Hello Canada,

Well, we did it! As some of us watch the Men's Basketball Final from the cool comfort of the Team Services Lounge in the Village (the reason we are not all at the game is another story), it seems a good time to reflect on all that has been accomplished over the past four years.

When leaving Sydney, Canada Rugby had fallen from the podium to a 4th place finish after a very difficult Paralympic Games for the team. The team leaves Athens as the Paralympic Silver Medallists, moving up two places in the Paralympic rankings. We also remain World Champions for another two years. What a result!

We are blessed with a terrific group of athletes of whom we should all be VERY proud. I want to thank Daniel, Jared, Mike, Pat, Dave, Raymond, Al, Al, Ian, Mike, Fabien and Garett for an awesome competitive experience. I also want to thank Marco, Benoit, Stephan, Jenn, and Joe for their commitment to, and support of, this program and our athletes.

I want to thank our provincial members for developing these great athletes, our athlete and volunteer families for their support. Thanks to Don for holding down the fort at home and posting up our results and stats almost as soon as they happened. Thank you to Sport Canada and CPC for your guidance, funding and awesome support in the stands at our
games. I'd also like to extend special thanks to ¨The Lady in Red, Senator Joyce Fairbairn¨ for her constant show of support throughout the Games.

While we have faced some challenges here in Athens, our result was nothing short of STERLING! Way to go guys!

Cheers!

Cath

And now, a few words from our Whitey,

"Hello Friends, Family and teamates,

After a long fought game against New Zealand team we were beat 31-29. We had our chances and did not capatilize on the turnovers we created. Last night they were better.

The medal ceremony was an amazing experience and I signed my first autograph for a young Greek fan. Good for the ego after a loss. We will now relax, watch some basketball and tour the city tomorrow.

The four years is up and time to get a real job,,,,,,, never,,,,, we just got a raise!!

World Championships next 2006 hopefully in Japan?????

Thanks again for all the support

Lots of Love.

Mikey"

As you know by now, our golden quest fell one game short, as the Kiwis overcame an early Canadian two-goal lead to win by two themselves, 31-29, in the Paralympic Gold Medal match in Athens. The Americans earned bronze in their 3rd place match versus the British team, winning 43-39.

Congrats to the Kiwis who have had a great string of success this past season dating back to the World Wheelchair Games in Nov-03, the Coloplast International in Jan-04, and the Demolition Derby in Feb-04. They launch into 1st place in the IWRF rankings, which have shaken up most of the top-8 standings, with the exception of ourselves, who remain ranked 2nd in the world with their Paralympic Games silver medal performance in Greece.

There are now a couple more photos from the rugby action, including a few shots of Whitey who was an impact player for our team throughout the tournament.

The bronze and gold medal matches are now over, and most of you probably have already heard the results. GB fell behind the US in the 2nd quarter of their bronze medal game, and even further in the hole in the 3rd, to lose to the solid US team by a score of 43-29.

The gold medal went to the Kiwis, who have had a great season, winning the World Wheelchair Games last November, and following it up with wins at the Coloplast International and the Demolition Derby in January and February, respectively.

The final score in the Canada - New Zealand game was 31-29 for the Kiwis. I'm hoping to hear from our people in the morning for a wrapup on the final game, and some...

From the ATHOC site, here are a few comments on the Bronze Medal Game and a brief summary of our Gold Medal Game.

More tomorrow!

The Aussies have prevailed and finish 5th at the Athens Paralympic Games.

The game has just concluded, and the Aussies won by a 3-point margin, 46-43. It was nice to see that Guy finally got some game time, logging a full period in the 4th quarter.

Scores for these games have been posted on our results page, where you'll also see the rosters and a few photos of the competitors.

While we await the results of the medal matches, here is a reminder of some things we are offering - we have in stock a limited edition run of Canada Rugby Athens 2004 shirts. One design is a flag-red Adidas 'Sportivo' collared jersey, sporting the CWSA logo, 'Canada Rugby,' and the word 'Athens' in Greek letters followed by the year:

You can check them out over here:

Shirt - Adidas Ezeiza - Climacool fabric - Red with Black Stripes - CWSA Rugby Athens 2004

Shirt - Adidas Sportivo Jersey - Flag Red - Collared - CWSA Rugby Athens 2004

Either shirt runs for $50 + $5 shipping/handling. Limited quantities. Contact me if you'd like to order one: dlane@cwsa.ca. We also have a limited number of official Molten wheelchair rugby balls, with the IWRF and CWSA logos and a Canada stripe printed on the balls. They go for the same price as the shirts. The shipping/handling costs are fixed at $5 per order, regardless of the quantity ordered.

