TORONTO -- Russ Howard was asleep in his Riga hotel room when the phone rang with word that he would be inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame. Authentic Mitch Richmond Jersey . The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. "I get the chance to golf with (hockey legend) Bobby Orr once in a year in a charity event and hes my hero," Howard said Wednesday at a morning news conference. "To think that a little guy from Midland, Ontario is in with Bobby Orr is pretty cool." Howard is a two-time world champion who now does curling broadcasting work. He was in the Latvian capital last March to cover the world womens championship. "Nobody knew I was in Latvia so thats why I got the call at four in the morning," he said. "I thought I was dreaming obviously -- and I still am." Joining Howard in this years class are former NHL star Joe Sakic, cyclist Alison Sydor, five-time Paralympian Andre Viger and the 1992 Olympic champion womens coxless four rowing team of Kirsten Barnes, Brenda Taylor, Jessica Monroe-Gonin, Kay Worthington and Jennifer Walinga. Former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello and sport development architect Dr. Jean-Guy Ouellet enter as builders. Inductees will be presented with their member jackets at an evening ceremony. Howard won national and world titles in 1987 and 1993. He said the first Brier victory with his brother Glenn was one of the most special victories from his long career, especially since they came up just short in the 1986 final. His most memorable win came at the Turin Games in 2006 when he earned Olympic gold with skip Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador. "There was so much different pressure at that, with 70 million people watching our final game," Howard said. "Youre representing your country. At my age it was my last and only chance to win an Olympic medal for my country. So that pressure was a lot different than at the Canadian championships." Sakic, who had 1,641 career regular-season points over 20 seasons in the NHL, won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and 2001. He currently serves as the teams executive vice-president of hockey operations. "Its a tremendous honour," Sakic said. "When I got the call it was very, very exciting. "Obviously you start to reflect and you think back, and I just remember as a kid youre watching your Canadian Olympians and obviously cheering them on and you want to see them do well. And then to get a taste of it yourself, have a whole new appreciation for what all the athletes in different sports had to do to prepare and get ready for these things." Sakic won titles at the Winter Olympics, world hockey championship, World Cup of Hockey and the world junior championship. He first broke into the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques in 1988. "To play for your country, I got a chance to play with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, and I wouldnt have had that happen on my regular team," he said. "Any time you put the Canadian jersey on, you just felt something more and something special. The game just seemed to mean a little bit more. We never took that for granted." Sydor won Olympic silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games and picked up her third straight world title that year. The three-time Pan Am Games medallist had 17 career World Cup mountain bike victories. Viger, who died in 2006, was one of the best wheelchair racers of all-time. He won 10 medals over five appearances at the Paralympic Games and held world records at several distances. The coxless four team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona is considered one of Canadas best-ever rowing crews. Walinga was forced to withdraw with a back injury shortly before the competition but Worthington stepped in and helped the crew win a gold medal. "I think we feel that our honour has a great deal to do with what we went through," Walinga said. "I think we represent the power of sport and the power of team, or what human beings are capable of achieving and what human beings are capable of overcoming when they function as a unified, collaborative team." Costello has helped Canada become a hockey powerhouse. He has served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (now Hockey Canada) and vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He has spearheaded numerous development and skills programs that continue to be used today. "Its always nice to be recognized," Costello said. "Its particularly nice when youre recognized across all sports in this great country." Ouellet, who held the position of Director of Mission Quebec, designed and implemented programs to prepare athletes from the province to represent Canada at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The programs were the basis for the high performance sports model in Quebec and are used today as a model for other provinces and countries around the world. A gallery featuring each of this years inductees will be showcased at the Hall of Fame facility at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. The Class of 2013 brings the total number of honoured members to 540. Authentic Harry Giles Jersey . Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner. Discount Kings Jerseys . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three. http://www.cheapnbakingsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-nemanja-bjelica-jersey . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U.Twelve years ago, it was Dan Crowley throwing passes to receivers Jimmy Oliver, Denis Montana, and Eddie Brown, and handing the ball off to Darren Davis. Thats a quarterback with just 253 passing attempts experience, and who would be out of the league in two years; three receivers with just one career 1,000-yard season combined; and a running back who after consecutive 1,000-yard seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, failed to gain even 300 yards on the ground in either of his two years in Ottawa before leaving the league. Sorry for the painful trip down memory lane Ottawa football fans. Flash forward 12 years and it will be an awfully different scene, one with a lot more promise. Instead of a QB with just 1,696 passing yards at the time leading Ottawas new expansion team, theyll have a 14-year veteran in Henry Burris, a former Most Outstanding Player and Grey Cup champion, who has 51,526 career passing yards. 1,696 yards is a good weekend for the former Calgary Stampeder, Saskatchewan Roughrider, and Hamilton Tiger-Cat. The team has some promise in the receiving corps as well and an electrifying running back in Chevon Walker backed up by some solid CFL experience at fullback. The point is the Redblacks this season will look different than almost any expansion team before them, not just in the CFL or even football, but in all professional sports. Theyll look like a team that can compete. Its a nice change from the Renegades debut, whose problems ran far deeper than their game day roster week in and week out; having a team that can contend, or at least keep things close when the West Division heavy hitters come to town, is a boon to both the new ownership and CFL fans in Ottawa, who perhaps more than anyone deserve some good fortune on the gridiron. Using one part updated expansion draft rules that made more players available and one part a little good fortune in free agency, the Redblacks have built a deeper and more talented roster than your typical expansion team mish-mash. As mentioned earlier, Ottawa will be led by Burris, but theyll have some other veterans sprinkled into the roster to help the roster through their maiden voyage in the CFL. Guys like Walker at running back, receiver Paris Jackson, and offensive linemen John Gott, Joe Eppele, and JMichael Deane will help Burris run an effeective offence that could easily be closer to the middle of the pack than the basement come seasons end. Wholesale Kings Jerseys. And on defence, former Most Outstanding Defensive Player Jovon Johnson should have enough gas left in the tank to lead the unit alongside veterans Keith Shologan, Anton McKenzie, TJ Hill, and Malik Jackson. This isnt to say the Redblacks are instant Grey Cup contenders, which in a nine-team league isnt entirely crazy. With the Winnipeg Blue Bombers heading West and the Argos, Ticats, and Alouettes all coming off at least decent regular seasons in 2013, the Redblacks will enter the year as favourites to finish in the East Division basement, but a 5-7 win season should keep the fans intrigued, and more importantly, excited about the future. Notes Expansion Draft - The Redblacks took their biggest step towards looking like a real team with the Expansion Draft in December. Highlights included picking two quarterbacks in Kevin Glenn and Thomas DeMarco, and other notable names such as Keith Shologan, Chevon Walker, Joe Eppele, and Eric Fraser. Glenn Saga - Kevin Glenn looked to be the Redblacks quarterback of the present until Henry Burris became available on the free market and Ottawa pounced. Not happy with the demotion, Glenn was eventually traded to the Lions where hell instead back up Travis Lulay on his fifth CFL team. Free Agency - Burris was the big coup in free agency but the team landed several other notable players including LB Malik Jackson from the Stampeders, defensive back Jovon Johnson from the Blue Bombers, and WR Kierrie Johnson from the Roughriders. CFL Draft - The Redblacks traded the first overall draft pick to the Stampeders for veteran offensive lineman John Gott, but got back into the first by trading Glenn to the Lions, and ended up with defensive back Antoine Pruneau. Other picks included WR Scott MacDonell in the second round, DL Nijel Romick in the third round, offensive linemen Aaron Wheaton in the fourth and Hugo Desmarais in the fifth, DL Stephon Miller in the sixth, and DL Vincent Desloges, LB Alexandre Bernard, and LS Kevin Malcolm in the seventh. 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