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The player nicknamed The Alphabet — DTH van der Merwe of Victoria — hit on all keystrokes from A to Z on Sunday for the Langford-based Canadian men’s rugby team.

Something old and something new from the Island will be featured as sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½â€™s final hope of getting to the 2019 rugby World Cup begins in the wee hours Sunday at 4 a.m. PT (on TSN) against Kenya in the last-chance qualifier in Marseille, France.

Lee Stone, one of the most successful head coaches and general managers in Vancouver Island Hockey League history, has abruptly left those positions with the defending league-champion Campbell River Storm.

A speedy start was of the essence Friday night as the Victoria Royals defeated the Spokane Chiefs 7-5 in WHL action before 4,626 fans at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

There are stirrings of improvement at The Stick — a.k.a. Island Savings Centre in Duncan — even though the Cowichan Valley Capitals remain mired at the foot of the Island Division (5-13-3 heading into Friday night’s game against Powell River).

From literature to film, football on Friday night under the lights has come to represent a near-mythic scenario in North American high school sports. You don’t have to be in Texas to experience it.

No need to feel blue this weekend, especially if blue line play is your thing.

If it’s not trains, planes and automobiles, it’s certainly ferries and buses.

Al Morrow, nicknamed the Emperor of Elk Lake, has retired from rowing.

The St. Andrew’s Sabres kick-started the high school boys’ soccer post-season into high gear by successfully defending their sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Single-A championship.