This week on 15 Minutes of Fame, we give a passing grade to the NHL’s All-Star Weekend, touch on Tim Thomas’ decision to skip his team’s White House visit and discuss the biggest surprises in the league at the All-Star break. As well: we give out our Super Bowl predictions and comment on a couple of massive MLB contracts!
In the GABBYs: The Canadian women’s soccer team, US Senator John Kerry, Jay Cutler, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Kyle Williams and Scott Gomez. The Punchline this week is Minnesota Vikings kicker Chris Kluwe!
When Canadians watch the 2012 Olympic Games in London, they’ll be watching the Canadian women’s soccer team.
On Friday night at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, Team Canada qualified for their consecutive Olympic Games with a 3-1 win over Mexico.
Christine Sinclair, probably the best women’s soccer player in the world, scored twice and Melissa Tancredi of Hamilton, Ontario scored the game winning goal.
Team Canada will be joined in the tournament by the United States who earlier on Friday defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in a shutout victory. The Americans despite being outplayed by Costa Rica in the first half.
Team Canada will be looking for redemption at the 2012 Games. Four years ago at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Canada lost 2-1 to the United States in overtime in the quarterfinals. Then at last year’s World Cup, Team Canada played very poor and finished dead last in the tournament.
Other countries that have qualified to date are Great Britain, Japan, North Korea, South Africa, Cameroon, Brazil, Colombia, Sweden and France. The Olympic tournament starts July 25.
The Canadian women’s soccer team now knows who their opponent will be in their one game single knockout match in their quest to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
On Tuesday night at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver, the United States won Group B with a 4-0 shutout victory over Mexico. Carli Lloyd of the Atlanta Beat scored a hat trick as the United States might not have been as dominant as they were in their two previous round robin games, but got off to a quick start (two goals in the first six minutes) and got the job done.
With Tuesday’s much anticipated result now finalized, Team Canada will play Team Mexico and Team United States will play Team Costa Rica Friday night with the winners booking their ticket to the most significant sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games.
Please note, the Canada/Mexico start time Friday night has been changed from 9pm MT to 8:45pm MT. The game can still be seen on Rogers Sportsnet.
The winners will then play in a rather meaningless friendly on Sunday.
This week on the show we talk about the latest on Sidney Crosby’s concussion issues and some other injury notes from around the NHL, including another bad break for Washington’s Mike Green and a close call for Edmonton’s Taylor Hall. As well, we discuss a couple of high profile deaths from around the world of sports.
In the GABBYs: Alex Ovechkin, Terrell Owens, Shaueel van Persie, Manny Ramirez, Trinity College and the Baltimore Ravens. The Punchline this week is Rob Lowe!
In this day in age, there’s really nothing better than a good viral video, right?
While that statement might not be entirely true, it’s no secret that internet-dwelling humans love watching random stuff from random corners of the internet! This week on “When Sports Go Viral,” I’ve got highlights, lowlights, a strange Japanese game show and some cute kids!
Are you ready?
We’re going to start this week with something rarely, or perhaps never, seen in hockey: the double one-timer! (more…)
This week on the show we break down the Mike Cammalleri trade, we discuss the Jordan Eberle All-Star “snub” and we try to figure out what is wrong with the Edmonton Oilers. Also: Will we ever see a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao?
In the GABBYs: Leo Messi, Tim Tebow, Thierry Henry, Rick DiPietro, Josh Blanchard and the Jacksonville Jaguars. This week’s Punchline is Dustin Penner!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame, we’re looking back on the World Juniors, discussing the NHLPA’s rejection of the league realignment plan, and we’re playing a little game of “Are Guys Getting the Hint” as in pertains to headshots in the NHL.
In the GABBYs: Everton goalie Tim Howard, Habs forward Lars Eller, Randy Cunneyworth and the language debate, Samardo Samuels and West Virginia’s Darwin Cook. The Punchline this week is Rick DiPietro!
On this holiday edition of 15MOF, we take a look at HBO’s 24/7 series featuring the Rangers & Flyers, hidden concussions, the status of the Edmonton Oilers, the struggle of NHL goalies and language controversy in Montreal. As well, we take a look at the early stages of the World Junior Hockey Championships!
In the GABBYs: Logan Morrison, the Indianapolis Colts, Luke Babbitt, Kim Jong Il, the NY Knicks & the Vancouver riots. The Punchline this week is San Jose Sharks forward Marty Havlat!
We’re talking coaching changes, Rookie of the Month awards and trade rumors this week on 15 Minutes of Fame. Also: the Argos are fined for tampering and the groups are set for Euro 2012.
