the mad sports man

Final from today has  the U.S. win 5-4 over Finland, Slovakia beat Denmark 5-1, the Czechs beat Switzerland 6-3 and Sweden beating Russia 4-3 in a shootout. Th Quarter final matchups has Canada vs Switzerland, the U.S vs Russia, Finland vs the Czechs and Slovakia vs Sweden. Quarter final are Tuesday.

The nfl postseasom is set.  In The  AFC wild card, Tennessee goes to Kansas City and Buffalo goes to Jacksonville, with New England and Pittsburgh having The bye.  In The NFC, Atlanta goes to visit The Rams while Carolina visit The Saints, with Philadelphia and Minnesota having The bye.  Postseasom begins January 6th.

Canada just put the finishing touches on an 8-0 win over Denmark.  Canada will finish first in group a.  Also Finland beat Slovakia 5-2.  Canada has 10 pts, Finland witj 6, U.S. with 5, Slovakia with 3 and Denmark.  Finland and the U.S. are into the quarters.  In group b, Czechs beat Belarus 6-5 and Sweden beat Switzerland 7-2.  Sweden leads with 9 pts,  Czechs Rep and Russia with 6, Switzerland with 3 and Belarus with  none.  Belarus will be playing for relegation.  Tomorrow has the U.S vs Finland and Slovakia vs Denmark in group a while Sweden plays Russia and the Czechs play Switzerland to round out group play.

In the first ever World juniors outdoor game, the U.S. beat Canada 4-3 In a shootout.  Canada stll leads the group with 7 pts, the U.S now has 5.  Earlier In group b,  Russia beat Belarus 5-2.  Russia and Sweden have 6 pts, but Sweden has a game In hand.  Sweden and Russia are also into the quarter finals.  I think Canada is also in the quarter finals. That is it for today.

Huge result to cap it.  Slovakia beats the U.S 3-2.  Bit of an upset.  Finland earlier beats Denmark 4-1.  Group a has Canada with 6 pts, then thr U.S. Finland and Slovakia with three and Denmark with none.  In Group b, Sweden and Russia each won 3-1.  Sweden has 6 pts,  Russia, Switzerland and the Czechs with three and Belarus with none. Two games tomorrow.  Key game is the outdoor game between Canada and the U.S.  That is it for tonight.

Canada just beat Slovakia 6-0 to go 2 and 0 to dtart their tournament.  Tjey had close to 60 shots.  The Slovakia goalie was outstanding.  Canada plays again Friday against The U.S. in what will be The first World juniors outdoor game (weather may be a factor).  Slovakia plays the U.S. tomorrow.

The start of The Woeld Juniors.  Canada opens with a 4-2 win over Finland.  Pretty good game.  The U.S. opens against Denmark in over an hour.  Earlier Sweden beat Belarus 6-1 and The Czechs beat Russia 5-4.  Canada's next game is tomorrow against Slovakia. Update:  U.S. 9 Denmark 0

merry Christmas to all and to all a good cheer. i hope it's a good one.

the Canadian luge relay team is about to receive a bronze from the 2014 winter Olympics after the Russian team being stripped of their medals over doping allegations.  Sam Edney, Alex Gough, Justin Snith and Tristan Walker will be receiving bronze medals, making 10g 10s and 6b from those games.  also the first Canadian medal in luge.  wow.  this is huge.

as of 9:38am, winter is here.  and it's really about to make its arrival come Christmas eve.  -15c for then and -20 for Christmas Day.  not much snow in the forecast either.  supposed to be -6 to -10 between today and Saturday.  yippee.  this was coming considering how balmy it has been.  bundle up.

The logos for the Beijing 2022 winter olympic have been unveiled and here they are: 

Kevin Koe joins Rachel Homan representing Canada in curling at the winter Olympics after beating Mike McEwen 7-6.  Took Koe's last shot and it Took some sweeping to get it close to the button to win it.  Canada has brought home a medal since curling started in 1998 in curling on both sides.  Go Canada Go.

Rachel Homan  and her team will be represent in Canada in two months after beating Chelsea Carey 6-5.  Her first Olympics and i hope it is enjoyable.

