Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris will represent Canada in mixed doubles curling at the Pyeonchang (South Korea) Winter Olympics after they defeated the favourites, Val Sweeting and Brad Gushue, in the final.
This will be the second consecutive "thrill of a lifetime experience" for Lawes as she was part of the Jennifer Jones foursome that captured gold for Canada at the Sochi (Russia) Games. Coming from Canada, they'll naturally be the odds-on favourite to win it all and they should be, as long as John keeps his yap shut and listens to Kaitlyn more often. It was his verbal dominance (Mr. Know it All) that almost cost them a chance to play and win the Canadian title, so let's hope he gets over his ego and lets his partner play to her strengths.
The Winter Olympic Games are less than a month away and some of those Russian athletes who are banned from competing because they got caught cheating in Sochi in their state-sponsored doping program, are still trying to get reinstated. Talk about desperation. At last count, 42 comrades are appealing their suspensions along with Putin's strongman VP Vitaly Murko, who was suspended for life for orchestrating it all. I'm sure the IOC will give these appeals the attention they deserve... absolutely none!
Super Bowl
We're down to eight teams in the countdown to Super Bowl LI that will be played in Minnesota come Feb. 4 and it's shaping up to be a good one. Tennessee is going up to Foxboro to try to do the impossible and upset New England and although the Patriots are not as powerful as everyone thinks they are, the Titans don't have enough firepower to take down the Brady-Belichick juggernaut.
Meanwhile Big Ben, Antonio and the Pittsburgh Steelers will be well rested and should have no problem with the Jags (Jacksonville). Meanwhile the Minnesota defence will give QB Drew Bree fits as the Vikings down the New Orleans Saints in a close one while the Philadelphia Eagles, even without their injured star QB (Wentz), will have enough offence to dispose of the inconsistent Atlanta Falcons. It's tough to win in Philly!
NCAA
If you missed the NCAA National Football championship game, or at least the second half, you really missed a good one. I'm sure the first half put a few fans into "zzzland” (it was pretty boring) but the exciting and amazing comeback from a true freshman QB will go down in university history.
Alabama does nothing until coach Nick Saban defies the odds and inserts his rookie third stringer (wet behind the ears having graduated from high school less than a year ago), who then catches on fire and lights it up, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat from Clemson, in overtime no less.
Trivia time: Who did coach Saban join as the only other college coach to win it six times.
Oil Caps
The Virden Oil Capitals (25-12-2), now only one point behind the Portage Terriers after beating them at home on Tuesday, are currently in third place in the MJ and they continue to enjoy the fruits of their labour, skill and effort as they slowly but methodically climb up the league ladder.
The boys, under the leadership of coach Troy Leslie, are putting it all together and playing solid two-way hockey and everybody seems to be pulling in the same direction. The Terriers return to TOGP on Thursday.
Golden Bears
The Virden Golden Bears, sporting a healthy and respectable 9-5 record, have reached a crucial point in their schedule whereby they play seven of their last 10 games at home, which is the good news but the bad news is that most of those teams happen to have very good records. They'll play a trio of home games from January 19 to 21 against the Deloraine Colts, GCB Wildcats (Glenboro, Carberry, Baldur) and the 16-1 Dauphin Clippers.
Congrats go out to the South West Cougars AAA Bantam team, based out of Wawanesa, who are doing very well in league play sporting a 16-6-1 record, good enough for third place in the 13-team league. From that team, four Virden players - Grady Lane, Eric Reid, Braeden Lewis and Hunter Wallace - will be going to the Iceplex in Winnipeg this weekend to participate in their league's all star game.
Trivia answer: Saban joins Paul "Bear" Bryant from the Crimson Tide.
Until next time....
