Sporting Madness

Jason Davis of Match Fit USA and Zach Woosley of Ginge Talks The Footy were nice enough to have me on the Match Fit USA Podcast yesterday to discuss the Vancouver Whitecaps and the B.C. Place roof situation . Here's the link to the newly-uploaded podcast. Check it out!

The latest news on the B.C. Place front, which Duane covered here , is rather depressing. As most know, the $365 million plan to replace the existing solid roof with a retractable one and renovate the interior of B.C. Place was an important part of the Whitecaps' successful bid to join Major League Soccer. However, Global BC (a local television channel)'s sources have told them that "the roof replacement may no longer be a key government priority and it may be forced to pull its funding in the current economic climate," meaning "the project could face some serious delays or be cancelled altogether". As the Globe and Mail story linked above shows, nothing's been officially decided yet, though. It's understandable that the provincial government is looking for ways to cut costs. After all, they're facing a deficit that could reach as high as $4 billion this year , despite pre-election predictions in February that it would only be $495 million. Th...

I'll be live-blogging this evening's USL match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Rochester Rhinos here and at The 24th Minute and Epic Footy . Coverage will be coming live from the Swangard Stadium press box. Kickoff is at 10 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Pacific): join me here then! Vancouver Whitecaps - Rochester Rhinos

Work unfortunately got in the way of writing here again, so I haven't been around for a while. That should hopefully change in the next little while, and the first item in the line is a live blog; I'll be live-blogging the Vancouver Whitecaps - Rochester Rhinos game tonight from the press box at Swangard, and then should have a post-game piece up tomorrow. Kickoff is at 10 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Pacific, so come join me here (or at The 24th Minute or Epic Footy ] then! In other programming notes, the daily Link Trains will return Monday and I should hopefully have a few original pieces up here this week as well. Until then, here's some links to my stuff and the best of the Interwebs from the past week, as well as some music. Video of the Day: Spirit of the West - Home for a Rest A classic party song from a Vancouver band. Many people have probably heard this one in bars or clubs without any idea of who it's from, but the band's actually pretty good and quite well-know...

Who's ready for some football! It's Friday night, it's the B.C. Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and it's a CFL live blog! I previewed the game a bit in my weekly CFL column at The Rookies ; check that out, then come join in below! Lions - Blue Bombers live blog

Welcome to the final edition of The Link Train for this week. It will return Monday, so feel free to send me anything you come across this weekend, either in the comments or via Twitter , Facebook or e-mail . I'll also be live-blogging the B.C. Lions - Winnipeg Blue Bombers game here tonight at 7:30 p.m. Pacific (4:30 p.m. Eastern), so come join me then! Video of the Day: Metallica - For Whom The Bell Tolls This is a classic. It's tough to go wrong with a song based on my favourite Hemingway novel, and this one is a perfect combination of the best parts of metal; a thumping bass line, killer guitar riffs, a solid drum beat and a generally dark but meaningful overall feel. One of Metallica's best in my mind, and they've had a lot of good ones over the years. My Links: - A piece on Ryan Kesler , David Backes , the American Olympic hockey team and why you might not want to insult the wives of future teammates [ Canuck Puck ]. - My story on Jimmy Camazzolla , who's ...

Still working on figuring out the best time for this feature. Any thoughts on when you'd like to see it? As always, let me know in the comments or via Twitter , Facebook or e-mail . Be sure to leave your submissions for upcoming editions as well! Video Of The Day: Relient K - Sadie Hawkins Dance I've always liked this song. For one thing, it's a nice anthem for us somewhat nerdy types. For another thing, it reminds you of the dangers of egotism; thinking you're a big deal usually is a prerequisite to a fall. My Links: - None of the stories I've written this week have been posted yet, but you can check out this video I did for The South Delta Leader on the opening of the new Canada Line transit system Monday: The Best Of The Intertubes: Hockey: - The great Tom Benjamin fills Greg Wyshynski in on the five reasons he loves hockey . Benjamin's long been one of my favourite writers, so it's pretty cool to see why he likes the game [ Puck Daddy ]. - Benjam...