Mike  McEwen is playing Brad Gushue in the mens semi final game, with the winner facing Kevin Koe in tomorrows final.  The winner will represent Canada at thw winter Olympics in February.  Earlier,  Rachel Homan beat Jennifer Jones 6-3 in the womens semi final. She faces Chelsea Carey in tomorrows final with the winner going to the winter Olympics in February. Update:  Mike McEwen 6 Brad Gushue 4.  McEwen faces Kevin Koe tomorrow.

the final draw is out for the world cup.  all the matchups and dates are on www.fifa.com.  the tournament opens June 14th with Russia vs Saudi Arabia in Moscow.  should be a fun one.  will Germany repeat or will there be a new winner.   find out starting June 14th.

damn cam't believe it's the end of November.  lets see, what happened.  winter showed up, Martin Truex won the nascar championship, the Argos won the Grey Cup, Houston won the World Series and the last qualification games for the world cup happened.  next month has: 1.the final draw for the World Cup tomorrow (for group placements),  nfl football, hockey (which includes the World Juniors), Christmas and New Years Eve (love New Years).  that is it for now.

On a snowy night in Ottawa, the Toronto Argos win what ended up a thriller 27-24.  They score a 100 yard passing TD and an 109 yard fumble recovery TD that tied it at 21.  Liram Haralahu (sp) kicked the winning field goal.  Bo Levi Mitchell threw an interception into the end zone that clinched the win for Toronto.  It is Toronto's 17th Grey Cup title.  That is it for another CFL season until training camp 2018 begins in late May.

It will be a rematch of 2012 as Calgary beats Edmonton 32-28.  It was all Calgary after the second quarter.  Calgary will face Toronto next Sunday.

The Argos are going to the Grey Cup after beating the Riders 25-21.  They get either Edmonton or Calgary.  That game is next.

Peru is the last nation to qualifier as they beat New Zealand 2-0 in their two game playoff.  The draw for the tournament is December 1st which will decide which group eact team goes to.

Australia is the 31st country to qualify for the world cup after beating Honduras 3-1 in their two game inter conference playoff.  That just leaves New Zealand vs Peru for the last spot into the World Cup.  who will be the one?  stay tuned.

Denmark has qualified for the world cup after winning their two game playoff 5-1 over Ireland.  todays game won it for them.  30 are in and two left.  both will be tomorrow.  tomorrow's second leg has Honduras vs Australia and New Zealand vs Peru.  winners will be the last two to qualify.

Sweden is into the World Cup after beating Italy in their two game playoff 1-0.  29 is now in and three left.  One will qualify tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

The Eskimos are heading to Calgary after winning in Winnipeg 39-32. Hung on to this one.  The west final is next Sunday following the east final.

Croatia is also in the world cup after beating Greece 4-1 in their two game playoff.  28 in and 4 left.  Stay tuned tomorrow for more.

Switzerland has qualified after beating Northern Ireland in a two game playoff 1-0.  That is 27 in and five spots left.  Who is next?  Stay tuned.

The Riders are the second west team to get to the east final after beating Ottawa 31-20.  Kevin Glenn's first post season win since 2012.  They will head to Toronto to play the Argos next Sunday.  Next up has Edmonton in Winnipeg.

Tunisia and Morocco are both into the world cup, both finishing first in their respective groups (a and c).  That is now 26 in.  6 more to go.  Who will join them? Stay tuned.

Senegal is the 24th nation to qualify for the World Cup in June.  they beat South Africa 2-0 to finish first in group d in the African qualification with one game left.  who will join them?   stay tuned.

With Edmonton beating the Riders earlier, the CFL is almost set.  Edmonton will be going to Winnipeg for the west semi while Calgary has the bye to the west final.  Meanwhile Saskatchewan has the crossover.  They will be going to either Toronto or Ottawa depending on the result between Toronto and B.C.  stay tuned for that one. Update:  Toronto 40 B.C. 13  Toronto hosts east final while Saskatchewan goes to Ottawa for east semi.  East and west semi are on the 12th.

The Astros are World Series champs after winning game 7 5-1.  Two in the first and three in the second was enough. Charlie Morton with the win and Yu Darvish with the loss. The Astros first ever World Series victory.  That is it for baseball this season. See ya in spring training.

that close to the beginning of the winter olympics.  100 more days of waiting for competition.  Canada unveiled their hockey jerseys for the games.  not sure what i think of them.  i heard the U.S. was bad.  i haven't seen them yet.  gonna be a  great games though - at least I hope.  getting excited. how many records will fall?  who will win the most medals?  who will win the first and last ones?  find out starting Feb. 9.

