Linking the country ...

Basketball

• Mark Wacyk notes OUA West is proving the deepest division in men's basketball, with its teams going a combined 16-6 (.727 winning percentage) against other conferences thus far this season. The division has had three teams reach the CIS Final 8 semi-finals in the past two seasons, with Brock winning it all in 2008 and Western coming within five seconds of playing in the national championship game in '09. (cishoops.ca)

Hockey

• Choice quote from Saint Mary's coach Trevor Stienburg: "I learn enough every year to make me think I must have not been that smart the year before." That's from a Chris Cochrane column that traces Stienburg's maturation into one of the country's top coaches. (Halifax Chronicle-Herald)
  

Football

• Montreal coach Marc Santerre was pretty P.O.'d about his team not responding to a push from Sherbrooke last Saturday. (La Presse, Allez Les Bleus)
  
  
• Offensive linemen Scott Evans (Laurier) and J.F. Morin-Roberge (Laval) were each picked up by the Toronto Argonauts. (Toronto Sun)
  

Media coverage

• The Score's DJ Bennett was up for a Gemini Award for Best Sports Feature Segment. It ultimately went to a crew from CBC Sports. Bennett will get there yet.
  
  
• My good friend Tyler King, who handled hockey play-by-play and hosted a weekly sports panel discussion show at CFRC 101.9 in Kingston while attending Queen's, has received Sports Media Canada's Student Award, which hopefully involves receiving a big cheque (big in terms of dollars, not the physical dimensions of the cheque).
  
  Kinger is now taking a masters at Syracuse and working with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch on their TV broadcasts.
  
  Past winners of the award who now cover CIS include Kingston Whig-Standard sports editor Mike Koreen and Metro Canada Halifax's Matthew Wuest.