CFL Power Rankings: Stampeders end Riders' reign

1. CALGARY STAMPEDERS[Up from 2]
Overall record: 5-1
Streak: Won 4

Ties here are broken by imagining what the teams would do against each other head-to-head right now, and conveniently the White Stallions took care of that on Friday night. The late-arriving crowd at McMahon Stadium was still juggling its hot dogs and beer by the time it was 16-0 for the home side. Riders had nothing for Jon Cornish and he rumbled for 175 and four big TDs, including one off the direct snap. Offensive line played an excellent contest. Head coach John Hufnagel and his staff game-planned this one nicely.

2. SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS [Down from 1]
Overall record:5-1
Streak: Lost 1

The Riders were going to go boom one of these weeks, and it's just one loss. Still, the club looked nervous in the early going and paid for it in errors. Once they found their legs again things began to improve. The previously impenetrable offensive line was beaten up for four sacks, and we'll see how they react to that. Zero run defence. Kory Sheets ran for 133 yards (a stunning 845 overall now), and as long as he's healthy other teams have a huge nut to crack. Now comes the trap game at home to Montreal as the Green play four straight against the second division.

3. TORONTO ARGONAUTS[Unchanged]
Overall record: 4-2
Streak: Won 3

Things turned out Devine in Montreal for the Argos. That would be Noel, who handed them a Christmas present of three big fumbles including one on the opening kickoff (led to a touchdown) and another seven minutes later (led to a touchdown). As a good team will, Toronto took advantage and cruised to a victory. QB Ricky Ray looked good back from his game off due to a knee injury, and the big lead at the half meant they could pull him for a rest after he took a late hit. Nice to see Chad Owens run one back to boost a slow start by the return team this year. John Chiles looks like a find at receiver..

4. B.C. LIONS [Unchanged]
Overall record: 4-2
Streak: Won 1

After hosting the Stampeders this week, the schedule turns much in the favour of the Lions for a while. So, a win over Calgary would be a great setup. Strange when you consider a team of QB Travis Lulay, RB Andrew Harris and all those receivers, but the defence is actually carrying this group to a large extent. They could use more pass rush, but otherwise the D is doing just fine. More takeaways and less giveaways would help everyone. The offence still needs work on finishing its drives. An injury plagued offensive line is plugging along.

5. HAMILTON TIGER-CATS[Up from 6]
Overall record:2-4
Streak: Won 1

As the Cats begin to get healthier, they are starting to play better. Still pretty beaten up, especially on special teams, but the kitties have a pair with the Bombers and this would be a good time to make a real statement under new head coach Kent Austin. QB Henry Burris is doing a nice job throwing the ball but he's also the club's leading rusher and that's awful. No defence has given up as many points, but Hamilton has had a tough schedule so far. They must improve there, however.

6. MONTREAL ALOUETTES[Down from 5]
Overall record: 2-4
Streak: Lost 1

Jim Popp, now boss on and off the field, was hoping to see some positives this week after firing coach Dan Hawkins after just five games. This was after finding out RB Brandon Whitaker may be out up to a month and WR Jamel Richardson is gone for the year. Well, he positively can't have Noel Devine fumble twice in the opening quarter, both leading to scores. He can't have the corners being taken advantage of (same as last year). He can't have the defence tackling with their arms. Aw heck, he can't have this kind of ineptitude anywhere. QB Anthony Calvillo was working from the old playbook more this game, and that will be good in the long term.

7. WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS[Unchanged]
Overall record: 1-5
Streak: Lost 4

They hate it out west when the east gets all the headlines, so to one-up Montreal's sacking of the head coach the Bombers dumped GM Joe Mack, and CEO Garth Buchko quit. Or was fired. Or is on paid leave. Depending on what inside leak is passing you little brown envelopes. With ex-Bomber Wade Miller now the interim CEO, it seems the on-field folks will be allowed to make their own decisions on who to play and when. It's now back-to-back with Hamilton and the Blue and Gold cannot lose both or it will be time to think about 2014 because the two after that are with Saskatchewan. Says here they should all just enjoy the fab new digs and work on next year now.

