A visit to the wayback machine, to start.

Remember, about a thousand years ago, when TSN first showed up on the air and pretty much all they had was wrestling and a couple of other odd fringe sports?

It was like the old ABC Wide World of Sports only every day.

That was where I think we all got our first introduction to Aussie Rules Football and I can absolutely remember developing an interest in the sport. I think the Geelong Cats were my first favourite team because I thought Geelong was a great city name but the Sydney Swans and Adelaide Crows were kinda cool, too.

So were the umpires or judges or officials or whatever you called the guys under the goal posts who’d come out and dramatically do a thing that was like a reverse six-shooter motion to signify whether the kick went through the inside goals?

Tell me you don’t remember that?

Anyway, in the passing years, Aussie Rules Football’s become one of those things where, if you’re clicking through the dial and see it, you have to watch. It seems crazy hard and the skill level to kick, hand-pass and catching in traffic is off the charts at the highest level.

Anyway, we’ll get back to that in a minute because it’s a roundabout way to bring us to yet another “Did You Know About Canada” moment that’s unfolding this week.

How about a Canadian women’s team not only playing for but trying to defend a world championship in Aussie Rules Football this weekend in Melbourne?

Yeah, my guy Darren tells me this week that Canada will face the Irish Banshees (and that might be the greatest team nickname ever) early Saturday morning for the world championship, which is pretty cool.

This will give you some more information and, from afar, I wish the women well. I can’t suggest you wake up at 2 a.m. ET to watch but, frankly, if you’re just getting home as a few of you will be, why not watch it while you have the slice and the nightcap you really don’t need.

It’s not often that these other sports get a chance at some publicity for the mainstream and they deserve some just because they are at the pinnacle of their sport, regardless of the number of participants there are across Canada.

But I think the greater story/issue/point is that there are always groups of athletes – in this case a collection of dedicated Canadian women – who have found a game they love and pursued it to the highest imaginable levels.

They don’t do it for money, I’m dead certain of that; they don’t do it for fame, I can’t imagine any of you can name a player on the team; they do it because it gives them joy and a chance to express themselves athletically and push themselves as far as they possibly can.

And I love that.

It’s the same with the guys who are toiling rather anonymously on the Toronto Wolfpack Rugby League team that’s in the playoffs now, it’s the same with the women who had rugby World Cup medal hopes dashed yesterday when the lost to New Zealand, it’s the same for the athletes with the Toronto Ultimate team, which is ultimate Frisbee and as legitimate a sport as you can have.

I am sure there are countless others – cricket teams for sure, other sports from the old countries who have traditionally been passed down to new homelands.

And back to the original point and Aussie Rules Football and other, um, “unique” sports with which we have a passing acquaintance.

How about hurling? Who doesn’t love to watch a few minutes of hurling if you happen to find it on the TV? It’s huge. I can remember being in Kilkenny one day when the town team had just won the all-Ireland junior hurling championship and the parade was off the charts. I guarantee you someone in Canada there are several hurling clubs and they get great joy out of weekend games.

I don’t even know what the sport’s called but the one where they play beach volleyball using only their feet? That’s astonishing and if I see a bit of it on TV, I stick around a few minutes.

These are fun games and, as we’ve seen now with this group of Canadian women, can take you to the heights of global competition.

-

It is an undisputed fact that The Newsroom was an outstanding television show and it should still be on today.

So when I saw Mike Wilner on the tweeter machine talking about binge-watching a season or so, it got me looking back.

And this might be the best series-ending song of all time, right?

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Someone remind me next week to do a list of shows that should come back or should never have left, it’ll be a nice thing to do one morning.

Thanks.

-

Okay, we’re headed to the smallest weekend mailbag in a long time.

If you want to be able to say “yeah, honey, I’ll get to the chores in a few minutes, Doug’s got some outstanding answers to some really interesting questions and I need a few hours to read and re-read” you should do your part.

I’m here to make your lives better so get on over to askdoug@thestar.ca and we’ll see what we can cook up, shall we?

-

-

Okay, I’m not sure how many hungover Blue Jays fans in Chicago might be reading this today or how many of you might be stealing a glance it before the morning flight to see games at Wrigley but, if it’s your first time at the ballyard, you are in for something special.

It is without question the best neighbourhood park in all of major league baseball and it’s not even close.

Great bars on every corner, cool atmosphere inside the stadium and deep, deep history.

I know there are better parks for amenities and comfort but I think I’ve been in a dozen current parks, a couple that are now in the dustbin of history, and nothing beats Wrigley for overall ambience on a nice day.

Enjoy the weekend, wish I were there.

-

I presume the reaction many fans of the Canadian senior men’s basketball program to the list of invitees to this summer’s camp yesterday (it’s here in case you missed it) was underwhelming.

But it shouldn’t have been. The pool of available talent for this summer is not deep, the tournament that starts next week in Argentina will provide only exhibition games – there’s nothing of significance at stake – and the most important thing is find a dozen players who’ll develop some cohesion and get Canada through a couple sets of qualifying tournaments for the 2019 World Cup.

These are very tiny baby steps in a long journey and getting worked up about it isn’t worth it.

-