Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago: How to watch Copa America playoff, live stream

The winner moves to the Copa America, while the loser misses out on the huge tournament

Amid a serious downturn in fortunes, Canada faces its biggest match since the 2022 World Cup on Saturday when it takes on Trinidad & Tobago.

The winner of the one-game playoff at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas will advance to the Copa América this summer, while the loser is eliminated.

Canada failed to qualify directly to the Copa América when it collapsed against Jamaica in the Nations League quarterfinal in November. The Reds won the away leg 2-1 only to fall 3-2 at home in the second leg, with the Reggae Boyz advancing via away goals after a 4-4 aggregate scoreline.

Trinidad & Tobago, meanwhile, fell into the one-off playoff after losing its quarterfinal series against the U.S. by a 4-2 aggregate score.

[afflinkbutton text=”Watch Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago on Paramount Plus” link=”https://paramountplus.qflm.net/217Nxg”]

Making the Copa América would be a major boost for Canada amid a tumultuous period that has seen head coach John Herdman depart, a poor Gold Cup last summer, and ongoing turmoil at the Canadian federation.

The winner of Saturday’s match will go into Group A of the Copa América alongside Argentina, Chile and Peru.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Canada vs. Trinidad & Tobago (Copa America playoff)

  • When: Saturday, March 23
  • Where: Toyota Stadium (Frisco, Texas)
  • Time: 4 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: Paramount+ (WATCH LIVE), CBS Sports Golazo Network

[lawrence-related id=45545,51484,34864]

We recommend interesting sports viewing/streaming and betting opportunities. If you sign up for a service by clicking one of the links, we may earn a referral fee. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

International captain Mike Weir says LIV Golf players won’t compete at 2024 Presidents Cup

“They knew that when they left, they knew that they weren’t gonna be part of (the Presidents Cup).”

Brooks Koepka was able to tee it up for the U.S. Ryder Cup team last fall in Italy due to a technicality in the PGA of America’s rules for the competition, which allowed LIV Golf players to compete. The same won’t be possible for this year’s Presidents Cup.

Speaking with the media on a conference call Tuesday afternoon, International captain Mike Weir said LIV players would not be eligible for the 2024 event at Royal Montreal Golf Club, Sept. 27-29. The biennial bash between the United States and rest of the world (minus Europe) is organized by the PGA Tour, and competitors must be active members to compete.

“Certainly I want the best players internationally to be playing (the Presidents Cup). Hopefully we come to a point that they are,” said Weir. “It’s just an unfortunate situation that we’re in right now.

“I’ve been told they’re not eligible. They’re not gonna be eligible but hopefully going forward, maybe in Chicago in 2026, they are,” he continued. “It is a shame. I mean, we would want the best players, but I like our team. Our team looks great right now, but yeah, I think as a captain, we want the best international players from around the world to be playing against the best U.S. guys.”

Players like Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Tom Kim, Jason Day, Sungjae Im and Si Woo Kim are almost assured to be involved, but imagine if the likes of Joaquin Niemann, Cam Smith, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Sebastian Munoz and Abraham Ancer were available?

“I guess the flip side is they knew that when they left, they knew that they weren’t gonna be part of (the Presidents Cup). That was definitely part of the conversation,” Weir explained. “I think some of that’s one of the reasons some guys struggled with (going to LIV) because they loved (the Presidents Cup) so much and they want to be part of it.”

With six months to go until the first round of matches, Weir is now focused on team camaraderie and figuring out how to set up the golf course to make it more favorable to the International team. In fact, a group dinner is scheduled ahead of this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill with guys on the team to start the team-building process.

“That’s always been part of our strategy, we have a lot of different cultures, a lot of different backgrounds,” Weir said of the struggle to build connections on a team with so many language barriers. “We have some new faces this year that are looking like they’ll be part of the team. So just getting everybody together and get to know one another and know what the International team is all about.”

