Hockey: Weekly AUS Update

Friday night the rematch between StFX and UNB didn't quite deliver the drama of the week before. UNB captain Kyle Bailey scored in the first minute and the V-Reds were up 3-0 after one period, while the X-Men used back-to-back power plays to score two goals in less than a minute to make it close. The V-Reds added their own PP goal later in the period, and then they blew the game open in third period, capped by an unassisted highlight reel goal by Jordan Clendenning with 0.1 seconds left. UNB won 9-3 and went 5-for-10 on the power play while outshooting X 46-25. In Halifax Saint Mary's goalie Neil Conway has his second straight shutout against St. Thomas foiled by a Tommies power play goal with less than three minutes to go as the Huskies won 5-1.

Also on Friday Acadia defeated Moncton 4-1 with three of their goals coming on the power play. The upset of the week came in Charlottetown, where Dalhousie won 7-4 over UPEI. The Panthers twice tied the game, but Brendon MacDonald got the game winner at 12:58 of the third period, and the Tigers added two empty net goals in the final minute to seal the victory.

On Saturday Dal couldn't pull off a second road upset as they were easily handled by UNB, with the V-Reds firing 50 shots in their 7-1 victory. It is UNB's tenth straight win and leaves them the only undefeated team in the CIS. Moncton's woes continued, as they were embarrassed 11-0 by Saint Mary's in what may be a record shutout loss for les Aigles Bleus. SMU outshot UdeM 39-24 and went 4-for-7 on the power play. Hulking Huskies defenceman Justin Wallingford had a career night with two goals and two assists, and Neil Conway had his second shutout in a week. For Moncton, it is their sixth loss in a row and has them in last place in the standings, a very unaccustomed spot.

Saturday saw Acadia win their fifth game in a row, as they were up 5-0 on STU going into the third period, and cruised to the 5-1 win. The Axemen outshot the Tommies 39-26. For their part, banged-up STU has only managed to scored three goals in their last two games. StFX beat UPEI 5-1, keeping the X-Men in second place. However red-hot SMU is just one point back with a game in hand.

Looking ahead: In a relatively quiet week, there is one game on Wednesday with Dal at Acadia. On Friday UNB is at UPEI, UdeM is at STU and Acadia is at Dal. There is only one game Saturday as SMU is at StFX in a battle for second place. Sunday sees SMU travel to UPEI.
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Linking the country ...

Football

• Injured Laval kicker Christopher Milo (ankle) says he'll play on crutches if has to in the Mitchell Bowl. (Le Soleil)
  
  
• Nice quote from Saint Mary's slotback Carl Hardwick, delivered before the Huskies knew the identity of their Uteck Bowl opponent: "Everybody knows who we want."
  
  Way too many players dance around that question. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
  
  
• The London Free Press notes Western's Michael Faulds "tried to capture a moment for history," but in terms of a moment for right now ... Queen's won.
  
  (Please read this comment on Faulds, who is going to make a fine coach; hard to imagine how a player wouldn't run through a wall for someone who tried to win a Yates Cup on one leg.)
  
  
• One neutral source called the Yates Cup the "best college football game I've seen since the 2007 Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma." Thing is, the Canada West game might have topped it, too. (Toronto Sports Media)
  
  
• Hamilton Tiger-Cats receiver Dave Stala (Saint Mary's) is making a comeback from a broken foot in today's East Division semifinal vs. the B.C. Lions. (Toronto Sun)
  
  
• How do you know Queen's has been out of the O-QIFC for a while? The Montreal Gazette still calls them Golden Gaels, unlike some Southern Ontario media outlets [/sarcasm].
  
  
• Le Soleil's Ian Bussières has a great snapshot of tailgaters at PEPS Stadium, who form a unique picture of the circa-2009 Quebec sports fan: «Pour nous, c'est la NFL, le NASCAR et le Rouge et Or!»
  
  
• Queen's Pat Sheahan notes the Gaels might have had a little "divine intervention" on their side in the final minutes of Yates Cup.(Toronto Star)
  

Basketball

• Windsor was impressive in its 80-77 overtime win over Ottawa, scoring the last six points of regulation. Isaac Kuon hit two baskets late and John Woldu hit the deciding three-ball in OT. (Ottawa Citizen)
  

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Football: Setting up the Mitchell Bowl, Laval at Queen's

All the pressure's on Laval. Really.

It's feeling of fait accompli vs. fate in the Mitchell Bowl. Laval, the heavy favourite, will be counting on ho(i)sting a Vanier Cup in front of those 15,000 fans who sound like barbarians on crystal meth (fist bump: Duane Rollins). There's probably little in their thinking that would even allow them to contemplate watching two teams from the ROC play for it on their field.

Queen's and Dan Brannagan, Scott Valberg, Osie Ukwuoma and Shomari Williams have had been on a come-too-far-to-lose roll since Oct. 17, the first of two Instant Classics vs. Western Mustangs. The Golden Gaels' 43-39 Yates Cup win over Western, the first CIS playoff game where both quarterbacks passed for more than 500 yards and had about a 1,000 stomach-knotting twists, the last Michael Faulds evoking John Wayne ("I might not finish it standing, but I'll finish it") when he limped in to try a last-gasp, third-and-20 pass.

The Gaels didn't always have momentum, but always had control. There's a difference. Stuffing Nathan Riva on a third-and-1 at midfield and Williams planting Faulds for a safety late in the first half indicated the roles had been reversed, at least for one Saturday in one November. It was only a five-point swing, but every little bit helped where there was so little margin between two pretty good teams.

OUA Yates Cup

Queen's 43, Western 39 — Styles make fights, which is why this game worked on every level.

The Yates was this season's latest greatest shootout in the OUA, with seven lead changes and about 1,200 yards offence. Going deeper and deeper, to keep with the air-it-out ways of both passers, Queen's Pat Sheahan finally beat Greg Marshall, the quote-unquote "guy who never loses it" in a big game.

Queen's has faced questions whether its approach can work in the playoffs. Sheahan's Gaels have always drawn their identity from a precise, pro-style passing game. Marshall knows that's the motion of the ocean and has adapted well, but he's steeped in a tradition of power football. The Mustangs, like McMaster at this dawn of the decade, have had a singular talent at quarterback, but they expect to mash teams. That's how they roll.

Except they couldn't do it against a Queen's front of Williams, Ukwuoma, John Miniaci and Frank Pankiewicz, who made a key interception (go figure a defensive lineman made an INT in a game with so much passing). Start with Queen's run defence (Jimmy Allin and Chris Smith, among others, also helped make big plays on Riva) if you want to find an X-factor between two teams who played 120 minutes of football this season where the outcome was in doubt for all of 19 seconds.

The Golden Gaels held a possibly limited Nathan Riva to 3.4 yards per carry (29 rushes for 100 yards). That aforementioned third-down stand in the first half, which was a role reversal of a play at a similar stage of the 2002 Yates in Hamilton between Queen's and Marshall's McMaster team (which stopped Bryan Crawford for a huge loss and went on to win). It showed Queen's was going to be pushed around. Western ended up trying four field goals from inside the 20, which is unheard of for a smart-aggressive team.

There was a lot for the armchair quarterbacks:

• What might have been if Faulds doesn't take the killer shot on his knee. A colleague questioned whether Marshall should have let Faulds go in, but it was the last play of the man's career. Let him throw. (Faulds will be a good coach some day, and you wonder how anyone wouldn't play for someone who showed that amount of chutzpah.)
  
  
• The no-touchdown call on a goal line catch by Western's Nick Trevail (nine receptions, 171 yards) in the fourth quarter.
  
  Replays seemed to confirm Marshall's observation, "It looked to me like Trevail was in and scored," but Western was stuffed on two subsequent cracks from the 1-yard line and settled for a chip-shot field goal (what happened to play-action).
  
  Another minute also rolled off the clock before Western went ahead 39-36 instead of 43-36. Who knows what might have happened if either offence had another minute.
• Mistakes in the kicking game. Western's Darryl Wheeler honked a PAT in the third quarter. Queen's Dan Village also hit the upright in the fourth quarter, otherwise the Gaels might have built more of a lead.
• Da'Shawn Thomas being such a non-factor (no rush attempts and one catch for minus-2 yards).
  
• Dan Brannagan or Michael Faulds? Faulds got the Hec Crighton Trophy nomination, but Brannagan got his Yates Cup.
  
  The roles ended up being reversed. Last season, Queen's had individual accolades and no team prize.
• Chris Ioannides' day. On Queen's winning drive, the Gaels tight end caught a first-down pass, limped off, came back in and caught another to set up the go-ahead strike to Scott Valberg.

QUFL Dunsmore Cup

Laval 31, Montreal 7 — The Rouge et Or are awfully good, and after seeing Benoit Groulx be on-target (13-of-17, 216 yards), Queen's might be living in fear. The early crossing pattern to Mathieu Picard which set up the day's first points seemed to set a tone. Guillaume Rioux also had a gorgeous TD catch.

Laval is Laval, for lack of anything original to say at this hour. Montreal ultimately might have been too banged-up to make this interesting, but please remember the Carabins did some damage back on Bleu Sunday.

(Special thanks to Andrew Bucholtz, Arden Zwelling, Mike Radoslav, Rob Pettapiece, Greg Hughes and Daniel Da Silva and many others for their work on the Yates Cup live blog.)
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Football: Uteck Bowl set; Calgary to face Saint Mary's

Erik Glavic, Blake Nill and the Calgary Dinos are bringing sexy storylines back to Halifax.

That recent headline in The Onion, "ESPN Completely Misses Brett Favre vs. Green Bay Packers Storyline," comes to mind after Calgary (39-38 over Saskatchewan) and Saint Mary's (31-22 over St. FX) held up their ends of the bargain on Saturday. Like Glavic (The Man himself quite literally after passing for 479 and rushing for 106 to beat the Green Dogs) told the Calgary Herald, people have only been waking up itching to see this fight for the past 10 months.

Michael Faulds limping on to the field to throw one last pass in Western's Yates Cup loss is storybook, or at least rates a thumbs-up on TSN's The Sports Reporters, but it's arguable Glavic's arc was just as dramatic. He had a long road back from the major knee injury he suffered in the 2007 Uteck Bowl and the effects lingered into this season. Against a hostile crowd, he brought Calgary back from a two-score margin to win, and also converted a pair of second-and-20s against a good Husies defence.

The media will run the Glavic-Nill angle into the ground — which is kind of what the eastern Huskies will fix on doing to the Dinos — but it goes deeper. The Huskies' long-standing pipeline into Alberta has produced half of their defensive starters, including the D-linemen Austin McLennan and Dan Schutte, middle linebacker Ryan King, outside 'backers Leroy Fontaine and Jeff Hecht and free safety Saleem Borhot, plus cornerback Quinton Meaders had a tryout with the CFL's Stampeders. That should add to the drama, plus it's a storyline which might rate more play as the week goes along. It shouldn't have many dull moments; as unfortunate though it may be only one game gets a real-time national audience, at least it's this one.

