This weekend is an extremely significant one when it comes to the history of Canadian tennis. Team Canada is tied 1-1 with Team Italy in the quarterfinals heading into a key doubles match today and two singles matches on Sunday.
This afternoon (Saturday, Sportsnet, 4:30 p.m., joined in progress) Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver will take on the Italian pair of Paolo Lorenzi and Daniele Braccaili. It will be interesting to see how much energy Pospisil has in the tank after he lost a five set marathon to Andreas Seppi on Friday afternoon. Canadian head coach Martin Laurendeau ridiculously went with Pospisil over Jesse Levine, who is overall a much better tennis player.
Sunday’s matches are right now Milos Raonic versus Seppi (Saturday, Sportsnet, 3:00 p.m.) followed by Pospisil versus Fabio Fognini.
Here are the other events I’ll be watching this weekend:
In taking a glance at the first round matchups of the NBA Playoffs, there is one series that stands out among all the others– the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies.
It’s remarkable I’m talking about them because both organizations were so bad for so long.
But on paper this will be by far and away the closest and most highly contested opening round conference quarterfinal.
During the regular season, both sides were separated by a single game. The Grizzlies at 41-25, and the Clippers at 40-26.
The Grizzlies score by committee under head coach Lionel Hollins. None of the Grizzlies starting five scored 20 points a game, with forward Rudy Gay leading the way with 19 points.
The Clippers meanwhile are the flashier bunch, led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The team is no longer playing in the shadows of the Lakers, which is saying something.
I’m picking the Clippers in seven, as my only first round upset.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes the internet with some crazy new stuff to flip the script on you!
This week on “When Sports Go Viral,” that is exactly what happens – from paper airplane world records to singing athletes to funny car commercials involving athletes, it’s all here for your perusal. Oh yes, and there’s some Auto-Tune.
Remember the video of Tim Tebow reading Dr. Seuss? Well, you had to know this was coming:
Boy, how the time flies – another week has come and gone in the world of sports, which means there’s another fresh batch of viral greatness ready for its close up!
This week, we’ve got a dunk that ended a guy’s (Twitter) career, some magic from LeBron James, a ridiculous own goal and a couple of leaked Super Bowl commercials!
Let’s begin with some action from the NBA – check this video of LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin posterizing Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins:
Perkins was dunked on so hard that his Twitter account got deleted!
Speaking of mega-hops, did you see the massive one-handed alley-oop by LeBron James this week? (VIDEO after the jump!) (more…)
It may be the Christmas season, but it is a very big weekend on the world sport stage. On Boxing Day, the sports world will be focused on Alberta for the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship. The event is significant because it is the first time that Edmonton and Calgary, two bitter provincial rivals have joined forces to host a world class sporting event. Edmonton will host all of Team Canada’s round robin games, with Calgary hosting the medal round.
Team Canada’s first game is Monday at 1:30pm against Finland (TSN). Both teams have something in common. They both lost to Russia in the medal round at the 2011 World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo. Finland lost 4-3 to Russia in the quarterfinals, while Canada lost 5-3 to Russia in the Gold medal game.
It’s a tale of two lockouts in the world of North American pro sports right now.
In the NFL, the season is fast-approaching as the work stoppage nears its 130th day, but there are rumblings that it may all be over soon. Not so in the NBA though, where players are being encouraged to find somewhere else to play to show the owners what’s up!
Lets start with football: ESPN reports that Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are calling for the end of the lockout, but after another marathon session, the two sides aren’t ready to come together just yet.
There is a lot of talk that July 21st might be a big day in the CBA battle, but there are also rumors that the players still don’t feel like the owners are “giving” as much as they should be in negotiations. Another thing that could potentially slow things down is the legal action being taken by former players who feel they’ve been left out of the whole process. Could that affect a potential deal reached by the players and the owners? I suppose we’ll find out on August 8th when a judge hears the case! (After the Jump: Hilarious “lockout” video from the ESPYs!) (more…)
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will have a couple of big decisions to make in just over a month, which he hopes will ease the pain of “The” Decision.
The Cavs won the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night after the club’s first season without LeBron James, who left for Miami last summer. Represented on stage by Gilbert’s 14-year-old son Nick, Cleveland walked away with the first and fourth picks thanks to a trade with the LA Clippers back in February.
