Tom Brady had a unique celebration after reaching 1,000 career rushing yards. (Photo courtesy of ESPN and USA Today)
The New England Patriots are still perfect at home (6-0) after a 24-10 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday evening in Foxboro, Mass.
New England improved to 9-3 on the season as they remain atop the AFC East division and have won eight of their last nine games. The Vikings fell to 6-5-1 after their second loss in three games.
Pats QB Tom Brady reached a career milestone in the first quarter. The 41-year-old finally reached 1,000 career rushing yards in the 19th season of his career. Brady went 24/32 and threw for 311 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The touchdown pass was the 508th of his career, tying him with Brett Favre for third most all-time. Vikings QB Kirk Cousins threw for 201 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Patriots never trailed as they scored a touchdown on their first drive. They led 10-7 at the half and added a touchdown in the third quarter and added another one in the final quarter. James Develin had two of New England’s three touchdowns. Vikings star wide receiver Adam Thielen was mostly shut out but still scored the Vikings’ lone touchdown in the second quarter. Both teams had a missed field goal.
Photo courtesy of Toronto Blue Jays Twitter account.
The Toronto Blue Jays have finalized their coaching staff for the 2019 MLB season. Manager Charlie Montoyo announced the staff which will include Pete Walker, Luis Rivera, Guillermo Martinez, John Schneider, Mark Budzinski, Matt Buschmann, Shelley Duncan and Dave Hudgens.
Montoyo was announced as the new manager last month after the team mutually parted ways with John Gibbons at the end of last season. Montoyo appeared in just four MLB games with the Montreal Expos back in 1993 but played in over 1,000 minor league games. The Puerto Rico native was previously part of Tampa Bay Rays organization in various roles over several years.
Walker is a returnee from 2018 as he will serve as the pitching coach for the seventh consecutive season but has been part of the Jays’ Major League staff for 11 seasons. Walker played for five different teams, including the Blue Jays, over an 11-year MLB career.
Rivera is also returning and will be the third-base coach. This will be his seventh season on staff and ninth in the organization. Rivera spent 12 years in the MLB with five different teams and was previously with the Cleveland Indians organization.
Martinez is the new hitting coach, a role previously filled by Brook Jacoby. Martinez was drafted twice but never made it up to the MLB. The 34-year-old joined Toronto as its minor league hitting and infield coach in 2012 before being promoted to this position.
Schneider spent six seasons in the Blue Jays’ minor league organization as a catcher. He has since been in the organization for 11 years as a coach and other positions. Most recently he led Toronto’s AA team to the Eastern League championship in 2018. The 38-year-old will serve as the Major League coach.
Budzinski replaces Tim Leiper as the first-base coach. Budzinski spent most of his professional career in the minor leagues, appearing in just four MLB games. He spent last season on the Cleveland Indians coaching staff.
Buschmann is the new bullpen coach as he takes the place of Dane Johnson. Buschmann is a former minor league pitcher and was in the San Francisco Giants organization last season.
Duncan will be the Major League field coordinator. Duncan spent six years in the MLB with three different teams. The Arizona native was in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for the last four seasons.
Hudgens will replace DeMarlo Hale in the bench coach position. Hudgens won a World Series with the Houston Astros as their hitting coach in 2017.
The Blue Jays will try to improve with this new coaching staff after a disappointing 2018 season that resulted in a 73-89 record. All in all, this is a younger and well-rounded staff for new manager Montoyo, and these new hires have a lot of experience from all assets of the game.
In the last game of their Western Canada road trip, the Montreal Canadiens edged the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Saturday night.
Tomas Tatar scored his ninth goal of the season and his sixth in his last six games, to open the scoring 8:07 into the second period. Canucks defenseman Michael Del Zotto tied the game 1-1 just eight minutes later at 16:13.
It was 1-1 after 40 minutes of play. Canucks star rookie Elias Pettersson gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead after he scored his first goal in four games, on the power play at 10:09 of the third period. Just over 90 seconds later, Andrew Shaw tied it back up at 2-2.
Jonathan Drouin scored the game-winning goal with just 2:44 left in regulation to give the Habs a 3-2 lead, which held up to be the final score.
“I just walked the line and saw (Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher) going to the net and they had two D screening their own goalie, so I just tried to aim for that right side of the net,” said Drouin.
The Canucks have now lost five games in a row, as they returned home from a 1-3-2 road trip, and they fall to 10-10-2 on the season, and 5-3-0 at home. The Habs go to 11-6-3 on the season.