A lot of the spin will probably paint Calgary as all offence vs. more well-rounded Saint Mary's, with the Huskies being depicted as the only team left which can give Laval a game. The Huskies are more stable in areas which need to be an immutable, especially the kicking game with Justin Palardy (Calgary's Aaron Ifield had a punt blocked for a touchdown).

Game capsules are below the jump (and apologies for the late posts, between SSN Canada, a busy Saturday night on the Ottawa Sun sports desk, this hobby had to be back-burnered).

Canada West final

Calgary 39, Saskatchewan 38 — Half the fun with Calgary and Queen's is wondering how many of their nine lives were used up Saturday.

The Dinos moved up and down the field all day and still needed a Glavic TD with 2:04 left and an unsuccessful Huskies field goal try in the final 20 seconds (Mr. Everything Grant Shaw is the last player who should ever feel like a goat, since he's not) to get out of Griffiths with the win which eluded them the first time.

Calgary's defence was just a rumour, but Glavic earned his share of wow-eeees. He picked up two second-and-longs where it was 20-plus for a first down, and kept the Dinos in it despite twice going down by nine points (9-0 early and 38-29). Richard Snyder also had a career game (222 yards on seven receptions), helping the Dinos win despite their other two triplets, slotback Anthony Parker (just 46 rushing-receiving yards) and Matt Walter (118 from scrimmage) did not leave a huge dent on the stat sheet.

As in the Yates, it was less than someone lost than someone had to win. Saskatchewan had brilliance all over the field, from QB Laurence Nixon (who passed 35 times for 422 yards) and fifth-year RB Tyler O'Gorman (24 rushes for 162 yards).

The problem with dwelling on Shaw's missed 35-yarder is that it was his sixth of the game. The Huskies, not unlike Western and St. FX down East, were in a game which demanded scoring in denominations of seven instead of three. That's the reality even without second-guessing the actual play-calling.

That said, it was a curious sequence on Huskies' penultimate possession, after Calgary had kicked a field goal to pull within 38-32. Saskatchewan threw a pass to Travis Gorski (another veteran who had a big game) that went for a three-yard loss, then after an incompletion, had to punt. Captain Obvious would point out that was a bad time for a two-and-out.

Saskatchewan's graduating fifth-year players include the likes of guard Hubert Buydens, Presidents' Trophy-nominated linebacker Taylor Wallace, O'Gorman, Jon Krahenbil and receiver Cory Jones. Nixon, if memory serves, is also fifth-year student

Loney Bowl

Saint Mary's 31, St. Francis Xavier 22 — The Huskies' offence arrived only 2½ quarters late, but their defence was there all along. One does wonder why these Loney Bowl letdowns have been an annual phenomenon for Saint Mary's, but it's inconclusive whether it carries over to the next week.

Craig Leger (21 rushes, 182 yards) carried the mail for SMU, which more than made do without Devon Jones (another Albertan on SMU!). SMU QB Jack Creighton, who'll be by far the youngest QB starting next week, had decent numbers (12-of-25, 216 yards).

One reading of this game was that St. FX's ballhawking defence and special teams kept it close. Takeaways that led to 13 X points kept it close, 17-16, through three quarters (along with a fumble-return TD by Dylan Hollohan, another recovery and a Nick Riva interception deep in SMU territory that set up field goals.) Saint Mary's defence allowed St. FX only one drive longer than 50 yards

Two swing plays were MacLennan stopping St. FX's James Green (31 rushes, 169 yards in his last game) on a third-and-2 gamble. The Huskies came back with a 72-yard drive to open an eight-point lead, aided by a roughing-the-kicker penalty moved the ball to the one-yard line. (As noted, this season major fouls are marched off in full instead of half the distance to the goal line, which paid off for the Huskies.)

Leger also had three big fourth-quarter runs of 17, 37 and 26 yards to help the Huskies slowly pull away. Jeff Zelinski also made the sealing play, tackling St. FX's Nic Guest two yards short on a final third-down play with about 1:15 left.

X quarterback Steve Snyder was held in check (26 pass attempts for 86 yards) in his final game.

(A special thanks to Huskies Football Outsider, which has been a model team-specific blog all season and is easily the best blog on CIS football outside Quebec.)
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Bleeding Tricolour: The Gaels of November, finally

Saturday was everything you could have hoped it would be: the greatest Yates Cup ever and Queen's won.

The Golden Gaels' 43-39 win over those hated Western Mustangs was hard to capture in the short turnaround time afforded a broadcaster or reporter. It keeps coming back to the sentence above, adapted from some late-late-night MSNing about 12 hours after Dan Brannagan kneeled down to run the last six seconds off the Mustangs' invincibility.

For seven days — the coast seems to be clear; are you sure Michael Faulds isn't going to limp in from the sideline again? — there there were five words scrolling through many a Golden Gaels fan's mind: This is what you wanted ... this is what you wanted.

Brannagan outduels Faulds. Pat Sheahan finally gets his first conference title at Queen's over his nemesis Greg Marshall, and it comes in a game no one in Ontario will be to stop talking about any time soon (pending the result of the Mitchell Bowl). That's as close to dead solid perfect as it gets in this life.

For Queen's, it had to come over Western. You couldn't say that beforehand because it might cheese off the football gods, who have a wicked sense of humour. The OUA is a fairly deep league and Western will be Western so long as Marshall coaches Western. It just looks so clear after the fact. Time has that trick of making everything seem neat and tidy.

"Tidy" is the last word to describe how it actually unfolded in front of 7,253 at Richardson Stadium, where a football game is scheduled on Nov. 21 (only Queen's '92 Vanier Cup team has played that late in the year). It was the first CIS playoff game where both quarterbacks passed for more than 500 yards, 515 for Brannagan and 509 for Faulds. (In touchdown passes, Brannagan, had a 5-1 edge, also his record vs. Faulds over the past four seasons). Every time one started to think, "OK, score here, get the ball back, score again and end this madness," there was another parry-and-thrust. The lead changed hands seven times, the last on Scott Valberg's TD catch with 2:49 remaining. Two stops and one Faulds limp-off and one limp-back-in later, it was theirs.

All told, there was only 19 seconds out of 120 minutes of Queen's-Western football this fall where the outcome was not in doubt. The Score's Tim Micallef nailed it at game's end when he said, "I'm not sure anybody lost." The difference is the grey areas reside with Western fans. What if Faulds doesn't get hurt during the final minute? What about the blown no-touchdown call earlier in the fourth quarter on a goal-line catch by the smooth receiver Nick Trevail, which ultimately led them kicking a field goal?

With no bile intended, wearing that ambiguity looks good on the purple ponies. It's their turn, for a change. Queen's fans have known it far too many times across the past 17 seasons, since the Gaels last carried off a championship trophy in 1992. (Anyone looking for an omen during the lead-up to Saturday might have found one six days earlier when the quarterback of the '92 Vanier Cup team, Tim Pendergast, coached Holy Cross in Kingston to its first senior football title.)

Those questions and more hang off a game where Queen's put to rest so many knocks on it. Brannagan cast off any stigma of being a QB who put up great stats but couldn't win the big one. Queen's set the tone throughout, from the time it answered an early Western TD with a three-play drive. Later on, after the defence stuffed Nathan Riva on a third-and-1 gamble at midfield and defensive-line lodestar Shomari Williams planted Faulds in the end zone for a safety a few series later (Faulds is going to hate that south end zone for the rest of his days), it seemed like the roles had reversed.

Meantime, the end was great for Queen's, but the journey was better. It might veer toward fanbole, but it's hard to imagine a better OUA football game (one can only imagine it was much the same with Calgary's 39-38 win over Saskatchewan in the Canada West final; as for best game, Saskatchewan's '05 Mitchell Bowl win over Laval still comes to mind). Someone else can fill this in, but if isn't the best Yates Cup game, then what is?

Granted, a defensive guru coordinator might answer differently. For three hours, save for some great work against the run by Queen's and some wicked hits by Western in pass coverage (Craig Butler in particular), Queen's and Western filled the Eastern Ontario sky with footballs and gave the stats crew carpal-tunnel. Some purists might have howled about putting out APBs for both defences, but a truth is both fifth-year quarterbacks were just that prolific.

There were times when it looked like Faulds wasn't even bothering to look for a receiver anywhere less than 20 yards downfield. Brannagan, in his cooler-than-freon, deceptively flat-footed way, just keep slinging one clothesline throw after another to Valberg, Devan Sheahan and Chris Ioannides (the latter of whom has made more big little catches this season than anyone will know). It really did make football resemble basketball on grass.

Meantime, the crowd was into it like rarely before at Richardson Stadium. Queen's crowds often consist of 3,000 armchair quarterbacks on the alumni side, all pensive and placid, opposite the mostly empty student side. Saturday they were a true 13th man. Did you hear them?

Western, bless them, even with Faulds and Riva limited than were tougher to get rid of than Rasputin. Every time they seemed to be sliding down the river, they would come back. Queen's had a chance to stretch the lead to 28-17 in the first half and Butler jarred the ball loose from Ioannides inside the 10, where it popped into the air for an interception. In typical fashion, the Mustangs came out and scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to re-take the lead 30-29, including a sweet 59-yarder on a double pass (Faulds faked to Riva, pitched to Nick Pasic, who threw it back to Faulds, who heaved it downtown to Jesse Bellamy). That might have staggered a lesser Queen's team. However, it was the last time Western got in the end zone, at least officially.

No one could get away, like it was almost foreordained that it was going to have to come down to the final minutes. Believe you me, as tough a job as all involved down in Kingston had, following it from Ottawa was hell (first at the SSN studio and then the Ottawa Sun newsroom).

The beauty of doing this site is it does allow for having a bit of a "fan side" (to quote Doug Smith) along with being semi-halfway gainfully employed in the media. It always seem prudent not to talk too much about Queen's, although the reality is if I hadn't become a Queen's fan in 1989, you're probably not reading this.

So, it was a constant swing from Will you handle it if the Gaels lose? and What will you say if they win? It made one wish it could be like The Simpsons where Bart and Todd Flanders decide to call their mini-golf match a draw after several nerve-shredding playoff holes.

The way Western took it down to the wire honestly makes them seem more endearing. That's one irony with any great rivalry. You realize a plot needs a good villain. You have at least be an appreciator of Western. Faulds should have no shortage of fans in Kingston, now that he's done.

Western didn't know it, but it was playing a role in Queen's drama. Love or hate the idea, for most people it doesn't mean a thing without the championship ring in sports. Queen's never denied that, but this season Sheahan's team put it into action, finally. We just couldn't talk about it too much before (football gods).

