the mad sports man

 Wow where did March go? I think it took off thinking it had enough of winter. Let's see: Spring started, baseball is back on, playoff stretch is in full swing, March madness, World Cup qualifying, started my job, and yesterday finished putting my dresser together. Got it in June and started it, then sat on it until Tuesday night, putting my the drawer hinges on, ten finished it yesterday. Has some stuff in it now. So there's March 2022. Let's see what April has.

 Mexico and United States are into the world Cup. Mexico beat El Salvador 2-0. Costa Rica beat the USA 2-0, but USA gets in over Costa Rica over goals differential (both teams have identical records). Costa Rica has to play New Zealand in an inter conference game to qualify. Mexico and Canada also have identical records,but Canada gets first due to goals differential. 29 teams qualified (28 + host Qatar). One more from Europe and two inter conference games will set the field. Those will be in June. The draw is Friday.

 Morocco, Tunisia and Cameroon are into the world Cup. Morocco beat Congo 5-2 on aggregate, Tunisia beat Mali 1-0 in aggregate, while Cameroon beat Algeria on road goals. Cameroon won in Algeria 2-1 (extra time), while Algeria won in Cameroon won 1-0.  So Cameroon gets in. That is now 26 teams qualified plus host Qatar (27 teams). Five left to qualify.

 Some qualifying has begun already for the 2023 world Cup. Australia and New Zealand are co-hosting this tournament, so they're automatically qualified. On January 30, Japan, South Korea, China and Philippines qualified for the world Cup by making the semi finals of the Asian Cup tournament (China won). Vietnam won a playoff round between and two other quarter finals losers in a round robin format. (Australia, as co-host, didn't play as they also lost QF).  First round in CONCACAF is on, and their second round and other federations will happen over the summer. Stay tuned.

 Poland and Portugal are into the world Cup winning their respective playoff pathways. Poland beat Sweden 2-0 in path B and Portugal beat North Macedonia 2-0 to win path C. Now 23 have qualified plus host Qatar (24 total).

 Ghana and Senegal are into the world Cup. Ghana and Nigeria finished the two leg series tied at 1-1. Since the first game was a 0-0 draw, Ghana wins on away goals. Senegal and Egypt each won their two leg series 1-0, they went to penalties, which Senegal won. So now 21 has qualified plus host Qatar. More to come so stay tuned.

 Another good game. Switzerland beat South Korea 7-6 to win this year's World Women's Curling Championship in Prince George BC. Prince George was supposed to have hosted two years ago, but that pesky pandemic began. Congratulations to Switzerland, South Korea and Canada on medaling. Kerri Einarson played well. She deserved to medal.

 It will be North Carolina vs Duke in one semi final and Kansas vs Villanova in the other. North Carolina beat St Peter's 69-49, Duke beat Arkansas 78-69, Kansas beat Miami FL 76-58 and Villanova beat Houston 50-44. Semi finals are Saturday night. Times TBD.

 This game just ended. Canada just beat Jamaica 4-0 and has qualified for the world Cup. They last qualified for the 1986 world Cup in September 1985. It's been a long time coming. I never thought this post was happening until the final round started and they were winning games and competing with the better teams. 20 teams have now qualified.

 Was a good one here by the looks of the score. Kerri Einarson has a bronze after beating Anna Hasselborg 9-8 in an extra end.  Switzerland and South Korea will start the gold medal game in 20 minutes.

 St Peter's is putting on a Cinderella run here. They beat Purdue 67-64.  They will play North Carolina, who beat UCLA 71-68. In the Midwest, it will be Kansas vs Miami FL. Kansas beat Providence 66-61 and Miami FL beat Iowa State 70-56. These games are on Sunday.

 Ice hockey went from February 15-25. Canada was represented by the Edmonton Mercurys. 6 of the nine teams in this tournament were in the last tournament (Canada, United States, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Poland). Finland, Germany and Norway returned. There were serious discussions about whether to drop hockey. IOC wanted to keep the amateur code instead of the iihf code. It was dropped in 1951 but reinstated later in the year. W.G. Hardy wanted to include the Soviet Union providing there were no political interference. Soviet Union didn't apply in time to participate. Canada won gold, USA won silver and Sweden won bronze. Canada and USA tied on the 24th prompting a Moscow paper to write they predetermined the result to prevent Czechoslovakia from medaling. Czechoslovakia had beaten Sweden on the 24th figuring they had won bronze. Czechoslovakia and Sweden had identical records and goals differential. Czechoslovakia thought it would be head to head results. Officials d...

