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johnson"},{"term":"do not adjust your set"},{"term":"funding"},{"term":"host berths"},{"term":"international basketball"},{"term":"interviews"},{"term":"journalism"},{"term":"mud fights"},{"term":"schedules"},{"term":"technical difficulties"},{"term":"ted goveia"},{"term":"tiering"},{"term":"tragedy"},{"term":"trinity western"},{"term":"trivia"},{"term":"university sport"},{"term":"Étienne Légaré"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The CIS Blog"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":"News and notes on U SPORTS - even if we refuse to change our name"},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/-\/Ravens?alt=json-in-script"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/search\/label\/Ravens"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"},{"rel":"next","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/-\/Ravens\/-\/Ravens?alt=json-in-script\u0026start-index=26\u0026max-results=25"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Scott Hastie"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08081415078301065374"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"433"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"25"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-3071352765105213157"},"published":{"$t":"2017-11-01T18:57:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-11-02T15:34:08.597-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"In For A Dozen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Lakers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"In For A Dozen: Anyone But Carleton, still CIS (Completely Inaccurate Stats), the Curse of Beyoncé, and atheism in The Simpsons"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ci\u003E#NotStickingToSports ... but you came here for the university sports, so the sports gets higher billing in the program. Happy Indictment Week, y'alls.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERavens, Ravens go away? Not any time soon. \u003C\/b\u003EFifteen years and 13 championships ago, Carleton was an entry point to care about Canadian university basketball. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow its unshakable hoops hegemony is a turn-off. It's not them, it's more me and the tendency to get bored if one knows the ending in advance. Ultimately, it stems from a frustration that university basketball could and should have a much larger platform. It's a great Canadian achievement that there are more and more teams every year that play at a D-1 low to mid-major level on a fraction of those teams' budgets. And no one, certainly not anyone making programming decisions at a major broadcast network, realizes this since all the general public sees of the game is Carleton cutting down the nets again on a Sunday afternoon in March.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EWrote a new feature: How do you beat a Canadian basketball team that (almost) never loses? \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2FzD7FXn66\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/2FzD7FXn66\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Nick Faris (@nickmfaris) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nickmfaris\/status\/925019030234296320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 30, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E It is unhealthy, though, to resent excellence, and hating on\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ecan'tstopwon'tstop \u003C\/i\u003ECarleton\u0026nbsp;means ignoring how they set the bar from every hard-driving coach in every corner of the country, from\u003Cb\u003E Roy Rana\u003C\/b\u003E at Ryerson and\u003Cb\u003E James Derouin\u003C\/b\u003E at Ottawa at downtown universities in metropolitan cities to coaches at nascent programs such as\u003Cb\u003E Chris Cheng \u003C\/b\u003Eat Nipissing in North Bay. The players who stay home to develop continue to attain greater heights.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EAccording to everyone's biggest \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Raptors905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@Raptors905\u003C\/a\u003E insider \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlakeMurphyODC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@BlakeMurphyODC\u003C\/a\u003E: Aaron Best and Kaza Kajami-Keane have made the final 905 roster \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BIG?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#BIG\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uoCCzATjhX\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/uoCCzATjhX\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Jordan Henry (@Jor_Henry) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jor_Henry\/status\/925206279517171712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 31, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EThe frustration is of a macro nature since 13 titles in 15 years belonging to one team amounts to having a broken game at the institutional level. It comes down to two things. One is that until such time that there are scholarships, it will still be Carleton and Ryerson (due to several factors extrinsic to actual basketball playing) atop the summit. The second is that basketball is a growth sport in Canada in both high-performance athletes and, how rare is this in 2017, spectator interest, and very little work has been done to for universities to take advantage of their unique positioning to offer live basketball.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt's important not to have sacred cows, or pigskins. Taking the three main men's university team sports one by one:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EBasketball: \u003C\/b\u003Ebooming at all levels and virtually all parts of Canada. And relatively little competition for the live sports dollar from professional teams in the same town, unlike men's hockey. The overhead is less than the padded-up collision sports, hockey and football.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFootball:\u003C\/b\u003E it is worth pondering whether good money is being plunked down on a laggard horse. The cities that will host the Vanier Cup and Grey Cup, coincidentally, each had an OUA playoff game take place last weekend. McMaster in Hamilton had\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/oua.ca\/sports\/fball\/2017-18\/postseason\/boxscores\/20171028_csc5.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ean announced crowd of 500 people\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and Ottawa \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/oua.ca\/sports\/fball\/2017-18\/postseason\/boxscores\/20171028_alnj.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Edrew only 976\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EHockey:\u003C\/b\u003E niche appeal out the wazoo, often a better watch in person than major junior, but a very, very low ceiling as a spectator sport. There is just so much hockey in Canada. It is a valuable asset to major junior hockey due to the scholarship packages, but the unintended consequence is that the talent is unevenly spread, so who's really getting the benefit?\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is a hard slant there, but one of those things is not like the other. It will never be too late to try to emphasize basketball at 16 to 24 schools and let the rest be in a mixed university\/college league.