Bolivia fan wears his traditional bear suit and they still lose

Imagine you go to the trouble of putting on your traditional Bolivian carnival bear suit -- which is itchy and heavy and hard to put on, by the way -- and you waddle (because walking isn't easy in that thing) down to their Copa America match against Costa Rica. And after all that, plus having to wear it for the entire match, Bolivia still lose 2-0 to Costa Rica's U-22 team. You'd be angry, right? Angrier than a rabid bear who just got smacked in the nose by a park ranger.

Well, that's what happened to this young Bolivian fan and I can't imagine he had that same confused looking smile after the match. I just hope there were no hunters around to mistake him for a baby yeti after it got dark.

Photo: Reuters

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Canada knocks off Japan, will face U.S. in IFAF World Cup final

Team Canada's run at the International Federation of American Football World Cup in Austria continued Wednesday, but it wasn't easy. The Canadians fell behind 27-24 with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter against two-time tournament winner Japan, but rallied with a great four-play 73-yard drive capped off by a rushing touchdown from Calgary Stampeders' draft pick Matt Walter (pictured above after the Austria game). That touchdown gave the Canadians, a squad comprised of current CIS players, former CIS types and former CFL players like Adriano Belli and Sherko Haji-Rasouli, a 31-27 lead with 3:31 left. Their defence would hang on to make that the final score, with Montreal Carabins' defensive back Julien Hamel recording an interception after Japan's fourth-down pass bounced off the hands of Michihiro Ogawa. The win meant Canada improved to 3-0 in pool play and won the pool, setting up a gold-medal clash Saturday with the heavily-favoured U.S. squad. That's a pretty impressive showing for a country competing by unfamiliar American rules in its first IFAF World Cup ever.

It was a notable win for Canada against a very good Japanese team, which had also gone 2-0 to this point. Japan claimed the first IFAF World Cup titles in 1999 and 2003, and only fell to the U.S. in double overtime in 2007. Their dominant rushing attack led them to victories over Austria and France, and it caused problems for Canada; Japan picked up 125 rushing yards on 23 attempts, an average of 5.4 yards per carry (much better in the four-down football played at this tournament than it would be in the three-down systems in the CFL and CIS).

However, the Canadian ground game was great as well, collecting 131 yards (or 141 yards if you subtract sacks) and three touchdowns on 34 attempts. That's a less-stellar, but still impressive, average of 4.1 yards per running play. Walter (a CIS star with the Calgary Dinos, pictured at right doing the highly-recommended air guitar celebration with current Edmonton Eskimos' receiver Nathan Coehoorn after a 2009 Uteck Bowl touchdown)�picked up 62 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, while Canadian game MVP and former Saskatchewan Huskies' running back David Stevens collected 63 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries.

The Canadian aerial assault wasn't as strong as it had been in previous clashes, but it still got the job done. Former Western star and current York offensive coordinator Michael Faulds completed 14 of his 21 passes (66.7 per cent) for 204 yards and a touchdown with an interception, including a 72-yard catch and run play to Stevens. Laurier receiver Shawmad Chambers, former Queen's receiver Scott Valberg and former Laval fullback Michel-Pierre Pontbriand also contributed in the receiving game, with Pontbriand making a stunning diving end-zone touchdown catch. Meanwhile, the Canadian passing defence held Japanese quarterback Tetsuo Takata to 16 completions on 29 attempts (55.2 per cent) for 196 yards and a touchdown with an interception.

The U.S. isn't going to be an easy opponent for Canada. Granted, their roster doesn't have a ton of huge names from the top tiers of the NCAA (former Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins may be the most recognizable, even if he doesn't have his own dance), but as the CFL continually proves, there's plenty of talent at smaller Division I schools and at the Division II and Division III levels. Funnily enough, one of the Americans' key players thus far has been running back Da'shawn Thomas, who plays his college football north of the border in CIS with Western. It's going to be interesting to see how he and his American comrades stack up against Canada Sunday. The gold-medal game will be Sunday at 7 p.m. local (1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific). Check out the tournament website and Twitter feed for more information.

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Argos? offensive malaise leaves questions

The Toronto Argonauts' 40-17 loss Friday to the Montreal Alouettes and their�record-setting quarterback Anthony Calvillo wasn't all that unexpected, but it does still leave some crucial questions that need to be answered. Those questions are especially prevalent on offence, as the Argos' defence wasn't all that bad; yes, they conceded 40 points, but seven of those came off an embarrassing goal-line fumble Alouettes' linebacker Chip Cox returned 108 yards for a touchdown, and they held Calvillo and the Alouettes' offence to field goals several times despite poor starting field position. On offence, though, the Argonauts proved unable to establish the running game without injured star Cory Boyd, and Cleo Lemon still left much to be desired in the passing offence.

