By Andrew Forsyth, Vancouver Canadians

On the eve of the Canadians’ return to the NWL Championship Final we wanted to find a new way to cheer on the C’s and use the infinite power of the world wide web.  How you might ask?  What better than creating our own meme?  We’ve already got the hash tag #beatboise.  Now we’re calling on the fans to chime in.  Simply post, tweet or share your meme photos everywhere on the internet along with the hash tag #beatboise and make some internet noise for our boys!

Here’s an example.  In the spirit of ‘Where’s Waldo’ we want you to photograph your Dancing Grounds Crew Bobble Head with the phrase “Watch Archie …” doing something day to day and supporting the Canadians.

Watch Archie helping Angela at the box office. #beatboise

“Larry is the man!”
Watch Archie chill with Larry at Guest Services. #beatboise

“Fresh to death!”
Watch Archie chilling with the prize! #beatboise

“El Commandante for the win!”
Watch Archie check the lineups! #beatboise

“Nice hit bro!”
Watch Archie hang during BP. #beatboise

Watch Archie party rocking a foam finger! #beatboise

Watch Archie eat some awesome playoff themed confectioneries! #beatboise

In a tradition founded by former Manager Rick Magnante (Oakland), Canadians players lead their fans in the singing of ‘O Canada’ on the last regular season game of the summer.  For a few players like Nick Purdy, they’ve been singing it all their lives, for a few recent additions from Bluefield, they’ve only heard it a few times so far this summer.  How do you think they did,Vancouver?

By Andrew Forsyth, Vancouver Canadians

Ask Colton Turner if he remembers his first baseball experience and he’ll tell you, with a bit of an embarrassed smile, “I was in T-ball, I was a right-fielder and my mom has videos of me going out there and picking flowers in the outfield.  I didn’t pay much attention but I would always stand in the outfield and enjoyed running the bases.  I actually ran them in opposite order one time.”

Asked who got him started with his ‘green-thumb’ baseball experience in right-field, Colton credited his family, his father in particular, for having encouraged him on to his professional career.  “My dad is a huge baseball fan and taught me to always work hard.”  Baseball, Colton explained, runs through the Turner family with much of the family having played or been lifelong fans.

“My dad grew up following the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox.”  Two very different teams with Colton eventually becoming more of a Red Sox fan.

“I think I was around six years old and my dad took me to a Rangers game and we sat right behind home plate.  We had great seats and the thing I couldn’t get over was that everyone was so big and I was just this little guy.”  It was an experience that would reaffirm his early love for the game.

But family and baseball always went hand-in-hand and his parents worked hard to give him the opportunity to play his way.  “Both of my parents own a business and they would have to alternate driving me to my practices in Weatherford, Texas.”

Those practices were an hour’s drive from the family home and, as Colton explained, they were three times a week.  His parents would take turns driving him after school and the family often wouldn’t get home until 10:00 or 11:00 at night.  “They were always there to support me there, or at state tournaments, I could always hear them out there, cheering in the stands.”

That family sacrifice made this year’s entry draft all the more special for the Turner family.  “I’d spoken to scouts a few weeks before the draft and I figured it was going to be the Blue Jays” Colton said of Toronto because of the interest the team had showed.  “They called just about everyone I’d played baseball for to find out about my background and my history and once the scouts started taking a closer look I started to look into what the Blue Jays were like as an organization.”

And so when draft day came, Colton was able to share the experience with his family.  “My mom started crying and my dad started jumping up and down.”  He remembered his mother, between joyful sobs, managing to say congratulate him saying that she always knew that that day would come.

Asked what the biggest adjustment has been since that day that he was selected, Turner spoke about the atmosphere in Vancouver both on and off the field.  “You’ve got guys out here that love this game and, although you get that at college, everyone comes out here to work and try to make it to the big leagues and we all feed off of that energy.”

Turner also credited the Canadians’ coaching staff for pushing the team of developing players.  He mentioned, in particular, having worked closely with pitching coach Jim Czajkowski to improve the mechanics of his pitching which has helped both his stamina and velocity on the mound.

Those adjustments have certainly yielded some impressive results with the young left-hander excelling in the middle relief role in 2012, having given up only six runs in his 32 innings of work thus far.

That combined with the strength and conditioning program that the Blue Jays organization has developed has taken him a long way from wandering aimlessly around the outfield.  “Everything has been so different, the organization, the weight lifting, the hours that you spend at the field.  Here it’s an all day thing and you treat it like you’re job but I enjoy every minute of it.”

But the thing that has impressed Colton the most so far in his baseball experience has been the atmosphere at Scotiabank Field.  Like so many of his teammates who came from college, the difference between a couple of hundred fans and the energetic crowds at ‘The Nat’ has been one of the reasons the team has come to love Vancouver.  “It makes a huge difference having that kind of support,” Turner said.  “Especially when you travel on the road you see the other team’s fan base.  This is by far the best in the league.”

But at the end of the day, Colton is just excited to be playing a game that he has loved all of his life.  “I don’t know what I would do without this game.  Who can complain about having to wake up and play a game everyday,” he said when asked about the best part of being a professional.

“Just being around a group of guys like what we have here who want to come out everyday and have fun is a dream come true.”  It is a big step for sure and, hopefully, Colton Turner will be able to chase his other dream all the way to Roger’s Centre.