VANCOUVER - It took years for Mellisa Hollingsworth to realize the humble roots she once was embarrassed about actually gave her the strength and conviction to become an Olympic athlete.

The skeleton racer from Eckville, Alta., was raised by her father on a ranch surrounded by horses and hanging out with cowboys. As a teenager attending basketball camps and track meets in the city, she would sometimes be teased.

"I was the young girl that was a little bit embarrassed by my roots," Hollingsworth said during a recent Canadian Olympic Committee athlete's summit. "I was the only country kid. I would get a little bit embarrassed when they asked me where I was from."

When she reached her mid-20's Hollingsworth started to understand the values and principles her father instilled in her.

"I've been desperately trying to get back to my roots ever since and have never been prouder to be that ranch girl," she said.

Growing up Hollingsworth's family did not have much, but her father taught his daughter

David Beckham had an impact on Canadian clubs like TFC, on the pitch and off it.

David Beckham's announcement Thursday that he'll be retiring from soccer at the end of Paris Saint-Germain's season has prompted plenty of thoughtful pieces looking back at his legacy, but an underrated part of his career might be the impact he had on Major League Soccer in Canada. Beckham came to MLS in 2007, the same year that Toronto FC joined the league, and he left for good at the end of the 2012 campaign, by which time the league had three Canadian franchises that were all pulling in massive numbers of fans. He left an undeniable imprint on MLS as a whole, but his effect on MLS in Canada was also noteworthy—and for several different reasons.

Beckham's impact on ticket sales is most frequently cited when it comes to discussions of his MLS legacy, but in Canada, that was arguably less of a factor than it was in some weaker American markets. Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Montreal Impact have all had strong game-by-game attendance with or without Becks. However, Beckham's drawing power did still matter to the Canadian franchises. There was often much more attention from non-soccer-specific media ahead of games involving him and the L.A. Galaxy, and he undoubtedly brought people through the turnstiles who weren't previously soccer fans or MLS fans. Many of those people probably didn't wind up coming for game after game without Beckham, but some did, and Beckham was crucial to building awareness of the MLS brand and of the improving quality of North American soccer.

[Photos: David Beckham's career in pictures]

Don't underestimate Beckham's drawing power, either. Not all of the 47,658 who packed the Rogers Centre for a 2012 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal match between TFC and the Galaxy came to see Beckham, but some of them certainly did. Games involving Beckham in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal also often saw much higher prices for tickets on secondary markets. The Canadian teams didn't need Beckham as a draw as much as some American markets did, but his presence still helped.

Don't discount what Beckham did for MLS in Canada beyond individual games, either. The Whitecaps (2011) and Impact (2012) both joined MLS after Beckham, and his elevation of the league's profile was an important part in why it was able to expand and why both clubs were so interested in moving up from the second tier. Moreover, both the

Melky Cabrera and the rest of the Blue Jays are heating up. (Getty Images)TORONTO – It’s no coincidence that the Toronto Blue Jays’ best stretch of baseball this season has coincided with their offence finally showing signs of life.

The Blue Jays ran their record to 12-0 when scoring more than five runs by beating the San Francisco Giants 10-6 on Tuesday night. It was their third win in a row, and they pounded out a season-high 18 hits and scored in double digits for the second game in a row.

On the day he received his 2012 World Series ring, Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera led the hit parade going 4-for-5 and reaching on an error in his first at-bat. Cabrera, bad hamstrings and all, has raised his average from .236 10 days ago to .278. On Tuesday, Cabrera used a bat with an orange sticker on hit – a leftover from last season when he hit a career-high .346. The old (new) bats arrived Monday courtesy of the Giants. They worked.

Whether he was motivated to face his former team or not, Cabrera is heating up. And he’s not the only one.

Andrew Wiggins is the favourite to be picked No. 1 in the 2014 NBA draft (Nam Y. Huh, The Associated Press)

Face it, Kansas needs Andrew Wiggins more than he needs Kansas — and the Toronto Raptors, and the profile of basketball in Canada, needs him even more.

Finding out where Maple Jordan, small forward extraordinaire, will spend his "purgatory year in college" before becoming the likely first overall choice in the 2014 NBA draft was a nice little diversion. Wiggins and his inner circle played it masterfully in a way that was anti-LeBronian ("doing it quietly in front of friends, family and teammates … and a single reporter"). The latter route where The Decision plays out publicly is not altogether bad, but there's still something to be said for letting it remain a personal choice.

This is the biggest I've seen Andrew Wiggins smile in six months. He was ready, he was patient and he did it his way. Kudos to the kid.