The Dodgers have forced a 7th game with a 3-1 win. Tony Watson with the win, Justin Verlander with the loss and Kenley Jansen with the save. Game 7 is tomorrow.

some records have fallen.  they include:  most homers in a series - 22 and this series isn't over yet.  previous record was 21 in 2002 between Giants and Angels.  2.  14 different players have hit homers in this series.  previous was 13 in 1953 between Yankees and Dodgers. 3.  the Astros 5 homers tied a record for homers in a game, tying the 1989 A's (game 3) and 1928 Yankees (game 4) 4.  game  5 was 5h 17m  making this the second longest game in the world series behind game 3 of the 2005 series between Houston and the White Sox (5h 41m  Chicago 7 Houston 5 in 14 innings) 5.  game 5 marked the 4th time both teams scored more than 10 runs and second time both teams scored 12.  the other time was game 4 of the 1993 world series (Toronto 15 Philadelphia 14) 6.  that Toronto vs Philly game still has the record for most runs in a world series game with 29. 7.  Jose Altuve has seven homers in the series putting him away from tying Nelson Cruz (2011 Rangers), Carlos Beltra

The Astros are up 3 games to 2 after winning a wild one 13-12. Quite an exciting one.  Joe Musgrove with the win and Kenley Jansen with the loss. Game 6 is Tuesday night.

The Dodgers have evened the series with a 6-1 win in Houston. Joc Pedersen hit a key 3 run homer in a five run 9th.  Tony Watson with the win and Ken Giles with the loss. Game 5 is tomorrow.

The Astros are up two games to one after beating the Dodgers 5-3 in game three. An early 4-0 jump helped. Lance McCullers with the win, Yu Darvish with the loss and Brad Peacock with the save. Game 4 is tomorrow night.

this stat i saw on twitter the other night.  ties in with lengendary broadcaster Vin Scully and one time A's manager Connie Mack.  Scully's first season broadcasting was Mack's last season as Philadelphia A's manager.  the season - 1950.  Scully retired at the end of last season (wow 66 years) and Mack was A's manager for the first 50 years of the A's (1901-1950).  1901 was also the beginning of the american league.  so there.

boy was this nuts.  Astros tie it at 3-3 in the 9th to send it to extras.  Astros score two to go up 5-3 in the top of the 10th.  bottom of the 10th, Dodgers score two to even it at five.  Astros score two to go up 7-5 in the top of the 11th.  Dodgers score only one in the bottom half, Yasiel Puig was the final out as the Astros win 7-6 to even the series.  Chris Devenski with the win and Brandon McCarthy with the loss.  game three is tomorrow in Houston

On a 35c day in L.A. the Dodgers win game one 3-1. Clayton Kershaw strikes out 11 in the win, Dallas Keuchel takes the loss and Kenley Jansen with the save. Game 2 is tomorrow.

The Astros are in the world series after shutting out the Yankees 4-0 to win the ALCS.  The Astros are there for the first time in the A.L. and first time since 2005 when they lost to the White Sox. Game 1 is Tuesday night.

The Astros have forced a 7th game after beating the Yankees 7-1. Justin Verlander with the win and Luis Severino with the loss.  Game 7 is tomorrow.

this is one of the 2018 medals looks like.  not sure when they came out.  they are pretty cool looking i think.  can't wait till February.

The Dodgers are going to the World Series after beating the Cubs 11-1 and knocking out the defending champs. They will face either Houston or New York starting on Tuesday. Clayton Kershaw with the win and José Quintana with the loss.

The Cubs extend their season, beating the Dodgers 3-2 to force a game five. Jake Arrieta with the win, Alex Wood with the loss and Wade Davis with the save. Game 5 is tomorrow.

The Yankees are a win away from the World Series after beating the Astros 5-0 in game 5. Masahiro Tanaka with the win and Dallas Kuecher with the loss. Game 6 is Friday night.

The Dodgers are a win away from the World Series after beating the Cubs 6-1 in game 3.  Yu Darvish with the win and Kyle Hendricks with the loss. Game 4 is tomorrow.

The Yankees have evened the series after coming back from 0-4 to win game 4 6-4. Two in the 7th and 4 in the 8th did it. Chad Green with the win, Ken Giles with the loss and Ardolis Chapman with the save. Game 5 is tomorrow.

