TORONTO -- Russ Howard was asleep in his Riga hotel room when the phone rang with word that he would be inducted into Canadas Sports Hall of Fame. The Olympic champion curler and TSN curling analyst immediately went online to look at the Halls long list of honoured members. Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. "I get the chance to golf with (hockey legend) Bobby Orr once in a year in a charity event and hes my hero," Howard said Wednesday at a morning news conference. "To think that a little guy from Midland, Ontario is in with Bobby Orr is pretty cool." Howard is a two-time world champion who now does curling broadcasting work. He was in the Latvian capital last March to cover the world womens championship. "Nobody knew I was in Latvia so thats why I got the call at four in the morning," he said. "I thought I was dreaming obviously -- and I still am." Joining Howard in this years class are former NHL star Joe Sakic, cyclist Alison Sydor, five-time Paralympian Andre Viger and the 1992 Olympic champion womens coxless four rowing team of Kirsten Barnes, Brenda Taylor, Jessica Monroe-Gonin, Kay Worthington and Jennifer Walinga. Former Canadian Amateur Hockey Association president Murray Costello and sport development architect Dr. Jean-Guy Ouellet enter as builders. Inductees will be presented with their member jackets at an evening ceremony. Howard won national and world titles in 1987 and 1993. He said the first Brier victory with his brother Glenn was one of the most special victories from his long career, especially since they came up just short in the 1986 final. His most memorable win came at the Turin Games in 2006 when he earned Olympic gold with skip Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador. "There was so much different pressure at that, with 70 million people watching our final game," Howard said. "Youre representing your country. At my age it was my last and only chance to win an Olympic medal for my country. So that pressure was a lot different than at the Canadian championships." Sakic, who had 1,641 career regular-season points over 20 seasons in the NHL, won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 1996 and 2001. He currently serves as the teams executive vice-president of hockey operations. "Its a tremendous honour," Sakic said. "When I got the call it was very, very exciting. "Obviously you start to reflect and you think back, and I just remember as a kid youre watching your Canadian Olympians and obviously cheering them on and you want to see them do well. And then to get a taste of it yourself, have a whole new appreciation for what all the athletes in different sports had to do to prepare and get ready for these things." Sakic won titles at the Winter Olympics, world hockey championship, World Cup of Hockey and the world junior championship. He first broke into the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques in 1988. "To play for your country, I got a chance to play with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, and I wouldnt have had that happen on my regular team," he said. "Any time you put the Canadian jersey on, you just felt something more and something special. The game just seemed to mean a little bit more. We never took that for granted." Sydor won Olympic silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games and picked up her third straight world title that year. The three-time Pan Am Games medallist had 17 career World Cup mountain bike victories. Viger, who died in 2006, was one of the best wheelchair racers of all-time. He won 10 medals over five appearances at the Paralympic Games and held world records at several distances. The coxless four team that won Olympic gold in Barcelona is considered one of Canadas best-ever rowing crews. Walinga was forced to withdraw with a back injury shortly before the competition but Worthington stepped in and helped the crew win a gold medal. "I think we feel that our honour has a great deal to do with what we went through," Walinga said. "I think we represent the power of sport and the power of team, or what human beings are capable of achieving and what human beings are capable of overcoming when they function as a unified, collaborative team." Costello has helped Canada become a hockey powerhouse. He has served as president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (now Hockey Canada) and vice-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation. He has spearheaded numerous development and skills programs that continue to be used today. "Its always nice to be recognized," Costello said. "Its particularly nice when youre recognized across all sports in this great country." Ouellet, who held the position of Director of Mission Quebec, designed and implemented programs to prepare athletes from the province to represent Canada at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. The programs were the basis for the high performance sports model in Quebec and are used today as a model for other provinces and countries around the world. A gallery featuring each of this years inductees will be showcased at the Hall of Fame facility at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. The Class of 2013 brings the total number of honoured members to 540. China Shoes Jordans . According to a report from ESPN, the veteran safety has signed another one-year deal with the team Raiders, the team that drafted him, and who he returned to last year after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers. Fake China Shoes .com) - His team lost in the round of 16 of the FCS playoffs, yet Northern Iowa football coach Mark Farley says his team has made a strong case to be voted to the top 5 in the final rankings. https://www.chinashoesshop.com/. At this point, even he isnt sure when it is going to stop. The right-hander dropped his fourth straight decision in Los Angeles 6-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, leaving his status very much in doubt as the Dodgers prepare for the stretch drive. China Shoes Cheap .