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GREY CUP NOTES: American Blue Bombers see Grey Cup as ‘fabric of the country’ … Loss of Bighill for Cup sad, unfair

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HAMILTON — His first taste of the Grey Cup game was the most significant one of them all, historically speaking — the 100th edition of Canadian football’s title game.

Going into that season, though, CFL rookie quarterback Zach Collaros didn’t have a clue what he was getting himself into.

“I can recall that whole week, not knowing anything about the Grey Cup, but being in Toronto and going around to all the different restaurants and parties,” Collaros was saying, Thursday. “And figuring out this is a celebration of the country and of the league, not just of the two teams that are playing. And the longer and longer I’ve been in the CFL, I’ve understood it’s importance to the fabric of the country.”

Collaros didn’t play in that 2012 game. He had a seat up in the press box, watching teammate and mentor Ricky Ray lead his Toronto Argonauts to a 35-22 win over Calgary.

On Sunday, Collaros will start his fourth straight championship game, the fifth of his career, as, for the first time in Grey Cup history, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers take on East champion Montreal.

Watching his family and friends from Ohio take to the tradition — “They don’t miss Grey Cups now” — has been as much fun as seeing American teammates learn about it.

One was sitting next to Collaros at Thursday’s media Q&A.

“I didn’t know too much about what a Grey Cup really was,” Bombers receiver Kenny Lawler said. “The honour and the pride the fans have for it, I soon had to learn. “Fans from all over the country come… fans of teams that aren’t even in the Grey Cup. They’re just a CFL fan, a Canadian, that loves football. And to see what this game does across the nation, it’s beautiful.”

The California-born Lawler also made to the big game as a rookie, in 2019, the Bombers’ drought-busting season.

The first time he saw the storied trophy that week he was taken aback.

“It was on a table, and I’m just looking, team after team, year after year, and this is actually a piece of history,” he said. “You’ve got everybody’s name on there. That is dope in itself. This is actually something that means a lot.”

Few get a bigger charge from the Grey Cup tradition than Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea, who waxes poetic about it every time he gets his team this close to it.

“You can show them pictures of when the guys won the Cup, and it was only the top, with the small base,” O’Shea said. “And they get that idea that 100 years ago guys were chasing the same dream. And they filled it full of beer and they drank out of it, just like these guys have had the opportunity to in the past. There is something powerful to that.”

 

WIN ONE FOR BIGGIE

Teammates have acknowledged all week seeing linebacker Adam Bighill sidelined provides all kinds of motivation.

It’s the old Win one for the Gipper adage, with a modern, Winnipeg twist.

“It adds a little bit,” defensive back Evan Holm said. “I love Biggie. He’s always finding ways to help the guys, even now. For the veterans and everyone that’s been around, we want to get them another one. Anybody who’s not playing, you just want to play for them. Honour your teammates.”

That’s O’Shea’s motto, magnified by the defensive captain’s iconic presence.

From the coin toss to the final play on defence, No. 4 makes the calls.

“I don’t think that’s something you even have to say,” Collaros said of the extra motivation. “It’s a feeling you get when a teammate, especially a teammate of Adam’s magnitude, goes down. Not just because of his talent, but his commitment to the organization, his work ethic, is just something you want to honour. You feel terrible that he’s not out there.

“It makes me sad to talk about it.”

Injuries can hit anyone, so teammates can empathize with what Bighill is going through. On both sides of the ball.

“You’re really bummed because you wouldn’t want to miss this game. For anything,” receiver Drew Wolitarsky said. “And a guy like that, who’s put in everything, and more – it’s not fair. It’s not fair.”

The sadness extends from the locker-room to the GM’s chair.

“He’s just such a warrior, and the leader,” GM Kyle Walters said. “He’ll be around this week, he’ll be another assistant coach… trying to get them to see the game the way he sees the game. That’s a very difficult one to overcome.”

SIDELINED

Receiver Dalton Schoen also remained a spectator at Thursday’s practice and is not expected to play.

Others not taking part included receivers Nic Demski and Rasheed Bailey, plus linebacker Kyrie Wilson, all of whom are expected to suit up.

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After 20 years at the top of chess, Magnus Carlsen is making his next move

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STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Few chess players enjoy Magnus Carlsen‘s celebrity status.

A grand master at 13, refusing to play an American dogged by allegations of cheating, and venturing into the world of online chess gaming all made Norway’s Carlsen a household name.

Few chess players have produced the magical commodity that separates Norway’s Magnus Carlsen from any of his peers: celebrity.

Only legends like Russia’s Garry Kasparov and American Bobby Fischer can match his name recognition and Carlsen is arguably an even more dominant player. Last month, he beat both men to be named the International Chess Federation’s greatest ever.

But his motivation to rack up professional titles is on the wane. Carlsen, 33, now wants to leverage his fame to help turn the game he loves into a spectator sport.

“I am in a different stage in my career,” he told The Associated Press. “I am not as ambitious when it comes to professional chess. I still want to play, but I don’t necessarily have that hunger. I play for the love of the game.”

Offering a new way to interact with the game, Carlsen on Friday launched his application, Take Take Take, which will follow live games and players, explaining matches in an accessible way that, Carlsen says, is sometimes missing from streaming platforms like YouTube and Twitch. “It will be a chiller vibe,” he says.

Carlsen intends to use his experience to provide recaps and analysis on his new app, starting with November’s World Chess Championship tournament between China’s Ding Liren and India’s Gukesh Dommaraju. He won’t be competing himself because he voluntarily ceded the title in 2023.