The 2003 Masters champion isn’t just focused on a favorable golf course. He also wants a raucous crowd to provide the Internationals with a much-needed homefield advantage. Weir was a member of the International side the last time the event was held at Royal Montreal in 2007, and he admitted the fans were a bit too cordial to Tiger Woods and the Americans, who won 19½-14½.

“I’ll have something,” said a grinning Weir of his home field plans. The Internationals are leaning on the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and plan to tap into their fan base to provide a hockey-esque atmosphere. That said, he wants the entire country to be involved and engaged, not just folks from the area.

The Presidents Cup debuted in 1994 and in the 14 matches since, the U.S. has dominated with 12 wins, one loss in 1998 and one tie in 2003.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=1375]

Report: LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan could face $74 million lawsuit in Canadian court

The potential lawsuit comes at a bad time for not just LIV Golf, but also the PGA Tour.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan – the governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the chairman of LIV Golf  – could be facing a $74 million lawsuit, according to a report in The Athletic.

Legal papers that were sent to Al-Rumayyan at various PIF addresses in Saudi Arabia, New York and London (as well as the stadium of PIF-owned Newcastle United in England) allege the 53-year-old “carried out the instructions” of current Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with “the malicious intent” of “harming, silencing and ultimately destroying” the family of the Kingdom’s former intelligence chief, Dr. Saad Aljabri. The Aljabri family is seeking $74 million in damages.

Aljabri was a top aide to former Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who was removed from his post in 2017 and has been in detention since 2020. At the time, Reuters reported bin Nayef had been forced to step aside “in an effective palace coup,” but a Saudi official said the claim was “unfounded and untrue in addition to being nonsense.”

From The Athletic:

The claim Aljabri hopes to bring against Al-Rumayyan will, if the Canadian court grants permission, allege that defendants including Al-Rumayyan were “directly involved” in a three-and-a-half-year campaign between June 2017 and January 2021 to pursue the family of Saad Aljabri, who is a former top aide to Prince Mohammed bin Nayef.

Why a Canadian court? Aljabri fled Saudi Arabia for Turkey in 2017 and then made his way to Canada. Three years ago, Saudi state-owned firms claimed in a Canadian lawsuit that Aljabri had embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars of state funds, an accusation that Aljabri has denied.

The documents sent to Al-Rumayyan this month ask the Canadian court for permission for Al-Rumayyan and others to not only be added to an existing court case, but for a new claim to be brought against them as well. The PIF and board member Mohammed Al Al-Sheik have also been listed as intended co-defendants in the legal papers.

The potential lawsuit comes at a bad time for both LIV Golf and the PGA Tour. The Saudi-backed circuit is less than a month from hosting its first event of 2024 in Mexico and the Tour is currently engaged in conversations with the PIF and outside investors to form a for-profit entity, PGA Tour Enterprises. The PIF is governed by Al-Rumayyan and bin Salman is its chairman. Al-Rumayyan was also originally tabbed to be the chairman of the new entity’s board if an agreement is reached.

For more on the history of tension between Crown Prince Bin Salman and Aljabri and the Kingdom’s involvement in its sovereign wealth fund, read the full report here.

[lawrence-auto-related count=1 tag=451200232]

Arctic temps made it tough for firefighters to extinguish clubhouse fire at this PGA Tour Americas venue

The fire occurred at one of just three Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses in Canada.

The clubhouse at the site of the PGA Tour Americas’ ATB Classic went up in flames recently, and firefighters were contending with temperatures of 40 below while battling the blaze.

The Northern Bear Golf Course in Sherwood Park, Alberta — one of just three Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses in Canada — has a deal to host the PGA Tour Americas event through 2025. But the iconic clubhouse at the course, which sits about 40 minutes from downtown Edmonton, caught fire on Saturday morning.

Neighbors saw the structure billowing smoke and called the authorities, who sent numerous emergency vehicles to the scene. But with temps dipping so low and gusts making the wind chill even lower, crews had trouble on-site with frozen pump ports and lines, according to Dana Terry, deputy chief of operations for Strathcona County’s emergency services department.

