Jason Robinson

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Are Durant?s Dari-O?s the new Fantuz Flakes?

There's a new entry in the world of CFL breakfast cereals, but it's from the same team. Following their 2010 smash hit with the "Fantuz Flakes" cereal (pictured at right) featuring Saskatchewan Roughriders' receiver Andy Fantuz, which sold out in hours and even spawned parody commercials, Federated Co-op stores in Saskatchewan are going to be selling "Dari-O's" starting July 5. The Dari-O's will feature Roughriders' quarterback Darian Durant (pictured above in 2010 trying to evade Winnipeg's Doug Brown), the CFL's 2010 passing yardage leader and a logical replacement for Fantuz, who left for the NFL's Chicago Bears in February. The Regina Leader-Post's Rob Vanstone commented last year that Durant really should have been the first Roughrider to have his face on a box.

Durant had to wait a year, but if the success Fantuz had is any indication, it may yet work out well for him. The 24,000 boxes of Fantuz Flakes produced sold out in just seven hours last year, and there's sure to be lots of demand for Dari-O's. Saskatchewan remains the merchandising capital of the CFL, and plenty of Rider fans will be eager to pick up this kind of memorabilia. Moreover, Fantuz went on to lead the CFL in receiving with 1,380 yards last season, becoming the first Canadian to do so since fellow University of Western Ontario alumnus Dave Sapunjis pulled off the feat in 1995 with Calgary. The Roughriders have suffered some tough losses heading into this season, including Fantuz and fellow receiver Rob Bagg, but if Durant can improve his performance even further via a cereal bump, things might just work out well for them.

Of course, Durant isn't the first CFL quarterback to have his face on a cereal box, but the most famous one did it after his time in the CFL was over. That would be legendary quarterback Doug Flutie, who starred with the B.C. Lions, Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts before heading south of the border to join the NFL's Buffalo Bills. While there in 1998, he came out with Flutie Flakes (pictured at right), which became hugely popular and appeared everywhere from the NFL's sidelines (where Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson stomped on them after beating Flutie's Bills) to The Jay Leno Show (where they were dumped on Leno's head) to Friends (where they appeared at the start of "The One With The Blind Dates). We'll see if Dari-O's can gain that kind of popular culture traction north of the border; perhaps they can be dumped on George Stroumboulopoulos, Peter Mansbridge or Michael Landsberg, or make an appearance on Republic of Doyle?

Seriously, though, this is a neat merchandising idea, and it's no wonder these were so popular the first time around. Perhaps other CFL teams should take inspiration and come out with their own competing brands of quarterback-based cereals? We could have Lulay Loops in B.C., Burris Bran in Calgary, Ray's Krispies in Edmonton, Pierce's Puffs in Winnipeg, Glenn's Grahams in Hamilton, Lemon's Life in Toronto, and Captain Calvillo in Montreal. Until the rest of the CFL jumps on this merchandising train, though, it looks like green will be the colour, and Dari-O's the food.

Anna Paquin Diane Kruger Magdalena Wróbel Connie Nielsen Melissa George

Canada knocks off Japan, will face U.S. in IFAF World Cup final

Team Canada's run at the International Federation of American Football World Cup in Austria continued Wednesday, but it wasn't easy. The Canadians fell behind 27-24 with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter against two-time tournament winner Japan, but rallied with a great four-play 73-yard drive capped off by a rushing touchdown from Calgary Stampeders' draft pick Matt Walter (pictured above after the Austria game). That touchdown gave the Canadians, a squad comprised of current CIS players, former CIS types and former CFL players like Adriano Belli and Sherko Haji-Rasouli, a 31-27 lead with 3:31 left. Their defence would hang on to make that the final score, with Montreal Carabins' defensive back Julien Hamel recording an interception after Japan's fourth-down pass bounced off the hands of Michihiro Ogawa. The win meant Canada improved to 3-0 in pool play and won the pool, setting up a gold-medal clash Saturday with the heavily-favoured U.S. squad. That's a pretty impressive showing for a country competing by unfamiliar American rules in its first IFAF World Cup ever.

It was a notable win for Canada against a very good Japanese team, which had also gone 2-0 to this point. Japan claimed the first IFAF World Cup titles in 1999 and 2003, and only fell to the U.S. in double overtime in 2007. Their dominant rushing attack led them to victories over Austria and France, and it caused problems for Canada; Japan picked up 125 rushing yards on 23 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per carry (much better in the four-down football played at this tournament than it would be in the three-down systems in the CFL and CIS).

However, the Canadian ground game was great as well, collecting 131 yards (or 141 yards if you subtract sacks) and three touchdowns on 34 attempts. That's a less-stellar, but still impressive, average of 4.1 yards per running play. Walter (a CIS star with the Calgary Dinos, pictured at right doing the highly-recommended air guitar celebration with current Edmonton Eskimos' receiver Nathan Coehoorn after a 2009 Uteck Bowl touchdown)�picked up 62 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, while Canadian game MVP and former Saskatchewan Huskies' running back David Stevens collected 63 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries.

