Sanctions on the way for SFU?

Since last week's official Simon Fraser/NCAA Div. II announcement, it's been all quiet on the (Canada) Western front. That might not be the case for long though. There's chatter that Canada West may impose sanctions which would reduce SFU's games in the upcoming year to exhibition status.

I emailed David Bandla, the communications chief for Canada West, whether sanctions had been discussed yet, and here's what he had to say:

The Canada West Universities Athletic Association conference is in the process of determining all the correct, official details associated with the Simon Fraser University application and any possible effects to the CWUAA.

Once Canada West Athletics is in a position to properly assess the situation, meetings will be held and we will prepare a response, however, there is no current timeline for such a response.

Which is pretty much a non-denial denial. You can't blame Canada West for considering this route though. To use a hackneyed analogy, SFU has demanded a divorce, has found another partner...but would still very much like to live with Canada West for a little while longer.

On the other hand, the recruiting season is at this point basically over, and SFU has said that they plan to move virtually all of their teams to the NCAA for the 2010-2011 year, so whether they've gained any sort of competitive advantage for the upcoming year is questionable.

Basketball: U of C's 'dunkmonster' Bekkering signs with Dutch club

Have mad hops and the game to back it up, will travel.

Calgary Dinos grad Henry Bekkering got right to work once he joined the Matrixx Magix Nijmegen in the Netherlands, putting on one of his patented dunking displays — hurdling four kids, the whole nine yards.



Mattrixx seems a pretty respectable squad, near as a non-Dutch-reading international basketball neophyte can tell. Based in the 2,000-year-old city of Nijmegen, the club finished fifth in the 11-team Eredivisie last season, the top flight of pro hoops in the Netherlands. The reports, as best as I could glean, seem full of excitement about bringing in a player of Dutch lineage who averaged 20 points in Canadian university ball (and whose brother Ross Bekkering was a 15-and-10 forward).

(Bekkering clip via Basketball Dunk Videos.)

Related:
Magixx krijgt dunkmonster (de Gelderlander, July 11)

Women's basketball: OUA champs get bigger

The Windsor Lancers, a top 5 team nationally, have added two tall recruits: Jessica Gordon (6-7) from down the 401 in London and Jessica Clemencon (6-2) out of...wait, where? Tell us, coach Chantal Vallee:

"She's an incredible basketball player. France is one of the best countries in Europe in terms of basketball so making any national team there is huge and playing in the first division, none of our players here could do that."

And here you thought Lakehead went for international recruits.

To be honest, not much is known of Clemencon besides vague statistical records: she appeared in five games at the European U20 this past week, averaging 4.2 points in 15 minutes. But she sounds like a player to watch, as long as you have a seat a few rows up. (Gordon appears a few years away; she is described as a project by Vallee.)

Now, as for the "undersized" Lancers...well, Windsor seemed big enough last year, albeit their 21-1 record only went so far against Canada West teams in March. In any event, they will work Clemencon in with the 6-4 Iva Peklova in what sounds like something few OUA teams can measure up to. (We will pause to acknowledge that listed heights in basketball only occasionally flirt with reality, but this team is qualitatively much bigger than the average Ontario team.)

Vallee later says: "We're going to prepare an offence where we play two posts at a time and where we focus on the inside a lot. If we go two tall at all times, it will create incredible matchup difficulties." As alluded to above, Peklova's size already creates difficulties, so if Clemencon can contribute in the expected ways, it's not going to be a particularly close race in the OUA West this year.

Related:
Hoops Lancers recruit top French player [Mary Caton, Windsor Star]

Varsity Cup On Ice

Just received word that one of the country's most prestigious annual university hockey tournaments has been iced.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves have apparently cut the TBayTel Varsity Cup from its winter schedule, citing "financial reasons."

Too bad. And, quite frankly, shocking. Especially given the fact university hockey is all but religion in the northern city of Thunder Bay, whose closest pro hockey franchise is the Minnesota Wild. Not to mention the NBA and NFL also are in Minnesota.

The cancellation comes on the heels of Lakehead winning last season's Varsity Cup and hosting the national championship and after the team finished ranked 10th in the country.

