The Virden Oilers baseball season is right around the corner and after an eight-year hiatus, the boys of summer will be back on the field, carrying on the strong baseball tradition
this town has earned over the years.
With Dez Koop and Brett Braybrook at the helm, this team will be a contender right from the get-go as there is simply too much talent from 1 to 9 in the lineup to be anywhere else.
Strong pitching and solid defence should be the strength of this team and if the bats can come alive, playoffs are possible.
Because the diamond is not quite ready, the Oilers will play their first four games on the road, beginning May 20 in Souris, followed by a game in Elkhorn Friday, May 22.
First home games will begin June 10 when the always strong Hartney Hoppers come to town, and June 12 when Hamiota pays them a visit. It would only be proper and fitting if the Town of Virden would name this new diamond in honour of the person who was so instrumental in all facets of baseball development in this town over so many decades - Perry Kalynuk. "Sniper"
was totally devoted to his favourite sport and served in so many ways; as a groundskeeper, player rep., organizer, fundraiser, player, coach, manager, and executive member.
While they are technically still alive and breathing as I write this (down 3-0), the Brandon Wheat Kings' season is pretty much dead in the water, but not before they gave Westman hockey fans an
unbelievable season to remember.
Touted as a rebuilding year, the Wheaties, with all their young talent, blossomed much faster than anyone would have thought, becoming a powerhouse and winning the league pennant with 118
points.
With so many skilled players returning, such as Dub's Rookie of the Year winner Nolan Patrick (potentially a fi rst overall draft pick in 2017), look for yet another dominant performance. Also, Kelly
McCrimmon and John Paddock were voted Executive and Coach of the year, respectively.
The RBC Cup, emblematic of junior A supremacy in Canada, continues in Portage with the final game airing on national TV on Sunday. With a lot of skill, hard work, and luck, maybe we'll see the host Terriers in it.
Recently voted as the most over-rated player on the PGA tour, but yet somehow still being one of the most popular strikers of the ball with fans, Rickie Fowler certainly silenced
his critics by winning The Players Championship in one of the most dramatic finishes of all time. Playing the last six holes in six under (unheard of), he birdied the fourth playoff
hole, #17 with the island green, to silence his critics.
Now the colourful Puma/ Slazenger fi gurehead has 1.8 million reasons ($$$) to smile at all his detractors.
Although I'm not a Floyd Mayweather fan because he avoided a Manny Pacquiao confrontation in the ring for five years, I applaud him for refusing a rematch. The so-called "Fight of the Century" was
a big letdown for most fight fans, and a rematch wouldn't draw nearly the same amount of hype or money. Watch boxing quickly fade away from the sporting limelight over the
next few years, no stars.
Did anyone notice the lack of fanfare and publicity after A-Rod hit his 661st dinger, surpassing Willie Mays on the alltime home run list? So appropriate! The cheating
steroid-freak doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same breath with one of the all-time greatest players to ever step on a diamond.
Congratulations to VCI Golden Bears football player, offensive lineman Wyatt Wilson, for making the Manitoba High School Graduating team that will
play a game in Winnipeg this weekend. Until next time...