The course is one of the longest on the PGA Tour Americas schedule and is known for tree-lined fairways, five lakes and huge greens. This year’s ATB Classic is scheduled for June 27-30.

There were no injuries, but the building is a total loss with just the skeletal remains standing in the Alberta cold for the foreseeable future. Temperatures in the region are not expected to get above zero Fahrenheit until Friday.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2135423816791016&t=2

A message on the club’s Facebook page gave thanks to the crews that fought the fire in such difficult conditions.

“We are all devastated about the loss of our beautiful clubhouse. We are so grateful no one was at the clubhouse and there was no one injured. We want to thank the Strathcona fire department for their work in treacherous weather. Thank you to everyone for their well wishes and we vow to rebuild better than it was before,” the post said.

https://www.facebook.com/northernbeargolf/posts/pfbid025DFAxieBfBhkYiV2Mr3wd2TCBer4FPHi1dMN7awsWHq7yFJUiBy4hW6LhTy2zfDl

Watch as giant grizzly bear executes perfect back scratch

Trail-cam footage from the Yukon Territory shows several bears expressing interest in the same pine tree.

A compilation of trail-cam footage from Canada’s Yukon Territory shows grizzly bears expressing specific interest in the same tree at various points in 2022.

The accompanying footage, shared Wednesday by Yukon Wildlife Cams, also shows moose on the same remote trail, including one that appears suspicious about the camera.

But on three occasions a grizzly bear is seen using the tree as a scratching post, which is how bears deposit their scents to communicate with other bears.

The most rigorous scratch occurs at 1:30, involving a large grizzly bear that spends several seconds executing its technique: standing on hind legs, clutching a branch for leverage, and rubbing deeply against the trunk.

The bear even sticks its tongue out at times, as if enjoying a sensation that anyone who loves a thorough back scratch can appreciate.

Yukon Wildlife Cams showcases the region’s wildlife with footage captured from several trail-cam locations.

One of our favorite clips involves a massive grizzly bear scent-marking a tree before charging in slow motion toward the camera, lending a unique perspective of what a grizzly bear charge in a person’s direction might look like.

2023 Golfweek Awards: Shot of the Year, Nick Taylor’s winning eagle at RBC Canadian Open

Nick Taylor’s drought-ending eagle putt on the fourth playoff hole in Canada claimed our Shot of the Year.

Nick Taylor’s ball travelled more than a foot for every year Canadian golf fans had waited for one of their own to win the RBC Canadian Open.

North of the border they refer to it simply as “The Putt.” Amid a steady rain, the 72-foot eagle bomb at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club by Abbotsford’s own Nick Taylor on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff ended a 69-year drought of a Canadian not winning its national open.

CBS’s Jim Nantz delivered the exclamation on the TV call: “Glorious and free,” he said.

Quite simply, it was Golfweek’s Shot of the Year for 2023.

“Do it, Do it, DO IT!,” shouted Adam Hadwin, kneeling greenside and holding a bottle of champagne, as the ball neared the hole.

It DID IT!

Canadian Mark Zecchino calling the action on Sirius/XM’s PGA Tour Network lost his mind as he went on repeat: “The drought is over, the drought is over…History! History!”

Taylor tossed his putter into the air and leaped into the arms of caddie Dave Markle, a former teammate on Canada’s amateur team, after the longest made putt of his PGA Tour career. Out of the corner of his eye, Taylor recalled seeing Hadwin, who grew up at the same course, Ledgeview Golf Club, get tackled by a security card as he attempted spraying Taylor with champagne in what became an even more viral moment than the winning putt.

Fellow Canadian players Mike Weir, who left the property and returned to witness history, and Corey Conners were among those who ran onto the green to congratulate Taylor. The partisan crowd was so loud – they had serenaded Taylor with a rendition of its “O Canada” national anthem during the day – that CBS’s Amanda Renner had to delay the post-round interview because she couldn’t hear.

