This is a profile on Winnipeg parkour leader Tyler Crichton for our Broadcast Journalism class at Red River College. Please check it out and let us know what you think!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Perfect Start
It was a great night at the stadium yesterday. The Bombers looked great and crushed Hamilton. If they keep playing like this we might finally be able to have a team we aren't embarassed of.... Although it would be nice if the press box had air conditioning!
Here is my game report from the official website.
Buck Pierce arrived in Winnipeg carrying the hopes of a fan base desperate for a top-level quarterback. Pierce certainly lived up to the lofty expectations in an impressive 49-29 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Bombers’ season opener on Friday night.
The former B.C. Lion went 17 for 25 in throwing for 291 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also put concerns over his concussion problems aside as he ran for 89 yards including one dazzling 30-yard scamper and a gutsy 13 yard touchdown run that had the over 26,000 strong at Canad Inns Stadium on their feet.
Perhaps most importantly, Pierce genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself out on the field after years of injury problems and disappointment out west. Fist pumps and chest bumps followed almost every big play, as the Bombers’ quest for an elite signal caller appears to be over.
Pierce did have some help along the way as Terrence Edwards tore the Ti-Cat secondary apart for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns as he channeled Bomber legend Milt Stegall who was honoured at half time. Fred Reid was also solid; rushing for 98 yards on just 13 carries.
Despite their impressive performance in producing almost 472 yards, the offense wasn’t the only story for the Bombers.
Amongst all the talk about Pierce leading up to this season, it was almost easy to forget about the defense. The Bomber “D” served up a reminder of what they can do as they turned in a solid performance as well.
The defense held Hamilton to just 205 yards of total offense while sacking Kevin Glenn 6 times and getting after him all night. They also forced 4 turnovers. Linebacker Joe Lobendahn lead the way with 8 tackles and 2 sacks while newcomer Brandon Stewart had 5 tackles from the secondary.
If there was one black mark on the victory it was special teams. Marcus Thigpen ran the opening kickoff back 93 yards for a Ti-Cat touchdown and then took an Alexis Serna missed field goal back 118 yards to the house for an encore. Serna himself was a bit shaky in going 3 for 6 on his field goal tries but did make all 5 of his extra points.
While it wasn’t a flawless performance, it was a solid showing and new head coach Paul LaPolice can be pleased to pick up his first career CFL win as a head coach, getting a new era of Bomber football off to a positive start.
For Pierce, the victory and his gutsy play go along way towards proving to Bomber fans that he can be the elite quarterback they’ve been missing and showing the rest of the league that his injury problems are a thing of the past.
The Bombers will look to continue their winning ways when they host the Argonauts on Friday, July 7th right back home at Canad Inns Stadium.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Bombers Game Preview - The Regular Season Begins
Here is my take on the Bombers regular season opener against Hamilton. I smell a playoff place for the Blue this year...
After weeks of two-a-day practices, cramped media scrums and, of course, cuts, the new look Winnipeg Blue Bombers finally get the chance to play football for real as they kickoff the new CFL season on Friday against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Bombers will take to the field eager to put the bad memories of last season behind them and get off to a good start under new coach Paul LaPolice. LaPolice, who will be working his first CFL game a head coach, spoke like a true signal caller in saying he isn’t concerned about the expectations on him or his team. He just wants them to go out and execute.
“Of course it’s exciting for me, but I’m more focused on the task ahead and putting together the best game plan in order to come away with the victory. It’s a long season and we have to be ready,” he said.
The game will feature a number of debuting players, including starting quarterback Buck Pierce, as the Bombers roster underwent a makeover following last year’s disappointing 7-11 campaign. Despite the new faces, the Bombers will still be lead by key returnees on both sides of the ball.
Many of those returning players still feel the sting of last years season ending loss to Hamilton that put to bed any hopes the Bombers had of sneaking into the playoffs. Defensive back Jovon Johnson says that defeat, capped off by Hamilton’s now infamous boat celebration, makes this game personal.
“For those of us that were here last year, we remember what Hamilton did to us in the last game of the season. We aren’t going to let that happen this year. Not in our house,” he said.
Meanwhile, Running Back Fred Reid says this group has to put last season behind them and make sure they pick up the victory against a key division rival.
“We have to play these guys so much in the first chunk of the schedule so we want to make sure they dread every single game. We’re going to come out hard and show them what we’re made of this year,” said Reid.
The visiting Tiger-Cats will be aiming to build on last years promising season which lead to their first playoff birth since 2004.
They will be lead by former Bomber quarterback Kevin Glenn who looked solid in the Ti-Cats lopsided preseason defeat of Winnipeg last week at Ivor Wynne. Glenn will take charge of an offense that features bonafide stars at running back and receiver in DeAndra’ Cobb and Arland Bruce III.
