Tag: Sports, Games and Competitions

I watched the Grey Cup last night and was happy to see the Argos win with style. Odd that BC chose to go with the back-up quarterback, expecially as the other one won the league MVP. Dickenson’s choke on two time delays ruining a two-point conversion opportunity followed my a missed kick for one point pretty much lost the game or at least blew the last opportunity for them to win the game. No rouge.

The Grey Cup always brings out memories. Colour TV at Mrs. Hawkins around 1972 watching Angelo Mosca and the Ti-cats win. The fact that once CBC and CVT used to both show the game at the same time – when Canada existed in a pre-cable, two channel universe. I was reminded of 1983 when I was in the Roost at Fish’s above the library at Kings in the fall of third year. The Argos had not win since the 50s and our jumping up and down with every play sent the evening library staff up the stairs to tell us to be quiet. I don’t think that we had considered the power of a librarian’s shooshing powers to extend beyond the library. I was also reminded by my father, after a short funny bit on the broadcast with June Calderwood teaching the art of the field goal, that I had mooned her as a tot in a Toronto waterfront park in the summer 1965. She was in a lawnchair sunning. I was in a diaper half way down me arse on a breakaway from the picnic blanket. I apparently have a winter version of roughly the same story involving less skin, a toboggan and Allen MacPhee.

Nice as always to see someone my age win the game’s MVP – the “other Allen” drilled some sweet passes and even the Argo back-up did well while he was in expecially with a very natty soft rainbow pass to the sideline. It was not all about the punt and field goal after all. Nice also to realize admitting you watch the CFL is not like admitting you lick cat feet.

If you have no clue what this is about, here is a link. Don’t expect the diaper reference to be there.

This weekend I was thinking – as I lay around putting off the filing of my 2003 income tax moving expenses and writing out the letter explaining it all – how valuable it is to be a sports fan generally but how useful it is to have played when a lad the sports you follow as an older larger lump. I have played soccer (and still do) as well as some basketball, a little Canadian football and less baseball. They tried to make me a javelin thrower in junior high, even though I could shot put farther than anyone – if they could see me now, they would have known their error. My personal playing of hockey was limited to the pond, road, table, floor and bubble varieties. It is similar to beer appreciation and home brewing, even a little HTML and blogging. Learn the elements of anything a little, it is hard not to have an appreciation for when others do it well.

So it was with some appreciation that I entered the weekend emotionally invested in a few games. On this side of the Atlantic, the battle of the red uniforms is between the most favoured Boston Red Sox and the ok-but-not-my-favorites St. Louis Cardinals. On the other, the big game today was between the red of beloved Arsenal and the cursed red devils of Manchester United. Well, you win some, you lose some – and Mel was good enough to let me know in a 1500 km phone call with 2 minutes to go that Arsenal lost 2-0 to her beloved Manchester United, the New York Yankees of the English Premier League, stopping my Gunner’s record-breaking unbeaten streak in the League at 49 games. Rumour is that the blue away uniforms for Arsenal are a curse and any sensible supplier of strip would go with yellow. But we are, after all, talking about Nike.

In happier news, the Red Sox won game one of the World Series last night in fine style 11-9 after taking a lead in the eighth inning. Game two is close as we speak (ok, now it is 6-1 Boston) but it is nice to walk around town having people say “Hey, Sox!” when they see the hat. CBC TV news did a great piece on the Maritimers’ love of the Sox and its base in the early days of radio and TV. Red Sox pitcher Shilling is playing tonight with a jury rigged ankle staying relatively in one piece through some experimental sewing by the staff doctor – suffice it to say that Red Sox is particularly appropriate. All in the effort to overcome a curse far bigger than that of the Arsenal blue away uniform – the curse of Babe Ruth, one of the greatest players ever, made the day he was traded away from Boston. This year. At my cousin’s wedding in Cape Cod last May, three or four generations of my family spoke of this year being the year for the Sox: “Hi. Haven’t seen you for twenty years. How about those Sox?”

Even with only three of my four teams playing now – the Leafs being idled only by the NHL lockout – October is rich for the fan. Even the Morton won this weekend to pull into a tie for third. It is good being a fan these days…even if that means Mel gets to make that call.