Sports

Vancouver Is Now In The MLB Expansion Race

Published

2 months ago

November 27, 2025

MLB expansion is years away.

Did you hear the one from Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred about putting a second team in Canada? “Another city in Canada clearly could work for us”. That other city appears not to be Montréal. Manfred is talking up Vancouver, British Columbia. Vancouver has more than 2.6 million people in its metropolitan area. The city does house a National Hockey League, a Professional Women’s Hockey League and a Major League Soccer franchise. But there is a major problem in the Vancouver metropolitan area. There is no suitable baseball stadium and no plans for a stadium at this juncture. Another problem, the Canadian dollar is worth around 71 cents US and MLB does its business in American greenbacks. There is also a trade war taking place between the US and Canada.

Still Manfred views the Vancouver market in a high regard. Manfred needs as many metropolitan areas as possible to get the best possible expansion franchise stadium deal pitting municipalities against municipalities. Speaking highly of Vancouver doesn’t mean much as expansion is years way but Manfred put Vancouver in the expansion derby. “I think Vancouver’s a great city,” said Manfred. “I think that Canada has been unbelievably supportive of Major League Baseball. I can’t say enough about the support that the (Toronto) Blue Jays have received. I happened to be in Western Canada this summer, was absolutely blown away by the Blue Jay gear, the talk about the Blue Jays, how into it they are. The Seattle club will tell you, the best series they have year in and year out is when the Blue Jays come to visit and a ton of people from Canada come over to watch the games.” Manfred wants a team from the east and one from the west but nothing happens until the players and owners agree to a new collective bargaining agreement.

Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191

Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com

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Sports

Saudi Arabia Darts Masters – Quarter-final line up, predictions for tournament

Published

16 hours ago

January 19, 2026

Austin Reed

Michael van Gerwen (AP)

The 2026 World Series of Darts continues this week with the inaugural staging of the Saudi Arabia Masters. As with all events in the series, the format sees eight of the best players from the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) take on eight regional representatives in the last-16.

The winner of each international event earns £30,000 from a £100,000 prize fund, while the World Series of Darts Grand Final carries a total prize fund of £450,000, with £100,000 awarded to the champion.

Last week, Luke Littler was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Gerwyn Price, while Michael van Gerwen rediscovered his best form to overcome fellow Dutchman and rising star Gian van Veen 8–6 in a high-quality final.

This week, seven of the eight PDC representatives came through their last-16 matches against the invited regional opponents, though Man Lok Leung produced the shock of the round by defeating 2022 UK Open winner Danny Noppert, who is ranked tenth in the world.

First PDC event in Saudi Arabia event promises watchful eyes

As with all World Series events, the Saudi Darts Masters will see the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final all played tomorrow in one action-packed day.

There will be added eyes on this event, as it is the first PDC-sanctioned darts event held in Saudi Arabia, a country many feel is piling money into multiple sports in an attempt to distract attention from a poor human rights record, often referred to as “sportswashing”.

Quarter-finals: Match ups and predictions

Luke Littler v Gerwyn Price

‘Mighty Mike’ is top seed this week after his victory in Bahrain, where he defeated Bunting 6-4 in the quarter-finals. Their last ten matches have went 7-3 in favour of MvG. It must be said that Bunting, who was a controversial choice for this years Premier League given his poor showing in the 2025 event, does not look in great form.

If van Gerwen continues where he left off this week, he will have too much for the Englishman.

Prediction: van Gerwen 6-3

Nathan Aspinall v Man Lok Lueng

Lok Lueng is a rather unknown quantity, which made his victory over World No. 10 Danny Noppert all the more surprising. Aspinall won through his first round with an impressive 100.93 three dart average. Lueng and Aspinall have never met before.

It’s hard to see anything other than an Aspinall victory here.

Prediction: Aspinall 6-1

Gian van Veen v Luke Littler

This promises to be the match of the quarter-finals, provided van Veen can put behind him his heavy defeat to ‘the Nuke’ in last month’s World Championship final.

They have only met seven times on the PDC tour, with Littler edging the head-to-head 4-3.

If ‘The Nuke’ plays like in last weeks quarter-finals, van Veen has the game to gain a quick revenge.

Prediction: van Veen 6-5

Gerwyn Price v Luke Humphries

Price and Humphries tend to bring out the best in one another, with their last ten meetings evenly split at 5–5. Price was solid last week in his victory over Littler and, when his doubling clicks, he has the ability to drag any opponent out of their comfort zone.

With Humphries not in his richest vein of form, Price should edge this one.

Prediction: Price 6-4

Semi-final and final predictions

With van Gerwen showing something close to his best form last week and Littler exiting at the quarter-final stage, this shapes up as a tough week to predict a winner.

van Gerwen has the kinder side of the draw and should make the final at the expense of likely semi-final opponent Aspinall.

The lower half of the draw, however, contains three world champions and a runner-up, making it exceptionally difficult to predict with any real conviction who will emerge to reach the final. Littler could yet respond like a poked bear and bulldoze his way to the title, but it feels more likely that a semi-final between van Veen and Price awaits, with Price edging through to the final.

Who will win the title?

If van Gerwen reaches a second successive final and comes up against Price, he should hold the edge. The Dutchman leads their last ten meetings 6–4, a run that includes a dominant 7–2 victory in the Bahrain semi-finals last week.