While much of the focus will be on the two offenses, defense should play a key role in this one as the Tiger-Cat “D” finished near the top of most main statistical categories last season, including finishing 2nd in both points allowed and touchdowns allowed. The Bombers defense will hope to win the turnover battle as they were tops in the CFL in interceptions last year.
The game kicks off at 7 P.M. at Canad Inns Stadium. If you missed out on tickets, the game will air on TSN and can be heard on CJOB 680.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Stay Tuned
Hey guys, hope you liked those other articles. Stay tuned for lots more and for my back catalogue of articles from the Projector, the school paper here at Red River College where I am the sports editor.
Also, the reason it says "posted by Manitoba Soccer Association" is because that is my account name on my other blog promoting the MSA. Follow that one to. It's going to be big.
http://manitobasoccer.blogspot.com/
Keith
Tennis Manitoba Article #2
This is the second article I wrote for Tennis Manitoba. It is also being looked at to feature in some newspapers here in Winnipeg. The article looks at an international caliber tennis tournament that is happening right here this summer. Exciting stuff!
“Having an ITF here will definitely be nice since I won't need to worry about the hassle with hotels, flights and meals,” she said.
“When I am away travelling for tournaments it can often take time to adjust to the new courts and get comfortable with the surroundings, so I am excited to be able to play a big tournament without having to worry about all the things I would in a different city,” she added.
The tournament, sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation, aims to provide young players from our province with the opportunity to test themselves against some top quality juniors from a number of different countries such as India, Hong Kong, Russia, Brazil and South Africa.
The event will be Manitoba’s first international tennis tournament since the 1999 Pan Am Games and act as the third leg of a western Canadian “tour” for the ITF, which will also feature tournaments in Vancouver and Edmonton.
The tournament is open to both under-18 boys and girls with singles and doubles categories. For those failing to qualify for the main draw, satellite tournaments will be held to ensure that those traveling don’t leave without getting a change to play.
Organizer Bruce Waschuk said the tournament itself was set up as a North American affair before it grew into something bigger.
“The tournament here was really our chance to bring together some top junior players from Canada and then from the States and it just so happens that we have close to 20 different countries,” he said.
Waschuk said the chance for our players to have a tournament like this here at home is one that top players and potential entrants alike shouldn’t take for granted.
“This could be your one chance to play in an international event and do it in your own backyards and be able to tell your friends. It’s a chance that most players don’t get in their lives,” he said.
Evann Waschuk agrees with her dad, and said she’s looking forward to the challenge of playing the best.
“Like any other big tournament it’s a great chance to test myself against other players, especially since there will be many international players I haven't played or seen before,” added the Vincent Massey Collegiate student.
Having an ITF event is clearly seen as a major step forward for junior level tennis in Manitoba as it will give aspiring players a chance to watch high level, international play, something Bruce feels that prospective players just don’t get to see on a regular enough basis to grow the game.
“Young kids, when they aspire to be an athlete, can see football all over and go and watch hockey but what does a tennis player look like? That’s what we want to show them,” he said.
Waschuk added that putting these talented players on display to inspire the next generation of tennis youngsters to get involved with the game is what would really make the tournament a success in the long run.
“We hope it’s an event that some kids will come and watch and think someday I can maybe play this event and then boost tennis in Manitoba. That’s the big goal.”
Registration for the tournament runs until June 22nd and requires an International Player Identification Number, which can be obtained through the ITF website, which does require a registration fee that can be paid online.
For more information on registration and the tournament in general visit JoinTheTour.com or the official Tennis Manitoba website.
Tennis Manitoba Article #1
I am working as a freelance reporter for Tennis Manitoba over this summer. This was the first article I wrote spotlighting a junior tournament here in Winnipeg. The organizer has some interesting views on tennis here...
“It was excellent. High participation, lots of younger players which is always the right way to start,” he said.
The tournament, which has been running for nearly a decade, featured under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 competitions for both singles and doubles in boys. The same went for the girls save for the under-16 category, which had to be cancelled because of a lack of participation.
Despite this setback, the tournament featured 73 entrants, an impressive tally which is above average for tournaments around this time of year according to Kylar.
The event offered valuable qualifying points towards the provincial standings, which can eventually be used to gain entrance into the Prairie Regionals featuring the top four players each from Manitoba and Saskatchewan for the different age ranges. From there, the top 3 overall will move on to the prestigious national championships.
The two big winners from this year’s event were Kevin Kylar, who won the under-16 title as well as the under-18 for both singles and doubles with partner Mickey Rogers and Earinpreet Hirkewal who won the under-12 and under-14 championships.
