The next month to six weeks will, for me, be the most interesting time in sports, not just this year, but quite possibly for some years to come.
Why you might ask?
Well read on and I share the exciting time it will be.
To start with the World Indoor Lacrosse Championship begins Thursday in Langley, B.C.
What we typically refer to as box lacrosse is right up near the top of my list in terms of sports I prefer to watch, second actually to rugby, so I am immediately interested.
That the Canadian team at this championship includes five members of the Saskatchewan Rush including; Mark Matthews, Robert Church, Ben McIntosh, Kyle Rubisch and Chris Corbeil, only makes this one more fun to watch.
The rest of the roster and players on the American and Iroquois are also from National Lacrosse League teams, so many players will be very familiar to box lacrosse fans.
As a side note the NLL schedule has been released and the Rush start their regular season on the road in Georgia on Dec. 1.
As for the world championship Canada starts the event Thursday facing the United States, then face England Friday.
Sunday the opponents will be Israel, with the Iroquois Nationals rounding out Canada’s round robin action Monday.
You will note the powers of box lacrosse are all in the same pool here among the 20-team event. This approach helps games in the event be more competitive, and ensures some lesser lights advance to the playoff round for some important experience in terms of building the sport internationally.
The championship, which wraps up Sept. 28, will have all 72 games available for viewing at www.laxsportsnetwork.com so fans can tune in for some great box lacrosse action.
Twenty teams will also be involved in the World Cup of Rugby which starts Friday with the host team from Japan taking on Russia.
Canada is involved but are in a tough pool with defending champion New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Namibia.
Canada sees their first action next Thursday, (Sept. 26), against Italy, facing New Zealand Oct. 2, South Africa Oct. 8, and Namibia Oct. 13.
Wins will be tough to come by as team Canada has struggled on the pitch in 15s rugby for a long while now, dating back to the last World Cup when Canada failed to win a game, but it’s still rugby, my favourite sport, so I am DVRing games already. We are fortunate TSN has broadcast rights for the World Cup and they have a number of games scheduled, including the event opener with Japan and Russia, and of course the Canadian games. There will be lots of watching games while my better half sleeps, or she just might toss me into a scrum, but it will be a glorious six weeks, and the final is Saturday, Nov. 2, just as the Canadian Football League regular season wraps up and the playoffs take over my sporting interest.
