the mad sports man

opening day of the women's hockey championships.  the U.S. just beat Canada 2-0 in a pretty good game.  the U.S. i thought had most of the play.  earlier in Pool A, Russia beat Finland 2-1.  the U.S. an Russia have three points each, while Finland and Canada have none.  in pool B, Germany beat Sweden 3-1, while Switzerland beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in a shootout.  Germany leads pool B with three points, Switzerland with two, Czech Rep with one and Sweden with none.  tomorrows games has the U.S. vs Russia and Canada vs Finland in pool A,  and in pool B its Czech Rep. vs Germany and Sweden vs Switzerland.

the North Carolina Tarheels are off to their 20th final four appearace after beating Kentucky 75-73 ona last second basket (0.3 seconds left after Kentucky tied it)  the Tarheels will face Oregon on Saturday in the semi finals.

the South Carolina Gamecocks are heading to their first final four as they beat Florida 77-70.  they will be playing Gonzaga in one semi final game on Saturday.  coming up has North Carolina vs Kentucky with the winner to play Oregon on Saturday night in the other semi final game.

earlier this morning in Beijing, Canada's Rachel Homan and her curling team beat Russia 8-3 to wim the world curling championships, AND qualified Canada for the 2018 winter Olympics.  Russia, Switzerland, Great Britain, U.S., Sweden and Japan also qualified for the Olympics in Curling.  South Korea had automatically qualified as host country.  the final two countries will qualify via Olympic Qualifying Event.  the men begin their world championships (and olympic qualifying) Saturday in Edmonton.

for the first time since 1939 (i believe the first tournament), the Oregon Ducks are into the final four after beating Kansas 74-60.  Oregon won the 1939 tournament.  they get either North Carolina or Kentucky.

the Gonzaga Bulldogs are heading to the final four for the first time ever as they beat Xavier 83-59.  they will face the winner of the East region final tomorrow.  coming up: Kansas vs Oregon.

in the east, Florida beats Wisconsin 84-83 in overtime on a three point buzzer beater.  they will play South Carolina for the East region.  South Carolina beat Baylor 70-50 to reach the elite 8.  and in the south. Kentucky beat UCLA 86-75 to move into the elite eight and will face North Carolina for the south region final.  the Tarheels beat Butler 92-80.  stay tuned tomorrow.

night 5 is done.  in the west region, Gonzaga beat West Virginia 61-58 and Xavier just beat Arizona 73-71.  Gonzaga and Xavier meets on Saturday in one elite 8 matchup.  in the midwest, Kansas blew out Purdue 98-66 and Oregon beat Michigan 69-68.  Kansas vs Oregon will also play Saturday in another elite 8 matchup.  the remainder of the elite 8 will be decided tomorrow.  games tomorrow has Wisconsin vs Florida and Baylor vs South Carolina in the east region and North Carolina vs Butler and UCLA vs Kentucky in the south region.

the U.S. as they beat Puerto Rico 8-0 to win their first WBC championship. Marcos Stroman threw 6+ innings giving up one hit to start the 7th.  pretty much a no doubter.  congrats to the U.S.  not too long before the MLB season begins.  April 2 the opener with three games.

on a rainy night in L.A, the U.S. hangs on to beat Japan 2-1 and will face Puerto Rico for the championship tomorrow night.  game time is 7pm Edmonton time.

this one went into extras.  Puerto Rico scores the winning run on a fly ball as they win 4-3 in 11 innings. they will face either the U.S or Japan for the championship on Wednesday night.  U.S vs Japan plays tomorrow night.

spring officially began at 4:29am this morning.  it's -6c at the moment.  felt it peeking outside this morning.  the sun is out though so hopefully it warms up.  supposed to get to -2c later.  we will see though.

today produces two upsets.  South Carolina just produced the second one as they beat Duke 88-81 AND making their first sweet 16 appearance.  the first one had Michigan beat Louisville 73-69. only Cincinnati vs UCLA are left for games today.

the U.S.  is into the semi final after beating the Dominican Republic 63 to finish off the round robin.  they will face Japan Tuesday night from Dodger Stadium in L.A.  game time 7pm.  the Netherlands faces Puerto Rico Monday night, also from Dodger Stadium.  winners of the semi finals plays for the championship on Wednesday night from Dodger Stadium.

this time #11 Xavier beat #3 Florida State 91-66, puts themselves in the sweet 16.  pretty much a convincing win.  4 games left tonight.  is there another upset?  stay tuned.

this was a blowout Puerto Rico blew out Venezuela 13-2 to stay undefeated throughout the tournament (3-0 in pool D and F).  Puerto Rico faces the Netherlands in one semifinal game on Monday.  Venezuela is out at 0-3.  the winner of the Dominican Republic vs U.S. game will finish second and will face Japan in the other semi final on Tuesday.

today in 1892, Lord Stanley of Preston purchase, then donated a silver rose bowl.  he then inscribed it "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" on one side of the outside rim and "From Stanley of Preston" on the other.  that bowl we know now as the Stanley Cup.  at a banquet in Ottawa on this night, the Ottawa Hockey Club was honored.  Lord Stanley's sons, Arthur and Algemon persuaded their dad to donate a trophy as a"visible sign of the hockey championship. Stanley had sent this message to the banquet: I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion [of Canada]. There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be ...

