We’re coming to the second busiest sports month of the year. April. Where has March gone? I know.
Anyways. It is a huge weekend for the Edmonton Oilers as they will be hosting their two western Canadian foes– the Vancouver Canucks tonight (CBC, 8:00 p.m.) and the Calgary Flames on Easter Monday (Sportsnet, 7:30 p.m.).
With 15 games left on the schedule, the Oilers are three points back of the St. Louis Blues for a playoff spot. That means every five games, they will have to pick up a point on the Blues, and hope they are slightly better than three other teams that are in front of them– the Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
If Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Reyes perform at the same level for the Toronto Blue Jays this season as they did for the Dominican Republic at the 2013 World Baseball Classic, then Canadian baseball fans will be very excited.
Encarnacion and Reyes were huge throughout the tournament, including Tuesday’s championship game in San Francisco as the Dominican Republic defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 in the pouring rain.
In the first inning Encarnacion and Reyes each hit doubles to give the Dominican Republic an early 2-0 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.
The 2013 World Baseball Classic Final takes place tonight in San Francisco with an all-Spanish speaking matchup as the Dominican Republic takes on Spain.
In the semi-finals the last two nights, Puerto Rico beat Japan 3-1 and the Dominican Republic beat the Netherlands 4-1.
Two Dominicans who are very well known to Blue Jays fans are first baseman Edwin Encarnacion and shortstop Jose Reyes, who was acquired by the Blue Jays in the blockbuster deal with the Miami Marlins in the offseason.
The Dominicans also have Blue Jay outfielders Ricardo Nanita and Moises Sierra, who made a great catch in the first inning last night against the Dutch.
Puerto Rico meanwhile has pitcher Efran Nieves and former Blue Jays Mike Aviles and Alex Rios, who recorded a big home run for Puerto Rico in their win over Japan Sunday.
This week on (the award-nominated) 15MOF we look back on the highs and lows of UFC 158 in Montreal, we decide whether or not the Edmonton Oilers are going to make the playoffs and we highlight another world class performance from Leo Messi and Barcelona in Champions League play.
In the GABBYs: the UFC, the Orlando Predators, Zach Sikich, Giorgos Katidis, Renaldo Balkman, Michael Taylor and Grambling State. The Punchline this week is a college hoops fan who missed out on $50,000.
This week on (the award-nominated) 15MOF we watch the Edmonton Oilers slip further down the standings and try to figure out what’s wrong, we look at a couple of big streaks in the NHL & the NBA (one of which just came to an end), and we look ahead to the main event at UFC 158 between Georges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz.
In the GABBYs: Canadian baseball, bees, Brittney Griner, Brett Cook, Cuneyt Cakir and Beitar Jerusalem. The Punchline this week is the Indoor Football League!
The Canada-Mexico game at the World Baseball Classic Saturday in Phoenix, will be remembered for the controversial bench clearing brawl in the ninth inning. Which in reality is too bad, because it took away from the excellent game Team Canada played, which kept themselves in the tournament.
The Canadians soundly beat a Mexican team by a score of 10-3, and should give them confidence heading into today’s tilt against the United States.
Three Canadian hitters performed admirably Saturday. Designated hitter Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins (who played with a head cold) and right fielder Michael Saunders of the Seattle Mariners had four hits each while third baseman Taylor Green of the Milwaukee Brewers had three hits.
Friday can be summed up in one word for Canadian baseball. Embarrassing. Team Canada’s pitching deserved a failing grade in a 14-4 loss to Italy. With the loss, Canada’s hopes are all but dashed as it is highly unlikely they will advance to the second round.
How bad was it for Team Canada? Well, the ten run mercy rule came into effect after Canada gave up five runs in the eighth.
Over the last decade I have had the privilege of seeing European baseball first hand. I have attended three European Baseball Championships, including doing play-by-play for the 2007 European Baseball Championships in Barcelona.
What is happening this week in Arizona, Taiwan and Japan is historic because European nations are finally becoming a force to be reckoned with.
The Netherlands and Italy (Europe’s two most powerful baseball nations) are just not winning, but winning convincingly at the World Baseball Classic.
The Netherlands have defeated South Korea 5-0 and Cuba 6-2 so far, while Italy has beaten Mexico 6-5 and throttled Canada 14-4 today in a baseball game that was completely indicative by the score.
