Sporting Madness

Twenty-seven years ago, on September 28, 1972, Paul Henderson was centre stage in perhaps the most momentous moment in Canadian sports history. Henderson had led the Canadian comeback in the Summit Series against the Soviet Union, scoring the game-winner in both Game Six and Game Seven of the eight-game series. That was nothing compared to what came next, though. The eighth game was for all the marbles. Both teams entered with 3-3-1 records, and the atmosphere in Moscow was downright hostile. The Soviet Union led 5-3 after the second period, and it looked as if all was lost. Yet, Phil Esposito and Yvan Cournoyer tallied for Canada to tie it up. At that point, a Soviet official informed the Canadians that the Soviets would claim victory on goal differential if the series ended in a tie. This seemed the latest in a string of dubious Soviet moves to win, and at the very least, would have resulted in one of the greatest hockey matchups ever played ending in disputes and feuding. ...

The Vancouver Whitecaps take on the Carolina RailHawks today in the second leg of their USL-1 playoff series. Vancouver claimed the first match 1-0 at home . It's a total-goals series, with overtime and a shootout if it winds up tied, so today's game should be interesting. Join me in the live blog below starting at 5 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Pacific! Vancouver Whitecaps - Carolina RailHawks

It should be a great day in CIS football, as the No. 2 Western Mustangs take on the No. 10 Guelph Gryphons live on The Score 's University Rush. I'll be live-blogging it here and at The CIS Blog with Neate Sager and Rob Pettapiece , plus anyone else who can make it out. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Eastern/10 a.m. Pacific. Come join us then! Western-Guelph liveblog

It's Friday, and the Stamps are going be hard to tame. Their clash against the B.C. Lions in the second game of tonight's CFL doubleheader should be a great one, though. 5-6 B.C. is coming off an emotional win over Toronto that gave Wally Buono sole possession of the CFL coaching victories record, while 6-5 Calgary enters this one looking to bounce back from a dismal loss to Hamilton. Calgary's in a three-way tie for first in the West Division, while B.C. is just one game back but in last place in the division, so this could have huge playoff implications. B.C. hasn't beaten Calgary at all in the John Hufnagel era, and they'll have a tough task pulling that one off at McMahon Stadium, but you know middle linebacker JoJuan Armour will be motivated against the team that cut him, and plenty of his teammates are fired up too. It should be a great one; I picked it as my Game of the Week in my latest column, so I'm hoping it won't disappoint. I'll be li...

The first leg of the 2009 USL-1 playoff series between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Carolina RailHawks was a tight battle, but the home team came out on top tonight at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. It wasn't traditional threats Charles Gbeke , Marcus Haber or Marlon James who scored, although they all saw action and created chances. When it came down to it, though, 19-year-old supersub forward Randy Edwini-Bonsu was the only one who managed to find the back of the net, and keeper Jay Nolly preserved the clean sheet for Vancouver. Nolly said holding the RailHawks off the scoreboard was key for the Whitecaps. "The first game of the playoffs, to get the clean sheet, I think that's great for our defensive mind," he said. "They've been weathering a lot of goals of late, so this will keep them up." Both sides created substantial chances throughout the game. Vancouver finished with 11 shots, but only three of them hit the target. By contrast, Carolina ...

It's USL-1 playoff action, live from the Swangard Stadium press box! The Vancouver Whitecaps take on the Carolina RailHawks. My game preview is here ; check it out, then join in the live blog below! Whitecaps - Railhawks live blog

The Vancouver Whitecaps begin their title defence tonight against the Carolina RailHawks, but the Whitecaps squad that will take the pitch will be very different from the team that hoisted the USL-1 trophy last season. Gone are Alfredo Valente , Steve Kindel , Wesley Charles , Nicholas Addlery , Jason Jordan , Eduardo Sebrango , Jeff Clarke and others who were key parts of that team, and as Marc Weber of The Province wrote today , some of the team's tenaciousness may have departed with them. Unlike last year's championship squad, which was primarily a group of talented veterans hitting their stride at the right time, this season's been dominated by a focus on youth, as I talked about in my post on their first match of the regular season. Young players like Marcus Haber , Randy Edwini-Bonsu , Ethan Gage , Wes Knight and Luca Bellisomo have all made their impact felt on the team this year. Haber in particular has impressed; many thought the team might struggle to score ...