The Yankees are back in the series after blowing out Houston 8-1.  C.C. Sabathia with the win and Charlie Morton with the loss. Game 4 is tomorrow.

The Dodgers are up two games after Justin Turner hits a walk off three run homer to give the Dodgers a 4-1 win.  Kenley Jansen with the win and Brian Duensing with the loss. Game 3 is Tuesday.

The Dodgers opens the NLCS after beating the Cubs 5-2. Kenta Maeta with the win, Hector Rondon with the loss and Kenley Jansen with the save. Game 2 is tomorrow.

The Astros go up two scoring the winner in the 9th to win 2-1. Justin Verlander with the win and Ardolis Chapman with the loss.  Game 3 is Monday.

The Astros draw first blood winning the ALCS opener 2-1.  Dallas Kuecher gets the win, Masahiro Tanaka with the loss and Ken Giles with the save. Game 2 is tomorrow afternoon in Houston.

The Cubs are facing the Dodgers in the NLCS after beating the Nationals 9-8 in a wild one. Brian Duensing with the win, Max Scherzer with the loss and Wade Davis with the save. NLCS starts Saturday.

The Yankees come back from a two game hole to beat the Indians 5-2 in game five and the series three to two.  They will face the Astros in the ALCS starting Friday night. David Robertson with the win, Cory Kluber with the loss and Ardolis Chapman with the save.

Washington evens the series with a convincing 5-0 win over Chicago. Game 5 is tomorrow.  Stephen Strasbourg with the win and Jake Arrieta with the loss. Game 5 is tomorrow.

Four more have qualified for the World Cup in Russia.  Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia  (South America) and Panama  (CONCACAF) are in.  Honduras plays Australia and Peru plays New Zealand in interconference match ups for two spots, three in Africa and 4 in UEFA.  23 in and 9 left. Who qualifies? Stay tuned.

game 4 between Chicago and Washington postponed due to rain.  rescheduled to tomorrow

Portugal (group B) and France (group A) have qualified for the world cup.  Portugal beat Switzerland 2-0 to win group B and France beat Belarus 2-1 to clinch group A.  19 in, 13 left.  the eight second place finishers in the uefa group play will play in a two game series with the four winners moving onto the world cup. until then stay tuned.

The Dodgers are in the NLCS after beating Arizona 3-1 in game three and sweeping the Diamondbacks.  Yu Darvish with the win, Zac Greinke with the loss and Kenley Jansen with the save. Game one of the NLCS is Sunday.

The Yankees force a game 5 on Wednesday after beating the Indians 7-3. Five runs after three innings helped.  Luis Severino with the win, Trevor Bauer gets the loss and Tommy Kahnle with the save.

the Cubs are up 2-1 in the series after winning game three 2-1.  Carl Edwards Jr with the win, Brandon Kintzler with the loss and Wade Davis with the save.  game 4 is tomorrow,

The Houston Astros are in the ALCS with a 5-4 win.  JustinVerlander with the win, Chris Sale with the loss and Ken Giles with the save.  Game 1 of the ALCS is Saturday.

Iceland (group I) and Serbia (group D) have both qualified for the world cup.  Iceland will be making it's first appearance in the event.  that now makes 17 in and 15 spots left.  stay tuned.

Greg Bird scores the only run of the game  (home run) as the Yankees win game 4 1-0. Masahiro Tanaka with the win, Andrew Miller with the loss and Ardolis Chapman with the save.  Game 4 is tomorrow.

Egypt is into the world cup after finishing first in group E in the African qualification.  they beat Congo 2-1 to do so. still three days left of.  who will be next? stay tuned.

the Red Sox force a game 4 after blowing out Houston 10-3.  a 6 run 7th was plenty. Joe Kelly with the win and Francisco Liriano with the loss.  Game 4 is  tomorrow.

Poland has qualified for the world cup by winning group E in the European qualifying, beating Montenegro 4-2 today.  14 are now in and 18 left.  getting fun now. stay tuned.

The Dodgers are up two games after beating Arizona 8-5.  They are a game from the NLCS.  Kenta Maeta with the win, Robbie Ray with the loss and Kenley Jansen with the save.  Game 3 is Monday.

Costa Rica and Nigeria are in the world cup. Costa Rica clinched it yesterday and is second in CONCACAF and Nigeria clinched it today finishing first in one of the CAF groups with one game left.