The Canadian aerial assault wasn't as strong as it had been in previous clashes, but it still got the job done. Former Western star and current York offensive coordinator Michael Faulds completed 14 of his 21 passes (66.7 per cent) for 204 yards and a touchdown with an interception, including a 72-yard catch and run play to Stevens. Laurier receiver Shawmad Chambers, former Queen's receiver Scott Valberg and former Laval fullback Michel-Pierre Pontbriand also contributed in the receiving game, with Pontbriand making a stunning diving end-zone touchdown catch. Meanwhile, the Canadian passing defence held Japanese quarterback Tetsuo Takata to 16 completions on 29 attempts (55.2 per cent) for 196 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

The U.S. isn't going to be an easy opponent for Canada. Granted, their roster doesn't have a ton of huge names from the top tiers of the NCAA (former Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins may be the most recognizable, even if he doesn't have his own dance), but as the CFL continually proves, there's plenty of talent at smaller Division I schools and at the Division II and Division III levels. Funnily enough, one of the Americans' key players thus far has been running back Da'shawn Thomas, who plays his college football north of the border in CIS with Western. It's going to be interesting to see how he and his American comrades stack up against Canada Sunday. The gold-medal game will be Sunday at 7 p.m. local (1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific). Check out the tournament website and Twitter feed for more information.

Teri Hatcher Lauren Bush Natalie Zea Brody Dalle Taryn Manning

Monday, July 18, 2011

He?s a Prince! Milwaukee?s Fielder wins MVP at All-Star Game

Milwaukee Brewers slugger Prince Fielder failed to catch this pop-up in the fourth inning at the 82nd All-Star game, but the photo was so cool, The Stew could not resist using it.

The drop didn't hurt ? it was ruled a single for Jose Bautista ? but Fielder was sent to Chase Field for his bat, which he used to hit a three-run home run in a 5-1 victory for the National League. It was the NL's second straight Midsummer Classic win. The Senior Circuit had not won two straight All-Star games since 1995 and 1996.

The NL also procured home-field advantage, probably for the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the upcoming World Series.

Fielder's blast came in the bottom of the fourth, against Texas left-hander C.J. Wilson, and was in response to likely AL MVP Adrian Gonzalez (according to FOX's announcing team) hitting a solo homer in the top of the inning.

Watch Fielder flex his princely muscle

Fielder was awarded the game's MVP ? a crystal bat that looks like the key to Superman's Fortress of Solitude lair ? plus Chevy announced a donation, in Fielder's name, to go toward an inner-city youth baseball field in Milwaukee. Nicely done, Prince. Check out this bat:

So I guess this means the fans at Chase Field can stop booing Fielder, as they had been doing for most of the All-Star festivities, because he left hometown guy Justin Upton off the Home Run Derby squad.

All ancient history now.

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A lot of favorites won?t be around for the Open weekend

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While we all knew Tiger Woods wasn't going to be at the British Open this week, we sure didn't expect to see so many big names miss out on making the cut and slamming their trunks this early. Both world number one and world number two missed the cut for the first time in a major this decade, but they weren't the only ones.

Sure, some familiar names were safe just behind leaders Darren Clarke and 2009 U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover at -4, and reigning PGA and Masters champions Martin Kaymer and Charl Schwartzel are -3 and -2, respectively. Everybody's newfound golf love, Rory McIlroy, sits at even par, while Phil Mickelson is at -1. But as for some other well-known folk? It hasn't gone quite so well.

Check out some of the other top-ranked players in the world that weren't able to get in the money this week.

Luke Donald -- World Ranking: 1 -- The man a lot of people had on their very short list to win this week (me included) was 1-under after nine holes on Thursday, but played his final 27 holes 7-over, including four bogeys over his last four holes on Friday to miss the cut by three.

Lee Westwood -- 2 -- If it wasn't the man above that a lot of people liked, it was Westwood, who was coming into the Open Championship on form and ready to take home the Claret Jug (finally). But he couldn't do it, missing his first cut in this event since '05.

Matt Kuchar -- 7 -- The Kuch had a top-10 at the Scottish Open the week before Royal St. George's, and looked like he'd be a great pick for anyone who likes�consistency, but the American missed his first cut since May 2010, finishing 11-over after two days.

Graeme McDowell -- 9 -- The 2010 U.S. Open champion made a double-bogey on his first hole on Thursday, bounced back to post a great 2-under 68, and looked like one of the few big guns on a peculiar leaderboard. But McDowell shot 77 during some good conditions on Friday to miss the cut.

Nick Watney -- 10 -- At one point during the first round, Watney was 6-over, but closing birdies on 16 and 17 on Thursday, followed by a front nine 32 on Friday had him back to 1-over and well within the weekend cut. But Watney couldn't hold it together, making three bogeys and a double on the way in to catch an early flight back to the States.

Alessandra Ambrosio Amanda Detmer Emma Stone Raquel Alessi Marisa Coughlan

Siver edges Wiman in a tight decision, loser storms out of the building

LAS VEGAS - Matt Wiman was convinced he'd won the fight and so was much of the crowd in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, but that's not the way the judges saw it. Denis Siver did enough in the first and third rounds to take a unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards, in bout No. 3�on the UFC 132 pay-per-view.

