Category — Sports

Yes, it’s time for the unofficial start to the Canadian summer (at least in Ontario). Time to go open the cottage (if you have one) or plant the flowers in your garden (if you have one), or just kick back and relax for a long weekend. I will be doing the latter this weekend, as having just returned from my vacation in Italy, I don’t really want to go anywhere. Just sit around and do nothing. Okay, well, not exactly nothing, as I’ll be putting up my sunshade, and maybe even buying a new (cheap) patio set for the back deck.

On Victoria Day, we celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria. Her birthday’s actually May 24, but by keeping the holiday on the third Monday in May, we’re close enough. Sometimes we’re even bang-on, but not this year. Other provinces in Canada celebrate the current monarch’s birthday on this weekend, while in Quebec they celebrate National Patriots Day. The point is, all Canadians get the third Monday of May off.
I may go out and watch some fireworks too on Sunday, or I just might recover from my first Ultimate Frisbee game of the season too. As usual, my ankles decided to protest somewhat during the game, so I’m a little gimpy today. Nothing serious of course, but just annoying. I will probably start wearing ankle protection during the whole game, in order to make sure I don’t do any serious damage. It seems we’ve got a pretty good team this year too, so once we finally learn each other’s names, I suspect we’ll be a force to be reckoned with. mwah ha ha.

How cool is this? Tomorrow is Hockey Day in Canada, where all six Canadian NHL teams face off against each other. (In case I didn’t mention it before, I’m a big hockey fan.) HDiC is a creation of the CBC, and because of their partnership with TeleLatino this past summer for the World Cup, they decided to do something cool for HDiC: simulcast one of the games on TLN with Italian commentary! Isn’t that wild? I’m quite excited because being of Italian extraction, and given the fact that I speak Italian, I think it’s a wonderful way to combine two very cool things. Ice hockey does exist in Italy, and while not hugely popular, they at least know what the game is, even if they think it’s strange. Check out the full details of the story here.

Since they’re looking to get maximum exposure, this Italian commentary will be done for the main 7pm game, which is, of course, a Leafs game (boo-erns, booerns!). You may glean from my tone that I am NOT a Leafs fan, even though I do live in Toronto. I am a fan of the BEST team ever, (one that’s won the Stanley Cup many times since the Leafs last won theirs (mwah hahah)): the Montreal Canadians! Yes, I’m finally coming out of the closet. I am a Habs fan. But moreover, I am a fan of good hockey, so even if it were the Tampa Bay Lightning vs the Phoenix Coyotes, as long as it’s a good game, that’s fine by me.
Hockey Day in Canada Schedule:

• 2pm: Canadians at Senators (CBC)
  
• 7pm: Canucks at Leafs (CBC & TLN)
• 10pm: Oilers at Flames (CBC)

So go on and enjoy some hockey su ghiaccio tomorrow everyone! Go Habs Go!

Can’t believe I actually did this, but I did it on the weekend. I actually picked Eric Lindros for one of my fantasy hockey teams. Now while most of you might not think this is a big deal, it is. I cannot stand him! I feel he’s been a spoiled child for his entire hockey career. First he doesn’t want to play for the junior team that was going to draft him (the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds), but whines that he wants to play in Oshawa. So he did. Next he whines that he doesn’t want to play for the NHL team that would’ve drafted him (the Quebec Nordiques), so he got traded to Philadelphia. The best part of that though was that after moving to Colorado, the Nordiques won two Stanley Cups! Serves him right. J I realize most of this behaviour is due to the fact that his father’s also his agent, but still, he should be grateful that he’s playing a game for a living, and making a ton of money doing it.

Having said all that, I am pleased to see that Eric has actually matured a bit in the last couple of years, perhaps realizing his career’s mortality with all the concussions he suffered recently. Especially because of the fact his younger brother had to retire from the NHL due to concussions. Eric seems to have matured and seems to be a little more grateful that: a) he’s healthy enough to continue playing in the NHL, and b) he’s making a living playing a game he loves. Plus he’s also playing for his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs.

All of this has contributed to the fact that this year he is playing better than he has in quite some time. He seems rejuvenated playing in Toronto, and is enjoying himself again on the ice. And since he seems to have regained some of that magic and is scoring again, I had to add him to my fantasy team. I’m just getting killed by the dude in first place, so I had to take some drastic action and put Lindros on my team. Seems silly to you, I know, but to me it was a difficult decision. Here’s to hoping he stays healthy and gets me a ton of points.

Last week was the championship game for my summer Ultimate Frisbee league. After beating our nemesis team the week before, and playing well doing it, we had high hopes of at least keeping the score close, or perhaps even winning the whole darned thing. Alas, it was not to be. We couldn’t get our defence going, and the other team was pretty much scoring at will. We actually got to the halftime cut off point faster than all season (in only 27 minutes - we play 40 minute halves), and the entire game seemed to fly by. So in the end we lost by 10 points, but we had fun doing it. The team really gelled over the course of the season, and a good time was had by all.

Now it’s time to rest my weary bones by watching all of the new Fall tv! Bones premieres this week, and I’m very excited about it. Partly because David Boreanaz is back on tv (he was so good as Angel), and partly because I’m a Kathy Reichs fan, so it’ll be interesting to see how the stories translate to the small screen. Of course we won’t hear any of the Canadian angle in the show, but that’s okay.

Last night was the semi final game for my work Ultimate Frisbee team. We were playing our nemesis team, one we hadn’t beaten all season (we’ve played twice before), although we got close the last time. Incredibly, we jumped out to a 5-0 right from the start. They were hard-fought, long points, but we were leading. Then they crept up a bit to 5-4, then by half time we were leading 8-7. We let our guard down at the beginning of the second half, and they tied it 8 all. Our field general then gave us a pep talk, stating “Okay, we get the next point. I don’t care if we end up losing the game, but this next point is ours.” We played hard that point, and won it! And the next one, and the next, until we were leading 14-8.

Then it got a little dicey after that, as it was getting dark and we couldn’t really see the disc anymore. So we agreed to play 4 more minutes, although it ended up being this supremely long point, so it was really a “last point” situation. But we got it and ended up 15-10 in our favour! We were very pleased, as we finally beat our nemesis team, and scored double-digit points doing it. So now we’re in the finals next week, which will be my first time ever in a final game for Ultimate. My previous team always used to get to the playoffs, but we never progressed passed the first round. This will be new territory for me, and I’m looking forward to it!