Instead of hosting some of the country's best hockey teams during the Christmas break, the T-Wolves will play the Saskatchewan Huskies and Manitoba Bisons toward the end of December. No word yet on where those games will take place.

Football: Transfer rumours surround Quebec D-linemen Gascon-Nadon, Plesius

Allez les Bleus! has a should-read post about rumours defensive ends Arnaud Gascon-Nadon and Fredric Plesius, who were with the Rice Owls and Baylor Bears last season, might transfer back to their home province.

One big take-away from a newspaper article (monolingual Ontarian needs a little help with a link, s'il vous plait/please) is that both players experienced culture shock, going from Quebec to Texas cities, Houston and Waco. Another take-home is that Plesius, redshirted at Baylor and switched from linebacker to defensive end, believes Canadian university football is competitive enough to turn NFL scouts' heads. With Western's Vaughn Martin a newly minted San Diego Charger, who's to argue, eh?

« Mon rêve n’était pas de jouer dans la NCAA, mais dans la NFL ... J’ai toujours la chance de le réaliser puisque des joueurs universitaires canadiens atteignent la NFL. »

(Rough translation, thank you BabelFish)

"My dream was not to play in the NCAA, but in the NFL ... I always have the chance to carry out it since Canadian university players reach the NFL."

Gascon-Nadon, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder, had success on the field at Rice. He helped the Owls go 10-3, win the Texas Bowl and was picked to Conference USA's all-freshman team and was honourable mention for the all-conference team.

Since Plesius did not play in any games at Baylor, a Big 12 school, presumably he would be eligible this season, whereas Gascon-Nadon would have to sit out a season.

It is just speculation at this point, but there is enough to warrant a newspaper article. One might as well get out in front of the rumours. Laval and Montreal would probably have the strongest shot at landing either player. It is noteworthy that Plesius' CEGEP coach at Champlain College in Lennoxville was former Laval star Jean-François Joncas.

Related:
Gascon-Nadon & Plessius dans la LFUQ? (Allez les Bleus)

Football: Catching up with a couple ex-coaches

Some names familiar to football fans in Eastern Ontario were in the news today.

The Ottawa Citizen ran a feature on the Ottawa Sooners' return to the Ontario Football Conference (and Canadian Bowl competition) after a 13-season absence. Former Ottawa and York coach Andy McEvoy, a star Sooners quarterback in the 1980s before going on to fulfill a similar role with the Gee-Gees, has returned as coach.

Meantime, long-time Queen's assistant coach Bob Mullen, who was one of the country's most well-regarded defensive co-ordinators during the 1990s, has the Kingston G-Men poised to make the playoffs in the Ontario Varsity Football League's junior division after going 0-8 in 2008. Former Queen's coach Bob Howes, who was the centre on five Grey Cup-winning Edmonton Eskimos teams in the 1970s and '80s, is also the G-Men's linebackers coach.

Mullen was a career Golden Gael, playing on the 1978 Vanier Cup team and helping coach the '83 runners-up and the '92 national champs. Speaking as someone who covered his final home game (Oct. 14, 2000, a 41-40 victory over Western, Queen's only W that season), it's gratifying to see Mully imparting his wisdom and love of the game to another generation of footballers.

Meantime, things are looking up for football in the region. The return of the Sooners, potential dual return of the Carleton Ravens and Ottawa Rough Riders in 2012 and Team Ontario East winning the U17 Football Canada Cup last week in Saskatoon are all encouraging signs. Ontario East QB Dallon Kuprowski, of Kanata, was offensive MVP. Three other Ottawa-area players, receiver Jamahl Charles, offensive tackle Jeff Veinotte and defensive back David Nsabua, also made the U17 all-star team.

Most Ottawa region users are no doubt well-aware that Capital Region Football Blog is an excellent source of info.

This is also good time to note that the Bleeding Tricolour posts that have been a staple of Out of Left Field for the past three seasons will probably be here exclusively this season. At first, it seemed best to spare this site's readership the ravings borne out of a childhood attachment to the Golden Gaels, but there's something to be said for consolidating coverage under one banner, too. Besides, users always have the option to scroll down to the content they prefer to read.

