| In a league once ridiculed for having two teams with the same name, the CFL truly deserves to be mocked this season.
Six of the eight teams could have easily changed their names to Push Me, Pull You. These teams went one way then another each week. (And besides, naming a team after an animal, fictional or otherwise, isn’t without precedent.)
Throughout the entire season, only two teams played consistently enough to know where they were headed. By far the strongest this season was Hamilton. But they were as bad as that city’s tap water and missed the playoffs.
On the other end of the scale, the B.C. Lions put together a steady effort most of the season and were clearly the class of the league. Their record of 13 wins and five losses easily outpaces the record of three Push Me, Pull You squads that finished with 10 wins and eight losses.
That pretty much guarantees the Lions won't win, despite the fact they have three quarterbacks who have shown signs they can move the ball.
In the Canadian Football League, seldom does the most consistent regular season team win the title. Only four times in the last 10 years has the team with the best overall regular season record earned Earl Grey’s cup.
Does that mean the Calgary Stampeders have a shot at winning the cup? Yes, but they won’t.
Six times in the last 10 years, the team with the best overall regular season record has made the league final. That means B.C. will face off against one of the Push Me squads from the Eastern division.
Look for a B.C.-Toronto final, with the Push Me, Pull You team going home victors.
SNACK ON THIS
Recreational athletes, do the following words describe anyone you know?
Lee, who plays in a local recreation hockey league, says there are former players on his team who have quit because the rink board advertising for burgers, ice cream and other fast food joints are too tempting.
The former players typically fill their vehicles with fast food bags from post-game meals, then find themselves more and more winded as the season progresses, Lee says.
If that description rings a bell, then research being undertaken in Nova Scotia could save your life.
Researchers at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital and Cape Breton University are conducting a study of adult, recreational hockey players trying to determine those who could be most at risk for heart attacks and death by playing the game.
"No large, organized study has ever been conducted to determine how many of these events occur across the country and if there are any specific risks that could predict who is at highest risk," reads the www.hockeytakesheart.com website.
This study expands on the researcher’s previous research, showing adult hockey players who do no other cardiovascular exercise are potentially at risk. That risk stems from participants exhibiting high heart rates after exerting themselves for "relatively prolonged" periods.
Given that participants in any sport, be it basketball, soccer, squash, mountain biking, etc., tend to go as hard as they can when competing, the number of people potentially at risk presumably goes well beyond those who chase a piece of rubber around a frozen pond. (Look for future information on this topic. Researcher Dr. Paul MacDonald could not be reached for comment.)
That's a scary prospect for participants and emergency responders. It's also something that hits close to home for many Calgarians.
The thousands who don the brave face of weekend warriors attacking their sports with the enthusiasm of youth should be aware of the adult realities of this approach. |
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