Alexandre Bilodeau captured Canadas first gold medal at the 2010 Olympics, while Charles Hamelin was the Canadian teams only multi gold medallist in Vancouver. Erik Guay narrowly missed the Olympic podium four years ago, but hes Canadas most decorated World Cup alpine skier. The next honour one of them could add to an already illustrious career is Canadas flag-bearer for the Sochi Olympics. On Thursday in Ottawa, the Canadian Olympic Committee will announce who will carry the Maple Leaf into the Sochi opening ceremonies, and Bilodeau, Hamelin and Guay, all leaders in their respective sports, are all strong candidates. "Just being among those, its a great honour for me because those are great athletes and there are many more athletes that deserve to carry the flag and deserve to be in the front row when it comes to Canada and to be role models," Bilodeau told The Canadian Press in Montreal on Wednesday. "It would be a tremendous honour to do that for my country and well see (Thursday), but its definitely something very special to be flag-bearer and whomever its going to be, were going to be proud." When asked if hed been tipped to be in Ottawa, Bilodeau laughed and said "I havent been contacted yet, so if its already decided, Im not the one." Bilodeau won moguls gold on the second day of the Games, and the image of the freestyle skier celebrating with his brother Frederic is one of the most enduring of Vancouver. Hamelin claimed two of Canadas record-setting 14 gold medals, but even more remarkable is the fact the short-track speedskater, whos also an eight-time world champion, won them within half an hour of each other, winning the 500 metres before returning to the track as part of the victorious 5,000-metre relay. Guay posted a pair of fifth-place finishes in Vancouver, in the downhill and super-G, missing a medal in super-G by just three hundredths of a second. In December, he won his 21st World Cup medal, breaking the Canadian record for podium performances held by Steve Podborski. Guay will be in Kitzbuehel, Austria, on Thursday, where hes racing in a World Cup. Canadas flag-bearer traditionally generates plenty of conversation, and this time is no different, with Canadian hockey stars Sidney Crosby and Hayley Wickenheiser garnering much support. Crosby, who created one of Vancouvers golden moments when he scored the winner in the final versus the U.S., isnt expected to be in Sochi for the opening ceremonies as his Pittsburgh Penguins have a game that night versus the New York Rangers. While Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara is missing two of Bostons NHL games to carry the flag for Slovakia, when asked about the possibility of carrying Canadas flag, Crosby said last weekend "It hasnt been brought up (by the Canadian Olympic Committee)." Wickenheiser, meanwhile, is Canadas biggest womens star and a pioneer of the game who will make her fifth Olympic appearance. According to Hockey Canada, the womens team will march in the Feb. 7 opening ceremonies, despite playing their opening game the following night versus Switzerland. Wickenheiser, however, was a participant in the 2010 opening ceremonies -- she read the athletes oath. Plus, womens hockey player Danielle Goyette carried the flag into the opening ceremonies in 2006 in Turin, Italy. Long-track speedskater Clara Hughes carried the flag in the 2010 opening ceremonies while figure skater Joannie Rochette, who captured bronze just days after the death of her mom, was chosen to carry it out. Other favourites for Sochi include figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who won Canadas first ice dance gold medal in Vancouver, and three-time world champion Patrick Chan. With the new team event starting the day before the opening ceremonies, however, Virtue and Moir have said they wont march. Two-time world champion Kaillie Humphries, who teamed up with Heather Moyse in Vancouver to win Canadas first ever womens bobsled medal, is another favourite. She and Moyse will be gunning for gold again in Sochi. And long-track speedskater Christine Nesbitt also won gold in Vancouver, and is a seven-time world champion and has won a whopping 39 World Cup titles. Theres a Facebook pace supporting skier Larisa Yurkiw for flag-bearer that has over 3,500 likes. Yurkiw missed the Vancouver Games after suffering a bad knee injury in 2009, and then was forced to go pounding on doors for financial support after she was cut from the national team program. Yurkiw bounced back to qualify for Canadas Sochi-bound team. Each sport nominates an athlete as a candidate for flag-bearer. But some athletes see the responsibility as a distraction. Diver Alexandre Despatie told reporters