Related:
It's a double renaissance for Sooners; Ottawa back in CJFL with former player Andy McEvoy at the helm (Darren Desaulniers, Ottawa Citizen)
G-men defence doesn't rest (Patrick Kennedy, Kingston Whig-Standard)

Football: Arjei Franklin's injury sets off chain reaction

The ankle injury which Winnipeg Blue Bombers receiver Arjei Franklin, a former Windsor Lancer, suffered last Friday set off a game of musical chairs among Canadian receivers:

"... sources say the Bombers also attempted to trade for Mike Bradwell, who is Canadian, of the Toronto Argonauts even before the Franklin injury and those discussions may heat up again. Bradwell pulled in three passes for 77 yards and a touchdown in Saturday's loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders and has stepped up admirably for the Boatmen with Andre Talbot nursing a bad back.

The Bombers were also said to be sniffing around about the availability of Matt Carter, who left the B.C. Lions for personal reasons but is apparently close to signing with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats."

For those scoring at home, the injury to a Windsor grad affected players from McMaster, Acadia and Simon Fraser, since Aaron Hargreaves is in Winnipeg's employ.

Related:
Blue's Franklin out 6-8 weeks (Winnipeg Free Press)

Basketball: Towson to play Carleton, Ottawa, QSSF schools

News about NCAA teams coming north is slowly trickling out.

Carleton and Ottawa will play the Towson Tigers, out of the mid-major Colonial Athletic Association, on Aug. 17-18. The Tigers' trip will also include a game vs. UQAM and two vs. the Laval Rouge et Or. Towson, coached by Pat Kennedy who was at Florida State when it was a NCAA Tournament team in the '90s, will be somewhat short-staffed, coming north with just eight scholarship players.

Towson was 12-22 last season, but made a run in the conference tournament, losing in the semi-final to George Mason, whom hoopophiles will remember as a Final Four team back in 2006.

Here's the low-down from The Examiner:

"On August 17 and 18, Towson will face the University of Ottawa and Carleton University on back-to-back nights. After a one day break, the Tigers will take on the University of Quebec (UQAM - Ed.) and then will face Laval University in Quebec City on August 19 and 20.

"Towson will bring eight players from last year's 12-22 team and two walk-ons, who redshirted last season, on the Canadian trip."

Where the plot thickens is that the St. John's Red Storm, from the Big East, are also said to be coming to Ottawa. There's been no official word, but the sources for an Out of Left Field post about the St. John's Red Storm visiting Ottawa also mentioned the Towson game before it was announced. (Smoke = fire, sometimes.)

Related:
Tigers Take a Trip Up North (Mathew Schlissel, Towson Tigers Examiner)

Basketball: Francis, Canada seventh at FIBA U19s

A couple points about Alberta coach Greg Francis guiding Canada to a seventh-place finish at the FIBA Under-19 Championship for Men in New Zealand. (Canada beat France 82-74 on Sunday, with one of Francis' recruits for the Golden Bears, Jordan Baker, chipping in 12 points):

• The seventh-place finish was one off Canada's best ever in the event (sixth in 1987).
• All four teams from the Americas region finished in the top half of the draw, with the U.S. winning gold and Argentina, Puerto Rico and Canada finishing fifth, sixth and seventh.
• Canada was a missed three-pointer from avoiding a quarter-final showdown with the eventual champion U.S. team. They also had a two-point loss to Puerto Rico in a consolation-side game, otherwise they would have played in the 5th/6th place game.
• No doubt it was very beneficial for the two incoming U of A players on the squad, Baker and 6-foot-11 centre Rob Dewar.

Basketball: McMaster men recruit 4 off Ontario champions

Yours truly is way late, but McMaster announced its men's basketball recruiting class a couple days ago, consisting of four key cogs from the Hamilton Blessed Sacrament club team which won an OBA banner this spring. Quickly, cribbing from Rob Hilson's press release and The Spec's solid-as-always coverage (small copy editor's quibble, cagers or cagemen as a synonym for basketball player is kind of dated; how about using ballers, like the kids say):

• Ryan Christie, 6-foot-7 forward (Hamilton St. Thomas More) — The buzz phrase with Christie is "high risk, high reward." He's a solid dude, physically (listed at 240 lbs., with a 6-foot-11 wingspan) and is expected to be an impact player after being in the talent pool for Canada's junior national team. However, this might be the big take-home from The Spec's story:

  "Invited to the Canadian junior team tryout camp last year, Christie has been a member of a handful of provincial championship squads. He did not play high school basketball this past season -- just football -- when he could not see eye to eye with the coach.
  