This is the Canadiens’ second win in a row after they beat Calgary on Thursday. They have won three of their last four games as they head back home. Max Domi, who has fit in well with Montreal, extended his point streak to nine games (five goals, eight assists) with an assist on Shaw’s game-tying goal. Drouin, who had the game-winning goal, also has a point streak, with six points (three goals, three assists) in five games.
Carey Price made 36 saves in the win and improved to 11-2-2 in his career vs Vancouver. The Anahim Lake, B.C. native had a struggling start to the season but has now put in two good performance in back-to-back wins.
“A big character win for us to come back,” Price said. “It’s good to get a couple bounce-back games after Edmonton and make it a successful road trip.”
Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom made 28 saves in the loss. “For me to let in two in the last 10 minutes of the third, it’s very frustrating,” Markstrom said. “I don’t care how it looks, but we’ve got to win, especially those tight games.”
Each team had a power play goal, Montreal went 1/3 as Drouin’s game-winner was on the man-advantage. Vancouver went 1/4 as Pettersson’s go-ahead goal in the final period was also on the power play.
Up Next:
MTL: The Habs (11-6-3) will head back home where they will face the Washington Capitals (9-7-3) on Monday.
VAN: The Canucks (10-10-2) will also play on Monday, when they host the Winnipeg Jets (11-5-2).
The Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2018. (Photo courtesy of NHL.com)
The Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) inducted six new people into the hall Monday. Martin Brodeur, Jayna Hefford, Martin St. Louis, and Alexander Yakushev went in as players. Willie O’Ree, the first black player to play in the NHL, and current NHL commissioner were inducted into the Builders category. Additionally, long-time voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Joe Bowen, was honoured with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions as a hockey broadcaster. New York Post writer Larry Brooks was also honoured with the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in journalism.
Players
Drafted 20th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft, Martin Brodeur was a goaltender and spent 22 seasons in the NHL, 21 of them with the New Jersey Devils. He is the all-time NHL wins leader, with 691. He also has the most shutouts in NHL history with 125. Brodeur won three Stanley Cups with the Devils, he also won two Olympic gold medals as well as two silver medals at the World Championships. The 46-year old was born in Montreal and his father was a renowned hockey photographer.
Jayna Hefford is the 6th woman to enter into the Hall. The Trenton, Ont. native is known for representing Canada in women’s hockey at both the Olympics and IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championships. Hefford won four Olympic gold medals and one Olympic silver medal, as well as seven gold and five silver at the Worlds. Hefford now serves as the commissioner of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.
Martin St. Louis played over 1,000 NHL games and scored over 1,000 points, even though he was undrafted. He played in 16 NHL seasons with three separate clubs, most notably the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2004. The Laval, Que. native also won three medals (one gold, two silver), while representing Canada at the Olympics and World Championships.
Alexander Yakushev also got into the HHOF. The Russian never played in the NHL, but North Americans remember him from the Summit Series where he represented the Soviet Union. He briefly served as a coach after his playing career.
Builders
Willie O’Ree was the first black player to play in the NHL. The Fredericton, NB native broke into the league with the Boston Bruins on Jan. 18, 1958. The 83-year old has been the director of the NHL’s diversity task force since 1998.
Finally, amid much disapproval, Gary Bettman enters the Hall this year. Bettman is the current commissioner of the NHL, and has been since Feb. 1, 1993. The Queens, NY native isn’t liked by many hockey fans as there have been three lockouts in his term, but he has grown the league quite a bit, from 24 to 31 teams and continues to try to expand to more teams.
Awards
Joe Bowen has been the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs since 1982, calling over 3,000 games. He was honoured with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for his contributions.
Larry Brooks is a writer for the New York Post. He was awarded the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in journalism.
Photo courtesy of Mark Zaleski of the Associated Press
The Tennessee Titans’ defence was too much for the New England Patriots as the Titans beat the Patriots 34-10 in a surprising upset win on Sunday afternoon in Nashville.
Titans QB Marcus Mariota went 16/24 for 228 yards and two TDs and no interceptions. Pats QB Tom Brady went 21/41 for 254 yards, throwing no touchdowns or interceptions. Titans RB Derrick Henry scored two of Tennessee’s four touchdowns, while Patriots FB James Develin scored the lone touchdown for the Pats.
The Patriots fell to 7-3 as their 6-game winning streak came to an end. The Pats scored just 10 points, their lowest total this season since their 26-10 loss to the Lions in Week 3. New England failed to score in the second half, their first scoreless half since Week 4 of the 2016 season.
The Titans improved to 5-4 with their second consecutive win as they are now just one game back of the Houston Texans, who sit atop their division.