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn case anyone is wondering, I'm not imagining that there was a time when the Final 8 was wide-open. Eight teams combined to share the 16 men's championships between the end of Victoria's run (1980-86) and the start of the Carleton era (2003-infinity).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003E For the lack of records. \u003C\/b\u003EWhatever the national body for university sports calls itself, the long-running joke about CIS standing for Completely Inaccurate Statistics stands. Take last Saturday, when McMaster running back\u003Cb\u003E Jordan Lyons \u003C\/b\u003Erushed for 319 yards during an OUA playoff game, but did not actually score a touchdown.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would have been good to have a way of verifying whether that had ever occurred with any of the other 18 players who have rambled and scrambled for 300-plus yards in a single game. But unless you have an incredible memory, it was impossible. When U-KNOW-WHO redid its website in September — after the start of the fall season, natch — it also terminated its entire archive. This, despite \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/usports.ca\/en\/news\/2017\/09\/3679716956\/the-new-and-improved-usports-ca\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ewhat was promised in the press release\u003C\/a\u003E:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003EThe new website features a broad statistics platform that is both up-to-date and flexible enough to allow for technical upgrades as well as accommodate changes at the 56 schools and\/or four conferences. The main challenge in the development of the new USPORTS.ca was capturing statistics from the schools and conferences from different sources while ensuring a consistent display of the data for every single sport.\u003C\/blockquote\u003EBroad statistical platform that doesn't include anything as dated as March 2017. Fixed that for ya. Throw in the seizure-inducing display when one loads the site on a desktop platform and yeah, it works out to over-promising and under-delivering. I do not have statistics to back that up. They were all on the old website.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHaving access to that is very helpful to the people who want to help raise the profile of university sports, because having the hard numbers helps illustrate the stories that put sportspeople into proper perspective. This isn't hard to grasp.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWelcome to SportsLit:\u003C\/b\u003E Brief interlude to self-promote the new SportsLit podcast that good friend Neil Acharya and I launched last week. It's a labour of love, but it's about a publishing genre near and dear to us, books on sports. Sportsnet Central anchor Ken Reid was our first guest and according to the feedback, we totally undersold having such a big get.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"und\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsLitPod?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@SportsLitPod\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SNKenReid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@SNKenReid\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/n8sager?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@n8sager\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dennismaruk21?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@dennismaruk21\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ecwpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@ecwpress\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3qAUUr7izV\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/3qAUUr7izV\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Neil Acharya (@Neil_Acharya) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Neil_Acharya\/status\/923396519289638913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 26, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ESportslit Podcast now available on Google Play.\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R7JRyI2ub0\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/R7JRyI2ub0\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— SportsLit (@SportsLitPod) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsLitPod\/status\/923750099028729857?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EKen Reid talks book on one-time 60-goal scorer Dennis Maruk - SportsLit (Episode No.1), now on \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SoundCloud?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#SoundCloud\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/np?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#np\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/M7MgL92lkx\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/M7MgL92lkx\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/nhl?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#nhl\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— SportsLit (@SportsLitPod) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsLitPod\/status\/923982230741045248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETrying to tell us something? \u003C\/b\u003EWords, at last check, still matter. A best practice is to give U-KNOW-WHO a pass on a small semantic faux pas and focus on the bigger problems. But Laval is a No. 1 seed in Quebec, not in the the Top 10 poll. Unless there's a Final 8 coming to football, as has been discussed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EU SPORTS 🏈 Top 10: Reigning Vanier Cup champs enter playoffs as No. 1 seed \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mOrtpj5HHM\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/mOrtpj5HHM\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ez0NJCtZCj\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/Ez0NJCtZCj\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USPORTSca\/status\/925393503500189697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 31, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPurple Hex.\u003C\/b\u003E Guelph with a healthy and clear-of-head \u003Cb\u003EJames Roberts \u003C\/b\u003Emight pose a larger obstacle to Western than any potential Yates Cup or Uteck Bowl counterpart. A 2½-hour lightning delay put both teams in uncharted territory eight weeks ago when Western needed to score on Guelph late in the fourth quarter and in overtime to claim a 41-34 overtime win.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EScarfone says what teams are thinking. No one happy to be playing Gryphons \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WesternMustangs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@WesternMustangs\u003C\/a\u003E get task. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ldnont?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#ldnont\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/oua?