Toronto

Here's a rundown of the non-NXNE shows announced during the last week: Jont, Free Times Cafe, Jun 4 Jim McCarty, El Mocambo, Jun 6 Elliott Brood, Harbourfront Centre, Jun 29 CSS, Opera House, Jul 4 Jadea Kelly, Dakota Tavern, Jul 11 JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Horseshoe Tavern, Jul 12 Jay Brannan, Lee's Palace, Jul 17 Goodnight Sunrise, Rancho Relaxo, Jul 20 Future Bible Heroes, Lee's Palace, Jul 22 Danzig, Sound Academy, Aug 9 Baroness, Mod Club, Aug 9 Gogol Bordello, Danforth Music Hall, Aug 19 & 20 Pinback, Lee's Palace, Sep 7 Local Natives, Kool Haus, Sep 21 Iron & Wine, Sound Academy, Sep 28 FIDLAR, Hard Luck Bar, Oct 18

Councillor Doug Ford broke his uncharacteristic silence Saturday to comment on reports of a video that seems to show Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. “I have never seen my brother involved with anything like coke,” Councillor Ford told radio station Newstalk 1010 Saturday.Until then, the councillor, usually a vocal defender of his brother, had been silent since the Toronto Star reported on the video, which appears to show the mayor inhaling from a crack pipe and calling federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau a “fag.”Councillor Ford cancelled a pre-scheduled appearance on CP24 Friday afternoon. The brothers' weekly radio show, on which they frequently discuss controversies involving the mayor, was also cancelled. He was absent from city hall Friday and his office assistant said in the early afternoon that she hadn't spoken to him.The silence is unusual for the councillor, who typically faces his brother's controversies head-on, delivering bombastic defences. When the Toronto Star reported in March that the mayor was asked to leave the Garrison Ball due to apparent intoxication of some sort, Councillor Ford took to the airwaves the day the story appeared, saying the Star lied and that he's “never seen Rob drink at any event. Ever.”Councillor Ford could not be reached by phone or at his home Friday. He did not return a voicemail left by a Star reporter Saturday. Mayor Ford, speaking to reporters outside his home Friday morning, said the allegations were “ridiculous.”“Anyways, like I said this morning, these allegations are ridiculous, another story with respect to the Toronto Star going after me, and that's all I have to say,” he said later in a brief statement outside of his office. When asked twice directly if he smokes crack, the mayor did not respond.In the video, Mayor Ford appears to refer to the players on the Eagles, a football team he has coached for a decade at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, as “just f---ing minorities.”Dennis Morris, a lawyer retained by Mayor Ford, said it is impossible to tell what a person is doing in a video.“How can you indicate what the person is actually doing or smoking?” he told the Star.He later told other journalists that the public should be able to judge the video for themselves.“I don't know whether or not such a video exists, but I think it would be fair for the public to see such a video and make their own conclusions,” Morris said, according to the CBC.Star reporters Robyn Doolittle and Kevin Donovan viewed the video earlier in May after being contacted by a source trying to sell it. The source of the video also supplied a photo of Ford posing with three men in front of a house.One of the men in the photo is Anthony Smith, a 21-year-old promising basketball player gunned down in March outside Loki Lounge on King St. W. Another man was injured in the shooting.The pair of Star reporters viewed the video May 3 in a car parked in an apartment complex near Dixon Rd. and Kipling Ave. They watched the video three times and separately made notes on what they heard and saw.The source of the video shopped it around to various news outlets with the goal of getting “six figures” for it. The Star did not pay money and has not yet obtained a copy of the video.

A new, but familiar name has been connected to the Raptors.

