the mad sports man

From old time baseball photos. Here is a rare color photo of Ebbets Field from April 5, 1913. Brooklyn Dodgers beat the New York Yankees 3-2 in an exhibition game in front of 25000 people. Enjoy.

 Kansas City Municipal Stadium was opened from 1923-1976. It was built for the Blues of the American Association. It also hosted the Monarchs of the Negro leagues, the A's (1955-1967) and the Royals (1969-1972). Also housed the Chiefs from 1963-1971. The Chiefs moved into Arrowhead Stadium for the 1972 season and the Royals moved into Royals (now Kauffman) stadium in 1973. Here is Municipal Stadium in Kansas City.

 This tournament was in Sarajevo Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina). Soviet Union won this tournament, winning their 6th gold. Czechoslovakia won the silver and Sweden won bronze. Canada finished 4th. Oldest team was Italy at 27 yrs 8 mths. Youngest was Canada at 21 yrs 6 mths. Soviet Union was 26 yrs 1 mth.  Games were played at Zetra Olympic Hall and Skenderija Olympic Hall.

 Two more recently qualified for next year's world Cup. First is Iran. They lead group A in the Asian confederation and will finish top two. Second is Argentina. They lead the South America confederation and top six will qualify for next year's tournament. That's seven qualified.

 From old time baseball photos. This is Candlestick Park under construction from March 4th 1959. It was built on Candlestick Point. Cheers.

 Hello New Zealand. New Zealand has qualified for the 2026 World Cup. Beat New Caledonia 🇳🇨 to win the OFC championship to qualify. That is five in. New Zealand, Japan, along with co-hosts Canada, Mexico and United States.

 1. Happy first day of spring. It began at 3:01am Prince Albert time. Hopefully it gets nice and stays nice. 2. Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe has been chosen as president of the IOC. First female to be president. 3. Japan has qualified for the 2026 FIFA world Cup. Qualified this morning. There's today's three things you're about to find out.

  Happy St Patrick's Day. It's the time of year to wear green, drink green beer or pop and other green related stuff. Cheers and enjoy.

 Here is a shot of Olympic stadium in Montreal during an Expos game. I think it's pre 1987ish because of the lack of a roof. Enjoy.

 This season had 21 teams and an 80 game schedule. Highlights include: 1. September 9, Montreal traded Rod Langway, Doug Jarvis, and Brian Engblom to Washington for Rick Green and Ryan Walter. Trade helps Washington get to playoffs for first time. Also on this day, Washington coach Bryan Murray hires brother Terry as assistant coach. 2. April 2 Mike Bossy scores 60th goal three seasons in a row. 3. April 22, New York Islanders wins 14th straight playoff series. Playoffs had: DSF; Boston 3 Quebec 1, Buffalo 3 Montreal 0, new York Rangers 3 Philadelphia 0, New York Islanders 3 Washington 1, Chicago 3 St Louis 1, Minnesota 3 Toronto 1, Calgary 3 Vancouver 1 and Edmonton 3 Winnipeg 0. DF; Boston 4 Buffalo 3, Islanders 4 Rangers 2, Chicago 4 Minnesota 1 and Edmonton 4 Calgary 1. CF; New York Islanders 4 Boston 2, Edmonton 4 Chicago 0. Stanley Cup finals: New York Islanders 4 Edmonton 0. Islanders win 4th cup in a row. Billy Smith is Conn Smythe trophy winner for playoff MVP. #1 draft pi...

 Brad Jacobs is the 2025 Montana's Brier champion aft getting three in the 10th to win 5-3. His last shot got him the win and it was fantastic. Him, Marc Kennedy, Brett Gallant, Ben Hebert and alternate Michael Caine will head to Moose Jaw Saskatchewan to play in the men's world curling championship from March 29 to April 6.

 It's pretty much shot in the same spot. It's located in Toronto. Top was in 1920 named Willowvale park. Bottom is recently, named Dominico Field. Wild eh!?

 This is Exhibition Stadium on opening day in 1977. Toronto beat Chicago 7-4. Doug Ault hit two home runs. This was the sight at first pitch. A Zamboni cleaned the infield. Cheers. Anne Murray sang the anthems and the crowd chanted we want beer.

 This is a roundel. This roundel is from 1977 and has all the American League teams. Spotted this on the 70s in baseball Twitter page. That would be neat to have.

