Last week the Free Press celebrated the 11^th Annual Best of PG Free Press Reader’s Choice Awards.   Let the honors continue! As a follow-up, here are 10 categories that were missed, but perhaps could be included next year.

 

Glen “Moose” Scott! The PG Senior Lacrosse Commissioner does things the old fashioned way, communicating by phone rather than by social media. Scott deserves credit for making a sport with little interest relevant. By the way, “Moose” is now part of the Prince George Spruce Kings sales and marketing team. Hopefully, his influence can add a “calming” effect on the organization.

 

 

 

Ron Gallo! Not only does Ron have a Spruce Kings tattoo on his chest as their Communications Director, but Gallo can rattle off all of the stats of the winless Chilliwack Huskers football team, which son Ryan happens to play for. No one dares taking a swipe at his teams, unless one is prepared to suffer the “Wrath of Ron”.

 

 

Dan O’Connor! The PG Cougars play-by-play man remains just as excited when his team is ahead 2-1 or behind 7-1. Objectivity has never stood in his way, but in fairness, more often than not, the team has been trailing on the scoreboard and in the standings.

 

Trevor Sprague! The head man of the Cariboo Cougars can also be considered for the most overbearing award. Sprague just wins games, but does not get the appropriate recognition because he is politically not in tune and has a perceived arrogance to his personality that is often misconstrued.

 

 

Jason Becker! He does a remarkable job remaining upbeat in what has been a testy three years as Dean Clark’s attendant with the Prince George Cougars. One has to admire his perseverance as Becker gleefully continues to sharpen skates and do whatever is necessary until landing a WHL heading coaching position.

 

?????? This remains a mystery with no winner until after the season. The soccer coaches are new and the basketball coaches are headed into unchartered territory as members of the CIS. Everybody starts with a clean slate with no more embellishing records from the PACWEST (BCCAA) days.

 

 

Duchess Park! There are the “haves” and the “have-nots”. One is in awe with the new facility (that includes a blue-chip gymnasium), special interest programs, and classrooms equipped with state of the art smart boards. Throw in electronic bulletin boards and a ravishing architectural design, Duchess is appropriately named considering its royalty treatment.

 

The PG Grays! The Grays beat the defending champion Victoria Mavericks 7-5 at the Provincial Senior Mens Baseball Championship in an elimination game. The Mavericks return to PG for the Nationals while the Grays do not have an entry. Huh ? Is there any reason why the Grays should not form the lions share of the host PG Axemen team for the Canadians this month ?

 

 

 

Jeff Sargeant! The Cariboo Cougars Manager and play-by-play broadcaster influences much of the local media with near daily trivial news releases. Known as the “Sarge”, who doubles as the morning news voice on 94X and the Wolf, Jeff is mastering the art of how to benefit an organization where “hype” overrides substance. Sargeant is about ready to pass his degree and join a political party.

 

Bob Pegues of Inner City Boxing! Wayne Sponagle of Spruce Capital Boxing calls Pegues the best “self” promoter which is arguable. Pegues has dedicated much of his life to boxing and has seen the benefits of star pupil Kenny Lally. Kenny wants Bob to continue in his corner for the next four years in his attempts to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Pegues will oblige with minute by minute updates.

 

 

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Not to take away from the five silver and 12 bronze, Canadians expected more than one gold medal from their athletes at the London Summer Olympics. With apologies to Ontario’s Rosie MacLennan, her gold in women’s trampoline caused little fanfare.

 

How does Great Britain finish with 29 gold compared to one for Canada? Home cooking is just a small part of the answer. In the past three Summer Olympics, Canadians earned at least three gold, but that modest streak abruptly came to an end.

 

While it is an accomplishment to capture silver or bronze or even set a personal best, Canadians are looking for wins. Nobody waves the flag about a third place finish, unless it is a captivating unlikely story like the Canadian women’s soccer team.

 

While excuses can be used for Canadian failures like injuries, controversial officiating and even bad luck, the reality is the athletes should not take the blame for the lack of success. Considering their circumstances, they have done the best with their limited financial support as possible. Over the last four years, Britain invested approximately half a billion dollars training its Olympic and Paralympics teams.

In comparison, Canada’s federal government allocates $62 million a year into amateur athletics, which the Own the Podium Agency divides $34 million for summer sports, $22 million for winter sports and $6 million for elite team sports.

 

Do you think an NFL team could compete on a CFL budget? Well, how is this any different?
 

 

 After winning a gold medal, the French handball team went on that country’s version of ESPN and destroyed the set because they had been criticized in the past—-someone had compared them to Chris Evert.

 

A top young Scrabble player was kicked out of the national championships for cheating–they found a banned substance in his alphabet soup. 

 

 

  

Chad Johnson’s wife is filing for divorce, days after accusing him of head butting her during an argument. I guess this is what they call the old ….. bump and run.
 

 

 

 The man formerly known as Ochicinco, Chad Johnson, was arrested for domestic violence after an alleged argument with his wife when she found the receipt for a box of condoms. Shocking! An NFL player uses condoms?

 

 

Bobby Valentine said he thinks his Red Sox are a playoff team. And Josh Beckett is thinking, “Hey bro, how much of my beer have you been drinking?" 

 

 

Alex Rodriguez has listed his Miami home for $38 million. The home boasts nine bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and 426 mirrors.

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