Has there ever been a less compelling year in Canadian sports? When the biggest story of the year in a new broadcast deal between the National Hockey League and the cable giant Rogers, the old-fashioned fan interested in what actually happens on the field might sense that he’s in a bit of trouble.
How bad a year was it? Let us count the ways:
*How about the Toronto Maple Leafs pulling one of the all-time third-period folds in their seventh playoff game against Boston to exit the Stanley Cup playoffs, making it 20 years and running since a Canadian team (the Montreal Canadiens in ’93) won the Cup?
*How about the Toronto Blue Jays–pre-season picks to contend in the American League East–delivering one of the most pathetic seasons in their history? The brightest spot on the team was utility man Munenori Kawasaki, who showed Canadian fans how the game is supposed to be played.
*How about the NBA’s Toronto Raptors? Save your breath.
*How about professional soccer in Canada? Let’s not even go there.
There was a momentary–if false–bright spot in tennis. The Canadian Davis Cup tennis team made it to the semi-finals in the World Group before getting shown the door by Serbia and its star, Novak Djokovic.
But that too was bogus, thanks to the failure of Spain, Canada’s first-round opponent, to send its two brightest stars, Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer, to the tie. Still, there were signs that there may be reason to hope for better results in the future. Both Milos Raonic (currently number 11 in the ATP rankings) and Vasek Pospisil (number 32) showed promise, if still lacking the mental toughness to get to the top five. On Thursday, Raonic has won the Lionel Conacher Award as the Canadian Press male athlete of the year.
On the women’s side, Eugenie Bouchard, a 19-year-old from Montreal demonstrated that she may have the ability rise to a top-five player on the WTA tour, rising 100 places to finish the year at number-32. On Friday, she was named the winner of the Bobbie Rosenfeld Award as The Canadian Press female athlete of the year.
There were a couple of brief shinning moments. Both supplied by that old, much-maligned Canadian staple, the Canadian Football League.
With its boisterous fans in full vocal throttle, Saskatchewan managed to win the Grey Cup at home in its venerable stadium that is soon headed to oblivion. The people of Saskatchewan went nuts and so did a lot of other Canadians. There really is something to being an underdog.
And the winner of the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top male athlete was Calgary running back Jon Cornish. Cornish is a sensational football player who dominated most games in which he appeared, becoming just the third CFL player to win the trophy–joining Russ Jackson, who won in 1969, and Joe Krol, who won in 1946.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing that list grow a little bit,” said Cornish, who was also voted the CFL’s top player.
What he might see in the not too distant future is a Canadian basketball player winning the Lou Marsh. Only once before has that happened–Steve Nash won in 2005. But last year, Anthony Bennett became the first Canadian to be chosen number one in the NBA draft. Another Toronto product, Andrew Wiggins, is expected to go first in this coming year’s draft after completing his freshman year at the University of Kansas.
But heck. Things could have been a lot worse. Imagine Alex Rodriquez, Oscar Pistorius and Lance Armstrong carrying Canadian passports.
For a look back at the year in sports, Terry Haig asked Calgary sportswriter and author Bruce Dowbiggin to join him.
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