Sports roundtable
Fly like a butterfly, sting like a… well, you know the rest./Sports Illustrated
john loeppky – sports editor
destiny kaus – production manager
harrison brooks – sports writer
matt wincherauk – editor-in-chief
- What was your favourite sports story from this past summer, and why?
Kaus: The fact that the Blue Jays dominated this past summer and are still kicking major butt in their season is definitely my fave. I’ve never witnessed this kind of Blue Jays success before in my young life, so I’m pretty stoked about how their summer went, and I’m beyond pumped to see how their season progresses. Hopefully their success isn’t just momentary bliss that will turn into a classic BJ letdown.
Loeppky: The renaissance of Canadian basketball has been a joy to watch. Steve Nash is no longer our only hope. Say what you want to about Anthony Bennett (trust me, plenty have), but the combination of Cory Joseph, Andrew Nicholson, Andrew Wiggins, Robert Sacre, and Kelly Olynyk has created a team that is currently challenging for a berth in the Olympics. This is to say nothing of their female counterparts, who have already qualified for Rio.
Brooks: My favourite story of the summer is still going on right now. The Jays have become the talk of the league this year, and not even just in Canada. As a Canadian team, when your offence is so good that you are getting talked about by U.S. networks, it really makes you take notice.
Wincherauk: My favourite story was the defeat of the evil dictator of the NFL, Roger Goodell and his cronies in court by the heroic and just Tom Brady and the NFLPA in court. Finally, something goes right for Tom Brady in his life.
- Which U of R sports team’s season are you most excited for, and why?
DK: Mine. Ha! (I play for the U of R Cougar Women’s Softball team in case y’all didn’t know). Our team is looking pretty dang sharp this season, so I’m excited to see how we do! We have our goals set high to take home the league championship and win gold at nationals in October. I mean, with new Nike uniforms, a killer unified group of talented girlies, and a trip to nationals in Ontario, how could I not be excited?!
JL: Being a hoops junky, I’m going to have to go with the basketball teams. Both look primed for excellent seasons, and I can’t wait to see the two squads challenge in the CIS West. Outside of the gym, I’m interested to see how successful the McCrystal-less Rams will be, as well as whether the track and field team can continue their recent run of success.
HB: Hockey. I’m a hockey guy, I love it. I don’t care, men’s or women’s, the women might actually win a little bit so that’s extra intriguing, but either way, for me, it doesn’t get much better than watching good quality hockey.
MW: I’m most excited about track and field season. Mostly because that means that another most likely disappointing Cougars/Rams season has come to an end. Also, running is one of my true loves in this world.
- This past weekend was the Labour Day Classic. Do you have a memorable story from seasons gone by?
DK: Back in the day, my high school would bus a load of students to the Labour Day Classic each year. We’d just have a blast! Then my high school became poor and had to stop this tradition. So, that was lame. But, from the times I did go, I have some great memories of leaving the stadium at halftime to walk around in the hood and watching wasted Rider fans going crazy during the game.
JL: Watching us win every year, does that count? I like the pomp and circumstance of it all. I mean we are 1-9 right now and you’d think we were fighting for the championship belt of the west. And, Bombers fans, don’t get too cocky. Your team is 3-7; life is hard for prairie football fans. Who knows, maybe this is the start of a serious playoff push. Eastern semi-final blowout here we come!
HB: A few year ago I was at the Labour Day classic game at Mosaic Field and my flip flop that I was wearing broke, forcing me to walk around the stadium barefoot. Some nice lady at the concession kept my shoes for me until the end of the game, so shout out to her.
MW: My most memorable story comes from this year’s game! This year I got to do some media stuff with Access 7. I was a part of the Brett Smith and Bob Dyce pressers, and got to wander around the locker room of all the sweaty, naked athletes. Thank god they at least won the damn game.
- Which sports do you partake in during the summer months? Did you end August as champions, or drown your sorrows at the bottom of the standings?
DK: I played softball! Not lame-ass slo-pitch, but fairly legit senior ladies Div. 1 softball in Regina. Our season ended on a pretty crappy note. Although we did well and were on our way to likely making it to the finals, there were a bunch of scheduling issues, so the season got called off in mid-playoffs right when we were supposed to play our semi-final game. Thus, we didn’t finish playoffs, and no one even won the league championship game because there wasn’t one.
JL: Well, I just continue to train for the wheelchair rugby season. After all, there is no offseason for serious athletes – being a wheelchair athlete, I do have the added advantage of being able to skip leg day whenever I want. Unfortunately, I do have to fix my wheelchair quite often; amateur sport isn’t glamorous for any of us.
HB: I played at 21-and-under baseball nationals this summer, at the end of August. Unfortunately, we were not champions. I am not saying we for sure would have been, but if it wasn’t for some poor coaching decisions we could have been a lot closer than how we finished. But we still beat the other Regina team, so not a total loss.
MW: I don’t partake in any recreational sports over the course of the summer. That would require being around many people a fair amount of time each week, and I don’t think I can bring myself to do that. Also, exercise. I’m fairly anti-exercise at this point in my university life. I was sore the next day after just nine holes of golf.
