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The 10 O’Clock: If you’re going to cry, Mariano Rivera, fine, we’ll cry with you (or is there just something in our eye?)

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Earlier this week, I shared the How to Be a Vancouverite video with you. Very, very funny. And one of the main reasons it’s funny is because it’s true. Kale is now a big part of my life. So, unfortunately, is quinoa. (“Pronounced ‘Keen-wa,'” they say in the video, which is hilarious, because that’s exactly what people have to say all the time.) But one of the great themes is also about the weather, and our obsession with it whether it’s fabulous or horrible, mediocre or just fine.

Are people not similarly obsessed with weather elsewhere? I’m thinking they are, particularly in places where it can be gorgeous one day (say, yesterday in Vancouver) and miserable the next (say, right now in Vancouver). And you can’t help but think how the weather affects so much of what we do. Like the school fair this afternoon, which will no longer have bouncy castles and, surely, the sno-cone stand will be the least popular attraction. Or the soccer jamboree tomorrow, which was also supposed to have fun and games and, instead, the children will just be cold and wet and sad. Or my daughter’s playdate, which was supposed to include a nice long bike ride to get frozen yogurt and stop at the annual neighbourhood fair. Or her soccer game on Sunday. The list of nasty activities goes on and on.

Go ahead. Make fun of us for our weather obsession. Hell, what else are we going to talk about?

And on with the 10 O’Clock and the big, or just plain old interesting, stories in the world of sports. Now, is it just me, or has Mariano Rivera’s retirement been going on for several years? Perhaps it just seems that way. I can’t keep track of the celebrations, of the tears, of the tributes. By all accounts he’s a great guy, which makes it much more bearable, but I’m sure even the New York Yankees closer will be relieved once the weekend comes.

After all, it was quite a night Thursday. He was welcomed to the mound in the eighth inning by the usual introduction — only it was the ghostly voice of the late Yankees PA announcer Bob Sheppard bringing Rivera in, as Sheppard had done so many times before his death in 2010. And then there was quite the scene in the ninth inning, when Yankees manager Joe Girardi decided it was time for Rivera to leave the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time. Take a look:

You know what? That’s really, really nice. A wonderful moment that you can’t quite script, beyond the classy Girardi sending longtime teammates Andy Pettitte and Derek Jeter out to take the ball out of Rivera’s glove. One commenter on YouTube put it this way: “As a Red Sox fan, this got me. Can’t stand the Yankees but I love Mo Rivera. I have more respect for him than any other athlete in any other sport. He’s a true class act and the game won’t be the same without him.” And that’s coming from, I remind you, a Red Sox fan. Incidentally, you can hear Sheppard’s voice here, as he introduces “No. 42.” And there’s a really nice piece by Filip Bondy in the New York Daily News, a tribute to Rivera’s class. He writes: “There are no circuses with Rivera, not like there have been this season with Alex Rodriguez and now suddenly, in a different way, with Robinson Cano and his agent’s reported $305 million demand. It has always been important to Rivera that his career avoid getting bogged down in such loud nonsense. A closer is like an umpire in a way. If he’s doing his job, doing it well, nobody is supposed to notice him.”

Now for something completely different, and shameful. The more I learn about FIFA, the more I find the world soccer body despicable. The whole Qatar 2022 thing has been stinking like rotten fish carcasses since before Qatar was even granted those games, and it’s been stinking ever since. Of course, this week the Guardian newspaper unearthed the latest scandal, how dozens of Nepalese workers have died building the stadiums and cities and other infrastructure the Qatar dictators have been demanding. And as always, our old friends the Taiwanese animators have put the story to animation:

Frankly, I’ve seen far more graphic stuff from the animators, but that pretty much delivers the point. And here’s the latest on the story from the Guardian.

Now, here at The Province we are just over a week away from unveiling a series called Racism in Paradise. It may or may not surprise you what goes on in B.C., a province that has a long history that includes both racism and inclusiveness. And it might not at all surprise you to learn that Sol Campbell, the retired Arsenal defender who put on the England jersey 73 times, has admitted that he’ll probably have to leave England if he hopes to coach professionally. Why? “There are no opportunities for me here,” he told the Guardian. “I’ve spoken to other black players who want to coach and they feel the same, that attitudes here are archaic. I hope and pray the environment changes.”

I’m looking forward to this series my news counterparts have put together. Here’s a promo video that drops hints about what goes on here:

And a couple of quick hits:

Dan McQuade of the Philly Post did the awesome analysis of Rocky’s training run recently. Today he serves up something a bit more traditional: an appreciation of Roy Halladay’s career. Because the former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher isn’t sure about his future with the Philadelphia Phillies.

NHL boss Gary Bettman was in Los Angeles Thursday to promote next winter’s outdoor game at Dodger Stadium. Someone was smart enough to ask him if he’d wear a Hawaiian shirt and shorts to the game. You can probably guess his answer.

Finally, ESPN’s Rick Reilly wrote a column last week where he argued that the only people who really want the Washington Redskins to change their nickname are white people who love to be in charge of Native Americans. This, you can imagine, caused quite the uproar. So Reilly has smartly dipped into the “mailbag” to see some of the responses. Including from one New Yorker, who’d love nothing more than to see the New York Jets become the New York Jews. Writes Reilly: “I have NO IDEA if you’re serious.”

See you guys this afternoon at the 2 O’Clock!



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