 It will be Arkansas vs Duke in the west and Villanova vs Houston in the south. Arkansas beat Gonzaga 74-68, Duke beat Texas Tech 78-73, Villanova beat Michigan 63-55 and Houston beat Arizona 72-60. Kansas is the only #1 seed left. The Arkansas/Duke and Villanova/Houston games are on Saturday.

 Ecuador and Uruguay are going to the world Cup.  Even though Ecuador lost to Paraguay 3-1, Uruguay beat Peru 1-0 to put Ecuador in. That is 19 teams in the world Cup.

 This is big. North Macedonia just eliminated Italy 1-0 and will face Portugal to go to the world Cup. Portugal beat Turkey 3-1 in the other semi. I think that is two straight world Cups Italy won't be in.

 Japan and Saudi Arabia are going to the world Cup. Japan beat Australia 2-0, qualifying themselves and Saudi Arabia who hasn't finished their game yet. 17 teams have qualified.

 At 9:33am Prince Albert time, spring will officially arrive. It has definitely arrived weather wise, although snow is in the forecast (bah).  Need it to melt, not get more.

 Michigan took out #3 Tennessee 76-68. Is anyone surprised by the upsets? Is anyone's fantasy bracket still intact? The answers to both is likely no.

 Yup, #8 UNC  knocked out the first #1 seed in Baylor 93-86. Every year this tournament gets more fun. Stay tuned for more.

 First had #11 Notre Dame beat #6 Alabama 78-64 and other had  #11 Iowa State beat #6 LSU 59-54. Stay tuned, there could be more.

 #10 Miami FL beat #7 USC 68-66. The hits keep a coming. Who will be the next one? Stay tuned.

 Yup. Just found these after getting home from work. #15 St Peter's beat #2 Kentucky 85-79 and #12 New Mexico State beat #5 Connecticut 70-63. Wow.  What's next?

 This one had #12 Richmond beat #5 Iowa 67-63. Potential upset coming. #1 Gonzaga is barely up 52-50 on #16  Georgia State.  Gonna be a good opening day.

 To the surprise of nobody one would happen. #11 Michigan beat #6 Colorado State 73-65.  The first of a few. Stay tuned. There will be more.

 Happy St Patrick's Day to all my viewers and subscribers. May your day be filled with green. Green beer, green icing on cupcakes, green veggies (okay that may not be fun), even a green river through Chicago. Oh yeah green shirts. 

 Here we are on the eve of March Madness. The final of the first four games are tonight and one of the two games is ongoing. There were two yesterday.  First round begins tomorrow morning and of course potential upset alerts are on.  It's going to be a heck of a tournament.

 I hope it is. It's 3c here at the moment. Snow is melting, although it's cloudy out.  Forecast looks pretty good for the next few days as temperatures will be above 0c. Finally. It's been a long winter.  Plus baseball is around the corner.

 The 1950-51 NHL season had 6 teams and 70 games.  Gordie Howe set a record for right wingers with 86 points. Terry Sawchuk sets a rookie (and overall) record with 44 wins. Detroit is first team to reach 100 points in a season. March 21 had a Boston vs Toronto playoff game ended after first overtime period due to curfew.  Bill Barilko of Toronto scores Stanley Cup winning goal in ot. He dies in a plane crash that summer and is not discovered until 1962. Tragically Hip records 50 Mission Cap about Barilko.  Semi finals has Montreal beat Detroit 4-2 and Toronto beat Boston 4-1 with one tie. Stanley Cup finals has Toronto beat Montreal 4-1. All five games goes into overtime, first time that happens.

 Brad Gushue, Mark Nichols, Brett Gallant and Geoff Walker are Brier champions after beating Kevin Koe's team 9-8 last night. They went through the playoffs shorthanded due to Nichols getting covid.  Brad Gushue: 1. Ties Ernie Richardson, Randy Ferbey, Kevin Martin and Kevin Koe with most Brier wins as a skip with 4. 2. His rink ties Randy Ferbey's rink for most Brier wins at 4.  And 3. First team to play in the Brier and Olympics in same year.  Yikes.

 It just wasn't Canada's game tonight as the US beat them 5-0 to win gold. Canada will go home with silver.  Canada will finish the Paralympics with 8g, 6s, 11b for 25 total.  The closing ceremonies are in a few hours. That will be it for this Olympic and Paralympic cycle - until 2024.

 The team of Collin Cameron, Emily Young, Mark Arendz and Natalie Wilkie have claimed bronze in the 4X2.5 km mixed relay with a time of 27:00.6.  That is now 8g, 5s, 11b for 24 total.