The Nationals even the series after winning game two 6-3. Five runs in the eighth did it. Oliver Perez with the win, Carl Edwards Jr with the loss and Sean Doolittle with the save. Game three is Monday.

the Dodgers took game one 9-5.  Clayton Kershaw with the win, and Taijuan Walker. game two is tonight at 7pm

The Cleveland Indians are one win away from the ALCS with a come from behind win over the Yankees. The Yankees were up 8-3,but the Indians came back to win 9-8 in 13 innings. Josh Tomlin with the win and Dellin  Betances with the loss.  Yan Gomez knocked in the winner.  Game 3 is Sunday. Meanwhile the Chicago Cubs open their world series defense with a 3-0 win in Washington. Kyle Hendricks with the win, Stephen Strasbourg with the loss and Wade Davis with the save. Game 2 is tomorrow.

The Astros are a win away from the ALCS after blowing our Boston 8-2.  Dallas Kuecher gets the win and Drew Pomeranz gets the loss.  Game 3 is Sunday in Boston.

Spain has qualified for the World Cup, wrapping up top spot in their qualification group after beating Albania 3-0 to finish it off with one game left.  who will join them?  stay tuned.

The Cleveland Indians shut out the New York Yankees 4-0.  Trevor Bauer gets the win, Sonny Grey takes the  loss and Cody Allen gets the save. Game 2 is tomorrow.

Houston opens the ALDS with an 8-2 win over Boston.  Justin Verlander with the win, while Chris Sale takes the loss.  Game 2 is tomorrow.

Germany and England are in next years World Cup, Germany winning group C and England  winning group F.  10 teams in.  Who is next?  Stay tuned.

the Diamondbacks won the N.L. wild card 11-8 after going up 6-0 and will face the Dodgers in the NLDS.  tonight the ALDS begins with Houston vs Boston at 2pm (Justin Verlander for Houston and Chris Sale for Boston), followed by the Yankees vs Cleveland at 5:30pm (Sonny gray for New York and Trevor Bauer for Cleveland). and today marks another round of world cup qualifying.  nothing yet so far stay tuned for updates on this as qualifying goes along

last night the Yankees beat the Twins 8-4in the A.L. wild card and will face Cleveland in the ALDS.  that series starts tomorrow, along with Houston vs Boston  that should be a good series.  tonight the Diamondbacks face the Rockies in the N.L. wild card game with the winner facing the Dodgers in the NLDS, along with Washington vs Chicago. meanwhile later tonight the NHL season kicks off with four games - Toronto at Winnipeg, St.Louis at Pittsburgh, Calgary at Edmonton and Philadelphia at San Jose.  oh October is on now.

the post season is set with only today left.  the Rockies will take on the D'Backs for the wild card and the winner faces the Dodgers in one NLDS while the Cubs and Nationals face off in the other.  in teh AL., the Yankees and Twins face off in the wild card and the winner faces Cleveland in one ALDS, while the Red Sox and Astros face off in the other.  post season starts Tuesday.

the Boston Red Sox have taken their second straight A.L. East crown after beating Houston 6-3.  they will either face Houston or Cleveland in the ALDS.  the Yankees will face Minnesota at home in the wild card game.

the Minnesota Twins are making their first postseason appearance since 2010 after clinching the wild card last night.  they got some help from the Chicago White Sox when they beat the L.A.Angels. meanwhile the Chicago Cubs took the N.L. Central crown after beating the Cardinals in St.Louis.  only thing to be decided is the A.L. East.  Boston and New York are already postseason bound.  one will take the division. stay tuned

in 1981 Nolan Ryan throws his 5th no hitter as the Houston Astros beat the L.A.Dodgers 5-0 at the Astrodome.  he walked 3 and struck out 11 in the process

last night the Arizona Diamondbacks clinched the wild card after beating Miami 3-2 and having the Brewers and Cardinals both lose.  they will be hosting the wild card game.  things are picking up.  stay tuned

last night, the L.A. Dodgers became N.L. West champs after beating the San Francisco Giants 4-2.  Kenley Jansen picked up his 40th save and Cody Bellinger broke the National League rookie record for home runs, hitting his 39th homer.  the win was on Tommy Lasorda's 90th birthday as well.

