Sports
Vol. 109, No. 1 sports@themanitoban.com
Bisons, Bombers, in brief Updates from the summer so far Grace Anne Paizen, staff
Wog’s future
Alumna Desiree Scott
The quest for the Grey Cup
World Juniors a go
is bright
receives Order of Manitoba
still goes through Winnipeg
amidst controversies
Recent U of M grad and swimming sensation Kelsey Wog qualified for the International Swimming Federation (FINA) championships in the spring and just placed fourth at FINA in the 200-metre breaststroke this June.
Decorated U of M Bisons alumna, Desiree Scott, has added to her collection.
After defeating the Edmonton Elks Friday night in Edmonton, Alta., the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have opened their season a perfect 7-0.
Despite the controversy surrounding Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), which saw multiple sponsors leave Hockey Canada — Scotiabank, Canadian Tire, Telus and Tim Hortons — and which also caused Imperial Oil to revoke its sponsorship of the men’s 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, the World Juniors are scheduled to play from Aug. 9 – 20.
Next stop for the former Bison is qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. This would be Wog’s second Olympics after making her debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this past summer. It will be fun to watch Wog as she progresses in her career, particularly as an inspiration to incoming Bisons swimmers in her wake.
Winnipeg
The gold and bronze-medal winning Olympian, and current member of the Canadian women’s national soccer team, was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14. No matter what other accomplishments are in the award-winning soccer player’s future, with the province’s highest honour, Scott becomes part of a select group of influential individuals and cements her legacy that is sure to inspire our university athletes. In the meantime, and after finishing second in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) tournament in a re-match of the Olympic semi-final game against the United States national team, Scott and company qualified for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The team can still punch a ticket to defend their title at the Paris 2024 Olympics in the CONCACAF Olympic play-in series next September.
Sports
This is the first time the club has started 7-0 in a season since the 1960 Bombers squad. And though some of the games have been close — particularly the win over the Toronto Argonauts in week four of the season, where a missed conversion attempt by the Boatmen sealed the win for the Bombers — the back-to-back Grey Cup champions have always found a way to win. In fact, their winning streak is so impressive the Bombers haven’t lost a game at home dating back two-seasons. The last Bombers loss at home came in September of 2019 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, no less.
The other update to the tournament is that Russia — who has been banned from participating in IIHF events because of their invasion of Ukraine, which remains ongoing — has been replaced by Latvia.
And since quarterback Zach Collaros got his first start, the Bombers have gone 22-3 overall, again dating back to the 2019 season.
The response to the World Juniors will be interesting to see, especially in the wake of the Government of Canada freezing sponsorship funds to the national teams because Hockey Canada recently settled a sexual assault lawsuit that involved multiple past Canadian World Junior players. In fact, just this weekend an investigation has been opened alleging the 2003 Canadian World Junior squad was involved in a group sexual assault.
At the moment, and with a glance at the standings and other teams’ current situations, the club is on track to beat every team in the CFL this season before actually playing a single playoff game. If this trend continues, the Bombers are showing all signs of a dynasty.
U of M Bisons — Women’s Preseason Soccer Bisons @ Saskatchewan Huskies
Jul. 23 — Final: 2 – 3
Bisons @ Saskatchewan Huskies
Jul. 24 — Final: 2 – 4
Bisons @ McEwan Griffins
Aug. 2 — 12 p.m.
Bisons @ McEwan Griffins
Aug. 3 — 12 p.m.
Bisons @ North Dakota Fighting Hawks
Aug. 7 — 1 p.m.
Bisons @ North Dakota Fighting Hawks
Aug. 9 — 3 p.m.
The tournament will be exclusively held at Rogers Place, in Edmonton, Alta. It was originally shut down in December 2021 because of COVID-19related issues.
The next home game is Aug. 11 at 7:30 p.m. against the Montréal Alouettes.
Teams’
The storyline for the tournament has been indefinitely overshadowed by several outbreaks of toxicity in hockey culture this past year, primarily surfacing through the revoking of sponsorships. With multiple court cases and a war acting as a clear damper on the tournament, the World Juniors will be a clear test to see if the legend of Canadian hockey enthusiasm withstands these accounts of misconduct.
Schedules
Valour FC Pacific @ Valour
Jul. 30 — 2 p.m.
Calvary @ Valour
Aug. 3 — 7 p.m.
York United @ Valour
Aug. 7 — 4 p.m.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers Blue Bombers @ Calgary Stampeders All times CDT
14
Blue Bombers @ Montréal Alouettes
Jul. 30 — 6 p.m. Aug. 4 — 6:30 p.m.
