NFL Notes:

• The Raiders are considering Joe Mixon as a draft pick.
  • I thought they were going to go after the “guy who punches broads” crowd once they got to Vegas.

• Cam Newton + rotator cuff surgery = no OTAs

• Kiko Alonzo is staying in Miami. Three years, $28.8 million.

• Jim Harbaugh, from the comfort of Michigan, says Colin Kaepernick still has what it takes to be “not just an NFL starter but a great NFL player”.
  • probably would have red-assed him into shaving the ‘fro though.

• Speaking of Kaep, I’m not sure why Donald Trump has taken an interest in badmouthing him.
  • Kaep’s passing percentage was 59% in 2016. So far in 2017, the Trump administration hasn’t passed a thing.
    • FAKE STATS!

Finally, a good long-form read on this soft blackballing

of Colin Kaepernick by the League comes from Jed York enemy Tim Kawakami in the San Jose Mercury News. The tl;dr version is that Kaep is better than Mike Glennon & Brian Hoyer, but has too much baggage. If Blaine Gabbert – who had a worse year – gets signed before Kaep, then something is definitely afoot.

WBC:

I’m sure Don T is still too glassy-eyed to talk about it at length, but I want to highlight the little league lessons Jurickson Profar taught us all last night:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-_ncF2Ctwo

1. Improve your Spanish, people.
2. Keep playing until time is called.
3. Don’t showboat a one-out single, especially in the first inning.

That was the best Puerto Rican pickoff since Hiram Rosado in 1936. The next at-bat was a two-run homer. Had it been three runs the game might not have needed extra innings, and they’d be serving fries with mayo at the WBC finale.

I still prefer Bengie Molina, but that’s because we became friends when he boarded with my buddy during his AAA days in Vancouver. But, without question, Yadi has the best arm of the three brothers.

Canada 150:

March 21, 1985: Rick Hansen.

Rick Hansen was born in Port Alberni, BC in 1957. During his high school years in Williams Lake, BC, he was paralyzed during a motor vehicle accident, when he was ejected from the bed of the truck he was riding in with friends, suffering a spinal cord injury as a result. Nevertheless, he endured extensive rehabilitation and graduated from high school & then went on to graduate from UBC with a degree in Physical Education. He also competed in numerous Paralympic Games, and competed for Canada in the 1984 Olympic Games in wheelchair track, as an exhibition sport, and was the first person to break the two-hour time record in a wheelchair marathon.

Inspired by the cross-Canada attempt of Terry Fox

Rick Hansen set out on a journey that would make history in 1985—the Man In Motion World Tour (MIMWT). The Tour became an epic two-year circumnavigation of the world in his wheelchair; the odyssey lasted 792 days, 467 of which were spent on the road. He wore out 117 tires and 11 pairs of gloves.

Rick and his team travelled through 34 countries, and over 40,000 kilometres. The Tour, which finished on May 22, 1987, raised $26 million for accessibility awareness and become a catalyst for enormous change in the removal of physical barriers and in how people with disabilities are perceived.

He is still very active today, through his Foundation. He was a torch bearer in both the 1988 & 2010 Winter Olympics, has been named a Companion to the Order of Canada, and is frequently mentioned as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of BC or Governor General of Canada. He’s been granted numerous honorary appointments & degrees, had four high schools in Canada named after him, and in 1986, a township in Sudbury District, Ontario, previously named the Geographical Township of Stalin, altered its name to the Township of Hansen in the athlete’s honour.

^{Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4.}

Tonight’s sports:

• NHL: Sharks at Wild – 8:30PM | NBCSN

• World Baseball Classic Semi-Final : USA vs Japan – 9:00PM | MLB Network / Sportsnet

• NBA:
  • Bulls at Raptors – 7:00PM | ESPN / TSN
  • Spurs at Timberwolves – 9:30PM | ESPN / TSN

• NCAA:
  • NIT:
    • Richmond at TCU – 7:00PM | ESPN2
    • Georgia Tech at Mississippi – 9:00PM | ESPN2

We all want a USA – PR finals, right? Come for the jingoism, STAY FOR THE CONFUSED PRESIDENTIAL TWEETS!