Kylar said the players were amongst Manitoba’s premier up and comers.
“Well Kevin is my son so I know a lot about him. He is ranked number one in under-16 and number three in under-18. They haven’t updated the national standings but I’m sure he would move into the top 20 there,” he said.
The other kid [Hirkewal] is also really good. He’s ranked number one provincially in both the categories he won so he is definitely playing well to,” he added.
Kylar said that despite the success of his tournament, he did have some concerns about junior tennis in our province.
“Well, I think the system isn’t perfect yet. There is too much of a discrepancy between the levels they’re playing at and therefore the marginal ones are hesitant to enter unless you give them a chance to get in and not get clobbered,” he said
“Overall tennis is up but competitive junior tennis is down,” he added.
Despite this, Kylar said the number of young people he sees playing the game is a definite plus and with numbers like we saw at his tournament, the sport may well be on the rise here in Manitoba.
For his part, Kylar said that while it may not be as competitive, participation in tennis is still strong.
“I’m a tennis pro and I see close to 200 kids participating in the winter lessons. There’s lots of kids playing for sure,” he said.
Next up for the juniors was the World of Water Junior Open at Kildonan Tennis Club, which took place this weekend, and the Tuxedo Junior Open happening from June 10-14.
Despite this, Kylar said the number of young people he sees playing the game is a definite plus and with numbers like we saw at his tournament, the sport may well be on the rise here in Manitoba.
For his part, Kylar said that while it may not be as competitive, participation in tennis is still strong.
“I’m a tennis pro and I see close to 200 kids participating in the winter lessons. There’s lots of kids playing for sure,” he said.
Next up for the juniors was the World of Water Junior Open at Kildonan Tennis Club, which took place this weekend, and the Tuxedo Junior Open happening from June 10-14.
Blue Bombers Game Report - Preseason Week 2
This is the report from the preseason game against Hamilton. It was featured on the official Bombers website.
After the optimism surrounding their impressive win over Montreal last week, the Bombers took a step back with a disappointing 38-20 loss to the Hamilton Tiger Cats on Sunday afternoon. While losing is never ideal, the coaching staff will be more focused on the performances they saw from certain players as they prepare to finalize their roster this week before the real games begin.
On offense, the Bombers simply didn’t move the ball with the same fluidity as we saw a week ago, but they did get a solid performance from Steven Jyles. Jyles did his best to spark a quarterback controversy on the back of a 9 for 14, 152 yard outing where he also threw a touchdown and used his legs to good effect. Most impressive was his chemistry with young receiver Terence Jeffers-Harris who went a long way to ensuring his spot on the roster with 3 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown including one dazzling 53-yard march down the sidelines where he showed the speed and strength required to be a successful pass catcher in the CFL.
The young receivers were the big story for the Bomber offense all afternoon as Chris Davis and Canadian Cory Watson chipped in with a combined 7 catches for just under 100 yards as well and looked to put pressure on veterans like Adarius Bowman and Terrence Edwards who had a couple uncharacteristic drops between them.
Defensively, it was no secret that the Bombers were closely monitoring the performance by their young defensive backs competing for the empty spots in the secondary left by the departing Lenny Walls and Jonathan Hefney. Newcomers Jerry-Ralph Jules and Donald Brown Jr. both staked their claims to fill the void. Jules lead the defense with 7 tackles while Brown Jr. had 5 stops and an acrobatic interception.
Despite the many bright spots, there were a number of questions left unanswered for the Bomber coaches who saw their offense under projected starter Buck Pierce struggle badly to move the ball and pick up just one first down in almost 18 minutes of action.
There were no such struggles for former Bomber pivot Kevin Glenn who threw for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns in his one half of action to get some revenge on the team that let him go.
Glenn picked apart a Blue Bomber defense that struggled in giving up over 500 yards of total offense and failing to generate a pass rush for most of the afternoon. Marquay McDaniel, Dave Stala and Arland Bruce III all had big days through the air for the tabbies who finally look to be heading in the right direction after years of wallowing near the bottom of the CFL’s East Division.
For Paul LaPolice, some tough decisions will need to be made as he trims his roster down for the Thursday deadline. He can be confident he has the players on offense to play the system that was so successful for him last year in Saskatchewan as the Bombers still managed to gain just under 300 yards despite not looking their best.
On defense, things didn’t look as promising and many of those who played in Hamilton may have seen their last action in blue and gold as the Ti-Cats moved the ball too easily and starters like Doug Brown and Ike Charlton will be eager to get back into the fold.
The Bombers won’t need to wait long to get another shot at Hamilton as they open the regular season against this very same Tiger Cats squad on July 2nd at Canad Inns Stadium, hoping they can turn the tables and get their regular season off to a perfect start.
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