The SWBL divisional finals are well underway with the Oilers taking on the Oak River Dodger in the North Division final, the boys are down 1-0, while in the South, the Boissevain Centennials are tangling with the Deloraine Royals. If no team sweeps their opponents in the best of 5 affairs, game 4 in both series will be played tonight, in Oak River and Deloraine, respectfully.
The Senior AA provincials will be played in Wawanesa in early August. The SWBL will be sending three teams there to participate; the Oilers, the Centennials along with the host Brewers. The Baldur Regals, led by P Anthony Friesen and C Derrick Jones, won it all last season and should be back to defend their crown.
Congratulations to the Oildome AAA Midget baseball team (made up of players from Reston, Souris, Wawanesa and Boissevain) for winning the provincial title. The underdog squad was given little chance to succeed but will now represent the province at the Nationals in Quebec.
The Toronto Blue Jays are right in the mix of things in toughest division in baseball and if the bull pen can hold up their end of the deal, they should have an excellent chance of making the playoffs. There has been much talk about moving young pitching sensation Aaron Sanchez to the bull pen and use him as the "set up guy" in the 8th inning. What an absurd idea! The hard throwing RH is 11-1 with the seconnd best ERA in the league, so leave him be and ride him hard, all the way because you never know when you'll get another chance to get to the dance.
For the second straight year, a young Canadian golfer had a very good chance to win his national championship, the Canadian Open, something that hasn't happened since I was born, (you may guess now, but be gentle). But alas, it was not to be as Jared du Toit, from Kimberley, BC, faded under the spotlight on Sunday but not before giving thousands of passionate Canucks some thrilling moments. He will definitely be a force to contend with in the future. Jonhattan Vegas from Venezuela won the title by shooting a wonderful 64 in Round 4. Trivia time, name the young man who came close last year?
Golf Canada has announced the four golfers who will represent Canada at the Rio Olympics starting on August 5. By virtue of their rankings, Brooke Henderson and Alena Sharp will be our women and Graham DeLaet and David Hearn will be our men. With so many potential problems surrounding these Games; health (Zika), air and water pollution, crime, transportation issues, the Russian T&F team banned from participating, some facilities and the athlete's village not ready (just ask the Aussies), it will be very interesting to see how Brazil pulls it all off.
As mentioned, the IOC has ruled that the Russian T&F team cannot go to Rio (except those who can prove they are clean) but many in the doping world are extremely disappointed, they were hoping that all Russian athletes would be disqualified because of the state sponsored doping scandal that was uncovered. And they're absolutely right! What message does this send to all the clean athletes-countries around the world? If this was a small country that was caught cheating, none of their athletes would be allowed to participate but because it's the big Russian Bear, led by Donald Trump's "twin brother", no one wants to rock the boat too much.
Home teams are sure having a tough time winning a game this season in the CFL. After 18 games played so far, the home team has only won four of them, with the Bombers being shut out at Investors Field. They'll try and get back on the winning track this week in Edmonton by switching quarterbacks as Mike Nicholls, who played with the Eskimos last season, will get the nod. Head coach Mike O'Shea better hope he's the answer, his neck might be on the line.
Trivia answer, David Hearn.
Until next time…