It's a big day for the Vancouver Whitecaps as they enter the playoffs to start the defence of their USL-1 title. First up is a home-and-home series with the Carolina RailHawks. The first match takes place at 10:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Pacific) tonight at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium. I'll be live-blogging it here and at The 24th Minute and Epic Footy . Come join me here then! I'm planning to have a full game preview posted later today as well.

It should be an interesting CFL clash in Vancouver tonight. For B.C., quarterback Buck Pierce returns after missing a couple of weeks with a concussion, thanks to what may have been a season-ending rotator cuff injury to Jarious Jackson . Head coach Wally Buono will also be going for a record-breaking victory that would vault him above Don Matthews (who will be in the building) into sole possession of first place on the CFL's all-time win list. Perhaps even more importantly, a win would improve B.C.'s record to 5-6 and strengthen their push for a playoff spot. This game is just as important for Toronto. They'll be trying to build on an overtime win against the Tiger-Cats last week and improve their record to 4-7. If they win this one, they're back in the hunt for the playoffs; if they lose, it's going to be a tough slog for them. Playing a late game on the West Coast in the unfriendly confines of B.C. Place won't help, but they may have an opportunity thanks ...

Tonight should be an interesting one. The newly-signed Julian De Guzman makes his debut for Toronto FC against David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy. It will be a match of two of the league's better teams; Toronto's currently fourth in the Eastern Conference with 34 points from a 9-9-7 record while L.A.'s second in the Western Conference with a 9-5-11 record and 38 points. The game kicks off at 10:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 p.m. Pacific) and can be seen in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet (not sure of the U.S. TV coverage). Join me here then for the live blog! (If you're looking for the CFL live blog of the Lions - Argos game, it's one post above). L.A. Galaxy - Toronto FC

There are several key sporting events going on tonight, including the return of Buck Pierce in the B.C. Lions' match against the Toronto Argonauts and the clash of Julian De Guzman and David Beckham in the Toronto FC - L.A. Galaxy MLS contest. Which to follow? Well, it's time to make this blog live up to its name of Sporting Madness: I will be live-blogging both games simultaneously. We'll see how it works out, but hopefully, with enough caffeine, I'll be able to keep up with both of them. Both will be posted here in separate posts, so you can follow them both that way; the CFL blog will also be available through Out of Left Field and the MLS one will be available through The 24th Minute and Epic Footy . The CFL game kicks off at 10 p.m. Eastern (7 p.m. Pacific), and the MLS match starts at 10:30 p.m. Eastern (7:30 Pacific). Stop on by for one or both!

It's quite the day for disciplinary stories. The Ottawa Citizen is reporting that Carleton has suspended their women's soccer team over a hazing incident. The team will not play against U of T and Ryerson this weekend, presumably forfeiting those games, and will not take the field again until the university's ongoing investigation is finished. This could be a big scandal. There may be hazing incidents I'm unaware of, but the last time I can remember an entire team being suspended was in 2005 when McGill forfeited its football season. Queen's Journal sports editors of the time James Bradshaw and Dan Robson ran an excellent piece on the matter, looking at the wider issue of hazing. Of course, that also wound up being the year featuring the Windsor Spitfires' hazing scandal and the fight between Steve Downie and Akim Aliu . The two incidents, coming so close together, turned into a big national story and put a spotlight on hazing in sports. Over time, that s...

A very interesting story came out yesterday that hasn't received a ton of coverage to date. Vancouver radio station CKNW reported that Simon Fraser University's athletic program has been placed on probation by Canada West for the 2009-10 season. Unlike NCAA probation, this move won't affect SFU teams and their quest for regional and national titles. However, it does remove SFU's vote on conference decisions. More importantly, it leaves them in limbo for next season (2010-11), the year before they're scheduled to join the NCAA's Division II (for the 2012 year). Sandy Slavin , the president of Canada West and the director of athletics at the University of Lethbridge, told CKNW the decision was made thanks to SFU's plan to join the NCAA. "We don't believe they have a vested interest in our business any more and they shouldn't be voting," she said. She said they decided to avoid measures that would penalize SFU's teams this year, though. ...