Fall begins at 2:02pm today and it has felt like it the last few day.  mostly rainy.  although it snowed a bit on Tuesday.  feels like baseball postseason weather.  looks pretty with all the leaves changing color.  enjoy the day.  it's going to get cold yet soon.

the Houston Astros are AL West champions after a 7-1 win over Seattle.  15 up with 14 left.  wow. congrats to the Astros. meanwhile on this day in 1953 Ernie Banks takes the field to become the Chicago Cubs first African American Player.  he went 0 for 3, scoring a run in a 16-4 loss to the Phillies. also on this day in 1984, Reggie Jackson hits career home run 500 at Anaheim Stadium in a 10-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals.  he hits it off of Bud Black in the 7th inning.  so that is it for today.  stay tuned.

Cleveland Indians have taken the AL Central after beating Kansas City 8-4, this and Minnesota losing to Toronto 8-2 gave Cleveland the Central division.  congrats and on this day in 1975, Rennie Stennett becomes  the only player in the 20th century to go 7 for 7 as the Pittsburgh Pirates blow out the Chicago Cubs 22-0.  he scored 5 runs and drove in two in the win.

i think i am a bit behind.  saw the Washington Nationals are the NL East champs.  not sure when it happened (couple or three days ago maybe). Cleveland's now 22 game winning streak got them into the post season and the L.A. Dodgers are also in.  more to come soon.

it became official today.  Paris was chosen to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Los Angeles was chosen to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.  became official at 1pm in Lima Peru.  both votes were unanimous.  also Milan was chosen to host the 134 IOC session in 2019. the Cleveland Indians tied the 2nd longest and broke an American League record, recording their 21st straight win over the Detroit Tigers this afternoon.  the previous A.L. record was 20 by the Oakland A's in 2002.  the longest is 26 games by the 1916 New York Giants. there was a tie thrown in the middle of it, making it a 27 game "undefeated streak." and today it sure felt like fall.  cool day plus it rained on top of that.  not sure what the temp was.  a good fall day to say the least.  and the leaves are already changing color.  wow.

1.  in 1966, a 19 year old Nolan Ryan records his first strike out in an 8-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.  he recorded three in his two innings of work. 2. in 1976 the Chicago White Sox start 50 year old Minnie Minoso.  he goes 0 for 3 in a 7-3 loss to the Angels.  he records his first hit in 13 years the next day. 3. and on this day in 1985 Pete Rose singles off of Eric Show of the Padres to become the all time hits leader.  Cincinnati wins the game 2-0.

boy what a beginning. Kansas City walks into New England and beats the Patriots 42-27 to kick off the season and week one.  wow.  i didn't see the game.  listened to the last 4 minutes of it..  was interesting.  should be a fun season.

Saudi Arabia joined South Korea into the World Cup after beating Japan 1-0 and finishing second behind Japan in group B.  that is now eight teams in the world cup (Russia, Brazil, Iran, japan Mexico and Belgium are the other six).   stay tuned.  more to follow.

South Korea has qualified for the World Cup, even though they finished second in their group. (top two in both groups in their federation).  someone from group B will be joining them in a couple of hours.  and more qualifying as the day goes on.  more updates later and tomorrow.

Belgium is the sixth team to qualify for  the World Cup after beating Greece 2-1 and finishing first in group H in UEFA qualifying.  another round of games tomorrow.  who will qualify?  stay tuned. meanwhile we are in the midst of the CFL Labour Day games.  this past  Thursday Ottawa beat Montreal 32-4 and earlier today, Saskatchewan beat Winnipeg 38-24.  caught some of this game while at work.  tomorrow's games finishes the weekend with Edmonton at Calgary and Toronto at Hamilton.  this is where the season really begins.  stay tuned for that.

Mexico is into the World Cup after beating Panama 1-0 in qualifying, becoming the 5th team to qualify (after Japan, Iran, Brazil and Russia).  hopefully more to come this weekend.

Alberta and Saskatchewan both became provinces today in 1905.  happy 112th birthday to both provinces. 

early this morning, Japan qualified for the world cup finishing first in their group with one game left in qualification.  they are the 4th team to qualify for the world cup. congrats.

Nik Lewis of the Montreal Alouettes is now the all time CFL reception leader, passing Geroy Simon on the list.  his 9th catch of the game gave him 1030.  he finished tonight's game with 10 catches.  Simon with 1029.  Winnipeg beat Montreal in overtime 34-31.