8. EDMONTON ESKIMOS [Unchanged]
Overall record: 1-5
Streak: Lost 4

Hey, they've finished putting all the new seats in at Commonwealth Stadium, and they look great on TV. Now to do something for the folks who pay to sit in them. Linebacker J.C. Sherritt, who owes no one an apology, has been the stand-up guy telling fans the defence will do better. That's what leaders do. Over the bye week, the Eskies have been working on A) stopping the rush, so QB Mike Reilly doesn't get killed, and B) stopping the run, so they have a chance to win. This club spends the next month up in the first division (Argos, Riders, two with Stamps). Tough sledding ahead.

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Sights from the 2013 PGA Championship

Snapshots from the final major of the season

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Fans, athletes react to Rafael Nadal's Rogers Cup win over Raonic

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Rafael Nadal beats Milos Raonic in Rogers Cup final

Milos Raonic called it a learning experience.

It certainly wasn't the victory party the Uniprix Stadium crowd was hoping for as Rafael Nadal took only one hour eight minutes to down Canada's top tennis player 6-2, 6-2 in the $3.49 million US Rogers Cup final on Sunday in Montreal.

But it had taken 55 years for a Canadian just to get to the final of the country's biggest tournament, so Raonic had much to celebrate despite the defeat.

For one, by reaching the final he will be ranked 10th in the world when the next rankings appear Monday morning, making him the first Canadian to crack the top-10. He will be the youngest player in the top 10 as well.

"The tournament overall was a great thing," the 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., said. "There were a lot of situations that I'm very happy with the way I dealt with them, and there were a lot of learning experiences through it all.

"A lot of stepping stones that I need to do in my career happened this week, so that's great. The match, obviously I'm a little disappointed with myself. I would have hoped to deal with that situation a little bit better."

The last Canadian to reach the final of what was then called the Canadian Open, the now 81-year-old Robert Bedard of Sherbrooke, Que., was among the more than 11,000 at centre court to see the power-serving Raonic meticulously taken apart by fourth-seeded Nadal's service returns and brilliant baseline play.

Nadal, one of the world's best who was playing for the first time since his first-round loss at Wimbledon in June, posted his eighth tournament win this year and the 58th of his career.

He sees Raonic as one of the rising talents in the sport.

"With his serve, his chance to be in the top 10 for a long time is very good," the Spaniard said. "Then what you need is to work on the mental part and in the game from the baseline, to try to play the right way on the important points.

"I think he will do it. He's still young. He's having great results. This week is going to be very important for him and for tennis in Canada in general."

Making strides at home

It was an unprecedented week for Canada, which already reached a milestone in April when it defeated Italy to make the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time.

Of the six Canadians in the Rogers Cup main draw, a record five got to the second round.

Then Raonic and Vernon, B.C., native Vasek Pospisil became the first two Canadians to make the semifinals of an ATP Tour tournament since Andrew Sznajder and Martin Wostenholme in 1990 in Rio de Janeiro.

They played each other in a semifinal, a cliffhanger that went to a third-set tiebreaker.

So the one-sided loss in the final stung, but it was still a big week as he made the final for the first time in a Masters series event, one level below the grand slams.

Raonic had worn different coloured Davis Cup-style shirts with a maple leaf over the heart all week, but saved a red-and-white one for the final.

When he walked onto the court, he got a standing ovation.

"That was one of the most special feelings I've had in my career to this date," he said. "I even got a little bit of goosebumps from that. I'm very, very grateful to have that memory and that experience here."

The crowd stayed with him despite the beating.

Nadal had two service breaks in a quick first set, including one game that Raonic led 40-0. The Canadian wasted three break points on Nadal's serve in the fourth game of the second set and saw his chance to make a contest of it slip away.

His best weapon, his serve, was not on form. He got only 50 per cent of his first serves in, and had only four aces.

"I was trying more to serve hard rather than hitting spots," he said. "I wasn't getting the percentages I needed on my first serve.

"Obviously, [Nadal] was playing great. He wasn't making many errors, if any. But at some points, I wasn't making him play enough, or waiting for the right shot. I think I was rushing a lot in the first set and a half.

