JASTER’S JABBERINGS — Some ugly moments mar big events

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/06/2019 (2285 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sports can bring out the best in people as well as the worst, and we’ve seen both sides of that in the last week.

The Toronto Raptors’ run to their first-ever National Basketball Association title seems to have brought an entire country together as well as more than a million people to downtown Toronto to celebrate both after winning the crown on Thursday and on Monday for the parade.

However, a lack of sportsmanship by players and fans alike seemed to have stolen headlines.

Raptors fans cheered when Kevin Durant went down injured during Game 5 of the NBA Finals in Toronto. American players had over-the top celebrations for every goal when blowing out Thailand at the Women’s World Cup in a game that ended 13-0. Then there’s Simoni Lawrence’s head shot on a defenceless Zach Collaros in the CFL season opener.

Having passionate fans is great, but people can get caught up in the game too much. The Golden State Warriors were hoping Durant could help dig them out of a 3-1 series deficit, while the Raptors were trying to win the title on their home court. Some fans got too swept up and didn’t realize how serious the injury was — in turned out to be a torn achilles that will keep him out of next season — and were cheering when Durant turned the ball over, limped to the sideline before sitting down clutch his leg. As great as the fans had been all playoffs, it was a black mark on the run.

The Americans’ celebration was just disgusting. Veteran players like Alex Morgan, who went off for five markers, and captain Megan Rapinoe were celebrating like they had scored their first career goals in a 13-0 blowout. I have no issue with running up the score as goal differential is the first tiebreaker at the World Cup. I have no issue with players scoring their first career World Cup goal going crazy, but when people have more than 40 in a career, you don’t need to go crazy.

I was glad those two players did not play in the United States’ second game, although it was more likely due to the Americans already knowing their goal-differential would be superior to second-place Sweden’s prior to the game against Chile kicking off than for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Lawrence’s actions were disgusting and dirty. On the third play of the CFL season, Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Collaros slid feet-first on a run, meaning he’s not allowed to be touched. Despite knowing Collaros’ history with concussions, Lawrence went low and drove his shoulder into Collaros’ head, knocking him out of the game and putting him on the six-game injured list.

In a sign that the punishment doesn’t match the play, Lawrence stayed in the game (after receiving a 25-yard penalty) and was given a two-game suspension on Monday. That hit will cost Collaros at least a third of the season and could end his career.

The CFLPA is in a difficult situation now too. It has to stand up for Collaros, but also fight Lawrence’s suspension if he chooses to appeal.

It’s disappointing to see three displays of poor sportsmanship in a week and has me wondering whether this is a reflection of our society or just unfortunate timing.

The bright light from this is each instance was highly critiqued and drew a lot of attention. Hopefully the message that comes from this to young players and fans is to respect other players and fans, show sportsmanship and don’t get too caught up in a game.

Just a few other thoughts:

• I’m not surprised that the Brandon Wheat Kings decided not to renew the contract of head coach David Anning. Since they have not announced a new general manager yet, it makes sense as the GM will likely want to bring in his own people. That being said, Anning was always great to deal with and I wish him nothing but the best in the future.

• The Raptors’ run to a title has led many to believe that basketball will grow a lot in this country. As former Sun reporter David Larkins pointed out on Twitter though, it may be worth remembering that none of the key players are Canadian and it’s important to support the sport back home as well. People can do that by watching the Canadian men’s basketball team take on Nigeria in Winnipeg on Aug. 9, or just go to a high school game or support the Brandon University Bobcats.

• Oddly enough, the St. Louis Blues’ roster was filled with Canadians, meaning the Stanley Cup will spend a good amount of time in Canada even though a team from here hasn’t won the National Hockey League crown since 1993. One of those stops will in Brandon as well thanks to Joel Edmundson. Congratulations to him and I’m sure his parents are glad the NHL playoffs are over as they logged a lot of miles to attend games in every series of St. Louis’ playoff run.

• The finalists for The Brandon Sun’s city high school awards have been announced. Up for male athlete of the year are Neelin’s Evan Nachtigall, Vincent Massey’s Zane Anderson and Crocus Plains’ Liam Kristjanson while the female athlete of the year finalists are Neelin’s Marly Pellerin, Massey’s Drew Curtis and Crocus’ Rachael Donald. The teams are the year nominees are the Neelin varsity girls’ volleyball squad, Massey’s football team and Crocus’ varsity boys’ soccer squad. The winner will be announced in Saturday’s edition, so be sure to pick up a copy to find out who are the winners.

» cjaster@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @jasterch