before the 2012 London Games that he would decline any offer to carry the flag. "Its a great distraction, although it is the greatest honour an athlete can receive," the two-time Olympic silver medallist said. Moguls skier Jean-Luc Brassard finished fourth at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, and blamed his disappointing performance on the fact hed carried the flag a day earlier. Among other recent flag-bearers named recently: Japan selected womens curler Ayumi Ogasawara, Italy chose two-time Olympic mens luge champion Armin Zoeggeler, and Spain will hand its flag to figure skater Javier Fernandez. John Smoltz Red Sox Jersey . Bouchard went down to a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat at the hands of Svitolina in her opening match at the Sony Open on Friday. Bouchard got the rivalry going two years ago when she won the junior Wimbledon title over Svitolina. Josh A. Smith Red Sox Jersey . The Toronto Argonauts running back hurt his left ankle during the teams practice Friday afternoon at Rogers Centre. https://www.cheapredsox.com/2101z-darwinzon-hernandez-jersey-red-sox.html .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 20th consecutive win across all competitions by cruising to a 4-1 victory at Almeria on Friday. Rod Beck Jersey . The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. Marcus Walden Red Sox Jersey .com) - A pair of Eastern Conference rivals will meet on Saturday as D.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss the tactics of coaches Mike Tomlin and Jason Kidd, the strategy of the Raptors Rudy Gay, and the glow of victory in Saskatchewan. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is up to Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, who jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a thumbs down. Tomlins Steelers were down 13-7 to the Ravens Thursday night when Baltimores Jacoby Jones took off on a kick return that was interrupted just enough by a certain Steelers head coach nonchalantly watching himself on the Jumbotron as he strayed onto the edge of the field. Tomlin leaped out of the way just in time; Jones had to change direction just enough that he was tackled. Tomlin grinned like the Cheshire Cat. Pittsburgh didnt win, but come on. There are lots of ways to sort of cheat, but using the Jumbotron as a rearview mirror? Timing your jump out of the way? Thumbs up to sort of cheating with style. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to Jason Kidd, the struggling rookie coach with the Brooklyn Nets, who cant seem to do anything right in his first year removed from playing the game. Kidds nets cant win games but at least give him points for creativity: the other night he was out of timeouts late against the Los Angeles Lakers and while standing in front of the bench, quietly asked one of his players to bump him so he could inadvertently spill his soft drink on the court. The ploy worked. Sort of. He got his stoppage. But the NBA, lacking a sense of humour afterwards, and a sense of pity for the overmatched coach, fined Kidd $50,000.dddddddddddd Maybe, in this season gone wrong, they should have looked the other way, applauding him for his guile. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: Because there is no "I" in either the word "stat" or "sheet," my thumb is up to Raptors forward Rudy Gay, who has banned those offending stat sheets from the post-game locker room. Gay says the only stat that matters is the "W." This is true - as long as, say, youre not trying to negotiate a contract. Anyway, this selfless stand is worthy of applause, unlike Gays shot selection and shooting efficiency. If his teammates could peruse the stats immediately after a game, they might note that Gay, shooting 38 percent on the season, has had games of 6-for-23 and 11-for-37. Gays right. Nothing to see here. Dave Hodge, TSN: My thumb is up to Saskatchewan - to the province, to the people, to the football fans, to the football team. The Grey Cup was their celebration, and for the rest of the country, it was a reminder of what sports can do to inspire, to enthuse, to make life better or just to make life seem better. It has long been said of the Saskatchewan Roughriders that theyre the favourite team of some CFL fans and the second-favourite team of all the others. Their Grey Cup victory and the reaction to it explained that for anyone who wasnt sure why the team in green was so easy to root for - you just had to watch last Sunday and look at the faces - in the crowd and under the watermelons and inside the helmets and you understood. We havent seen a sports story told so well by pictures alone in a long time. ' ' 'his summer. ' ' '