With this disappointing loss, the Patriots’ chances of getting the top seed in the AFC and home-field advantage in the playoffs aren’t looking very good. The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 9-1 with their win over the Cardinals on Sunday, putting them two games ahead of New England. The Patriots would have to win all their remaining games and hope for Kansas City to lose at least two games, to have any chance at the top AFC seed.
The Patriots were outplayed by the Titans in all aspects of the game for the full 60 minutes. They looked out of sync, and just didn’t look like themselves.
Up Next:
NE: The Patriots head into their bye week with a 7-3 record and a comfortable lead atop the AFC East division. Their Week 12 match-up will be vs the New York Jets (3-7).
TEN: The Titans will travel to Indianapolis where they will face the Colts (4-5) next Sunday.
With today’s generation being more interested in technology than ever before, video gaming has become a huge part of today’s world. Playing these video games (now known as E-sports) is just a hobby for most people. But, for some, it’s very competitive and some consider it a sport. Well that’s the question, can E-sports really be considered a sport?
Here’s some reasons why or why not: people say that it’s not a sport because you’re not engaging in any physical activity, you’re just sitting on the couch or in a chair in front of some sort of screen with a remote control in your hand. But on the other hand, gamers will argue that it is a sport because if people will watch other people play hockey, basketball, baseball or other sports, and still watch people play video games, then they should be allowed to call E-sports a sport. The viewership from the broadcasts E-sports championships is just as high if not higher compared to that of professional sports leagues, which means it makes just as much money, which some people say is a motivating factor for professional athletes. Also, the talent that a video gamer has in E-sports can be equal to what another athlete has in his/her respective sport.
Lack of physical activity
Firstly, the biggest argument towards E-sports not being considered a sport is the fact that you’re not getting any physical activity out of it. But if you compare it to other sports, for example, baseball. In baseball, you’re just standing around most of the time. The same can be said for football, where there are so many breaks for players from the ton of commercial breaks to when the offense is on the field and the defense is off the field. In basketball, there’s a lot of breaks and timeouts as well and so many substitutions that players get a lot of rest time. Those players aren’t getting any physical activity at those times either, so this argument can be considered invalid most of the time.
People watch it
Next, if enough people will watch people play video games that they make leagues and championship tournaments out of it like other professional sports did years ago, then why can’t it be considered a sport? There are lots of leagues out there for E-sports but one of the most common ones is the ‘League of Legends World Championship,’ which is held annually, and started seven years ago. This championship awards a trophy and 1 million US dollars to the winner(s). Over 60 million people watched the finals of this tournament in 2017, which is more than any other championship finals of the four major sports leagues. The numbers prove that a lot of people are interested in this and will watch it, so that should be a part of making the argument that E-sports is a sport.
All about the money
Money is a contributing factor that motivates professional athletes to make it to the “big leagues.” With the 1-million-dollar prize with the tournament that I mentioned earlier, maybe that motivates video gamers to qualify for an E-sports tournament, even though it’s not quite as much as most professional athletes make.
It’s not as easy as it looks
Lastly, even though people say video game is easy, and shouldn’t be considered a sport because there’s no physical activity, the talent required to “make it” in the E-sports world must be equivalent to the talent that major professional athletes have in their respective sport. Playing video games at that level is much harder than it looks, unless you’re just playing casually or for fun.
To summarize, the reasons I just stated are reasons why or why not E-sports should be considered a sport. People who say there’s a lack of physical activity should look at other sports and see that there’s moments in those sports where there is no physical activity. Another thing is that people will watch, in fact more people watched the finals of an E-sports championship tournament than the NBA Finals, and the NBA is the most popular league globally out of the NHL, NBA, MLB and NFL. The numbers don’t lie. Since people will watch other people play video games that they could just as easily play themselves, just like people do with watching professional sports, then why not make them the same and consider E-sports a sport? Also, the talent required to play E-sports is just as much as the talent it takes to make it to any professional sports league in the world.
What do you think?
Finally, the word ‘sports’ is directly in the title, so maybe people have already decided that E-sports is considered a sport. But, what do you guys think? Should E-sports be considered a sport?
Dave Schnider, Kitchener City Councillor for Ward 2
Being a radio host for almost 4 decades, most people in Kitchener would probably recognize Dave Schnider’s voice right away. Or if you’re a Kitchener Rangers fan and regularly attend their home games, his voice would probably be even easier for you to recognize. Although Dave isn’t on the radio anymore, he is now a city councillor for Ward 2 in Kitchener and is the PA announcer for the Kitchener Rangers at their home games. I interviewed Dave about a month ago to find out more.
