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Here are five takeaways from Saturday’s fights:

1. BAD 

At some point, you are what you say you are.

There’s always been a sense that Covington has been trolling the MMA world with his crass, diehard Donald Trump-supporting gimmick. You expected that behind closed doors, he was a different person.

His words about the Black Lives Matter movement after he beat Woodley on Saturday night cannot be ignored just because they may be part of a marketing gimmick.

Maybe Covington isn’t racist, maybe he is. Saying a movement that’s fighting for equal rights and social justice and for Black people is a “sham” certainly seems racist.

That he has such a large platform to spout those views is a real concern.

2. WHAT’S UP WITH WOODLEY? 

For a while, it felt like W...

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The 13th at Maple Ridge is a downhill dandy, so Brian Kot should have been treated to a splendid view of his first ace. Kot thumped a four-iron from about 220 yards away for his special shot.

Grace Beauliua drilled a driver on No. 7 at Collicutt Siding and was right on target from the 140-yard blocks.

Cathy Erickson nailed a nine-iron on the second hole of the Hawk Course at Priddis Greens and her aim was excellent from 98 yards out.

Jeff Younger skipped the putting portion on No. 7 at his home club of Woodside, hoisting a pitching wedge over the water and then making the 118-yard commute to confirm that — as his playing partners were telling him — his ball was at the bottom of the cup.

Holly Quigley and Rob Delowsi can swap stories after both aced the sixth...

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“And I remember in Cale’s second year with the Bandits, Bill couldn’t get around that well, and he still came out to Okotoks. He said, ‘I could only last two periods, but I had to see this game.’ Just unreal.

“Since then, he’ll follow him and he’ll call after he sees a game. It’s like, oh my god, Bill Hay is calling to say, ‘He sure played a hell of a game last night!’ It’s totally cool.”

This story could get even cooler Monday.

There are a lot of legendary names engraved on the Calder Memorial Trophy — from all-timers like Orr, Bossy, Lemieux and Leetch to current studs like Ovechkin, Kane and MacKinnon.

For Makar, though, it would be most meaningful to share this honour with the gentleman who won it 60 years ago … and then hustled t...

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Same with the pheasants not much farther along. There were hens and a couple of roosters and a trio of this year’s young just getting their adult feathers but man, did they ever scoot when I slowed the truck. It’s hunting season now so maybe they’re a little extra cautious.

The mule deer not far from the pheasants were unperturbed, as mule deer usually are. There was a momma and two babies down along the river and though they did walk off eventually, they basically just stared at me. I love mulies.

The wind picked up a bit more as I passed through Redland and Rosebud and kept going along the Rosebud River...

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IT’S ALWAYS CROWDED
Reading in the Sunday Sun about the mother in Acadia shocked at her daughter’s class size doubling. I’m not sure where you grew up as children, but it was Haysboro Elementary for me in the ’60s. It was a relatively new community with not a lot of other choices around back then, as school busing wasn’t all that common back then as kids rode their bikes or walked to school. Not like now with parents driving their kids to school. My point is that it was a busy elementary and I can’t remember the single class that didn’t have 25+ kids in every classroom. They was zero noise problem as the teacher would not have allowed any disruptions in her teaching...

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Home sales on Canadian MLS systems increased 33.5 percent, year over year in August, setting a new record for the month and the sixth highest monthly sales figure of any month on record.

Transactions were up compared to last August in almost all Canadian housing markets, says the monthly report from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

“It has been a record-setting summer in many housing markets across Canada as realtors and their clients play catch up following the loss of so much of the 2020 spring market,” says Costa Poulopoulos, chair of CREA. “It really does seem that the spring market shifted into the summer...

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With autumn arriving on Sept. 22, it’s time to get your yard ready for spring, says Kris Kiser, president and CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI).

“What you do now will determine the quality of your yard next spring,” says Kiser. “Your living landscape does a lot for you. It produces oxygen, reduces the urban heat island effect, filters and captures runoff, improves air quality, controls erosion, absorbs carbon dioxide and supports biodiversity.”

Keep mowing: Shorter grass is more resistant to diseases and traps fewer falling leaves. Cutting the grass low allows more sun to reach the crown of the grass, so less leaf will turn brown in the winter...

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You’ll remember back in June, Hubbard came out swinging on Twitter against his head coach, Mike Gundy.

“I will not stand for this…,” tweeted the proud running back from Sherwood Park, after a photo circulated of Gundy wearing a T-shirt with the logo of a TV network featuring commentators being disparaging of Black Lives Matter. “I will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things CHANGE.”

Gundy immediately sat down and hammered things out with Hubbard and then apologized to Cowboy Nation.

Since then, Oklahoma State has seemingly put its focus on football in trying to become the Big 12 champion and a College Football Playoff hopeful.

Along with such success, it’s hoped that Hubbard can run his way to the Heisman as the most outstanding playe...

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Indeed, Forge’s second strike was a tough one for the Wanderers to swallow, especially since it came in the 90th minute.

Maxim Tissot booted a free kick from distance, and the ball took a funny hop on HFX goalkeeper Christian Oxner, escaped his grip, hit the post and bounced in.

Game over.

Crown defended.

“It’s what we do — we score goals,” Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis told OneSoccer.ca. “It’s the one thing we believe in. We know we’re going to score goals in games. Most people try to find where those goals are going to come from, but they come.”

The goals certainly did come from everywhere for the champs, with Bekker’s three acting as the team high in this tourney.

Tissot became the 21st Forge player to net a goal for the club since the...

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It’s been a Triple-A/Goldilocks kind of housing market in Canada this year.

April

Ice cold. Sales plummet to near record lows as COVID-19 takes hold. “The dramatic plunge in activity in March and April turned out to be just a temporary pause,” says Robert Hogue, senior economist at RBC Economics.

August

Red hot. Sales soar to record highs as pent-up demand builds and markets re-opened. “The pent-up demand proved a powerful driver of activity,” says Hogue. “Buyers and sellers came running back this summer and quickly made up earlier declines. By August, the number of transactions to date in 2020 was back above year-ago levels, up 0.8 percent nationwide.”

Autumn

Seasonal cooling...