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#oua\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IdNhI4g3Ve\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/IdNhI4g3Ve\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Morris Dalla Costa (@MoDaCoatLFPress) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MoDaCoatLFPress\/status\/925528696479473664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003ENovember 1, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EThat is not much to take to the bank, of course. And 8-0 teams never lose in the first playoff game, \u003Ci\u003Esigned, \u003C\/i\u003Ethe 1999 Mustangs, 2002 Manitoba Bisons, 2007 Ottawa Gee-Gees and 2008 Queen's Golden Gaels.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMcMaster might be too callow on offence to advance any farther. Laurier had issues with finishing drives in the regular-season game against the Mustangs. Got to play it out, though.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E“We’re going through any situation that could come up in the game,\" says \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MichaelFaulds?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@MichaelFaulds\u003C\/a\u003E prior to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OUA?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#OUA\u003C\/a\u003E semi-final. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/5FvqIKh4JV\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/5FvqIKh4JV\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D2GlnmkDEl\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/D2GlnmkDEl\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Laurier Football (@LaurierFootball) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LaurierFootball\/status\/925356986992078848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 31, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EEveryone gets the same championship.\u003C\/b\u003E As hard as it is to believe, there are coaches who don't like the format for their sport's national championship.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EHalloween Poll: What's the scariest thing in U SPORTS men's hockey?\u003C\/div\u003E— Victor Findlay (@Finder_24) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Finder_24\/status\/925381595040747520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 31, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003EThe legacy of former CEO\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EPierre Lafontaine\u003C\/b\u003E, who made the push to have uniform eight-team championships in all team sports except football, just keeps on giving. And, of course, men's basketball coaches want 12 or 16 or 23 teams to get a tournament ticket. Far be it to suggest passively-aggressively to focus on competitive balance, and the formatting issues will take care of themselves. \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESwing with the times.\u003C\/b\u003E The Canadian first point of reference after Game 5 of the World Series when \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/boxes\/HOU\/HOU201710290.shtml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EHouston won 13-12 against Los Angeles in 10 innings\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;was, of course, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/boxes\/PHI\/PHI199310200.shtml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ethe 15-14 game that the Toronto Blue Jays won during the 1993 series\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESimilar scorelines, wild deviations in win probability, and fun to watch. No one could deny that. But they are dissimilar in one respect. The Blue Jays scored 15 runs that night without hitting a home run. They had power, leading the American League in slugging percentage on the way to being second in runs, but they weren't all-or-nothing, ranking only sixth in a 14-team league in homers. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnly seven of the 29 runs that October night at the old Vet in south Philly came through home runs (all four by the Phillies' \u003Cb\u003ELenny Dykstra\u003C\/b\u003E and \u003Cb\u003EDarren Daulton\u003C\/b\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn contrast, on Sunday, more than half the runs, 14 out of 25, came through the game's seven home runs. That seems illustrative of the unintended consequences of analytics winning out; now every hitter is going up swinging hard with an elevated launch angle and the result is a sameness. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe '93 Series was the last one played entirely in multi-purpose stadia with artificial turf, and the game of the four-division era that melded power and speed was already ebbing. Those Phillies, in fact, actually had 91 plate appearances end in one of the Three True Outcomes (home run, walk of strikeout), which tops the Dodgers' 85 and Astros' 77 through the same number of games.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is a place to do a nostalgia wallow, but there's only the game as it exists in the present at the end of the day. As exciting and as riveting as Game 5 was, it actually lost 2 million U.S. viewers along the way. That shows there is a balls-in-play problem, or a lack thereof.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECurse of Beyoncé ... or Kardashian Curse. Either way. \u003C\/b\u003EWith tongue in cheek, the only downside of the World Series was the Red State-Blue State, Divided America angle in a contest between a Texas team and a Southern California team was barely\u0026nbsp; touched, let alone beaten into the ground. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn actuality, that's refreshing, although it might betray our growing terror that what used to be \"we're more like than we care to admit\" polarization is metastisizing\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.craigcalcaterra.com\/blog\/the-constitution-is-not-optional\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Einto a full-blown Constitutional crisis\u003C\/a\u003E. If it takes he columnist trope of attributing characteristics of a city's populace to a team of millionaire athletes and euthanizes it like Maggie at the end of \u003Ci\u003EMillion Dollar Baby\u003C\/i\u003E, so be it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFrom the fatalist perspective, though, had the Astros lost is would have been directly attributable to not differentiating itself from the SoCal celebrity culture. Whilst googling “houston astros agony,” one of the first links that popped up was about the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/2017\/10\/24\/is-beyonce-singing-national-anthem-world-series-houston-astros-heal-hurricane-harvey\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eorganization's swing-and-a-miss at getting singer-songwriter\u003C\/a\u003E and Independent Woman\u003Cb\u003E Beyoncé\u003C\/b\u003E to sing the U.S. Anthem or grace them with an appearance during games 3, 4 or 5.\u003Cb\u003E Beyoncé\u003C\/b\u003E is from Houston, although you probably assumed she was made in a test tub in a recording studio.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHouston threw away the narrative like\u003Cb\u003E Rougned Odor \u003C\/b\u003Emaking a double-play relay throw to first in a playoff game. Not that they were missing elements for a lazy narrative — the owner of the NFL team said horrifyingly racist things! \u003Cb\u003EYuli Gurriel\u003C\/b\u003E made a racist gesture! But you can't out-celebrity the place where it's an industry.