Alternatively, you can checkout a brief report of the two games already held or view some of the few rugby photos on the ATHOC site.

Today is the final day of our quadrennial plan, and we're in the right place, at the right time - the Paralympic Gold Medal match.

Prior to the final, there are three other games which will be hard fought, with pride and position on the line. The Japanese, after a heart-breaking 1-point loss to the Belgians, take on the #5 world ranked Germans for 7th. Following this game, the battle for 5th between the #3 Australians and the #7 Belgians could prove to be closer than one might think.

The Bronze medal, between the defending champs from the US and the charging Brits, will be a colossal game, but it's our final that I'm most looking forward to. Here is a preview of the games, from the ATHOC site.

Here is today's schedule, in Athens time:

10:00 - Japan vs. Germany (7-8 ranking)

12:00 - Australia vs. Belgium (5-6 ranking)

17.00 - USA vs. Great Britain (bronze medal)

19:00 - New Zealand vs. Canada (gold medal)

The 7th place game is now over, and the Japanese continue to be the bridesmaids, losing by a single point to Germany, in a 41-40 loss. Speedster Shinichi Shimakawa continued his onslaught of the scoring race, marking half of the Japanese goals. For a play-by-play view of the game, just check this out.

The 5th place game is under way, and interestingly enough, one of the Belgians, albeit one of their brand new 2.5's who was not expected to see a lot of bench time, doesn't even appear on the starting roster. Guy Michem has been injured throughout the Games, and hasn't seen a minute, and their new 3.5 has seen under 10 seconds of game time over five games.

Speaking of stats, total game stats for all teams is just a click away.

The Aussie - Belgian game should be over now... checking now for an update....

The Paralympic web site offers extremely detail oriented game reports, so if you want to break it down for any of our games, just look for their play by play option under each game and you'll be able to envision the entire game, such as this one from our CAN-USA semi-final match.

The US started with 3.0 Zupan - 2.0 Kirkland - 2.0 Chunn - 1.0 Lyduch, and we countered with 3.0 Chan - 3.0 Lavoie - 1.5 Simard - 0.5 Paradis. Cliff Chunn played iron man throughout the game, and Bryan Kirkland wasn't far behind, logging over 30 minutes of game time. 11 of the 12 Canadian players saw the floor in a flurry of activity from the Canuck bench.

Meanwhile, I've reached our Team Manager, Marco Dispaltro, who is back in the village with the guys, who are relaxing playing poker, or sleeping, while the coaches review more video and finalise our game plan for the gold medal match with the Kiwis. The attitude for now is relaxed, but they will be charged and pumped tomorrow for the big game.

It's especially gratifiying to beat the US after they've steamrolled over the rest of the field, much as they did at the 2002 World Championships in Sweden. Since they are our neighbours, we know them so well, and match up quite well against them. In addition, the guys find it in them to raise their level when playing the Americans, and the crowd seemed to be on our side.

Speaking of the crowd, the Aussies will be cheering us big time in the final against their Oceania rivals from New Zealand, who used primarily four players in their last win against GB. Oughton and Johnson, their 1-2 punch, played iron man rugby, while Gerry Tinker played about 30 minutes of their game. Birthday boy Buckingham, who celebrates his b-day tomorrow, played over 22 minutes in the game against the Brits.

Some of our players really raised their game against the US, with Alberta's Al Chartrand dominating in his matchup against the US 2's, playing world-class rugby. Al was put down rather viciously by Kirkland and banged his head hard on the court... so perhaps that was the motivation he needed to dominate. Mike Bacon and Daniel Paradis did an excellent job of keeping Kirkland in the box, and were picking machines throughout the game. Ian Chan had a masterful 'monster game,' while our Warrior, Garett Hickling, was back to his legendary form.

Things are looking good... more tomorrow!

Canada as an entire country is performing quite well at these games. CBC Sports is getting regular updates out and glimpses into the athletic performances of our athletes. An ongoing medal count is also a feature to their site, and Team Canada sits in 9th place overall, with 29 medals, including 11 gold. We hope to add one more big team gold medal to that tally tomorrow!

Quotes from the post-game press conference summed up the game and set things up for tomorrow's difficult games for both teams.

The final opponents for tomorrow's games have now been finalized since the Kiwis just beat the Brits by 4 and will become our final obstacle on our golden quest. The Brits will take on the Americans for bronze.

