Joy Drop: The NHL needs to let the Dogg in!

Friends, May brings us the coming of summer and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. As someone who is South Asian, I appreciate the amplification within different sports ecosystems to draw attention to those players, their campaigns, their histories and their futures.

Accounts like AAJA Task Force, which focuses on sports covered by AAPI journalists and Hockey 4 Youth, is advocating for Larry Kwong to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

We are fully entrenched in the excitement of soccer playoffs! I watched the UEFA Women's Champions League match between Arsenal FC and VfL Wolfsburg. What a game it was! Certainly historic because of the 60,063 fans who filled Emirates Stadium. Arsenal lost in extra time but the match was spectacular. Wolfsburg will face Barcelona FC in the final on June 3rd in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

I absolutely loved the post from the club that showed the difference in 10 years and how women's soccer has grown. It reminds us to keep building and take heed in the achievements and accomplishments. I was delighted to hear Jen Beattie (also a Scotland national team player) explain the importance of having those fans out there. It wasn't the result they fought for but sometimes the impact is more profound than the score. 

Another thing bringing me great joy in sports this week is Snoop Dogg's bid for ownership of the Ottawa Senators. The rapper and hugely successful businessman has been involved in the hockey world for a long time with the L.A. Kings. And now he wants to bring his profile up north and light up the hockey world. I, for one, love his work, including collaborations with his best friend, Martha Stewart.

It is Hot Docs festival time and I wanted to share a film I went to see made by my friend Omar Mouallem: The Lebanese Burger Mafia. It is a story about cultural identity in Alberta, immigration and burgers. It is a brilliant piece of storytelling that weaves in community politics, business practices and secret recipes for a storied mushroom sauce. 

This film is everything that is great about filmmaking: interrogating important questions, a hint of quirkiness, the process of self-discovery in creating, beautiful shots of Canadian landscape and communities, and absolute honesty. I'm thrilled for Omar and am excited for the world to see his film. 

I was so excited after this film (and hungry!) that I ended up going to the new smash burger place close to my place for dinner. 

I hope your weekend is full of happiness/ burgers, and your team wins if they are playing in a playoff series!