Apologies for the delay in this Link Train post; I was planning to run it last night as per usual, but life got in the way and prevented me from finishing it until now. I should hopefully have another one ready at the normal time tonight, and perhaps even a piece of my own before then if all goes well. As always, leave links for upcoming editions in the comments, or send them to me via Twitter , Facebook or e-mail . Video Of The Day: Deep Purple - Highway Star One of the all-time great driving songs, this song also was one of the first real hits in the hard rock/heavy metal vein (along with Led Zeppelin's Communication Breakdown and Black Sabbath's Paranoid). It's the first track from Deep Purple's seminal 1972 album Machine Head, one of the most influential hard rock albums out there. Moreover, it shows off Jon Lord 's incredible use of the Hammond organ. If anyone ever tells you the organ has no place in rock, make them listen to Deep Purple for a while. My Lin...

It's time for another instalment of The Link Train . As always, leave links for tomorrow night's segment in the comments or send them to me via e-mail or Twitter. All sports-related submissions are welcomed. Thanks for reading! Video Of The Day: Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark I'm a huge Maiden fan, but this was a song that didn't really make much of an impression on me the first time I heard it on the eponymous album. It was cool, but it didn't particularly jump out at me. I then heard them play it live at Toronto's Air Canada Centre in October 2007 (still probably the best concert I've been to; you can check out some photos from it on my Facebook page and it became one of my favourites. This song is just epic live, particularly with a good crowd like the one at their headlining set at the 2001 Rock in Rio festival (which turned into an impressive live album ) above; it sends chills down your spine to hear a crowd that large singing the intro in unison...

This is a new daily feature I'm going to be running (and yes, I did steal the name ). The plan is to post a music video and a list of the most interesting links from the various sports I tend to write about each night. There will be a partial focus on the teams I tend to write about, but there will also be plenty of room for stories from around different leagues and other sports. Submissions and comments are welcomed, either in the comments section of the previous night's post or via e-mail or Twitter . Enjoy! Video Of The Day: To go with the efforts (led by Stephen of Stephen on Stuff ) to make Rush a trending topic, here's Rush with Limelight. My Links: - A piece I wrote on Y.E. Yang 's unexpected victory over Tiger Woods in the PGA Championship [ The Rookies ]. The Best Of The Intertubes: Soccer: - Duane Rollins weighs in on yesterday's Toronto FC win (which I live blogged here ) [ The 24th Minute ]. - Jason Davis has some good thoughts on the similariti...

I'll be providing coverage of the Toronto FC - D.C. United match at 4 p.m. Eastern. It should be a good one, with plenty of playoff implications; D.C. are in fourth place in the East with 28 points from a 6-4-10 record, while Toronto are fifth with 27 points from a 7-7-6 record. Come join in the fun then! Toronto FC - D.C. United

Saturday may well be Hockey Night In Canada, but Friday's reserved for the CFL! There's an excellent matchup this week, with the B.C. Lions looking to keep their momentum from a win over Saskatchewan and the Toronto Argonauts hoping to avenge last week's shutout at the hands of the Montreal Alouettes. For a full preview, check out this piece over at CFL.ca; you can also check out my weekly CFL column over at The Rookies . There, I predicted a B.C. win, and I'm sticking to that; both teams may be 2-4, but B.C. was very impressive last week against a good Saskatchewan team, while Toronto played their worst game of the year against Montreal and couldn't record a single point. Join me in the live blog below to see if they can bounce back! B.C. Lions v. Toronto Argonauts

I'll be live-blogging the B.C. Lions - Toronto Argonauts game here and at Out of Left Field at 7:30 Eastern/4:30 Pacific. Until then, here's some links to the other stuff I've been writing and some of the best stories from around the web, as well as some tuneage to get you all pumped for the game. My pieces: - Here's the story of Canucks' prospect Sergei Shirokov and his quest to escape the KHL [ Canuck Puck ]. - Here's a link to the newest edition of The Whole 110 Yards , my weekly CFL column over at The Rookies . - The Vancouver Olympics are now only six months away. I have a story on one local group's Olympic preparations in The South Delta Leader , where I'm working for the next few weeks. - My weekly Phoenix Pub column took aim at the lack of proper standards and treatment around concussions in sports. - As part of those aforementioned Olympic preparations, the Richmond-Vancouver-Vancouver Airport SkyTrain line is opening on Monday. It will s...

