2011‑2022, and is preserved here for archival purposes.
Peter Menzies is in the house to watch Canada beat Mexico and suddenly a dream comes true to trump eighteen nightmarish months that included – oy! – taking up camping.
It’s been almost two years now since I had a social life of any kind to speak of. You remember social life, don’t you?
Having friends over for dinner, going to a crowded restaurant on Friday after work and feeling the buzz of interaction, picking you...
Evan Menzies watches the season two finale of the Apple TV+ surprise hit and sees the shadows of Cain and Abel falling across the characters.
“Nate Shelley is never seeing Heaven.”
That was one of many Twitter hot takes on the betrayal of Ted Lasso at the end of season two by his assistant coach and socially awkward apprentice Nate Shelley.
I was a bit surprised to see the outpourin...
Don Hutchinson notes that when sports and politics overlap we become "fan-atics" cheering for our favourite sweaters and socks.
Once upon a time in Canada, we knew where we’d be on Sunday mornings and what would hold our attention on Saturday nights. For some, Sunday faith and Saturday fandom were effortlessly exchangeable.
For today’s Canadian fans of team sports, it’s the b...
Non-fans often deride baseball as large men in pyjamas standing on lawns, but Blue Jays’ fan Joseph McDaniel finds in the game stubborn wisdom from deep in the human spirit.
Why do I like baseball so much?
I asked myself this question a couple of weeks ago as I watched a young Toronto Blue Jays team stream onto the field with elation after clinching a berth in this year’s wild Major League Baseball playoff bracket.
...
The world’s playing fields have been emptied by a pandemic but our God-given desire to play like Tom Brady can never be stilled, Father Raymond de Souza writes.
It seems a lifetime ago, not 10 days, that I wrote here about the wholesome joy of the Brier, Canada’s national curling championship, held this year in Kingston. The final finis...
Father Raymond de Souza finds spending time at the Brier is a proud mix of citizenship, friendship and sporting glory.
The Brier – Canada’s national men’s curling championship – was held this past week in Kingston and I did my civic duty by going along to take in the action. There is a lot of it. There are nine days, each of which has six or nine hours of curling, sometimes...
Citing the example of LeBron James, Robin Mercurio says there are ramifications when a celebrity athlete voices opinions on a specific social, political issue but falls silent on others.
When asked to comment on the ongoing violence and crisis in China between the communist government and its citizens, LeBron James finally listened to Fox News anchor, Laura Ingraham when she told him to shut up and dribble.
After playing 25 minutes ...
In response to Peter Stockland's defense of Don Cherry's firing, David McKernan wonders if the decision overstepped Canada’s values of inclusivity and politeness.
In his recent article, “We’re All Canadians, Mr. Cherry,” Peter Stockland argues that Don Cherry’s use of “you people” in his controversial rant during Hockey Night in Canada, was ...
Former hockey coach Bill Peters was under fire after allegations of targeting player Akim Aliu with racial slurs 10 years ago. While the act itself cannot be excused, missing from the conversation is the key element of forgiveness, writes contributor Tyler Brooks.
There is a lot of news recently coming from the NHL and it is not about who will win the Stanley Cup. What began as a story about former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock embarrassing then rookie Mitch Marner, has now arguably changed to how we se...
Father Raymond de Souza says to count him out of those piling on Don Cherry for being fired from Coach’s Corner.
Recall that a few years back, the loathsome Rob Ford was elected mayor of Toronto. He was loathsome, that is, to all the people who counted, not the voters. At his swearing-in as mayor, he invited Don Cherry to be on hand. Doubly loathsome, except to the vo...
Last night’s improbable NBA championship for the Toronto Raptors was one professional sports team’s triumph. Even more, Alida Thomas writes, it’s a historic moment of shared belonging when Canadians discovered who they want to keep becoming.
Euphoria over the Toronto Raptors historic NBA championship victory wafted north from Oakland at the final buzzer of Game 6 last night and is spreading from across Canada today. But for pure poignancy, the most heart-felt moment in the Raps lo...
In advance of tonight's big game for the Toronto Raptors, Editor-in-Chief Father Raymond de Souza muses on the ins and outs of the group's fan base, diversity in the crowds and temporary tattoo shows of support.
There are many queuing up early this morning, even last night, to get into Jurassic Park for Game 6 of the NBA Finals. I was at Jurassic Park in downtown Toronto for Game 3 of the NBA Finals. It was an away game in Oakland, the fans were fired up and expect...
The New England Patriots won yet another glorious football victory on the 100th anniversary of the first Irish republican parliament being founded. Convivium Publisher Peter Stockland argues the apparent coincidence is providential proof of the power and necessity of great institutions.
Several Canadians might look at the calendar today and fail to remember that Jan. 21 marks the 100th anniversary of the first Irish Republican Dáil – or Parliament – in 1919.
A somewhat smaller number will be unaware that the New England ...
There are many great pretenders to the title of greatest athlete of all time. But Father Raymond de Souza acknowledges New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady has a commanding claim to being better than all the rest.
A few weeks back, LeBron James allowed as how his 2016 NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers made him the “greatest of all time.” In sports circles, the “GOAT.” Given that sports talk – radio and cable TV – exists to inflate trivialities into three-...