Vanier Cup among national U Sports championships cancelled because of COVID-19 pandemic - CBC.ca | Canada News Media
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Vanier Cup among national U Sports championships cancelled because of COVID-19 pandemic – CBC.ca

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Canadian university sport fall national championships are being cancelled in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

U Sports announced Monday it is cancelling the women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s cross-country running, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s rugby, and football championships, including the national semifinals (the Mitchell and Uteck Bowls) and the Vanier Cup.

The hosts of the cancelled fall 2020 national championships will have the opportunity to host in future years.

“The peak for student athletes are the national championships. I’m very saddened. I’m saddened for the student athletes and coaches,” Lisette Johnson-Stapley, chief sport officer for U Sports, told CBC Sports.

One of the most prominent sports affected is the men’s football season and its championship game, the Vanier Cup, originally scheduled for November. It will be the first time the game has not been contested since it began in 1965.

“It’s no secret it’s one of our most prestigious championships. That was a tough decision but made with the guidance of medical experts weighing in,” Johnson-Stapley said. “Students are planning right now. We needed to do this now. It was the right time to get them advance notice.”

While U Sports has cancelled the national championships, it’s up to the four conferences across the country to decide how they want to move forward with their regular seasons and conference championships.

The Atlantic and Ontario conferences announced Monday that all varsity sport will shut down for the remainder of 2020. Canada West will not operate team sports for the rest of the calendar year, and will make a decision on golf, cross-country and swimming by July 15.

There are 56 U Sports schools in Canada with nearly 20,000 student athletes competing. The schools are organized into four conferences — the Atlantic University Sport Conference (AUS), Canada West Conference (CW), Ontario University Athletics Conference (OUA) and the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ).

“As far as conference play, that’s in their jurisdiction to make those decisions,” Johnson-Stapley said.

Johnson-Stapley said U Sports made the decision to cancel all of the fall national championships based on the guidance of a number of different committees including regional representation, presidents of universities and medical experts.

Eligibility a question mark

The fall cancellations mean the winter calendar is likely to be affected, with officials already hinting at shortening the hockey and basketball seasons.

“We’ve addressed it somewhat but no decisions made yet,” Johnson-Stapley said. “It’s still too early. We still have to wait a while and see what happens.”

And while so many question marks surround the upcoming U Sports calendar throughout the entire year, the focus is quickly shifting to how student eligibility will be impacted.

“Eligibility is another big piece of it and why we came out now with this decision today,” Johnson-Stapley said. “There are a few pieces of eligibility that we’ve addressed right now, but as you can imagine it’s a lot of work. We won’t be charging eligibility for this upcoming season because of not being able to have national championships. We’re working on it bit by bit.”

What that exactly means for athletes entering their final year is still being decided.

“Specifically on the fifth years, that has to be discussed further,” Johnson-Stapley said.

The majority of last season’s U Sports calendar was completed. However, the men’s and women’s Canadian university hockey championships were in the midst of competition when U Sports cancelled both tournaments on March 12, a day after the global pandemic was declared.

Also Monday, the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association announced it was suspending inter-collegiate sports for the fall semester at its 27 member schools. Sports affected are baseball, softball, rugby, rugby sevens, outdoor soccer, golf and cross-country running.

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Jays reliever Green and Canadian slugger O’Neill nominated for comeback player award

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Panthers’ Reinhart named NHL first star after posting nine points over four games

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s season ended by ruptured Achilles tendon, team said he’ll have surgery

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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.”

Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.

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.

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