The Virden Oil Capitals fall camp begins today and continues until Sunday, with plenty of optimism for the upcoming season from management and players alike. The Caps return 12 players from last year's squad and GM and head coach Troy Leslie will certainly count heavily on these experienced players to provide, not only skill and enthusiasm, but plenty of leadership, both on and off the ice. The three locals returning for another season in the MJHL will be crafty, hardworking forwards Tanner Lewis and Tyler Kirkup along with highly regarded "D" man Tristen Cross, who played 18 regular season games with the Caps, plus playoffs.
The Caps first exhibition game is in Portage on Tuesday before returning home to play the Dauphin Kings on Saturday. First regular season home game is on September 23 when the two-time defending champions Portage Terriers come to Tundra Oil & Gas Place.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers continued their miraculous turnaround by winning their fourth straight game and will now take on their prairie neighbours to the West in their annual Labour Day classic on Sunday, followed by the Banjo Bowl in Winnipeg next Saturday. Although the Green Machine is floundering in last place with the worst record in the CFL (1-8), history has shown that when these two teams clash, it's usually a tough, hard fought battle that produces very exciting action with close scores, something that the fans on both sides go nuts over. Never take the Rough Riders for granted, especially in front of their raucous, crazed fans who always find some way to elevate their superheroes level of play seemingly against all odds.
The Blue Jays seem to be peaking at the right time as they are now in first place in the toughest division in MLB (East) and if their starting pitching continues to excel (they lead the majors in quality starts with 70), they should be able to hold off Boston and Baltimore. Offence wins games during the season but pitching and defence wins games during the playoffs in October, something the front office, and the manger, is very aware of but somehow sometimes forgets. Throw in the fact that last year's MVP, Josh Donaldson, has simply "exploded" recently, hitting home runs at an incredible rate (three in one game, a hat trick), that's gotta inspire the boys.
The Oak River Dodgers, along with several pickups from around southern Manitoba, including Virden's Matt Gunning, Zane Sawyer and Nolan Jago, came home empty handed from the AAA Senior National Baseball Championships that were held in New Brunswick. With no AAA league to play in this past season, the Dodgers were obviously in tough as they could not find enough quality opposition to hone their skills and properly prepare to take on some of Canada's best senior teams. Their 1-3 record prevented them from qualifying for the playoffs but Gunning did bring home some hardware, and satisfaction, by winning the home run contest in style.
Shouldn't someone tell 36-year-old veteran Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo that maybe it's time to pack it in? For the fourth year in a row, the oft injured star is once again on the IR, this time with a hairline break in one of his vertebrae. I think "someone" is trying to tell him something. What's worse is the Cowboys are 1-13 when Romo is not in the lineup and now they have no back up plan to replace him, except a rookie QB to take over "America's team" because self-proclaimed football guru and team owner, Jerry Jones, didn't think he needed one…Really!
Until next time…
