TSN 1200 colour analyst Gord Wilson confirms COVID-19 diagnosis - Ottawa Sun | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Sports

TSN 1200 colour analyst Gord Wilson confirms COVID-19 diagnosis – Ottawa Sun

Published

 on


The news didn’t catch Gord Wilson by surprise.

After being tested for COVID-19 last week, the legendary colour analyst on TSN 1200’s Ottawa Senators’ broadcaster got a call from Ottawa Public Health Friday to confirm he has the novel coronavirus.

The 59-year-old Wilson, who hasn’t missed many broadcasts with partner Dean Brown since the club returned to the NHL in 1992, wasn’t feeling well for a couple days after the Senators returned from their trip through San Jose, Anaheim and Los Angeles from March 6-to-12. After speaking to his wife, CTV Ottawa’s Patricia Boal, Wilson made the decision to go to Brewer Park coronavirus assessment centre.

Boal informed people of the diagnosis on the CTV broadcast Friday night and Wilson, a father of four, has been self-isolating at home since the club returned from California.

“It’s hit me hard enough,” Wilson said from the couple’s Ottawa home where he’s been staying in a bedroom away from his family and eating meals separately. “I haven’t felt good for two weeks. The worst was last weekend. So I’m hitting a week here at least with shortness of breath and feeling lethargic. I walk up a flight of steps here and I’m out of breath.

“The biggest thing is the lack of taste and smell. I’m down about eight or nine pounds. I’m not eating as much.”

While the Senators were supposed to face the Chicago Blackhawks on March 13 and stop in St. Louis on March 15 before making their way home, the club’s Air Canada Jetz charter returned to Ottawa from Los Angeles on March 12 in the evening. Wilson is the third person in the group of 52 people aboard the plane that has tested positive for the virus.

“It’s a flu like nothing I’ve ever had,” Wilson said. “We’ve all had the flu and we’ve all had bad colds. This is completely different … completely different. It grips you.”

The club has confirmed two unnamed players are in self-isolation and in a news release last Saturday indicated that eight people with symptoms aboard the plane were tested.


Gord Wilson, right, and Dean Brown in a 2008 file photo.

Andre Ringuette /

Freestyle Photog

“I went and got tested because I was feeling so run down from California and it was much a fear for Trish going into work as anything,” said Wilson, who has been using his own bathroom and not going close to his family. “I was starting to feel pretty low mid-week and that’s when they told Trish that they would do the news from our back yard.

“We’re all internet doctors. You read the symptoms and I’m checking them off as I’m reading along. OK, yeah, I’ve got a runny nose. Okay, yeah, I’ve got pressure on the chest. OK, yes, I’m out of breath. Have I had the chills? Yes, occasionally. Muscle aches? Yes, for sure.”

The last couple of months haven’t been easy for Wilson, he had heart surgery that required three stents in February at the Ottawa Heart Institute and the trip to California was about a week after his return. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

“My immune system was down and you wouldn’t have recognized me in California because I didn’t leave my hotel room in any of the spots. I might as well have been in self-isolation back then before it became fashionable,” he said. “I thought it was a cold and I thought, ‘I’ve probably come back to work too soon here.’

“I got through it and everything was fine I felt OK on the Friday when I got home and then I had a hard time getting through it.”

Asked to give people of a small glimpse of what they can expect, Wilson tried to put his experience in perspective.

“What we read about and what we have learned from previous cases is the symptoms are pretty clear,” Wilson said. “You just read your own body as far as the symptoms are concerned. I happen to know and had looked online what the symptoms were. I checked the boxes.

“Before you go in for the test, they put you through an initial screening with a series of questions which eventually lead you to go in or not. Yes, to bad cold, chest congestion, aches and pains and yes I’ve travelled to the United States and I went in for the test.”

Wilson said he’s been “tired, lethargic and sleeping when you can.

“I haven’t slept in the afternoon as much in my life as I have in the last two weeks,” Wilson said. “Public health told me the virus sticks around. It’s not been fun.

“I’m still isolated in my house. Now that’s it’s confirmed positive, everybody else is as well.”

So, once Wilson gets a clean bill of health, he can’t wait to hug his wife and children by returning to a normal life at home and, heck, there may even be a glass of red in his future after all he’s been through.

“I haven’t had a glass of wine in about (six weeks),” Wilsons said with a laugh.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Ravens win fifth straight game by beating Bucs 41-31

Published

 on

 

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.

The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.

Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.

Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.

The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.

Elsewhere in the NFL:

CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.

Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.

Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.

It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.

Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.

Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.

It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.

Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Struggling Whitecaps, Timbers set to meet in MLS wild-card matchup

Published

 on

 

VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.

With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.

The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.

The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.

An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”

Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.

There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.

“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.

Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.

“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”

Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.

“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.

“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”

The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).

The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.

Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).

The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.

To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.

“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”

A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.

The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.

“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)

Wednesday, Providence Park

HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.

ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.

POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

No rugby, field hockey, badminton, triathlon or cricket at leaner 2026 Commonwealth Games

Published

 on

 

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.

Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.

The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.

There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.

The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.

It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.

“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.

Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.

More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.

The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”

Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.

___

AP sports:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version