"But you live and learn. It's an experience I can learn a lot from and I'm sure I will."

Asked to comment on Raonic, Bedard says he has a bright future but needs to work on his game.

"His return of serve is his weakness, for sure," said Bedard, who still plays doubles a few times per week. "He relies too much on his serve.

"If I were his coach, and I'm not close to that, I wouldn't let him serve for a while and just make him play and improve on the other shots that he has. One thing he might not be able to improve as much as he should, as much as Pospisil will, is that his mobility is not that great. But that can improve also."

Nadal, who is 4-0 against Raonic in his career, won $547,300, while Raonic took in $268,350.

Nadal stretched his record for wins in Masters series tournaments to 25 with his fourth this year. He is 48-3 and has reached the final of 10 out of 11 tournaments played in 2013.

Raonic and Pospisil are slated to play this week in Cincinnati.

Soares, Peya win men's doubles

The third-seeded team of Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares downed the British pair of Andy Murray and Colin Fleming 6-4, 7-6 (4) to win the doubles title at the men's Rogers Cup on Sunday.

Peya, of Austria, and Soares, of Brazil, will split $155,490 US for their first win in a Masters series tournament. Fleming and Murray got $76,120.

Murray, the Wimbledon singles champion, and Fleming are childhood friends who played together in an ATP Tour event for the first time.

"It was pretty cool to play with him," Murray said.

"Thanks to Andy for playing with me," said Fleming. "I don't think he had doubles in his plans this week. It was a last-minute thing."

Fleming and Murray had defeated Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden in the semifinals.

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Canada's Damian Warner takes decathlon bronze at track worlds

Damian Warner was in the mix for a decathlon medal after the first day of competition at the world track and field championships, but he thought he could do better.

It turns out he was right.

Warner put up a personal best score of 8,512 points Sunday to finish third in the decathlon and give Canada its first medal of the championships.

Warner was in fourth place after the first day of competition, and mounted a charge to the podium Sunday with personal bests in the pole vault and javelin.

"I said yesterday I wasn't happy with my first day, said I was going to come out swinging today and that's what I did," Warner said. "I stuck with it, I was motivated to get on the podium and I just let that carry me through the events."

Warner moved into medal position in the javelin throw, the ninth event of the decathlon. His throw of 64.67 metres gave him 808 points and moved him ahead of Germany's Rico Freimuth.

He clinched the bronze with a 10th-place finish in the 1,500 metres, giving him a total of 8,512 points over the two-day, 10-discipline event.

It's the first major medal for the native of London, Ont., who placed fifth in the event at the 2012 London Olympics.

Canada's last world championship decathlon medal was by bronze by Michael Smith in 1995.

World-record holder Ashton Eaton of the United States won gold with 8,809 points, while Germany's Michael Schrader was second with 8,670.

Later in the 1,500 metres, Winnipeg's Nicole Sifuentes and Toronto's Kate Van Buskirk advanced to the semifinals of the women's 1,500 metres. And Vancouver's Inaki Gomez placing eighth in the men's 20-kilometre race walk.

Warner opened the second day of the decathlon with a time of 13.96 seconds in the 110-metre hurdles to score 980 points.

In the discus he recorded a seasonal best of 44.13 metres to score 749 points, then leaped to a personal best of 4.80 metres in the pole vault for 849 points.

He than made the move into medal territory with his javelin throw and held third place through the 1,500.

"This is such a great feeling, all the hard work my coaches and I put into this the last couple of years," he said. "In 2011 I finished 18th, saw the three medallists running around the track with their country's flags draped over their shoulders, I told my coaches that I want that to be me, pretty special feeling to achieve that."

"I hope this motivates the rest of the team," he added.

"This is a fantastic day for Damian and a wonderful day for Canada on the track," the Canadian Olympic Committee said in a statement. "After finishing just off the podium at the London 2012 Games, Damian has continued to show his tremendous Canadian grit, and his commitment to his training has been rewarded with a bronze medal."