That game will go down in history as one of our finest moments, as it was the only time anyone has ever beaten the powerful US team by a margin of 4 goals. In fact, we're still the only team to have ever beaten them at the World Championship or Paralympic level.

Leading scorers were... nah, it doesn't matter. You can look that up on the game sheet if you like, but it's not something the guys put any level of importance to. The goal is to win the game by going with our game plan and executing our plays. Personal stats mean nothing in a team game, and we're only a single team..... CANADA.

The complete game results are available on the Paralympic page on the CWSA site. If you'd like to see it in tableau form, that's available on the ATHOC site.

The news you wanted to hear is here!!!

It's over, and we put the US away by 4, with a final score of 24-20.

Next stop New Zealand or GB. Either way, the guys are not finished yet - they're content, but not yet happy. Step by step - we'll make it to the top.

The gym is going nuts --- it was an all out effort by the entire team, to the phenomenal picking of the low pointers to the amazing game swinging turnovers by the high pointers.

The boys look awesome, and have just taken out the defending Paralympic gold and silver medallists in two straight games.

More to follow...

In sports, there are all sorts of superstitions, and things that people do for good luck.

Sitting here in Ottawa, while our team goes head to head with the defending Paralympic Gold Medallists, I'm thinking positively while glancing over to Cathy's desk, where the World Championship Trophy resides... gonna go rub the trophy again for good luck! Man, it's never looked so gleaming and polished!

The boys know what to do - and they're gonna get the job done!!!

Update from either the 2nd or 3rd quarter....

CAN 15 - USA 14... we have the ball. Things are tight, but are going well.... and the gym sounds loud and fabulous!

More updates in 20 minutes or so...

We now have a photo gallery from one of our games, courtesy of BC-based photographer Kevin Bogetti-Smith. You can check out his shots from the CAN-GER game and see some big hits, as well as our new Team Canada uniforms. Thanks Kevin!!!



In semi-final action this morning, the seedings held, but just barely, as the Japanese came within a point of sending the Belgians to the 7th place game tomorrow. The boys from Brussels came up with a big 4th quarter to squeeze past the Japanese by a score of 36-35.

In the other game, 84 points were scored, with the Aussies getting their 4-point margin of victory all in the 4th quarter to earn a 44-40 win over the Germans.

Here are a few more links for your reading pleasure:

ATHOC - on the Canadian and New Zealand victories today that pushed them in to the medal round.

It was funny to read about "The game featured aggressive blocking by the big men, especially Garett HICKLING (CAN) and Brad DUBBERLEY (AUS). It was certainly not a game for the feint hearted. "

Top-level rugby is exciting to watch and dynamic to play. Seeing G and The Kid in the big plays will hopefully motivate some strong-hearted Greeks to get involved in this great sport, as Greece has yet to play a single international game. Hopefully these Games will act as a catalyst for the development of our sport in their country.

ATHOC - where the two Dubya's speak like team players, and the Aussies focus on being blunt and negative. Once again, they should have come to the Canada Cup, just like we should have gone to the 1999 World Wheelchair Games, and didn't.

Tomorrow's matches, with their local starting times in Greece, which is 7 hours ahead of EST here in Canada:

10:00 - Belgium vs. Japan (5th-8th class)

12:00 - Australia vs. Germany (5th-8th class)

The winners of these two games meet for 5th place, the losers for the 7th place game.

17:00 - United States vs. Canada (semi-final)

19:00 - Great Britain vs. New Zealand (semi-final)

The two winners of these games meet for the Paralympic Gold Medal, while the losers will meet for the final medal position, and a bronze medal at the Athens Paralympic Games.

This game was the highlight of the day's events, as it was a clash of the titans, with the Australian silver medallists from the 2000 Paralympic Games up against the defending world champions from Canada.

The Aussies had only lost to the Americans by a single goal in Sydney, and their team came in to these Games coming off an impressive win at the Chris Handy Cup, which is the annual grudge-match, go-for-broke, hard-core series of battles between the two Oceania powerhouses of Australia and New Zealand. The Kiwis, who are coming off an outstanding year of international success, had defeated the Aussies in 2002 and 2003, and came in to Cairns looking for a threepeat. If you'd like more detail on this year's Chris Handy Cup, just check out the Aussie Rugby page.

In Athens, reporters are scrambling after the coaches and athletes after most games. For comments from both sides of the bench, check out these links on the USA-GER game, the GBR-JAP game where the Japanese voice their discontent on classification and the level of the British team, and some general comments on the mornings games, including some info on who is perceived to be the fastest player in the sport, which seems to vary by tournament these days.

