Skip to content

An Oil Slick - July 15, 2016

The SWBL playoffs are in the middle of their 10 day hiatus due to the annual Manitoba Senior AA provincial all-stars tournament being held in Stonewall this weekend.

The SWBL playoffs are in the middle of their 10 day hiatus due to the annual Manitoba Senior AA provincial all-stars tournament being held in Stonewall this weekend. When semi-final league play resumes mid-week, probably on Wednesday, it’ll see the Virden Oilers hosting the Oak River Dodgers in the North Division finals. While the surprising Deloraine Royals; who knocked off the favourite Wawanesa Brewers, will be visiting either the Boissevain Centenniels or the Hartney Hoppers in the South Division finals. That series is currently tied at 1-1 after the Centenniels won a thrilling game two in 10 innings. Both series will be best of three affairs.

Golf Course is in absolutely fantastic condition, the greens have never been better, so get a group of people, or go alone, and enjoy this wonderful game.

The 145 Open (does anyone say British any more) is now underway at one of the most famous links courses in the world, the Royal Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland. All the big names are there, hoping against all odds to hoist one of the most famous and desired trophies in the sporting world, the Claret Jug. Being Scotland, let’s hope the weather conditions are not ideal and that the wind blows steadily causing the finest professionals in the world to use their skills, patience and imagination on every hole, especially the Postage Stamp, a difficult par three that Rory took a 9 on in a practice round. I like the hot DJ but look out for Spieth, Day or Lowry. Many are predicting that the best golfer never to have won a major, Spain’s Sergio Garcia, will finally win one but even though he is playing great golf, it won’t happen, not enough desire.

Olympic golf has taken another big hit. The IOC, along with the Rio de Janeiro Olympic officials, must be rethinking their decision to bring back golf after a 112 year absence after yet another top 4 golfer has decided not to attend. American Jordan Spieth, ranked number two, joins number one, Jason Day, number three, Dustin Johnson and number four, Rory MclLory in deciding not to participate due to “health concerns”, meaning they are worried about contracting the Zika virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects. All have indicated that they plan to either start a family or have an addition to their family and are not willing to take a chance of being infected. In a stunning announcement, even the Brazillian Medical Association thinks the Olympic Games should either be moved or cancelled, not exactly the ringing endorsement the IOC was looking or hoping for.

The annual MLB allstar game was played this week in San Diego and even though it’s still a big deal for some Americans, it’s not at the level where it used to be. The television ratings are down and the main reason I think is because so many of the so called superstars were not there, either due to injury or poor seasonal performance, leading to a lack of “name recognition” for many of the viewers. The good news of course is that 5 Blue Jays (Encarnacion, Donaldson, Sanchez, Estrada & Saunders) are on the American League team, their biggest representation in the all-star Classic in franchise history.

Currently in 3rd place in the Eastern Division, only 3 games back of the Orioles and in a wildcard position, the Blue Jays are riding a hot streak going into the allstar break and they’re doing all of this without one their best hitters, Jose Bautista, who is out with a toe injury. Look for them to continue winning series after series as it’s all coming together just like last season, even in spite of manager John Gibbons not knowing what he’s doing most of the time.

Great to see Portugal win UEFA (Euro 2016) by beating France in the final, further elevating Ronaldo’s status as one of the greatest footballers to have ever played the “beautiful game”.

Until next time....

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks