Category: sports

Posted on in entertainment, sports

Jump on the bandwagon

Vladimir Guerrero Jr fanning Alejandro Kirk with a towel

I remember it clearly. The year was 1992. Dave and I had just got married on a beautiful fall day, October 3rd and returned home from our honeymoon to watch the final games of the World Series in two lawn chairs in our empty apartment in Port Credit.  41-year old Dave Winfield swings and hits a two-run double in the eleventh inning of Game 6 against the Atlanta Braves to win the game, making the Toronto Blue Jays the first Canadian team ever to win the World Series of baseball.

Growing up in Toronto, I’ve been cheering on the boys in blue since their first at bat in April 1977, when they won their first game against the Chicago White Sox in a snowstorm at the old Exhibition Stadium. I remember going to quite a few of those early games with snowflakes in the air. In those days, Dominion grocery offered $4 tickets and all of us Ryerson students would skip classes and pile into the stadium to eat 60-cent hot dogs and drink $2 beers. When the Skydome and its retractable roof opened its doors in 1989, we felt like we were watching games in luxury, pure luxury. 

Now the Jays are making another run at the coveted crown of baseball. It’s a Cinderella story. A bunch of rag-tag guys who started the season playing less than 500 ball, guys like Nathan Lukes who almost gave up the game after playing in the minors for many years and Addison Barger who just started playing in the majors in 2024.

This team has heart and a deep love for each other and the game.

My favourite moment so far was when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fanned Alejandro Kirk with a towel after his epic run from second base to score home in Game 5 of the ALS championship series against Seattle. That’s love.

Or this TSN post-game interview with Davis Schneider after Game 1 of the World Series who confessed that Barger, the night before hitting Friday night’s grand slam in Game 1 against LA slept on Schneider’s couch since his own place was full of visiting family.

Yes, this band of Boys in Blue deserve our respect. They deserve to win.

This week’s #HappyAct is to wear your bandwaggoner badge with pride and cheer on the boys in blue. Go Jays Go!

Posted on in global relations, Historical, sports, travel

A winter celebration at Rideau Hall

Author and winterlude mascots outside of Rideau Hall

Yesterday, my South Frontenac Stocksport Club at the invitation of the Austrian embassy in Ottawa participated in a Winter Celebration at Rideau Hall as part of Winterlude, followed by dinner at the Austrian ambassador’s house.

It was a frosty bone-chilling day—one of the smiling volunteers who greeted us had icicles hanging from his moustache!, but the sun was shining, the skies were blue and everyone was in high spirits despite the looming threat of a trade war brewing with the US.

Even though I lived in Ottawa for a year, I had never been to the residence of the Governor General located in the beautiful Rockcliffe neighbourhood near the Prime Minister’s residence. The original stone villa was built in 1838 by Thomas MacKay who was one of the contractors on the Rideau Canal. Rideau Hall has been home to the Governor General, the Queen’s representative in Canada every year since Confederation. Rideau Hall is free to tour year-round, although reservations are required in the off-season.

I took a break from helping demonstrate ice stock (for more on the sport of ice stock, see this post) to tour the expansive grounds. There were booths and exhibits from several embassies and organizations. The Embassy of Finland had kicksledding, the Embassy of Norway skiing, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands showcased Dutch shuffleboard.

All the booths were handing out free treats and drinks native to their country and there were live musical performances and dancing . Since our club was set up on Rideau Hall’s skating rink, a nice alternative when the canal is chock-a-block full of people, we got to see a figure skating demonstration presented by Can-Skate Canada.

At one point, the Governor General herself, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon came by, threw a stock and had her picture taken with our club members. I met her husband Whit Fraser and enjoyed petting their friendly lab pup Neva. I later saw them watching an Indigenous square dance at one of the other exhibits. You can learn more about the incredible work Mary Simon and her husband have done on Indigenous and northern issues on the Governor General’s website.

Our Stocksport Club with the Governor General

Above: Our Stocksport Club with Her Excellency, Mary Simon, the Governor of General, pictured third from the right. Below: our club President, Karl Hammer chats with her excellency and representatives from the Austrian embassy

Governor General Mary Simon and Karl Hammer, president of the South Frontenac Stocksport Club

Everyone was so lovely and kind, and I enjoyed meeting people from all over the region—students, government workers, military and security personnel who braved the cold to enjoy the outdoor activities.

After the event was over, we went to the Austrian ambassador’s house for a delicious Austrian meal of goulash, gluwhhein or glogg, a mulled wine, and fluffy Austrian pastry. Our hosts were His Excellency Andreas Rendl and his lovely wife Ava, and I enjoyed chatting with them to learn more about a day in the life of an ambassador and their experiences in Canada, their final posting before Andreas retires in a few years.