 ...... Mollie Jepsen. She won two medals in para alpine skiing, including Canada's first medal being gold. She also added a silver. She will do awesome carrying it. Closing ceremonies is tomorrow morning.

 Natalie Wilkie just won a win the standing middle distance race.  She even had a wipeout during the race.  That is now 8g, 5s, 10b for 23 total.

 In his last ever race, Brian McKeever, with guide Graham Nishikawa, has won gold. 20 career Paralympic medals, 16 golds, 2 silvers, 2 bronze. What an amazing career.  That is now 8g, 4s, 10b for 22 total.

 With an 8-3 win over Slovakia, the Canadian wheelchair curling team has taken bronze. That is now 7g, 4s, 10b for 21 total. And our sledge Hockey team will have a medal as they play for gold against the United States. That game is Sunday.

 Four medals so far. A silver from Mollie Jepsen in the standing giant slalom began the day. Brittany Hudek then won a bronze in the women's 12.5km standing biathlon. Mark Arends then won a silver in the men's 12.5 standing biathlon. Tyler Turner rounds out the haul with a bronze in the banked slalom SB-LL1 event.  That is now 7g, 4s, 9 b for 20 total.

 The MLB and MLBPA have tentatively made and agreement to a new Collective bargaining agreement pending ratification. The owners are scheduled to vote on it tonight. If it's agreement spring training will start March 18, and the regular season starts April 7. The postponed series from March 31st to April 7 will be rescheduled later.

 Two golds and a bronze overnight. First the bronze.  Collin Cameron takes it in the cross country skiing sitting sprint. First gold of the night went to Natalie Wilkie as she won the cross country skiing standing sprint. Brian McKeever with guide Tristan Rodgers wins gold in the visually impaired cross country skiing sprint. That is now 7g, 2s, 7g for 16 total.

 Mark Arendz has his second medal of the games, this one a gold in standing middle distance biathlon. He now has 10 career medals. That is now 5g, 2s, 6b for 13 total.

 This one is a bronze in standing super combined from Alana Ramsay.  That is now 4g, 2s, 6b for 12 total.

 This is escalating. In the 15k standing cross country race, Natalie Wilkie won gold and Brittany Hudak won bronze. And in his Paralympic debut, Tyler Turner won gold in the snowboard cross SB-LL1 event. That is now 4g, 2s, 5b for 11 total. Yikes.

 Lise DeJong of Biggar, Saskatchewan just claimed a silver in the snowboard cross SB-LL2 event. That is now 2g, 2s, 4b for 8 total.

 Brian McKeever has a gold in the 20k visually impaired cross country race.  14 of his 18 career medals are gold. That is now 2g, 1s, 4b for 7 total.

 Third medal of the day and third bronze. This one from Alexis Guimond in men's standing super g. That is now 1g, 1s, 4b for 6 total. Great day two.

 This one from Collin Cameron. In the 18k para cross country skiing sitting event. His time was 47:36.6.  That is now 1g, 1s, 3b for 5 total.

 This in the standing super g. Alana Ramsay has the bronze. That is now 1g, 1s, 2b for 4 total.  Great start.

 Mark Arendz just picked up a bronze in the para biathlon 6km standing event. That's also his 9th career Paralympic medal. That is 1g, 1s,1b for 3 total. Just Canada's first para hockey game vs USA and first wheelchair curling game vs China  and Switzerland today.

 This one also on the hill. Mac Marcoux, with guide Tristan Rodgers, has claimed a silver in alpine skiing, vision impaired event. Their first Paralympic medal together. That is now 1g and 1s for two total..

 Yup. Mollie Jepsen has the first gold, and it's in Para alpine skiing - standing. Her fifth career Paralympic medal. More to come soon.

 The opening ceremonies were this morning. I missed them. From what Devin Heroux said they were outstanding.  Lots of fireworks, the lighting of the cauldron, the speeches, and the Paralympic oaths. The disappointment was part of Andrew Parsons speech "cut out." IPC and OBS said the mic was working fine. They've now asked for an investigation into Chinese tv.  CCTV censored part of Parsons speech about what's going on in Ukraine.  Anyways, first day starts tonight. 9 days of fun.

 Canada's flagbearers at the Paralympics are Ina Forrest and Greg Westlake. Forrest is in wheelchair curling and Westlake is in Para hockey (or sledge hockey).  They will lead a delegation of 49 athletes at the opening ceremonies Friday morning here.