In the GABBYs: Ryan Jones, Ryan Jimmo, Marshawn Lynch, Nick Novak, Wayne Gretzky and the Chinese Basketball Association. This week’s Punchline is Ryan Miller!
Canada is moving on to the third round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup of Soccer in Brazil.
On Friday night in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, Canada tied St. Kitts and Nevis 0-0 to get the necessary single point.
Canada won Group D with a record of three wins and two losses. Their 11 points is four more than St. Kitts and Nevis, meaning if the tiny island of 43,000 people that is ranked 109th in the world defeat Canada on Tuesday night in Toronto, it will not be enough.
Edmonton native Lars Hirschfeld was strong in between the Canadian net as he recorded the shutout.
Canada now advances to the third round of CONCACAF qualifying along with El Salvador, Guyana, Panama, Guatemala and Antigua and Barbuda.
Canada is in Group C with Cuba, Haiti and Panama. The top two teams from the Group will advance to the fourth round of qualifying.
In the second of my six-part series profiling the recent inductees of Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, here is my interview with Andrea Neil, a long-time member of the Canadian women’s soccer program.
Neil, from Vancouver, British Columbia, was a member of the Canadian women’s soccer team from 1991-2007, and is one of only two players to score 100 goals for the national team. Since her retirement, Neil was an assistant coach for two years with the Canadian Women’s National Team, and was also an assistant coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the W-League.
ANDREA NEIL
What are you currently doing?
I am currently in transition. I was part of the coaching staff of the Women’s World Cup Team. That was a two-and-a-half year stint upon retiring as a player. I’m just seeing what other options are out there right now.
With the disappointing results that Canada faced at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, they turned it around with an outstanding victory over Brazil at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. What did you see from that particular team that impressed you significantly?
Well, I think that’s the great thing about our sport right now. On any given day, one can pick off another team. It’s unfortunate what happened to Canada. It did come down to a game. But that’s how the game works now. You have Australia that did remarkably well at the World Cup and exceeded expectations there, but then got knocked out of the Olympic qualifying and aren’t going to the Olympic Games. For Canada to bounce back at the Pan American Games is a great thing. To use that background experience should only springboard the team as they move forward.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame: the Edmonton Eskimos get set to face the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL’s West Division semi-final, we break down the first month of the season for the Edmonton Oilers (and a couple of other storylines from around the NHL) and we look into the NBA labour situation.
In the GABBYs: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Ryujiro Ueda, Manny Pacquiao & Floyd Mayweather Jr., Iranian soccer, Andy Murray and the IABA. This week’s Punchline is Nickelback!
We’re back with another week worth of sporty goodness – this time around, we’re looking at the decision to keep Ryan Nugent-Hopkins up with the Oilers and the keys to the team’s early success, as well as the latest “Shanabans” in the NHL. As well, we take a look at the Eskimos latest defeat and a huge effort from Edmonton’s Gord Hinse, along with the latest in the NBA lockout drama.
In the GABBYS: The WHL, Jonas Hiller, the St. Louis Cardinals, Terrell Owens, Julian Bursuc and Chris Cooley. This week’s Punchline is Nick Diaz!
Team Canada has won the Gold medal in the Pan American Games in women’s soccer. Last night they beat Brazil 4-3 on penalty kicks and became the first Canadian women’s soccer team to capture the Pan American Games’ top prize.
This should be a time for great celebration for the women’s soccer program and an opportunity for them to completely forget about the abysmal performance at the 2011 World Cup in Germany, where they finished dead last, sixteenth out of sixteen nations.
But when you analyze everything at the end of the day there is still sufficient work to be done and you can even put a small asterisk beside this Gold medal performance.
The bottom line is the Americas powerhouse in women’s soccer– the United States–decided not to participate at the Pan American Games, and rest for what is considered as the more important tournament, the Olympic qualifier in Vancouver come January.
Brazil’s top star, Marta, (maybe the best female soccer player in the world), wasn’t in Guadalajara, Mexico either, allowing the Canadian defenders an opportunity to attack other Brazilian forwards.
Don’t get me wrong. This is a great Canadian accomplishment. But I cannot ignore the fact that the championship game wasn’t taken very seriously by mainstream Canadian television (not televised live anywhere), and Canada’s two top female soccer foes in the Americas were either absent or not sending their best capable squad.
With the Canadian women’s soccer team, Canada is now up to 24 gold medals.
In this day in age, there’s really nothing better than a good viral video, right?
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