It was a wonderful day and experience and made me especially proud to be Canadian on a day that I’m sure will define us as a nation in the years ahead.

This week’s #HappyAct is twofold: visit one of Canada’s beautiful heritage properties or museums and get out and enjoy the last vestiges of winter since according to the groundhog, it will be an early spring! Winterlude continues in Ottawa from now until February 17.

man skating on ice
Indigenous dancing at Rideau Hall

Her Excellency Mary Simon watching Indigenous dancing at Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall in Ottawa
People in the living room of the Austrian embassy
men standing in front of a fireplace

Karl Hammer, President of our South Frontenac Stocksport Club with our unofficial club ambassador Tyler, with Andreas Rendl, the Austrian ambassador to Canada.

Posted on in community, sports, Uncategorized

Try a new sport like Stocksport

Stocksport lanes with stocks and daube in the middle

I once worked with a fellow who said never try a new sport after 50. He said if you’ve played a sport like hockey or skiing all your life, you can keep doing it well into your 70s or 80s, but never start a new sport after 50 because it was a recipe for disaster.

I’ve recently started playing stocksport or ice stock with our local South Frontenac Stockport Club.

Ice stock is a winter sport that originated in Austria and Southern Germany. It’s like curling, but instead of throwing rocks, you throw stocks into the house. In the summer, it’s called stocksport when you play on a concrete surface and in winter it’s known as ice stock when you play on ice.  

Teams of four slide their stocks to get closest to a round rubber target that looks like a puck called the “daube” which is placed in the middle of the house. The daube moves which makes the game more interesting and adds an extra layer of strategy from curling. You also can switch out the plates on the stock to make your stock go faster (for take-outs) and slower.

Ice Stock Sport has been demonstrated at the Winter Olympic Games on two occasions.

While stocksport isn’t widely known in Canada, there is a devoted group of stockers and our little club punches well above its weight, sending members to the World Championships and competing internationally.

For anyone looking for a new sport or pastime, I’d highly recommend it. It’s a highly social game, so it’s a great way to meet new people in your area, easy to learn and play (I’m already getting the hang of it), and fun.

What I love most about our South Frontenac Stocksport Club is how warm and welcoming everyone is. The club includes people from ages 10 to 80 from all walks of life. Everyone is treated equally and greeted with a smile and encouraging word, no matter how new to the sport you are or how good you are.

Yesterday the club held its annual tournament. My team placed third out of eight teams, winning the bronze prize (our choice of coolers, awesome!)

This week’s #HappyAct is to try a new sport. To learn more about the South Frontenac Stocksport Club, follow them on Facebook.

Competitors throwing stocks in stocksport
Competitors pointing at stocks in tournament
Posted on in entertainment, family, sports

Racing on dirt as it should be

Schoolbuses racing at Brighton Speedway

For Father’s Day, we took Dave to Brighton Speedway to watch the school bus races.

The Brighton Speedway opened in 1967 and is still one of a handful of dirt track speedways in Canada, along with Brockville Speedway. Different classes of vehicles race on different nights. Last night it was four classes of modified Canadians race cars and of course, the big ticket, schoolbus races. It was a sold out crowd.

I’ve never been to a car race before so didn’t know what to expect. What we experienced was a night of mayhem, smash ‘em up excitement and “pay for your seat, only use the edge” thrills.

The first few races were six to eight small classes of modified Canadians. The cars lined up two by two, the starter waved the green flag and they were off. We estimated they were doing speeds of 80 miles an hour on the straights.

It was wild when they approached the corners. Unlike Nascar or Formula One races on pavement, on dirt tracks, drivers drift on the curves, so the car goes sideways, sometimes only on three wheels. It was crazy to watch.

During the qualifying rounds, one driver took the second turn too fast and did a double rollover right off the track.

For the modified Canadians feature race, 25 race cars lined up for a take-no prisoners finale. It was mayhem with the only breaks in the action happening when they the yellow caution flag was waved due to a disabled car on the track. One car caught fire, others spewed blue smoke from overtaxed engines and two cars became stuck after they rammed into each other. When they cut them loose, the crowd cheered.

Boys and girls waved checkered flags that lit up with lights, and Sasquatch the Jack Links jerky mascot, wandered through the crowd taking selfies with the fans.

Sasquatch, the Jack Links mascot

After each final, they’d interview the driver. I liked that they always thanked the sponsors, since it’s an expensive sport and without the support of local businesses, most of these drivers wouldn’t be able to field a car. One guy in his remarks said, “Special thanks to my Mom for coming good for the new motor.”

The schoolbus races were insane. The buses were barely running old heaps of metal, some stripped bare of their seats, others with parts hanging off. Four or five conked out, narrowing the field to 16 for the ultimate finale.