Rich Hill of the L.A. Dodgers carried a perfect game into the ninth inning.  first batter of the ninth - Jordy Mercer - grounded to third baseman Logan Forsythe, only to have Forsythe boot the ball (i saw the replay and to me it looked like the ball hit Forsythe's palm and bounced away). Hill managed to retired the next two batters with a no hitter still intact going into the 10th with the score at 0-0.  Dodgers get nothing in the top half.  Pirates come up.  first batter ends up the only one. Josh Harrison breaks up the no hitter with a game winning home run for the Pirates.  Hill became the first pitcher to lose a perfect game in the 9th by an error (Forsythe booting the ball).  he also became the first pitcher to lose a no hitter with a walk off home run.  (would have been the second, but that is another story). so that happened

today in 1951, in the bottom of the first inning between the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers, 3'7" Eddie Gaedel makes his only plate appearance pinch hitting for Frank Saucier.  Bill Veeck had found him at booking agency and wanted to used him for a publicity stunt.  him and manager Zach Taylor had a copy of Gaedel's contract on hand.  the contract had been filed late on the 17th and it would not be looked at until the 20th (now a contract has to be approved by the Commisioners' office).  Gaedel was walked on 4 pitches - all high.  pitcher Bob Cain was almost laughing on the mound and Bob Swift was catching.  Gaedel was replaced by pinch runner Jim Delsing.

tonight was game 5 of the Western Major Baseball League championship series and the Swift Current 57's beat the Edmonton Prospects 4-0 to win the WMBL championship three games to two. was a good season.  i even went to a couple of Prospects games.  some good baseball played.  Swift Current are back to back champs.  congrats

Bob Gibson throws Three Rivers Stadium's first no hitter as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-0.  Gibson waled three and struck out 10.  Bob Johnson of the Pirates took the loss, lasting only 1/3rd of an inning giving up 5 runs, 4 hits and a walk.  Three Rivers Stadium opened July 16, 1970 with the Pirates losing to the Cincinnati Reds 3-2.  it was also the first no hitter thrown in Pittsburgh thrown in Pittsburgh in 64 years. Nick Maddox threw the last one in Pittsburgh with the Pirates beating the Brooklyn Superbas 2-1. (although Cliff Chambers threw a no hitter in 1951 against the Boston Braves in Boston)

1. in 1976, the Chicago White Sox play the first game of a double header against the Kansas City Royals wearing shorts with their jerseys.  they stole 5 bases with the shorts and won 5-2.  they play the second game in regular pants and lost 7-1.  that was the last of a 5 game series.  they had also played a double header two days prior. 2. in 1988 the Chicago Cubs attempted to play their first ever night game at Wrigley Field.  they had turned on the lights, but Mother Nature had other plans.  with the Cubs up 3-1 and the Philadelphia Phillies finished the top of the 4th, it started to rain as a thunderstorm rolled in.  it was first suspended, then called off.  as the game did not reach the 5th inning, it was not an official game.  the Cubs played their first official game the next night against the N.Y. Mets and won 6-4.

Justin Gatlin of the U.S. dethroning Bolt by winning the 100m final. Christian Coleman came second and Bolt finished 3rd.  holy guacamole folks.  this just happened.  Bolt will be in the 4x100m with his last chance.  we will see how that turns out.

in 1972 Nate Colbert hit 5 home runs and drove in 13 runs as the San Diego Padres swept the Atlanta Braves in both ends of a double header (9-0 and 11-7).  the 5 home runs tied a record for most home runs in a double header (Stan Musial in 1954) and broke an RBI  record (11).  Musial and Colbert are the only two players to have hit 5 homers in a double header.

hard to believe it's been 30 years since this:

tomorrow is the possible announcement that L.A. will pull out of the 2024 Olympics and solely run for 2028, leaving Paris to have 2024.  both can be "officially" announced September 13 in Lima, Peru.  although rare, this has happened before.  infact a century ago.  and it also involved Paris and Los Angeles.  Pierre de Coubertin came up with the plan in Lausanne at the 1921 IOC session.  the world was still reeling after the first world war and sport was struggling.  de Coubertin came up with the plan of having to decide back to back hosts and wanted both hosts in Europe to keep travel costs down.  there were two different votes.  first one was for the double allocation announcement, the second was to announce the games announcement.  Paris was awarded the 1924 games, and it was Amsterdam was announced the 1928 hosts over L.A.  L.A. was eventually chosen to host the 1932 games unopposed at a later session.  if this years double announcement holds, two streaks will be kept ali

Adrian Beltre collected his 3000th hit with a double off of  Baltimore's Wade Miley, becoming the 31st player and first Dominican born player to reach it.  he is also the third primary third baseman to reach there (behind George Brett and Wade Boggs).

