View from the Cheap Seats is an extension of the newsroom, which is frequently a site of heated debate on topics ranging from the extremely serious to the utterly ridiculous. This web edition features the views of print edition columnists Thom Barker (Wednesday) and Calvin Daniels (Friday), as well as web exclusive content by Devin Wilger (Thursday).
This week: What were the Top 3 sports stories of 2016?
Mixed bag
This is kind of easy and tough at the same time because 2016 was so chock full of big sports stories.
Prominent deaths included Gordie Howe and Mohammed Ali. There was a first CFL title for the fledgling Ottawa Redblacks and it was a Grey Cup for the ages to boot. The Toronto Raptors had their best season ever and the Blue Jays made it all the way to the ALCS and the Toronto FC made it to the MLS final.
LeBron James led Cleveland to its first NBA title, Sydney Crosby had a historic season and Florida Marlins pitching phenom Jose Fernandez died in a boat crash.
Michael Phelps made a hero of himself at the Olympics while teammate Ryan Lochte made a huge fool out of himself. There was Colin Kaepernick, Usain Bolt Simone Biles and Katy Ledecke.
For my money, though, there is no question, the top story was the Chicago Cubs. The hapless Cubbies had the greatest championship drought in professional sports going at the beginning of the season. When the dust settled at the beginning of November, six months and 2,430 games later, the cubs were the last team standing.
It was a historic season and a fantastic World Series.
From a Canadian perspective, it would be hard to argue with the choice of Penny Oleksiak as this country’s biggest story. Youngest Olympic champion, the most gold medals in Canadian history (four) and she was just 16 years old.
Of course, being this is Saskatchewan, and coming from this writer, any top stories list would not be complete without a mention of the Roughriders. Unfortunately, the story is, we sucked. We sucked badly. The one ray of light was when Darian Durant returned, we managed to string together a few wins. Then, new head coach/general manager Chris Jones failed to sign our quarterback for 2017. The coach obviously has a plan, however obtuse, that does not include fan sentimentality.
The other thing that made the Riders newsworthy in a non-newsworthy season was the last game played at Taylor Field, which is kind of sad even as we look forward to a great new stadium this year.
-Thom Barker
What I noticed
Three sports highlights for 2016, seems like a challenge for someone like myself, who isn’t exactly a voracious sports watcher. But I have three things that happened this year which I noticed, which clearly means they’re the big news in sports, since even the least sporty person in the office knows that they happened.
3- Lacrosse is a thing now. Given that football is still depressing in the province, the Saskatchewan Rush is giving people something to be excited about. It’s a sports team that wins championships in this province! Like baseball, I didn’t actually watch lacrosse, but that’s how you know it’s growing in the province, when even I notice that it’s getting people excited.
2- Blue Jays are good at baseball now. I do not watch baseball, and I continued to not watch baseball this year, but going by the buzz around the office, where people do watch baseball, the Blue Jays put in an impressive performance this year, though they didn’t manage to actually get to the World Series. When you can get someone who doesn’t watch baseball at all to know that you’re doing something, apparently you’re doing something right.
1- Penny Oleksiak is Canada’s best swimmer. While I don’t watch sports regularly I do watch the Olympics, so I was watching as Oleksiak took home medal after medal in this Olympic games. One gold, one silver and two bronze at the Olympics, so she won the most medals a Canadian ever has at a Summer games, and she’s a mere 16 so she’ll have plenty more opportunities to add to that total. The women’s swim team were the brightest spot of the country’s Olympics in 2016 overall, but Oleksiak could be to Canada what Michael Phelps is south of the border. And I actually did watch this one, so it’s natural it’s going to be the top pick.
- Devin Wilger
What a Rush!
We always take time as a new year arrives to reflect on the year that was.
In this case it is a look at the top three sports stories of 2016.
At number three for me is the Chicago Cubs winning their first World Series in more than a century, and they did it in dramatic fashion, coming back against Cleveland, finally winning the series with a 10th inning victory in game seven.
The Cubs win is the biggest story in sport on a global basis, but since I have zero interest in the Cubs or the Indians my personal interest in the series was limited.
The Ottawa Redblacks Grey Cup win is number two. Underdogs to Calgary the Redblacks jumped out to an early lead, saw it evaporate in the second half, then won 39-33 in overtime.
Seemingly ageless Henry Burris threw for 461yards, and Bo Levi Mitchell 391, and those numbers created a definite classic for my favourite Canadian Football League.
That Ottawa did it three years after returning to the league also shows expansion can happen and new teams can compete quickly. That leaves me to dream of a Maritime team to create a 10-team CFL, and a simple home-and-home schedule for all teams, but I digress.
So back on track for my top sports story on 2016, which is actually a double-headed story, starting in January.
The story starts with the home opener for the Saskatchewan Rush. I was in attendance to welcome Saskatchewan’s second pro franchise. I happen to love lacrosse, so I was excited that the National Lacrosse League was here.
The crowd was solid, but the question was would they return, or were many just there for a one-time look?
Well fans stayed. Crowds grew. The Rush were a success in Saskatoon to the surprise of almost all.
And then in June the storied season had its bookend story, the Rush winning the NLL championship with a last second goal, and I and a packed arena went wild.
The Rush story is huge for Saskatchewan sports fans, and I am already excited for the home opener to the 2017season Jan. 21.
— Calvin Daniels