— Grant Traylor (@GrantTraylor) May 14, 2013

Bill Self and Kurtis Townsend are a great fit for Wiggins, who can also utilize the weight room to get stronger.

— Grant Traylor (@GrantTraylor) May 14, 2013

College basketball experts who follow the sport year-round can better speak to the impact the 18-year-old Wiggins will have on the Jayhawks as a one-and-done player. North of the border, the burning question should be how far the country's lone NBA franchise, the MLSE-owned Raptors, should go to manoeuvre to get the first Southern Ontario born- and -bred hoops star in the 2014 draft.

[Top prep prospect Andrew Wiggins to attend Kansas]

It shouldn't even be a question of if they should. In terms of (a) relevancy to the casual sports fan and (b) rewarding a loyal fanbase which is almost as steadfast as the supporters of other perennial also-ran Toronto teams, what is MLSE clinging to? Filling a hole in the Raptors' lineup this summer after GM Bryan Colangelo heads out the door won't turn heads. Somehow going from 34 wins to 44 and going down fighting in the first round of the playoffs, Toronto Maple Leafs-style, won't hit that nerve.

Meaghan and Betsy MikkelsonBefore the excitement hit her, Betsy Mikkelson says the first thing she felt was a huge sense of relief. Meaghan, her daughter and a defenceman for the Canadian women’s hockey team, had just won Olympic gold on home ice, something very few get the opportunity to achieve.

“In the moment I kind of stayed pretty steady – I cried about it after – because I’m one of those people who reacts emotionally later,” Betsy said of the moment in Vancouver on a phone interview earlier this week.

Meaghan also recalls the moment the buzzer sounded. She remembers looking up into the stands and waving to her family, celebrating in the CTV studio with her teammates and eventually – three hours after the game itself had actually ended – walking into a hospitality area with a Canadian flag draped around her neck and getting to share the moment with her mom for the first time.

“I’m a bit of a softie when it comes to that stuff,” Meaghan said over the phone. “You can imagine the emotions that run through you,

France shocked the Russia at the IIHF World Championships on Thursday. (AP)It may not have been against the highest caliber group of Russian stars, but France’s 2-1 victory over Russia at the IIHF World Championships was still a historic one.

Yes the Russians are missing Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk, all NHL superstars who helped lead their country to gold at the 2012 tournament, but they were still the heavy favourites heading into this preliminary round matchup.

They have a handful of NHLers on their roster including New Jersey Devils star Ilya Kovalchuck and Artem Anisimov and Fedor Tyutin of the Columbus Blue Jackets , plus players like Alexander Radulov who’ve spent time in the NHL. France only has one current NHL player on their team in 23-year-old Dallas Stars defenceman Antoine Roussel and as luck would have it, he ended up scoring the winning goal with just over three minutes remaining in the second period.

"It was my first start, an unbelievably good result for us," France’s goalie Florian Hardy told the media after the win. "I

Could this become the world's most beautiful curling rink? (CP)

Picture this: Kevin Koe makes a delicate tap and roll behind cover, the line called perfectly by vice Pat Simmons. Niklas Edin answers with a superb draw to the back of the button, to snare a single. It's beautiful, but not nearly the most beautiful thing about this particular game.

That's because the shot is made on a sheet of ice covering the pristine waters of Lake Louise, the majestic Chateau on one side, a ring of even more majestic mountains on the other. Bright blue sky above and breath that seems to hang in the air forever. Gorgeous.

Will a major curling event might be spiced up with an outdoor game next season?

The possibility is there. The idea seems to be gaining traction. A TSN exec or two, I'm told, have been snooping around Lake Louise and Jasper. Sportsnet may well be geared for this, too, as the idea of an outdoor game - whether it be part of bona fide competition or merely provide a colourful exhibition counterpoint - was met with raised eyebrows and curiosity during

Dave Nedohin at the 2013 Players' Championship. (Anil Mungal/Sportsnet)

Good thing Kevin Martin, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert waited a bit before making that second call.

They haven't said it outwardly, but my guess is that when Dave Nedohin first turned down their offer to join their team and make a go at an Olympic berth at the Sochi games, the trio thought best to wait to see if a few days of contemplation on Nedohin's part might just have him calling back.

It did.

Now, with a summer of off-season prep and a furious autumn of honing the rough edges ahead, Team Kevin Martin has moved from the category of splintering wreckage to bona fide Olympic team challenger. If the transition from outgoing third John Morris to Nedohin is as smooth as expected, you could even paint a rosy picture of a foursome as good as any that will be at the Olympic Trials in Winnipeg next November.

This is a perfect fit for Martin's team in so many ways. No wonder that they reached out to Nedohin almost immediately after Morris announced he was leaving the team two weeks ago.