Sports – Brandon Sun

Soccer

NSL PHOTO
Calgary Wild goalkeeper Katelin Talbert backstopped her team to the club’s first regulation win of the season last Saturday.

Around the NSL: Quarterfinal upset; Wild win; Rapid still human

Grace Anne Paizen 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

Oh, the drama in the week that was.

The quarterfinals of the inaugural W Canadian Championship have been a wild ride since the Calgary Wild shut out CS Mont-Royal Outremont 4-0 on Aug. 5. The development this week? The NSL’s second-best team dropped a 1-0 decision to semi-pro Simcoe County Rovers FC on Wednesday in front of a hometown crowd at Stade Boréale.

Club backlash over the loss has been swift as the Montreal Roses promptly fired manager Robert Rositoui on Thursday. First assistant coach Maryse Bard-Martel has been placed as the interim bench boss until a new head coach is hired.

Rositoui was the club’s inaugural head coach, who led the Roses to a semifinal berth in Montreal’s inaugural season. It’s a shock that after a loss in a knockout tournament would amount to his firing — but the club claims a “new spark” is needed.

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Soccer

Luca Bruno / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Real Madrid has turned to José Mourinho for a second time. The last time Mourinho coached the club was 13 years ago.

Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid a classic rebound

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Preview

Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid a classic rebound

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

Not quite a month ago, nearly two million people lined the streets of Madrid to see the World Cup paraded by the Spanish national team. It might as well have been another lifetime.

By the time the Plaza de Cibeles was swept up and sprayed down, the country’s attention had shifted to the only thing — or person — it seemed anyone wanted to be talking about: José Mourinho.

And they haven’t stopped talking about him. He hasn’t let them.

On June 11, the same day the World Cup kicked off in Mexico City, Mourinho was appointed head coach of Real Madrid for a second time. In his initial stint at the sport’s biggest club, which had ended 13 years prior, he’d won the Copa del Rey his first season, La Liga in his second and nothing in his third.

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Friday, Aug. 14, 2026

Soccer

NSL PHOTO
Halifax Tides forward Jordyn Rhodes (left) and AFC Toronto’s Kaylee Hunter earned braces to cap off Week 15 of game action in the Northern Super League.

Around the NSL: A brace of braces; Rapid rule; Jostling in the standings

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Preview

Around the NSL: A brace of braces; Rapid rule; Jostling in the standings

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Friday, Aug. 7, 2026

WHAT a long weekend in the Northern Super League. If fans thought the eight goal tally between the first two games of Week 15 was wild, how about the final two games this past weekend?

A total of 11 goals were scored by AFC Toronto, the Halifax Tides and the Ottawa Rapid — that’s a whopping 19 in just one week of footy.

How did we get here? Let’s dive into the storylines.

Braces of the week

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Friday, Aug. 7, 2026

Soccer

NSL PHOTO
The Ottawa Rapid came away with a 2-1 win over the Halifax Tides in Week 13. Halifax gets its chance to avenge the loss at home on Monday.

Around the NSL: Roaring Rapid; Mighty Maroons motoring; Wild still looking for first win

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Preview

Around the NSL: Roaring Rapid; Mighty Maroons motoring; Wild still looking for first win

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

WELCOME back to the View from Row Z!

What a fortnight of footy in the Northern Super League. With two Week 15 games already in the books, this edition of the View will look a little different, capping off all the action from Week 13 and 14.

Let’s start with questions going into the two games left in Week 15.

Can the Rapid be stopped?

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Friday, Jul. 31, 2026

Baseball

CASSIDY DANKOCHIK / THE CARILLON
Carillon Sultans right fielder Joe Plett is mobbed by teammates after driving home the championship-winning run in the MJBL final against the Elmwood Giants in Steinbach on Tuesday night.

Sultans cement dynasty

Cassidy Dankochik 4 minute read Preview

Sultans cement dynasty

Cassidy Dankochik 4 minute read Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2026

For the third consecutive season, the Carillon Sultans have lifted the Darryl Steen Trophy as champions of the Manitoba Junior Baseball League.