When the decision was announced Wiman ripped his hand away from the referee, stormed out of the cage and actually left the building. Wiman (13-6, 7-4 UFC) eventually came back after walking around the parking lot.

"I did a lot of damage. Maybe he got the decision because he threw more punches, but they weren't effective. Effective striking and grappling is what they say and he didn't have that at all," said Wiman.

The numbers backed up the judges. FightMetric said Siver outlanded Wiman 128-34. In the third round, while Wiman was 2-of-5 on takedowns, Siver had a strike advantage of 47-6. Over the 15 minutes, Wiman was good 5-of-16 takedown attempts.

It had to be the second round that convinced Wiman he'd rolled to the victory. Wiman dominated Siver on the ground. He got him down with 3:50 left in the round and blasted away. A nasty left elbow busted open Siver's forehead and he bled like a stuck pig for the next few minutes.�Siver never got back to his feet.

The first round was one the more tightly contested stanzas of the night. It went back and forth�as Siver threw with vicious intent. He landed the better shots on the feet showed�off some�good takedown defense.�Apparently, Wiman didn't press on the gas�pedal enough in the final round. He scored a couple of takedowns, but didn't inflict the same damage he did in the second.

For Siver (19-7, 8-4 UFC) to escape with a win�was huge.�Because of a his slugging style, the Russian fighting out Germany, is a� promotion and fan favorite.

"I'm glad to win this fight. It was a very hard fight. My striking was a little bit better. My takedown defense was a little bit better. Altogether, I was just a little bit better tonight. Again, it was a very tough fight," said Siver.

After starting off his career in the UFC at 1-3, Siver has ripped off wins in eight-of-nine. He's also won four straight.

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With Edgar-Maynard III, UFC 136 shaping up as best card of the year

The UFC isn't messing around with it's big card in Houston. The news has come fast and furious about a slew of fights booked for the October card.

Frank Edgar and Gray Maynard will finally meet for the third time to settle their battle for the lightweight title. The winner may face Melvin Guillard, who is also on the card against Joe Lauzon. Earlier today, a middleweight showdown was also announced with Demian Maia facing Jorge Santiago.

Will there be any trouble selling those fights? Don't worry. Chael Sonnen is on the card against Brian Stann. Two more intriguing fights include Dave Herman against Mike Russow and Josh Grispi, in what could be a must-win situation against Matt Grice.

Update: Add another title fight to UFC 136 with Jose Aldo Jr. defending his 145-pound title against Kenny Florian. It looks like UFC 137 will also have a matchup between B.J. Penn and Carlos Condit.

The upcoming UFC cards are totally stacked. UFC on Versus 5 features a guarantee KO or Fight of the Night with Dan Hardy and Chris Lytle. Jim Miller also faces Ben Henderson. At UFC 134, it's Anderson Silva against Yushin Okami. Mauricio Rua-Griffin and Brendan Schaub-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight as well. Jon Jones and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson headline UFC 135 in front of Matt Hughes and Diego Sanchez. The return to Las Vegas in late October is topped by Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz with Matt Mitrione-Cheick Kongo on the undercard.

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Mosley says he?s ready for big fight, Camp Pacquiao believes it

Shane Mosley gassed and got picked apart by Floyd Mayweather. Even more damning was his lackluster fight against Sergio Mora. So how is he going to compete with the best fighter in the business? It sure looks like age has caught up with "Sugar" Shane and he's in real trouble against Manny Pacquiao.

Mosley, 39, says ignore the last two fights.

"I don't think those fights have anything to do with what I do against Pacquiao, because styles make fights," said Mosley during a prefight teleconference. "But if it wasn't for those two fights, I probably wouldn't be here today. So those fights were needed."

Needed for what? Was he lacking experience or rounds? Or did he need to look lackluster to get this fight with Pacquiao? That's up for interpretation.

If you listen to Bob Arum, Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao, they chose Mosley based on his history as an action fighter who could help sell pay-per-views, not because he's an easy mark.

"Mosley brings speed, power and he has a good team behind him. I think we have a big challenge ahead of us. Manny is motivated and he's motivated for a reason because of Shane Mosley.� That means he respects him also. That's what excites us about this fight," said Roach.

Camp Pacquiao is also motivated to stop a guy in Mosley, who's never been taken out short of the distance.

"If the knockouts come, they come.� What matters is the fight that we can give to the people and the fans. I want them to be happy and excited about our performance," said Pacquiao.

Roach was more definitive about the fighter's goal.

"Shane's a tough guy, a very durable guy.� It would be incredible for Manny to be the first one to stop him and just prove to the world how much better he is than that guy that couldn't stop him (Floyd Mayweather, Jr.).� I think Manny will fight at a fast pace.� I don't know if he'll (Mosley) be prepared to fight at that pace but we're going to force the action and we're going to go for it this time. If it comes, it comes.� I think Manny is definitely the guy to do it."

You can watch the Pacquiao-Mosley pay-per-view right here on Yahoo! Sports.

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