1. Snoop’s Royal treatment
A credit to Snoop Dogg’s cross-marketing genius–he wears a local sports jersey of the city he’s touring in, earning him that much more publicity for him and the team.
Mr. Dogg’s hockey sweater-wearing charm seemed to have appeased the masses of Victoria fans who saw his show on Saturday.
Jonathon Howe, the in-house photographer for the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, wasn’t the only shooter to capture Snoop in the Victoria Royals sweater. But it’s Howe’s shot that went viral through social media in B.C. and across Canada’s junior hockey scene on Sunday.
“As the arena photographer I’ve had pictures published on ***ESPN.com and Sportsnet.ca***,
and you just never know which one will catch on somewhere,” Howe said.
“Obviously if it’s a famous person (like Snoop) that helps.”
2. Ride on Wiggo
It seems remarkable Bradley “Wiggo” Wiggins is the first Brit to win the Tour de France in its 109 year existence. If his win is groundbreaking, think of the effect Ryder Hesjedal could have as the first Canadian to become a Tour champion.
It’s not a stretch, and there’s some distinct similarities. Both Wiggins and Hesjedal competed in different cycling disciplines at the Olympics before finding their way as road cyclists. Wiggins won bronze with Great Britain in the track team pursuit in 2000. Hesjedal suffered a race-ending flat tire as a contender to win gold on the cross-country mountain biking course in 2004.
Wiggins entered the 2011 Tour de France with tremendous hype as a favourite for the yellow jersey. He was 11 seconds back of the lead when he crashed out of the Tour on Stage 7.
Sounds familiar.
3. Two is enough
It didn’t take much as Victoria’s Mike Saunders pushed the Victoria Mariners to a pair or wins over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday and Sunday. Saunders hit a two-RBI single in the first inning on Saturday as M’s sailed to a 2-0 win. On Sunday he stole a base and scored in a 2-1 win.
As of Monday the center-fielder from Lambrick Park secondary played 89 of the Mariners’ 97 games this year, with 82 hits, nine home runs, 33 RBI and 14 stolen bases.
4. Hockey hits
NHL hockey players, current and former, just can’t get enough of Victoria these days.
The NHL’s prince of Twitter, Paul Bissonnette, tweeted his adventures through the Victoria Golf Course and Local Kitchen restaurant. Apparently he was at the Local for three hours, long enough to be hit by seagull droppings twice. “Gonna be a great day,” he wrote Sunday. Later that day he sat with John from Big Bad John’s, and may or may not have shared a drink with players from Rugby Canada.
Also in town is former Vancouver Canucks player Dave Lowry, permanently. Homeboys Ryan O’Byrne and brothers Jamie and Jordie Benn, as well as some other pro’s will soon be here for the Ryan O’Byrne Charity Camp in early August. Proceeds will fund youth sport registrations for 27 kids through KidSport Victoria.
5. Loosen up, win tix
The kids are gonna love this.
Using Twitter, the Victoria Royals are hiding free tickets and a puck at a secret location this summer. Clues are posted over Twitter, searchable by using the hashtag #LoosePuck, or simply by following the team’s twitter feed, @victoriaroyals.
The first home game of the season is Sept. 22.