“This is for all the guys that are here. This is for my family at home,” Taylor said with tears in his eyes. “This is the most incredible feeling.”

2023 RBC Canadian Open
Nick Taylor celebrates with his caddie after making an eagle putt on the 4th playoff hole to win the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Golf & Country Club on June 11, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

The last player from Canada to win the Canadian Open had been Pat Fletcher in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver. Technically, Fletcher was born in England; Carl Keffer had been the only Canadian-born champion, winning in 1909 and 1914. Weir had come close, losing a playoff to Vijay Singh in 2004. The 35-year-old Taylor, who was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, won for the third time on the PGA Tour. He did so despite shooting 75 in Thursday’s opening round.

“I was just hoping to make the cut,” Taylor said.

Wife Andie, who was back home tending to the couple’s second child, a daughter named Harper, who they had welcomed just five weeks earlier, gave him a much-needed pep talk via phone between rounds.

He rallied with a 67 on Friday to make the cut by just one shot. Taylor vaulted into contention by firing a course-record 9-under 63 on Saturday to move within three shots of the lead entering the final round. Five birdies over his first ten holes propelled Taylor to a three-shot lead at 16 under with eight holes to play, but there would be a couple hiccups coming home at Nos. 11 (offset by a bounce-back birdie at 12) and 16, which meant he needed to drain an 11-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to close in 6-under 66 and finish at 17-under 271, walking backwards with his fist raised as the ball disappeared into the hole.

Fleetwood could have played spoiler in regulation, but he missed his tee shot right at the par-5 18th, laid up into an awkward lie in the right rough and two-putted for par to force the playoff.

The players traded birdies on their first time playing No. 18 in the playoff, then both parred 18 on a second playing and the par-3 ninth before heading back to 18 for a third go at it.

Taylor’s tee shot found a divot in the fairway, but he ripped his second shot from 221 yards to the front of the green, while Fleetwood laid up after his drive found a fairway bunker. Fleetwood hit his third shot to 12 feet, but Taylor ended the playoff in dramatic fashion when his uphill eagle putt hit the flagstick and dropped.

“Ever since I’ve been on the PGA Tour this is one that we want to do as well as we can in, and the crowd support was the most unbelievable thing I will probably ever experience in my life,” Taylor said that Sunday. “To break that curse, if you want to call it, is, I’m pretty speechless.”

Following a seemingly endless array of media interviews that night, Taylor was the last player to leave the premises around 10:30 p.m. and his stomach was growling. Jason Logan of Score Golf recounted the scene of Taylor pulling into a McDonald’s just before the Highway 401 on-ramp to load up on Chicken McNuggets. But just as they were about to order, Taylor’s phone, connected to the car’s Bluetooth system, rang and the caller’s name flashed on the display panel was none other than hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.

“I don’t have him in my phone but his name pops up for whatever reason and I look at the guys and I’m like, ‘I should probably take this call,’” Taylor recalled to Score Golf.

As Logan pointed out, that personifies how Taylor authored one of those proud Canadian sporting moments akin to Sidney Crosby’s golden goal, Joe Carter’s World Series-winning home run and Donovan Bailey’s 100-meter Olympic gold medal. It’s such a memorable moment that the RBC Canadian Open changed its logo to reflect Taylor’s histrionics.

It’s why Taylor likely will never have to buy a Molson (or Labatt’s) at a 19th hole in Canada for the rest of his life, Adam Woodard wrote in his lede to the Golfweek game story on Taylor’s triumph.

Taylor told the “Subpar” Podcast, he hadn’t been to a bar much to test this out, but at the U.S. Open the following week in Los Angeles he grabbed drinks with an old college roommate and someone recognized him and bought his round.

“This is going to start happening,” he said. “It’s not so bad.”

Seventy-two feet to win your national open in a playoff? It doesn’t get much better than that and it was an unanimous choice for Golfweek’s Shot of the Year.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451203947]

Twitter reactions to the Steelers firing of Matt Canada

Here are some of our favorite reactions to the firing of Matt Canada.