Ours is not to question why it happened for this team and not the 2008 edition which had Mike Giffin running like an angry young man, or to the 2002-03 Tommy Denison teams. This team has a bit more of that Bertolt Brecht black-addiction-of-the-brain thing happening than ones before. Whether that will be enough vs. mighty Laval is in doubt, but hey, they have a game next week and Western doesn't. They (we) will take that.

(This is for those with Queen's and/or Kingston in them.)
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Football: Tape-delayed Mitchell Bowl — c'est la vie!

Only in Canada does sledge hockey pre-empt university football.

It's a combination of circumstances with the Mitchell Bowl being tape-delayed on Nov. 21, but it still doesn't make it acceptable. Laval fans, the best fanbase in the country, won't get to watch their team play live in the Mitchell Bowl (the Calgary-Saint Mary's Uteck Bowl kicks off at noon Eastern, and Laval-Queen's will be live-to-tape at 3:30 on TSN and Radio-Canada, according to one OUA school's press release).

What about TSN2? It is scheduled to air the "2009 Sledge Hockey Canada Cup: Gold Medal Final." This being Canada, no one is make the call to take that off the air because they don't want to risk the wrath or be seen as insensitive or politically incorrect. Presumably the decision is because TSN has a contract with Hockey Canada to show every national championship's gold medal, even when it's something which is probably only appealing to the participants' family and friends, let's be honest.

There's not so much interest in getting into a blame game, but Canadian Interuniversity Sport had time to trouble-shoot this. The Uteck Bowl is held at a fixed location when AUS hosts and it's not like there was no advance warning Queen's might win the Yates Cup. Please don't say they were just hoping someone with lights would win and avoid such a quandary.

It still feels like a partnership with TSN, done right, could be good for raising the profile of university sports. Who knows what would happen if The Score had the semifinals? It is worth noting the smaller network has been gracious in accommodating videocasters such as the Streaming Sports Network Canada; TSN's view is that if it has the rights, it will be the only source for watching the game, even if it means thousands upon thousands of Laval fans are going to be stuck with the radio.

The university administration a Queen's has kind of tempted fate by not upgrading Richardson Stadium, described as "rickety" in a Globe & Mail story. The monolithic Queen's Centre has kind of commanded attention the past few years, so upgrading the stadium the way Windsor, Western and McMaster have has gone by the wayside. (Don't worry, it's not like many Queen's grads would read the Saturday Globe.)

So what's to be done? It's not clear. It feels like having to drop back and punt to be back to having one live game and one tape-delayed. TSN should at least consider throwing a bone to CIS diehards by streaming the Mitchell Bowl (and perhaps Radio-Canada will do the same, that bears checking out). Either way, this could have been managed better.
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Football: Yates Cup live blog, Western at Queen's, 1 p.m. Saturday

Please join us for Saturday's liveblog of the Yates Cup (1 p.m. ET, The Score), which will be simulcast with the Western Gazette. Andrew Bucholtz and Arden Zwelling have this well-covered.


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Q&A: TSN's Rod Smith on "all Canadian" CIS football

TSN's Rod Smith is one of the most recognizable voices in Canada, having been with TSN as a reporter, anchor and play-by-play man for more than 20 years. Smith, who played in national semifinals as a Queen's lineman in 1979 and '81, will have the call for TSN next weekend in the Mitchell Bowl between the Dunsmore Cup and Yates Cup champions, was gracious enough to answer a few of our questions:

cisblog.ca: First off, what makes you excited to be calling CIS action for the first time since the 2002 Vanier Cup?

RS: Two things. First, I’m excited BECAUSE I haven’t called a CIS game since that '02 Vanier . It’s been a long time. And though I’ve never regretted making a full-time commitment to Sportscentre I’ve really missed broadcasting football. Secondly, I still get fired up for the same reason I always did. I played in two national semi-final bowl games and lost both times. Never made it to the Vanier. It would have been my biggest thrill in sports if I had. So I suppose I’ve lived vicariously through the many players who did make it to the Vanier Cup.

cisblog.ca: In your mind, where does that Vanier stand as a unique Canadian sports event?

RS: It’s all Canadian. It’s the ultimate prize for players and schools from coast to coast. It’s been around for more than forty years. And it’s a great sport for rallying school spirit. Hockey’s our national sport, but the Vanier Cup has always had a special place in the Canadian sports landscape.

cisblog.ca: A lot of CIS diehards are intriqued that TSN has reacquired rights to the Vanier Cup and both basketball championships. With TSN2 fast establishing itself, should people be hopeful the network(s) will start to carry more games? There's a bit of a market for it.

RS: I honestly can’t speak for TSN and it’s future plans for covering CIS events now that we have TSN2. But I certainly hope we’re planning to do more, whether I’m involved or not.

cisblog.ca: From your point of view as a media vet, what could Canadian Interuniversity Sport, the conferences and schools, be doing to get more on the radar screen of the major outlets? It's all well and good on our end to say, "They (the networks) should be doing this," but what do you need to see?

RS: I like the way you phrased that question, because I don’t agree with simply blaming the mainstream media for ignoring great stories in Canadian amateur sport, including the CIS. Sometimes it’s hard getting information about university athletes aside from their age, date of birth, hometown, and major. I used to long for good human interest stories, things that would make a viewer care more about whom they were watching. I’m not suggesting the CIS should be responsible for doing the media’s research, but it never hurts to market your product any way you can.

cisblog.ca: You were Queen's centre in 1979, the last time it met Western this late in the season. What's etched in memory about that season, the guys you played with, the coaches?

RS: It was my rookie season, and Queen’s was the defending Vanier Cup champion. It was both intimidating and inspiring at the same time. That the team was the most confident and most talented I’d ever been a part of, and I treasure the memory of playing there that year. Most of the veterans were back, including Metras Trophy winners Dick Bakker and Jim Muller, future CFL O-lineman Ross Francis, Vanier Cup MVP Ed Andrew and 5th year centre Pat Plishka. Pat hurt his knee during the opening game, leaving me to start the rest of the season. The only other rookie to start that season was quarterback Bob Wright, who wound up playing for 5 years and becoming a Gaels Hall of Famer. It was another good season for Queen’s. We went 6-1, avenging our only loss in the playoffs when we beat Ottawa U. Because we were in a division called the OQIFC we didn’t play against teams from southern Ontario, which made our Churchill Bowl showdown against OUA champ Western that much more intriguing. For many years, despite each school’s illustrious football history, Western and Queen’s hardly ever played against each other. This was a National semi-final, and between the winners of the previous 3 National Championships. I can still recall the eerily tense bus ride from our London hotel to J.W. Little Stadium that Saturday morning in November ’79. The tension would be occasionally broken by the sight of countless oak trees, all spray painted with golden ‘Q’s and a players number underneath. We all got a laugh out of that. Queen’s engineers, reknown for their pranks, had been out in full force the night before. But the piece de resistance was yet to come. When we got to the stadium, we saw that someone had spray-painted "Queen’s" in huge letters across the middle of the field. I’m sure Western just loved that! They managed to get rid of the gold paint, but you could still see the letters easily, in brown instead of gold.

I don’t remember too many details of that game. It’s just as well. The Mustangs dominated, winning 32-14. The play that stands out was a run by their feature back. A big kid in his second year with huge legs and great speed for someone his size. He could run inside or out. And when he got outside against us late in the game he was gone, scoring the touchdown that put the game away for good.

I found out that kid’s name. Greg Marshall.

cisblog.ca: You only had the one season under legendary Queen's coach Doug Hargreaves before transferring to Ryerson to pursue broadcasting, but how has his example stayed with you?

RS: I actually returned to play for Queen’s in 1981, so I had 2 years under Doug. He was firm, but fair. He didn’t do much yelling and screaming, but you knew when he liked what you were doing and you certainly knew when he didn’t. His motto was "We are striving for perfection on every play. On EVERY play. As a young player I didn’t get to know him as well. That’s the way it is for every head coach. At first, stronger relationships are forged between players and their unit coaches. I actually got to know Doug a lot better in later years when I went into broadcasting. I got to work a number of Queen’s games, including the 1992 Vanier Cup when he won his second and final championship. I always respected him, but I learned to appreciate his coaching style more once I matured and saw it from a different perspective. Everyone saw this serious, low-key man on the sideline, but what they didn’t know is that he has a great dry sense of humour. And as much as he took football seriously he was always more concerned about a young man’s development as a student and a person.

cisblog:ca: One your fellow former Gaels put me up to asking this: Describe the time -- I'm told it was part of a rookie initiation or at a football dinner -- that you had to be Doug Hargreaves.

RS: During the 1981 season Bob Wright and I developed an impression for Doug when he wasn’t around. We wouldn’t dare do it in front of him! But it became kind of a locker room tradition that season whenever the coaches weren’t there. It started with facial expressions, then his trademark walk. We both got pretty good at it, so I decided to work on the voice too. At our year end party I decided to do the impression in front of everyone, including Doug himself. I’m not sure if he liked it, but he laughed anyway. Fourteen years later, while MC-ing his retirement dinner, I dusted it off and tried it again. I think he appreciated it more that time. After all, impersonation is the sincerest form of flattery!

cisblog.ca: Lastly, who do you like in the Yates Cup, Western or Queen's?

RS: Queen’s. But not because I once played there. And no, I don’t seek revenge for a bitter playoff loss 30 years earlier. In truth, this game is close to being a toss-up. Both quarterbacks, Brannagan and Faulds, are brilliant. Riva's a tremendous back, dangerous running and catching. But I give the edge to Queen’s on defence and home field. The Gaels deserve to be a slight favourite, but given the way that October 17th game at Richardson ended it could once again come down to last possession.

(Special thanks to Rod Smith.)
Continue reading...

