The Good Sport: Four-year-old Canadian hockey player steals hearts

Timbits hockey player too cute to handle

If you haven’t seen the viral video of a four-year-old hockey player wearing a microphone while practicing, you’re in for a treat. Mason Rupke’s on-ice escapades have taken the internet by storm, and for good reason.

Since his father, Jeremy, posted the video of Mason’s shenanigans to YouTube last Friday, it’s been viewed more than five million times.

While this youngster learns the basics of the sport with his Timbits minor hockey team, the microphone picks up his commentary and the results are hilarious.

“I’m gonna have a nap,” he states at one point while lying on his back following a tumble.

“Maybe after hockey I’m gonna go to BaDonalds (McDonalds),” he explains to one of his instructors later.

“Whoa, you’re fast,” he says while being carried by an instructor to a shooting drill.

No matter what type of day you’re having, the video is sure to bring a smile to your face. And that is exactly what its creator says he wanted.

“Having Mason bring so much joy to so many people, that’s definitely what I intended,” the father told Global News after the footage went viral. “I think the video overall has been a huge success.”

Most importantly, the little hockey player wants the world to know he’s a force to be reckoned with on the ice.

“I shoot them in the net and score up the top,” the four-year-old Ontario boy told Global News.

Opposing coach calls on fans to salute NBA icon

Dirk Nowitzki, a man widely regarded as the greatest European to ever play in the NBA, is likely in the final season of his illustrious career that has spanned 21 seasons. During that time, the 40-year-old German has only worn Dallas Mavericks colours.

Nowitzki is a 14-time NBA All-Star, plus a former NBA champion and NBA Finals MVP. What might be most impressive about his career is how he helped trail-blaze the growth of basketball beyond North America. For all he’s done for the sport, he’s been celebrated this year, and the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers was no exception.

A former NBA champion himself, Doc Rivers wanted to make sure Nowitzki got the send-off that he deserved in what might have been his final NBA game Monday in Los Angeles. With less than 10 seconds left in the game, Rivers called a timeout, grabbed the public address announcer’s microphone and urged fans at the game to applaud Nowitzki.

“Dirk Nowitzki!” Rivers called out to the crowd. “Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go! One of the greatest of all time! Dirk Nowitzki!”

Those in attendance responded with an ovation that lasted about a minute and visibly moved the seven-foot forward, who gestured his appreciation to Rivers and the Staples Center crowd.

Following the game, Nowitzki took to Twitter to thank Rivers for his kind gesture.

“Thanks Doc and Clippers fans! I will always remember this,” he wrote.

NHL rookie turns demotion into ‘classy move’

The business side of hockey made it difficult for 2016 first round pick Trent Frederic to stay with the Boston Bruins after 11 games in the NHL.

A few trades and some contract situations forced the Bruins to send the 21-year-old rookie on a two-way contract back to their AHL affiliate last Friday.

The pill was especially tough to swallow for the young forward considering Boston was scheduled to play the Blues in St. Louis, his hometown, the very next day. To make matters worse, he had purchased a suite at the rink for his friends and family to watch his first NHL game in the city that he grew up in.

Instead of letting the box go to waste, he gave it to the St. Louis Blues Special Hockey, a non-profit organization for developmentally challenged youth and adults, according to their Facebook page.

The Blues tweeted about the “classy move” and went on to beat the Bruins 2-1 in a shootout.

Raptors fans give DeRozan a hero’s welcome

In the short history of the Toronto Raptors, fans have never seen a star as committed to the city as DeMar DeRozan. Unlike former dinos Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Chris Bosh before him, DeRozan was an All-Star calibre player that never wanted to leave Toronto.

DeRozan was traded with Jakob Poeltl to the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green last summer. In his first game back with the Raptors last Friday, the California native received a hero’s welcome when he returned for the first time with his new team.

It was an emotional night. The eruption from the crowd following his video tribute has been called the loudest for a former Raptor in franchise history. DeRozan appeared to be moved by the kindness from fans.

With all that he did in his nine seasons on the squad, should we have expected anything less?

WWE star announces his cancer is in remission

While the world of professional wrestling is some times lamented for being scripted and fake, WWE superstar Roman Reigns’ situation is as real as it gets.

Reigns, whose real name is Leati Joseph Anoai, has been a warrior inside and outside of the ring for more than a decade. The former WWE Universal champion was only 22 when he was first diagnosed with leukemia.

After his cancer returned last October, Reigns was forced to step away from the WWE. During Monday Night Raw, Reigns revealed the news many people had been hoping for.

“I’m in remission, y’all,” Reigns said to a loud applause.

“That overwhelming support that you gave me, it gave me strength, it gave me new life,” Reigns added. “Thank you.”

Well, now that we have those warm and fuzzy stories out of the way, let’s go back to reading about the disgusting racism a semi-pro hockey player had to endure in Quebec, empathizing with Jim Boeheim’s unthinkable situation and trying to comprehend why Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn’t ready for the majors, shall we?

Do you have any acts of sportsmanship you want to share from your community? Big or small, we’ll take it all! Let us know in the comments below.