  "It should be noted that Christie has lived on his own for the past two years due to family issues, raising his marks high enough to qualify for McMaster.
  
  "Said (Marauders coach Joe) Raso: 'Did he make mistakes? Absolutely. Every kid does. Does Ryan have to grow up? Yes. But he was in a tough situation. I'm proud of the fact that he got in here.
  
  " 'Can you imagine a student living on their own for two years and qualifying grade-wise to get into this institution? To me, that's impressive. I've never had to pay rent as an 18-year-old.' "

  There has been some clamouring at cisfootball.org about him possibly playing for the Mac football team. The Marauders have had some two-sporters in recent years, including quarterback/receiver/forward Jon Behie and more recently, running back/guard Jermaine De Costa.
  
  
• Paul Hart, 6-foot guard (Ancaster Bishop Tonnos) — Any doubts about his character presumably were cleared up in his second-last year of high school, when he played "magnificently" (Hamilton Spectator, Apr. 9, 2008) in a semi-final playoff game two days after his father died. His high school coach was Steve Maga, the former Mac star.
  
  Raso said unequivocally Hart is going to play football at Mac. His sister, Rachel Hart, was a CIS defensive player in the year in basketball at Mac.
  
  
• Sean McGrattan, 6-5 forward (Ancaster Bishop Tonnos) — Comes described as versatile player, so it would be interesting to see what role he gravitates toward. He's the cousin of the Calgary Flames' new enforcer, Brian McGrattan.
  
  
• Victor Raso, 6-3 guard (Hamilton St. Thomas More) — The coach's son and a multi-sporter who was a quarterbac and football. This is coming from someone who only got to see McMaster in person once last season (vs. Carleton), but they would seem to be looking for a point guard after being 13th in the OUA in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Related:
Mac recruits top cagemen (Larry Moko, Hamilton Spectator, July 9)

SFU approved to join NCAA Div. II

The outcome was never really in doubt, but now it's official: Simon Fraser University has become the first Canadian school to join the NCAA. From the press release...

In a historic return to its athletic roots, Simon Fraser University was approved today as the first non-U.S. member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the world’s largest college sports organization.

Beginning with the 2011-12 season, after a two-year transition period, all of SFU’s Clan varsity teams will compete in the NCAA’s Division II in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC).

The Division II membership committee approved SFU’s application at its meeting today (Friday, July 10) at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis IN.

"This is a first for a Canadian university, and it reflects SFU's long history of competing in U.S. varsity associations and conferences,” said SFU President Michael Stevenson.

“It means a high level of competition and challenge for our athletes. As has always been the case, our primary concern is that our athletes succeed as students. The NCAA has strong academic requirements and we will maintain the high academic standards that SFU has always demanded from all Clan teams.”

SFU now has 19 Clan teams competing in the small-college National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the U.S. and Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS). One, men’s wrestling, now competes in both NAIA and CIS.

GNAC includes nine full-member schools in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, and four football-only members in Washington, California, Utah and Oregon.

Aside from football, SFU is planning on moving all of its teams to the NCAA for the 2010-2011 year. In the upcoming year though, all SFU teams are set to play in the CIS as though nothing has happened—at the CIS AGM in May, a motion was defeated that would have put SFU on probation immediately after applying for formal membership.

Related:
Simon Fraser University wins NCAA entry as first non-U.S. member (Lyndon Little, Vancouver Sun)

Football: Emry, Huclack shine in Alouettes annihilation

When a team scores 90 points in its opening two games, the offence is bound to get the headlines, but the Montreal Alouettes are getting praise for the Shea Emry Experiment, starting a CIS alumnus at middle linebacker.