 Today is Crosley Field in Cincinnati. This particular game has Philadelphia Phillies in town. Philly won 5-4. Ray Semproch with the win, Bob Wright with the loss. Attendance was 32,848. Note some of the fans getting to sit on the field to watch. I love some of the old ads and the scoreboard shown here. From old time baseball Facebook page.

The top half was the former home of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres from 1936-1957. The bottom half is Lane Park. It was dedicated as one in 2015. A plaque was placed on corner of Broadway and Pacific, presumably where home plate was. There is a circle in the park to show where the mound was.

 Oh man I'm slacking. What's happened? The Scotties tournament of hearts that Rachel Homan won for the second year in a row. Back to back undefeated championships. And shot a perfect 100% in the final. Exhibition baseball began. Canada won the 4 nations face-off. The Brier began yesterday. Had some really nice weather and melted a fair bit of snow. My blog turns 21 tomorrow and Monday will be three years since I started working. Had my eyes checked on Tuesday. Love getting my eyes checked. Taxes got done yesterday (yay for refund). That's all I can remember. Stay tuned for more.

 Today marks the 60th birthday of Canada's flag. February 15 1965 it's when it flew for the first time. So happy birthday.

 Wow. The Philadelphia Eagles put on a clinic, winning super bowl LIX 40-22. They had a 34-0 lead. Jalen Hurts is super bowl MVP. That's it for another NFL season. Let's get some baseball going.

 St John's Newfoundland and Labrador. Brad Gushue won the last time St John's had the Brier in 2017. I'm sure St John's will be party central. I hear they can party.

 This season had 21 teams and an 80 game schedule. Highlights include: 1. Division realignment happens and is geography based. 2. Playoff format changes. It becomes divisional replacing 1 v 16, 2 v 15 etc. 3. Wayne Gretzky: scores 50 goals in 39 games, records 212 points and scores 92 goals. 4. Philadelphia and Hartford wear cooperalls. 5. New York Islanders win 15 straight games. 6 miracle on Manchester happens (Los Angeles comes back from 5-0 down to win 6-5 at the forum). 6. April 7, Los Angeles and Edmonton score a playoff record 18 goals in a Los Angeles 10-8 win. 7.  October 10, Borje Salming is first European to record 500 points. 8. February 15, Tony Esposito records 13th straight season of 40 games played. Playoffs: DSF; Los Angeles 3 Edmonton 2, Vancouver 3 Calgary 0, Chicago 3 Minnesota 1, St Louis 3 Winnipeg 1, New York Islanders 3 Pittsburgh 2, New York Rangers 3 Philadelphia 1, Quebec 3 Montreal 2, Boston 3 Buffalo 1. DF; Vancouver 4 Los Angeles 1, Chicago 4 St L...

 Yup the 5000th post. Nearly 21 years of pure madness. And don't believe the groundhog. If you're in Canada and the northern States, you know winter won't end until April anyways. So there's post 5000.

 One of the few times you will see Exhibition Stadium and Skydome in the same shot. Enjoy 

 Today marks the lunar new year. It is the year of the snake. Hope the festivities went well.

 The 2026 Scotties tournament of hearts will be in Mississauga Ontario from January 23- February 1. The earlier start due to the Olympics that begin February 6th. This year's tournament is in Thunder Bay starting February 14.

 The Kansas City Chiefs are in the super bowl again after beating Buffalo 32-29. They will play the Philadelphia Eagles in super bowl LIX on February 9th

 Philadelphia didn't leave any doubt as they beat Washington 55-23 to advance to their second super bowl in three years. Coming up has Buffalo at Kansas City to represent the AFC.

 Jack Crawford became the first Canadian skier to win in Kitzbuhel Austria since 1983 when Todd Brooker won.  Cam Alexander won bronze as did Ken Read in 1983. Wild eh.

 Saw this on Twitter. On the mound is Larry Dierker of the Astros. At the plate is Ron Hunt of the Mets. Don't know who is catching or umpiring. Neat eh.

 Another tight one. Buffalo hangs on to beat Baltimore 27-25 to go to the AFC championship game in Kansas City to play the Chiefs. That game is next Sunday night. And then there were four.

 Philadelphia hung on to win 28-22 over the Los Angeles Rams. They will host the Washington Commanders for the NFC championship game next Sunday afternoon. A good ol' fashioned NFC East match up. Next has Baltimore at Buffalo.

