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Post by igs on Apr 16, 2017 12:21:15 GMT
Since it's play-off season in many leagues, I figured a general sports thread would be nice in case there's anyone here who follows some leagues/sports. Are you ladies following anything in particular at the moment? I'm watching Champion's League of course, it's very exciting cause Real Madrid's the team I normally follow (Hala Madrid!) and Bayer München's my #2 and now they're going up against each other in the quarter-finals. But all the match-ups are awesome, very telling that Juve v. Barca is the least interesting for me although both are great teams and the Barcelona 6-1 PSG match was...something else.
In addition to football once in a while I check out what's happening in Stanley Cup play-offs. I generally root for Minnesota Wild (cause they've got a Koivu bro) but these play-offs I'm cheering for the Maple Leafs, such a young, fresh and exciting team.
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Post by roverpup on Apr 16, 2017 14:22:21 GMT
Being Canadian it probably won't surprise anyone that I am a hockey fan. We are life-long Toronto Maple Leaf fans (both of us). I have been a Leaf fan since the days of Davey Keon, George Armstrong and Johnny Bower. One of my first memories was of me before i started kindergarten, in the back seat of my dad's car listening to the Leafs hockey broadcast with Foster Hewitt on the radio while we drove back from visiting my grandad and grandma's place. Starting in the early 60s I have watched the Leafs religiously (in fact it is my only religion now).
The win last night was... glorious!
Go! Leafs! Go!
Other than hockey (both my husband and I are deeply involved in our local Junior B hockey team and he is the team historian), I like thoroughbred racing, figure skating, boxing and Canadian Football (can't stand NFL). I also have watched a fair bit of rugby and soccer/football (especially the World Cup games).
:-))
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Post by igs on Apr 16, 2017 14:46:07 GMT
The win last night was... glorious! The Leafs did well to recall Kapanen. He also scored the over-time win in the U20 World Cup finals against Russia last year, he's super clutch!  I'm a bit jealous of the hockey fever in Canada (Toronto specifically.) Here in Finland we only mobilize with big wins like a World Cup gold or if a local team wins the championship. When I lived in Lima the Peruvian national football team won a World Cup (Brazil) qualifier game against Chile and you'd have thought by the ecstatic party mood the whole city descended into that they had just won the World Cup final! I loved going to see football games in South America, be they qualifiers or Copa Libertadores or local matches, the ambiance was always so great. We don't have that here in Finland. Although this year there have been so many great, young Finnish players in the NHL (Laine, Sebastian Aho who's my personal favorite, now Kapanen) that people are getting more excited again. I'm more of a football fan but hockey is firmly my #2 sport. Is Canadian football more like American football or football (as in soccer)? I love figure skating too. And gymnastics. I did Aesthetic Group Gymnastics until I was 16 (I left on exchange then so I dropped out of my team) and a few girls from my team went onto another team that got qualified for the World Cup, that was pretty cool! But it's a niche sport, mostly in Finland and Eastern Europe although I think there have been Canadian teams too in the world championships. I still like watching it, a very beautiful sport. |
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Post by roverpup on Apr 16, 2017 15:27:05 GMT
Canadian football is in form probably more like American Footall but there are distinct differences that make a big enough difference if you understand the game. The field is a lot bigger than the USA version (wider and longer - and that especially facilitates a very different approach to scoring). The teams are placed wider apart when lining up to face each other (again, facilitates a different kind of physicality with the players - the men don't have to be a huge like the NFL players who are liniment).
Canadian football has only 3 tries ("downs" in football lingo) to get a chance to keep moving forward up the field ("getting a first down" in the lingo) - the American are given an extra "down" (wusses!! LOL!) to do this.
Because of the lack of that extra "down" the Canadian game is more throwing and catching and the American game is more running on the ground (huge throws and catches - and then usually more running on the ground, is often considered more exciting to watch). I find the American game often boring as a result.
There are some other technical aspects (Canadian teams have an extra player, our balls can be slightly bigger, about lines being allowed to be "in motion" before the plays are made, Canadian teams have to make their plays more quickly, the use of the "Rouge" in Canadian footy, the "no yards" rule in Canadian football, etc.) that are unique to the Canadian version.
But the other aspect of the Canadian game is that it is run much more "smaller" (without all the enormous razz-a-ma-tazz and hoopdala that the NFL is famous for) and the league is kind of "socialist" in it's makeup. They often pool their resources to make sure the league stays in business (I think this would be almost considered "communism" in the States). The league was also waaaaay ahead of the the USA league in giving blacks opportunities to become "quarterbacks" (the position that is considered to be the premiere position on the team).