#8 Wisconsin just knocked out #1 Villanova 65-62.  first 1 seed down.  this is only the second game in day three.  any more upsets?  stay tuned

Puerto Rico hung on to beat the U.S. 6-5 to go to 2-0 in pool F, the U.S is now tied with Dominican Republic at 1-1 and Venezuela is at 0-2.  tomorrows games has Puerto Rico vs Venezuela at 1:30pm Edmonton time and the U.S. vs Dominican Republic at 8pm Edmonton time.  games will decide who goes to the semi finals.  top two advance.

first 8 games are done and the 8th game produced a 4th upset as #11 Rhode Island beat #6 Creighton. 84-72.  they will be playing #3 Oregon in the midwest second round.   looks like Kansas vs UCD is about to tip off.

this was a close one as #11 USC beat #6 SMU 66-65.  they get #3 Baylor in the second round in the east bracket.  no other surprises yet.  stay tuned though.

happy St Patrick's Day.  that time of year to wear green and drink green beer.  i believe the Chicago River is dyed green for the day.  enjoy the day folks.  time to get some green on.

Dominican Republic won a pretty good pitching duel for most of the game, beating Venezuela 3-0, going to 1-1, while Venezuela drops to 0-2. later tonight has the U.S. vs Puerto Rico at 8pm Edmonton time.

Saint Mary's vs VCU has a 1:15 left and Saint Mary's is leading. other three are done and a second upset as #11 Xavier beat #6 Maryland 76-65. we will see what the final four games of this evening produce.

first 8 games in and one upset as #5 Minnesota lost to #12 Middle Tennessee 81-72. meanwhile Northwestern wins its first ever NCAA tournament game beating Vanderbilt 68-66. two questionable plays of Vanderbilt at the end. 1. a foul when the player either thought they were trailing (they were tied at time i believe) and 2. an attempt at a three near half court (mind you it could have gone in). that is it for day one so far. 8 more games tonight. stay tuned.

after trailing 2-0, the U.S. scored one in the 7th and three in the 8th to beat Venezuela 4-2 in their first game of pool F. they are 1-0, Venezuela 0-1. Venezuela plays Dominican Republic tomorrow.

Japan beat out Israel 8-3 to win Pool E with a 3-0 record and eliminates Israel. they will face the runner up of Pool F on the 21st. the Netherlands finishes second (2-1)and will face the winner of Pool F on the 20th. tonight has Venezuela vs the U.S. at 7pm Edmonton time.

this was over by the 4th inning. by then the Netherlands was up 11-0. final ended up Netherlands 14 Cuba 1 when the mercy rule kicked in at the end of the 7th. Netherlands is 2-1 in Pool E while Cuba finished 0-3 and is out of the tournament. Israel plays Japan at 4am Edmonton time to round out Pool E.

Puerto Rico opens Pool F beating Dominican Republic 3-1 to stay undefeated in the tournament and 1-0 in pool F. D.R. loses it first game. tomorrow has Venezuela vs U.S.

Japan is 2-0 in pool E after beating Cuba 8-5 early this morning. Cuba sits at 0-2. tomorrow has Netherlands vs Cuba (which is later tonight in Edmonton at 9pm. 15 hour difference), and Israel vs Japan at 4am. these games should round out pool E. top two into the semi finals.

Venezuela hung on to this one winning 4-3 over Italy to head for the second round joining the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Venezuela and Italy had already qualified for the 2021 tournament eliminating Mexico. (3 way tie break almost like an earned run average). Mexico done. tomorrow's Pool F game has Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico. top two teams in Pools E and F go to the semi finals.

this one wasn't much of a game this morning. the Netherlands beat Israel 12-2. mercy rule kicked in in the 8th inning. each team is 1-1. tomorrow has Cuba vs Japan.

