the mad sports man

on this day in 1954, Willie Mays makes "the catch" in game one of the world series against the Cleveland Indians. he tracked down a fly ball hit by Vic Wertz. Mays had the presence of mind to turn and throw the ball back into the infield after catching it, preventing Larry Doby from scoring. Monte Irvin said years later, had Doby tagged up, he would of scored from second. game one was in the Polo Grounds and the ball was hit over 460 feet away in deep centerfield (in today's ball parks that would be a home run. Sal Maglie had been the New York Giants starter, and he went into the 8th inning and was pulled after giving up singles to Doby and Al Rosen. in came Don Liddle, who was to pitch to one batter - being Vic Wertz. Mays makes "the catch." in comes Marv Grissom to take over pitching for the Giants. Liddle hands Grissom and says with great humor (and with a straight face) says "well, I got my guy." Grissom shut down the Indians the rest of...

with Toronto losing 3-2 to Baltimore, the Boston Red Sox are A.L. Eastern division champions. back in the post season since their world series in 2013. not its just the wold card spots left. congrats to the Red Sox.

with a 7-4 win over Detroit, the Cleveland Indians are A.L. Central division champions for the first time in 9 years and their first postseason since 2011 while taking the wild card that year. congrats to the Indians.

by winning 4-3 in 10 innings over Colorado, the L.A. Dodgers are National League west champions for the 4th year in a row. also Vin Scully's last home game doing play by play. don't know if he will be calling the playoffs. he goes back as far as the days when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn. (Dodgers moved to L.A. after the 1957 season, along with the Giants moving from New York to San Francisco). all that is left is the wild card spots in the N.L.

with a 6-1 win over Pittsburgh, combined with Philadelphia beating the New York Mets 10-8, the Washington National have won the National League Eastern division. third division in the books. who is next? stay tuned

the Texas Rangers are A.L. West champions after beating Oakland 3-0 in Oakland with 8 games remaining. they are the first A.L. entrant. congrats to them. found this out after coming home from an Eskimos game (27-23 winners)

autumn began at 8:21am this morning Edmonton time, although the trees would tell you we're already in fall. the leaves have already changed color and we have had some cooler days. even a couple of frost advisories. there will be a few frosty mornings here. the amount of daylight hours will continue to get shorter. not enjoying it getting dark at around 8pm. jots of fall eh.

closing ceremonies are going. the handover to Japan happened. Canada finishes with 29 medals (8h 10s 11b) for 14th overall (i think). Tokyo hosts the next ones in 2020. until then.....

Aurelie Rivard was named flagbearer for the closing ceremonies tonight. she owned the pool at these games, winning three golds and a silver to go with the silver she won four years ago in London. she is 20 years old and has a heck of a career ahead of her. she will carry it proudly.

the 4X100m wheelchair relay team of Brent Lakatos, Curtis Thom, Tristan Smyth, and Alex Dupont have claimed Canada's 11th bronze of the games on a re-race. the original race they had finished 4th. they had appealed and was succesful in getting a re-race. they got the bronze. that, now brings Canada to 8g, 10s and 11b for 29 medals. where will the next medal come from? stay tuned.

Nicolas Guy Turbide just won a bronze in the 100m backstroke S13 event. that is the 8th medal in swimming at these games. wow. that brings Canada's total to 8g 10s and 10b for 28 medals. might get to 30 yet. will there be more? stay tuned.

second medal in sailing and it is a silver. it goes to John McRoberts and Jackie Gay in the SKUD 18 - 2 person keel boat event. that is 8g 10s and 9b for 27 medals. holy crud they keep coming. any more today? stay tuned.

this medal is a bronze in sailing, as Paul Tingley, Scott Lutes and Logan Campbell got it in the Sonar - three person keelboat race. that makes 8g, 9s and 9b for 26 medals. any more? stay tuned.

Michelle Stilwell wins gold in wheelchair racing - the 100m T52 event. that is two golds for her. that is now 8g, 9s and 8b for 25 medals. let's hope this is the first of many for the final two days of the Paralympics.

the Chicago Cubs are National League Central champions after San Francisco helped them out by beating the St.Louis Cardinals 6-2. 17 days left in the season who will join them? stay tuned.

Brent Lakatos picked up a bronze in wheel chair racing. he got it in the 800m T53 event. also his third of the games (1g 1s and 1b). that is now 7g 9s and 8b for 24 medals. who is next? stay tuned.

two more medals. Aurelie Rivard won her third gold of the games (and 4th overall) in a world record time in the women's 400m freestyle S10 event. wow. meanwhile Benoit Huot won his 20th paralympic medal winning a bronze in the men's 400m freestyle S10 event. that is now 7g 9s and 7b for 23 medals. making a slash again.

first medal of the day and it's a bronze in (gasp) cycling. Charles Moreau got the bronze in the road race H3 event. congrats. that is now 6g 9s and 6b for 21 medals. 9 of those medals in cycling. wow. will there be more? stay tuned.

katarina Roxon wins the second gold in the day, this one in the pool, as she won the 100m breast stroke SB8 event. that now puts Canada with 6g 9s and 5 b for 20 medals at the paralympics. wow. any more today? stay tuned.

another medal. and surprise surprise it's in cycling. Shelley Gautier picked up a bronze in the women's time trial T1-2 event. now it's 5g 9s and 5b for 19 medals. is there another one in the works? stay tuned.

