In a remarkable golfing duel reminiscent of the Stenson/Mickleson British Open Claret Jug showdown two years ago, where each player took turns making magnificent shot after shot, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth somehow duplicated that exciting scenerio at the Northern Trust championship. In the end, DJ eventually prevailed with a birdie on the extra hole to win his fourth tournament of the season but not before they kept millions of fans on the edge of their seats for a couple of hours.
Someone please find Blue Jays' Kevin Pillar a cape. Once again this week he took an extra base hit away from a hitter when he donned his Superman's role, and flew effortlessly through the air in right centre to haul in a long fly ball that was slicing away from him. Simply incredible, and truly deserving of a gold glove for his efforts.
I'm not sure if many local people watched the "Money Fight" between undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0) and MMA star super mouth Conor McGregor but don't be fooled, not even for a minute, that this match was a hyped up boxing event. It wasn't, it was an entertainment event, staged pure and simple, and perfectly orchestrated for the masses. One that would make each of them very rich (they will make $300 million and $100 million respectively). There was no possible way the Irishman was going to win his first “professional” boxing fight, even though Mayweather hadn't been in a ring for almost two years. Plus he toyed with him to extend the fight, something he didn't do in the disastrous Pacquiao fight. There was too much Vegas money involved to let that happen. Mayweather now joins MJ and Tiger as the only athletes to make a billion dollars through their sports, which includes of course their endorsements/commercial deals.
Thumbs down to the Hamilton Tigercats, not for sporting an embarrassing 0-8 record this season, but for recently hiring Art Briles as their offensive coordinator. In case you didn't know, he was the head coach at powerful Baylor University in the States, but was fired because he didn't do enough when 17 women filed 19 sexual assault charges against some of his football players. I know he wasn't directly involved, but it occurred under his watch and he was the coach that did nothing about such serious allegations; many of which did result in convictions (one former player is serving a 20 years) and two big ($$) settlements. What were they thinking? Thankfully there's good news, after receiving so much criticism from so many sources, he was let go 12 hours later.
How about those Bombers, are they for real? Everything is coming up roses for the Blue and Gold, and now they'll put their 7-2 record on the line in Regina against the Green Machine on Sunday during the annual Labour Day Classic. Tradition dictates that this should be a great game as the Roughriders are riding a high after their beat down of the Eskimos in which they totally dominated the best team in the West. Speaking of the West, how dominant are they, all five teams boast a winning record?
In a little NHL news, two teams have decided, and rightly so, to retire the number of two great players who served their respective teams so well for so long. The Flyers will put the jersey of captain Eric Lindros, who dominated the league until the Devil's Scott Stevens rattled his melon with a devastating clean hit, high up in the rafters of The Spectrum. Meanwhile, the New York Rangers will hang the uniform of slick playmaker Jean Ratelle, who centred the GAG (goal a game) line, along with Rod Gilbert & Vic Hadfield, in the 1970's. Why was he called “Gentleman Jean”,.... he never got into a fight in his 21 year career. Trivia time, what numbers did these Hall of Famers wear?
Matthew Stafford just became the highest paid player in NFL history when he signed a new five year contract extension with the Detroit Lions worth a cool $135 million. Wow! That's a whole lot of “green” for someone who has only played in three playoff games in eight years, and has never even been close to a Super Bowl. Season starts on Thursday.
Congrats to Virden's Eric Reid, for making it to the Junior Men’s First Flight Championship final at the annual Tamarack Golf tourney up in Clear Lake. It’s quite obvious his natural ability comes directly from his grandmother Laura Reid and her super smooth sweet swing.
Trivia answers, the Big "E's" #88 should have been easy, but Ratelle's # 19 might be a little tougher unless you're old like me. Until next time...