The ground game was the first issue, and it was a major one. Over the last couple of seasons, Toronto has been a team that thrives on rushing and defence. The defence was there Friday night, but the ground game wasn't; promising rookie Chad Kackert only picked up 39 yards on 11 carries (3.55 yards per carry), and the Argonauts didn't bother trying any of their other options. Kackert also fumbled twice, including a crucial goal-line fumble late in the game that Alouettes' linebacker Chip Cox returned 108 yards for a touchdown. Boyd's absence was certainly felt; this is a team that largely bases their identity on being able to get large chunks of yardage via first-down runs, and they weren't able to do that Friday night. If Boyd's able to return before Toronto's Week Four game against Winnipeg, the ground game will probably be fine. If not, they might have to get a bit unconventional, perhaps giving expanded roles to the likes of Andre Durie or Bryan Crawford.

The passing game isn't solved either, though. Cleo Lemon (seen above being hit by Cox Friday) wasn't horrible, but he wasn't great; he completed 19 of 30 passes (63.3 per cent) for 235 yards and a touchdown with an interception. He also fumbled once. Some of that was on his receivers, who sometimes couldn't break coverage and sometimes couldn't hang on to the ball. Some of it was also on the offensive line, which allowed two sacks and often forced Lemon into quicker throws than he might have ideally liked. However, Lemon's performance still could have been much better, and it's going to leave Argonauts' head coach/general manager Jim Barker with an interesting decision heading into Week Four. Does he stick with Lemon, who's generally looked better than last year but still worse than your typical CFL quarterback, or does he switch to the unknown commodity of Dalton Bell? Before the end of the year, it wouldn't be surprising to see offseason acquisition Steven Jyles starting, but he's unavailable at the moment thanks to injury. Barker isn't in an enviable position; he has to decide between sticking with a quarterback who hasn't produced much in the way of noticeable results so far or pinning his hopes on one who hasn't produced any results.

Overall, this game demonstrated that Toronto still has a lot of work to do. Yes, their turnaround to 9-9 and an East Final appearance last season was impressive, but they aren't going to have an easy time in the East Division this year. Montreal is still the class of the league, Hamilton is likely better than the 0-2 record they've put up thus far and even Winnipeg's gone 2-1 so far this year. Toronto still has an excellent defence, and they've got capable special teams; Chad Owens looked like his old self Friday on returns, picking up 114 yards on two kick returns and 69 yards on five punt returns, and Andre Durie added 94 more yards on four kick returns. In the CFL, though, that's not enough to consistently win. You need a good offence to get anywhere in this league, and Toronto hasn't proved that they have one so far. They should get better in the ground game once Boyd returns, but they'll need to improve the passing offence as well. The question is if either Lemon or Bell is the man for the job.

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UFC 136: Anthony Pettis Looks to Bounce Back Against Jeremy Stephens

Another bout has been added to the stacked UFC 136 card with MMAJunkie.com reporting that former WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis is set to take on Jeremy Stephens in a preliminary card fight.

Pettis, 0-1 in the UFC and 13-2 overall, is coming off a grueling decision loss to Clay Guida in his UFC debut in June.

Guida landed a bunch of takedowns but was unable to advance his position while defending a barrage of submission attacks from Pettis' guard.

Prior to the loss, Pettis was riding a four-fight win streak, including a highlight filled victory over Ben Henderson at WEC 53.  Pettis won the last WEC lightweight title and gained viral fame with his fifth round "Showtime Kick."

Stephens, 7-5 in the UFC and 20-6 overall, is riding a two-fight win streak of his own, recently defeating Danny Downes at the Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale via decision.

In January, Stephens bounced back from a split=decision loss to Melvin Guillard by knocking out Marcus Davis in the third round at UFC 125.  The win earned Stephens Knockout of the Night honors for the third time in his career.

UFC 136 also features two title fights between lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and challenger Gray Maynard as well as a featherweight title fight with champ Jose Aldo taking on top contender Kenny Florian.

The event is set to take place on October 8th in Houston, Texas.

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Mexico fans celebrate U-17 World Cup win in head bandages

Mexico beat Uruguay 2-0 to win the U-17 World Cup on their home turf on Sunday. The game was almost anti-climactic after their absolutely unbelievable semifinal comeback win over Germany that included an overhead winner from Julio Gomez, who re-entered the match after clashing heads with a German defender on the previous goal and needed to have his bloody noggin wrapped.

