Can you believe the utter audacity of President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government after they were informed by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federation) and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that their track and field team would be banned from participating in the upcoming Rio Olympic Games because of their state-sponsored doping program. Caught red handed with plenty of proof, Putin, the cover girl for world bullying, came out swinging and said it was “unfair” and a “collective punishment” to his country, as it should be. The Russian Bear not only organized the wide spread cheating, it ran and paid for the entire secret operation, all the while telling the outside world that they were totally innocent.
When asked and given plenty of time to clean up their act, the Russians, once again, chose to lie and cheat, ignore international standards and were non-compliant with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) on so many fronts that the IAAF had little choice but to make this bold and historical decision. And good for them in taking a strong stand against cheaters. Finally a governing body had the courage and conviction to face the bully and say, enough is enough, stay home and don’t come back until you can prove that your athletes are “clean”. It’s only right and fair that all athletes should compete on a level playing field. Next up? Kenya?
By the time you read this, and to no one’s surprise, the NHL should have announced that Las Vegas has been awarded a franchise and will field a team for the 2017-18 season. With 13,500 season tickets already sold and plenty of money in the bank (franchise fee will be $500 million), the city of 2.2 million will have its first major professional sports team. The NHL is not gambling or rolling the dice on this one, they’ve done their homework and this Mecca of tourism will be successful because they have plenty of money, a new state of the art arena and thousands of hockey fans, mostly Canadians, who will flock to the game between shuffles.
In bit of a shocker, the Cleveland Cavaliers made NBA history by becoming the first team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win it all, and King (Lebron) James couldn’t be happier. Being ridiculed on social media (ie. too old, too slow, no leadership) and counted out by so many Warrior fans, the MVP for the third time showed he still has “game”. To throw a little salt in their wounds, the next day James wore a T-shirt that read, “Ultimate Warrior”…ouch!
The man has intestinal fortitude, lots of it. After being in contention so many times to win a major, and failing each time, for various reasons, Dustin Johnson finally got the proverbial monkey off his back, winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont. One of the longest hitters on the PGA tour, DJ used his length and excellent wedge game to his advantage to capture his first, but not last, major. But there was controversy. DJ’s ball moved on the 5th green as he addressed it but he was not “officially” informed of the one stroke penalty until the 12th hole, which is so wrong in so many ways. First of all, it’s not a penalty (Tiger, Rory, Jordan and Rickie all agreed) and second, if you are going to assess one, don’t wait seven holes, do it right away, don’t mess with a his mind. Fortunately for the USGA, this didn’t create a headache but it could have, they got very lucky.
The (6-3) Virden Oilers, strangely, had the week off and will now play their last four games on the road, starting with a double header this Sunday in Deloraine and Hartney, followed by a visit to Reston on Wednesday. Their game in Elkhorn has not yet been re-scheduled.
There will be four outdoor NHL games this season...too many!
Congratulations to Steve Densmore for winning the MHSAA Grey Cup Legacy High School Coach of the Year award. The retiring teacher coached for 35 years, bringing home many championships and medals to VCI, mostly in volleyball and basketball.
Also, Happy Birthday Norm!
Until next time…