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFortunately, the Astros winning lets everyone can attach themselves to a franchise winning its first World Series, which really only happens about twice per decade. The bad with the good is that there was no justice in Gurriel winning after MLB demurred from suspending him during the Series. That is a shame.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EWorld Series Game 7 set us up for a moment of redemption. It just never came. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ACPBbmlP9C\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/ACPBbmlP9C\u003C\/a\u003E via \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SBNation?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@sbnation\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Eddie Huang (@MrEddieHuang) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MrEddieHuang\/status\/926069103785156608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003ENovember 2, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EA healthy scratch, indeed. \u003C\/b\u003EMy personal fan interaction with the NHL is pretty straightforward. When it wants to be interesting again — which would involve not shorting the Canadian market by two or three teams, having a goals per game rate north of 6.5 and finishing the playoffs around May 25 — it might get more than a casual follow. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnyway, did everyone notice how quickly scoring, after the first few games, fell right back toward last season's floor of 5.49\/game? Or how the Ottawa Senators are having swaths of empty seats since their owner, \u003Cb\u003EEugene Melnyk\u003C\/b\u003E, would rather charge $30 for parking than t\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/ottawacitizen.com\/news\/local-news\/2016-oc-transpo-budget\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eake a deal from the city that would give ticket-holders free transit to games\u003C\/a\u003E at the distant suburban arena? That is some fall-of-Rome stuff, where greed supersedes the artfulness of the athleticism.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETrollhouse. \u003C\/b\u003EA favourite slice of doggerel comes via \u003Cb\u003ECraig Calcaterra\u003C\/b\u003E, the NBC Sports baseball writer who somehow finds time to write on his personal blog while being a life partner who is raising children. It was not remotely related to baseball. Along an Ohio highway that Craig regularly uses, there's an abandoned house with the message \"O.D.O.T. Sucks\" spray-painted on it, as in the Ohio Department of Transportation. Craig found out the owner is still paying the property taxes and must return regularly to touch up the taunt with some fresh paint. All this effort, to troll bureaucracy.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003EI smile because we live in a world where powerful forces always seem to win, conformity always seems to reign and anything old, small, unique or just plain weird seems to get plowed over, literally or figuratively. (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.craigcalcaterra.com\/blog\/odot-sucks\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ECraigCalcaterra.com\u003C\/a\u003E)\u003C\/blockquote\u003EOld, small, unique or just plain weird ... those are also the reasons why people like the CFL and university sports. Or am I projecting?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUnceded land ... about that. \u003C\/b\u003EThe real legacy of the late great\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EGord Downie\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;is the challenge he made to talk-left, govern-right Prime Minister \u003Cb\u003EJustin Trudeau\u003C\/b\u003E about indigenous issues during that final concert in Kingston in August 2016. That was covered well by the media after Downie's death on Oct. 17, but how many people that you Facebook-know or Twitter-know worked into their posts (me included)?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\"We're in good hands, folks, real good hands. He cares about the people way up North, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore, trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what's going on up there … And what's going on up there ain't good. It's maybe worse than it's ever been ... (but) we're going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help.\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003EPrime Minister Trudeau's got me, his work with First Nations. He's got everybody. He's going to take us where we need to go,\" he said. \"It's going to take us 100 years to figure out what the hell went on up there, but it isn't cool and everybody knows that. It's really, really bad, but we're going to figure it out, you're going to figure it out.\"\u003C\/blockquote\u003EIt's embarrassing to realize, this deep into life, how at a loss I am for acquiring tools to make that difference. Where does one start from the vantage point of a working-class existence in a major city?\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is nice and all that any public event includes a mention of being on \"unceded land\" as a weird sort of \"thanks for taking it all in stride\" there-there. But how can land actually be given back ... well, apparently one schoolteacher in Ontario just decided to do it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EOne woman's plan to give back: 'The land needs to be returned to Indigenous peoples' \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NR0ldZCdJV\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/NR0ldZCdJV\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBCUnreserved?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@CBCUnreserved\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/canada150?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#canada150\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— CBC Radio (@cbcradio) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cbcradio\/status\/922236129495142401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 22, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EBe it Christian, Jew or miscellaneous. \u003C\/b\u003EIf you go to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/frinkiac.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EFrinkiac\u003C\/a\u003E, the search engine that contains screenshots of every episode of\u003Ci\u003E The Simpsons\u003C\/i\u003E, do you know how many matches there are for atheist? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003EOne.\u003C\/i\u003E The long-running animated series has commented on nearly every segment of society and has countless episodes that both critique and exalt religion, but in 621 episodes, atheism (\"\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/www.atheists.org\/activism\/resources\/about-atheism\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ea lack of belief in Gods\u003C\/a\u003E\") has been mentioned once — and it was an episode where the plot involved Ned Flanders making religious films, in a parody of\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003EThe Passion Of The Christ\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cimg height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/frinkiac.com\/meme\/S16E08\/588631.jpg?b64lines=IE5lZCwgeW91ciBmaWxtIHdhcyBhCiBtYXN0ZXJwaWVjZS4gSXQgdHVybmVkIG1lCiBmcm9tIGFuIGF0aGVpc3QgdG8gYQogaHVycmF5LXRoZWlzdCE=\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/news.nationalgeographic.com\/2016\/04\/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENearly one-quarter of the U.S. population (according to the Pew Research Center) are religiously unaffiliated \"nones,\" and that segment is rising\u003C\/a\u003E. It's just wild it's gone unacknowledged on a series that has free reign to poke fun or probe into nearly anything.