Wanna wrestle?

The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.

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Marcus Aurelius (121 - 180)

The saying is wrong

It should be, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and Lance Armstrong."

Samuel Giguère

Perhaps I've been missing out by not going to the Ticat games.

More on Samuel Giguère

Playmakers: Down and Distance - Thad Guerwitcz

Continuing the videos from Playmakers. You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

World Junior Hockey Semi-finals: Canada vs. the U.S.

After beating Russia 2 - 1 and gaining a bye into the semi-finals, Canada came apart in the game against the U.S. losing 5 - 1. It would be easy to blame Subban who was pulled in the second period after letting in 4 goals, but to be honest he was only part of the problem

The truth is the Americans simply outplayed the Canadians. They controlled the puck, their goalie was at the top of his game and is the best in the tournament and they skated rings around the Canadians. Canada started off weak and never improved. You could see the holes in the Canadian game in earlier match ups, but they became chasms today.

Canada will play for the bronze against either Sweden or Russia.

World Junior Hockey: Canada vs Slovakia

The first period was a disaster, but a great comeback from a 2 - 0 deficit to a 6 - 3 win. Still problems though. Subban was weak in goal, particularly noticeable on rebounds. My guess is he isn't up to the Russians or Americans; Binnington is probably the better choice.

And as usual, some odd officiating. Who waits 5 minutes to call a major penalty? The hit was clean, but then they noticed some blood. Odd, yes, but IIHF rules are stricter on contact than North American ones. Canadians are aggressive, sometimes violent, players. Europeans, on the other hand, know the IIHF rules and use them to their advantage. They too can be violent, but generally manage to keep it under the radar.

A gold medal is far from assured and if they don't tighten up their game and their goal tending even a bronze might not be within their grasp.

Next up on Sunday the U.S. who are coming off a close loss to Russia.

Playmakers: Talk Radio I - Thad Guerwitcz

Continuing the videos from Playmakers. You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

Playmakers: Talk Radio II - Thad Guerwitcz

Continuing the videos from Playmakers. You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

No NHL

But the World Juniors are on in Russia. I watched the Canada - Germany game on demand since I wasn't getting up at 4 a.m. The final score was Canada 9, Germany 3; a good outcome. Not to take away from the achievement, but the defense seemed sloppy and that's something they can't afford since the big guns in Group B - Russia and the U.S. - are yet to come. The key, other than tightening up that defense, will be to avoid penalties, something that has killed more than one team in the past.

The next game is against Slovakia Friday.

Playmakers: Halftime - Thad Guerwitcz

Continuing the videos from Playmakers. You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

You can play

The Toronto Marlies sign the "You Can Play" pledge.

"You Can Play" is a project founded by Patrick Burke brother of the late Brendan Burke and son of Toronto Maple Leafs President & GM Brian Burke. Brendan, a college hockey player who came out in 2007, died in an auto accident in 2009. Brian Burke supported his son's decision, "I wish this burden would fall on someone else's shoulders, not Brendan's. Pioneers are often misunderstood and mistrusted. But since he wishes to blaze this trail, I stand beside him with an axe! I simply could not be more proud of Brendan than I am, and I love him as much as I admire him." After Brendan's death, both Patrick and Brian determined to continue to do what they could to end homophobia in sports. For more on the project, follow the link below.

You Can Play Project

Playmakers: Man in Motion - Thad Guerwitcz

This is the first in a series of videos from Playmakers the 2003 series on ESPN. They will feature scenes of Thad Guerwitcz, the gay character played by Canadian actor Daniel Petronijevic.

You can watch the videos in sequence by clicking the "Playmakers" tab at the top of the page.

The incredible hunk

Daniel Petronijevic stars as a pro football player coming out of the closet on ESPN’s Playmakers

The Advocate October 14, 2003

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Daniel Petronijevic spent last summer surrounded by drag queens when he played a macho infantryman in Showtime's groundbreaking film Soldier's Girl, and this year he's surrounded by football players. The rugged 22-year-old actor will be breaking ground as about-to-be-outed gay football player Thad Guerwitcz on ESPN's first-ever dramatic series, Playmakers. The show bills itself as a gritty ensemble drama exploring the off-the-field lives and fortunes of players on a fictional football team, and now one of those players is about to tackle life on the opposite end of the Kinsey continuum.

During a break in shooting on the Toronto set, Petronijevic eases his sinewy frame into a swivel chair that seems almost too small to accommodate the bulk he packed on to play Thad. The actor notes that the evolution of his character into a closeted gay man initially came as a surprise: Thad was originally written as a devout Christian with no hint of a gay back story. "When [the producers] approached me on [Thad's gay storyline] I was skeptical," Petronijevic says candidly. "I didn't know if I had enough faith in my own abilities as an actor to do it justice." Honoring the integrity of Thad's character as it was originally conceived, Petronijevic elaborates, "I wanted to play a guy who wasn't stereotypical. I didn't want it to be, 'He's gay, and he plays football.' I wanted to play a guy who is a football player and who is gay."