The BEL & NZL players got their quotes in on their crossover game and their next opponents. One of the Kiwis mentioned that the last time they met the Brits, the bulldog fanciers came out on top 2-1. Tomorrow's games will be intense, and we'll see who can execute their game plans, and who rolls away shaking their heads. We're up against the defending Paralympic Gold Medallists, Team USA, and it will be one wild ride involving two inspired teams.

Anything can happen on Any Given Friday... GO CANADA GO!

The guys are in the locker room now, which is full of these little free-standing mini-lockers which seem to fall down either on their own, or like dominos in a series. It's kind of a dangerous place to celebrate a win, but the guys are happy to be where they are, and in the medal hunt.

The team came to play, and talent won out. Both teams made some mistakes, but they were balanced, and traded back and forth. Mike Bacon played a nearly full game, logging over 26 minutes of court time on a Whitey / Ian / Mikey / Daniel 7.5 pt lineup, or a G / Ian / Mikey / Daniel 8.0 lineup. Another prominent line was Ian / Fab / Patrice / Daniel.

The Aussies had Baby Batt on the court for a minute and a half. I'm sure the classifiers won't be happy about that, as he needs 'meaningful time on the court,' and 93 seconds with no stats on the board is hardly going to make them reach effective conclusions.

Four of the Boys from Oz played over 23 minutes each, including The Kid (3.5, who played an iron man game) - Patrick Ryan (2.5) - Scott Vitale (1.0) 0 Ryan Scott (0.5). Co-Captain George Hucks (3.0), who is always a crowd favourite, didn't play a minute, and he was joined on the bench by Co-Captain Brett Boylan (2.0) and veteran Grant Boxall (2.5).

It's too noisy over there to get a full report, but I'll be contacting Marco again at 3:15 EST.

In earlier cross-over games today, the Americans took care of the Germans, and did not allow their methodical defensive style to get in the way of their game plan. The US shut the Germans out of medal contention with at decisive 46-34 victory in the first game of the day.

The offensively geared Japanese scored 42 points through the British defense... but don't forget about that potent GB offence, which scored eight more goals than the Japanese to win 50-42. The British boys lead throughout the game, and exposed their bench in the 4th quarter.

In classification news, there are two new stories - one is really big, because this player is now out of the sport! If you guessed that his name rhymed with 'rat' you'd be wrong, 'cause it's Mr. Ito from the Japanese team. You never like hearing about situations such as this, when a player can no longer be involved, but it's part of the sport. The Ryley Batt story is still mired in appeals.

The other one deals with long-time Kiwi national team member, Sholto Taylor, who is now a 2.0, down from being a 2.5. There has been some sort of change in his medical condition which precipitated the classification change, so the ruling is not controversial, as Taylor has been an impact 2.5 player for many years.

In the third game of the day, the seedings held again, as the Kiwis, with their new deuce, took out the iron man Belgians, with their 0.5 Koen Delen playing his fourth straight 32-minute game. The final score was 40-33 for New Zealand, which won or tied every quarter in the game.
And now for the news you've been waiting for....

Speaking of the Aussies...

WE WON!

It's crunch time!

The boys are getting ready for their game against the Aussies. The winner moves on to the top-4 and the chance to win gold, while the loser goes to bad side of the tableau and will will be able to do no better than 5th.

The Aussies were silver medallists at the last Paralympics, while the good guys, wearing the slick red and black jerseys with a unified 'Canada' name on their backs, were 4th. The guys are ready for this game, are focussed, and are not over-confident. The Aussies are serious, but we're in the zone!

Despite the «laissez-faire» opinion that many people had about the Greeks coming in to the games, Athens is officious and regulated. Everything is down to a pre-scheduled minute-by-minute time schedule, which is all based around the transportation schedule.

For example, when I checked in with our team manager, Marco, he was in the warmup gym, where the team will be until 28 minutes past the hour, after which they will travel to the main gym, where the introductions will be held at 10 minutes to the hour, and the boys will be at our team bench by 4 minutes to the hour, after which the game will start precisely on time.

That doesn't leave a lot of time after the game for media interviews or cool-downs, as we get quickly ushered out of this area, and back towards the transportion system. We're here for the media - if they can keep up with us!

~That is all - bring it on!~

Here's another report from Cathy in Athens:

After another nail biter yesterday against Belgium, Canada Rugby is enjoying a day off in Athens with family and friends. Many of the players have their families in the village with them as guests today. A few of us have ventured out on the spectator buses to other venues to watch our Canadians in action.