Canadian results

In the women's 1,500 metres, Sifuentes finished sixth in her preliminary heat in four minutes, 8.54 seconds to qualify automatically for the semifinals. Van Buskirk finished seventh in her heat in 4:08.65, and her time was good enough to go through as one of the six fastest outside the automatic qualifiers.

"All I wanted was to advance, that was my plan," Sifuentes said. "I was a bit out there the whole race, but at least I didn't get boxed in. I knew even if I wasn't top six [to auto-qualify] I would get in on time."

Toronto's Sheila Reid was seventh in her heat and failed to move on.

Gomez finished the race walk with a seasonal-best time of 1:22:21.

"It was tough, it was hot out there," Gomez said. "The pace picked up around 12 kilometres. I tried to stay with the Spanish racer who ended up winning bronze. At 16 kilometres I noticed I had two cards on the board, so I had to be careful from that point. Had to make sure my technique was flawless. I wanted to finish top eight, I accomplished that."

Benjamin Thorne of Kitimat, B.C., was 20th.

Toronto sprinters Gavin Smellie and Aaron Brown ran in the semifinals of the men's 100 metres but failed to qualify.

Brown finished fifth in the semi won by eventual champion Usain Bolt.

"I got out pretty well, obviously Usain's acceleration is crazy," Brown said. "I was running next to him out there. No complaints here, happy with how I performed."

With Files from CBCSports.ca

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Canada's Damian Warner sits in 4th in decathlon: track and field worlds

Olympic champion Ashton Eaton closed in on the decathlon gold medal at the world championships on Sunday, extending his lead after eight events.

Eaton cleared a season-best 5.20 metres to place third in the pole vault. With the javelin and 1,500 metres remaining, the American has 7,252 points, 181 points ahead of Michael Schrader of Germany. Another German, Rico Freimuth, was 245 points behind in third.

Eaton started the day by running the fastest 110-meter hurdles in 13.72 seconds despite clipping the second hurdle. He was 12th in the discus, won by Freimuth's toss of 48.74 metres.

Damian Warner of Canada remained fourth after the pole vault. Gunnar Nixon of the United States, second after the first day, fell to eighth.

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Milos Raonic to face Rafael Nadal in Rogers Cup final

Milos Raonic came out on top of the all-Canadian semifinal at the men's Rogers Cup, but now comes the real test — Rafael Nadal.

The power-hitting right-hander's cliffhanger 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over Vasek Pospisil on Saturday made him the first Canadian to reach the final of his country's biggest tournament since Robert Bedard won it for the third time in 1958.

Sunday will be Raonic's first final in the Master series, a level of ATP tournament just below the grand slams (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 3 p.m. ET).

The other semifinal was a gem of speed and skill, as Nadal ended Novak Djokovic's two-year reign as Rogers Cup champion with 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) victory. Nadal will be seeking a third title after winning in 2005 and 2008.

It had drama, as Djokovic wasn't pleased at all to be accidentally hit in the face by a Nadal cross-court shot in the third set, but there was no harm done.

'Last time he gave me a whoopin' in Barcelona.'— Milos Raonic on his Rogers Cup final opponent Rafael Nadal

The two traded shots evenly until the third-set tiebreaker, when the crowd favourite Nadal took a 6-0 lead and later saw it end when Djokovic hit a groundstroke a tad long.

"Milos is a fantastic player," Nadal said in a courtside interview. "I know him well. He has played a fantastic tournament here.

"I'm very happy for Canada to have two players in the semifinals."

Raonic is 0-3 against Nadal in his career and has never won a set from the Spaniard.

"Last time he gave me a whoopin' in Barcelona," said Raonic. "It was a very different surface on clay. And at home for him, it was tough.

"When I played him in 2010, I was like 200th in the world. I held my own to a certain extent, but he was a much, much better player than I was. In 2011, it was my first tournament back from hip surgery. I think it's a different situation this time around.

"I have to try to play as much as I can on my terms. I'm going to have to serve well. That's always of highest importance. And I've got to try of create opportunities for myself through aggressive tennis, rather than waiting for him to make errors."

Raonic's win will put him into the top-10 in world rankings — a prestigious spot that only the very good ones ever achieve.