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. China Shoes Nike . - Pierre-Maxime Poudrier scored twice and added an assist, and Antoine Bibeau made 43 saves as the Val-dOr Foreur downed the Baie-Comeau Drakkar 6-3 on Sunday to force Game 7 in their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League final series. TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Everyone expects the big one to happen at Talladega Superspeedway. For some reason, it never occurred Sunday. Oh sure, there was a wreck on the final lap, which allowed Jamie McMurray to coast to the victory under caution. But by the standards of this place, it was about as clean as can be. "Once you get toward the end, it usually gets more intense and everybody starts taking bigger risks," McMurray said. "I was listening to my spotter and he would say, A line is forming, but its not very organized and theyre not making up any ground. Im really surprised they couldnt put something together to make more of a run. Im shocked by that, actually. I thought guys would take bigger chances at the end." McMurray won for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2010, snapping a 108-race winless streak, and didnt even have to worry about a planned last-lap charge from Dale Earnhardt Jr. after Dillon spun coming out of the second turn. The only other driver collected in the crash was Casey Mears, who slammed into Dillons car and sent it flying into the air before it came back down upright. Everyone was OK. "I was trying to go for the win there," said Dillon, who was filling in for injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 car and competing in just his 12th Sprint Cup race. "A wild ride. I just have to thank NASCAR for everything they have done for safety. That hit was fine. I got to drive the car back" to the garage, though he settled for 26th after going to the final lap in third. A race known for massive crashes was essentially trouble free. There was a minor wreck early on when Marcos Ambrose got loose in front of the main grandstand and took out Juan Pablo Montoya, and 103 consecutive laps under green until the yellow and checkered flags waved together at the end. Earnhardt settled for second, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Paul Menard and Kyle Busch. "For some reason," Earnhardt said, "it was a lot calmer the last few laps." Jimmie Johnson steered around trouble and finished 13th, emerging from the race with the lead in the Sprint Cup standings. The five-time Cup champion passed Matt Kenseth for the top spot and has a four-point edge with four races remaining. Kenseth finished 20th. Busch and Kevin Harvick are tied for third, 26 points behind Johnson, with Jeff Gordon --- who had hoped Talladegas unpredictable nature might help him make a big push -- made up only two points and is 34 off the lead.dddddddddddd "Thirteenth isnt the best finish," Johnson said, "but with what we are trying to do and win a championship, we beat the competition today. That is good." After running strong early in the 188-lap race, Kenseth dealt with an ill-handling car and lost several spots when he attempted to make a move late in the race. "It was really bizarre. Typically handling is a non-issue here," Kenseth said. "We finally got it fixed that last run, but we only had 20 laps to get back up there. I really needed to be up there like we were early and feeling I was controlling the race more." McMurray, who isnt part of the Chase, won for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and took a phone call in victory lane from car owner Chip Ganassi, still in California celebrating Scott Dixons championship in the IndyCar series the previous night. Earnhardt, a huge fan favourite at Talladega, had hoped to make his move going down the back straightaway on the final lap. He never got the chance. "I guess if were in that situation next time," Earnhardt said with a shrug, "well try to go a lap sooner." Johnson wound up leading 47 laps, Earnhardt 38 and Kenseth 32. McMurray led only one lap until he got to the front with 15 to go. He held that spot the rest of the way, showing again his knack for restrictor-plate racing. He has won twice each at Daytona and Talladega, accounting for more than half of his seven career victories. Three drivers -- Johnson, Earnhardt and Kenseth -- dominated the race until McMurray claimed the top spot after the final round of pit stops began with 25 laps to go. The typical Talladega pack -- 25 cars running within 3 seconds of each other -- formed at the front and began plotting ways to make a move without causing the massive wreck that always seems to occur at the 2.66-mile trioval. There was a bit of two- and three-wide jockeying before the leaders lined up single file, settling in for what turned out to be a relatively comfortable ride to the finish for McMurray. Even if the caution had not come out, Earnhardt wasnt sure if he had enough momentum to pass the leader. "I didnt have the greatest run," he said. "I wish I was in front." ' ' '