Mexico built a 5-0 lead and barely hung on to win 11-9 over Venezuela creating a three way tie for second with Mexico, Venezuela and Italy tied with 1-2 records. Venezuela ends up eliminated and Mexico plays Italy in a tiebreak game to go to the second round later tonight. not sure how the formula for that came up. Italy and Mexico are also qualified for the 2021 tournament. this game took 4h44m. long night. so later today has Netherlands vs Israel at 4am and Italy vs Mexico at 7pm (times are Edmonton time). UPDATE. the tie break game is Italy vs Venezuela. here is how (i haven't figured out. i think its Runs against/ Innings pitced that broke it Rk Team v t e W L HTH RA IPD RA/IPD 1 Puerto Rico 3 0 − 2 Italy 1 2 1−1 20 19.0 1.053 3 Venezuela 1 2 1−1 21 19.0 1.105 4 Mexico 1 2 1−1 19 17.0 1.117

this one was over after two innings. the U.S. scored 7 in those two innings and added one more later as the knock out Canada - literally and out of the tournament - to the tune of 8-0. the U.S. is also moving on to the second round, joining the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico in pool F and also qualifying for the 2021 tournament. the U.S. went 2-1 in pool C. Colombia, at 1-2, also qualifies for the 2021 tournament. Canada went 0-3. Mexico and Venezuela has already started their game ans will round out the first round.

Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker have won Newfoundland's second ever Brier with a 7-6 win over Kevin Koe's team Canada rink. drew into the full eight foot ring to score the winning point. Newfoundland's previous Brier was in 1976. they win it on their home soil. the Gushue rink from the Bally Haly Golf and country club will be representing Canada at the World Curling Championships in Edmonton from April 1-9 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. congrats to Brad Gushue and his team

Puerto Rico wraps up Pool D with a 9-3 win over Italy. P.R. went 3-0 and will be heading into the second round, joining the Dominican Republic in Pool F and also qualifies for the 2021 tournament. Pool F will be played in San Diego. Italy finishes Pool D with a 1-2 record. the Mexico vs Venezuela game will decide Pool D. that is at 8pm.

this one went 11 innings (and second time this tournament where you are allowed two runners on base once 11th inning starts. Dominican Republic scored 7 runs as they beat Colombia 10-3. D.R. capitalized on starting their half of the 11th with two runners on base. Colombia didn't. D.R. finishes pool C with a 3-0 record and is in the second round in Pool F and qualifies for the 2021 tournament. Colombia finishes 1-2. Canada vs U.S will decide who finishes where and whether there is a tiebreak game.

this one went into extra innings. Japan beat the Netherlands 8-6 in 11 innings. Japan remains undefeated and is 1-0 in Pool E, Netherlands is 0-1. Netherlands play Israel in the only Pool E game tomorrow. they met in Pool A action and Israel won that one 4-2. Dominican Republic vs Colombia is starting in about 20 minutes.

Pool E begins day 7 as Israel beats Cuba 4-1 to stay undefeated over all and 1-0 in pool E (pool E in Japan) the other pool E game has Japan vs Netherlands at 3am Edmonton time. Cuba is 0-1 in Pool E. meanwhile Puerto Rico just beat Mexico 9-4 to go 2-0 in pool D, while Mexico drops to 0-2. 4 runs in the top of the 9th for Puerto Rico ended it. tomorrows Pool D games has Italy vs Puerto Rico and Mexico vs Venezuela. that is it for tonight.

this time the Dominican Republic beat the U.S. 7-5 after trailing 3-0. they sit atop Pool C with two wins. the U.S. and Colombia sit at 1-1 and Canada is at 0-2. tomorrow's games has Dominican Republic vs Colombia and Canada vs the U.S. to finish pool C.

this ended up being a thriller. Venezuela hangs on to beat Italy 11-10 in 10 innings. Italy battled back from i think three deficits to tie it. both teams are 1-1. right now the U.S. is playing Dominican Republic and leads 3-0 in the top of the 4th.

on this day the last ever game at the Montreal Forum was played. the Canadiens beat the Dallas Stars 4-1. the post game ceremony featured many of the Habs great. the last one introduced was Maurice Richard, who had a 16 minute standing ovation. at one point his eyes welled up with tears. a torch was passed down from captain to captain and taken to the Bell Centre (formely Molson Centre). the Canadiens first game in the new building was a win over the New York Rangers.

day six opened up with Colombia beating Canada 4-1 in Pool C action. Colombia is 1-1 while Canada is 0-2. Venezuela vs Italy has already begun.

this ended up a blow out. Puerto Rico beat Venezuela 11-0 after they score 6 in the 7th inning causing the "mercy rule" to kick in. Puerto Rico is 1-0, Venezuela 0-1. tomorrows Pool D games has Venezuela vs Italy and Puerto Rico vs Mexico..

Adam Jones drove in the winner as the U.S. beats Colombia 3-2 in 10 innings to open their tournament in Miami. they are 1-0 as well as Dominican Republic. Colombia and Canada are 0-1. right now Venezuela is playing Puerto Rico in Pool D. tomorrow's games in Pool C has Colombia vs Canada and the U.S. vs Dominican republic.