Winner: Michael van Gerwen to beat Gerwyn Price 8-6

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Sports

Pegasus World Cup, live action from Tampa Bay Downs

Published

16 hours ago

January 19, 2026

Austin Reed

We are back at Gulfstream Park for the Pegasus World Cup

Busy week for Let ’em Run, live at Tampa Bay Downs Wednesday and previewing Pegasus World Cup

Let ‘em Run Review of 1/17/26

Last weekend saw a Kentucky Derby Prep race at Fair Grounds turn into a coming out party for trainer Cherie Devaux as her runners took the top 2 spots in The Lecomte. Golden Tempo and Mesquite earned points for the first Saturday in May, and also snapped an interesting trend that was broken in this edition of The Lecomte. Previous winners have only come out of having a maiden win last out, just one time in the past 25 years. So there is another example in horseracing where you need to sometimes look past the trends, and find the best horse.

Late P5 Breakdown Highlight

Our best breakdown occurred in the first race we looked at in the Late P5, when we had our bulls eye on the favorite, Medoro, in The Marie G. Krantz Memorial. The pace scenario played out as expected and set up for her, and she finished the job with a strong closing kick.

John Kostin’s Lecomte Insight

John was spot on in his deep dive in the Lecomte, where he was not impressed by the winners coming out of the Gun Runner Stakes. He had his eye squarely on both of trainer Cherie DeVaux’s runners, and gave his reasons why (check out clips attached).

Special Wednesday Podcast Preview

This week we will have a special edition of our Podcast, where our traveling handicapper, John Kostin will be live at Tampa Bay Downs on Wednesday 1/21/25 at 12:30 with special guest handicapper, Wadie Kalah. He is an avid handicapper, Tampa Bay native, and will be our “boots on the ground” with live updates, with John from Tampa Bay Downs. We will be breaking down the Late P5 sequence on the card, and any spot plays on the card that catch our attention. You can catch the Podcast live on Wednesday at 12:30 on Sports Talk Media Network, as well as multiple streaming apps and social channels.

Looking Ahead to Pegasus World Cup Day

Derby prep races take a break this weekend, as there is a huge card at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, The Pegasus World Cup Day. Included on the card are the Pegasus World Cup Turf for Fillies and Mares, and The Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. These races, and all the races on the card, have big fields, and quality horses, with value to be had. So stay tuned, bet smart, cheer hard, fast horses equals serious fun and as always…Let ‘em Run.

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Sports

Polynesian Football HOF names Puka Nacua Player of Year

Published

17 hours ago

January 19, 2026

Austin Reed

LOS ANGELES RAMS WIDE RECEIVER PUKA NACUA
NAMED POLYNESIAN PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR, PRESENTED BY HAWAIIAN AIRLINES

The Rams WR picks up the award ahead of the Polynesian Bowl

The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame announced today that Los Angeles Rams WR, Puka Nacua has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Polynesian Pro Football Player of the Year Award, presented by Hawaiian Airlines.

Nacua, of Samoan descent, was a fifth-round pick by the Los Angeles Rams in the 2023 NFL Draft. This past season, in 16 regular-season games, Puka hauled in 129 receptions for 1,715 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns, ranking first in the league in catches and second in receiving yards. His performance earned him a First-Team All-Pro selection and the PFF Offensive Player of the Year Award. Puka is a 2019 Polynesian Bowl All-Star and was also named the 2018 Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year.

“On behalf of the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Board of Directors, we congratulate Puka on a remarkable season,” said Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Chairman Jesse Sapolu. “He is a true source of pride for the Polynesian community.”

Other award winners

Mike Iupati was selected as the inaugural recipient of the award in 2015; Washington Commanders QB Marcus Mariota received the award in 2016; Kansas City Chiefs WR JuJu Smith-Schuster received the award in 2017 & 2018; Baltimore Ravens OT Ronnie Stanleyreceived the award in 2019; Indianapolis Colts DL DeForest Buckner received the award in 2021; San Francisco 49ers S Talanoa Hufanga in 2022; Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa won the award in 2022 and 2023; and Detroit Lions OL Penei Sewell won the award in 2024.

The formal presentation of the Award was held at the 2026 Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Celebration Dinner (January 17, 2026), along with being recognized during the 2026 Polynesian Bowl (January 16, 2025).

The Polynesian College Football Players of the Year were voted on by the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, comprised of Jack “The Throwin’ Samoan” Thompson (Chairman, former NFL player and Inaugural Inductee), Coaches Ron McBride and Dick Vermeil, former NFL player and Inaugural Inductee Olin Kreutz, Inaugural Inductee and past NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, former NFL player and Class of 2015 Inductee Ray Schoenke, sportscaster Neil Everett, NFL Network Chief National Reporter Steve Wyche, and former NFL Player and Class of 2023 Inductee Manti Te`o.

About the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame:

The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame honors Polynesia’s greatest players, coaches, and contributors. Its permanent home is located at the Polynesian Cultural Center and was established in 2013 by Super Bowl Champions Jesse Sapolu and Ma`a Tanuvasa. There are currently 50 inductees. For more information, visit PolynesianFootballHOF.org

About the Polynesian Bowl:

The Polynesian Bowl is a premier all-star game played annually in Honolulu, Hawai`i that features 100 of the nation’s top ranked high school seniors of Polynesian and non-Polynesian ancestry alike – many of whom have gone on to play in the NFL. Past MVPs include AJ Epenesa, Puka Nacua, Travis Hunter, and Nico Iamaleava. The game is broadcast live and in primetime on NFL Network. For more information, visit PolynesianBowl.com

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