Linking the country ... keeping on without the Joneses; Green Dogs' young pups step up

Football

• Saint Mary's is down another Jones: A shoulder injury has taken Tristan Jones out of Saturday's Loney Bowl vs. St. Francis Xavier. Craig Leger will have a carry a bigger load for SMU. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
  
  
• St. FX d-back Dylan Hollohan had a breakout sophomore season. Could Mount A schedule a game against the X-Men in his native Moncton. (Moncton Times & Transcript)
  
  
• Saskatchewan's steady rise this season has been included by a Fab Five of freshman starters, including defensive end Joel Suetter. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
  
  
• Ahead of Saturday's Hardy Cup, Calgary coach Blake Nill notes, "Even when teams like Manitoba or ourselves last year won the conference, you sort of in the back of your mind kept saying, 'It's still Saskatchewan's conference.' " (Calgary Sun)
  
  
• The "resurgeance" of Western's defence has helped the Mustangs get back to the Yates Cup, though after facing Guelph's Justin Dunk and Laurier's Evan Pawliuk, Queen's Dan Brannagan presents a much bigger challenge in terms of good decision-making and experience. (London Free Press)
  
  
• OUA defensive player of the year John Surla had a lot of people doubting his size when he came to Western, but not so much these days. (London Free Press)
  
  
• Western coach Greg Marshall on his team's regular-season 27-26 loss at Queen's: “For most of the game our defence played well ... On that last drive we made some mistakes and gave them an easy score at the end. But for the most part I feel like our defence did a good job." (Western Gazette)
  
  
• Marshall recalls playing with "two separated shoulders" when he was a fullback on the 1979 Mustangs team which beat Queen's for the Yates Cup. (Sun Media)
  
  
• The Score's Donnavan Bennett has a feature with Queen's defensive end Shomari Williams and cornerback Jimmy Allin. (The Score)
  
  
  
  
• Windsor's Matt Morencie managed to become a Metras Award finalist in his first season at centre after playing tackle previously; pretty impressive. (Windsor Star)
  

Hockey

• UNB centre Jordan Clendenning is back on the ice six months after major knee surgery, when no one expected him to be back until at least early 2010:

  "The left knee - the one Dr. Tom Barnhill repaired by taking a tendon from his hamstring and turning it into a new ACL, cleaning out the torn meniscus as well - 'feels as good as my right knee,' he said. 'I'm playing 100 per cent right now.' "

  As noted by Bill Hunt, St. Thomas is minus six regulars (four injured, two suspended) tonight at Saint Mary's. (Fredericton Daily Gleaner)

Basketball

• UVic is feeling a little ornery heading into a home weekend, especially with Alberta returning to its gym. (Victoria Times-Colonist)
  
  
• Well-known Vancouver high school coach Rich Chambers was roasted recently. (Tri-City News)

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Media: Toronto Star profiles SSN Canada

It's going to get a little harder for Streaming Sports Network Canada to remain secret outside of diehard CIS followers. An article in Canada's largest newspaper will do that:

" 'I like to compare us to what TV networks were back in the '50s,' said John Bower, one of four partners who started SSN on a shoestring budget six years ago.

" ... 'They were breaking in a new medium, and so are we.

"Webcasting is indeed in its infancy, but it is growing and many are looking at it to increase audiences without eating up expensive TV time. CBC found that out during the Beijing Olympics when the success of its online live streaming surpassed all expectations. The CTV-Rogers consortium plans to air every minute of the Vancouver Games online and it expects record audiences.

"SSN (is) ... pretty much a mom-and-pop operation, with volunteers providing the camera work and play-by-play.

"Audiences are small, though have already exceeded expectations. Last weekend's OUA soccer finals, for example, averaged 700 viewers a game. Viewers, who include alumni living around the globe, are tending to watch entire games.

" ... The schools pay for coverage, though at less than $1,000 for a maximum of 100 games it's a pretty good bargain. Many schools have embraced the concept, and not just so they can watch their teams play.

"Carleton University women's hockey coach Shelley Coolidge calls SSN a 'great recruiting tool.'

" 'It gets the word out and gives prospective players a good idea of what we're about and what level we're at,' she said."

It's a great honour to contribute at SSN over the past year, most recently with the Bower-produced (and -hosted) CIS Touchdown. You're all clicking over there to watch it, yes?

Related:
CIS fans given plenty more options online (Chris Zelkovich, Toronto Star)
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Football: National awards finalists, all 4 conferences!

Since they're in direct competition with each other (fight! fight! fight!), it makes sense to list the Canada West, OUA and QUFL national award nominees side-by-side.

• Hec Crighton Trophy (outstanding player) — Calgary QB Erik Glavic; Western QB Michael Faulds, Laval QB Benoit Groulx, Mount Allison WR-KR Gary Ross
  
  
• Presidents' Trophy Award (top standup defensive player) — Saskatchewan linebacker Taylor Wallace, Western LB-LS John Surla, Concordia LB Cory Greenwood, St. FX LB Tom Lynch
  
  
• Frank Tindall Award (coach of the year) — Calgary's Blake Nill, Laurier's Gary Jeffries, Saint Mary's Steve Sumurah (QUFL is TBA, but how could it not be Glen Constantin of Laval)
  
  
• Peter Gorman Trophy (rookie of the year) — Calgary DT Linden Gaydosh, McMaster CB Cody Lynch, McGill QB Jonathan Collin, St. FX DL Nate Annan
  
  
• John Metras Award (top lineman) — Alberta DE Craig Gerbrandt, Windsor C Matt Morencie, Laval OL David Bouchard, Saint Mary's DE DeVon Hicks
  
  
• Russ Jackson Award (outstanding student-athlete) — Manitoba LB Thomas Hall, Queen's LB T.J. Leeper, McGill REC Charles-Antoine Sinotte, Acadia OL Greg Knight

Predictions welcome. Who knows how you predict them, though. Jeffries over McMaster's Stefan Ptaszek as a coach-of-the-year nominee is a bit surprising. Jeffries did a good job but Mac showed more improvement and had a playoff win (albeit one that came about since they lost to Laurier earlier).
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Aylward: Did Nobes' outburst cross line? Numbers show Laurier has got a fair share in games at Lakehead

“Flat burglary as ever was committed.”
Shakespeare: Much Ado about Nothing, Act IV, Sc. II

Perhaps this was the feeling of Laurier Golden Hawks coach Kelly Nobes this past Friday night after his No. 9 Hawks lost 10-4 at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Nobes was assessed a gross misconduct after the game as he was very unhappy with the officiating that night.

Here is an excerpt from a TBNewswatch article on what transpired after the game:

"Nobes, who could face a league-mandated suspension after stalking referee Andrew Brewer around the Fort William Gardens ice, seeking to give him a piece of his mind following the lopsided contest, said he’s sick and tired of getting a raw deal from the officiating in Thunder Bay.

" 'It’s unfortunate that the official absolutely discredits our league with that type of officiating,' said Nobes, reiterating later he wanted his comments published.

" 'The thing that I really struggle with is the double standard that he sets. On the ice, Lakehead is allowed to do one thing, Laurier is allowed to do another. And the penalties are called that way.'

Nobes wasn’t debating whether the calls against his team were right, rather that the Thunderwolves committed many of the same offences and skated away scott-free.

That doesn’t happen in southern Ontario, he said, angry that Brewer didn’t speak to him or his players about any of the calls he made, but in turn had no problem discussing other calls with Thunderwolves players and coaches.

At one point in the second period the Hawks were handed seven straight penalties, including three minors on one play midway through the stanza.

“I’m not saying they weren’t penalties. What I’m saying is there are ample calls the other way that are there that aren’t being called, and it’s the double standard that frustrates me, and it frustrates other guys in our league when we come up here. It’s embarrassing,” Nobes said.

Or this except from the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal:

"Nobes said that although he wasn‘t happy with the way his team played, he was most upset with the officiating.

" 'It's unfortunate that the official absolutely discredits our league with that type of officiating,' Nobes said.

" 'I'm not happy 100 per cent with the way my team played tonight, but at the same time, it‘s tough to go in and tell them they had a fair shot to win ... with the way it was officiated.

" 'Something needs to be done about it.' "

So, I decided to see if there was anything to Coach Nobes assertions. To be honest; heading into this; I was skeptical but I thought that a little research couldn’t hurt.

I wasn’t at the game that night so I can’t personally comment on that night’s events; but from reading the game report; the final penalties assessed were 13 against Laurier and 12 against Lakehead. However, it seems that the crucial second period when Laurier was assessed a string of penalties and the Wolves took over the game was the span that angered Nobes.

In Saturday’s rematch, Laurier won 7-4 and also were assessed seven minors to Lakehead’s four in a real snoozer of a game (except for the last 10 minutes and for the play of Laurier netminder Jeff MacDougald).

First, a little background. Nobes took over as bench boss of the Hawks in 2006-07 after being coach at RMC. He has done an excellent job with Laurier, turning them into a perennial contender in the OUA. His squad was a few minutes away from a CIS championship final in 2007 before the Hawks lost a doubleOT heartbreaker against Moncton in the semifinal.

During the first three years of Nobes' Laurier tenure, the Golden Hawks and Lakehead played in the OUA Far West until this year’s divisional restructuring made two larger OUA West and East divisions. The Wolves and the Hawks, along with the Western Mustangs and the Waterloo Warriors have developed probably the best four-team rivalry going in any CIS sport, with each team capable of beating the other on any given night.

Lakehead and Laurier have become heated rivals, with the teams meeting up in the playoffs each of Nobes' first three seasons at Laurier and his Hawks skating away with series wins twice. Laurier has the best record of any team against the Wolves during the Nobes Era and was also the team that ended Lakehead’s unbeaten home playoff streak in '06-07.

Thunder Bay is also the centre of one of Hockey Canada’s administrative branches, Hockey Northwestern Ontario (HNO). There are presently six referees in the region capable of calling CIS games (with one leaving this coming Christmas). The referee in question from last Friday’s game, Andrew Brewer, is the referee-in-chief for Hockey Northwestern Ontario.

To see if there was anything to Coach Nobes' assertions; I went over the game reports of every game played between the Thunderwolves and the Golden Hawks during the past three plus seasons (the Nobes Era) at the Fort William Gardens in Thunder Bay. (I know, get a life; but I had a day off after getting dental work done).

To add a little balance; I also checked penalties assessed at game during this time span between the squads played at Laurier’s home rink; the Sunlife Financial Arena in Waterloo. (I did not count misconducts).

During Nobes' first season ('06-07); the Wolves and the Hawks met five times: four in Thunder Bay and once in Waterloo. The four games at the Gardens were two reg season matches, one tourney game, and one playoff game with the game at the Sun Life Arena being a playoff match.

Penalties during the reg season games at the Gardens were 19 against Lakehead and 18 against Laurier. In the Gardens tourney game, penalties were seven against Lakehead and 10 against Laurier while the Gardens playoff game penalty count was 6 Wolves and 7 Laurier. The playoff game penalty count in Waterloo was 13 against Lakehead and 7 to Laurier.

Penalty count on the season at the Gardens was 42 against Lakehead and 45 against Laurier and 13 against Lakehead and 7 against Laurier in Waterloo for a season total of 55 Lakehead and 52 Laurier. In the all important wins category; Laurier won all five games that season and, of course, the playoff series. In the four games at the Gardens, Laurier had more penalties than Lakehead on two occasions and won both games.

During the '07-08 season, the two teams met seven times; four times at the Gardens and three times at the Sun Life Arena. The four Gardens games were two reg season and two playoff while the Sun Life games were two reg season and one playoff game.

Penalty count at the two reg season Gardens games was 22 against Lakehead and 20 against Laurier. Penalty count at the two Gardens playoff matches was 25 against Lakehead and 18 against Laurier. Count at the two Sun Life reg season games was 19 Lakehead; 16 Laurier. The Sun Life playoff game count was 8 against the Wolves and 10 against the Hawks. Total season Gardens penalty count was 47 Lakehead and 38 Laurier while total season Sun Life count was 27 Lakehead and 26 Laurier.

