Over the Edge * March 13th 2013

Sports 13

CANADIANS PLAY BASEBALL, T00

GEOFF SARGENT SPORTS EDITOR

The 2006 World Baseball Classic was an event I remember with fondness. As the first ever best-on-best national event in modern baseball history, there was a feeling of excitement as players took the field wearing the uniforms of their countries, instead of the uniforms of cities they made their home in.

The memory of the event was absolutely influenced by the massive upset Canada laid on the United States — the Canadians, with very few established MLB players, amassed a shocking 8-0 lead over the all-star laden Americans by the sixth inning. In the next half- inning, the Americans rallied back with six runs of their own, but Canada desperately clung to the lead for the final three stanzas, eventually winning 8-6 in nail-biting fashion. It’s impossible to understate how fun this game was to

watch — from the announcers in disbelief to the fans in Phoenix booing their country’s disappointing performance, it was incredibly fulfilling, if only in a cynical way, and it remains on my list of memorable sporting events seen through television. Sadly, Canada went on to be annihilated by Mexico the following day, and ended up missing the final eight based on tiebreakers, but for a fleeting moment, even in a sport with such variance as baseball, Canada seemed on top of the world.

Despite the emergence of many more Canadians into the MLB aas stars, the country fell short in the next World Baseball Classic. The 2009 event saw a mirrored result from 2009; Canada’s late-innings comeback against the Americans ended with our country stranding the would-be tying run in the 9th to lose 6-5. Canada subsequently lost to Italy to be bounced from the

double-elimination tournament.

The 2013 World Baseball Classic has been underway for a week, and for the third time in as many tournaments, the Canada/USA game lived up to hype, as the Canucks played the Americans on Sunday, unfortunately to a devastating loss for the second consecutive tournament.

As in 2006, the Canadians jumped out to a lead after six innings, but this time, the Americans roared back and were able to emerge victorious, eliminating Canada from the playoff round.

I have never been an ardent follower of baseball; the massive amount of games and slow pace of the sport doesn’t fit my personality or current commitments. But as with many other sports I normally avoid, when the uniforms say ‘Canada’, I sit down and watch.

GEOFF SARGENT SPORTS EDITOR Eight weeks have passed since disgraced former cyclist Lance Armstrong came clean about

doping in each of his record seven consecutive Tour de France wins throughout the previous two decades. With the sport of cycling having long been linked with pharmaceutical abuse, this was a fact that shocked very few people that follow the sport, and indeed, many had been clamouring for Armstrong’s head on a pike for quite some time. They finally got their reward.

Armstrong, of course, made a gigantic circus out of the situation by issuing no comment for days after the evidence piled up, finally granting only Oprah Winfrey an interview. In addition, the results of the interview were known well before it aired, and viewers were only tuning in to see how, and why, not if. This follows along a line many people have used to vilify Armstrong for years — he’s arrogant, self-centred, money-hungry; the list goes on.

Questions remain about Lance Armstrong, and specifically about his legacy. Since 1999, he has been the American cycling hero; the best cyclist in the world for the better

part of a decade, staying clean while everyone else around him abused steroids. He conquered mountains, he conquered cancer, and he conquered rivals who would stop at nothing and stoop so low as to cheat, in hopes of claiming his throne. He explicitly and tirelessly denied for years all allegations of steroids, insisting upon his innocence in the tainted sport. He founded Livestrong and raised millions for cancer research. He was a hero.

Is he still a hero?

Cycling can’t be discussed without an inevitable link to cheating. The ‘history’ is rich and storied — in 1904, every single rider who won even a

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single stage of the Tour de France were all eventually disqualified for cheating, most of whom for hitching rides on vehicles. Armstrong wasn’t the last to have his titles stripped — it’s happened twice since, and will likely continue. These facts, of course, don’t excuse the act, they only put it in perspective.

The saving grace many see to Armstrong’s legacy is his work with Livestrong. Since 1997, the foundation he founded has received over $500 million in donations. Armstrong, despite his second comeback that lasted from 2009- 2011, has been quite similar to Bill Gates in the last five or more years, in that his public persona is entirely devoted to his family and his charity, rather than the world he found his

LANCE AND THE LIVESTRONG EMPIRE

fame in. Even Livestrong is not without skepticism and scrutiny. A

comparison to the Michael J. Fox Foundation sees two organizations with similar revenues, budgets, and listed goals, but the bottom line has Parkinson’s research grants exceeding $30 million per year from the MJFF, while Livestrong is no longer even funding research, instead promoting “awareness”. Livestrong stays in the news by achieving mutually-beneficial, almost parasitic sponsorships with pro sports franchises -— Kansas City’s MLS team donated stadium naming rights to the cause in return

[Armstrong] founded Livestrong and raised millions for cancer research ... Is he still a hero?

for increased publicity, and Hockey Canada is suiting up the national women’s team in_ patriotism-be- damned black and yellow uniforms branded with the Livestrong logo for the upcoming world championships, on sale for only $139.99 at local retailers.

Lance Armstrong is certainly an enigmatic, powerful person who has managed to touch the lives of many, be it through his own personal story of fighting through cancer, his cycling career, or his work with charity. In the past few years, the lies have been exposed, the cheating has been revealed, and the questions have been asked about his foundation. Is it enough to strip heroism away?

Calld

oe

awest

standings

Men’s Basketball

Pacific Division

18-4 16-6 12-10 10-12 8-14 6-16 5-17 5-17

UBC

Victoria

Trinity Western Fraser Valley Thompson Rivers UNBC

Mount Royal UBC-Okanagan

Prairie Division

16-6 14-8 14-8 14-8 13-9 12-10 7-15 6-16

Saskatchewan Alberta Manitoba Winnipeg Calgary Lethbridge Regina Brandon

Women's Basketball Pacific Division

18-4 17-5 16-6 15-7 8-14 7-15 6-16 5-17

Fraser Valley UBC

Victoria Thompson Rivers UNBC

Trinity Western UBC-0

Mount Royal

Prairie Division

19-3 19-3 14-8 13-9 10-12 7-15 2-20 0-22

Calgary Regina Alberta Saskatchewan Lethbridge Winnipeg Manitoba Brandon