Latest from Morgan Campbell
Opinion
For track and field, novelty races don't serve bigger goal of keeping the sport in spotlight
Yes, I've seen video of the footrace between Noah Lyles, the Olympic 100-metre champion, and Darren Watkins Jr., a.k.a. IShowSpeed, the social media megastar whose content often involves feats of athleticism. In one post he leaps over a moving car, so who's to say he can't, at the right distance, upset the current world's fastest man? Lyles, for one.
Opinion
Somebody should have known better: Death of Edmonton man after MMA match raises regulation questions
Trokon Dousuah, a 33-year-old Edmontonian with no formal experience as a high-level fighter, died following a charity mixed martial arts match in Alberta. In the absence of details, we’re left to wonder how and why a seemingly healthy father died after what looked like a run-of-the-mill MMA contest.
Opinion
The magic of mass appeal in Netflix's Tyson-Paul event owed to shrewd marketing - and willful ignorance
The obvious questions after Netflix's recent live boxing spectacle are whether beating up on the husk of Mike Tyson dented Jake Paul’s appeal, and whether the formula that made Friday’s fight the most viewed boxing match ever is fatally flawed.
Opinion
'A lot of eyeballs': Canada's Watpool and Bahdi aim to capitalize on Friday's Paul vs. Tyson spectacle
Together, Melinda Watpool and Lucas Bahdi add a heavy dose of Canadian content to the undercard of next Friday's megawatt showdown between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which could become the most-viewed boxing event in history.
Opinion
Science vs. vibes: Viral beef between Canadian bodybuilding coaches incites battle of age-old rival archetype
The conflict between Canadian bodybuilders Mike Van Wyck and Jeff Nippard partially rests on a familiar pro sports fault line: quantitative analysts in an uneasy alliance with the guys with calloused hands and on-the-ground experience.
Opinion
Plan to pump untreated sewage into Lake Ontario's West Channel is anti-sport
Pumping untreated sewage into the West Channel near Toronto's Ontario Place fails the access test, and is tough to justify in a city and province that celebrate sport.
Opinion
Track and field's viewership problem in non-Olympic years requires revamped marketing strategy
Keeping viewers interested during non-Olympic years has been one of track and field's most stubborn problems. This off-season the problem is even more complicated than normal, writes CBC Sports senior contributor Morgan Campbell.
Opinion
Grim history of police brutality tells us Tyreek Hill was lucky to walk away unscathed
Eight years after Colin Kapernick first skipped the pre-game anthems to protest police brutality against Black folks, and four years after George Floyd’s death focused global attention on the issue, it feels like a regression to the mean for the sports world.
Opinion
Shawn Lemon's indefinite CFL ban reveals hidden cost of pro leagues going all in on legalized betting
Gambling outfits reportedly spend more than $1 billion US annually sponsoring major North American sports leagues, so the numbers make it clear: embracing legal sports betting represents a massive opportunity for leagues. But who bears the opportunity cost in this setup? Often the people who can least afford it.
Opinion
If thirst for attention were an Olympic event, there'd be a photo finish between Tyreek Hill and Noah Lyles
In claiming he could beat reigning 100-metre Olympic champion Noah Lyles in a race, NFL receiver Tyreek Hill decided to ride the rising tide of Lyles' mainstream popularity, choosing the Olympic afterglow to issue a bogus claim that he could have made last week, last month, or last year.