TSN's announcing team of Chris Cuthbert and Glenn Suitor were pretty effusive in their praise of the UBC grad, noting he runs well and has been authoritative about plaing the position. Emry ended up credited with only three tackles, but as far as anchoring the D goes, the Alouettes defence did not give up a touchdown in the first 58 minutes and change of the game. Edmonton's backup QB Jason Maas threw a window-dressing TD pass in the dot-the-Is stages of the contest.

Of course, another CIS alum in the Als linebacker corps, Cory Huclack (Manitoba), ended up scoring an interception-return TD after grabbing a deflected pass (the ball went off the shoulder of Jesse Lumsden's replacement, Arkee Whitlock, who had a nightmarish night).

On the other side of the ledger, it's probably fair to say that Eskimos safety Elliott Richardson (Acadia) had a longggggg night, since that goes for every one of Edmonton's defenders.

Another CIS alumni in the CFL note: Matt O'Meara (McMaster) is expected to start at right tackle for Saskatchewan in Saturday's Roughriders-Argonauts game (1 p.m. Eastern, TSN). Jordan Rempel (Saskatchewan) has been moved to the nine-game injured list.

Hockey: Lakehead goalie gets 'the call' from Red Wings

At age 26, graduated Lakehead goalie Chris Whitley might be a bit more mature than most players trying to break into pro hockey, but it might be good to defer to the Detroit Red Wings' track record as talent evaluators:

"I’d heard some rumblings about it over the course of the summer and since nationals ended, but nothing was really confirmed until yesterday, so I'm pretty excited about it,” Whitley said.

His expectations are high, though at heart he’s a realist.

“Obviously my main goal is to try to make the Detroit Red Wings, but other than that I’m just going to try to play the best I can and gain a lot of experience. They’ve got an unbelievable organization there and a hall of famer in net in Chris Osgood,” the Oshawa native said.

His likely destination, should the Wings sign him, would be the American or East Coast Hockey League."

UNB forward Kevin Henderson signed with the San Jose Sharks a few months back. There hasn't been much in the news about Alberta goalie Aaron Sorochan, but a lot of hockey followers out Edmonton way seem to think the Oilers would be out of their minds not to invite him to camp.

Related:
Whitley invited to Red Wings training camp (Leigh Dunick, tbnewswatch)

Football: Play as your favourite CIS school in NCAA Football 10

Canadian sports gamers who prefer to EA Sports' NCAA Football franchise to Madden (more teams, more varied playbooks) are in for a treat.

A few CIS diehards over the years have used the NCAA game's create-a-school feature to create a video version of their favourite team. NCAA Football 10, which is due in stores July 134, ups the ante because its new create-a-school (TeamBuilder) function which allows users to make their creations available for download by other gamers, enabling head-to-head play. Ten gamers could each play as an OUA school in a single 10-team conference (insert joke about the Big Ten having 11 teams).

You can even upload the school's actual logo. The logical next step for the franchise is to make it possible for users to upload a school's fight song (you do not want to know how long I spent trying to find a NCAA team's fight song that somewhat sounded like Queen's College Colours).

EA Sports said in a recent press release that users created teams at a rate of "seven per minute" during the first two days that TeamBuilder was up and running. Naturally, that includes many re-creations of CIS teams, which could allow 10 gamers to play out the OUA season.

To see some of the teams available, go to easportsworld.com/en_US/ncaafootball/create_a_school and click on Browse Schools (you might need to download a new flash player, but it only takes seconds).

Search for teams from the "state" of Canada, and you'll have a treasure-trove. There are at least 15 versions of the Laval Rouge et Or, 10 of the Western Mustangs and six of the Calgary Dinos.

Hint-hit: A gamer named Duster5931 created all 10 OUA teams. He even went to the trouble of creating individualized rosters. Here is Western QB Michael Faulds ...

... and here is Guelph sophomore defensive back Jarryd Baines.



Anyway, if you have a hour or two to kill at work, browse through the teams from the state of Canada. You'll even find teams created for schools which do not currently play football, such as Carleton ...


... and Dalhousie.