The Sultans dominated the Elmwood Giants in the final, winning all three games in abbreviated fashion with mercy rule victories to claim the best-of-five series, including the 12-2 series clincher in Steinbach at A.D. Penner Park on July 28.

All nine Carillon players in the line-up recorded at least one hit, with lead-off hitter Joe Plett knocking in a two-run single to give the Sultans a 10-run advantage in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“We wanted to make sure we finish tonight and everyone came through and did what they had to do,” head coach Don Meilleur said.

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Wednesday, Jul. 29, 2026

Soccer

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
NSL Winnipeg co-founders Rob Gale and Desiree Scott announced the league’s first expansion franchise at the Forks on Tuesday.

Around the NSL: Welcome to footypeg; Rapid on top; Canadian Champ to be crowned

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Preview

Around the NSL: Welcome to footypeg; Rapid on top; Canadian Champ to be crowned

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

Welcome to footypeg, Northern Super League superfans! It will soon no longer be a view from Row Z.

It was a long — too long — time coming, but Winnipeg will finally have its very own professional women’s league team. And what better sport than the beautiful game.

Decorated Olympian and hometown hero Desiree Scott made the announcement of the league’s expansion into the Prairies on Tuesday. The Winnipegger nicknamed the Destroyer during her playing days co-founded the seventh franchise in Canada’s women’s pro footy league with renowned former coach Rob Gale. She will serve as vice-president of community and player experience and Gale will serve as chief sporting officer.

The club’s first season will kick off in 2027 and the league has announced it hopes to expand again in 2028.

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Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

Opinion

STEW MILNE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Spain is captained by Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or two years ago. The reigning European champions enter Sunday’s World Cup final without a defeat over 90 minutes in 37 matches.

Poise versus passion for historic World Cup final

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Preview

Poise versus passion for historic World Cup final

Jerrad Peters 5 minute read Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

All things considered, and despite the howls of partisan rivals and conspiracy theorists, Sunday’s World Cup final is probably the right World Cup final, and for all the right reasons.

Never before have the reigning champions of Europe and South America gone head-to-head for global football supremacy. Never, that is, until Sunday. Only twice before has each finalist featured a previous Ballon d’Or winner. Sunday will be the third.

Spain, the European champion captained by Rodri, who won the Ballon d’Or two years ago, enters the final without a defeat over 90 minutes in 37 matches. Argentina, the South American champion captained by Lionel Messi — who boasts of a record eight Ballons d’Or — enters the final with 14 straight wins.

We could go on, but pretty much any way we’d slice it would leave us with Spain and Argentina. They are the best teams in the world in this moment, the most worthy World Cup combatants.

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Friday, Jul. 17, 2026

Soccer

Vitor Munhoz / Northern Super League
Evelyn Badu leaps into the arms of her teammate at Stade Boréale. Badu had a hat trick last Saturday against the Vancouver Rise.

Around the NSL: Wild’s new bench boss; Badu hat trick; Maroons still mighty

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Preview

Around the NSL: Wild’s new bench boss; Badu hat trick; Maroons still mighty

Grace Anne Paizen 4 minute read Friday, Jul. 10, 2026

It was inevitable the Calgary Wild were going to replace Sinead McSharry. The club announced the hiring of Aussie Leah Blayney as head coach the day after dropping Sunday’s game 3-1 to Ottawa, with McSharry returning to her original role of assistant coach with the club.

In fairness to the Wild here, though, to only lose 3-1 to the Rapid — which has launched itself into team-to-beat status this season — in enemy territory isn’t that bad. Yes, a loss is a loss, but this time it wasn’t for lack of effort. Calgary came out of halftime with energy and Meggie Dougherty Howard cut Ottawa’s lead in half in the 65th minute. And the Rapid’s cushion was only padded two minutes into stoppage time by Jazmine Wilkinson.

It’s understandable something had to change, but with the regular season nearing its halfway mark, is this bench-boss changeup too little, too late?

Northern Super League superfans should find out Saturday when the club hosts the Vancouver Rise (6 p.m. CT, TSN+). But before we get to Week 12, here’s other storylines from Week 11.

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Friday, Jul. 10, 2026