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI am an atheist, but don't make a point of broadcasting it. It was and is a personal decision, not a decision made for other people. Perhaps it is better \u003Ci\u003EThe Simpsons \u003C\/i\u003Ehas left atheists alone, since well, atheist is like TV writer code for the coldly rational, emotionally represesed, short-tempered, too-smart-for-their-own-good person who can never be happy. The\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_fictional_atheists_and_agnostics\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eroll call for fictional atheists and agnostics\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;— Dr. Cox in\u003Ci\u003E Scrubs\u003C\/i\u003E, \u003Cb\u003EEmily Deschanel\u003C\/b\u003E's character in Bones, Piper in \u003Ci\u003EOrange Is The New Black\u003C\/i\u003E, the \u003Cb\u003EJoel McHale\u003C\/b\u003E and\u003Cb\u003E Gillian Jacobs \u003C\/b\u003Echaracters in \u003Ci\u003ECommunity \u003C\/i\u003E— is a misanthrope's row.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EColdly rational? That's usually what I aim for, actually. Emotionally repressed? That is a bit harsh. Short-tempered? Now that you mention it ...\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/3071352765105213157\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/11\/in-for-dozen-anyone-but-carleton-still.html#comment-form","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3071352765105213157"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3071352765105213157"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/11\/in-for-dozen-anyone-but-carleton-still.html","title":"In For A Dozen: Anyone But Carleton, still CIS (Completely Inaccurate Stats), the Curse of Beyoncé, and atheism in The Simpsons"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-4559052722656350017"},"published":{"$t":"2017-10-06T02:04:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-10-07T20:47:27.050-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Football"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Gaels"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Top 10"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Football: Thanksgiving weekend Top 10 (and OUA Clusterfudge '17) tracker"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Cinderella has turned into a pumpkin in Ontario, right on time for Thanksgiving weekend. It was fun buying in on Waterloo while it lasted, but they are who we worried they were.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E🏈 TOUCHDOWN GAELS 🏈\u003Cbr \/\u003EPuskas does it all! Receiving TD Gaels are up 42-17 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/CdhrkMtgYz\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/CdhrkMtgYz\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/queensgaels\/status\/916100008650428416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-video\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E🏈 TOUCHDOWN GAELS 🏈\u003Cbr \/\u003EMann picks up the fumble and takes it to the house! 58-17 Gaels lead \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ztCHmq9S65\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/ztCHmq9S65\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/queensgaels\/status\/916105659778764807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EThe Gaels shone bright tonight!!💡⭐ Queen's crushes Waterloo 68-17 in the first ever night game at Richardson Stadium 🏈 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QHEWaPEWBq\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/QHEWaPEWBq\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Queen's Gaels (@queensgaels) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/queensgaels\/status\/916111384294944769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E Waterloo has allowed an average of almost 59 points and 548 yards over the last four weeks. Their only head-to-head tiebreaker among the teams likely to end up in the anticipated logjam for the final OUA playoff berths is against Carleton (thanks to that 45-43 win on Sept. 23). But that could be potential be taken out of play, since Queen's now comes out ahead in a three-way tiebreaker scenario with Waterloo and Carleton.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat might be the real downside of Waterloo getting exposed is that their four-win streak effectively ran cover for what's been a very according-to-form OUA season; no upsets, no to-the-wire scorefests. Western is rolling, even though some people believe they're not on the level of some of the teams that were Vanier-conversation worthy.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003Ethis may be the worst Stangs team in a decade but have the best chance to win a Vanier\u003C\/div\u003E— BrentLaleCTV (@BrentLaleCTV) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrentLaleCTV\/status\/916475400221548545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 7, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis will be succinct (ha!), since only four ranked teams are even playing over the holiday weekend.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMontréal (4-0 RSEQ, game cancelled) \u003C\/b\u003E— So Montréal wanted to push back the game date against Concordia and Concordia demurred, at least according to\u003Cb\u003E Danny Maciocia\u003C\/b\u003E. The only change is the point-differential tiebreaker that's effectively created a two-game, total-points affray between the Carabins and Laval every year is now out of play, since the playoffs will be seeded by winning percentage. That means it's either Montréal finishing 7-0 ahead of Laval at 6-2, or 7-1 Laval getting top spot ahead of 6-1 Montréal.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"fr\"\u003EMatch annulé | Danny Maciocia en désaccord : \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lgbCcHOujA\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/lgbCcHOujA\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Carabins?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@Carabins\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/The_Stingers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@The_Stingers\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QOna46MBgQ\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/QOna46MBgQ\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— TVA Sports (@TVASports) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TVASports\/status\/916037639677054976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECalgary (5-0 Canada West, bye week)\u003C\/b\u003E — Note to self: get to some women's hockey games this season.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EProud to be part of World Girls Hockey Weekend as we drop the puck on the 2017-18 season! Home opener Saturday at 6 pm \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GoDinos?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#GoDinos\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WGIHW?