The SWBL regular season is over but not before a nail-biting conclusion on the very last day of the schedule that determined the final order in the standings. Talk about your log jam, the top seven teams didn't know their placing until the final pitch was thrown.
First of all, Souris will play Reston in a one-game playoff to see who takes the eighth and final playoff spot, and the winner of that game will play the pennant-winning Boissevain Cardinals in one series while the second place Hartney Hoppers battle the Deloraine Royals. The other two series will see the Elkhorn Expos tangle with the Wawanesa Brewers, while our own fifth place Oilers lock horns with the Hamiota Red Sox. All series are best-of-three affairs and should provide plenty of action.
Congratulations to Zane Sawyer, Brady Potter, Jeff Peel, and Des Koop for making the SWBL all-star team that will participate in the Provincials in Brandon next weekend.
Eugenia Bouchard's free fall from the upper echelon of the tennis world continues as she was unceremoniously and embarrassedly dumped in the first round at Wimbledon, further eroding her fragile state of mind. It doesn't look good! But what does look good is the way Canada's young Vasek Popisil is playing in London, making it to the quarter finals for the very first time. The bad news, he faces fourth-ranked Andy Murray on his home court in front of his home fans.
Toronto is hosting the second biggest sporting event on earth, the Pamn Am Games. And while many locals were opposed to having this event in their back yard due to financial reasons (justifi able), the show must go on and it will be supported and declared a success. The $4.2 billion price tag is a little steep but it pales in comparison to the $51 billion Putin and his comrades doled out for their Winter Olympic Games held in Sochi. Totally not worth it!
The old saying "you can't tell your players without a program" has never rung more true than after the NHL free agent frenzy last week. No less than 36 players changed addresses, with the bigger moves involving Milan Lucic, Kevin Bieksa, Doug Hamilton, Phil Kessel, and Brad Richards and Brandon Saad, cashing in on their Stanley Cup success. Leaf Nation never got that much in return for fabulous Phil, but what did they expect after his lacklustre performance last season. If Syd the Kid or Genie can feed him for 40-plus goals, the Penguins win big time.
Things have turned around in the CFL where last year the East hardly won a game against the West and now they're dominating, winning all four last weekend. Add to that the Ottawa Redblacks won only two games all of last season and today they are 2-0, go figure! QBs continue to be killed as two more went down in week two with the most important being the Blue Bombers’ Drew Willy. He did survive that head blow and is expected to start in Montreal.
Three Blue Jays, Jose Bautista, Russell Martin, and Josh Donaldson, have made the MLB American all-star team, with Donaldson setting an all-time record by receiving over 14 million votes, well-deserved after his spectacular play, especially defensively.
Just an update on that Mayweather - Pacquio fi ght: it brought in a record $600 million with Floyd pocketing $250m while Manny only got a measly $150m. Not bad for an hour’s work!
I would like to correct my error in last week's column where in trivia time, I said that Minnesota and Colorado joined the NHL in 2000, it should have read Minny and Columbus, not Colorado. My apologies and a thousand lashes, minimum!
Until next time...