In honor of his impressive performance, Mexico fans -- even the little ones -- wore homemade head bandages to the final at the Azteca in Mexico City. And since that worked out so well, they wore them again to the open-top bus parade and visit with President Calderon on Monday.

Gomez wore his bandage, too -- partly because he needs it and partly because it's become his new trademark. Have a look...

Now if he's really serious about his personal brand, he'll wear that thing for the rest of his life.

Head bandages for all!

Photos: Getty

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Kleybanova, 22, announces she?s undergoing cancer treatment

Alisa Kleybanova is spending her 22nd birthday in Italy receiving treatment for cancer.

The Russian tennis player, who reached a peak of No. 20 in the WTA rankings earlier this year, revealed�in a letter written to her fans�that she's battling Hodgkin's lymphoma. Despite her ongoing treatment and uncertain prognosis, Kleybanova strikes an uplifting, hopeful tone in her note.

Hello everyone :)

It's my birthday today and I want to thank all of you for the wonderful messages. I haven't written anything for a long time about why I haven't been on tour, so that's why I'm writing this today.

It's not an easy time for me right now. I've been a bit unlucky with my health. I have Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer. I've been having treatment in Italy and it has been going well, but it takes lots of patience and I've had to be really strong to go through this. The good news is after I do treatment for a few more months, if I feel well, there's a chance I'll be able to play tennis again. I really miss playing - I miss seeing fans and friends around the world, I miss hitting the ball, I miss everything. Tennis has been my life for the last 15 years.

There are a few reasons I'm undergoing treatment in Italy. First, I have a training base and many close friends here, so it's like home. Second, they have a really great hospital here that specializes in this problem; I've been going there since the problem started, so the doctors know me well. It's the best place for me to be - the surroundings help me stay strong.

I am a strong person. I've shown it before. Obviously this is different than anything I've ever experienced, but after this is over my life will be even better than before. This is the toughest time in my life, and I hope it always stays the toughest time in my life. I'm sure I'll be able to overcome this - it's just a matter of patience and time.

When this is over, everything will be even better than before.

Of course, even though I'm in treatment, I hope I'll have a fun birthday today :) I'm really happy I have the best and most important people with me here today. My family and best friends are all here. They're here all of these days and weeks helping me get through this.

Anyway, I wanted to write to you all because it has been a long time... I won't be on tour for a little while, but I will see you all again soon :)

Alisa

We should all hope to be so strong during such difficult times.

Don't be sad for Alisa Kleybanova because she isn't sad for herself. Be hopeful, wish her well and plan on keeping her at her word. We'll see her again soon.

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How Petra Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova and won Wimbledon

Petra Kvitova defeated Maria Sharapova in Saturday's women's final at Wimbledon. How did the 21-year-old Czech defeat the three-time Grand Slam champion to pull the upset and become the youngest winner at the All England Club since Sharapova won at age 17 in 2004?

1. Attacked Sharapova's second serve. It's always a matter of when, not if, Sharapova will develop the yips on her serve. That moment came early in Saturday's final and gave Kvitova the first momentum swing of the match. Serving at 2-3, 30-30, Sharapova uncorked four wild serves in a row to give Kvitova the early break. The Czech consolidated in her next service game and soon after the first set was hers.

More important than the double faults was Kvitova's return of Sharapova's second serves. Unlike Sabine Lisicki in the semis, who was content to get the ball back in play to start rallies, Kvitova took a step inside the baseline and pounded Sharapova's second serves. This allowed for easy winners off the return or to set up points that immediately put Kvitova on the offensive.

2. Won the long rallies. If there were a stat that told you how many points were won by a certain player on rallies longer than five shots (make it happen, somebody), Kvitova would have dominated. Sharapova was able to survive her poor serve at Wimbledon because she was able to use her groundstrokes to bail her out of trouble. Kvitova didn't allow that today. She hit deep to Sharapova, sending the Russian uncharacteristically off balance. Kvitova also showed great range and took advantage of Sharapova's shallow forehands.

3. No fear. Only 32 percent of women playing in their first Grand Slam final, like Kvitova was on Saturday, have gone on to win that match. Kvitova looked like she had been on the big stage before. Even with her childhood hero Martina Navratilova looking on, there was no apprehension or worry in her game, which is especially surprising given Sharapova's tendency to come back in matches.

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