Lakehead won 4-of-7 games that season and the playoff series. Lakehead won its four home games that season; but Laurier only had more penalties in one of those games. The one game that Lakehead won in Waterloo; they had 10 penalties to Laurier’s 6. In both of the Hawks home wins; they had more penalties than the Wolves.

In 2008-09, the two teams met eight times: four times in reg season, three times in the playoffs and once during n/c play with four games being played in each team’s home arena. The Gardens games were two reg season, one non-conference and one playoff game while the Sun Life games were two reg season and two playoff matches.

Penalty count at the two reg season Gardens games was 13 against Lakehead and 15 against Laurier. Penalty count at the Gardens non-conference game was 7 Lakehead and 8 Laurier and the Gardens playoff match count was 1 each. (Best game ever played between the two teams by the way). Count at the two Sun Life reg season games was 15 Lakehead and 14 Laurier while the two playoff games count was 14 Lakehead and 12 Laurier.

Penalty count on the season at the Gardens was 21 Lakehead and 24 Laurier. Penalty count at Sun Life was 29 Lakehead and 26 Laurier. The Hawks won five of eight games last season and the playoff series.

In the four games at the Gardens, Lakehead won three games. In two of those games, the team with more penalties won. Laurier lost one with more penalties and one was even at one penalty apiece (a Lakehead win). In the four games at the Sun Life Arena (all Laurier wins); Lakehead had one more penalty in each game and one game had the same number of penalties.

Yes, I know that was long, but now to summarize. Overall, during the Nobes Era, the Hawks are 13-9 against Lakehead, and have won 2-of-3 playoff series.

During the 14 games at the Gardens during Nobes tenure; the overall penalty count was 126 against Lakehead and 127 against Laurier; a difference of one penalty in 14 games over four seasons! The Hawks posted a 6-8 record at the Gardens; an excellent mark in one of the toughest barns in CIS.

At the 8 games at the Sun Life Arena; the penalty count was 69 against Lakehead and 59 against Laurier; a difference of 10 but also not much of a spread over games in three seasons. Laurier has been dominant at home against Lakehead during the Nobes’ Era; posting a 7-1 mark.

It seems that Coach Nobes' assertions about possible consistent refereeing bias in Thunder Bay don’t hold much water. After looking at the game reports in terms of numbers of penalties, games with more penalties, and also in terms of team success.

The numbers also seem to support that refereeing in Waterloo also seems pretty balanced which I think is reflective of the fact that the referees across the CIS do the best job possible and are fair and balanced in their game calling.

I am one of those people that actually like when coaches get animated and start shouting a little at CIS hockey and basketball games. Sometimes coaches go off on the referees to try to get their team fired up. I like the added theatre.

I wasn’t at the game Friday night; perhaps referee Brewer had a bad stretch in the second period, maybe even a bad game.

He’s only human and refereeing is a tough pressure-filled job.

Coaches, players, and fans get caught up in the emotions of a game; and often it’s the hardworking referees who bear the brunt of emotional outbursts and frustrations.

Nobes is a very successful coach and recruiter for Laurier; but I think there should always be respect between coaches, players, and officials; and there is a line, in terms of behaviour, that shouldn’t be crossed. Sometimes heated words are exchanged; but there should always be respect.

Nobes might have stepped over that line Friday night in Thunder Bay; first in his post-game behaviour and and second in implying that Hockey Canada HNO officials have in some way consistently been inferior to their Southern Ontario counterparts.

He's only human and coaching is a tough pressure-filled job.

Continue reading...

Linking the country ...

Football

• Late Simon Fraser QB Bernd Dittrich touched a lot of lives before he left us too soon. (Little Man on Campus, Victoria Times-Colonist)
  
  
• Former Penn State tight end Francis Claude is transferring to Laval. (Le Journal du Quebec)
  
  
• The University of Saskatchewan sells more logo-bearing clothing than any other school in the country? Wouldn't be a shocker.
  
  
• Queen's reports "brisk" ticket sales for Saturday's Yates Cup. The old chalice is being taken all over the city as part of pregame publicity, which means for the first time ever, a trophy will be present at a Kingston Frontenacs hockey game. (Kingston Whig-Standard)
  
  
• Western QB Michael Faulds figures either his injured left knee is getting better or "I'm getting used to it."
  
  (Ours is not to question why the national player of the year award Faulds should become a finalist for later today is referred to as the Hec "Crichton." Was Jurassic Park on TV last night? (London Free Press)
  
  
• Some special awards the OUA will not be announcing today. (Always OUA)
  
  
• Montreal has lined up a quarterback recruit for next season, Mathieu Dostie. (canoe.ca)
  

Hockey

• It must be noted: RMC won on Remembrance Day, 4-3 in a shootout over Queen's.
  

Basketball

• cishoops.ca looks at the weekend to come.
  
  
• Not the first time nor the last "Justine Colley" will be the first two words in a write-up about the improving Saint Mary's women's team. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
  
  
• Thompson Rivers forward Diane Schuetze has been named chairwoman of her area's Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Schuetze, a double-double threat for the WolfPack, is diabetic. (Kamloops News)
  
  
• Not CIS, but a nice feature on Ontario natives May Kotsopoulos and Courtnay Pilypaitis, who led Vermont to the America East title and NCAA Tournament appearance last season. (Burlington Free Press)
  

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Football: SFU quarterback Bernd Dittrich (1988-2009)

This news is anyone's worst nightmare. Bernd Dittrich, just 21 years old, died Wednesday after losing consciousness while swimming laps at the pool the previous night. It's been called a tragic accident:

"It is with great sadness that Simon Fraser University and SFU Athletics share the news of the passing today of football player Bernd Dittrich.

"Dittrich, a quarterback for the SFU Clan football team, died in hospital Wednesday morning. Cause of death has yet to be determined. He was taken to hospital Tuesday evening after losing consciousness in a swimming pool on SFU’s Burnaby campus.

"He was 21 years old. He is survived by his family in Austria.

"Originally from Vienna, Austria, Dittrich moved to Heavener, Oklahoma, at the age of 17 for his senior year of high school, and played both quarterback and linebacker for the Heavener Wolves.

"Growing up in Vienna, Dittrich fell in love with the sport of American Football, and played for the Vienna Vikings club team, where he was coached by current SFU offensive coordinator Shawn Olson for five years. Olson recruited Dittrich to play for Simon Fraser, and the mobile pivot joined the Clan football team in August of 2007 alongside his fellow Vienna Viking teammate Daniel Stanzel.

" 'Our hearts go out to Bernd’s family,' said SFU's Senior Director of Athletics, Dr. David Murphy. 'The SFU athletics community has lost an exceptional young man. Bernd was not only a great athlete on the field, but also an inspiring individual in all aspects of life. We will miss him tremendously.'

"While the third-year Bachelor of Science student played a minor role with the team during his first season, Dittrich was named starting quarterback of the Clan in 2008.

In his first career start, he led SFU to their first victory in over three years, a 24-10 win over UBC. Following the victory, an emotional Dittrich fought back tears while describing how much the win meant to his teammates and coaching staff." -- press release

The official cause of death has not been released. It's not being treated as suspicious. Please spare a thought for the people who were close to Bernd. They can use the strength.

The Vancouver Sun is accepting condolences. Howard Tsumura at The Province has a must-read post up, including a story about Bernd from September 2008.

One beauty of doing this site, along with writing about high school athletes in my day job, is getting to give a window into the lives of people whose lives are just beginning. Bernd's life was just beginning, making this horribly sad.

Related:
SFU quarterback identified as drowning victim (CTV British Columbia)
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Football: Queen's fans urged to rock Richardson

Injured linebacker Thaine Carter has done his best to give Queen's and Kingston its version of Winfield-wants-noise. Ahead of Saturday's Yates Cup game vs. Western, last season's defensive player of the year (out after shoulder and knee surgeries) has penned an open letter to the Golden Gaels fanbase:

"We need everyone’s help to cheer us on to our first conference title since 1997.

"I want to see the crowd jammed into Richardson Stadium like never before; let’s break an attendance record!! Western needs to fear our 13th man!! The stands need to shake and we need to make the Mustangs feel your presence!!

"The 13th man makes all the difference. Queen’s University and the City of Kingston will be on the map in front of a national audience. Let’s make it memorable, let’s make it loud and let's send the Purple Ponies home with their tails between their legs."

Queen's fans are noted for being rather, uh, pensive during the game. Another zinger is that you know the Gaels have a good team when present-day students say they've heard the school has a football team, although no, they haven't been to any games this season.

Since the Toronto Blue Jays and Queen's each won in 1992, the reference fits.
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CIS sportspeople paint for kidney research

The Kidney Foundation of Canada just passed along a note that several coaches, players and CIS alumni have made paintings for "A Brush of Hope: Celebrity Paintings for Kidney Research." It's part of a larger campaign involving numerous arts, entertainment and sports figures such as NHL rookie John Tavares, comic Brent Butt, musician-poet Leonard Cohen and Alex Lifeson from Rush.

It is estimated two million Canadians either have kidney disease or are at risk. Every day an average of 14 Canadians learn that their kidneys have failed.

The paintings are being auctioned on eBay. All of the money raised will be used by The Kidney Foundation of Canada for national research and programs.

CIS folk who painted include:

• St. FX football coach Gary Waterman
• Guelph coach Kyle Walters (a former Hamilton Tiger-Cats player)
• UNB hockey forward Daine Todd
• Hockey Night in Canada analyst Cassie Campbell (a Guelph alumna)
  
• Edmonton running back Jesse Lumsden (McMaster)
  
• Winnipeg defensive tackle Doug Brown (Simon Fraser)
• Winnipeg defensive back Ian Logan (Laurier)
• Calgary receiver Arjei Franklin (Windsor)
• Saskatchewan receiver Chris Getzlaf (Regina)
• Hamilton linebacker Yannick Carter (Laurier)

Todd's piece, at this writing, already has a higher bid than the one by Tavares, the NHL's No. 1 overall draft choice. Well-done, V-Reds fans!
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MUBL Week 1 Results

Nobody got blown out in our first week of play and someone's going to have to run laps after missing 9 of 14 foul shots...

Every team won between 3 and 5 of the eight categories in Week 1, with Sager's shooters leading the way: 26.7 points per 40 minutes and 51% from the field. Neate can thank Showron Glover for that--19 of 32 over the weekend, with 55 points in just 75 minutes--but he only won one other category as some other guy beat him 5-3 to sit alone in first place...for about four days, most likely.

