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Weird look to golf playoffs |
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Friday, 27 August 2010 20:36 |
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by Bruce Penton For Canadian golf fans, it’s going to be weird watching the PGA Tour Fed-Ex Cup playoffs this year. Why? Well, you can’t spell ‘weird’ without the letters W-E-I-R. And for the first time since the Fed-Ex Cup system began in 2007, Canada’s best known golfer, Mike Weir, won’t be part of the post-season events. Only the top 125 point-getters in the Fed-Ex Cup standings qualify to play in the first event of the playoffs, the Barclays, and the Brights Grove, Ont., native finished 128 after missing the cut at the last regular-season event, the Wyndham Championship. Weir, who was on top of the golf world in 2003 when he won the Masters, has been in the upper echelon of the Tour ever since — spending more than 100 weeks in the top 10 of the world ranking and posting 11 top-10 finishes in major championships. But Weir, who turned 40 this year, has succumbed to life’s normal aging process and now, at the age of 40, injuries and sloppy play have invaded his game. His on-course earnings eked just past $500,000 and two Canadians — Stephen Ames and Graham DeLaet — are ahead of him this year. Weir has suffered from tendinitis in his right elbow, and told Chris Stevenson of Sunmedia at the mid-August PGA Championship at Whistling Straits that “I can’t keep playing like this. I’ve got to figure out something different. It’s time to do something differ- ent.” Weir’s poor year has caused his world-ranking to plummet to 103. DeLaet, meanwhile, struggled down the stretch after a promising start to his rookie season on tour. He had a third-place finish worth $336,000 in Houston in May, but cashed only seven cheques since, none higher than $33,000. Still, the Weyburn, Sask., native just sneaked into the Fed-Ex Cup playoffs, finishing 123. Weir’s slide wasn’t that dramatic, and DeLaet’s ascension wasn’t that startling, but 2010 might be remembered as the year of the Canadian changing of the guard on the PGA Tour. Sport Shorts •Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “Lindsay Lohan got out of jail in just two weeks. The only way she could have been given a lighter sentence is if she'd been a star linebacker at an SEC school.” •Greg Cote of The Miami Herald, on Seantrel Henderson, the Miami Hurricanes' 6-foot-8, 330 - pound freshman tackle: "I stood next to him the other day. Not for the interview. For the shade." •Vancouver’s T.C. Chong says he was saddened when the Mariners fired manager Don Wakamatsu: "He played for the local minor league team here -- Vancouver Canadians -- and we attended the same college -- Watsamata U.'' •Janice Hough, of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “As we move into the late stages of summer, two statements we won’t probably hear: —Terrell Owens: “What went wrong with my last team was completely my fault.” —Cubs fans: “You know, waiting until next year probably won’t be any different from this year.” •New Kansas football coach Turner Gill, to The Kansas City Star, on communicating with players in today's generation of cellphones, text-messaging and social media: "Their thumbs are working more than their mouths." •Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Victoria's Secret is introducing a line of NFLappar- el, with team colours and logos, including the Raiders'. Because nothing says hubba-hubba like a silver-and-black nightie with the eyepatch-pirate logo. Arrrrr, matey!” •Comedy writer Jim Barach: “Astudy says that Lou Gehrig may not have had Lou Gehrig's disease. If that's true, it was the worst diagnosis in medical history.” •Barach again: “Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants baseball team, who hit "the shot heard'round the world" in 1951 against the Dodgers has died at age 86. For modern fans, the shot heard 'round the world was a syringe in the backside of Barry Bonds.” •Comedy writer Jerry Perisho: “New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning suffered a gash in his head in a pre-season game against the Jets. Although he played no part in the game, Brett Favre said the injury may again force him into retirement.” •Janice Hough, from leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “Roger Clemens was indicted on perjury charges for lying to Congress. When will they ever learn? You just cannot get away with lying on Capitol Hill – unless you’ve gotten thereby being elected.” •Hough again: “Brett Favre has announced he willreturn to the Vikings for “one moretry” at a Super Bowl. Right. “One more try” for Favre has about the same meaning as, “I do” for Larry King.” •Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “I think we can safely say that Tiger Woods is officially in a slump. Yo, Tiger, may I suggest a boys-night-out in Vegas with Charles and M.J.?” Care to comment? Email
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Golf entering post-Woods era |
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Monday, 09 August 2010 03:44 |
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by Bruce Penton So if it’s true that Tiger Woods’ domination of professional golf is over, is there hope for the future of the PGA Tour? Anthony Kim . . . Ricky Barnes . . . Kevin Na . . .There’s more. Lots more. At no time in recent memory has the PGA Tour roster been as teeming with young talent as it is today. Paul Casey . . . Sean O’Hair . . . Ricky Fowler . . . Rory McIlroy . . . Woods was so dominant for so long, and with no youthful heir apparent in sight, that golf fans feared for the game’s future after Tiger retired. Louis Oosthuizen . . . Camilo Villegas . . . Hunter Mahan . . . Alvaro Quiros . . Tiger seemed to be bigger than the game itself and there was concern it would not survive in the post-Woods era, whenever that end arrived. J.B. Holmes . . . Martin Kaymer . . . Ryan Moore . . . Jason Day . . . The other dominant golfers of the Woods’ era — Mickelson, Els, Goosen, Garcia, Singh — are on the downside of their careers without ever reaching the pinnacle that Woods has dominated since 1997. Ryo Ishikawa . . . Saskatchewan’s own Graham DeLaet . . . Charl Schwartzel . . . Edoardo Molinari. All these names, all these great players, all still in their 20s. All waiting to knock Woods out of the No. 1 spot in the world ranking. All showing lots of game and no fear. This week, as the world’s best gather at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin for the PGA, the final major championship of 2010, all eyes will nonetheless be on Woods as he tries to rebound from a season of personal hell. But if the PGA plays out like the first three majors (the Masters, Mickelson; the U.S. Open, Graeme McDowell; the British Open, Oosthuizen), then the champion will be someone other than El Tigre. A good bet to win? One of the under-30s listed above. The changing of the guard in professional golf continues. Sport Shorts • Blogger Bill Littlejohn, on Terry Bradshaw's new RV endorsement: "Guess he wanted to sell something he could spell." • Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “(Hall of Fame pitcher) Gaylord Perry loaded up baseballs with substances foreign and domestic. It's probably no coincidence that nine of Gaylord's catchers died of mysterious bacterial infections.” • Toronto comedian Frenchie McFarlane: “I was divorced by my first wife for not only being addicted to sports on TV, but also because I had yellow budgies living in my armpits.” • Janice Hough, leftcoastsportsbabe.com: “One of the University of California’s top football recruits, Chris Martin, has decided to transfer to Florida. Apparently he says being at Cal would have meant too many distractions – like classes.” • Hough again: “The Dodgers have lost six in a row and this divorce between Frank and Jamie McCourt is really getting ugly. Each of them are demanding the other take custody of the team.” •“Jayson Stark, ESPN.com: “One thing we know about the Phillies is: They sure can corner the market on ‘Roys.’ Apparently, Roy Hobbs, Roy Smalley, Brandon Roy and Siegfried & Roy were all unavailable this week. So instead, the Phillies traded for Roy Oswalt. And now they'd love to assume that just pairing him with Roy Halladay will be enough to restart the engines on their October Express. ” • Nationals pitcher Miguel Batista understood the negative fan reaction he received in Washington D.C. while filling in for injured hurler Stephen Strasburg, who was a late scratch: “Imagine if you go to see Miss Universe,” he said, “then you end up having Miss Iowa, you might get those kind of boos.” • Jim Caple, ESPN.com: “I was listening to an NPR report about summer concert dates being cancelled thanks to poor ticket sales. I have two thoughts. One, if ticket sales are low, perhaps the bands and promoters might want to consider lowering prices. Two, why do low ticket sales give the bands/promoters the right to cancel the show? Whatever happened to ‘The show must go on’? If poor ticket sales were grounds for cancellations in baseball, the Pirates, Marlins and Athletics would never play a home game after Opening Day.” • Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “Ilya Kovalchuk, hockey's top free agent, signed a 17-year deal to stay in New Jersey — only to see the NHL reject the contract as circumventing the salary cap. Cannot confirm the Devils now propose to pay Kovalchuk the minimum salary, but with a $102 million bonus for keeping his sideburns neat.” • Cote again: "Remember those Walmart commercials where the prices on the signs kept getting lower and lower? Shaquille O'Neal, free agent." • Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “The New York Islanders have signed on with Cupcake Gourmet to produce the "official cupcake" at home games this season, CNBC reported. “Not to be confused with the official cupcake of most other NHL teams, the Edmonton Oilers.” |
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Pressure builds on Hall as he faces the Edmonton Oiler hype machine |
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Friday, 16 July 2010 19:21 |
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by Bruce Penton As if Taylor Hall didn’t have enough pressure. Now they’re throwing Wayne Gretzky’s name around with his in the same sentence. The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s National Hockey League amateur draft — taken by the sadsack Edmonton Oilers — lived daily with the “Taylor or Tyler” hype that preceded the draft, with sports reporters and analysts wondering whether the Oilers would take Hall or fellow superstar-in-waiting Tyler Seguin. Now that the Oilers have made their choice and moved on (such as signing Hall to a three-year entry-level contract that pays him the maximum amount allowed), the pressure continues to build. In Edmonton, columnist Terry Jones of Sun Media compared the prospects camp which featured Hall and other recent top draft choices Jordan Eberle, Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Anton Lander and Tyler Pitlick to the one in 1979 “when Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Kevin Lowe and the gang prepared to play their first year in the NHL.” Thank goodness the ‘99’ number has been retired. Hall will wear No. 4 and will be counted on to be as dominant in the NHL as a couple of other pretty good No. 4s, such as Jean Beliveau and Bobby Orr (who happens to be Hall’s agent). Meanwhile, has anyone noticed that ‘Hall’ has become the dominant name on the Edmonton sports scene? Besides Taylor Hall, you’ve got head coach Richie Hall, the face of the city’s pro football Eskimos, and there is no more famous sports broadcaster in the city than longtime loudmouth Bryan Hall, who called his last Esks’ game at the end of 2009 after an illustrious 44-year career. So instead of a sports Hall of Fame in Edmonton, they might just establish a Hall of Halls. (Perhaps they could set it up in a hallway at City Hall.) So while it may be a stretch to keep calling Edmonton the ‘City of Champions’ — at least until Hall, Eberle and the gang return the Oilers to the top of the NHL heap — it remains, at the very least, a ‘Hall’ of a city.