Related:
NCAA Football 10 Review

Football: Gee-Gees scholly awarded to David Andres

There was a post back in late March about Doug Falconer, who won a Vanier Cup with the Ottawa Gee-Gees and a Grey Cup with the Ottawa Rough Riders before becoming a heavy hitter in film production, establishing a scholarship for a graduate of Kingston's La Salle Secondary School who is moving on to uOttawa.

The inaugural recipient of the Gilbert-Fraser-Morrison scholarship is David Andres, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound linebacker-safety who played at La Salle Secondary.

La Salle students, to be clear, are the first option for the scholarship, but it's open to any Kingston-area athlete. The school is alma mater of two current CFL players, Hamilton Tiger-Cats d-lineman Matt Kirk and Toronto Argonauts guard Taylor Robertson. (Kirk played at Queen's in the early 2000s.)

Football: Acadia's Richardson may start for Eskies

Week 2 kicks off in the CFL in a couple hours, keep an eye out for Elliott Richardson in the Edmonton-Montreal game (7:30 Eastern, TSN/RDS).

"(Eskimos coach) Richie Hall wasn't tipping his hand totally, but he did indicate he was leaning toward starting Elliott Richardson at safety in place of injured veteran Scott Gordon.

"Richardson and Jason Nugent have been battling for the right to start Thursday’s game against the Montreal Alouettes, and Hall said it’s a “good chance” the rookie Richardson will get the nod.

" 'He’s had a good training camp, played well. Nugent did a good job, but right now, Elliott is a little ahead.' " Edmonton Journal

Basketball: U of A's Francis pilots Canada into FIBA U19 quarters

People should be positive about Canadian hoops no matter what curveballs get thrown at a summer sport in a hockey-first country. The way incoming Alberta coach Greg Francis' charges have pulled it together, making it to the quarter-finals of the FIBA U19 championship in Auckland, New Zealand, is definitely rousing. Like the coach himself said after today's 10-point win over Argentina, which put Team Canada into Friday's quarter-final vs. Team USA (gulp, but nevertheless):

"Now we get to play in the quarter finals of a FIBA World Championship, and that’s a good thing for Canada."

Point guard Cory Joseph (younger brother of Devoe Joseph, a sophomore guard with Minnesota in the Big Ten) had his second efficient 20-point night (9-for-14 shooting) and Gonzaga-bound wing Mangisto Arop hooped 18. As so often happens with a Canadian national team in a non-ice-based sport, there's always a twist. Canada was a missed three-point shot from coming out ahead in a three-way tie-breaker with Argentina and Spain and avoiding a quarter-final matchup vs. the Americans. (All three teams ended up 3-3; Canada was plus-3 in the head-to-head matchups, Argentina was plus-7 and Spain was minus-10).

Learned hoops chroniclers such as the Toronto Star's Doug Smith have said there are great things starting to happen with Canada Basketball, notwithstanding the loss of the National Elite Development Agency. Canada's been in every game at the U19s; they were in the game all the way in their losses to Australian, Croatia and Spain. A basket here, a stop there, you know.

Who knows how it will shake out Friday vs. Team USA. The Americans should always win a major basketball tourney, but hey, Canada gets to take a shot on Friday. That's a building block.

Smith has been posting each morning on the team at his blog and Gregg Drinnan at Taking Note has been having regular e-mail exchanges with Canada forward Kelly Olynyk, who will be joining Arop and Vancouver swingman Bol Kong at Gonzaga in a few weeks.

Related:
Composed Canada move through (FIBA.com)

Basketball: Canada loses in quarters at Universiade

No doubt Canada gave it their best effort, but the men's basketball bowed out at the Summer Universiade on Tuesday with an 89-81 loss to Israel in the quarter-finals.

Calgary big man Ross Bekkering had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Cape Breton's Philip Nkrumah added 10 and 8. Ottawa Gee-Gees guard Josh Gibson-Bascombe hooped 11 points. Windsor's graduating big, Greg Surmacz, also had some good games during the tourney.

Canada Basketball and the CIS media relations people have done a good job covering this thoroughly, so it didn't seem right to just parrot their releases. The women's team went winless, which might have taken a few people aback.

Canada plays Latvia in a consolation game at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday. (What is that, 8 a.m. Eastern?)

