Canadian poet Bliss Carman once wrote, “There is something in October sets the [ . . . ] blood astir.”
There seems to be plenty going on this October that will set sports fans’ blood astir as well.
Out of all the months in a year, October may be the biggest for sports fans. It is the month when summer sports reach their final conclusions as the winter sport seasons kick off. Here are the main events for this October:
HOCKEY:
The NHL season starts on Oct. 6 — with a big party down at The Forks, no less — but it will be three days later on Oct. 9 when the entire hockey world will focus on Winnipeg for the first regular-season game of the resurrected Jets against the Montreal Canadiens. Three guarantees in that game: the fans will be loud, Gary Bettman will be booed, and the majority of Atlanta sports fans won’t notice.
FOOTBALL:
Despite injuries to Buck Pierce and Doug Brown, and season-ending injuries to Fred Reid and Joe Lobendahn, the Blue Bombers are still hanging onto first place in the CFL’s East Division. The Bombers have four games in October, the first three against teams likely to be playoff-bound. Whether the Bombers will get a bye to the East final likely depends on the outcomes of their games against Hamilton on Oct. 7 and Montreal on Oct. 22.
PAN AM XVI
From Oct. 14-30, the XVI Pan American Games will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico. While countries like Canada and the U.S. aren’t sending most of their best athletes, it is still the last major multi-sport competition for Canada before the 2012 Olympics. In fact, some of the events act as Olympic qualifiers. Manitoban athletes expected to participate include archer Jay Lyon, shooter Monica Fyfe, bowler Michael Schmidt, fencer Daria Jorquera Palmer and racquetballer Jennifer Saunders.
BASEBALL
The World Series begins on Oct. 19, but the playoffs are already underway. Will the Texas Rangers repeat as American League champions? Will Roy Halladay finally win a World Series with the Phillies? Can the Cardinals and Rays ride their final regular season game triumphs all the way to a championship? If the playoffs are anything like the final day of the regular season, this is a must-watch.
RUGBY
Oct. 23 is the final of the Rugby World Cup being held in New Zealand. Canada failed to reach the quarterfinals this year, but this shouldn’t be an excuse to stop watching. The pressure will be on the host team New Zealand. The All Blacks are the number-one team in the world, and the last time they hosted a World Cup they won the title in 1987. Another reason to watch is their famous pre-game haka dance. Imagine if hockey teams
did that . . .
CURLING
The curling season also gets underway in October. Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones and Mike McEwen teams have already won a tournament this year, and both are trying to forget disappointment from last year. Jones didn’t repeat as Canadian champion and McEwen, despite having one of the best teams last year, lost the provincial title to Jeff Stoughton who later won the Brier and World Championships.
EVERYTHING ELSE
The MLS Cup playoffs begin Oct. 26, and the NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup continues through the month. UFC 137 will be held in Las Vegas on Oct. 30, with Canadian superstar Georges St-Pierre fighting Carlos Condit, who replaces original opponent Nick Diaz, in the main event.
