Simply Weir-ed

Hats off to Mike Weir and all the other compete tors at this weekends President's Cup. There was a lot of incredible golf played at the Royal Montreal Golf Course and it was a weekend many will never forget. From Woody Austin doing his best impression of Aquaman to the massive roaring crowds of spectators it was a tremendous success. But the greatest part of the weekend, personally and for many Canadians was seeing Mike Weir play the way he did. He was not even supposed to be there, he snuck in as a captain's pick and Gary Player is now smiling ear to ear, even despite loosing to the US, as he looks like a genius. Weir knocked off Tiger Woods on his way to posting the best record of any of the international players and was an inspiration to his team and country. With the throngs cheering him on he did not disappoint and showed why he is a role model for all young people in our country. I know he is to modest to say so but this was perhaps the greatest display of Canadian gold ever. The handshake and hugs with Tiger and Gary Player on the 18th two of the games best ever show the respect that he has garnered across the golfing world, and perhaps being a little guy myself I feel a kinship towards Mike, but he displayed the kind of guts that make not only great athletes but great people and I will not soon forget it. Thank you Mike, good luck next year.

The Gra$$ i$ Greener...

OK, so the other day I read a comment in the Ottawa made by some guy who wrote in to the sports section, and really he isn't worth mentioning because he obviously knows nothing about hockey, or sport for that matter. He called out Sidney Crosby and said that he lacked heart and grit and was simply a product of marketing and agents and the like. Well pal, pay attention because this is where you learn how stupid you comments really are. First of all, all Crosby has done in the years he has been in the league is lead rookies then the league itself in scoring, the youngest player ever to do so, player almost every game the last two seasons, be named Captain of his team, once again the youngest player to do so and generally help save the Pittsburgh franchise, for now. Now granted all these guys have been spit shined and polished by people behind the scenes and made in an image that will be liked by the public. As have Payton Manning, Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, (Get the idea) and most other phenomenal athletes of this nature. They have to sell the sport and this is how that is done, by being a like able person, or in the case of others a complete SOB. Either way there is an image and a persona that is created and put out there for the public to see. The fact that Crosby is capitalizing on his hard work and talent is nothing to shame him for and smacks of jealously. To call out his heart and commitment is lunacy and shows know knowledge of any sport. Crosby takes more abuse then any other player when he is on the ice and walks around with a target the size of the Igloo on his back. And he has handled himself with great humility and respect throughout. He talks to much on the ice, but that comes with youth and he will soon learn to keep it shut. I hope for his sake and the sake of sports where there are so many negatives lately that we would be looking for positives and that people just causing problems will shut up and realize that their opinion doesn't matter.