1.  in 1991, Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez threw the Montreal Expos only perfect game in a 2-0 win at Dodger stadium. Chris Gwynn (younger brother of Tony) flew out to Marquis Grissom for the final out, to which Expos play-by-play guy Dave Van Horne uttered "El Presidente, El Perfecto."  was the last Expos no hitter/perfect game before moving to Washington.  catcher Ron Hassey became the first catcher to catch two perfect games (he caught Len Barker's perfect game in 1981). 2.  three years later Kenny Rogers became the next pitcher to throw a perfect game in a 4-0 Texas win over the California Angels. he threw 98 pitches and had struck out 8.  Rusty Greer preserved the game with a great diving catch on Rex Hudler for the first out in the 9th.  Greer caught Gary DiSarcina's fly ball to end the game.  Rogers was the third lefty to record a perfect game (Sandy Koufax in 1965 and Tom Browning in 1988).

on this day in 1976, Hank Aaron hits his 755th and final home run in Milwaukee off of Dick Drago of the California Angels.  the Brewers won the game 6-2.  Jerry Augustine got the win, Danny Frisella picked up the save and Gary Ross took the loss.

in tonight's 24-19 loss to Ottawa, Montreal's Nik Lewis caught his 1000th pass in his illustrious career that started in 2004.  he joins Geroy Simon (1029), Ben Cahoon (1017) and Terry Vaughn (1006).  he finished tonight with 1003 catches.  and we are only into week 5 of the season.

the L.A. Dodgers are the 4th team to won multiple 10+ game winning streaks this century, joining the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays, the 2013 Atlanta Braves and 2001 St. Louis Cardinals.  crazy fact - neither of the previous three won a world series.  crazy eh.

at the 1976 summer games in Montreal, Nadia Comaneci scored the first ever perfect 10 score in gymnastics for her uneven bars routine. Omega believed that no one would ever get a perfect score in gymnastics, when they manufactured their scoreboards to go as high as 9.99.  when the score was posted, it came out as 1.00, the only way of judges could indicate that she had the 10, while confusing the spectators.  they then figured out that she scored the 10 and gave her an ovation.  she would receive six more 10's.  she left Montreal with 5 medals (3g 1s 1b).

the 1971 all star game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Reggie Jackson hit a home run for the ages.  in the bottom of the third, Jackson hit a Dock Ellis pitch that ended up hitting one of the light towers that was on the right field roof.  it was estimated to go 520 feet.  the A.L. won 6-4.  Jackson was one of six players that homered in the game.  Frank Robinson was MVP of that game.  it was the only AL all star win between 1962 and 1983.

1.  in 1979, the most ill fated promotions happened.  Disco Demolition night was in between games of a double header between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox in Chicago.  Detroit had won the first game 4-1.  then came the promotion.  Steve Dahl headed the promotion, and the days leading to the promotion had invited radio listeners to bring their records they wanted destroyed to the ball park and they could get in for 98 cents (the radio station frequency of WLUP was 97.9).  the promotion ended up filling the ball park and an extra 15 to 20 thousand stuck out side Comiskey Park (some didn't stay out for long).  Harry Caray had even commented during the first game that there was "and odor of marijuana in the air."  first game ended, and soon afterwards Dahl, his broadcasting partner Garry Meier and Lorelei raced onto the field on an ATV with the box of records and a detonater.  after making a speech he detonated the box, blew up the records and destroyed part of the

in a 4-3 win over the N.Y. Mets, Nolan Ryan strikes out Danny Heep to record his 4000th strikeout in front of a home crowd in Houston.  Ryan eventually finishes his career with 5714 - the only pitcher to record more than 5000 K's

this past Tuesday night in Brooks, Edmonton Prospects pitcher Zane Foth-Thomas threw the Prospects first ever no hitter in a 7-0 win over the Brooks Bombers.  he walked five and struck out four in the win.  congrats to Zane.