This is all so new. I contacted a friend who knows about blogs and computers and such. My knowledge base is so low, I pretty much only know how to type, and not very quickly. So, I have received much advice from her. I hope to impliment some of it soon.

I'm off to watch Canadian University Field Lacrosse ( CUFLA ) on Sunday. They have what they call the Great Canadian Lacrosse Bash at University Stadium in Waterloo. It's the opening face off for the season and it features 3 games, including my alma mater, the University of Western Ontario Mustangs. I'm looking forward to this. I 'm a great fan of university sports, particularly football, and I hope that the lacrosse version of college sports is just as good.

I was able to talk to a young guy this summer who plays for the Mustangs in Lax. We were up at Parry Sound for some kayaking lessons, and I noticed that he was wearing a Balmy Beach lacrosse t-shirt. He told me he played and I mentioned that I was a huge Lax fan. He then said he played in something called CUFLA, probably thinking that I'd never heard of it before. When I said that I knew about CUFLA, we started an instant and far-reaching conversation about the game until it was time to climb into our kayaks and begin the lesson. I promised that I would try to attend some CUFLA games this season and I am going to live up to this promise.

Lacrosse fans seem to know about the NCAA version of the game, and why not? It gathers quite a lot of attention south of the border, particularly at championship weekend. It is one of the best attended NCAA events, outranked only be football, for championship attendance. I have watched it on TV and it's terrific.... I always thought lacrosse was a great TV game, but when it's played in sunny weather in front of 40,000 fans in a big NFL stadium, it looks like an event.

I think the CUFLA event will pale by comparison, but this is typical of the Canadian approach to most sports. Hockey is always the exception in Canada, but other sports do not receive the level of support you would find in the US or Australia. Our country does not have a culture that emphasizes sports like the others. It's not in our DNA. We play some sports fairly well, but our national psyche seems to be directed in other places. We have spent too much of our history just trying to survive, or fighting, either with other countries or internally. Sports, you would think, would be a nice diversion from all of this, but it doesn't seem to be so. We like to go inside, drink, watch TV, or go to movies or plays, or drive our cars. But go to a local sports event? Not a chance, might be too cold or too hot, or too boring. In the US, it's a matter of local and civic pride to go out and watch the local high school or college team in whatever sport represent you in a big event, even if it's just to take on a cross-state rival, or, better yet, a rival from out of state.

Maybe it's all part of the Canadian inferiority complex, which I firmly believe we have. When I travel, I find that Canada is unknown to other people, and it's because we don't promote ourselves very well.

We'll see if the CUFLA boys try to buck the trend. I'm thinking they will, although how many will be in the stands to watch it...... I'll tell you on Sunday.