There were times they took the corners three across with barely a foot between them. Our favourite was Bernie 66 who was fearless trying to pass, but who lost the race to a guy from Winnipeg who booked a week’s vacation just to fly to Brighton for the race.

Racing fans and drivers are diehard. Now I know why.

This week’s #HappyAct is to find a speedway near you and enjoy a night of mayhem. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

If you want to see the school bus races, mark your calendars for Saturday October 5 for their special Eve of Destruction event.

Schoolbuses lining up to race
Tow trucks separating two race cars stuck together
Dave at the racetrack
Schoolbuses racing at Brighton Speedway
Posted on in entertainment, sports, travel

Catch Canada’s National Game

Forget the Toronto Blue Jays and Maple Leafs. If you want action and excitement, take in a game of Canada’s national sport, lacrosse.

Ontario lacrosse season started May 17. You can see the full schedule here.

I went and saw my first lacrosse game last season between the Owen Sound North Stars and the Clearview Crushers in the Senior B Lacross League in the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre arena in Owen Sound.

Even though it was a sparse crowd that night, the excitement in the building was palatable. Lacrosse fans are diehard and passionate about the sport. They never miss a match and they follow the scores and standings religiously.

We took our seats, the lights dimmed, and the players came running out, as the announcer introduced the night’s starting line up. After the singing of O Canada, it was game on.

The basic rules of lacrosse are similar to hockey, but the face off looks more like a rugby scrum. The players crouch down on their hands and knees with their sticks parallel. As soon as the referee blows their whistle, they joust for possession of the ball.

I was struck immediately by how fast and exciting the game was. Balls whizzed through the air, and when a player took a shot on net, it was like a lightening bolt. I didn’t know how the goalie even saw it.

Of course, it wasn’t a Saturday night lacrosse game until a fight broke out. You haven’t seen a fight until you’ve seen a fight in lacrosse. There’s no bulky pads to protect players from the blows.

The one attackman dropped his stick and just started whaling on the other guy to Pat Benatar’s “Hit me with your best shot”. The guy who started it got 2 minutes for being the aggressor, 5 minutes for fighting and a game misconduct.

The other thing I thought was really cool, was between periods, they allowed all the kids in the stands to come down onto the playing surface and try their hand at the game. Many of the players joined them, lobbing passes and teaching them how to stickhandle. It was a special moment, seeing these kids side by side, playing a game they loved with their heroes.

Even though Owen Sound lost that night, we scored a great night of sport and excitement.

This week’s #HappyAct is to catch a local lacrosse game in a city near you and develop a passion for Canada’s national sport.

Faceoff in a lacrosse game
Action by the net in a lacrosse game
Blog post writer in the Owen Sound helmet
Posted on in relationships, sports, travel

The legend of the jacket

Golfer in jacket
My brother Don, three-time TBW champion

A few years ago, we were sitting in a restaurant when I happened to overhear the conversation at a table next to us. The person was telling the story of a time when he was on vacation, and this group of golfers came in to the restaurant, and did a special jacket presentation like they do at the Masters. I smiled, because I knew he was talking about my brother. The story was the legend of the jacket.

For the past 15 years, my brother Don has organized a guys’ golf trip. It started out as The Boys Weekend, an exclusive invitational of three or four days of golf, with a bit of drinking mixed in for good measure. In the last decade, TBW has morphed into The Boys Week, an annual event where Don and 11 buddies rent a villa somewhere in North America and golf for seven days straight to see who reigns supreme on the golf course and wins the coveted jacket.

There is a trophy. One of the guys stole an old trophy out of their Board Room and every year, a new plaque is added with the TBW Champ’s name. But it’s the jacket that is the true prize and symbol of victory.

The jacket itself is an old brown herringbone blazer Don found in a thrift store years ago that mysteriously has the ability to fit every winner like the old pair of jeans in the movie The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants.

Each year, it is handed over to the champion to wear with pride. The keeper of the jacket is responsible for getting their name and year embroidered on it. One of the boys fell down on his duties one year, so the new reigning champ kindly embroidered it for him—on the inside lapel.

Lapel of jacket with name embroidered on the inside

My brother has won it three times. The boys just got back from TBW in Prince Edward Island this year and I asked Don if the jacket came home with him this year. Sadly, Don said his game “fell apart like a cheap suit on the final round” and Bubba won it this year. Here’s a picture of Bubba in the jacket sporting his Anne of Green Gables look.

Congratulations, Bubba, and the entire TBW 2022 crew!

Golfer in jacket
Congratulations to Bubba, the 2022 TBW Champ!
12 golfers on a green
The field at the 2022 TBW Invitational in PEI