Carlsen is no novice when it comes to chess apps. The Play Magnus game, which he started in 2014, gave online users the chance to play against a chess engine modeled against his own gameplay. The company ballooned into a suite of applications and was bought for around $80 million in 2022 by Chess.com, the world’s largest chess website.

Carlsen and Mats Andre Kristiansen, the chief executive of his company, Fantasy Chess, are betting that a chess game where users can follow individual players and pieces, filters for explaining different elements of each game, and light touch analysis will scoop up causal viewers put off by chess’s sometimes rarefied air. The free app was launched in a bid to build the user base ahead of trying to monetizing it. “That will come later, maybe with advertisements or deeper analysis,” says Kristiansen.

While Take Take Take offers a different prospect with its streaming services, it is still being launched into a crowded market with Chess.com, which has more than 100 million users, YouTube, Twitch, and the website of FIDE the International Chess Federation. World Chess was worth around $54 million when it got listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The accessibility of chess engines that can beat any human means cheating has never been easier. However, they can still be used to shortcut thousands of hours of book-bound research, and hone skills that would be impossible against human opponents.

“I think the games today are of higher quality because preparation is becoming deeper and deeper and artificial intelligence is helping us play. It is reshaping the way we evaluate the games,” especially for the new generation of players, says Carlsen.

At the same time, he admits that two decades after becoming a grand master, his mind doesn’t quite compute at the tornado speed it once did. “Most people have less energy when they get older. The brain gets slower. I have already felt that for a few years. The younger players’ processing power is just faster.”

Even so, he intends to be the world’s best for many years to come.

“My mind is a bit slower, and I maybe don’t have as much energy. But chess is about the coming together of energy, computing power and experience. I am still closer to my peak than decline,” he said.

Chess has been cresting a popularity wave begun by Carlsen himself.

He became the world’s top-ranked player in 2011. In 2013, he won the first of his five World Championships. In 2014, he achieved the highest-ever chess rating of 2882, and he has remained the undisputed world number one for the last 13 years.

Off the table, chess influencers, like the world No. 2, Hikaru Nakamura, are using social media to bring the game to a wider audience. The Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” burnished chess’ unlikely cerebral sex appeal when it became one of the streamer’s biggest hits in 2020.

And in 2022 Carlsen’s refusal to play against Hans Niemann, an American grand master, who admitted to using technology to cheat in online games in the past, created a rare edge in the usually sedate world of chess. There is no evidence Niemann ever cheated in live games but the feud between the pair propelled the game even further into public consciousness.

Whether chess can continue to grow without the full professional participation of its biggest celebrity remains to be seen.

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Top figure skaters ready to hit the ice at Skate Canada International

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Canadian pairs team Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps along with ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier headline a strong field at Skate Canada International. The Canadians say they’re excited to perform in front of a home crowd as the world’s best figure skaters arrive in Halifax. (Oct. 24, 2024)

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Nico Echavarria shoots another 64 to lead the Zozo Championship by 2 shots after the second round

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INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) — Nico Echavarria shot a 6-under 64 on Friday — matching his 64 on Thursday — to lead by two shots over Taylor Moore and Justin Thomas after the second round of the Zozo Championship in Japan.

Thomas shot 64 and Moore carded 67 with three others just three shots off the lead including Seamus Power, who had the day’s low round of 62 at the Narashino Country Club.

Thomas has twice won the PGA Championship but is winless in two years on the PGA Tour.

Eric Cole (67) and C.T. Pan (66) were also three behind heading to Saturday.

Nick Taylor, of Abbotsford, B.C., is the top Canadian at 5-under and tied for 16th.

Ben Silverman, of Thornhill, Ont., is two shots back of Taylor and tied for 31st.

“I’ve never had a lead after 36 holes,” said Echavarria, a Colombian who played at the University of Arkansas. His lone PGA win was last year in Puerto Rico.

He had a two-round total of 12-under 128.

“I’ve had it after 54, but never after 36, so it’s good to be in this position. There’s got to be some pressure,” he added. “Hopefully a good round tomorrow can keep me in the lead or around the lead. And how I said yesterday — the goal is to be close with nine holes to go.”

Rickie Fowler, a crowd favorite in Japan because of his connections to the country, shot 64 to go with an opening 68 and was four shots back going into the weekend. Max Greyserman was also four behind after a 68.

“It would be amazing to win here,” said Fowler, whose mother has Japanese roots. “Came close a few years ago.”

Fowler tied for second in 2022

Fowler described his roots as “pretty far removed for Japan, but I’m sure I have relatives here, but I don’t know anyone. Japanese culture’s always been a fairly big part of life growing up. I always love being over here.”

Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama shot his second 71 and was 14 shots off the lead.

Defending champion Collin Morikawa shot 67 and pulled within eight shot of the lead, and Xander Schauffele — British Open and PGA winner this season — shot 65 and was 10 behind after a 73 on Thursday.

“I feel like I’ve got a good game plan out here,” Morikawa said, another player with Japanese connections. “I just have to execute shots a little better.”

“I am the defending champ, but that doesn’t mean I’m immediately going to play better just because I won here,” he added. “It’s a brand new week, it’s a year later. I feel like my golf game is still in a good spot. I just haven’t executed my shots. When that doesn’t happen it makes golf a little tougher.”

Schauffele turned 31 on Friday and said he was serenaded before his opening tee shot. He also has ties to Japan. His mother grew up in Japan and his grandparents live in the Tokyo area.

“Nice way to spend my 31st birthday,” he said.

___

AP golf:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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