Here's the live blog of today's Montreal Alouettes - B.C. Lions clash. Preview is below . Come join in! B.C. Lions - Montreal Alouettes

I'll be live-blogging the Lions - Alouettes game in a few minutes, but I figured I'd set up with a quick preview. The most interesting and most-discussed clash of last week was one I got to see in person last Friday, and one which set the table for this week's matchup ; B.C.'s incredible 19-12 upset of Montreal. That the Lions came out on top was amazing enough on its own. They came into Friday's match reeling from a 37-10 pummelling by Winnipeg in their previous game, where they gave up 393 rushing yards to the Bombers, and their 3-5 record didn't seem to pose much of a threat to the dominant Alouettes, who entered Friday night with a league-best 7-1 mark. Granted, Montreal hadn't won in Vancouver since 2000, and the Alouettes had looked relatively average in their previous game (a 35-24 win over Saskatchewan), so the potential for an upset was here. That potential seemed pretty small before kickoff, though. What made the night even more unusual was its ...

For those who like football of the three-down variety, I'll be live-blogging today's B.C. Lions - Montreal Alouettes CFL match. The game is on TSN in Canada; American viewers can check out the U.S. broadcast schedule and Internet coverage options at the league homepage . I'm hoping to have a preview up here in the morning as well. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Eastern (10 a.m. Pacific) in Montreal. Come join me then!

I'm going to try and run my NFL predictions here every week, along with one-line reasons for each pick. We'll see how it turns out! Thursday: Tennessee at Pittsburgh: Steelers Rationale: This will be close, but Pittsburgh's defence is just too good for the Titans. Sunday: Miami at Atlanta: Falcons Rationale: Both of these teams will be good this year, but home-field advantage gives the Falcons the edge in this one. Denver at Cincinnati: Bengals Rationale: The Broncos have been a gong show so far under Josh McDaniels . Cincinnati isn't the league's best team or the most stable, but they look positively competent by comparison. Minnesota at Cleveland: Vikings Rationale: I think the Brett Favre experiment will implode at some point, but the Vikings are still a much better team than the Browns. Jacksonville at Indianapolis: Colts Rationale: The Colts may take a step back this year, but they still have Peyton Manning and a great passing offence. Detroit at New Orl...

Our long (inter)national nightmare is over; it's time for the NFL season to start! I'm excited as anything for tonight's opener between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans; Pittsburgh should be eager to defend their Super Bowl title, and Tennessee will pose a good challenge for them. The "Terrible Towel" story from last year only ups the ante and adds fuel to the fire. For coverage of tonight's game, check out the Shutdown Corner live blog or Behind The Steel Curtain , where they should have a game thread. Anyway, before the season kicks off, here are my preseason playoff predictions; let's see how they stack up. Week One predictions will follow in a separate post. AFC: Division winners: North: Pittsburgh* South: Tennessee East: New England* West: San Diego * = first-round bye Wild cards: Baltimore Miami Playoffs: Wild card: Baltimore over Tennessee San Diego over Miami Divisional: Pittsburgh over Baltimore San Diego over New England Confe...

Sean Gordon of The Globe and Mail reported this afternoon that David Beckham may be looking into joining forces with Joey Saputo in the Montreal Impact's bid for MLS. The story's apparently based off this report from Jack Bell of The New York Times over at the paper's Goal blog. Here's the money quote from Bell's piece: "According to a person with knowledge of Beckham’s planning who spoke on condition of anonymity because of concern about jeopardizing a potential deal, Beckham, 34, and his management team at 19 Entertainment (led by Simon Fuller) and Creative Artists Agency (led by Jeff Frasco) are interested in being partners with Joey Saputo, the owner of the Montreal Impact. The Impact plays in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, one tier down from M.L.S." Obviously, Montreal's push for MLS is no secret, and it's been gaining plenty of force lately. The financing struggles of George Gillett , owner of Liverpool, soon-to-be-former ...