"They're all very special, but I think the top-10 one stands out more just because it's a goal that I set this year," the 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., said. "It looked a little bit difficult after how I played recently, but to do it here in Montreal is a relief and it's a happy feeling."

Meanwhile, it was a tough night for veteran Daniel Nestor of Toronto. He and Swedish partner Robert Lindstedt were thumped 6-3, 6-0 in a semifinal against Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and Colin Fleming.

Djokovic and Nadal met for the 36th time, tying the record for the Open Era set by John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl. Nadal leads the head-to-head series (21-15), and cut Djokovic's lead on hardcourts at to 11-6.

Nadal has won seven tournaments this year, but only one so far on a hardcourt. Still, the king of clay courts is 8-0 on the hard surface.

Pospisil, in his best ATP Tour showing, earned $128,960 and 360 rankings points for reaching the semis, which will push his ranking from its current 71st to about No. 40. That completes the Vernon, B.C., native's goal for this year of reaching the top-50.

On the court, both played nervously at first and it turned into a serving battle, with few interesting rallies until the final point of the third-set tiebreaker to decide the match.

Raonic stretched to get to a Pospisil shot at the net, forcing his opponent to make a lunging volley that went into the net.

"I was winning most of the points from the baseline once the rallies were started," said Pospisil. "The tiebreak got away from me a little bit there at the end, a couple of loose points.

"But I went for it. No regrets. I didn't want to lose the match playing defensively. I tried to go for it even with the nerves that there were. This time it didn't work out, but that's the right way for me to go."

Longtime opponents

The two Canadians have been playing each other since they were in under-14 tournaments, but while Raonic has used his big serve to shoot up the rankings in recent years, Pospisil has taken a slower route.

He has caught fire of late, however, winning a Challenger series tournament last week in Vancouver, then posting three wins at the Rogers Cup, including his first win over a top-20 player (John Isner) and his first over a top-10 (Tomas Berdych).

It ended against Raonic, who has been struggling since he won in San Jose in the spring and is now working with a new coach.

Now the Davis Cup teammates may become rivals on the ATP Tour.

"For my sake, I hope we'll see each other a lot more," said Pospisil. "That will mean I'll keep up the good form.

"I don't see why not because I've been doing really well the last couple months."

The centre court crowd had been on its feet for Canadian players all week, but with two playing each other, the partisan clapping and chanting between points was gone.

And there was little to get excited about in the first set, as Raonic had the only service break for a 3-2 lead just after Pospisil let two break points get away.

'Milos is a fantastic player. I know him well. He has played a fantastic tournament here. I'm very happy for Canada to have two players in the semifinals.'— Rafael Nadal

"Early on we were both pretty nervous," said Pospisil. "It wasn't the moment.

"It was the fact I was playing Milos. It's probably a little bit the same for him. We played each other so many times. We grew up together. I don't think either one wanted to lose."

It all went Pospisil's way in the second set as he broke twice for 2-0 and 5-1 leads against a suddenly listless Raonic. Pospisil punctuated set point with a leaping fist pump.

Raonic took a restroom break after the set and came back with a strong service game and the two held service through to the tiebreaker.

"I had so much bottled up inside of me that it was stopping me from playing my best tennis," said Raonic. "I sort of yelled at myself, got a lot of emotions out, told myself if this is going to happen, it's going to be me going out there and pushing as much as I can.

"The first game, I started serving 20 km/h harder. I told myself that I've got to leave it all out there."

They were the first Canadians to reach the semifinals of the tournament — once called the Canadian Open — since Mike Belkin lost to American Cliff Richey.

The last time two Canadians were in the semifinals of an ATP Tour event was in 1990 at Rio de Janeiro, where Andrew Sznajder lost in the final and Martin Wostenholme was beaten in the semis.

The Djokovic-Nadal match was another level of tennis entirely, as the current and former world No. 1's exchanged fast-paced, often spectacular rallies.

Pospisil earned entry into next week's tournament in Cincinnati, where he will face Frenchman Gilles Simon in the first round. Raonic is seeded 12th and will play American Jack Sock.

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