Elsewhere, the Big Men on Campuses were not the Big Men on Hardwood because Greg Layson's lineup of six combined for only 255 minutes and 22 foul shots; the latter is just more than half the minimum requirement for the FT% category. Notably, the absence of Jonathan Moscatelli from this weekend's games will motivate Layson to hang around the gym during practice and explain to anyone who will listen (or even if they won't) how vital Moscatelli is to the Gryphons, but more importantly, also to his fantasy team. (We assume.)

And in our third game, Chris Lund is reconsidering hiring Dwight Howard as a shooting coach, because his team went 35 of 60 from the line, causing him to lose that category by nearly 20 percentage points, and had just 15.9 points per 40. Overall, though, he still managed to squeak out a tie in the eight categories.

Week 1 results (full statistics here):
Pettapiece 5-3 Sager
Layson 3-4 Bucholtz (with a tie)
Masters 4-4 Lund

Looking ahead: Since all QUBL teams play during Week 2 (only two did in Week 1) this week is the first week that we're all required to start a player from that conference. If you were around during the draft, you'll remember how difficult it was for us to find Quebec players who were still on the 2009-10 rosters, so this will be interesting.
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Football: (Probably not) the final word on CFL and Canadian starters

TSN's Sportscentre ran a piece Tuesday night on the CFL's lead balloon of an idea to reduce the number of required Canadian starters from seven to four per team.

Lalji had reaction from all sides, including a Canadian player with NCAA pedigree (B.C. Lions rush end Brent Johnson), a CIS alumnus (Lions linebacker Javier Glatt), a coach in the pros (Wally Buono), a CIS coach (Calgary's Blake Nill) and a veteran U.S. player (Lions safety Barron Miles).

Naylor also tied this to the league's collective bargaining talks and the prospect of expansion watering down the Canadian talent pool.

Please excuse the bullet points, but here are a few prevailing thoughts.

1. One angle columnists should take, instead of going for the easy score by making it a motherhood issue, is to compare the CFL's import rules with other domestic leagues throughout the world. I'm working the Google on the Internet machine to try to find up-to-date info.
   
   
2. The reason this angered people is the CFL wraps itself in the flag when it's good for business, then implies it doesn't want as many Canadian starters. Talk about a mixed message.
   
   
3. It's a little rich to see people say Canadians "make this league what it is." It's all a rich tapestry, but that sells the Americans who come here and embrace the league short. Americans have been most of the league's most popular players over past 30 years, thinking of players such as Gizmo Williams, Kent Austin, Matt Dunigan, Bobby Jurasin, Henry Burris, Milt Stegall and Mike Pringle.
   
   
4. Nill noted CIS players are able to develop into starters faster than five, 10 years ago. Saskatchewan wideout Rob Bagg has become a starter in his second season, while other receivers from who preceded at Queen's weren't able to get such a foothold.
   
   
5. The league talking about reducing requirements to start Canadians, but didn't say anything about the import ratio. In that case, Canadians would just have to earn it and teams which develop ratio-busters likely be rewarded. If memory serves the two first-place teams, Montreal and Saskatchewan, are starting more Canadians than required, including traditionally import-dominated positions such as middle linebacker, where UBC alum Shea Emry and St. FX's Mike McCullough have had good seasons..
   

Related:
Report: CFL considering reducing number of Canadian starters (Farhan Lalji and David Naylor, TSN)
Canadian content a must for CFL (Terry Koshan, Sun Media)
Continue reading...

Linking the country ...

Football

• St. FX D-lineman Dave Skillen is going to try to suit up for Saturday's Loney Bowl with a torn ACL. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
  
  
• All-star Laurier linemen Adam Bestard (he long snaps, too!) is looking forward to trying to make the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers next spring. (Waterloo Region Record)
  
  
• Looking ahead to Saturday's Yates Cup, London columnist Ryan Pyette points to Western coach Greg Marshall's 19-0 OUA playoff record since 2000 and says, "The biggest thing for Queen’s coach Pat Sheahan is to convince his players they can win the big one against the guy who never loses it." (London Free Press)
  
  
• 14-year Saskatchewan Roughriders veteran Gene Makowsky (U of S Huskies) was just three years old the last time the franchise had a first-place finish, so you know it's been a while. (Regina Leader-Post)
  
  
• Speedy Laval linebacker Frédéric Plesius is now known as "Fredo" to Carabins fans. Nice touch. (Allez Les Bleus)
  
  
• Paraphrasing the late Lloyd Bridges' character in Airplane, "Looks like I picked the wrong week to go vegetarian." Which CFL stadium does the best job serving a hamburger? (CFL Buzz)
  
  
• Huskies Football Outsider is making its peace with some of the Canada West all-star selections. The fact some snubbed Saskatchewan Huskies and their teammates have at least one game to play is more than enough consolation.
  
  
• Capital Region Football thinks it's telling only one of Ottawa's six OUA all-stars (receiver Steven Hughes) is a hometown player. It might be 2-of-6, since if memory serves Cyril Adjeity, a native of Ghana whose parents are diplomats, played his amateur ball in the city.
  
  For point of comparison, though, four of the nine Queen's players selected are from either Kingston or nearby Belleville. That's not saying either way is better; just the facts.
  
  (Personal opinion: People get too pent-up over the all-star selections. Fix the process, then we'll kvetch.)

Basketball

• Men's basketball RPI is once again available!
  

Hockey

• Now-unranked Nipissing is finding out about leadership. Lakers coach Mike McParland sees it in spades in Carleton centre Andrew Self:

  "I thought he was the best player on the ice and we could definitely use a player of that calibre ... That's been one of the things we've said all year, that we maybe are missing that No. 1 horse as a centre, although Ryan Maunu has really stepped up ... If we had another left-handed horse at centre, that would definitely help us."

  (North Bay Nugget)
  
  
• Nice retrospective on early-1970s Waterloo goalie Jake Dupuis, who made his own goalie masks. (Midland Free Press)
  

Soccer

• Not CIS (again), but it would remiss to not link to a Graham Hays column about Elizabeth Lambert, that ponytail-pulling New Mexico soccer player, since the clip was posted here last week:

  "This is how it so often goes for women's sports ... Roll tape, ignore the context and let the criticism and mocking commence ... from the casual references to 'catfights' circulating with the clip to the place of prominence it occupied on Web sites and sports talks shows -- attention far more lavish than anything the national championship game will receive a month from now -- it was also a reminder that some segment of the population still finds comfort in mocking the very idea of women's competing with a level of intensity at which such excesses become potential problems."

  It's off-topic, but it's only fair to give that other side (ESPN.com)

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Football: SMU's Jones would return for Uteck Bowl

Saint Mary's running back Devon Jones' widely panned ban has been trimmed to two games. He still has to miss this week's Loney Bowl where the Huskies host St. FX, but would be able to play in the Uteck Bowl (unless there's a massive upset Saturday, of course).

"Jones was suspended for hitting St. F.X. defensive lineman Yahia Dalloul in a 41-7 Huskies win on Oct. 23 at Huskies Stadium.

"AUS executive director Phil Currie said Tuesday that the three-member panel supported the contention that Jones’s action constituted a deliberate attempt to injure. But they didn’t support the premise that Jones deserved a third game because he had received a warning for aggressive play in a game earlier this season in Quebec."

In other words the three-game suspension did not stem from the act itself. It drew on the warning Jones had received during the Saint Mary's-McGill game.

Feel free to draw your own comparison between this and the efficacy of three-strikes laws

Related:
SMU running back's suspension reduced (Monty Mosher, Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
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Women's hockey top 10 tracker: first tracker of the season, just in time for less-exciting matchups

It's our first top 10 tracker of the season, now that most schools have 7 or 8 or more games in the books. Teams are ranked by Simple Rating System (SRS), with the CIS ranking in parentheses.

This is not the week for a matchup like No. 1 vs. No. 2, as none of the top 10 teams play each other.

1. McGill (1): host Carleton, the only team so far to hold the Martlets to one goal in the regular season. They also had 23 shots to McGill's 28, a far cry from the 46-17 advantage McGill had over the Carabins in the following game.

2. Alberta (3): host Lethbridge for two.

3. Laurier (2): travel all the way to Waterloo on Saturday.

4. StFX (5): at Mount A, then at UPEI. Those teams are 27th and 29th out of 29 in SRS, so would it be wrong to expect two easy wins?

5. Saskatchewan (8): at UBC for two.

6. Moncton (6): Host St. Thomas and at SMU, whom they beat 5-1 last week.

7. Queen's (7): Host York and U of T. The latter might be the closest matchup on paper among these teams.

8. Dalhousie (NR): same schedule as the X-Women, but reversed.

9. Guelph (9): Host Windsor and Western Friday and Saturday.

10. Montreal (10): Host Ottawa, then at Concordia.
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Football: Hindsight is 20-20; Nill's call to go for 2 revisited

Two months later, Calgary coach Blake Nill is still being asked about his team's unsuccessful two-point convert in a season-opening loss at Saskatchewan, which ultimately decided home-field advantage for the Hardy Cup:

"The decision was made based on circumstances on the bench. At that point, we had a quick poll amongst the coaches and the therapists and felt that we were five yards from pulling this out. We felt that was our best opportunity to win the game. It's unfortunate that (play) held up this long. But at the same time, we're excited about coming down there. I love playing in front of big crowds, and I really enjoy playing in hostile-type environments. I'm just trying to get my kids motivated for what they're going to see."

It's the old no one gets ahead playing it safe, eh? It's not quite as notorious as future U.S. Congressman Tom Osborne's decision in the 1984 Orange Bowl, but it had repercussions as far as this season was concerned.

The simplest way to support Nill's thinking is that Calgary ended up averaging 8.6 yards per play; Saskatchewan allowed 5.9. You'd take a chance at getting five yards in a single shot. Hec Crighton-candidate QB Erik Glavic was playing his first game since major knee surgery. There was a concern about overextending players. It also didn't hurt the Dinos in any point-differential tiebreakers, since the score was recorded as 20-20 by Canada West rules.

Saskatchewan went on to skirt defeat twice, edging Regina 10-9 and beating Simon Fraser 24-18 in an another OT shootout. A play here or there and the Huskies might have ended up 6-2, behind the 7-1 Dinos. Regardless, there are two conference finals on Saturday between teams which had a one-point game in the regular season. That's pretty good.

Thank goodness Canada West doesn't have the old OUA rule of awarding a point for an overtime loss, like in hockey. Calgary would be home this week if that was in place. That happened in the OUA in 2005, when Western got a point for losing in overtime to Ottawa and received second place when both had 6-2 overall records.