Japan finishes first convincingly with a 7-1 win over 0-3 China. Japan went 3-0 in pool A. second round in Japan begins March 12 with Cuba vs Israel and Japan vs Netherlands.

Cuba hung on to beat Australia 4-3. Cuba at 2-1 will likely finish second and will Join Japan, Netherlands and Israel in the Second round in Pool E. Pool E games will be in Japan. Australia is out of the tournament but still qualifies for the 2021 tournament, along with Cuba and Japan. Japan vs China rounds out Pool B. first pitch at 3am.

what a capper to "end" day 4 (Australia vs Cuba playing still "starting" day 5). Italy capped off a come from behind victory, scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat Mexico 10-9. wow. two run base hit won it. what a start to Pool D action. Italy had four homers in the game while Mexico had two others.

the Dominican Republic opens the tournament with a 9-2 thrashing over Canada. they opened with 4 in the second inning, and Jose Bautista turned it into a rout with a three run homer in the sixth. on now it's Mexico vs Italy.

South Korea beat out Chinese Taipei 11-8 in 10 innings. South Korea finishes 1-2 and is qualified for the 2021 tournament (along with Israel and Netherlands). in pool B, Australia blew out China 11-0 (8 innings). China is eliminated at 0-2, while Japan (2-0) Cuba and Australia (each 1-1) is qualified for the 2021 tournament. Japan has top spot in Pool B (already beat Cuba and Australia) and is moving onto the second round. tomorrows games has Australia vs Cuba (which starts at 8pm tonight Edmonton time) and China vs Japan at 3am Edmonton time. pool C begins tonight as Canada faces Dominican Republic at 4pm, while pool D begins with Mexico vs Italy at 7pm.

Israel wrapped up Pool A with a 4-2 win over the Netherlands. Israel (3-0) and the Netherlands (2-1) will be going to Pool E. they will face each other (again) and top two from pool B. coming up at 2:30am has South Korea vs Chinese Taipei to round out Pool A. both teams are out. at 3am in Pool B it will be Australia vs China. Pool C and D will be starting tomorrow evening. that is it thus far.

the first episode was a pretty damn good intense one. couple of twists already. should be a great season after this two hour episode. looking forward to what the rest of the season has in store. enjoy the season.

day three is done. Netherlands beat Chinese Taipei 6-5 to put themselves and Israel into the second round. they play tomorrow for first and second. they are both 2-0. South Korea and Chinese Taipei round out Pool A early tomorrow morning. both are 0-2. in Pool B, Japan beat Australia 4-1 to go to 2-0, while Australia is 0-1. Australia plays China tomorrow morning here. meanwhile Pool C and D begin tomorrow. in Pool C, Canada plays Dominican Republic in Miami (pool C games in Miami). game starts at 4pm. in Pool D, Mexico plays Italy in Guadalajara, Mexico. (all pool games in Guadalajara). game is at 7pm.

this one just ended. Cuba beat China 6-0. 4 runs in the 4th opened the scoring and basically ended it. Cuban pitching allowed one hit in the process. Cuba is 1-1 and China is 0-1. two more games overnight. Netherlands vs Chinese Taipei at 2:30am and Australia vs Japan at 3am. all times Edmonton time

in Pool A, Netherlands beat South Korea 5-0, putting South Korea on the verge of elimination. who would have thought South Korea would be 0-2. Netherlands is at 1-0 and play Chinese Taipei. meanwhile in Pool B Japan beat Cuba 11-6 to begin action in Japan. tomorrow has China vs Cuba and Japan vs Australia. fun times with games in countries 16 hours ahead of Edmonton.

this ended up a slugfest. Israel ends up running their record to 2-0 with a 15-7 win over Chinese Taipei (0-1). yipes. Israel is making a statement for the second round (top two teams in the four groups goes into the second round - groups E and F). South Korea faces Netherlands coming up.

the World Baseball Classic began early this morning with Israel beating South Korea (wow) 2-1 in 10 innings. South Korea is hosting Group A games. tomorrow has Israel vs Chinese Taipei and South Korea vs Netherlands. tomorrow in Group B, it's Cuba vs Japan. Japan hosts Group B (and later E). baseball is here

Adam Casey is in his sixth Brier and is the fifth player to be with three different province/territory. his first three Briers were with Brad Gushue's Newfoundland team, the last two skipping the Price Edward Island rink and this year is playing with the Saskatchewan team. wow. the other four players are: 1. John Morris (Ontario, Alberta, B.C.), 2. Johns dad Earle (Manitoba, Quebec, Ontario), 3. Ryan Fry (Manitoba, Newfoundland, Northern Ontario) and 4. Chris Schille (Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and North West Territory). Casey is two win and a loss and tied for 4th in the standings heading to today's action.