Coach Joe and some of the players are watching rugby videos in the rugby team lounge. It's a good day of quiet and relaxation before the big game against Australia tomorrow.

We need your good thoughts and wishes for tomorrow Canada, so keep those messages to the boys coming fast and furious. I'll print them out and read them before our game.

In the meantime, here is a report from ATHOC on how things are measuring up before tomorrow's games.

GO CANADA RUGBY GO!

- Cathy

I've established hard links from our results page to the PDF game reports on all 12 of the games played at the Paralympics so far.

After the final game today, our opponent on Thursday is now established, and it will be Australia, who are 1-2 in Pool "A" action.

Tomorrow is a day off to prepare in between the pools and the playoffs.

More from the team when they check in...

Meanwhile, back at the Belgian game...

The organizers are able to provide everyone with some amazingly detailed reports, such as this one on the CAN-BEL game this morning. Stat junkies rejoice!

Typically, we're Canadians, and not stat junkies. This is characterized by our look out on the court. One team, one name, one result. On the backs of our jerseys you'll see 'Canada' not the individual names of our players. They can be unique off the court. On the floor, they're a single unit. Unified in mind and spirit, and aspiring a single golden goal in Athens. The road to gold is paved in pain, and we're gunning for it!

For those who'd like a summary of the games to date in the pools, along with a tableau of the established and upcoming matches, check out this link.

The US-AUS game will be a re-match of the 2000 Paralympic Games final, although the Australians are still hurting from their earlier classification problems, and have just squeaked past the Japanese in their last game. Things look good for Team America, despite the experience of the Australian coach and his solid team.

Some of the games in Athens have been exceedingly close. Take this one, for example. Two Oceania teams that have a new, and decidedly heated, rivalry. And no, it's not the Kiwi / Oz game... it's the Japanese!

The speedsters used a lineup of 3.0 Shimakawa – 2.5 Tamura – 2.0 Misaka – and 0.5 Ogino against the Aussies. Oi! Of further note, it'll be difficult for the classifiers to make final decisions when the two guys they wanted to see the most (Ito and Batt) made a total of 12 seconds on the floor between the two of them...

Back to the Kiwis now, as they gave our neighbours down south a run for their money, with the US team proving their medal potential, outlasting the Islanders by a score of 35-32. The Kiwis only faltered in the 2nd quarter, but it was by enough of a margin for the Americans to capitalize on throughout the rest of the game.

More in a little while...

Canada beats Belgium

The score is now in and it's another win for Team Canada in Athens. The final score against Europe's #2 team was 33-29 for the #2 world ranked Canadians.

Mike Whitehead and one of the Belgian's are quoted in this article, while game stats can be found over here, while the re-invigorated Brits, fresh off their first international win over Canada in over 10 years, beat up the Germans by a wide margin, 41-30.

Some game analysis will come in within the next few hours.

Canada is now at 1-1 in wheelchair rugby in Athens.

With the score tied at 27 and 3:32 seconds left in the game against GB, we tried to get maintain ball control in order to set up the final goal of the game. Troye Collins of GB stripped G of the ball with 2:12 left, and then it was the Brits time to play keep away.

The Brits then tried for the final goal with 3 seconds left, but Collins was called with an in-and-out penalty, and no goal was then scored by either team.

The OT period started with some degree of controversy, as Team Canada indicated that Collins was in the circle already a the start of the O/T period, but the team's video footage was inconclusive, and the Japanese footage of the game, which may have had a superior angle, was not accepted into evidence.

The starting lineup (your welcome, Kirby) for this game was Fabien Lavoie - Ian Chan - Patrice Simard and Daniel Paradis for Team Canada, against Collins - Andy Barrow - Alan Ash and Rob Tarr for the Brits.

GB played a solid game, while we played a reasonably solid game. The rest of the world is starting to catch up, but the boys in red are still confident about their chances in Athens. The boys play the Belgians tomorrow, which will determine the seeds in the cross-over games.

In classification news, all teams are eagerly checking the info boards each morning at 09:00, as PPS (Permanent Paralympic Status) reports are being regularly posted here, which is something every rugby player longs to see next to his name. The fortunate few this morning include Americans Wayne Romero and Brent Poppen, who remain as 3.0 and 2.0 players respectively, along with Australia's 0.5 Ryan Scott, and three Japanese players: 3.0 Shinichi Shimakawa, 2.0 Hiroyuki Misaka, 1.5 Kenichi Mori.

The pending re-classifications of AUS's Batt 'n Vitale, USA's Will Groulx, and Japan's Satoshi Ito are still up in the air, awaiting their 'meaningful presence' which is a term that will likely be better defined down the road.

