Game 3, Winnipeg, Sept 6, 1972 First, you may be wondering … why Winnipeg? Why not Edmonton, or even (God forbid) Calgary? As hard as it may be to believe, at the time Winnipeg had the biggest and best arena on the prairies. Like I said in the beginning, this
Continue readingAuthor: mauricetougas
In This Corner: Where in the World is Alison Redford? Not in Alberta, that’s for sure.
Remember during the election campaign way back in April (seems like years ago now, doesn’t it?), Wildrose leader Danielle Smith tried to paint PC leader Alison Redford as someone who doesn’t like her own province. In fact, her exact words were “I think Ms. Redford doesn’t like Alberta all that
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 2: Redemption, for a while, in Toronto.
Game 2: Toronto, Sept. 4, 1972 In the two days after the Mauling in Montreal, Canada was in a deep, dark, depressed funk. The loss to the Soviets was so surprising, so shocking, and so complete, that the entire country had a black cloud hovering over it from coast-to-coast. The
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72, game 1: A look back at our darkest hockey day.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Canada-Russia series of 1972, I went back and watched, via time machine (or maybe DVD), Game One from Montreal, played Sept. 2. Here is my report. It was a Saturday, the last one before school began again for the fall. At least there
Continue readingIn This Corner: Canada-Russia ’72. Why it mattered.
It’s 40 years ago today that Canada and Russia faced off in Montreal to start the most gut wrenching, confidence shattering, depressing and joyous sporting even in Canadian history, and one of the most epic in the history of sports anywhere (you heard me, Super Bowls and World Series’). It
Continue readingIn This Corner: A few words on my brother Gary, five years later.
Five years ago today, we lost our brother Gary. It wasn’t a surprise, really. He was definitely on his way out, barely responsive as liver failure slowly shut down his colossal frame. We were making plans to put him in a hospice for his last days when my sister Renee
Continue readingIn This Corner: Justin Trudeau: hopeless, or only hope?
The Justin Trudeau bandwagon is getting pretty crowded, and it hasn’t even left the bandwagon station yet. OK, I have no idea if bandwagons had stations, or really what a bandwagon is, or why anyone would get on it. So put another way, there appears to be some momentum building
Continue readingIn This Corner: Is the toughest guy in Canadian sports a woman?
In June of last year, I wrote this tribute to Christine Sinclair, Canada’s greatest ever soccer player of either gender. I think, in light of her Olympian performance, it deserves a repeat. Oh, and ignore my thoughts that Canada should go a long way in the Women’s World Cup… didn’t
Continue readingIn This Corner: Welcome to the wall of shame, Christina Pedersen.
I’m still angry. And the more I think about it, the angrier I get. I’m trying to take the high road, and tell myself that Norwegian referee Christina Pedersen did not deliberately tilt the epic Canada-USA women’s soccer game Monday towards the U.S. But I can’t, because I don’t believe
Continue readingIn This Corner: Bringing back the name (sort of) won’t bring back the Klondike Days feel.
So, K-Days is back! That should settle all the problems that have beset the ex-Capital Ex. Well, not quite. The public has spoken, and K-Days is back as the name for the Edmonton exhibition. Personally, I think it is one of the least inspired name changes ever, since the K
Continue readingIn This Corner: Letter to America: You’re making it too easy.
Dear America: The events in the Aurora movie theatre are heartbreaking and shocking, and our hearts go our to the families of the victims, and the extended family that is the United States. Everyone in Canada is just sick about this. Just like you, we realize that there is little
Continue readingIn This Corner: Parks and Rec gets screwed … again.
I don’t normally become particularly excised over entertainment industry awards. They are what they are, with politics playing as much a role as performance. But something has to be said about the utterly baffling snub the TV academy has delivered to Parks and Recreation. The Emmy voters have seen fit
Continue readingIn This Corner: Names for ex-Capital Ex fail to inspire, but still ….
Northlands is trying to get the public engaged in renaming its annual summer fair by holding a naming contest to replace the unloved title Capital Ex, which itself replaced the loved-only-by-old-people Klondike Days. The names that Northlands has offered up are a fairly uninspired lot, which is perfect considering that
Continue readingIn This Corner: Arena over budget. And winter is cold.
The Edmonton arena project is having a hard time reaching its guaranteed cost of $450 million. Those of you who are surprised by this news, please raise your hand. OK, you, you, and you … I have a Nigerian prince who wants to speak to you. Something about an inheritance.
Continue readingIn This Corner: Higgs boson explained … not really.
I am not a scientific person. I don’t understand how computers work, and I’m pretty sure that electricity is, actually magic. So all this news about the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson (that would be a great name for a soap opera character … Higgs Boson) has left me
Continue readingIn This Corner: Enjoy Nail Yakupov’s tweets while you can, fans.
Hey, Nail Yakupov! Can I hang with you the next time you go to a bar in Edmonton? Preferably someplace on Whyte or Jasper Avenues. Seriously, dude. I’d just hang around in the back somewhere. You wouldn’t even know I was there. I just want to watch. Sorry, let me
Continue readingIn This Corner: On push mowers and five-pin bowling.
My sons bought me a push mower for Father’s Day this year. Now, some of you dads and moms might roll your eyes at that news. Isn’t getting a push mower for Father’s Day like buying your mom a vacuum cleaner for Mother’s Day? Well, yes and no. But mostly
Continue readingIn This Corner: Beautiful women, rabid fans … oh, and soccer. Why you should watch Euro.
If you’re a soccer fan, you have been watching Euro 2012. Maybe you PVR the games then spend the rest of the day avoiding all your Facebook friends and Twitter followers so you don’t hear the score (only to overhear a conversation on the bus that spills the beans). Maybe
Continue readingIn This Corner: Observations on the working world
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog. (Have you missed me? What do you mean, you didn’t notice I was gone?) Now that I am what is called “working” after about a year of what is commonly called “not working”, I find that I don’t have quite
Continue readingIn This Corner: God save the Queen (consider the alternative)
Those of you who know me (that would be roughly twelve people) know that I am not a fan of the monarchy. Actually, ‘not a fan’ hardly covers it. I have had, for as long as I can remember, a deep and abiding loathing for the monarchy. I’ve always considered
Continue reading