Related:
Nill stands by call that cost Dinos top spot; Prepares to visit Dogs in Canada West final (Kevin Mitchell, Saskatoon Star-Phoenix)
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Football: Dinos dominate CW all-star picks

No surprise: Calgary's offence accounted for 3-of-4 unanimous selections to the Canada West football all-stars (* as denoted):

• Quarterback — *Erik Glavic, Calgary
• Running back — *Matt Walter, Calgary; Dave Boyd, UBC
• Wide Receiver — *Nathan Coehoorn, Calgary; Victor Marshall, Simon Fraser
• Inside Receiver — Anthony Parker, Calgary; Jordan Sisco, Regina
• Tackle — Kirby Fabien, Calgary; Patrick Neufeld, Saskatchewan
• Guard — Terriss Paliwoda, Alberta; Hubert Buydens, Saskatchewan
• Centre — Alex Krausnick-Groh, Calgary
  

Defence

• Interior lineman — Eddie Steele, Manitoba; Bjorn Person, Regina
  
• End — Craig Gerbrandt, Alberta and Everton Black, Manitoba
• Linebacker — Andrea Bonaventura, Calgary; Chris Folk, Simon Fraser; Taylor Wallace, Saskatchewan
  
• Cornerback — Sam Carino, UBC; Grant Shaw, Saskatchewan
• Halfback — Pete Adams, Manitoba; Nigel Palma, Simon Fraser
  
• Safety — Anthony DesLauriers, Simon Fraser

Special teams

• Kick returner — Jeremy Botelho, Manitoba
• Placekicker — Perri Scarcelli, Regina
• Punter — *Hugh O’Neill, Alberta
  

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Football: OUA all-star defence loaded with Laurier; Brannagan-Faulds debate unsettled

Rob Pettapiece resolved the great Faulds-Brannagan debate a couple weeks ago, but to draw out the suspense the OUA held off on naming a first-team quarterback until it announces its award winners Thursday. Whoever gets it is also the first-team all-star.

That's why both quarterbacks are listed separately. Anyhow, Laurier also had six first-teamers on defence, where no other school had more than four players recognized in total.

The Niagara region also accounted for all three first-team linebackers (Chmielewski from St. Catharines and Rapanaro and Surla from Niagara Falls) and a defensive halfback, Guelph's James Savoie, who plays a bit like a linebacker. Here's the OUA selections:

Offence

• Quarterback — Dan Brannagan, Queen’s and Michael Faulds, Western
• Running back — Nick Fitzgibbon, Guelph and Nathan Riva, Western (Mike Montoya, Laurier and Jordan Wilson-Ross, Ottawa)
  
• Wide receiver — Cyril Adjeity, Ottawa and Nick Trevail, Western (Jedd Gardner, Guelph and Dustin Zender, Waterloo)
• Inside receiver — Dillon Heap, Laurier and Scott Valberg, Queen's (Steve Hughes, Ottawa and Nick Pasic, Western)
• Tackle — Ryan Bomben, Guelph and Matt O'Donnell, Queen's (Josh Buttrill, Western and Mike Sewell, McMaster)
• Guard — Justin Glover, McMaster and Matt Norman, Western (Adam Bestard, Laurier and Vince DeCivita, Queen's)
• Centre — Matt Morencie, Windsor (Dan Bederman, Queen's)
• Punter — Rob Maver, Guelph (Dave Sevigny, Waterloo)
  
• Placekicker — Rob Maver, Guelph (Dan Village, Queen's)
  
• Kick returner — Dillon Heap, Laurier (Jimmy Allin, Queen's)
  

Defence

• End — Paul Hancock, Laurier and Osie Ukwuoma, Queen's (Steve Cecchini, McMaster and Seamus Postuma, Windsor)
• Tackle — Stephen Cormack, Laurier and Sébastien Tétreault, Ottawa (Chris Greaves, Western and Grant MacDonald, Guelph)
  
• Linebacker — Ryan Chmielewski, McMaster and John Surla, Western (Mike Cornell, Ottawa and Adam Dunk, Guelph)
  
• SAM linebacker — Giancarlo Rapanaro, Laurier (Connor Elliot, Western)
  
• Cornerback — Taurean Allen, Laurier and Jimmy Allin, Queen's (Chayce Elliot, Ottawa and Cody Lynch, McMaster)
  
• Halfback — James Savoie, Guelph and Jordan Van Horn, Laurier (Byron Metcalfe, McMaster and David Rooney, Queen's)
  
• Safety — Courtney Stephen, Laurier (Craig Butler, Western)
  
• Rush/Cover — Stephen Laporte, Queen's (Carlos Naranjo, Laurier)
  

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Hockey: Top 10 tracker; OUA heavyweight cross over this weekend

The new Top 10 poll (only two Canada West teams ranked) and the weekend itineraries:

1. UNB Varsity Reds (170, all 17 first-place votes) (16-0, 8-0-0 AUS) — Host No. 8 St. FX and Dalhousie.
   
   
2. Alberta Golden Bears (148) (11-3, 8-1-1 CW) — At Lethbridge.
   
   
3. UQTR Patriotes (128) (10-2, 8-0-0 OUA-E) — At No. 7 Western and No. 9 Laurier.
   
   
4. McGill Redmen (117) (10-2-1, 6-0-0 OUA-E) — At No. 9 Laurier and previously ranked Waterloo.
   
   
5. Saint Mary's Huskies (92) (9-4, 5-2-0 AUS) — Home weekend vs. St. Thomas and Moncton.
   
   
6. Manitoba Bisons (66) (11-5, 6-3-1 CW) — At Regina. Have just one regulation win in their last six games and are still ranked
   
   
7. Western Mustangs (61) (9-3, 7-2-0 OUA-W) — Host No. 3 UQTR and Concordia.
   
   
8. St. FX X-Men (47) (7-7-1, 5-1-3 AUS) — Road trip to No. 1 UNB and UPEI.
   
   
9. Laurier Golden Hawks (34) (9-5, 6-2-1 OUA-W) — Host No. 3 UQTR and No. 4 McGill.
   
   
10. Lakehead Thunderwolves (31) (9-5, 6-2-1 OUA-W) — Two-game series vs. Toronto.
    

Also receiving votes: Calgary Dinos (21), Nipissing Lakers (9), Acadia Axemen (6), Carleton Ravens (3), Waterloo Warriors (2)
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Football: The Carleton Rouge & Noir? More on the Ravens-Laval

The University Affairs profile of Laval — centring on coach Glen Constantin and Vanier Cup committee chairman Gilles Lépine — is well-written enough to rate being broken out as a post. It's a good read on the roots of the dynasty. It also has more about how Carleton's intentions:

"That’s why Jennifer Brenning paid a visit to Quebec City earlier this year. As athletics director at Carleton University, which is planning to revive its Ravens football team, she came to see and hear about Laval’s program firsthand. 'We wanted to learn from the best,' says Ms. Brenning, one of many athletic officials from Canadian universities who have visited or called Mr. Lépine and Mr. Constantin in recent months.

" 'Gilles and Glen were very forthcoming and willing to share their marketing methods and corporative model,' says Ms. Brenning.' I didn’t see anything that I would not be comfortable with seeing implemented (at Carleton).' "

At the least, it's an interesting wrinkle. People have said it is just a matter of time before someone tries to duplicate the Laval model in Ontario.

Related:
Laval’s field of dreams; The university has built a powerhouse football program that is the envy of interuniversity sport throughout Canada. Here’s how (Mark Cardwell, University Affairs)
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Linking the country ... Goveia fallout, Nixon's mojo

Football

• UBC athletic directer Bob Philip's first quote in the Vancouver Sun story about football coach Ted Goveia's firing begins, "We’re a university that has been successful in other sports." Some of you knew that was coming.
  
  
• Former T-Birds QB Shawn Olson could be the front-runner for the coaching job, which require "be(ing) adaptable to the four-down game should UBC follow Simon Fraser into the ranks of NCAA Div. 2." (Little Man on Campus)
  
  
• McGill QB Jonathan Collin over Montréal running back Rotrand Sené as the QUFL rookie of the year? Really, I mean, really?
  
  Laval's Benoît Groulx (Hec Crighton), Concordia LB Cory Greenwood (Presidents' Trophy) and McGill receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte are the other national award nominees. (Allez Les Bleus, which has further links to the Q awards)
  
  
• Saskatchewan's Laurence Nixon doesn't have the hype of his Hardy Cup counterpart, Calgary's Erik Glavic, but he's been getting the job done all season. (Huskies Football Outsider)
  
  
• Is the AUS ever going to decide on Saint Mary's appeal of Devon Jones' suspension? Without getting into the merits of the punishment, it's getting a little late with Saint Mary's playing in another five days.
  

Basketball

• Former U of S Huskies hoops and soccer star Jacqueline Lavallee will be an Olympic torch bearer. (Saskatoon Star-Phoenix)

Hockey

• Tara O'Reilly on the Carleton women's team is a sibling of NHLers Cal and Ryan O'Reilly, in case you didn't know. (Ottawa Citizen)
  

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Football: Goveia gone as UBC coach

In a result that shouldn't come as much of a shock to anyone, Ted Goveia has been removed as head coach of the UBC football program.

From the press release...

The University of British Columbia Department of Athletics announced today that football head coach Ted Goveia will not be returning to the program for the 2010 season.

Goveia came to UBC in 2004 as the team’s offensive coordinator before being promoted to head coach prior to the 2006 season.

In his four seasons at the helm, Goveia had a 12-20 regular season record. He led the Thunderbirds to the playoffs once during his tenure, in 2006, after UBC finished with a 4-4 record.

The search for a new head coach begins immediately and the Thunderbirds hope to name a new head coach in the coming months. In the interim, defensive coordinator Dino Geremia will serve as acting head coach.

Any coach needs to win to keep his job, and unfortunately for Goveia, he simply hadn't done that, with a 2–6 record in 2008 and a 1–7 record this year (technically 3–5, but you know...). The Athletic Department pledged at the end of the regular season that a full evaluation of the program would be done in the coming weeks, and at the time Goveia didn't sound too optimistic he would be back, telling me, "You know, I like UBC as an institution, it’s a great school, but I think it’s time we look at some of the deeper reasons why we aren’t having the success we ought to have."

Regardless of who steps in as coach, their biggest challenge will be changing the culture of a program that simply hasn't been given the resources and attention needed to succeed in the Canada West conference for many years. For many football watchers on the West Coast, the Athletic Department's treatment of the football program has been a joke; witness how this game thread on cisfootball.org devolves into a criticism of AD Bob Philip. In private conversations, Goveia had been quite critical of the treatment of the football program, especially the lack of a turf field—Vancouver's never-ending rainy season makes practicing on muddy fields a bit of an issue, and the team has had to travel outside of Vancouver for their training camp the last two years due to Thunderbird Stadium being used by concerts.

For his part, Philip has often pointed to the success of UBC's other teams (two or three CIS championships in one year is a common occurrence) to deflect criticism of the football program. All of which means that the change of Goveia at UBC in and of itself may not amount to more than just window dressing.
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Hockey: OUA West Weekly Review

Click through for a team-by-team rundown of the action in OUA West men's hockey...