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#WGIHW\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/jXo7g9hwPZ\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/jXo7g9hwPZ\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Dinos WHKY (@DinosWHKY) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DinosWHKY\/status\/915004820490035200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 3, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ELaval (5-1 RSEQ, 46-15 win at Sherbrooke)\u003C\/b\u003E — L\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELast year \u003Cb\u003EAntony Auclair\u003C\/b\u003E won a Vanier Cup and on Thursday he played against the team that won the Super Bowl last season.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ELooking for the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rougeetor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@rougeetor\u003C\/a\u003E's \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Auclair81?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@Auclair81\u003C\/a\u003E on the field tonight in \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bucs?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#Bucs\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Patriots?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#Patriots\u003C\/a\u003E game? He's wearing 82 \u0026amp; is on the punt cover unit \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Usports?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#Usports\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/18SPR3YtgE\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/18SPR3YtgE\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Douglas Gelevan (@DGelevan) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DGelevan\/status\/916107872924307457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWestern (7-0 OUA, 51-14 home win against Carleton) — \u003C\/b\u003EAnother pro forma pummeling from the purple ponies, who hung half-a-hundred on Carleton in a reprise of the 2016 OUA semifinal.It was a slaughter on stat sheet with Western gaining almost 700 yards and combining Carleton for close to three bills in penalties (a combined 29 accepted flags for 295 yards). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnce again, they had a multi-interception game in the passing phase that left blemishes on the stat line of\u003Cb\u003E Chris Merchant\u003C\/b\u003E (300 passing on 7.4 adjusted net yards\/attempt, plus another 42 rushing) and it didn't make a single difference.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow Western has a well-earned 29-day wait for a meaningful game, the OUA semifinal against the lowest remaining seed on Nov. 4. What does\u003Cb\u003E Greg Marshall\u003C\/b\u003E have planned for all that down time?\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EFOOTBALL | Mustangs look to lock up first place against Carleton: \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Fabkihrdee\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/Fabkihrdee\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wAWZe59fWg\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/wAWZe59fWg\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Western Mustangs (@WesternMustangs) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WesternMustangs\/status\/916098003290685442?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ELaurier (5-1 OUA, 53-31 road win against York) — \u003C\/b\u003EScorefest was as close as 12 points late in the third quarter before the Golden Hawks pulled away. One has to wonder about Laurier's defence with the points and yards it has been allowing lately. The D was on the field for 75 snaps against York. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EM🏈 WITH ANOTHER WIN 🔥 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WeAreHAWKS?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#WeAreHAWKS\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/94sktt2io6\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/94sktt2io6\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Laurier Golden Hawks (@WLUAthletics) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WLUAthletics\/status\/916131633685725184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat brings up a mental picture of well-rested Guelph with a well-rested\u003Cb\u003E Johnny Augustin\u003C\/b\u003E churning out first downs and keeping \u003Cb\u003EMichael Knevel\u003C\/b\u003E and the Attractions doing endless sound checks on the sideline.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcMaster (5-1 OUA, 43-6 road win against Toronto) — \u003C\/b\u003EThe Marauders defence allowed its first touchdown all year against an opponent other than Western when Toronto's \u003Cb\u003EWill Corby \u003C\/b\u003Ecaught a 17-yard scoring pass late in the second quarter, ending the streak at 17 quarters.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\\With a home game against Windsor next week, it's tempting to say Mac might not give up another one until the Oct. 21 game at Laurier, which is surely going to decide who gets the bye to the OUA semifinal.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EA good crowd on a beautiful night to see our \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/McMasterSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@McMasterSports\u003C\/a\u003E take on the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Varsity_Blues?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@Varsity_Blues\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/GoMacGo?src=hash\u0026amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E#GoMacGo\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MfqX2fwDP7\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/MfqX2fwDP7\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Glen Grunwald (@grunwald_glen) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/grunwald_glen\/status\/916077194987954183?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EPost game wrap up on \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSN1150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@TSN1150\u003C\/a\u003E from \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BubbaCHCH?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@BubbaCHCH\u003C\/a\u003E and I at Varsity Stadium as \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/McMasterSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@McMasterSports\u003C\/a\u003E defeated \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UofTBluesFB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003E@UofTBluesFB\u003C\/a\u003E 43-6 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yVIwhFuvyf\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/yVIwhFuvyf\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Steve Clark (@SteveClarkMedia) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SteveClarkMedia\/status\/916293861785432065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUBC (3-2 Canada West, bye week)\u003C\/b\u003E — This might be the greatest teaser text for a feature on a field hockey player, ever.