Football: T-Birds' Kruger placed on Stampeders practice roster

Via the Calgary Herald:

"To the practice roster, the Stamps added R Blaine Kruger, a 23-year-old from Cochrane.

"Kruger had been preparing to return to UBC for his sophomore year when (coach John) Hufnagel offered him a gig.

"The top junior receiver in the country in 2007, he was a Canada West conference all-star last year."

Kruger was third in Can West with 491 yards on 36 receptions last season. He gained almost twice as many yards as UBC's next most prolific receiver, Jordan Grieve (248 on 20 catches). Suffice to say, while UBC is presumably happy for Kruger to get an opportunity to impress the Stampeders in person. There is always a chance a player could return after being put on a practice roster, too.

Football: Canada wins silver at inaugural junior worlds

No doubt few will be surprised by the final score, 41-3 for Team USA over Canada, at the International Federation of American Football junior world championship in Canton, Ohio.

When the tournament has your country's name in it, you should be head and shoulders above the competition. A tip of the cap is due Canada for representing well under Laval coach Glen Constantin.

The U.S., which outgained our guys 480-41, got three touchdown passes from QB Bryce Petty, who's headed to Baylor in the Big 12. David Wilson, a Virginia Tech running back, gained a game-high 87 yards and scored a touchdown. Lirim Hajrullahu's 38-yard field goal was the only points the Yanks allowed in the tournament.

The Americans are pretty proud of leaving "the rest of the world at least a generation behind" in football." Of course, there was no mention that Team Canada's players had to fork out $1,000 to play on the team, or that only seven players from the country's most populous province tried out. This blurb from the Akron Beacon-Journal has to be shared:

"The score was their statement.

" 'This,' Petty said, 'is our sport.' "

"Let the rest of the world play rugby."

It is, no question, but what was with saying, Let the rest of the world play rugby? Can you imagine a Canadian journalist, even with the TSN-fueled over-the-top chauvinism that you see during the world junior hockey championship, suggesting hockey's too good for other countries?

Anyway, note for Ottawa users: The Cumberland Panthers' Ron Omara had a sack in the championship game.

Japan won the bronze by beating Mexico 42-27. Yuichiro Araki threw for 354 yards and five touchdowns after throwing for 285 and 4 TDs vs. Canada last Wednesday. It's tempting to suggest tongue-in-cheek that some CIS school recruit him, language barrier be damned.

(Image of Laurier wideout Alex Anthony via Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician, a fabulous Syracuse Orange blog.)

Football: It might be it for Lumsden

Suffice to say, there is strong speculation that former McMaster star Jesse Lumsden's football career is over.

"If that injury is anywhere near as serious as it looked -- the Eskimos announced yesterday it was a dislocated shoulder and they're waiting for the results of some more tests before determining how long he'll be out of action -- the point has almost surely been reached when Lumsden's body has thrown in the towel. Rehabilitating injury after injury becomes fruitless when less and less significant blows cause more and more significant injuries.

"Translated: Lumsden may not want to admit it now, but it's probably time to start thinking about moving on. Which would be a shame of huge proportions."

There is no mention that Lumsden's upright running style might have made him more vulnerable to injuries. We cannot have those shades-of-grey in our morning newspaper!

Related:
'Jesse's in a terrible situation' (Scott Radley, Hamilton Spectator)

Basketball: Coaching change at Ryerson

Well, in keeping with what a couple of commenters have said, Ryerson is in the market for a new men's basketball coach. Glenn Taylor is out.

The Rams finished fourth in the OUA East last season and were upset 71-69 by York in the first round of the playoffs. There is a lot of upside with the program beyond the presence of fourth-year forward Boris Bakovic, who has been one of the country's best bigs since the day he arrived. Ryerson has been kind of a sleeping giant sports-wise, and AD Ivan Joseph would like to increase the university's sports profile. Once it gets some facilities, the right people in place, there's a lot of potential for the downtown Toronto university, especially in men's basketball.

There are challenges to coaching in Toronto, especially since so many good players not only go NCAA Division 1, but often go to the States while still in high school. Still, there is no reason a school in Canada's largest city shouldn't be more prominent on the parquet.