Nicholas Cuming: Tell me about your career before you became a city councillor.
Dave Schnider: “I was in radio in Kitchener for 37 years. Started at CHYM, moved to Kool FM what was then Oldies 1090, went to CIKZ 106.7 to be programmer at the country station, then was back to CHYM for a little while, and then I went back to Kool FM, which is now K-Fun. So, 37 amazing years in radio.”
This represents his long career in radio, and his current role as PA announcer for the Kitchener Rangers.
NC: Why did you choose to pursue broadcasting?
DS: “For me, it was always the magic of radio, I loved the ability to drive around with my little transistor radio on the handlebars of my bike in my back pocket and just one day thought ‘you know what, it’d be really cool to be the person that gets to play the music.’ Things kind of fell into place for me, when I was in Grade 6, I was walking some new students that were from Quebec home and found out their father was a radio announcer at CHYM at the time. So, he was a big inspiration for me, he took me up to the station, and once I was inside the station, I kind of knew like ‘oh I really really want to do this.”
NC:What inspired you to run for city council in 2014?
DS: “You know what, I grew up in this city, I love this city, as a kid that benefited from playing in the parks and I grew up in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium neighborhood so going to Ranger games and the practices after, and I think being in the media, being in radio, it kind of gave me a good front seat to see some of the needs in the community and a lot of the good things that go on in the community. What I love most about the job is just the connection with the community, so I thought a natural extension of what I did on the radio, in service, would be to be a city councillor, where you’re supporting your residents with issues and you’re a part of the bigger things that’s going on in the city overall and having a part of the decision-making in that on city council.”
NC:Can you tell me a bit about the charity events that you’re involved with, and how you got involved with them?
DS: “There’s a person, her picture hangs on my wall, and her picture overlooks my desk, so when I look over my shoulder, I see Valerie Corcoran, and when I started at CHYM, this was a woman who said to me, ‘it’s nice being on the air and everything, but if you go to an event, or help out at an event, you’ll find out that’s a lot more fun.’ So, she started connecting me with people who were putting on events, the ‘Great Ride ‘n’ Stride,’ the ‘Relay for Life,’ and others. Hosting those events was really fulfilling, it really is great to see people working together to make the community a little better. I would say those three were big highlights but there were a lot, little smaller events too. But they all add up to adding to the community.”
NC:Can you tell me a bit about the many committees you serve on, and the roles you have on them?
DS: “The number 1 role is that of a city councillor, so we have council meetings. We have 3 standing committees, the Finance and Corporate services, Community Infrastructure, and Planning and Strategic Initiatives. Those meetings all happen on one day. After those meetings, we have a 2-week period to hear back from the residents. I also serve on the Safe and Healthy communities advisory committee, and the Arts & Culture advisory council. What I try to do is, I try and sit back, I want to hear what they (the residents) want to say, I want their input. There are also smaller committees like Kitchener & Bloom, which makes beautiful gardens, and I also help with two community centres, one at Stanley Park and the other at Centreville Chicopee. It’s all part of people who want to do things that make their community and their city a little better so it’s really neat to be a part of that.”
NC:You’ve been the PA announcer for the Kitchener Rangers for a long time. Can you tell me a bit about that job and what has kept you in that role for so long?
DS: “Well, I’m entering into my 24th season. For me, I’m a kid that grew up in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium neighborhood, so I’ve been going to games since I was 5 years old. It just kind of came out of the radio role at the time. The usual PA guy couldn’t make it, so I absolutely jumped at that opportunity. It’s really evolved over that, it’s now a really great production and it’s really exciting.”
NC: Can you tell me a bit about your family?
DS: “My wife owns a family restaurant in Elmira. I love going there when I have free time. I have a daughter who is a freelance makeup artist, another daughter that plays softball and has a partial scholarship for Simon Fraser University in B.C. I also have a son who is finishing up high school. With the crazy hours that I put in as councillor and my wife puts in at the restaurant, we really try to treasure our time together and make the most of it.”
NC: Have you ever thought of running for mayor one day?
DS: “You know what, no. We right now have an amazing mayor, I see his schedule, and you’re pretty much married to the city, it’s a job that takes a lot of skills. I’d say that I learned a lot on my first term of council, but I can’t say that I have the complete skill set to do what it takes to be mayor. So, I would say no.”
NC: Anything else before I let you go?
