Sports roundtable – Sep. 15, 2011

Autumn McDowell, Jonathan Hamelin, Sydney Campbell
This Week's Roundtable

What is your favourite place to watch a sports event?

Autumn McDowell: After visiting numerous sports bars this week, I think that now, more than ever, the best place to watch any sports event is from my own home on my own couch. There is no one there who will yell outlandish comments at the TV and, if they do, I will have no problem telling them to shut up – something I can’t do at a Regina sports bar without having a drink thrown in my face or, at the very least, dirty looks.

Jonathan Hamelin: Mosaic Stadium after the Saskatchewan Roughriders win a close game. I remember a while back when Omarr Morgan blocked a field goal against the Edmonton Eskimos to win the game for the Green and White. Filing out of the stadium with thousands of absolutely electric fans was amazing. Everybody was hugging, slapping hands and cheering. It creates a high, as I’ve said before, I can only imagine drugs would produce.

Sydney Campbell: Personally, I like to watch sports events in the comfort of my own home, on PVR, if ever. Then, I have the option to fast forward the boring parts and re-watch the parts where one of the players whips out hard. Also, if I’m at home and not in the stands, I don’t have to worry about the whole awkward sitting next to the opposing fans.

When do you expect Sidney Crosby to return to the NHL?

McDowell: I would hope pretty fucking soon. I am planning on going to Winnipeg to see the Jets vs. Pens game on Oct. 17. If Sid the Kid isn’t in attendance, I will be highly disappointed.

Hamelin: When he stops getting such lucrative endorsement offers. I saw a ridiculous commercial of his the other day where he was trying to pick out a name for his new line of shoes. He probably pocketed a couple of million for that commercial. Why rush to get back? It’s not like his popularity will dip – the Canadian media seems to talk about no other player in the NHL, even though sports are about more than just one player.

Campbell: OK, Sidney Crosby needs to man up and return. I don’t personally care how injured he is or not. I also got a concussion playing in my ever-short soccer career, but I manned up and played the next game. Why cant he?

Do you think the WWCFL is a league that is worth watching?

McDowell: On the risk of sounding ignorant, no. I have no desire to watch women play tackle football. The fact they could call themselves professional football players really grinds my gears. How can a “professional” football team not even have tryouts? That boggles my mind.

Hamelin: Will I go on my spare time to watch a game of women’s football? I don’t think so. However, with the disgraceful Lingerie Football League in existence, it makes the importance of the WWCFL high indeed. Now, instead of girls growing up thinking the only way they can play football is to be a scantily-clad model, there are role models on the field who are out there in full pads playing the game they love.

Campbell: I needed to google WWCFL to find out what it was, which makes it obvious it isn’t worth it.

Have you hopped onto another CFL team’s bandwagon this year or is it Roughriders all the way?

McDowell: Surprisingly, I stuck with the Riders for the season through thick and thin –  and thinner. Even back when they were 1-7, I was still watching the game sporting Riders’ attire. I don’t get the point of hopping bandwagons. I make fun of people who do that and I can’t be one of those people.

Hamelin: While I still favour the Saskatchewan Roughriders, I find it hard to put a 100 per cent support into any sports team. When you start doing nothing but write about a sports team, your personal feelings attached to that team starts to diminish. Instead of celebrating a last-second victory or agonizing over a crushing loss, you look for the angle to write your story.

Campbell: The whole Riders craziness makes me rethink our community. Do you see the stuff people buy just because it has that stupid green ‘S’ on it? Seriously. “Riderville”? What are we, a city in the states?

Do you think the Cougar men’s hockey team will make the playoffs this year?

McDowell: It’s tough to say. I would like to say yes, but then I would be lying. The team has the talent to compete and make a playoff run, but they are so young that it is going to be tough. 

Hamelin: Regina was not only dead last in the CIS in scoring last season, but the next highest up had 17 more goals. How can Regina, in a province that has produced so many great hockey players, not find more offensive talent than that? With this lack of offensive power, I don’t see anything more than a similar last-place conference finish as last year. With veteran goaltender Adam Ward gone, the Cougars don’t even have a reliable netminder to keep them in games.

Campbell: Since I now currently go to the school, everything about the university will be better, even our men’s hockey team. As long as they shoot and score goals and knock down anyone who gets in their way, they should be good.