On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced they had fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada. This was an early Christmas miracle for Steeler Nation and social media’s reaction to the move did not disappoint. Here are some of the best reactions to the news.

Niele Ivey, Cassandre Prosper speak after win over Northwestern

No updates about Citron yet.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Emotions were running high for Notre Dame after it beat Northwestern, 110-52. Instead of celebrating a victory, the Irish were concerned for the well-being of standout guard [autotag]Sonia Citron[/autotag], who scored 23 points but suffered an injury late in the third quarter.

When [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] and [autotag]Cassandre Prosper[/autotag] (seven points off the bench) came down to speak with the media after the game, neither knew what was going on with Citron. All they and anyone who follows the Irish knew was that losing Citron for an extended period of time would be devastating. This is a team also wondering when [autotag]Olivia Miles[/autotag] will be healthy enough to rejoin the lineup.

Fortunately, Citron’s injury wasn’t the only topic of discussion during the postgame news conference. Most questions were aimed at Ivey, but Prosper had a couple of questions thrown her way. Here is some of what they had to say about a mixed bag of an evening:

Giant Yukon grizzly bear provides riveting trail-cam moment

A trail-cam operator in Canada’s Yukon Territory has shared several compelling grizzly bear video clips recently, but one stands out above the others.

Last week, a trail-cam operator shared video footage that revealed his “near encounters” with grizzly bears in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

This week, David Troup of Yukon Wildlife Cams shared footage showing a “marvelous” grizzly bear scent-marking a tree on which one of his cameras was attached.

It was reminiscent of perhaps Troup’s most compelling related footage: that of a massive grizzly bear back scratching, or scent-marking a tree before charging toward the camera.

The accompanying slow-motion footage, captured by Yukon Trail Cams in August 2021, lends a unique perspective of what a grizzly bear charge in your direction might look like.

Reads one of the more popular comments: “Can you imagine standing where the trail camera is?”

Another: “Remember, you only have to be faster than your hiking partner!”

Troup maintains a network of trail cameras in the Yukon and periodically shares footage to showcase the region’s wildlife.

Canada’s FIBA coach raves about professionalism of Dillon Brooks

Jordi Fernandez, Canada’s FIBA coach, on Dillon Brooks: “He is a superb professional. Inside the locker room, he connects with his teammates, everyone respects him.”

In the NBA, the career of veteran forward Dillon Brooks has become known at least in part for antics, such as the feud with LeBron James in last season’s playoffs. But in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, where Brooks was a standout for third-place Canada, the value of Brooks’ defense and on-court play far exceeded any drawbacks.

For the Houston Rockets, who signed Brooks in July, the hope is that FIBA level of play carries over into the 2023-24 NBA season.

In an interview with Toni Canyameras from Mundo Deportivo, Jordi Fernandez — head coach of Canada’s men’s basketball national team — raved about Brooks’ contributions.

Among his comments (translated by BasketNews.com):

(He’s) excellent. He is nothing more than a normal person who comes in and is very professional. He takes good care of himself (and does) all the work to be 100% ready to play. His work in the gym, the things he does on his own — he is a superb professional.

Inside the locker room, he connects with his teammates, everyone respects him. He is like the rest of the group, he is nothing out of this world. He is one of the best competitors I have ever seen, and on the entire court, not only defensively, where he has superpowers, but he’s shown offensively that he can not only score but also be efficient with the quality of the shots.

“He came with the spirit of working and doing what was necessary for the team and the national team, (he came in) to have a good time and enjoy the experience,” Fernandez said of Brooks.

“In the end, he’s been improving as a player,” Fernandez concluded. “I have only very positive words for him at all levels: offensively, defensively, as a player, worker, teammate. I’ve tried to get to know him and establish a good relationship. This is a very beautiful and coachable group, and when you establish this connection and relationships, there are positive moments.”

Next up for Brooks is training camp with the 2023-24 Rockets, which begins in Houston during the first week of October.

[lawrence-related id=116451,116435]