This year's Kentucky Derby produced a great moment in horse racing history
This past Saturday’s 148th Kentucky Derby, one of the three jewels of the American Triple Crown with the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, produced a great moment in horse racing history. It’s a heartwarming tale of a longshot horse that barely made it into the race, and a trio of individuals who had never participated…
Being a true football fan in Canada has been a pretty lonely existence
Thirty-six years ago last week, the Calgary Flames scored one of their most famous triumphs – a 3-2 Game 7 playoff victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers. Back then I was sports editor of the Calgary Sun, and that playoff run to the finals (Calgary lost to Montreal in five games) consumed…
Perfectionism has been shown to be a leading cause of depression and, thus, suicide
As Shalise Manza Young pointed out in a recent column for Yahoo! Sports, at least five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes in the United States have died by suicide in the last couple of months. One young person committing suicide is a tragedy. Five young student-athletes with bright futures taking their lives in such…
Fans left with an increasingly boring game
I don’t hate baseball analytics or their use by crafty baseball operations folks. I look at analytics gurus like Billy Beane, Theo Epstein and Andrew Friedman as smart guys who figured out how to exploit market inefficiencies in the game. But they’ve also inadvertently damaged the game as a fan experience and entertainment product. There’s…
His father never won the WWE World Championship. Will he?
In William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, the intensity and raw emotion of personal redemption is contained in Isabella’s line to Angelo from Act II, Scene 2: “Why, all the souls that are were forfeit once; “And He that might the vantage best have took “Found out the remedy.” The true remedy to the struggles some…
It takes from the poor and middle class and gives to the rich
“The NFL is the richest sports franchise, full of billionaire capitalists demanding socialist handouts so they can make even more profits.” – Ralph Nader The billionaire owners of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills, Terry and Kim Pegula, have landed US$850 million in taxpayer dollars for the construction of a new…
Time to end the government-sanctioned cartel
“Every other sport – like virtually every sort of business – is governed by the antitrust laws.” – Stuart Banner, author of The Baseball Trust: A History of Baseball’s Antitrust Exemption The fact that the Supreme Court of the United States gave Major League Baseball an antitrust exemption in 1922 was…
A six-year obsession finally pays off
Ever been in business with a spouse? How about a sibling? How about three siblings, all brothers? Daunting as that sounds, it is a successful business recipe employed by the Brothers Schroenn (Justin 56, Matthew and Gareth, 49) as they attempt to transform the world’s aquatic recreational market. The trio is inventor/creators of SWMBRD –…
Paralympian Danielle Peers questions how to eliminate barriers that prevent athletes from getting involved in parasport
The 2022 Winter Paralympics will shine a brief spotlight on Canada’s elite athletes in China over the next 10 days. But much more is needed at the community level to get athletes involved in parasport before they can even dream of competing at an elite level, according to former Paralympian Danielle Peers. While changes are needed at the…
Lack of action and decreasing entertainment value impacting attendance
As a game and entertainment product, Major League Baseball has plenty of problems. For starters: the pace of play is dreadful; strikeouts and walks are up and action is down; stolen base attempts are becoming extinct; a ball is only put in play every four minutes; just 20 per cent of generation Z members consider…
A mixed bag performance at best
The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China, concluded on Sunday. The most appropriate term to describe this international sporting event? A mixed bag. The Games were held in a communist country with a long history of authoritarian rule. Most western democracies suggested their athletes take very few personal items to Beijing – or none…
Unfortunately, city council is not willing to give up on a deal just yet
Taxpayers may have dodged a bullet. Calgary’s arena deal has fallen through. While Mayor Jyoti Gondek laments the loss, taxpayers should be relieved since it was a bad deal and the only winners were rich hockey team owners. As beloved as the Calgary Flames are, they are not a charity. According to Forbes, the team…
New study identifies key areas for actions to improve gender equity in sport at all levels
When a female elite athlete announces her pregnancy, she can prepare herself for a slew of congratulatory messages wishing her well – on her retirement. At least, that was a typical experience for many within a group of 20 female athletes participating in a recent study. The surveyed athletes, who had either trained or competed…
It focuses on making sports fun for their young people
As I write this, Norway is tied for second in total medals and gold medals at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Norwegians are projected to take home 45 medals by the end of these Games, surpassing the 39 they won at the 2018 Winter Olympics. That total was way above those for the United States,…
High expectations and lack of crowds among the many pressures athletes will face at this year’s Games
Team Canada walked into the National Stadium in Beijing for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics on Friday – but it’s not just another day at the office for these elite athletes. They’ve trained and prepared for every eventuality, but the Olympics is unlike any other sporting event. “The Olympics is a circus.…