I have yet, in my 3 year reign of abuse here at Beyond Robson, told you about a magical little gathering called Sunday Soccer at McLean Park, home of Sunday United. For what must be 7 years we've met at 3pm almost every single Sunday (in the winter we play on the gravel field at the school). Given the often insane number of drunken hipster flailing around in the blistering heat wearing short shorts and tight jeans, it can get a wee bit crowded. Sorry if you feel like I've stolen a piece of your life for not telling you about the best game of 'balance the Pacific Pilsner in one hand while running at top speeds' in town, but I'm pretty sure you need to either a) own a motorbike, b) be in a shit-hot Vancouver noise-band, c) go to Emily Carr, d) have either a beard, a boyfriend with a beard, or a really ironic t-shirt on, or e) be an eccentric Vietnamese bottle lady/bootlegger, an 80 year old Korean man nicknamed Kip Winger, a little kid, or some crazy european castaway who never passes the ball. Also suggested but not required are any of the following:

-Djarums
-a ridiculous headband
-witty banter/extensive knowledge of obscure Italo space disco
-some sort of fancy fig tapenade
-war paint
-a bottle of cheap but slightly eccentric alcohol, such as Baby Duck, Scnapps, Rice Wine, Cooking Sherry...
-free spirited alt-moms
-fixie

Like I mentioned earlier, I caught my second Terminal City Rollerderby bout and it was wild to say the least; even more so than my first bout. Here is a sample of the action.

* Denotes photos from Flickr user Bob Ayers.

Lorenagade #5000 (left) and Cinder Hella #86 'er (right).

I had the pleasure of catching my second ever Terminal City Rollergirl Flat Track bout between the Faster Pussycats and the Bad Reputations--mind you, the Reputations also were in the first bout I caught.

This time around there was a lot more mayhem; more bodies flying and a lot more carnage.

How does one prepare for something like Flat Track Rollerderby and how does one cool down?

I decided to ask a member from each team; "Cinder Hella #86" from the Bad Reps and "Lorenagade #5000" from the Faster Pussycats.

It's always difficult when someone passes away and even more so when it's unexpected.

Bob Ackles, the man single-handedly responsible for the renaissance of the B.C. Lions, passed away early this morning of a heart attack according to TSN.

He was 69-years old.

One of the many things that can get my blood boiling is the self centeredness of Toronto when it relates to sports.

Having the Canucks play a game vs. Toronto at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday a few years ago to appease the fans in the East.

Seeing the Leafs' pursuit of Eric Lindros as the lead story on Sportsdesk (remember Sportsdesk?) for a month straight even after it was clear there would be no deal.

The examples are seemingly endless.

Fans of three down football also have a reason to get their hate on for T.O. as a group of Torontonian businessmen (including Ted Rogers) are attempting to bring a National Football League team to the "Center of the Universe" and that has people around here irked.

I know soccer players dive more than Greg Louganis; I know 2-0 is considered a blowout and 0-0 draws happen more often than not, but I still think soccer is a fantastic sport.

Last year I caught a couple of games for the U-20 World Cup at Swangard and again, I was in awe of the "Beautiful Game".

On the world stage there are two major soccer tournaments, the World Cup being one and the 2008 Union of European Football Associations' (UEFA) European Football Championship (Euro 2008) being the other.

Since the tournament is based in Europe -- Austria and Switzerland to be exact -- the time difference means that games that are in prime time there are in the early and late mornings here.