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East Central youth in Summer Games |
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Friday, 30 July 2010 19:27 |
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The youth from the communities of Coronation, Edgerton, Dorothy, Daysland, Delburne, Forestburg, Irma, Killam, Stettler, Viking and Wainwright are only a few towns and villages having youth that participated in the 2010 Alberta Summer Games July 19 - 25, for athletes age 11 - 17, held in the Alberta’s Peace Region. The final results showed the Irma (including Wainwright, Viking and Edgerton) Zone 7 Male Softball Team winning “Gold” with a score of 8 - 1 against Zone 5. “We are pretty happy,” said Coach Mike Soucy. The team members were Cody Bird, Ambrose Firkus, Justin, Ganie, Riley King, Parker MacKay, Zachary MacKay, Taylor Schubada, Ty Gainie, Blake Fraser, Carson Soucy, Braedon Majeski, Tyler Fischer, Garrett Raasok, and Wyatt Jones, with Assistant Coaches, Darrel Bird and Jim Schubada.  Also from Irma Cassidy Holt, Cara Holt and Alex Green won “Silver” in the Female SoftBall Tournament for Zone 7, all three youth winning “Silver at the Provincials playing for the Irma Mud Chicks. “The games are going well,” said Peace Region Games Society, Chair Dave VanTamelen. “It’s great to see 2900 kids from every corner of Alberta participate.” “The young people that are participating are also the future leaders of our communities.”From Forestburg, Derek Scheler won “Gold” in Medley Relay and “Bronze” in the Javelin Throw, in the ‘Athletics’ division. “The Medley Relay race is a race that Derek has never ran before and never practiced with these other athletes before, so it was an amazing thing to see them come together and bring home the gold medal for their team,” said Candace Scheler. “Forestburg Village Council and the citizens of Forestburg area wish our local youth athletes good luck while competing in the Alberta Summer Games being held in the Peace Region,” said Monica Northey, Chief Administrative Officer for the Village of Forestburg. “Local athletes include Derek Scheler in javelin and 100 meter dash, as well as Teakin Welsh and Tyler Dietrich in basketball.” “Derek broke our local County record in javelin that was set back in 1983, by five meters.” “Derek is a grade 10 student at our school here in Forestburg,” Ken Riise, Principal Forestburg School. “He is a very talented athlete who has done very well in track and field.” “This year he set a record in the Battle River Regional meet in Javelin and 100 metre.” “He has the ability to be an awesome track athlete. He is powerful and fast, a perfect mixture!” From Hanna, Terry Hunter won “Silver” in the Water Polo, Zone 2.  From Coronation, Brandy Buxton won “Bronze” in the Softball, Zone 4. "We are proud of Brandy and her accomplishments this year. It is an excellent opportunity for her,” said Avis Buxton (Brandy’s mother). “I would like to wish Brandy the best on her achievements,” said Recreation Director, Barry Brigley, “it’s quite an accomplishment for her and our town.” From Stettler, Micah Croker won “Bronze” in Baseball, Zone 4. From Daysland, Nancy Anderson won “Bronze” in the Softball, Zone 4. From Killam, Amy Cookson is entered in the ‘Swimming’ division. “This is a where memories are made and we are very proud of Amy,” said Barb Cookson [mother, Scott Cookson father]. “The Town of Killam congratulates Amy Cookson for qualifying for the 2010 Alberta Summer Games and wishes her the best of luck in the competition,” said Town of Killam, Chief Administrator Officer, Kim Borgel. From Wainwright, Melissa Sembalerus is also entered in the ‘Swimming’ division. “We are very proud of Melissa’s accomplishments up to now and are encouraging her to continue,” said Wanda [mother, and father, Larry] Sembalerus. “Melissa sets her goals and never gets swayed from achieving what she sets out to do,” Diane Miller, Wainwright C-Plex Aquatic and Fitness Programmer Wainwright Torpedoes, Head Coach. “Melissa is one of our best team players and shows great sportsmanship in every situation she encounters.” “Wainwright Torpedoes is proud to have her as a member of our team."  According to Chair Dave VanTamelen, this years Summer Games are leaving two legacies with the Province of Alberta. First, the Human Legacy due to the development of strength, endurance and capability that is shown in the youth that participate as athletes in Alberta’s Summer Games. Second, the Legacy of Group Sponsorship. The Peace Region Games Society has established the first small community joint effort to sponsor the Summer Games, which included the Towns of Peace River, Grimshaw, Manning and Falher, the Villages of Berwyn and Nampa, Northern Sunrise County, the MDs of Northern Lights, and Smoky River, along with the Alberta Sport, Recreation Parks and Wildlife Foundation. Each athlete to participate in the 2010 Alberta Summer Games is considered to have accomplished “success” and are being encouraged to continue in their chosen sport. |
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