4th medal today. it came in cycling again. a bronze from Michael Sametz in the time trial (again) C3 event. that is 5g 9s and 4b for 18 medals. the total keeps growing.

three more medals so far today. 1. a gold from Tristen Chernove (his third of the games) in cycling. he won it in the time trial C2 event. 2. a silver from Ross Wilson (his second), also in cycling in the time trial C1 event. 3. a bronze from Charles Morneau, also in cycling. again it was in the time trial - this one in the H3 event. that is now 5g 9s and 3b for 17 medals. not bad so far.

both medals in the pool. first the gold. from Aurelie Richard in the 100m freestyle S10 class. it is her third medal of the paralympics. the second medal is a silver from Tess Routliffe in the 200m individual medley SM7 class. that is now 4g 8s and 2b for 14 medals. more to come.

Aurelie Rivard has picked up her second medal - this time a silver in swimming. she claimed it in the 200m individual medley SM10 event. that is now 3g 7s and 2b for 12 medals.

two silvers and a bronze so far. Brent Lakatos got a silver (his second medal) in the men's 400m T53 event. Liam Stanley also got a silver in the 1500m T37 event. both medals in track and field. the bronze came in rowing. Victoria Nolan, Meghan Montgomery, Andrew Todd, Curtis Halladay and Kristen Kit got the bronze in the mixed coxed four event. that is now 3g, 6s and 2b for 11 medals.

got one of each today so far. the gold came from Michelle Stillwell on the track. she won the 100m T52 event. the silver came from Stefan Daniel in the paratriathlon PT4 event. the bronze came from Tristen Chernove - his second medal - in the cycling time trial C 1-3 event. that is 3g 4s and 1b for 8 medals. more to come.

this one on the track. Brent Lakatos in the 100m T53 event. his first ever Olympic gold. wins in a time of 14.44s. that is now 2g and 3s. any more?

Alister McQueen just won a silver in the javelin F44 event. the medal haul is coming in already. that is now 1g and 3s. wow. hopefully more to come.

Aurelie Rivard won gold in the 50m S10 event. and it happened to be a world record on top of that. that is now 1g and 2s so far. awesome. and congrats.

second day of the paralympics produced two medals - both in 3000m cycling and both silvers. the first one was from Ross Wilson in C1 3000m. the second was from Tristen Chernove in C2 3000m. not too bad so far.

here are some fall pics near where i live.

you know its the end of summer when you have reached the end of the Labour day weekend. plays it has been in the mid teens here and cloudy most of the weekend. hear this weekend was the fourth coolest weekend since 1991. wow. that surprised me. the leaves here have already started changing color. they will be on the ground before anyone knows it. the river valley will be pretty though.

the final qualifying for the last three spots for the men's tournament is set. Norway, Germany and Slovenia will be going to the 2018 winter Olympics. this also decided which groups at these games they will be in. Norway and Germany will be joining Sweden and Finland in group C, and Slovenia will be joining Russia, the U.S. and Slovakia in group B. group A has Canada, Czech Rep., Switzerland and South Korea. the women's tournament will be decided next year.

the year - 1951. the site - New York. happening - best of three tiebreak between the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. the Dodgers and Giants had tied for first in the National League, so they had to play a best of three playoff to determine who would play the New York Yankees. the Giants had won the first game 3-1, while the Dodgers won game two 10-0. set up game three at the Polo Grounds in New York. the Dodgers had built up a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th. Alvin Dark started the inning with a single. Don Mueller hit a base hit through a defensive gap sending Dark to third. Monte Irvin fouled out. Whitey Lockman hit a double scoring Dark and sending Mueller to third. Mueller hurt his ankle sliding awkwardly into third, and thus replaced by Clint Hartung to pinch run. Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen pulled Don Newcombe for Ralph Branca. Bobby Thomson came to the plate. Branca threw two pitches to him. the first was called a strike on the inside corner. t...

today marked the first day of school for the kids. some of them already started last month, while any that is left start after Labour Day. of course with the Labour day weekend is the "real" start of the CFL season with some rival games and key games. Edmonton vs Calgary and Winnipeg vs Saskatchewan have their home and home series starting this weekend. pennant races in baseball will heat up this month. with the baseball a little bit of history. 1941 season - just before the U.S. got involved with WWII - had two key events. a long games hit streak and the last man to hit .400. Joe DiMaggio hit in an incredible hit streak where he had at least one hit in 56 games. it began on May 15 against the Chicago White Sox, going 1 for 4. the streak ended July 17th in Cleveland. after that streak ended, he hit safely in 16 straight game. he hit safely in 72 of 73 games. he told teammate Phil Rizutto after the first streak ended "if i had a hit tonight i would have had $...