Canada Gets Its First Gold

Canada's first gold at London 2012 comes courtesy Rosie McLennan. The Ontario native captured first place in womens trampoline this morning. The medal gives Canada eight medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 5 bronze).

Rielly And Leafs Agree To Deal

The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed first round draft pick Morgan Rielly to a three-year entry level contract.
Rielly, a six-foot, 190-pound defenceman, was selected fifth overall by Toronto in June's NHL Entry Draft.
Rielly had 18 points in just 18 games last season with the Moose Jaw Warriors after missing most of the year with a torn ACL. In 2010-11, he led the Warriors in rookie scoring with six goals and 28 points in 65 games.

This And That

Is it just me or has it been a slow week around here with the Riders on their bye week? The guys get back onto the field this weekend with a big game against Edmonton right around the corner. The Riders are still better than the Eskimos aren't they?

Have you been to the Queen City Ex yet? The rain certainly is making it tough for organizers, but it should be nice this weekend so hopefully a lot of people turn up at Evraz Place to check out the sights, sounds and smells of the exhibition. I don't know about you, but I love people-watching at the fair. There's all kinds of them and some of them just seemingly come out at this time of year.

Being the wrestling fan that I am, I want to see Stampede Wrestling inside the Brandt Centre. Alas, Mrs. Scruffy wants no part of that so I will have to just walk on by when I hit the midway this weekend. She just doesn't understand culture.

Speaking of wrestling, if you watch WWE and you are a Riders fan, am I wrong when I say Ron (R-Truth) Killings and Odell Willis might be the same person. If Odell comes out with an imaginary Little Jimmy with him that will be the deciding blow.

Are you watching the Olympics? They just don't captivate me the way the winter games do. I did get caught up in the marathon tennis match between Jo-Willy Tsonga and Milos Raonic, but that's about it. I also laugh at how badminton is now in the public eye because of the competitors being kicked out for trying to lose. Did you see the video of that? It was comical. Those teams needed to learn from Mike Keenan as to how throw a game! Some of you may be too young to remember that so if you are, ask your Mom or Dad about the 1980 Memorial Cup when it was in Regina.

CBC has the rights for the next two Olympics. TSN, Sportsnet and CTV have done such a tremendous job in bringing us the games from Vancouver and London so it will be interesting to see how CBC tries to top it. Will someone else get into the mix? I guess we'll find out. It will also be interesting to see if Mr. Olympics (Brian Williams) goes back to CBC. Perhaps Glenn Reid or Adam Hunter will find their way to Sochi or Rio.

There is a story going around about police impounding vehicles if the drivers are caught texting. I am all for that. I had a woman just about rear end my car on Ross Avenue  this week because she wasn't paying attention. I was bracing myself for the crunch when she stopped just in time. If that message is that important, pull over and park the car!

Congratulations to my good friend Rob Vanstone for celebrating his 25 year anniversary at the Leader-Post. In my mind Rob is one of the best sports-writers in this country and his work is undervalued because he is doing it in Regina and not a larger centre. If he was in a bigger market, he would be right up there with the likes of  Steve Simmons, Damien Cox and Terry Jones  If Peter King can write a book chronicling his Monday Morning Quarterbacks, perhaps the rumpled scribe can print a book detailing 25 years of "Robservations".

It was great seeing a good crowd for the Regina Red Sox's playoff opener against Weyburn on Tuesday. You couldn't have asked for a better night either. Gary Brotzel and Bernie Eiswirth are once again seeing their hard work pay off as people are enjoying some great baseball at Currie Field. A few more home dates are in store too so get out there if you can. Sadly, if the team is to win it all again this year they will likely do it on the road unless the series goes the distance. If it goes the distance, could Currie Field have a new attendance record? What is the record?

Have a great weekend. Enjoy the Ex!

Cheer For Canada---Win From Visa

The London Olympics are well underway and that will be followed by the Paralympic games. VISA Canada wants you through social media to cheer for our Canadian athletes and Team VISA athletes in general at these games and they are offering some prizes for people.

Click here and create and submit a cheer in the form of a one-click cheer, post, photo or video on Visa's Facebook page. VISA will award prizes to some Canadians who do this in the form of a $250 pre-paid card.