Western (1st place, 7-2): The hottest team in the division stayed that way as the 'stangs tranquilized the York Lions 6-1 and bested the Waterloo Warriors 3-2 this past weekend to extend their win streak to 7 games, the second longest streak in Canada. On Thursday night, visiting York, the defending OUA champions ended the game almost before it even began. Their top-line scored three of the first period's four goals to chase Lion netminder David Blair out of his crease early. Both Keaton Turkiewicz and Aaron Snow had three points in the first period alone and along with Jaosn Furlong kept the pressure on York all night. The two teams' tempers got the better of them towards the end of the game with 9 roughing minors in the last period and a half to go with 3 slashing penalties and 2 10-minute misconducts. The next night, hosting the Waterloo Warriors, both teams were playing for first place in the OUA West, but Western was seeking revenge for a season-opener loss and would not be denied as Keaton Turkiewicz broke a 2-2 deadlock mid-way through the third to claim the win.

Lakehead (2nd place, 6-3): Lakehead had 14 goals for in two games against Laurier--terrific news for a program which had trouble scoring last season. But then Lakehead had 11 goals against in two games versus Laurier--horrible news for a program which has historically been very stingy. The Thunderwolves are certainly dynamic this year but all things considered they are still going in the right direction. Veteran Kris Hogg had 2 goals and 3 assists over the weekend to lead by example for a team that has found a nice balance of youth and age, rookie Victor Anilane continues to impress now with 6 goals and 7 assists on the year after adding to that tally this weekend. Although Lakehead is a program that has been inconsistent this year, it is still the program that nobody wants to play...ever...especially not in Thunder Bay. Their bipolar performance this weekend might be enough to push them back in the national rankings, but i think voters still need to be convinced a little more.

Laurier (3rd place, 6-2): Last time the Golden Hawks and Lakehead Thunderwolves met was a second-round playoff series last spring and each of the three games was decided by one goal...they sure seemed to do away with that trend this week. Game one saw the Thunderwolves thump the Hawks 10-4 in a penalty-plagued and rant-ridden game that should be quickly forgotten by any Hawk fan. However, Laurier returned the favour with a 7-4 victory the next night, bringing the two-game goal tally by the two teams to 25 (enough alliteration for you?). RMC transfer Paul Bradley had three goals and three assists over the two games to lead the Hawks as the star-forward seems to (finally) be finding his "stride" with a Hawks team that saw tumultuous turnover among the forwards over the offseason. Veteran netminder Jeff MacDougald was shelled for 4 goals in the first period after facing 24 shots and rookie netminder Ryan Daniels gave up 6 on 29 shots for the remainder of the game, a tough game for the rookie's confidence that he will have to bounce back from if Laurier has a chance of fairing well against the visiting McGill Redman and UQTR Patriotes this weekend (this will be the first time UQTR has visited Laurier since winning the Queen's Cup in 2006-07).

This past weekend saw the start of perhaps the most difficult stretch of games any team will have in the CIS this year. Laurier went away to Lakehead for two games, now must return for a game against the aforementioned powerhouses McGill and UQTR on Friday and Saturday, then has to travel to Ottawa for a Friday game against Carleton after which they must travel to North Bay and play Nipissing the very next night before finally returning home to host the Western Mustangs on a Thursday and then going to St. Catherines the next night to visit Brock on Friday. That's an awful lot of mileage and an awful lot of very, very good teams to play in such a short period of time.

Waterloo (4th place, 6-4): After a strong showing against the Western Mustangs the Warriors should have had an easy way with York, not so. A short-handed goal mid-way through the third by Chris Ray couldn't light a fire under the Warriors and they dropped a disappointing contest 3-1 to the Lions. The Warriors did give starter Keaton Hartigan a night off in favour of rookie (and all-name team star) John Zelenbaba. The hulking 6'6" netminder stopped 31 of 34 shots against, but you have to wonder at the end of the year if these sorts of contests come back to hurt the teams vying for the top spots in a crowded division.

Brock (5th place, 5-4): One of the pre-season darlings of the OUA, Brock has not been able to bring all their elements together quite as well as they should have. This weekend it was the goaltending that did them in. Mark Yetman surrendered 4 goals on just 14 shots against UOIT to put the Badgers in a hole they could not climb out of eventually losing the game 6-4. Game two of their series was unfortunately postponed due to the H1N1 virus; there have been confirmed cases among Badgers players having the illness so the game will be held at a later date, yet to be determined, and UOIT will still be the host.

York (6th place, 4-5): A bad loss and a good win headlined the weekend that was for York. The 6-1 loss to Western, with the only goal coming at 19:59 of the 2nd period was forgettable. The Lions did muster 30 shots on the 'stangs, but that was likely because Western sat back after a 4-goal first period. Jesse Grespan lead the Lions to their 3-1 surprise victory over the listless Waterloo Warriors: the junior forward found the net twice, including the game-winner and the win-sealer late in the 2nd and 3rd period respectively.

UOIT (7th place, 3-5): Ever heard of Kyle Wetering? Neither have the Brock Badgers...until Wednesday night. Wetering netted a hat-trick to pace UOIT to another impressive win over a seemingly superior opponent (their other wins coming against Lakehead and Waterloo) and was aided by Nathan Spaling who had 2 goals and 2 assists of his own. One has to wonder how the Ridgebacks, a relatively new program to the CIS, earns all of their wins against nationally ranked, or previously nationally ranked teams, yet can't even earn a .500 record. It must be frustrating to be a Ridgeback fan...if there are any.

Guelph (8th place, 2-7): The battle of the last place teams this past weekend solved nothing. Both Guelph and Windsor earned 2-1 victories that were less than thrilling. The Gryphons it seems have found their starting goalie, finally. Matt Smith played admirably in only allowing three goals over the two games despite facing 71 shots. Scott van Bommel will have to pull out some strong performances if he is to earn back the starting job, which was his at the start of the year. Interesting stat of the weekend? Game one only say 8 PIM for Guelph and 4 PIM for Windsor. Game two saw 28 for Guelph and 24 for Windsor. It's not much...but it's something.

Windsor (9th place, 2-7): Scott Gillis scored his first goals of the year over the weekend, the second of which was the game-winner in game two against Guelph. Outside of that there isn't much to report that hasn't already been said...netminder Jim Watt received back-to-back minors for slashing and unsportsmanlike conduct in game two, not sure what got him so angry considering he played very well allowing just one goal on 28 shots.
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Media (mostly basketball): Hitching wagon to rising star which is TSN2

There has been speculation previously on whether TSN airing the football semifinals and Vanier Cup, along with both CIS basketball championships, could lead to more regular coverage. TSN2 needs content and men's hockey and hoops, done with the right amount of attention and care, could be a lot bigger in this country.

William Houston had a post late last week which buttresses the argument the highers-up should be beating a path to try to form a partnership with the sister network.

"Digital networks are beginning to get distribution comparable to the analogs. TSN2, for example, which launched just a year ago, is now in four million households, and growing closer to the Score’s six million.

"... It’s just a matter of time until TSN2 becomes the No. 3 sports channel in Canada, ahead of the Score and behind only TSN and Rogers Sportsnet. TSN2 is already the top sports digital in the market and ranks No. 3 overall among all the diginets. As well, the CBC is planning to launch its own sports digital channel a year from now."

Of course, the networks need a little production values: In basketball, that means more marquee matchups between the best teams. It means have full gyms for games and maybe trying to fill the lower bowl of an arena. The best basketball teams in the country are on par with mid-major NCAA Division I teams, it's time for the country to wake up to this ... but TSN2 isn't going to show more games just out of idealism.

The situation today is analogous with how NCAA basketball was 30 years ago (have I noted this before?), as described in Seth Davis' book When March Went Mad. College hoops had its dedicated local followings but got limited national exposure. Davis relates that one Indiana State player had friends who didn't know Larry Bird was white until they saw him play in the NCAA Tournament.

That 1979 final between Bird and Magic Johnson's teams brought the casual fan to NCAA basketball during the same year that ESPN launched and the "made-for-TV" Big East conference was created.

The digital age is making it easier to share information about basketball, so one would hope that would filter up to the sports networks, eventually. In a perfect world, instead of forcing fans to hunt around for boxscores the day after a basketball game, CIS would be trying to give broadcasters a more appealing tournament. An eight-team invitational in downtown Toronto at the start of the season or at Christmastime would be great, just to throw one spitball against the wall. Or creating a conference tournament in the OUA similar to those major NCAA conferences hold.

It would be unfortunate if The Score ends up playing left out. That happened in the NCAA, too. NBC had the tournament in the '70s; CBS swooped down in 1981. It happens, one company builds something up and another pounces.
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Linking the country ... 6 days till CCS (conference championship Saturday)

Football

• Laval QB Benoit Groulx is champing at the bit to play Montreal, since he missed the regular-season games vs. the Carabins. (Le Soleil)
  
  
• Montreal Alouettes cornerback Paul Woldu's interception return for a touchdown against the Argonauts was his first TD since the 2006 Mitchell Bowl, when he helped Saskatchewan beat Ottawa.
  
  It's really surprising Als owner Robert Wetenhall didn't ask to decline the touchdown, since it was a scored by a Canadian. (Regina Leader-Post)
  
  
• Saskatchewan has averaged almost 42 points in its last five games heading into Saturday's Hardy Cup vs. Calgary. It's also notable the Huskies didn't have offensive sparkplug Jeff Hassler in the lineup when the teams played in the season opener. (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)
  
  
• Heading into the Yates Cup at Queen's, Western running back Nathan Riva and his teammates "feel we should have won the first time we were there ... Queen's is the best football team in the OUA for a reason. It will be the toughest challenge all year." (London Free Press)
  
  
• Queen's QB Dan Brannagan credits the Golden Gaels' success to a "versatile" defence. (Hamilton Spectator, Kingston Whig-Standard)
  
  
• Ottawa is headed into a two-day debate to decide what (maybe) to do about Lansdowne Park. For what it's worth, one the Lansdowne Live leaders, Roger Greenberg, says Ottawa and Carleton could both play football there. (Ottawa Business Journal)
  

Basketball

• Brock coach Ken Murray is not buying that Carleton is a young team after the Badgers' 17-point loss: "Carleton is so mature. There's a reason why they're No. 1 in the country. We made some mistakes and they made us pay for them." (St. Catharines Standard)
  
  
• Speaking of which, Ravens coach Dave Smart did an interview with LifeAthletics about leadership:
  
  
  
• Rookie Brock women's coach Si Khounviseth started 2-0 on the weekend. (St. Catharines Standard)

Hockey

• For anyone wondering how Nipissing's attendance is holding up, the Lakers had 2,654 on Saturday vs. Carleton. (North Bay Nugget)
  

Media coverage

• Here's the complete sports broadcast schedule for CFRC 101.9 in Kingston. (Salt Water Music)
  

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