With the success of the Dutch and Italians in this tournament, other European nations that have had success in recent years against the Netherlands and Italy (France, Great Britain, Greece, Germany, Spain and Russia) can take pride in the fact that the global dominance of the rest of the world in baseball is definitely shrinking and baseball’s traditional superpowers no longer are dominating.
The loss of Brett Lawrie for Canada at the World Baseball Classic in Arizona is going to be very significant.
Team Canada now will not just lack pitching, but an important bat in their lineup as well. Lawrie injured his rib Wednesday in Canada’s useless exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The injury raises a question why exhibition games even take place in the first place. I recommend not having them whatsoever at all levels of sport. Injuries like the one Lawrie sustained will have a huge impact in Canada’s efforts in trying to advance to the second round of the World Baseball Classic for the first time.
Heading into the 2013 World Baseball Classic, one of the most appealing pools was Pool B. South Korea, host Taiwan, Australia and the Netherlands may not be considered baseball superpowers, but are all very credible baseball nations than should be entrenched in the second tier in the world rankings.
On Tuesday, South Korea defeated Taiwan 3-2 in the final game of Group B action, but didn’t beat Taiwan by enough runs, and failed to advance to the second round of the tournament.
It is the Netherlands who advance to the next stage along with Taiwan. The Netherlands, the 2011 World Champion, beat Australia 4-1 on Tuesday after beating South Korea 5-0 earlier in the tournament. The Netherlands and Taiwan will now advance to the second round in Tokyo where they will face Cuba and Japan. the two top teams in Group A.
Team Canada will open their 2013 World Baseball Classic schedule Friday against Italy in Scottsdale, Arizona in Group D. They are also in the same pool as the United States and Mexico.
This week on our Yeggie-nominated show we take a look at what’s happening lately with the Edmonton Oilers (including a trade for some grit), the Chicago Blackhawks continue to take the league by storm and there’s some rock controversy at the Brier.
In the GABBYs: Anderson Silva, Swansea City, Jim Kerr, Rick DiPietro, Grambling State and Will Ohman. The Punchline this week is Ottawa’s NBL team!
The Alberta Sports Hall of Fame in Red Deer announced its 2013 Hall of Fame class on Thursday.
On the list this year are Olympic medallists Jeremy Wotherspoon of Red Deer and Blythe Hartley of Edmonton, Paralympic medallist Dean Kozak of Edmonton, chuckwagon driver Jason Glass of High River, former Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Chairman and Hockey Alberta President Orest Korbutt of Edmonton, former Lethbridge Collegiate Institute basketball and football coach Jim Whitelaw, former University of Alberta women’s field hockey coach Dr. Dru Marshall of Edmonton, former Major League Baseball pitcher Chris Reitsma of Calgary, rodeo pioneers Earl Bascom and Raymond Knight of Raymond and fly fishing writer Bob Scammell of Red Deer.
Wotherspoon, a speed skater, won an Olympic silver medal in the men’s 500m at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano. Hartley, a diver, won an Olympic bronze meal with Emilie Heymans of Montreal in the women’s 10m synchronized platform diving event at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Kozak, was a silver medallist in men’s goalball at the 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta.
The World Baseball Classic will start this weekend in Taiwan and Japan, with Team Canada’s first game scheduled for March 8 against Italy in Scottsdale, Arizona.
My initial impression about Team Canada is that they are solid offensively (led by MVP first basemen Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds and Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie).
However in baseball there is a saying that states “you are only as good as your starting pitching”, and this is not just a weakness for Team Canada, but should be a significant concern. By not having Ryan Dempster, Jeff Francis, Erik Bedard and Scott Diamond on the team leaves Canada with zero starting pitchers who are on the everyday rosters for Major League Baseball teams.
Here at 15MOF, we love sports and we think that sports love us back, so here we are with another brilliant episode! This week we’re talking about a shaky run for the Edmonton Oilers, a couple of interesting moves by the NY Islanders, a major scandal in European soccer and some bad news for the face of women’s skiing.
In the GABBYs: soccer salaries, Kevin Garnett, the Bakersfield Condors, Bryce Brentz, Mikhail Grabovski and David Beckham. The Punchline this week is the Super Bowl blackout!
We’re coming to the second busiest sports month of the year. April. Where has March gone? I know.
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