For the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, VISA is supporting more than 60 Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls (Team Visa London) along with national teams from more than 30 countries including Canada, the U.S., United Kingdom, Brazil, China, South Africa, and Russia. Since 1986, Visa has empowered more than 1,000 Olympic hopefuls to achieve their dreams by providing financial support and valuable marketing exposure to assist them in pursuit of their Olympic goals.

VISA is sponsoring six Canadian Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls including Brent Hayden (swimming), Emilie Heymans (diving), Nicole Forrester (high jump), Benoit Huot (Paralympic swimming), Karen Furneaux (Kayaking) and Richard Peter (Paralympic wheelchair basketball).

Regina Rower Wins Silver

Regina's Rachelle Viinberg will return home from the London Olympics with a silver medal around her neck.
Viinberg was part of the eight women Canadian team that took 2nd in the competition today at the games. The medal gives Canada 7 so far.

CFL July Players Of Month

Henry Burris, J.C Sherritt, Chris Williams and Andrew Harris were named the Gibson’s Finest CFL Players of the Month for July, the Canadian Football League announced today.

The four players were chosen by a panel of judges that includes former Canadian Football League players Matt Dunigan and Duane Forde, now of TSN, and Pierre Vercheval of RDS.

After a stellar first month under centre for his new team, Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Henry Burris is the Offensive Player of the Month. Burris completed 122 of his 175 pass attempts for 1,540 yards and a league-leading 15 touchdowns.

Burris’ month was highlighted by a near perfect outing against the Alouettes on July 21. The 37-year-old completed 27 of his 30 passes for 360 yards and four touchdown passes. His performance tied him for the highest completion percentage in CFL history.

He also became the first quarterback to throw four touchdown passes in two consecutive games since Casey Printers accomplished the feat in 2005.

Under Burris’ guidance, the Ticats played to a 3-2 record and a share of first place in the East Division in July.

The Defensive Player of the Month is Eskimos linebacker J.C. Sherritt.

Sherritt picked up right where he left off following a 2011 season that saw him earn the West Division’s Most Outstanding Rookie award, where he finished third on the Eskimos in tackles with 72.

Fast forward to this season and Sherritt is on pace to register 148 tackles, which would ultimately smash the all-time single-season record of 129 set by Toronto linebacker Calvin Tiggle in 1994.

Through five games, Sherritt leads the league in the category with 41.

Hamilton kick returner Chris Williams is the Special Teams Player of the Month.


Williams was a human highlight-reel in July, registering a combined total of 517 return yards, including two punt returns for touchdowns and one missed field goal return for a touchdown.

The sophomore was also a force on the offensive side of the ball, registering 387 receiving yards and three scores.

Finally, July’s top Canadian is BC running back Andrew Harris.

The Winnipeg native and former V.I. Raider contributed 351 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries, as well as 277 yards and another two scores on 29 receptions.

Harris has been named the league’s top Canadian of the Week on two occasions this season.

(Courtesy CFL)

CBC Gets Back Into The Olympics Mix

CBC/Radio-Canada has won the Canadian media rights for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

"We thought it was very important for the national public broadcaster whose strategy is signature events," CBC president Hubert Lacroix said. "And there's nothing more significant, more signature and more of an event that brings Canadians together."

Speaking in London, England with CBC's Heather Hiscox, Lacroix said he couldn't comment on the costs but said the deal is a "very financially and fiscally responsible bid because that was our major concern."

For almost 60 years, and on 19 different occasions, CBC had broadcast the Olympic Games, most recently during the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.

"CBC/Radio-Canada has been an unwavering champion of amateur sport and our nation's best athletes," said Marcel Aubut, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee Wednesday. "They have unparalleled experience in broadcasting major multi-sport events, most notably the Olympic Games."

The deal comes more than a month after CBC and Bell Media announced they would no longer submit joint bids for the Canadian media rights for the games.

The two media organizations, which had formed a partnership last September, had submitted two joint bids for the package, but both were rejected by the International Olympic Committee.

Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, made up of a partnership between Bell Media and Rogers Communications, had the broadcast rights for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and currently have the rights for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

(courtesy CBC.ca)