Bound for Beijing

Rautins still wants Nash

Canada basketball men's coach Leo Rautins is still holding out hope that NBA veteran Steve Nash will join his squad.

The two-time MVP has publicly stated that he no longer wants to play international ball, at least at this stage of his career.

I still stick by my stance that Nash should suit up for Canada. Sure, he's given more than a decade to the red and white but the national squad is fighting for a berth in the Olympics and Nash is a difference maker.

And if he can get the Canucks into the Games, it will do wonders for the development of the sport nationwide.

Canada must finish top three at the qualification tourney in mid-July. For more details and Rautins' comments on Nash click here.

California dreaming

Got an e-mail from hurdler Adam Kunkel the other day.

The poor guy travelled all the way to California for a meet only to find out that there wasn't enough competitors in the 400-metre hurdles for a race. Talk about a downer.

At least the Paisley native didn't travel on his own dime.

Part of his qualification process for Beijing means running 49.50 seconds at a sanctioned meet before July 6th.

That shouldn't be a problem since his personal best is 48.24 seconds. That is, assuming some competition shows up at the events.

Ducey fired up

Had a great chat with Cambridge's Rob Ducey the other day. Caught him heading to scout a Triple-A baseball game in Charlotte.

And he's pretty pumped about coaching Canada at the Olympics. Rightfully so. The guy played 15 seasons in the Major Leagues but says Canada's semi-final loss to Cuba at the last Olympics was the most memorable game he's ever played.

That's cool.

Ever cooler, was the interview I had with Walt Jeffries, the scout who discovered Ducey and got him into the Blue Jays' organization. Jeffries is 79-years-old and razor sharp. Oh the stories he has. Twenty two years he spent with the Jays from the team's inception until the early 1990s. He's seen it all.

I would love to sit down with him for an afternoon and discuss Canadian baseball and the beginnings of the Bluebirds over an adult beverage.

Next on the profiling train is runner Carmen Douma-Hussar who lives in Philly. By the way, the profiles are scheduled to kick off May 31.

Disaster strikes China

A subtle reminder that there is more to life than sports.

Yesterday's earthquake in central China has killed an estimated 12,000 people. More than 18,000 are still missing in what was the country's worst quake in three decades.

Rescue officials are still looking for survivors.

Read the full story here. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

A round of applause for Clapp

It looks like Stubby Clapp's days with Team Canada's baseball team are done.

The 35-year-old veteran infielder is a Single-A hitting coach within the Houston Astros organization and the club has refused to grant his release to compete in Beijing.

Shi Davidi, an old j-school chum of mine, has all the details in this Canadian Press story.

I'm still trying to track down Rob Ducey of Cambridge who will coach the squad in China. Fellow Cambridge native Scott Thorman, who is struggling at the plate with Triple-A Richmond, is also a long shot to crack the squad.

Kitchener-born reliever Ryan Braun was on the radar but the Kansas City Royals righty had elbow surgery last month and is gone for the season.

Working the catwalk

In addition to the stories and pics below ... I dug up a video on the new HBC Canadian Olympic clothing line.

These are the threads that athletes will be wearing at the opening and closing ceremonies and throughout the Games.

So far, the athletes I've talked to have a mixed reaction about the garb. I've seen worse.

One question: Why do models have to be so serious all the time. Cripes, try flashing a smile.

Torch reaches new heights

The Olympic torch was carried to the top of Mount Everest by a group of Chinese climbers.

Cool idea, but damn, do those folks sure look cold in the footage.

Made in, where else?

See those swanky threads two posts below?

Well, as it turns out, they're getting lots of pub for the wrong reasons. Yes, the official Canadian Olympic garb wasn't exactly produced on home soil.

As the Montreal Gazette points out, more than 80 per cent of the clothes were made in China.

The Canadian Apparel Foundation is up in arms. And the outfit makes an interesting point when it says Canadian athletes should be wearing gear that was produced here.

The show must go on

Just got back from Stratford after spending a couple of hours with Olympic swimmer Julia Wilkinson.

The interview went great. The picture, well that was another story for photographer Mat McCarthy.

First, the video camera that was filming the interview didn't work.

Then, a comedy of errors, at the photo shoot. Here's the deal - we had 15 minutes to shoot Wilkinson on stage at the Festival Theatre during a break in rehearsal of All's Well that Ends Well.

That isn't much time for a portrait shot. And we really only ended up getting about 11 minutes.

McCarthy, a veteran photographer, fine tuned the lighting, found a great location and was just about to take some shots when the flash failed.

By the time he fixed the problem, an on-looker had cozied up next to Wilkinson for a few personal shots. A patient McCarthy waited until the fan left, then crouched for his shot and that's when the theatre folks announced: "time's up."

Our plea for just one more minute was rejected and we left without anything useable.

However, the savvy McCarthy, rebounded for a spellbinding picture down by the Avon river. Some quick thinking saved the day.

Sluggers and Shakespeare

The Olympic profiling continues next week.

On deck is Cambridge baseball player, turned manager, Rob Ducey. Now retired, the former Blue Jays outfielder will be working the dugout in Beijing. He's a tough guy to track down. He's currently the Asian scout for the Jays.

Monday, I'm off to Stratford to talk to swimmer Julia Wilkinson. She'll be competing in six, yes six, events in China. I believe that is a Canadian record.

The cool part about this assignment is that the fine folks at the Stratford Festival have agreed to let us take her picture on the stage of the Festival Theatre. You know, Olympics is the world stage of sports, she hails from Stratford, a town known for its stage performances. Deep thoughts, I know.

But kudos for them for helping us out, especially during prime rehearsal time. Turns out they're in favour of supporting a local athlete.

And perhaps I'll get to try on a few wigs and belt out a few lines -- 'To be or not to be!'