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EIt broke her face, but not Abbey MacLellan's spirit \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bRvPjf3v9N\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/bRvPjf3v9N\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gwVdE530We\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/gwVdE530We\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Province Sports (@provincesports) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/provincesports\/status\/915599931070496768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 4, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERegina\u0026nbsp;(3-2 Canada West, bye week)\u003C\/b\u003E — Uh, go Roughriders?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaint Mary's (4-1* AUS, bye week)\u003C\/b\u003E — Have full control of their destiny in spite of the forfeit.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ENew AUS football standings to reflect SMU forfeit to X: SMU (4-1), X (3-2), Acadia (3-2), Bishop's (1-3), Mount A (1-4).\u003C\/div\u003E— monty mosher (@justplainmonty) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/justplainmonty\/status\/915959029704294400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003EOctober 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EGuelph (3-3 OUA, bye week) \u003C\/b\u003E— I think I posted yesterday that a four-way tie for the last two playoff berths probably involves Guelph upsetting Laurier, then losing against Carleton. Guelph does seem capable of playing with anyone, but also capable of losing to almost anyone.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EAlso receiving votes:\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOttawa (4-2 OUA, bye week) \u003C\/b\u003E— A few good plays from being 5-1. A few more plays from being 1-5, since three wins were by a combined 13 points. With one more Carleton loss, one more Guelph loss and an Ottawa win next week, the Gee-Gees would get their first home playoff game since 2011.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd if you noticed that the first two teams in that scenario whose playoff hopes are fraying are also the two non-combatants for York, congratulations. Carleton's other non-combatant is also winless Windsor, while Guelph missed Queen's.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaskatchewan (2-3, bye week) \u003C\/b\u003E— Only listed due to getting five points from voters, after three consecutive losses. I don't get the logic here, people.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWaterloo (4-3 OUA, 68-17 road loss against Queen's)\u003C\/b\u003E — Remember \u003Cb\u003EDave Chappelle\u003C\/b\u003E's\u003Ci\u003E The Three Daves \u003C\/i\u003Esketch? Here it is, applied to the author and involving Queen's and Waterloo:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E1997 Sags:\u003C\/b\u003E Spent several weeks in a snit because Queen's best chance of winning a Vanier during his undergrad years was thwarted by Ottawa, while over in Ontario, Waterloo could, and did, win a conference championship running the goddamned wishbone offence. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis would result in a lot of aimless wandering around downtown Kingston, uncompleted course readings, and playing Marcy Playground's\u003Ci\u003E Sex and Candy \u003C\/i\u003Eso many times that eventually his housemates had to take the CD.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E2007 Sags: \u003C\/b\u003EWrote apoplectic e-mails to any Top 10 voters he could find when Waterloo was nationally ranked after starting 3-0 with wins against Windsor, York and Toronto, while Queen's was left out after beating Western, McMaster and Guelph because damned if that didn't fit a narrative of being unjustly overlooked. Became really insufferable when Queen's beat Waterloo by 40-some points at Richardson Stadium in October.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E2017 Sags:\u003C\/b\u003E Went along for the ride when Waterloo was nationally ranked after starting 4-0 with wins against Windsor, York, Toronto and Carleton. Just felt empathetic when Queen's beat Waterloo by 50-some points at Richardson Stadium in October.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EConcordia (2-3 RSEQ, cancellation)\u003C\/b\u003E — In a just world, the Stingers would get a chance to show how they stack up against Ontario's upper lower middle class.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton (2-4 OUA, 51-14 road loss against at No. 4 Western)\u003C\/b\u003E — All playoff hopes are not lost for the Ravens, who finish with back-to-back home games against Toronto and Guelph. Based on how three-team tiebreakers work, though, they need someone to knock off Queen's.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/4559052722656350017\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/10\/football-thanksgiving-weekend-top-10.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/4559052722656350017"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/4559052722656350017"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/10\/football-thanksgiving-weekend-top-10.html","title":"Football: Thanksgiving weekend Top 10 (and OUA Clusterfudge '17) tracker"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-5919498891823123902"},"published":{"$t":"2017-09-27T18:19:00.003-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-11-05T15:26:22.144-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Football"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Hawks"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"In For A Dozen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Pan Game"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"recruiting"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Roy Rana"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"SMU Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UBC Thunderbirds"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"In For A Dozen: Loïc Kayembe, heat warnings, a pox on Panda Game profanity and a kickoff-reduction rule"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ci\u003EStuff that really should presented in podcast form, but let's not kid ourselves: you don't have time to listen! Instead it gets presented in written word format. How Web 2.0! In For A Dozen will be a weekly middle-of-the-week ritual that strives to put university sports in the context of a world where one can no longer Stick To Sports.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EIt really beggars processing that Ottawa defensive end Loïc Kayembe is dead and his teammates are carrying on by trying to prepare for the Panda Game, which will be in front of a crowd that dwarfs their usual audience by a factor of 10.\u003C\/b\u003E One day the 24-year-old Kayembe was playing a football game. The next day the Congolese-born Montrealer was gone, leaving a void in dozens of lives. There's no predicting or extrapolating how the Gee-Gees will respond once they return to competition.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EJoin us before 12:50pm at TD Place on Saturday. We will be honouring Loic with a moment of silence prior to the start of the game. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LK49?src=hash\"\u003E#LK49\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— uOttawa Gee-Gees (@uOttawaGeeGees) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/uOttawaGeeGees\/status\/913063438729056256\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003EA GoFundMe to help pay for Kayembe's memorial service reached its goal inside of a day.