Each week, I watch the coachs copies of the previous games in preparation for the upcoming telecasts to have an understanding of how each team employs their schemes. One week ago, I took a break from watching one of the games and had a chance to check e-mails and look at whats happening in the world. My twitter feed had conversations that had just talked about a shooting in Ottawa. I left my office and went and turned on the television to see what was happening. At the time, reports talked about three separate shootings areas and it was a very scary sight to see that happening in the capital of the country. I watched my film and took my notes the rest of the day glued to the TV, thinking of things more than football. This will happen often to coaches since we seem to be always in the office watching game films. I can remember being in the office for the Argonauts on September 11, 2001 watching with the rest of the coaching staff as my home country came under attack. A couple of years later, the office changed, the colours changed and I was trying to prepare a game plan while watching and hoping family members were safe in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina plowed through in 2005. Last week reminded me of those difficult times. It lets you know that there is simply more important things than football that happen daily and we should always remember that as players and coaches. After Sept. 11, the CFL had originally decided to play games on the weekend and that was a much discussed topic for the league since all other leagues cancelled games. Our QB Jimmy Kemp spoke to the team a day or two after the events and told his teammates that although he is a team guy, that he would not play the games out of respect for what had happened. It was a difficult decision and Jimmy was and is a stand-up guy; everyone understood where he was coming from. Jimmys decision did not matter as the CFL changed its mind and cancelled games after further thought. I can remember how great Canadians were to the people of the US and did their utmost to help and show respect to the people who were lost on the 11th. I tried to show respect by searching all over Mississauga for a US flag. I finally found a large flag and had it hung up on the backside of our trailers at the Argo facility overlooking the practice fields. I wanted to have the Americans on the team who were in another country to have some connection to home they could see. The hardest part about working in professional sports is that, no matter what is happening, the games and seasons will have to go on eventually. No time was tougher and hit closer to home than when we lost our assistant head coach Richard Harris to a massive heart attack two days before a game in 2011. We had to mourn as well as prepare for a game in little or no time. The games go on and you have to get ready, even though you are in pain and want to take time to console others and help those in need. There was no tougher team meeting than when I had to tell our team the circumstances of Coach Harriss passing the following day. The support from the league and the fans was tremendous and the players honoured Coach Harris by finding a way to defeat the BC Lions after a moving moment of silence before the game in Winnipeg. That is the thing about actually playing the games, it allows us to honour as well as get our mind on things that we are passionate about, if only for a few hours. Last Friday, I believe the CFL was at the forefront of the support for all of Canada as the Redblacks hosted the Montreal Alouettes in Ottawa, the city that had been home to one of the attacks that resulted in the death of Corporal Nathan Cirillo. Everyone was able to have a moment of silence and pay tribute with the CFL to Cirillo and also Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. As I was preparing to go to the studio, I was watching television coverage of the people who were lined up along the Highway of Heroes to again support Corporal Cirillo. From Ottawa all the way to Hamilton, the great people of Canada came from every town to tribute a fallen soldier who was a complete stranger to most. It was amazing and moving to see people trying to help the families of the fallen in any way possible. Hopefully sports and football can help people in times of struggle to have a release when it is needed. Nathan and Patrice, thank you for your support and your sacrifice and we will do our best to make sure you are not forgotten. I am an American who is very proud of his country, but I can also say that after last week, I am once again reminded of how proud I am to call Canada my home the past 14 years. Custom New York Yankees Jerseys . Therrien would not confirm his lineup for the game, but he did have the same line combinations practicing together for the third straight day which is usually a pretty good indication of what the lineup will be. Thairo Estrada Jersey .com) - Semyon Varlamov more than earned his third shutout of the season as he made a career-high 54 saves to lift the Colorado Avalanche to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1531g-adonis-rosa-jersey-yankees.html . TSN 1290s game day coverage begins on Monday, June 9 at 5:30pm ct as the Blue Bombers take on the Toronto Argonauts in pre-season action. Bombers game day broadcasts on TSN 1290 are hosted by Winnipeg Blue Bomber Hall of Famers Troy Westwood and new addition Chris Walby, alongside beat reporter Darrin Bauming, who delivers regular reports on the team for TSN 1290 all-season long. Mike Tauchman Jersey . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace. New York Yankees Pro Shop . The goals took Liverpools tally in the Premier League this season to 70, overtaking Manchester City as the top scorers, and left the fourth-place team just four points behind league leader Chelsea.It had been the greatest World Cup most could ever remember. A World Cup full of wonderful moments and wonderful matches. Then it became the World Cup that Luis Suarez bit someone in. Hyperbole has been destroyed in Brazil. World Cups of recent memory have tried to convince us that they have been entertaining but, in general, they were dull. This time it seemed anyone could say anything about this World Cup and no one would say wait, what?. And then Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. Wait, what? It came just as some might have been taking a snooze. For the first time in Brazil two games, being played out at the same time, gave us very little to enjoy. England, whose multitude of writers on social media reminded us they were still relevant, finally put their fans out of their misery with a lifeless scoreless draw against sudden group powerhouses, Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte. In Natal, meanwhile, Uruguays plan was going to script. Blessed with two legitimate world class strikers, and very little else, Oscar Tabarez played it cautiously, waited for a moment or two to go his way and thats how they qualified. Anyone willing to criticize such a tactic should remember just how they won Copa America 2011. And how they have scored in Brazil. A penalty by Edinson Cavani, a header made by Cavani and scored by Suarez, a bullet of a shot finished by Suarez and started by the goalkeeper and now a header from a set play. Tuesdays hero, Diego Godin, is the only one anywhere close to the talent of the front pair. Italy, meanwhile, didnt get The Tabarez Memo. Needing a draw to advance they played far too close to the line of uncertainty. A line that could move with a red card, a set play goal of a poor display by their main striker. Lightning struck three times for the Italians. Claudio Marchisios red card was debatable but not enough to chastise the referee. The marking on the goal wasnt good enough and then there was Mario Balotelli. The term world class is thrown around far too often when describing players. It is the elite of the elite, a section reserved for the greatest players in the game today. There is nothing left after that. On Tuesday, Balotelli made a mockery of those quick to place him in that category. On the biggest stage of all, when his country needed him he was an absolute liability, forcing his coach to remove him at half-time. The problem for Balotelli is that he has run out of his immaturity excuse. The great footballerrs are gifted, of course, but also have a level of football intelligence about them, that allows games to come to them rather than trying to do it themselves.dddddddddddd Balotelli has misfired regularly at the top table of club football, the Champions League, and has now done the same at the top table of the international game as well. Italy came to Brazil to win the World Cup and needed their striker at the top of his game, physically and mentally. He played one good half out of five and thats not good enough. Sure, he is not the only one to blame for their early exit. Cesare Prandelli couldnt up the tempo and had to resign afterwards. Andrea Pirlo, one of the greatest footballers of this era, was a shadow of his former self, joining the likes of Iker Casillas, Xavi, Diego Forlan and Steven Gerrard who have all been exposed by age at this level. And then there is FIFA who are also to blame for this, of course. Italy became another European team humbled in the intense heat of Brazil. Asking these teams to play afternoon games, rather than evening games, has made a significant impact on the results. Not that they care about that. Their attention now turns to the Suarez investigation and they need to get it right. He should and will be suspended with a lengthy ban. What happens next is even more important. After his 10-game ban came down last April for biting Branislav Ivanovic, the Uruguyan showed a tremendous amount of remorse. How can he not have? After all, this is clearly not a man who believes that biting an opponent is the right thing to do. However, it is also clearly a man who is unstable on the field and needs help. Throwing the book at him, in terms of a suspension, will satisfy all of those who care about the sport. That then leaves a man, a man who will clearly be broken by this. It is easy to feel no sympathy for him but if you think he was crushed by the Liverpool suspension wait for this one to come down. Uruguay is a very proud footballing country and that is shown in the way they play the game. Suarez will be distraught that he has let his country down and, with it, given a poor reflection on them internationally. As he sits out the rest of this World Cup and, subsequently, likely the 2015 Copa America he will have a lot of time on his hands to get help and become a better man. Many hours were put in to get him to reach the level of world class as a footballer and now he must do the same to achieve that as a man. ' ' '