It’s opening day at the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. Opening day, that is, in its newly complete Calgary home. (Yes, it was once housed right here in Toronto, but the Hall has been found only in limbo since 2006 when it was demolished for the construction of BMO Field). Perfect, you think to yourself, it’s Canada Day. It’s sports. What more could you want? But if it’s not quite practical to make it from here to Calgary for a day-trip in order to shadow box against Lennox Lewis, to simulate a real time wheelchair race against world record holder Chantal Petitclerc, to pitch fastballs until your interactive heart is content? Well what better reason to make an impromptu corridor-of-fame for the ‘happening now’ moment in Canadian sports?
Also, imagine you’re Rory McIlroy. You earned a rest after crushing the field in record fashion the other week at the US Open. So what are you going to do now? There are the obvious choices like contemplate the sex scandal that has rocked team Mexico over at the Copa America, find out where in the world is Jaromir Jagr, solve the world’s (or at least the NBA‘s) labour trouble, wonder whether or not Tiger Woods has a beard. But no, you’re Rory McIlroy. It’s Canada Day, and you’re going to Wimbledon. So we’ll check that out too.
1. Christine Sinclair wears the mask. Officially a biomedical prothetic, Sinclair’s mask is a bit of memorabilia prime for future consideration in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame. After playing on in the opening game against Germany despite a broken nose, Sinclair was outfitted with the prosthetic to take the field as team captain, self-sacrificing warrior, and all-around best player for Canada’s game against France at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. I imagine a space mounted on the wall in a room dedicated to great masks in Canadian sports. (We might do what we can to bury the actual results from the game.)
2. The Blue Jays play against Roy Halladay. Roy Halladay spends his Canada Day back in Toronto, pitching against his old friends: us. Alas, it’s not to be. The Phillies changed up their pitching rotation, so ultra-excited (and current Blue Jays’ pitcher) Ricky Romero gets the sting of delay, and Halladay will instead pitch against the Jays on Sunday. Halladay was rumoured, during his tenure in Toronto, to be stoic, consistent and boring. Also, a really good pitcher. He’ll be honored at the game, in some fashion. Happy Canada Day, Roy (but you’re from Denver).
3. TFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps vs TFC vs Vancouver Whitecaps. Toronto and Vancouver are having a regular old soccer party over the Canada Day weekend. They played on Wednesday, although more than a soccer game it was like they were looking to out cheer each other. TFC’s Nick Soolsma scored the only goal of the game (and his first ever) only to have it called back because his own teammate was celebrating too early and too close to the opposing goalie. So he has to make good again on the second attempt, to record his first goal. Let the enthusiasm be unbridled when they meet again on Saturday.
4. Federer falls. Is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga the new Federer? It doesn’t seem like this was a changing-of-the-guard match, but the old Federer did something he never does (before this week, he had actually never done it), which is lose a Grand Slam match after taking the first 2 sets. So the prospect of having the top 4 seeds of the men’s draw all take their spots in the quarter finals is dashed, but we’re still on track to see Rory’s guy, Andy Murray, go against the number 1 seed (and also of course Rory’s guy) Rafael Nadal.
5. Blonde ambition. Maria Sharapova is in the Wimbledon final against Petra Kvitova. She’s been taking slack all tournament for her ‘vocal stylings’ on the court (shrieking with every swing of her racquet), but she’s favoured to beat Kvitova (only an 8 seed). Sharapova didn’t play all that well in her semi-final match, and yet still didn’t lose a set. She’s won Wimbledon before, she looks determined to win again. What other blonde bombshell have we seen recently with that same kind of steely championship resolve?
Additional bonus material. Charlie Sheen admits to steroid use during the filming of Major League. Now imagine a new movie in the Major League franchise, one in which a tabloid-celebrated Rick ‘Wild Thing’ Vaughn, after years of debauchery, confesses to and discusses the disgraced legacy of his once beloved Cleveland Indians on a reality TV show. The fourth wall is, like, nowhere.
