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Two games were blowouts and two games were competitive as eight teams began the quest for the 101st Grey Cup ring. In the West, how amazingly impressive was Calgary beating BC 44-32? And how dominant was Saskatchewan rollong over Edmonton 39-18. For Calgary, two individual players and one group of players stood out all game for me. Quarterback Drew Tate separated himself from both Kevin Glenn and Bo Levi Mitchell. Thats significant because if Tate had not performed well, then the conversation would started about how he never will. But he did, so that conversation is over (for a few weeks anyway). The second individual player that was exceptional to me was Charleston Hughes at defensive end. Sometimes a player has a good game because the competition is average at best but much of Hughes success was against Javon 0lafioye at right tackle. Make no mistake, #63 for BC is one of the best and Hughes make him look average. The group of players that were outstanding was the offensive line. Yes, credit Jon Cornish as he separated himself from Andrew Harris but Calgary started a rookie centre in Brett Jones from Regina and Dan Federkeil at right tackle, who had been out of football for three years. Both were excellent. With Saskatchewan, the opening two drives were touchdowns. Now I know it is early but you have to think that George Cortez did a phenomenal job of preparation as the Riders were ready and Edmonton was not. John Chick will be a presence all year and linebacker Craig Butler looked like he was in the zone, so to speak. Now the negative is, and I am speaking for myself but Dwight Anderson and his temper tantrums are getting old. I understand the emotion of football at a high level but I also understand losing control is embarrassing to not only the player, but the organization, too. Yet , the Riders were exceptional. Earlier in the week, the Montreal-Winnipeg game was taken over by the Alouettes in the fourth quarter. Not sure what conclusions to make about Winnipeg yet but Montreal did control the game defensively, allowing only 296 yards. Favorite moment was Jade Etienne, who had only one catch last year had three in this game, one with an excellent run after catch. Nothing is more important in football than making a contribution as that is how you stay on the team and Etienne did. Finally, Toronto beat Hamilton but maybe not the way many expected. Henry Burris to Andy Fantuz stole the show and credit Kent Austin for coaching Burris into one of his best games ever. This was a Grey Cup team being taken to the last play by a rebuilding team that did not make the playoffs. Dont get me wrong, Toronto won and deserved to win and were well prepared. A six-play, 83-yard touchdown drive to open the game, that is well prepared. But if, I know it is a big if, Hamilton improves defensively, they could be competitive with anybody. Defensive coordinator 0rlondo Steinauer will figure it out; too intelligent and too good of a football background not to. Talk next week with more thoughts, observations and maybe a conclusion. Carlos Zambrano Jersey . Ancelotti says Ronaldo has recovered from a hamstring injury but "but he doesnt feel comfortable yet so we wont risk him." Madrid is third in the Spanish league, six points behind leader Barcelona, going into Saturdays game against Valladolid. Ben Zobrist Jersey . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-Anthony-Rizzo-Kids-Jersey/ . The return match will take place next Wednesday. Udinese leads Fiorentina 2-1 in the other semifinal. Napoli staged a second-half comeback from two goals down after Gervinhos opener and a stunning strike from Kevin Strootman. Fergie Jenkins Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Brandon Morrow Jersey . Radwanska, making her debut in the Seoul tournament, hit eight aces in a match that lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes at Olympic Park tennis stadium. "It was definitely a very good match -- I was playing really good tennis," Radwanska said. Chris Mosier didnt intend to be a game-changer.When he started doing triathlons after college, he didnt envision becoming the first openly transgender athlete to participate on a Team USA squad consistent with his gender identity. This summer Mosier competed at the ITU Duathlon World Championships in Aviles, Spain. Duathlons were originally something Mosier did as a warm-up for triathlon season because he hates cold water. However, I just found that I was really good at it, he said in a phone interview.In addition to being an elite athlete, Mosier is an activist. He started the website transathlete.com, which tracks the policies governing trans participation in youth sports in each state. He also works full time as the vice president of program development and community relations for You Can Play, an organization working to end homophobia, transphobia and biphobia in sports.Mosier chatted with espnW about his incredible year, athlete activism and what a gender-inclusive sport culture looks like.espnW: Why did you become an advocate in addition to being an athlete?Chris Mosier: I dont think it was ever my intention to become an advocate, and for a long time I actually struggled with the idea of being so public and so out. I knew that when I came out publicly in media, that was a forever thing. I would never be able to just be another athlete or another