Proud of my neighbour: Heather Kidd

Lacrosse players stick it to cancer


Score one more for breast cancer research. The inaugural Lax for a Cure charity lacrosse tournament on the weekend was the latest of many fundraisers organized to aid research with the hope of making breast cancer history.

The lighthearted event was held Saturday at Twin Lakes Secondary School and drew about 100 people and 13 teams to the field. The event raised $5,129 through registration fees, donations and draws. "It's more than we expected," said co-organizer Amy Fincham. "We just wanted a successful tournament." The idea for the tournament came to Fincham and her fellow organizers, Brit Boynton and Jayme Beard, after they all won lacrosse shafts at a banquet and thought about raffling them off for charity. Choosing the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation as a beneficiary was a no-brainer, said Fincham. "We've all been affected by breast cancer in one way or another," she said. Heather Kidd of Toronto was playing for her mom, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2006. "She's doing really well now, but these fundraisers are a good reminder that it's an ongoing battle," said Kidd, a member of the top fundraising team, cleverly named "Saving Second Base." Another teammate, Sherry Fernandes of Whitby, was playing for her mother-in-law, who was diagnosed just last month. She is to start radiation therapy this week, Fernandes said, and the charity tournament "really meant a lot to her."
"She gave me a hundred bucks," Fernandes said.

Her team -- made up of Toronto lacrosse players -- raised more than $400. The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation estimates one in nine Canadian women will be diagnosed with the disease in her lifetime. The striking reality of the broad reach of breast cancer seems to be getting through to younger women, said Kidd. "A lot of them have grown up with the statistics," she said. "That message has really gotten out." The success of Saturday's tournament has organizers looking forward to it becoming an annual event. Fincham thanked the volunteers and business owners -- mostly local -- who threw their support behind the fundraiser. "We hope there's even more support next year," she said.

I would so buy this in a nano second....

A New Led Zeppelin Album....YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you see Page play at Olympics? He has not lost a step!

BE interactive Led Zeppelin may record a new album.
Members from the group Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, Paul Jones and Jason Bonham, are currently working on new material in the studio, according to a report from NME.com.
At the moment, singer Robert Plant is not involved in the studio jam sessions.
Drummer Jason Bonham told the Detroit radio station 94.7 WCSX that he and his two band members are working on new songs and are having a great time jamming together.
They don't know where this will lead them, however, there is a possibility of making a new album. Rumours of a new disc had been looming in the air, following their London concert in December.

Dumb and dumber....LPGA

This is as stupid a rule as they come, bad marketing precedent and frankly racist I believe.

What gives LPGA?