DS: “Anyone who’s been in the media would probably have a pretty good understanding, if they ever wanted to run for a civic position, of kind of the needs of the community, how things kind of run at city council and at a municipal level and the differences between the different levels of government and how they work together.”
NC: Thank you very much for your time and best of luck in the election.
As you can see, Dave Schnider has had quite the career, as Kitchener residents have gone from hearing his voice on the radio for years, to seeing him around Kitchener as a city councillor.
Which thing about Dave did you find most interesting?
Special thanks to Dave Schnider for the interview. If you want to learn more about Dave, you can visit his website.
Steven Stamkos had 2 goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 34 of 35 shots as the Montreal Canadiens fell 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday night.
The Canadiens got off to a quick start, as Max Domi scored just 58 seconds into the game. Domi now has at least 1 point in 7 of his last 8 games, getting 6 goals and 3 assists. Montreal also led 10-4 in shots after 8:34 of the 1st period, but the Lightning came on strong in the second half of the period and lead 2-1 in goals and 18-12 in shots after 20 minutes of play.
“The disappointing part was probably the last 10 minutes of the first period where we were playing on our heels and it seemed like shift after shift, we couldn’t get anything going,” said Habs’ forward Brendan Gallagher, who’s had a nice start to the season, but couldn’t find the back of the net on Saturday night.
Tampa scored 4 unanswered goals which included 2 in a span of 2:42, as they improved to 6-0-0 vs Eastern Conference teams this year and are now 6-0-2 against the Habs in their last 8 games vs them. The Lightning also kept an interesting stat alive. They are one of the few teams yet to lose 2 straight games this season, with the Canadiens being one of the other teams.
Stamkos got the first Lightning goal at 13:42 of the 1st period, assisted by Nikita Kucherov, which tied the game 1-1. J.T. Miller’s 4th goal of the season put Tampa up 2-1 at 16:24 of the opening frame. After a scoreless 2nd period, Stamkos beat Price again just 52 seconds into the final period. Yanni Gourde sealed the deal for the Bolts, making it 4-1 with just 4:03 left in the game.
“It’s a one-goal game up until that point so that next goal is obviously huge,” Stamkos said on his second goal. “I thought that sucked a little momentum out of them and to be honest gave us some. You know, the guys went out there the next shift, had a great shift in their end. So, I thought we did a good job of not sitting back tonight. We kept pressuring and that’s when we’re at our best.”
Montreal falls to 7-4-2 overall and 5-3-0 at home this season (6-3-1 in their last 10), while Tampa improves to 9-3-1 overall and 4-1-1 on the road (7-2-1 in their last 10).
Both teams failed to score on the power play. Montreal went 0/4 and the Bolts went 0/3. The Habs have now gone 5 straight games without a goal on the man-advantage (0-15).
Vasilevskiy got his 7th win of the season as he made 34 straight saves after allowing the goal to Domi on the first shot of the game. Montreal’s goaltender, Carey Price didn’t have as good as a night though, allowing 4 goals on 36 shots.
The Lightning had 32 hits to Montreal’s 25. Montreal is 2nd in the NHL with 369 hits so far this season. The Canadiens led the league in hits last season.
Stamkos, who had 2 goals, has now scored 20 times vs Price. Stamkos doubled his goal total for the season in this game. He now has 4 goals and 6 assists in 13 games this season. The 28-year-old Markham, ON native has scored 3 goals this past week, including the 350th of his career.
Domi, who scored the lone goal for the Canadiens, has had a nice start in his first season with the club. Domi started his career with the Arizona Coyotes and hasn’t really made his mark in the NHL yet, but is looking to do that this season. The 23-year-old has 7 goals and 6 assists in 13 games. His 7th goal this year was in game #13 of the season, but his 7th goal last year was not until his 72nd game of the campaign. Habs fans would love to see more of this new version of Domi.
The three stars of the game were Vasilevskiy, who saved all but one shot, Stamkos, and Anton Stralman, who had three assists.
“I thought we held our own tonight,” Price said. “That’s a good hockey club over there, for sure. We’ve got to take a lot of positives out of the game. We obviously would like to win, but at the same time we’ve got to keep positive and move forward.”
Up Next:
The Lightning travel to Ottawa where they will face the Senators in the second game of this back-to-back on Sunday night.
The Canadiens will be in New York for their own back-to-back, facing the Islanders on Monday and the Rangers on Tuesday.
Welcome to my blog. This blog will be all about sports. “What sports?” you ask, well that will depend on what the big story is at the time of the post. The name of my blog isn’t officially decided yet, so ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose – it teaches you about life.” — Billie Jean King
Nick's Sports World 