According to executive producer Orly Adelson, there was never any thought that he couldn't handle it. "When we started casting, we didn't have this plot," she says. "As the series evolved, we slowly felt that this was the right direction, given the character. I came to him and told him, 'You're going to be changing a bit,' " she recalls, laughing, " 'and how do you feel about it?' He said, 'Great! I'm an actor.' It's a sensitive issue. With some actors you never know. But with Daniel, not a flinch. He said, 'This is great!' "

Knowing that football remains a temple of traditional machismo, Adelson is cautiously optimistic regarding the effect this gay storyline will have on the army of armchair tight ends—mainly straight, mainly male—who comprise ESPN's primary audience. "You do care," Adelson admits, "because at the end of the day, you want people to watch it. If they don't, you don't have a show next year. Knowing that, and knowing it could be a problem, the network opted to tackle the subject anyway. I give a lot of credit to [ESPN executive vice president of programming and production] Mark Shapiro, because he said 'Go ahead,' knowing that reactions could be mixed."

"In my father's time, this would be groundbreaking stuff," says Petronijevic, noting that attitudes among his 20-something peer group have changed significantly from generations past. "Nowadays, it's about time we started dealing with this." His gay friends have given him the thumbs up, but he admits he's flying nearly solo. "I don't have enough gay friends around me to get sufficient input," he says, laughing heartily, "but whatever. My gay friends are guys like any other guys. They like watching football and driving around in nice cars and shit like that. It's not like they're sitting around doing each other's nails. They're like, 'Yeah, do what you have to do! Go with it!' "

And the winner is . . .

The Toronto Argonauts bested the Calgary Stampeders 35 to 22 to win the 2012 Grey Cup. It was a good enough game, but it was never close. The Argos were able to put it all together while the Stamps - not so much. Confused play and penalties did them in. That's not meant as an excuse to take away from the Argos performance.

Player of the game was the Argos RB Chad Kackert with 20 carries for 133 yards and 8 catches for 62.

The Argonauts who have been around since 1873 with the same name and in the same city and who are one of the oldest pro sports teams in North America have now won a record 16 Grey Cups. Perhaps it's fitting that they should take the 100th one.

Pic of the day

The 100th Grey Cup

The Toronto Argonauts and the Calgary Stampeders will face off in the 100th Grey Cup November 25, 2012 in Toronto. The first Grey Cup was played December 10, 1909 in Toronto and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the Parkdale Canoe Club with 3,800 fans in attendance. For many years, university teams participated and the event wasn't professional.

There were no games between 1916 - 1918 because of WWI. Apparent disinterest and a rules conflict meant no game in 1919, but otherwise there has been a game each year. Some of the more colourfully named clubs participating included the Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers, the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy and the Winnipeg Tammany Tigers. Although it's a Canadian game, the Canadian Football League briefly expanded into the U.S. in 1992 – 1996 and the Cup was won in 1995 by the Baltimore Stallions, who became the only team outside of Canada to do so.

And being Canadian, there are some differences to its U.S. cousin. Centre field is the 55 yard line with two 50 yard lines on either side, thus making the field longer. At 65 yards, it is also wider than the U.S. version. There are 12 players, not 11. There are numerous other differences that make scoring and playing the Canadian game unlike the U.S. one, but the other major one is that there are 3 downs, not 4. We may be polite, but after all, there's no need to give your opponent an extra chance to score on you.

Frank Dombrowski (left) of the United States and Captain W. Drinkwater of Canada, rival captains of the teams playing in the Canada-United States football game at White City Stadium, London, England February 14, 1944. (Source: Library and Archives Canada)

Pic of the day

The 100th Grey Cup Finals

Eastern Final
November 18, 2012

Montreal Alouettes vs. Toronto Argonauts       1:00 PM ET

Western Final
November 18, 2012

BC Lions vs Calgary Stampeders       4:30 PM ET

For the two teams in the Cup, tune in next week. Plus a bit more history.

The weather is always a factor, unless a game is being played at one of the few enclosed fields of course.

The Mud Bowl. Just before we had television at home (1950), but here's a video of some of it.

The Fog Bowl. This one I remember (1962.) Fog rolled into Toronto's CNE stadium off Lake Ontario making visibilty difficult and then almost nil. It became so bad the game was suspended in the fourth quarter and play resumed the next day.

Pic of the Day: Ben Cohen

Pic of the day

The 100th Grey Cup Semi-Finals

Eastern Semi-Final
November 11, 2012     1:00 PM ET

Edmonton Eskimos vs. Toronto Argonauts

Western Semi-final
November 11, 2012     4:30 PM ET

Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Calgary Stampeders

For the finalists, tune in next week. Plus a bit of history of the Cup.