One of the most interesting themes around the Blue Jays lately is the discussion of how their ownership has changed [ Stephen Brunt , The Globe and Mail ] since the death of Ted Rogers . Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed recently said the company remains committed to the Jays in a conference call, but talked of " bringing costs in line " [ Jeff Blair , The Globe and Mail ]. Those comments, as well as the recent trade of Alex Rios for nothing [ Bob Elliott , Toronto Sun ] and Scott Rolen for prospects , have led to speculation that Rogers may sell the team, as well as plenty of indignation over the team being run like a business. However, that indignation is misplaced in my mind. There's nothing wrong with running a team like a business; after all, a business-driven approach led to Billy Beane 's Moneyball strategy in Oakland. That exact approach is more difficult to execute these days , but the business principles behind it of finding undervalued assets, developing them ...

I'm finally back from this weekend's softball tournament in Golden, B.C. It was a lot of fun, and our team won our division, placing fifth overall out of 16 teams in the process. Anyway, I should hopefully have some fresh content up tonight. Until then, here's the final part of my interview series for my unconventional thinking piece at The Good Point . Today's instalment features my full interview with Frank Mineo (drinkyourmilkshake) of the great Steelers' website, Behind The Steel Curtain . You can also check out my full interview with Minnesota Vikings blogger Brandon Peterson over at his excellent site , Vikings' Throne . Read on for Frank's thoughts on the Steelers, Dick LeBeau 's defensive innovations, the zone blitz and the 3-4. Andrew Bucholtz: Many have attributed much of Pittsburgh's success over the last couple of decades to Dick LeBeau 's zone blitz scheme. How important do you think it has been to the Steelers? Frank Mineo: D...

Well, I'm off for the weekend for a softball tournament, so things will be light around here for a little while. I should be back with fresh content Monday, and I've got plenty planned for next week, including my thoughts on the latest developments in the Phoenix Coyotes' case, a few thoughts on ESPN's Twitter policy, a post on how Rogers' approach to the Blue Jays is all wrong, more interviews from my The Good Point piece and much more. Until then, here's a couple links to other pieces I wrote this week that you may not have seen and a few things from around the web. - The initial instalment of my new weekly CFL column, The Whole 110 Yards , over at The Rookies . - My weekly The Phoenix Pub column focused on the success of the B.C. Premier Baseball League this week. - A piece I wrote at Canuck Puck on the elevation Mike Gillis to president and general manager. - James Mirtle has a good take on the Coyotes' mess [ From The Rink ]. - Why The Denver P...

In the next instalment in my extended interview series for this piece on innovation in the NFL for The Good Point , I present Steve Sheiner of the Miami Dolphins site Blog With A Porpoise . Steve is also a senior editor at Fanball.com , the network I run Canuck Puck for. He had a lot of interesting comments on the Dolphins, the Wildcat offence, former B.C. Lion Cameron Wake and innovation in the NFL in general. Read on for the full interview! Andrew Bucholtz: The Dolphins obviously made a huge turnaround last year, going from the league's worst record to AFC East champions. How much of that success do you attribute to their implementation of the Wildcat offence? Steve Sheiner: I certainly think that played a role in their success as they caught a lot of teams off-guard that were ill-prepared to defend against such an unfamiliar attack. But more realistically, the Dolphins had one of the cushiest schedules in 2008 and the loss of Tom Brady in the division certainly didn’t hur...