guy.I knew that being visible could have a positive impact. The whole reason that I was public about being out as a trans athlete was that I didnt see people who looked like me when I was deciding to come out. I didnt see trans men competing with men. I wanted to see that and be an [example] for other people.espnW: Should?athletes have a sense of responsibility for their community?CM: Each athlete needs to make that decision for themselves, as far as how public they want their statements to be. But I think every athlete needs to understand and recognize the incredible platform that they have. If youre a good athlete, you have a little extra social capital and people listen to what you have to say. Athletes are role models whether we like it or not,?but I think its up to each person to decide how much they want to use their platform.espnW: This has been such an incredible year for you. What has been the biggest change? CM:?I actually feel visible. Prior to this year, I knew that I was impacting people. Impact is not the reason for my work, but I know that it is a byproduct of what I do, so I want my words and actions to reflect my values. The biggest change this year is that now I know people are watching and they do see me. Being recognized on the street is certainly a different thing for me as well.espnW: In your opinion, what is the current state of sport for trans athletes? CM: Im really thrilled with the movement that weve had. However, movement doesnt necessarily?mean progress. Something like [North Carolina law] HB2 is not progress, but its movement. People are talking about how [the law] impacts trans athletes, and I think thats really positive.We obviously have a long way to go and certain areas of athletic participation are moving faster. For example, I was able to have a successful year with relative ease, meaning that I didnt receive much pushback around the International Olympic Committee?policy change. I also know that when we see trans women who are athletes, that these conversations are completely different, and so I certainly have male privilegge as Im working to make policy change.dddddddddddd. Our next step is shifting the conversation around trans women in sports, and also how we include nonbinary and gender nonconforming folks in a way thats comfortable.espnW: When you say shifting perceptions regarding trans women and gender nonconforming folks participating in sport, what do you mean by that?CM: There are so many intersections that could be addressed, but part of it is breaking down the sexism in sports. When people are identifying the characteristics and qualities of a good athlete, we need to understand that is different for every sport. There is so much diversity in terms of skill and genetic [composition] of genders. Since sport is so binary, it becomes complicated for anyone who is not male or female. We need to have conversations about what gender actually is and what are the attributes of a successful athlete. The idea that trans men would not be able to compete with men because they were designated female at birth, thats the sort of sexism Im talking about.When people are talking about the greatest athlete in the world, are they immediately saying Serena Williams? They should be, but Im going to guess that many minds go to scrolling through a Rolodex of male athletes.espnW: What does a fully gender-inclusive sport culture look like to you?CM:?At the most basic level, an inclusive environment in athletics comes down to respect. We need to respect one another with our language. [Its] not that we cant be competitive, that we cant talk s---, because thats part of competition and theres a place in sport for that, but at the end of the day we need to respect one another, our diverse backgrounds and who we are as people.Thats one of the reasons why eliminating casual homophobia is important. All of this conversation about locker room talk and giving someone a pass on the language they use -- thats the root of the problem. Thats one of the challenges we have with LGBTQ inclusion in sport. The locker room talk, or the casual, dismissive things that people say, creates an unsafe space for others. Thats why we see so many trans people stopping sports. Its not a safe environment.espnW: Whats next for you?CM: Part of it is enjoying this year. For a very long time, I did not celebrate my own victories and did not share good parts of my life with other people because of my fear of how I would be perceived. For example, I did not want to share that I was doing well in races, because I was not thrilled to be in the womens category. This last couple of years has been a big shift for me.Im enjoying the success that Ive had this year and training really hard so that I can continue next year. It is really important to me to make Team USA again, so that it wasnt just one and done. I have a really great race season planned for next year.Part of whats next is figuring out ways to use my platform to leverage change for other people. Whether thats my work with You Can Play, helping professional teams, colleges and high schools look at their policies, or conversations with athletes and administrators -- it will be leveraging this position so that we can see wider change. Its been a great year for me, but that doesnt make it a great year for all trans athletes. What Id really like to do is make sport a safer place for other people. ' ' '