 Who saw this coming? Washington just beat Detroit 45-31 to go to their first NFC championship game since the 1991 season. They will be going to either Philadelphia or Los Angeles.

 Kansas City just beat Houston 23-14 in the first AFC divisional game. Kansas City will host the AFC championship game. Coming up is the first NFC divisional game between Washington at Detroit.

 It's the 25th edition, this time, Canmore Alberta is the feature host. Boston at Ottawa is on now. At 6pm Prince Albert time has Toronto at Montreal and Calgary at Winnipeg, and at 9pm Prince Albert time has Edmonton at Vancouver. Gonna be fun as usual. Update 1: Ottawa 6 Boston 5 (so) Update 2: Calgary 3 Winnipeg 1, Toronto 7 Montreal 3. Update 3: Vancouver 3 Edmonton 2. That's it for another hockey day in Canada 

 It finally came out today. First preseason game is May 19. Opening weekend starts June 5th with Ottawa at Saskatchewan. Toronto at Montreal on June 6, and two games June 7th: Hamilton at Calgary and Edmonton at B.C. Road to the 112th Grey Cup game will soon begin.

 Bit of a surprise as the Los Angeles Rams beat Minnesota 27-9 in the last wild card game of the weekend. The divisional match ups have: Houston at Kansas City and Washington at Detroit on Saturday and Los Angeles Rams at Philadelphia and Baltimore at Buffalo on Sunday. Stay tuned.

 Washington beat Tampa Bay 23-20 and will face Detroit in the divisional. The winner of the Minnesota vs Los Angeles Rams will face Philadelphia. Stay tuned.

 This had Philadelphia beat Green Bay 22-10. Divisional round matchups soon. Coming up has Washington at Tampa Bay.

 Buffalo beat Denver 31-7 to go to the divisional round.  They will play Baltimore, while Houston will play Kansas City. Both games next weekend. Right now, Philadelphia leads Green Bay 10-0 with about 4 minutes left in the first half.

 This had Baltimore beating Pittsburgh 28-14. Tomorrow has Denver at Buffalo (to decide the divisional match ups), Green Bay at Philadelphia and Washington at Tampa Bay. Stay tuned.

 First one of the weekend had Houston beat Los Angeles Chargers 32-12. On now has Pittsburgh at Baltimore.

 This is from the vintage scoreboards Facebook page. It was after Don Larson threw the first world series perfect game at Yankee Stadium. Cool eh!?

 This went to a shootout. Czech Republic wins 4-3 over Sweden. Their third bronze since Czechoslovakia split and 9th overall. Sweden finishes 4th for the 5th time since 2013. Coming up is the gold medal game between the United States and Finland.

 This had the United States beat Czech Republic 4-1. It was pretty close. A late U.S power play goal and an empty netter ended it. It will be Finland vs United States for gold and Sweden vs Czech Republic for bronze. This world Juniors ends tomorrow.

 Not surprised this was close. Finland beat Sweden 4-3 to play for gold. Sweden will play for bronze. At 6:30, the United States will play Czech Republic..

 This one someone posted on their Facebook page. This is from the 1958 Grey Cup at Empire Stadium in Vancouver. Winnipeg eventually won 35-28.

 Heartbreak for Canada. Lost to Czech Republic 4-3. Rough first, better second and great third until a borderline penalty call on Canada (it was a clean hit) Czechs scored on power play and that was it. Heartbreaking, frustrating and disappointing finish to said game. Other quarter finals had Finland beat Slovakia 5-3. Semi finals has Sweden vs Finland and United States vs Czech Republic. Both games on Saturday.

 Let's start with relegation. Germany 4 Kazakhstan 3. Germany will be in Minneapolis/St. Paul bor next year's tournament, Kazakhstan demoted to division 1A.  Now the quarters. First had Sweden beat Latvia 3-2 and the second had the United States beat Switzerland 7-2. Man Latvia put up a battle here. Finland is playing Slovakia and Canada plays Czech Republic at 6:30. I don't feel good about that one. Stay tuned.

 This was on your Winnipeg Jets hockey Facebook page via Brad H. Arrison. This is construction of an Eaton's store in 1905 in Winnipeg. It is now the site of Canada Life Center, home of the Jets. Wild eh!?

 It's arrived. 2025 is here. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year.  Cheers mate.