– summer sports action –

Get out there
and catch:

Montreal Impact
The Impact play their first home game on May 19 against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Season tickets ranging from $150 to $425 are still available in the pitch sections at the Impact’s brand-new Saputo Stadium in Olympic Park. The season tickets give access to 15 regular season games and two playoff matches.
MLS fans can also catch Toronto F.C. in Montreal on May 27 when the Impact battle Toronto for the right to qualify for this year’s inaugural CONCACAF Champions League. Montreal will be playing a home-and-home series against Toronto and its USL counterpart the Vancouver Whitecaps; the winner of these round robin matches will represent Canada’s entry into the Champions League preliminaries in August.

Montreal Grand Prix
Tickets have gone on sale for the 2008 edition of the Canadian Grand Prix, which will be celebrating 30 years at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. Though traditionally gear-heads had to pay through the nose to get close to the action, this year the circuit offers general admission for $100, which covers three days of racing (you can also purchase individual daily tickets-$25 for Friday, $50 for Saturday, and $75 for Sunday’s final).
Grandstand tickets are a different story. Those wishing a seated bird’s eye view of the action will be required to purchase 3-day tickets ranging from $225 to $425.
However you don’t have to go to Ile Notre Dame to catch the racing atmosphere. Beginning Monday June 2, Race Week serves to kick off the Montreal summer with a assortment of day and night activities going on in the downtown core. You can walk down Ste. Catherine and check out the super-cars on display or party with the racers at special events designed to spice up the city’s nightlife.
For more info on what’s going on during Race Week check out: www.grandprixmontreal.com.

Rogers Cup
Uniprix Stadium will once again be the site for the 2008 Roger’s Cup when the women’s tournament runs between July 26 and August 3. Tickets range from $15 for the opening day’s matches to up to $115 for the singles and doubles final. These can be reserved online at: www.rogerscup.com.

Or stay home/go to a rowdy bar and watch:

Euro 2008
Once the spring rains clear and June 6 comes around, things over in Europe start to get hectic when one the world’s most prestigious international soccer competitions begins play. Co-hosted by Austria and Switzerland, the 2008 Euro Cup begins with a 16 team round robin competition. While those partial to certain countries can catch their team in action during their respective match days, here are a few round-robin games that everyone should be tuning in for:
1) Netherlands/Italy, Italy/France, Netherlands/France -The first match between two of the three heavyweights drawn together in Group C, aka “the Group of Death,” sees the ninth-ranked Dutch team take on world champions Italy. The game kicks off June 9. France’s national team will also get a crack at Holland on June 13 when they face off in Berne, Switzerland. A rematch of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final will also be realized June 17 when the French get another crack at the Italians, albeit without the skilled feet (and strong forehead) of Zinedine Zidane.
2) Czech Republic/Portugal- Cristiano Ronaldo, enough said.
3) Austria/Germany- In a group that also includes Poland, it can be assumed that there will be no love lost when these teams face off June 16 in Vienna. Though Germany can be counted amongst the tournament favourites, expect Austria to put up a good fight in front of their home crowd.
4) Switzerland/Portugal- Cristiano Ronaldo, do I seriously have to repeat myself? If you haven’t seen this phenom in action just search him on Youtube and you will definitely start looking forward to this tourney.
Once the top two teams have been chosen from each group, the tournament will advance to the knockout stage beginning with the quarterfinals June 19 and culminating in the Final June 29 in Vienna.

The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics
Capping off a summer already stacked with major sporting events is the mother of them all: the Summer Olympics. Watch Canada’s athletes compete against the best in the world in 28 different sports over the month of August.
The Olympics kick off August 3 with the opening celebration in Beijing. Though not an Olympic event, this spectacle will see pressure on China to try and outdo previous hosts Greece’s over-the-top opening ceremony in 2004. You might recall hundreds of laser combining to form a replica of human DNA and the floor of Athens Olympic Stadium being flooded with water.
No, you weren’t tripping out

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