Here are a few more links of interest for you:

ATHOC - Detailed reports on the CAN - GER game

CBC - Backgrounder on the sport

STUFF (NZ Media) - More on the Ryley Batt re-classification (no big surprises here)

ATHOC - Comments from coaches and players on the Belgian's win over the Germans

PHOTO GALLERY - With shots from the AUS-NZL and BEL-GBR games

Our game with the Brits is now long over, but no news has come my way... maybe by the time I get to the office some news will have come in...

Here are some links to some media stories on today's games in Athens:

BBC - on the GBR vs BEL game which is in our pool.

ATHOC - with comments on the Canadian and British wins and the great play of the Canadian co-captains

ATHOC - on the oceanic battle between traditional rivals AUS and NZL

ATHOC - with comments and quotes on the battle between Canada and Germany

ATHOC - with quotes from amiable Kiwi captain Bill Oughton and The Kid from Australia.

ATHOC - with quotes from Japanese deuce Masahiro Fukui

BBC - prior to the Brit's first game today

To take a look at some detailed game results from the CAN-GER game, check out this section of the Paralympic Games web site.

In attendance at today's game in Athens were large number of family members and friends, along with dignitaries, including Liza Frulla, the Minister of Heritage, Senator Joyce Fairbairn, who has championed the cause of Canadian Paralympians, and Patrick Jarvis, the President of the CPC. A large number of Canadian Mission Staff were also on hand to see our come-from-behind victory, which was a very exciting game. The Canadian flags were going wild in the stands!

Speaking of wild, I just got off the phone with Team Canada Manager, Marco Dispaltro, and heard my first ever Kiwi Haka, which was loud and clear even over the phone! The Kiwi-Aussie game is about to start, and the gym is just rocking!

The Americans didn't let Godzilla walk all over them, and coasted to a comfortable win over the Japanese. Meanwhile, the Brits got past the Belgians, with both scores unconfirmed...

The win is now official - although it was by a three-point margin over the re-invigorated Germans. Here is Cathy's report:


It was a nail biter! What should have been a romp against Germany, was anything but today in first round action in Athens! Canada succumbed to the Paralympic jitters and Germany capitalized.

The Germans took a 3 goal lead early in the first quarter off of a couple of bad passes which resulted in turnovers. Canada was playing catch up from that point. Late in the second quarter some great defense by Canada tied the score going into the second half and Germany with no time outs remaining.

Germany had clearly done their homework as they eluded the Canadian defense for the remainder of regulation play, hoping to score the last goal of the 4th quarter to win by one. They misjudged the strength of Canada´s half court defense and 0.5 Daniel Paradis batted the ball away forcing the game into overtime.

It was all Canada during the overtime period. With both the offense and the defense finally kicking in, we forced the Germans into making two costly contact fouls and finished the game with a 33-30 victory.

"It was not a pretty win, but it was a win and we will take it, said Quebec athlete Daniel Paradis." Captain David Willsie echoed those sentiments and noted that "the team has some work to do tonight in preparation for our game against Great Britain tomorrow. I think you'll see a very different team tomorrow."

Canada plays Great Britain at 12:00 noon local time.

For more information, please contact Cathy Cadieux at 011 30 6936 127 088 (in Athens) or Don Lane at 1-613-523-0004 (in Ottawa).

As you can see, we're trying out a few new commenting methods, which now makes me think that I'll have to set it up with an entirely new look in order to accomodate the requirements of the commenting systems... please bear with us while we get it all sorted out.

News from the athlete's lounge says that our Team got past the Germans in overtime today, with a 2-point OT win.

In the final analysis, a win is a win. Details coming when I hear from our crew in Athens.

On a completely differernt topic, we have a limited edition run of Canada Rugby Athens 2004 shirts available. One design is a flag-red Adidas 'Sportivo' collared jersey, sporting the CWSA logo, 'Canada Rugby,' and the word 'Athens' in Greek letters followed by the year:

You can check them out over here:

Shirt - Adidas Ezeiza - Climacool fabric - Red with Black Stripes - CWSA Rugby Athens 2004

Shirt - Adidas Sportivo Jersey - Flag Red - Collared - CWSA Rugby Athens 2004

Either shirt runs for $50 + $5 shipping/handling. Limited quantities. Contact me if you'd like to order one: dlane@cwsa.ca. We also have a limited number of official Molten wheelchair rugby balls, with the IWRF and CWSA logos and a Canada stripe printed on the balls. They go for the same price as the shirts. The shipping/handling costs are fixed at $5 per order, regardless of the quantity ordered.

~That is all~

Comment enabled thread test.

Here is a another report from Canadian Team Leader Cathy Cadieux:

---

Hello Canada!

What a great experience! The Opening Ceremonies were truly awesome and enjoyed by all. From the huge tree in the middle of the stadium to the lighting of the flame to the very visible crowd of Canadian fans cheering on the team, it was a once in a lifetime experience.

We had our first practice at the rugby venue today. While I had seen it during the technical meeting, it was the first visit for the boys. They were blown away. They´ll have a chance to stretch their muscles on the court tomorrow against Germany. Our first game starts at 12:00noon, so keep an eye on the Road Journal for results when you wake up on Sunday.

More tomorrow after the Game.

- Cathy

The rumour mills have started concerning classification, and here's a few updates for you:

Various athletes have been protested before the competition, and have resulted in a number of re-classifications:

• AUS - Ryley 'Baby Bat' Batt - leaps from a 2.5 to 3.5 - a huge change, and one that is more reflective of what he can do on the court.
• AUS - Scott Vitale from a 1.5 to a 2.0 (he was their only 1.5 on their team...)
• JAP - Satoshi Ito, who had gone in to the 2002 Worlds as a contested 2.0 (he went up to a 2.5) has now been re-classed as a 3.5
• JAP - two others bumped up, one other classed down. Details to follow....

This isn't a good time to be an Aussie or Japanese rugby fan. Maybe they should have come to the IWRF sanctioned Canada Cup after all, and then they'd have had a better chance to fine tune their team once classification had been settled.

Full-teams and the schedule of games can be found on our web site. Meanwhile, check out the CBC site which quotes our own Mr. Bacon today, as well as an article on our Canadian flagbearer, Chantal Benoit, who was nominatedfor that prestigious role by both the Canadian rugby and powerlifting teams. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a section of it's site devoted to Paralympic Games Coverage. Check it out!

I just called our Team Leader, who is at the Opening Ceremonies right now. Team Canada sounded happy and loud. Guess that's as close as I can get to that spectacular event.

The team will check in with me after the OC, and perhaps by that time I'll have the comments section fixed for you! Thanks to a certain Flyer Fan for the gentle hint. ;-)

Hello Canada,

Well, things are looking UP and things are looking DOWN here in Athens. The team played scrimmage games against Germany and Japan over the past two days. In yesterday's game against Germany we started pretty slow (part of the DOWN), but then things started clicking in the 2nd half with a fairly easy coast to a win.

In today's six period battle, the defense just swarmed Japan and things really started to come together. Last night, Team Canada enjoyed a Salute from politicians, sponsors, families and friends at the Canadian Team Reception. The surprise of the evening was the appearance of a certain Rugby player who joined the artist on stage to "belt out" the National Anthem. Drum roll please............Will David Willsie please get out here and give it up? Davey did us proud and surprised EVERYONE, except yours truly. He was AWESOME!

Mr. Garett Hickling carried the Paralympic Flame today in the Torch Relay. We're working on downloading pictures so that everyone can share in this fantastic event with G. In Athens time, we spent four hours to get to, and return from, a three-minute carry of the Flame. That's how things work here.

On the DOWN side, once again, the families have been having some challenges with accommodation, but thanks to Gail from BC and Eron from Ottawa, all is well. These are two awesome volunteers who have worked hard to make things flow smoothly for the terrific families that are here supporting our athletes.

Sally Thomas and Ken Doyle put in some great training sessions today at the Powerlifting venue. Coach Donald Royer is very pleased with their progress and confident that they will be ready for their competitions. Sally lifts on Monday, September 20th and Ken lifts on the 26th.

Tomorrow is a preparation day, outside of the gym, capped off by the Opening Ceremonies. Latest news is that we leave at 6:30pm, with a start time of 8:30pm and a finish time of 11:30pm with a return by 1:30am. In GREEK time, we might be home by 4:00am, but it will be AWESOME!

All of Canada's athletes have great access to email, so keep the warm wishes coming. They'll receive them. We'll do you proud tomorrow night Canada.

From Athens!

- Cathy

Day Four in Athens

Well, things are just ducky here....NOW.

The boys had a great practice again today, although the jet lag is still making them a little fuzzy. We've had to order some egg crate foam mattresses for some of the players. These quads just can't sleep on concrete, which seems to be the bedding of choice for these Paralympic organizers.

The Canadian Flag Raising Ceremony was yesterday and there was a great team turnout for the festivities. I just finished up my work for the day and am heading back to the residence, where the boys will have already started their festivities for the evening... POKER!

