aren’t even guidelines. . . . There seem to be a lot of drivers who make a right or left turn onto a highway assuming that oncoming track will see them and slow down. How many times does one of those drivers do this before finding themselves in a wreck?

“Just think,” notes comedian Argus Hamilton, “if they send Lori Loughlin up the river, her daughter can row her there.”

The WHL, which has requested that a number of its team’s landlords install new glass, boards and scoreclocks at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, may want to think about requesting indoor fishing pools stocked with bass, too. After all, the GEICO Bassmaster Classic on the Tennessee River drew 153,809 fans over three days in March.

“Last time LeBron missed the playoffs was in 2005,” notes Bleacher Report. “That year . . . Netflix was delivering DVDs. . . . Apple didn’t have an iPhone. . . . YouTube was founded. . . . Aubrey Graham wasn’t Drake yet; he was Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi.”

From the Twitter account of Brad Dickson (@brad_dickson): “You complain about the Nebraska football team going 4-8 last season? If the Nebraska Legislature were a football team its record would be 1-11 yet you re-elect almost all the same people to it every time.”

——

One more from Dickson: “The Dept of Homeland Security Chief just ‘retired.’ I won’t speculate on how she plans to fund her retirement but somebody just put 9 million pairs of confiscated nail clippers up for sale on eBay.”

I really liked Patti Dawn Swansson’s take on Tiger Woods, The Masters, and what a lot of folks were calling the greatest comeback in the history of the universe. Here’s Swansson . . .

You want to talk about comebacks? Okay.

  • Try golfer Ben Hogan, who lost an argument with a Greyhound bus in 1949 and suffered a double fracture to his pelvis, a fractured collar bone, a fractured left ankle, a chipped rib, near-fatal blood clots, lifelong circulation problems, and required blood transfusions. He won the U.S. Open the following year, and another five Grand Slam tournaments after that.
  • Try Muhammad Ali, banned from boxing for 3½ years due to the political climate of the day, then returning to win the heavyweight title.
  • Try Monica Seles, stabbed in the back with a nine-inch knife by a crazed Steffi Graf fan during a tennis match, disappearing for more than two years due to depression and the fear of another attack by a man who never spent a day in jail, then returning to win the Australian Open.
  • Try Mario Lemieux, who won a battle with cancer and returned to the NHL to win multiple scoring titles.
  • Try driver Niki Lauda, hauled out of a fire-engulfed car and his head and face burnt to a crisp, then returning to win the Formula 1 driving title one year later and again five years after his first retirement.

Woods battled back from self-inflicted public humiliation and numerous physical challenges that could have ended his career, but nothing life-threatening. His is a terrific story, to be sure. But the greatest comeback ever? Not even close.

The entire column is right here and, as usual, it goes down well with morning coffee.

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