Lorie Kane believes members of the LPGA Tour already have a universal language _ golf.
But the LPGA thinks differently. It will require golfers to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills.
"I am of a strong belief that, yes, we need to learn to communicate," Kane, a 12-year tour veteran, told The Canadian Press on Tuesday. "But whether or not you can communicate shouldn't determine whether or not you have a card on the LPGA Tour."
The tour held a mandatory meeting with South Koreans at the Safeway Classic last Wednesday to inform them of the new policy, which will be finalized with a detailed criteria by season's end.
There are 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour, including 45 players from South Korea. With such diversity, the tour sees the policy as a necessary step for its players.
"Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."
The international players have had no shortage of success on the course.
Sixteen of the top-20 current money earners were born outside of the United States. Eight of those women are South Korean followed by two Swedes, two Australians, a Mexican, a Norwegian, a Brazilian and a Taiwanese.
There are plenty of different flags showing up on LPGA leaderboards these days.
"We are an international tour," said Kane. "The players that are playing the best are international players. And their play alone should help raise the level of the tour, which it is."
Instead of instituting a rule forcing golfers to pass an English test, Kane would prefer to see the tour do a better job of stressing the importance of communication to its foreign players. She believes that many of the South Koreans, in particular, know more English than they currently feel comfortable speaking in public and could be convinced to try harder.
It's an opinion she shares with good friend Se Ri Pak. Those two women had a conversation last week and agreed that some of the other South Korean players need to come out of their shell a bit more.
"There's a group of younger players who all they want to do is play golf," said Kane. "To show emotion and be engaging, they think it may affect their psyche. We know that that's just not the case.
"It can't be that way to continue to sell our product."
Selling the product _ even if it's a player simply promoting herself _ seems to be at the heart of this matter.
An example of a situation the LPGA hopes to avoid in the future occurred at the Canadian Women's Open in 2005. South Korea's Meena Lee won the event near Halifax and was unable to give media interviews or deliver an acceptance speech without the aid of a translator at that time.
"I think there was probably a bit of a lost opportunity for her as our champion to interact with the sponsors and fans," said tournament director Sean Van Kesteren. "You lose a little bit of the human element when you're using a translator."
Even still, he hasn't found language barriers to be much of a problem overall.
Van Kesteren has been in charge of the Canadian LPGA event since 2004 and has yet to field a complaint from a sponsor who was angry about drawing a pro-am partner that didn't speak English.
"We haven't had any real issues," he said. "There is a communication barrier with some players during the pro-am.
"But you also get some Korean players, for example, who do a great job even with the limited English that they may have. They're still entertaining, they still show everybody a good time."
Above all, he is fortunate to be in charge of one of the tour's top events.
The LPGA is struggling elsewhere. It announced earlier this month that the Ginn Tribute hosted by Annika Sorenstam would be dropped from the schedule starting next season because of sponsorship issues.
Players take notice of those kind of announcements.
"I'm concerned," said Kane. "The tournament owners are struggling to find new sponsors. We're struggling to find new tournaments."
Galloway denied that the move to force players to speak English was based on sponsors and said interest in the tour has never been stronger.
The mandatory English story was first reported by Golfweek magazine and drew an immediate and divided response from internet bloggers and posters.
Some accused the LPGA of outright racism while others saw it as a necessary move.
"You need to have players who can speak English and understand that this is entertainment _ otherwise the corporate revenue stream will evaporate," wrote one poster on the Globe and Mail's website. "The LPGA is just getting ready."
Countered another: "I don't understand why you'd want a tour that doesn't have all the best golfers regardless of the language they speak."
Kane and Pak first became friends before they could even have a proper conversation.
The Canadian has seen the LPGA change and evolve a fair bit since first playing events in 1996. The tour's schedule this year includes three tournaments in Mexico along with one each in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Canada, France and England.
That lineup alone makes Kane wonder why English has been made mandatory.
"Right now we have an awful lot of tournaments internationally and a lot of them are in Asia," she said. "I don't speak any Asian languages. If we continue to play over there, are they going to require me to speak Korean?

So if her slurs and stumbles.....

...it will be just like listening to George Bush (Senator Ted slated to speak at Democratic Convention tonight).

And the good news is he is not driving anyone home.

LAMAZE (who?) CAPTURES GOLD IN EQUESTRIAN SHOW JUMPING (What is that?)

I mean what the hell is going on here? Folks, we are a nation of beer drinking hocky and lacross players (yes, canoe "drivers" too), so what gives with all these horse riding medals?

I think this is great, but I am willing to bet 99% of the nation had never heard of this poor bugger before day. I wonder how many little Canadian boys and girls will now be asking for an equestrian horse for their birthday instead of skates? Anyways good on you Eric, but I still think we have a long, long way to go before show jumping is a mainstream Canadian activity.

From tsn.ca: Canada's Eric Lamaze wins gold in equestrian individual jumping
Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, Ont., captured the show jumping title Thursday at the Beijing Games, giving Canada its first-ever individual equestrian gold. Full Story.

MAPLE LEAFS' MCCABE THINKS ABOUT ACCEPTING A TRADE

Oh god, I hope so!

Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bryan McCabe is considering altering his position on his no-movement clause.
"Bryan is starting to think about possibly getting his career started somewhere else," Maple Leafs general manager Cliff Fletcher told the Toronto Star.
"We'll leave him alone. He's going to get back to us in a couple of weeks. There's not going to be any issues. I'm really confident it's going to be resolved amicably before training camp," Fletcher told the newspaper.
Ian Pulver, McCabe's agent confirmed to the Star that their camp has been talking with the Maple Leafs.
Last season, McCabe had 5 goals with 18 assists and minus-2 rating.
There has been friction between the blueliner and the club since he refused to waive his no-movement clause at the NHL's trade deadline.
The Maple Leafs have already parted ways with Darcy Tucker and Andrew Raycroft this off-season after buying out their contracts.