The Love Of Sports paid tribute to our neighbors to the north by ranking their top 20 favorite Canadian athletes.

Fair warning to hockey nation – the writer chose not to list any players from the NHL because he says that would have been too easy. You won’t find Steve Nash’s name on the list either, so don’t look or get pissed off when you don’t see it.

5. Bronko Nagurski, NFL Hall of Famer
Nagurski was one of the inaugural inductees to the NFL Hall of Fame who played on both sides of the ball. He was also one hell of a professional wrestler and has the largest NFL Championship ring in the history of NFL Championship rings at size 19½. He hails from Rainy River, Ontario.

4. Jacques Villeneuve, Auto Racing
His dad Gilles could make the list too, but this list is for the Internet age and that’s the time of Jacques. He was the 1995 CART Series Champion, winner of the 1995 Indy 500 and the 1997 Formula One Championship. Villeneuve also was part of the Peugeot team that finished second in this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and has even started to make a foray into NASCAR. One of the best drivers of the last 20 years, regardless of series, Villeneuve hails from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

3. Mike Weir, Golfer
The little lefty who won the Masters before Phil Mickelson ever donned a green jacket is a proud Canuck from Bright’s Grove, Ontario, and a valuable member of the President’s Cup team every other year.

2. Lennox Lewis, Boxer
The best heavyweight champion of the last 10 years was raised in Kitchener, Ontario and won a Gold Medal under the Maple Leaf long before he moved back to England. While he fought under the British flag as a professional, Lewis will always be a Canadian in my eyes.

1. Ferguson Jenkins, Hall of Fame Pitcher
The 1971 Cy Young winner is the pride of Chatham, Ontario, a city I was able to call home for a number of years and was able to meet the three-time All-Star. Elected to the Hall of Fame in 1991, Jenkins is the only Canadian in the Hall (so far) and is one of only four pitchers to ever strike out 3,000 batters while amassing fewer than 1,000 walks. As an added bonus, Fergie played once played with the Harlem Globetrotters. Beat that!

I don’t know Bronko Nagurski was Canadian!

The Love of Sports put together a great list of sports clichés that the general public could do without hearing for the next couple decades.

1. “One Day (Game) at a Time”
Ah, how Zen. It’s great to know our admired athletes live along the same space-time continuum as the rest of us, despite possessing extraordinary physical skill. You may want to stay humble to maintain that underdog mentality, but don’t try to wow us with your existential wisdom.

4. “Nobody Believed In Us”
Really, no one? How very lonely you pro athletes must be. If this were true, then we should all be thankful none of us has to deal with the crushing abandonment that a come-from-behind sports franchise must. Even the Rays had a few thousand “believers” and they claim the most anemic following of anybody. Save the pity card and enjoy the win.

6. “We Never Gave Up”
On behalf of the millions of other fans who invest their money and time to watch you do your job, thank you. This should go without saying. So, by all means, don’t say it.

8. “We Just Had to Come Out and Play Our Game”
Uh huh. And? What a way to say nothing, yet hint at something truly profound. We know what game you played, but damned if we have any idea what “your game” actually was - or is. Clearly the game the other team played, though technically the same as the one you were playing, was inferior to this mysterious “You” game. Tell us more.

The “Nobody Believed In Us” is beyond the point of annoying. Players like to assume that everybody is against them now and it’s ridiculous. The whole “respect” thing is getting really tired.