Penton: Recognizing Canada’s best in 2025
By Bruce Penton
It’s been a great year for Canadians on the world’s athletic stages. As 2025 winds down, it’s time for the year-end awards in the top three categories — male and female athlete and top team.
Male athlete — It’s pretty hard to not be declared the athlete of the year in Canada when you’ve actually shown you’re the best player in the National Basketball Association (i.e. the world). Twenty-six-year-old Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton had a dream year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, leading his team to the league championship, taking the individual scoring title and being voted the NBA’s Most Valuable Player. He averaged 32.7 points per game last year and is off to a similar start this year as the Thunder lost only one of their first 23 games.
Runner-up — Tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime moved up the men’s world rankings to No. 5 thanks to a sensational season on the court. The 6-foot-4 25-year-old won more than $5 million in prize money, had a 50-24 record in singles’ play and won three tournaments — in Brussels, Belgium, Montpelier, France and Adelaide, Australia.
Female athlete — There is no official world ranking for swimmers, but Toronto’s Summer McIntosh is either No. 1 or No. 2 among females. The 19-year-old won four golds and one bronze at the world aquatic championships and is the current 200- and 400-metre world record holder.
Runner-up — She came out of nowhere (almost), but Victoria Mboko, who started 2025 ranked 350th in the world, zoomed all the way up to 18th thanks to her sensational play. The highlight was her victory in Toronto at the Rogers National Bank Open. where she beat Naomi Osaka in the final. Mboko also won a tournament in Hong Kong and racked up $1.44 million in earnings.
Team of the Year — This one was easy: Toronto Blue Jays came within one out of winning the World Series, and the team’s success captured the hearts of Canadians from coast to coast. Pre-season picks to finish at or near the bottom of the American League East, the Jays instead roared to a record of 94-68, thanks to outstanding offensive seasons from George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., and Bo Bichette. After beating Seattle Mariners in the A.L. championship series, the Blue Jays took the powerful L.A. Dodgers to Game 7 of the series before bowing out with a 5-4 loss.
Runner-up — The Rachel Homan curling team could logically lay claim to being the greatest women’s curling team in Canadian history, quite a title when the competition includes the likes of Sandra Schmirler, Colleen Jones and Jennifer Jones. A three-time world champion, including 2025, Homan and her rink of third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew and lead Sarah Wilkes put together an astonishing 75-8 record in 2025 and capped off the year with a decisive victory in the Canadian Olympic curling trials. She and her team will wear Canada’s colours in Milan, Italy, at the 2026 Winter Games where she will seek her first Olympic medal in her third try.
The Babylon Bee, on Twitter: “Sad: Britain Tries To Play Baseball But Gets The Rules Wrong And Forgets Their Gloves And Puts Sticks Behind Home Plate For Some Reason”
From Jack Finarelli’s site, sportscurmudgeon.com, on Weber State coach Mickey Mental being fired: “And obviously, if he and his wife ever have triplets, they should name them Funda, Instru and Monu.”
Headline at fark.com: “Congratulations on making the World Cup for the first time in 50 years, Haiti. Too bad your fans won’t be allowed into the U.S. to see it.”
Vancouver comedy guy Torben Rolfsen: “Raiders’ coach Pete Carroll said he is ‘all in’ on QB Geno Smith. Just like he was ‘all in’ on that Super Bowl pass from the one-yard line.”
A soccer fan on Twitter after the Great One had trouble pronouncing names of countries at the FIFA World Cup draw: “The World Cup Group of Death is Wayne Gretzky and any country’s name he has to pronounce.”
More on Gretzky’s pronunciation mishaps: “Can you imagine if Niger had qualified and he picked that ball… you’d see like 20 people try to tackle him before he started to speak.”
Torben Rolfsen again, on the Professional Women’s Hockey League expansion team in Vancouver: “The ‘Let’s Go Goldeneyes’ chant is a bit too long. Could we shorten it to ‘Let’s Go G-eyes?’”
Headline at fark.com: “Jayden Daniels cleared to be injured in game that some say could decide how far the Commies end up from the playoffs.”
Another one from Rolfsen: “Shohei Ohtani said he will play for Japan when the World Baseball Classic opens at the Tokyo Dome. Hey, whatever happened to tryouts?”
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “UCF starting quarterback Tayven Jackson will enter the transfer portal and will soon be on his way to his fourth college. At this point, he isn’t getting an education; he’s collecting frequent-flyer miles. His next NIL deal should be sponsored by U-Haul!”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca