Around the web: Urban legends of the Faulds

Football
  • The rumour (possibly urban legend) that Western QB Michael Faulds saw the field while at Toledo five years ago was pervasive enough to get an official debunking. People might seize on this quote from the fifth-year quarterback:
    "Two weeks before the bowl game, I was in line to be the holder (for special-teams kicking) ... Our starting quarterback at Toledo, Bruce Gradkowski, hurt his hand and wasn't going to be able to hold. But in talking to (then-Western coach) Larry (Haylor), he told me under no circumstances should I go on the field or I could risk losing a year of Canadian university eligibility."
    People who don't like Western might grind their jaw a little hearing there was contact before Faulds transferred. The all-things-considered, though, is that all is fair, especially if Faulds initiated the contact. (If that sounds like Article 89 of Barney Stinson's Bro Code, well ...) Perhaps he made up his mind he would rather be on the OUA than the Mid-American Conference (make your own "MAC" pun). (London Free Press)

  • OUA career passing yards leader Josh Sacobie (Ottawa) is now working for Football Canada and spent last week working at a football camp in Fredericton. Apparently Sacobie is also going to help coach the St. Patrick's Fighting Irish, a high school team in Ottawa. (Fredericton Daily Gleaner)
Basketball
  • Mark Wacyk breaks down the UBC Thunderbirds, not unlike the way lefty point guard Josh Whyte breaks down defenders. (cishoops.ca)

  • Queen's released it women's basketball recruiting class earlier this week. (Kingston Whig-Standard)
Hockey
  • The young Nipissing Lakers "still lack a big-name, premier recruit out of major junior" according to one hometown report.
    "Over the last few years, the trend is for top OHL players to flock to the Maritimes, where schools are allowed to offer more scholarship and bursary money than the annual $3,500 limit per player for Ontario university athletes.

    " 'What surprised me is the attitude of some of what we can call the top-end forwards," (coach Mike) McParland said. 'There hasn't been anybody who has said, 'that's an opportunity I want to take -- I want to be the go-to guy who can become the face of the franchise.' Most of those top-end guys wanted to go to teams where they could just fit in and be one of the guys. That surprised me.' "
    Former Soo Greyhounds goalie Matt Hache has come aboard. Hache finished last season in Provincial Junior A with the Oakville Blades, who had a deep playoff run before losing out to Kingston (had to point that out). (Sun Media)

(Article 89 of the Bro Code is explained at, wait for it, the 1:00 mark of the clip.)

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6 comments:

  1. I doubt that the Faulds thing will go anywhere.

    However, I think fans will raise an eyebrow. Faulds was on the dress roster for at least one game, but was ready to refuse to go on the field because of what Haylor told him. How would Western like it if a coach from another league told a Western player dressed for a game: "Don't go on the field , or you will impair your ability to play for us in the future." I think Western would cry foul and perhaps even accuse the other coach of tampering.

    Did Toledo have an unlimited dress roster, or did Faulds occupy a spot that could have gone to another kid who was willing to play on the field when asked to?

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  2. It sounds like a one-off if ever there was. You are right to say fans might not like it ... it is not necessarily "fishing off the company dock," but it skirts it.

    There is always going to be grumbling. At the same time, should playing one snap really constitute having played a whole year? Players have been granted a sixth year in the CIS after playing close to a full game of one season.

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  3. I guess I did not address your question on dress rosters. It varies conference-to-conference. Some allow the home team to dress as many players as it wants while the visitors are limited to 60. Bowls are neutral site so it might be different.

    The Mid-American Conference is mostly made up of state schools with (relatively) small football budgets. It's quite possible there would have been a cap on roster size for a bowl game, but to be clear, I don't know.

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  4. I agree. It is unlikely that Faulds would be docked a year, even if the had gone onto the field to hold the ball for a kick or two.

    But I am questioning the idea of a player taking up a roster spot if he has already decided he will not play if told to, and the ethics of a coach telling a player not to play for the team he is currently with. A team that has invested time and money in coaching him. Would Western take it sitting down if the situation was reversed. Toledo did not protest, but it would have been right if they had decided to.

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  5. Exactly. Western likely would not take it sitting down. No school worth its salt would. The ethics are very much in a gray area. One also wonders what recourse there is if a player is transferring out of the NCAA. If it was Ball State (another MAC team), Toledo would be up in arms.

    At the same time, there is attrition with first-year players, as there is with all students. People get disenchanted. they find something did not meet expectations.

    That point-shaving scandal also means Toledo has a little more to worry about.

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  6. Cheeky. Stop hating on the 'Hounds :(

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