She grew up playing with her dolls’ hair, but now Lohifa Pogoson-Acker is designing the manes of some high-profile cats — the Grey Cup-bound Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“Oskee Wee Wee,” the 36-year-old Nigerian-Canadian yelled in her home hair studio, wearing a black sweater with a gold cardigan.
“All week I’m going to be wearing these colours. All week. I don’t care if I have to wear the same clothes all week, I want that energy going, that winning energy going.”
With the Grey Cup game against Winnipeg Blue Bombers this Sunday, she’s seen notable names walk through her front door this week, including Bralon Addison, Dave Watford, Don Jackson, Tim White, Papi White and Chris Frey Jr. — all players who will have final team practices and the CFL awards Friday evening before the big CFL game.
Papi White’s hair this week after seeing hairstylist Lohifa Pogoson-Acker and local barber Yoshi Al. (Submitted by Lohifa Pogoson-Acker)
Such a big week comes with the need for a special ‘do.
“I like to consider myself a specialty stylist. What I do involves pattern styling, so we can do cornrows, we can do twists, some of them have dreadlocks … I style their locks, I interlock them or retwist them and do them with those,” she said.
While she may be busy styling high-profile clients, Pogoson-Acker has only been doing hair full time for two years.
Before that, she grew up in Nigeria and the U.K., where she styled hair of family, friends and fellow students in boarding school. She said she also worked in family salons and even ran her own out of her parent’s garage as a side hustle after they immigrated to Vancouver in 2000.
Her full-time work included international development and health-system strengthening overseas before landing in Hamilton in 2012 to work as a project coordinator at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.
She said former Ticat Adrian Tracy approached Pogoson-Acker after hearing a glowing endorsement of her hairstyling.
She impressed Tracy, who later brought in then Ticat Nikita Whitlock.
Fast forward two years. Pogoson-Acker decided to try hairstyling full time out of her home on the Mountain, and said she’s worked with about 20 Ticats now, past and present.
After spending up to four hours styling their hair, she sends them to local barbers Yoshi Al and Jayy Way Fade, who cut the players’ hair.
‘Simply a joy to be around’
Ticat running back Don Jackson, also known as hip-hop artist Don Jayy, called Pogoson-Acker “extremely talented.”
“She absolutely kills it — not just my hair, but most of our guys,” he said, after getting a fresh style this week.
He praised her work on his Instagram account, thanking her for “pulling a last-minute miracle.”
“She’s simply a joy to be around,” he told CBC Hamilton.
WATCH: Lohifa Pogoson-Acker talks about hair-styling Ticats
This woman is a hairstylist for Hamilton Tiger-Cat players
9 hours ago
Duration 1:06
For the past two years, more than a dozen Ticats have trusted Lohifa Pogoson-Acker with their hair. 1:06
While Ticat players work in a high-pressure environment, Pogoson-Acker said she tries to help relieve their stress by not talking too much about football.
Sometimes, she plays some of Don Jayy’s music, and other times they’re cracking jokes and sharing life stories.
“We have fun over here … when you walk in, positive vibes only,” she said with a beaming smile.
“They come here looking a certain way and the leave here looking so much better, feeling so much better, just loving themselves so much more, feeling more confident and that’s my goal for anyone sitting in this chair.”
Pogoson-Acker holds her favourite ilarun — a wooden comb. She sharpens the comb with a razor blade and says she always tries to use it when styling. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)
But Pogoson-Acker does have one more thing in common with her Ticat clients — the desire to win the Grey Cup.
She said she hopes her styling gives them a confidence, energy and beauty boost before Sunday’s final.
“They’ve worked so hard, they’re so inspired, they’re so, so ready to get out there and win,” she said.
“I see a brand-new energy in this city surrounding the Grey Cup … but I really want everyone to encourage these boys as much as they can.”
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
NEW YORK – Toronto Blue Jays reliever Chad Green and Canadian slugger Tyler O’Neill of the Boston Red Sox were named finalists for the Major League Baseball Players’ Association’s American League comeback player award on Monday.
Chicago White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet was the other nominee.
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. were named player of the year finalists.
The award winners, selected via player voting, will be named Saturday before Game 2 of the World Series.
Green, who missed most of the 2022 and ’23 seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, was a high-leverage option for the Blue Jays this past season and filled in at closer over the second half of the campaign.
The right-hander converted his first 16 save opportunities and finished the year with a 4-6 record, 17 saves and a 3.21 earned-run average over 53 appearances.
O’Neill, a native of Burnaby, B.C., also endured back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in ’22 and ’23.
After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O’Neill set an MLB record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight Opening Day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.
Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.
New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.
Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.
Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.
He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.
Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.
The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”
It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.
The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.
He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.
As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.
Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.
The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.
“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.
“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”
Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.
“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.
“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”
The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.
Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.
With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.
The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.
But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.
Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.
Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.
Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.
Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.