Eron Main is working very hard as the rugby technical delegate, while at the same time, supporting the families of the players by confirming accommodation, inspecting the accommodation and even arranging for transportation for the families, if at all possible.

Heiko from Germany and our Coach Joe have coordinated a scrimmage game on Wednesday, September 15th, and it looks like we're going to be scrimmaging with Japan later in the week.

More tomorrow from Athens!

- Cath

Athens Day Three

Well, training went off without a hitch today. Transportation was on time and the venue was good. The team trained for three hours in the afternoon and then went to "welcome Canada" to the Paralympic Village, as the Canadian Flag Raising Ceremony was about to take place, just inside the International Zone. Most of the rugby players checked their e-mails from family and friends, before heading to the ceremony.

Training and classification take place tomorrow. Three players will require classification including Raymond Lizotte, Jared Funk and Allan Chartrand. No problems there as they are classic in their class. After classification we have a one and a half hour training sesssion, followed by a little village R & R.

More tomorrow. It was a good day today in Athens!

Cheers,

- Cath

I've heard from one of our athletes in Athens, although not one of our rugby guys. Through MSN Messenger, Sally Thomas, one of our two powerlifters, was able to reach me this morning.

Her adventure started with some delays on both legs of her flights, although the longest and by far the most irritating was the delay on the Montreal to Athens flight. For some inexplicable reason, which was never explained to her or our rugby Team Leader, they moved Sally from an area close to the CWSA group on the plane to the back area with a seat which did not recline. Typically, when a wheelchair user has this type of seat as their only option, they are advised ahead of time, and have the option of taking it or leaving it. Sally would rather have left it, although a kindly therapist from the Canadian delegation was helpful in the ensuing chair swapping snafu that also involved an unfriendly large Greek woman. After many uncomfortable shiftings on that straight-back chair in the back row, Sally was happy to de-plane in Athens and stretch out.

Athletes, coaches, and support staff have limited access to e-mail capable computers, and are on the clock when using them, so don't expect to hear from them as much as you would like.

~That is all~

With all the rain that came from our version of Hurricane Frances, or as we like to call it, 'Frances Light', many people were wondering if everything went off without any headaches on Thursday, which was the day that all of the rugby athletes and staff left for Athens, after gathering in Montreal for the main flight.

In the National Capital, a new single-day record was set for rainfall, with 129mm (slightly over 5" for our American friends) draining out of dark and ominous clouds.

After some digging, it seemed that all the blustery wind and rain couldn't do much aside from delay our domestic flights by up to 10 minutes, although those who were connecting in from the States (Joe and Whitey) experienced some flight delays out of Boston and Philadelphia respectively, but both with enough of a safety factor to make it in to Montreal for the Olympic Airways flight to Greece.

I've now heard from our Team Leader, Cathy Cadieux, and aside from some ATHOC snafus with the training venue and transportation, all is well with our people in the ancient city of Athens.

Day Two in Athens - by Cathy Cadieux

Well, it was a wild day for the Canadians in Athens. Having arrived late yesterday and waiting for bags and equipment (what else is new on that front?), I walked to the Sport Information Centre to get the latest information from the Rugby Officer, George! It's all down hill from there.

First, I was informed by George, that our training session scheduled from 10:30am to 1:30pm the following day, had been cancelled. In fact, ALL training sessions at ALL venues, scheduled prior to 2:00pm on Friday were cancelled. The reason given was "internal ATHOC process." I think that means 'please go away and don't ask anymore questions'.

But all was not lost. I managed to snag us a 1½ hour slot at 6:00pm today. I was also told that both our training times AND transportation had to be confirmed daily, for the following day. So I confirmed both the transportation of our chairs AND our players for 6:00pm this evening. We all motored over to the transportation mall, as told, at 5:00pm for our 5:20 pick-up. We were told we were in the wrong place, had to leave the transportation mall, go outside the village and back through security to get to our buses that were on the other side of the fence.

I had been pretty calm with everything to this point, but I was becoming "disturbed." So I headed off to talk to George and found that our chairs hadn't been transported either. After much "discussion," which seems to be the ONLY thing the Greeks respond to, it was finally resolved, but too late to really salvage today's practice. The good news is that we now have a three-hour slot tomorrow, so all is well in the end. The boys are all doing well. We have a GREAT physio who is already doing wonderful things for the boys. They all send their love to family and friends and are looking forward to a great practice tomorrow.

That's all for now. More tomorrow from the ancient city!

- Cath