As an elite athlete and Olympic gold medallist, how did you make the transition to sports broadcaster?Well, the camera never scared me – I always enjoyed doing interviews and tried to have fun with them. MLB Jerseys From China . And when an opportunity presents itself, I like to dive at it head-first. When I was competing on Battle of the Blades, [I was asked] to come in for a screen test with Leafs TV. It was something I was interested in, so I immediately decided to jump at it. I fell in love with the job the second they put that mic in my hand, and Ive worked hard every day trying to get better. Its my new passion.How does your experience in sports shape your perspective on what athletes go through?Being an athlete is a privilege, its not something I took for granted. And its something that allows me to connect with and relate to other athletes as theyre competing at the top level. Having been able to play at such a high level, Ive seen a lot of fantastic athletes and the way they prepare. You can relate with steps theyre walking through: going over shifts in their mind, or even calming their nerves [in the clutch]. And the quality that all competitive athletes have in common is the fact that we all want to be perfect. Thats what we strive for, even though its never really attainable. So I understand that feeling, and I empathize with them. Youre well known as an Olympic hockey player, but do you play any other sports?I was most focused on hockey and soccer up until I went to college, and I ended up having to choose one, because you cant play both. But in high school I played flag football, softball, basketball, cross country, track and field, soccer, and of course hockey. I just enjoy competing, and I think it was also a cheap excuse to get out of class sometimes!One other sport Im passionate about: I recently fell in love with my road bike. Ive got the need for speed. Oh, and I also play tennis with friends for fun. By no means am I Serena Williams, though in my head sometimes I do think I hit as hard as she does!You were a panelist for womens hockey broadcasts on TSN during the Sochi Olympics. What was it like covering a team you played for?Those are my best friends – theyre my sisters. I spent years training with them. Weve laughed together, cried together, won together, and learned together. So to step in and cover it was an emotional experience, having just been released from the team. It was also a great learning experience for me. I wanted to give not only the Canadian women but the sport of womens hockey the best possible coverage, because I think they deserve it. I put a lot of pressure on myself to come up with unique points to break down the game differently, not only to show how skilled these athletes are, but to teach the viewer about our sport, because its a little different from the mens game. Due to the no body contact rules, its a speed and finesse game. It made me proud to be able to talk about my friends, not only from Canada, but the USA, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and more. To share their stories with the rest of Canada, and to let viewers know how much attention they deserve.Youre also part of the Champions network with the Special Olympics, how did you get involved with it?It was actually through Jamie Salé. I got to know her through Battle of the Blades, and she was so helpful and patient – I dont know if Id have been able to half the things on that show if it werent for her. She reached out to me and asked if Id be interested in helping out. Im an honourary chair with Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, and this was another chance to give back and stay involved with the athletic community, so it was an easy decision. Weve got a really good team in place, and there are many events to come.Who were your sports heroes growing up?As a kid, you always look up to your parents. My mom played baseball. She was a rover, and she had a hot glove. And my dad played hockey at the collegiate level and junior level in Sudbury. My dad coached a college team, the Cambrian College Golden Shields, and I lived at the rink, watching them play. So my dads hockey players were my first true hockey idols. They were a big, tough team, and it helped shape my game. I wasnt the biggest, but I played mean.When womens hockey emerged with the Womens World Championship in 1990, there was one player who I played a lot like, and that was Geraldine Heaney. She came to Sudbury one year to my dads hockey school, so I actually got to play with my idol at the age of 12. She snapped a picture with me wearing her silver medal from Nagano, and I knew immediately that the Olympics was something I was prepared to do anything for. Whats your favourite sports team?I went to college at Ohio State University, so Im a Buckeye. I bleed scarlet and grey through and through. Aaron Ward tries to make fun of me about it, but his Michigan Wolverines have a hard time standing up to the Buckeyes. Ohio State-Michigan football games are the best: I remember one game at the end of the year we beat them 52-49, and I rushed the field with everyone and ripped out part of the 50-yard line. We planted it in our front yard at the house I lived in.Youre currently hosting TSNs French Open Primetime broadcasts, who are some players youre looking forward to covering at the tournament?Well, I think Roger Federer owns the title of most talented, but Novak Djokovic is the most entertaining tennis player out there. I always like watching him because he brings lightheartedness to the game. He pushes the envelope of traditional tennis etiquette. And of course the young Canadian players: Eugenie Bouchard is so young and so talented, and Milos Raonic is just waiting for his breakthrough moment. This is the first tennis tournament Ive covered, and if he does well, obviously I must have had something to do with it, right? Maybe that will be my claim to fame.Tessa Bonhomme hosts French Open Primetime, airing every evening of the tournament on TSN. Visit TSN.ca for full schedule info. Nike MLB Jerseys For Sale . Mesoraco hurt his hamstring while scoring from second in Friday nights 5-4 loss at Atlanta. Chapman was hit by a line drive during an exhibition game on March 19, breaking his nose and a bone above his left eye. The left-hander looked strong while throwing 43 pitches in batting practice before Saturday nights game against the Braves. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic . Snedekers best result so far this year is a tie for eighth place at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. He sits 113th in FedEx Cup standings and has dropped to 31st in world rankings — not the results expected from a player ranked fourth in the world only two years ago. https://www.mlbjerseys2020.com/ . In a matchup of teams battling head-to-head for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccers Western Conference, the Whitecaps run to the post-season took a hard hit when FC Dallas blew open a tie game with two goals in the final minutes for a 3-1 victory Saturday night. TORONTO -- While most of those in the stands undoubtedly recoiled when they saw Andersons Silvas gruesome leg break Saturday night at UFC 168 in Las Vegas, Steven Sanders had a different thought cageside. "The only question I had in my mind was how low down on the leg was the fracture," the UFCs orthopedic surgeon recalled in a media conference call Monday. "Because the level of the fracture influences my thinking as to what type of orthopedic device Im going to need to fix it. "But the minute it occurred, Im sitting there going Thats fixable." Amazingly, less than 48 hours after surgery to insert a titanium rod and three screws in his left tibia, the 38-year-old Brazilian was up on crutches, accorded to the surgeon. "Its amazing because I dont know if I would be able to do it that quickly," said Sanders. And the surgeon said Silvas question prior to the operation was when could he train again. Still the former middleweight champion is spending most of his time in his hospital bed, at this stage, with his leg in a posterior splint. "Hes behaving as anyone would who had just broke both their bones violently and then had a 11.5-millimetre-diameter rod stuck down the intramedullary canal of your tibia. It hurts quite a bit," Sanders said. The fighter is expected to stay in hospital for a few more days and faces a long recovery before he could compete in the cage again. But Sanders says Silva will eventually be able to resume mixed martial arts. The surgeon expects the fighters fractures to heal in three to six months, with a time frame of six to nine months before trying to resume training. "The expectation is positive," Sanders said. Silva (33-6) will be able to do some rehab work, to put some weight on the leg "in the near future as we get though this acute pain phase." Saturdays fight was stopped at 1:16 of the second round, with current middleweight champion Chris Weidman declared the winner as doctors attended to a writhing Silva. Silva broke both the tibia and fibula in his lower left leg kicking Weidman in the main event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Weidman checked the kick, meaning Silva went bone-one-bone. His leg snapped about a third of the way up the tibia from the ankle, causing his essentially untethered ankle and foot to swing around Weidmans leg in an stomach-churning moment. Silva, who up until his upset loss to Weidman in July at UFC 162 was considered the top pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, collapsed in agony. Sanders called it "horrific pain." Sanders said Dr. Anthony Ruggeroli immediately realigned the limb and applied traction, helping prevent the injuryy from getting worse. MLB Jerseys 2020 Online. Silva was stretchered outside the cage under the direction of Dr. Jeff Davidson and taken to a waiting ambulance, which transported him to University Medical Centre Hospital, a Level 1 trauma centre. The operation lasted about an hour, with the rod inserted into his leg at the front of the knee, with a screw at the top and two at the bottom to stabilize the bone. While the fibula was also broken, Sanders elected not to operate on that bone because it would have required an incision at the site of the break, opening Silva up to the risk of infection -- among other reasons. Sanders says the fibula could heal on its own, adding he saw no evidence from X-rays there was an predisposition to a break. The surgeon called Silvas fracture "fairly severe," given the fact that the skin was essentially holding the leg together. That means the tissues that normally surround the bone, and help with the healing, have undergone trauma. The soft tissue recovery is "more of a variable" than the bone repair, said Sanders. The injury, while horrific to watch, could have been worse, with Sanders listing off the elements of a worse case scenario -- a break near the joint, the skin breaking, tearing a blood vessel challenging blood supply to the foot. "Unfortunately in my line of work, things can always sometimes be worse," he said. That includes "limb-threatening" if the fracture compromises vascular support to the foot. Silvas dramatic injury -- which Sanders pithily described as "an abnormal bend in the leg at a place where its not supposed to bend" -- was "extremely close" to being much worse On the plus side, the straight nature of the break will help in rehab, since a spiral fracture can "unwind." And the surgeon said the rehab wont be as intense as when fighters injure knee ligaments. The titanium rod can be removed at a later date or can stay in Silvas leg, Sanders added. "For whatever reason, humans like titanium." Sanders has worked with the UFC for more than a decade and has practised in Las Vegas since 1991, working with boxers prior to MMA fighters. Sivas injury recalled that of Corey Hill, who broke his leg while throwing a kick that was checked by Dale Hartt on a UFC card in December 2008. Hill returned to action in January 2010 and has gone 4-3 since, although not in the UFC. UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon (Bones) Jones said Silvas injury will not change his approach to fighting. "No Andersons last fight will not change my psychology towards kicking at all, that was just an extremely unfortunate situation," Jones tweeted. ' ' '