Hockey great Sidney Crosby, Olympic soccer star Christine Sinclair and PGA Tour player Graham DeLaet will garner their share of votes this December as Canada's athlete of the year, but a relatively new name - James Hinchcliffe - will be part of the mix, too.
In fact, the Indy Car driver, already the winner of three races in 2013, could run - sorry, drive - away with the award.
It's been years since Canada has had a strong presence in Indy Car racing. Paul Tracy was one of the world's best at one time and Greg Moore had great potential but he died too soon. Before that, the Villeneuves, Jacques and Gilles, were among the world's best. Now, it's Hinchcliffe.
The Oakville, Ont., native was the Indy Car Series' rookie of the year in 2011 and was signed by Andretti Autosports to replace Danica Patrick in the Go Daddy.com car on the circuit. "I hope I can fill her heels," cracked Hinchcliffe.
He has, and more. Driving the No. 27 car for Andretti (the same car number driven by the two Villeneuves), Hinchcliffe won two of the first four races in 2013 - the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Fla., in March and the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy in Brazil in May. Just to prove those two wins weren't flukes, he captured his third checkered flag June 23 at the Iowa Corn Indy 250. He's tied for the lead in wins this season with Scott Dixon, who won three races in a row in July.
Hinchcliffe would have loved to thrill his hometown fans with a win at one of the two races in Toronto in mid-July, but he came up short, finishing seventh in the first race and 21st the next day when a stuck accelerator got the team off to a bad start. Still, mark down 2013 as the year Hinchcliffe became a household name in the world of autosports.
"It's so cool to see how far we've progressed and more and more fans are taking notice and they've got a Canadian to cheer for and that's what it's all about," Hinchcliffe told Jonathan Brazeau of Sportsnet.
The next time Hinchcliffe presses down hard on the accelerator will be Aug. 4 at the Honda Indy at Lexington, Ohio, going for victory No. 4. Canadian driver of the year? For sure. Athlete of the year? Three wins in one year should probably be enough. Four would lock it up.
Steve Rushin in Sports Illustrated: "In New York, John Tortorella was relieved of his coaching duties for being too much like his own playoff beard (prickly, coarse and abrasive)."
R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: "Andy Murray won Wimbledon, ending Britain's 77-year championship drought. 'Is that all?' say Chicago Cubs fans."
Dom Cosentino of Deadspin.com, after Thomas Bjorn's errant shot out of the rough shattered the $80,000 lens of an ESPN camera: "Best of luck to the three or four production assistants who will now be sacrificed to cover the cost."
Matt Snyder of CBSsports.com, on the Miami Marlins hosting 'Legends of Wrestling Night' on Aug. 24: "The Marlins will do just about anything to get fans to the ballpark - that is, other than putting a winning team on the field."
Headline at Fark.com: "Yankees hope A-Rod rejoins team next week. So do the other teams in the AL East."
Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "Dylan McCue-Masone, who said on Twitter he'd run onto the field during Tuesday's All-Star Game if he got 1,000 retweets, made good on his promise and got taken down - hard - by stadium security. So what's his new nickname, Tweeter Dee or Tweeter Dumb?"
Golfer Sergio Garcia, to AP, recalling his first British Open as a 16-year-old amateur in 1996: "The grass was taller than I was."
Headline at SportsPickle.com: "Astros' All-Star representative amazed by everyone making contact in batting practice."
Comedian Argus Hamilton, on the NFL's run of player arrests: "It's gotten so bad that the New England Patriots just hired Robert Shapiro to be the team's defensive coordinator."
Janice Hough of leftcoastsportsbabe.com: "Matt Garza apparently has been told he'll be traded, though he doesn't want to leave the Cubs, as he believes the team is headed in the right direction. 'I don't think we are far away from winning.' Sounds like Garza is getting out of Wrigley just in time, he's becoming delusional."
Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: "Sort of a slow time in sports, baseball has the All Star break, basketball and hockey just ended and football is a couple months away. It's the one time of year all the steroid makers go on vacation."
This has nothing to do with sports, but it's one of the funniest lines of the week, offered by Kaseberg: "It is hot. I am sweating like George Zimmerman at a 50 Cent concert."
NBC's Jay Leno, on the dying Cleveland fan who requested six Browns players serve as his pallbearers: "The bad news? They fumbled the coffin five yards from the grave."