While the 2011 draft pool isn’t seen as being incredibly deep, Gilbert and the Cavaliers still have a pretty solid opportunity here to right a ship that was left in tatters by the departure of King James. (After the jump: Was the Lottery fixed? Plus some sick Taj Gibson dunks…) (more…)
Another week has come and gone in the world of sports, which has given us plenty of material for another episode of “15 Minutes of Fame!”
This week, Geoff Driscoll & I discuss another crushing defeat for the Washington Capitals in the NHL playoffs and what it might mean for that team in terms of personnel changes, as well as what the Philadelphia Flyers needs to address during the offseason and the latest in the Phoenix Coyotes saga.
In the GABBYs: MLB no-hitters, rock solid goalies, NBA awards and soccer theatrics!
Want an .mp3 version of this week’s video? Here you go!
Subscribe to our podcast! It’s an audio version of our video for those who can’t watch YouTube videos at work, or who want to hear us on your portable music devices.
It’s All-Star weekend in the NBA, which to me means just one thing: The Dunk Contest!
I’m the same way when it comes to any All-Star weekend; in hockey I like the Skills Competition best, I’m a fan of baseball’s Home Run Derby and when it comes to the NBA, count me in for the Dunks!
After winning the title in each of the last two years, Boston’s Nate Robinson has decided to sit this one out. Instead, it’ll be Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan (who lost a tight decision last year), Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka, Washington’s JaVale McGee and Blake Griffin of the LA Clippers. (more…)
Another week has come and gone and, wouldn’t you know it, Carmelo Anthony is still a member of the Denver Nuggets.
For weeks the rumors have persisted that Melo was on his way out of the Mile High City, with the NJ Nets listed as the most likely destination. He has stated that his preferred destination would be the NY Knicks, but at the same time I think he only really said that because he was asked the question.
Carmelo Anthony holds all the power in this situation and I’m quite sure that he knows it, too.
If the Nuggets don’t trade him, Melo will likely leave at the end of the season for nothing. If they try to trade him somewhere he doesn’t want to go, a refusal to sign a contract extension with that team will make the deal go sour. For the person trying really hard to hate Anthony in this situation, put yourself in his shoes: By accepting a trade, you’re helping out the team that brought you into the league – but why go somewhere you don’t want to go when you can just wait for free agency at the end of the season? (more…)
After months and months of speculation and denials, could Carmelo Anthony soon be on the move?
Reports from across the world of basketball say a deal involving as many as 4 teams and upwards of 13 players is being worked on as we speak that would, among other things, see Anthony shipped from the Denver Nuggets to the NJ Nets.
Not long ago the 26-year-old soon-to-be free agent reportedly said he’d only accept a trade to the NY Knicks…and while New Jersey isn’t quite New York, the Nets may soon be calling Brooklyn home. That would give them something in common with ‘Melo, who hails from that very borough.
ESPN reported on Monday that the Nuggets are riled up because so many details of the potential deal were leaked to the media, and so they’ve added a demand that another player be added to the mix. The Nuggets want to get rid of Al Harrington in the trade before they’ll allow it to happen – no word of if they leaked that info, or if it was another leak from the other side! (more…)
As a child I was led to believe by my schoolyard chums that Wednesday was ‘opposite day,’ at least when it suited whatever it was we were talking about…So I ask you, what is the opposite of a vote of confidence?
Lets let LA Clippers point guard Baron Davis take this one; he’s probably used to hearing it from the fans when he’s not playing well (like right now) but he, of all people, can take it a step further as his team’s owner has taken up heckling him! (more…)
I watched the Toronto Raptors for the first time this year last night and it didn’t take me long to realize why this team is now 2-9. They just simply lack that difference maker. That player that can be counted on at the offensive side of the floor. What the Raptors have right now are a good mixture of role players, but no superstar that can be counted on to score twenty points per game. There are currently 23 players in the NBA that average 20+ points per game, and none of them play for Toronto.
There’s no question that the Raptors are missing Chris Bosh. But it’s now time for Andrea Bargnani to step up. He’s now in his fifth year in the NBA, and there’s no excuses why he can’t get it done. Last night Toronto’s 109-94 loss in Washington, Bargnani was a dismal -17. Simply not good enough for someone at 7’0″, 250 pounds, that is expected to get it done on both ends of the court more consistently.
Boy, how the time flies – another week has come and gone in the world of sports, which means there’s another fresh batch of viral greatness ready for its close up!
It’s a tale of two lockouts in the world of North American pro sports right now.
Gilbert’s “Decision”
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