Way back in the days of yore, the origins of Canadian football came from rugby (in fact originally it was known as "rugby football"). It has a history even deeper than the US teams. The championship trophy for Canadian Football is called The Grey Cup and it has it's origins all the way back to 1909 when it was first awarded for the championship of the Dominion of Canada by Lord Grey. Before the CFL came into existence our little city actually won the Grey Cup twice!
I love the history of the league as you can tell. And The Grey Cup is still a huge event in Canada.
:-))
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Post by igs on Apr 16, 2017 15:47:35 GMT
Thanks! In fact I don't understand the game haha, the only thing I know about American football is that one of the players is a quarterback, at one point a player puts his hands on another player's butt (huddle?) and there's some kind of a countdown, and if you manage to rush through every guy jumping at you with the ball then you drop it and it's a touchdown. So most of Canadian football rules unfortunately flew over my head as much as American football does. I've never seen a game, only in movies (same with baseball, although we have our own version in Finland and it's very fun to play - less fun to watch.) Up until a couple of years ago I even thought Superbowl is the baseball cup final... But it's interesting to hear about it nonetheless! |
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Post by mllemass on Apr 16, 2017 16:03:03 GMT
I absolutely no interest in sports, so here's my contribution to this discussion:
When I was little, my family moved and my sister and I had to start at a new school. That first year there, our teachers told us that we - the entire school - would be watching a hockey game on tv, so we had to learn all the players and their positions before the game. I remember whining to my sister that I didn't want to watch a stupid hockey game. I really thought that it was just a weird thing they did at this new school, but in fact the entire country was watching the game. I realized years later that it was the big Canada-Russia hockey game.
Then, when I was in high school, my friend had a huge crush on this hot young hockey player, Wayne Gretzky. He was all she ever talked about, so I ended up learning a lot about him. Years later, I got a job in Brantford (his hometown), where they've named a street, and sports centre and a school after him. The city's only claim to fame used to be the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell lived and worked there), but now they have Wayne Gretzky, too.
And that's all I know about sports!
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Post by queenzod on Apr 16, 2017 16:21:58 GMT
I love American Football and follow the Denver Broncos. Yes, it's a "problematic" sport with the huge amount of injuries and head trauma, but I find the game exciting. You really have to put your morals on the back bench, so to speak, when watching it. The NFL is all about money, so if you understand that, you can kinda separate your ideals of the world from the game.
Last year I got into baseball and watched the Chicago Cubs win. That was very exciting and a terrific World Series.
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Post by roverpup on Apr 16, 2017 16:41:13 GMT
I was in college when the Canada/USSR Summit series was in 1972 and had to attend the International Plowing Match to cover it for the college paper so those of us who had to go to this event listened to on radio when Paul Henderson scored "The Goal" in the eighth game - the rest of the country watched it on TV of course. My hubby covered sports for a long time and we eventually got to meet and talk to Henderson about that moment which was lovely.
I have had the great fortune of meeting a lot of sport stars because of my husband (hockey players like Gordie Howe, Jean Béliveau, George Armstrong, Rocket Richard, Henderson, etc.). He had met and had a long one-on-one conversation with Muhammad Ali which was probably the best interview with a sports legend ever!
I don't really have any interest in baseball (I will struggle through some games if necessary but it is way too "pastoral" for me) or basketball (even though it was invented by a Canadian it is what I consider a truly boring sport and the squeekiness of the shoes on the court floor is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me!!!). I don't understand tennis but it does look interesting. I really like track and field and almost any Olympic gymnastics (but I don't really follow it or know much about it). Downhill skiing is another sport that I love to watch on a occasional basis. Anything motorized - car racing, boat racing, motorcycle - yuck to me - I can't stand the noise! I am not really a fan of curling but I have watched it in the Olympics. Oh, and I thought of another sport I really like and kind of follow - Equestrian Jumping! Love that! Spruce Meadows is always a good competition!
:-))
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Post by roverpup on Apr 16, 2017 16:49:57 GMT
Mllemass said;
I remember following Wayne G. when he was a junior player before he even hit the pro leagues. Even back then he was a phenomenon.
And he is a lovely person too - which counts more. So is his dad - my husband has talked to Walter G. :-))
:-))
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Post by mllemass on Apr 16, 2017 17:33:47 GMT
I've talked to Walter, too, but it's always been at some charity event. Since Wayne's success, the family has always given back generously to the community. Also, Brantford is pretty small, so everyone seems to know everyone else. The secretary at an office where I used to work is related to the Gretzkys. Her mother and Wayne's mother were cousins, so they grew up together.
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