Sachin Raina signed his first autograph on May 4, scribbling his name on a young fan's Frisbee followed by his number, 61 — the way he remembers hockey players doing as a kid.“We thought it was the coolest thing. I didn't know what I was supposed to do ... I just scrawled my name, then thought, ‘I'm not writing a cheque; I'm an athlete,' ” said the member of the city's newest professional sports franchise.Their name is the Toronto Rush (yes, after the band) and their sport is Ultimate Frisbee.The team played its first home game at the Toronto Varsity Stadium earlier this month to a crowd of 2,293 people, the largest ever at an American Ultimate Disc League (AUDL) game by about 500. The Rush are also the only undefeated team seven games into their 16-game season as part of the AUDL's eastern division. It's the league's second year running.Toronto's foray into pro-level Ultimate began last year with a conversation between businessman Rob Lloyd and his Frisbee-loving son, Mark, who was looking for something to do after graduating from university.“Why not a start a pro Ultimate team?” said Rob, who now co-owns the Rush with Mark and his brother Jim. The team roster, coaching staff and home at the Toronto Varsity Stadium were finalized at the start of the year. Ultimate is a fast-paced noncontact sport, played seven-on-seven on an American football-sized field. Players are known as handlers (the throwers) or cutters (the receivers). Their aim is to get the disc into the end zone by passing from player to player in football-like plays. The AUDL is one of two fledgling professional leagues in North America on top of high-level tournaments for American/Canadian club teams (which are now being broadcast on ESPN) as well as world championships.One major difference at the professional level is that games are refereed instead of self-officiated.“The AUDL has done a lot of things well to make the game more spectator-friendly. The addition of referees has really made the game move quicker. We're really starting to shake the image of Frisbee players on a beach playing with a dog,” said Hamilton-based player Matt Penman.“It's more about getting recognition for the sport. I'm not trying to make money off it,” said player Thomson McKnight. The games are held on weekends and the players have day jobs — McKnight teaches hockey, Raina is a teacher in York Region and Penman is a social worker in Hamilton. Their travel expenses are paid plus they receive a stipend at the end of the season based on ticket and merchandise sales.Their efforts are about inspiring the next generation of Ultimate players who are getting into the sport earlier as it grows in popularity, said player Willem Maessen “I think back when the NFL was starting or other professional leagues were starting and what it must have been like for those guys,” added Penman. “Just to be part of a league that's growing, I feel really honoured to be getting in there at the beginning of a sport and hope that when I finish playing, my kids will be able to watch it as a professional sport on TV.”In last night's game, the Rush defeated the Dragons in Rochester, N.Y., 28-21.

The Marlies still have some fight in them, not to mention at least one more home game.

Denmark’s Emmelie de Forest won Eurovision on Saturday before an international TV audience of around 125 million, clinching the coveted crown of euro-pop with a folksy ballad backed by a wall of fire, flutes and drums.

Nobody in the NASCAR Canadian Tires Series has won more stock car races — three — at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park than J.R. Fitzpatrick.

Control was the story on Saturday. Aaron Sanchez didn't have much, Daniel Norris had a little more. Combined they pitched seven innings. Sean Nolin was excellent, Claudio Vargas was not. Dustin McGowan made his first AAA appearance of the season, Danny Barnes made his first appearance for Dunedin. Both went well.Kevin Patterson had 6 RBI's for Lansing. Lansing won, as did New Hampshire. The other two teams did not do that well. Charlotte 11 Buffalo 6John Danks started against Claudio Vargas, Vargas gave up seven runs and he was followed by Bobby Korecky who gave up 3. Dustin McGowan pitched a clean inning as did Michael Schwimer. The Bisons had just seven hits. Andy LaRoche had two, Anthony Gose had one. Moises Sierra and Jim Negrych had none.New Hampshire 5 New Britain 0Sean Nolin was pretty good, he went six shutout innings, throwing 97 pitches, 63 strikes. He gave up 4 hits and two walks with 5 K's. With all the movement in pitchers this week Scott Gracey was promoted to New Hampshire. He pitched two shutout innings.Offensively John Tolisano hit a two run home run and had 3 RBI's. Kevin Pillar and Sean Ochinko had two hits.Brevard County 6 Dunedin 2Aaron Sanchez battled control problems. Sanchez has an 80 pitch limit but still he was done after three innings. Sanchez gave up a two run home run in the first inning, one of two hits he allowed. He also had two walks and two K's. He was followed by Tyler Ybarra who gave up two runs and took the loss. Danny Barnes pitched the ninth, 2 K's.Dunedin had just 7 hits, four off prospect Jed Bradley and three off good-named pitcher Tommy Toledo in the ninth. Derrick Chung was the only hitter with two hits. Great Lakes 2 Lansing 9Daniel Norris pitched four innings and recorded 7 strikeouts, pretty good. He also gave up 3 hits and 3 walks and he threw 72 pitches, a little high for four innings. Per Lugnut fan and his trusty ipad scoring app, Norris threw 43 of his 72 pitches for strikes. Slavko Bekovic, one of the Lansing broadcasters, tweeted that Norris was hitting 97-98 on the radar gun. Lugnut fan was at the game, he may add his comments. But you can see from the velocity and the strikeouts that Norris has a lot of potential.Lansing took a 5-0 lead after two innings and never looked back. Kevin Patterson had a double and a home run and 6 RBI's. Dwight Smith had 3 hits, including a home run. Christian Lopes and Emilio Guerrero had two each.3 Stars#3 - Dwight Smith#2 - Kevin Patterson#1 - Sean NolinBoxes

Sidney Crosby scored once in his first Memorial Cup game eight years ago in London against the powerhouse host Knights.

Cody Franson knew the Maple Leafs were in trouble in overtime. He could feel it in his burning legs.