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EClick here to support In Memory of Loic Mukendi Kayembe organized by Stephanie Asenso \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hECtsD5A7z\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/hECtsD5A7z\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Mr.Ranger17 (@FrankSpanti17) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FrankSpanti17\/status\/912489060433883137\"\u003ESeptember 26, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EHindsight is 20\/20, but it feels like 37 C.\u003C\/b\u003E It was stinking-hot in Ontario during the last two football Saturdays, with temperatures ranging above 30 C and high humidity, which was exacerbated by the sun's warming effect on rubber-pelleted FieldTurf playing surfaces.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENo doubt every team took every precaution to make sure players were hydrated and had some shade on the sidelines. One does wonder — and please don't read this as finger-pointing — how humid it has to be before teams move game times away from the hottest time of day.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELogistically, could there be some edict from on high to push a game times to late afternoon? It's one variable that can be controlled.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThe Panda Game is going to have a higher attendance than some teams will play in front of all season, again.\u003C\/b\u003E Both Carleton and Ottawa sold out their ticket allotments three days in advance.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EOver 22k tickets have been sold for the Panda Game. Ottawa \u0026amp; Carleton have sold out their allotment. Only place to get tickets is \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TD_Place\"\u003E@TD_Place\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E— AJ Jakubec (@AJonSports) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AJonSports\/status\/913071923885731842\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003EOf course, what will be different is the sensitive situation with a death in the Gee-Gees football family. It's probably not going to stop Carleton supporters chanting, \"Fuck you Ottawa U\" and \"what the fuck's a Gee-Gee?\" \u003Ci\u003Ead nauseam\u003C\/i\u003E at the uOttawa team and students, with Gee-Gees supporters riposting in (un)kind with F-bombs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI have never been able to get on board with that being cute or endearing, which is how it seems to be portrayed by the schools and the Ottawa media. This isn't about political correctness; it's just about preferring creativity and originality to tacky, trite tribalism:\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003Ethat's the best you can come up with?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe chants are going to happen, but it will seem tone-deaf, please excuse the wet-blanketing. At least Ottawa is the home team so it gets the north side of TD Place where the player benches are, while Carleton will get the south side. That could defuse any tension.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EBasketball update: Tanor Ngom from Senegal, who comes advertised as a 7-foot-2 post player with NBA potential, is headed to Ryerson. That ... that seems like a good get. \u003C\/b\u003ENgom has\u0026nbsp; shown enough promise to represent Africa in the Basketball Without Borders event, and it probably doesn't require much exposition to explain that having him pick Ryerson over a D1 high-major down south speaks to the reputation of the OUA's Big Two.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E.\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyersonRamsMBB\"\u003E@RyersonRamsMBB\u003C\/a\u003E bring in 7 recruits including 7'2\" Tanor Ngom, projected future NBA'er from Senegal 🇸🇳 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/weRrams?src=hash\"\u003E#weRrams\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E📝: \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/uhhYIYbewD\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/uhhYIYbewD\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/KzsLBVje82\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/KzsLBVje82\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Ryerson Rams (@ryersonrams) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ryersonrams\/status\/913104786127556610\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E.\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RyersonRamsMBB\"\u003E@RyersonRamsMBB\u003C\/a\u003E add 7-foot-2 Tanor Ngom from Dakar, Senegal for the upcoming season. RU began recruiting him after camp in Senegal in May.\u003C\/div\u003E— Ben Waldman (@BenjWaldman) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BenjWaldman\/status\/913109466387816453\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENo prospect has ever missed a shot on YouTube, but here is Ngom in competition. It's hard to glean much about his offensive game, since it's mostly finishing uncontested dunks against much smaller players. But he picks up a point guard on a switch!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" class=\"YOUTUBE-iframe-video\" data-thumbnail-src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/TVeJxrAHS1U\/0.jpg\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TVeJxrAHS1U?feature=player_embedded\" width=\"480\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWith the state-sponsored hostility toward Black, Muslim and Hispanic populations in the U.S., the time is now to advertise that Canada is a good place to study and play sports. It won't happen, though.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EIf you care about university hockey, take some vicarious pride in San Jose Sharks wing Joel Ward, who said he might bring the protest movement against inequality to the NHL, being an Atlantic University Sport alumnus.\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;That's not the reason why Ward is considering speaking out, but his four seasons with the UPEI Panthers was obviously a different environment than most NHL players get in their early 20s.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EJoel Ward not ruling out taking a knee during the national anthem. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0aVvhq9dxS\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/0aVvhq9dxS\u003C\/a\u003E (via \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GackleReport\"\u003E@GackleReport\u003C\/a\u003E) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/3bWcB6lDQc\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/3bWcB6lDQc\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Ian McLaren (@iancmclaren) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/iancmclaren\/status\/912811439362072576\"\u003ESeptember 26, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ECould kneel for both the Canadian and American anthems. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zl9IpjuNtO\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/zl9IpjuNtO\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Patrick O'Sullivan (@realPOSULLIVAN) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/realPOSULLIVAN\/status\/913158806187716609\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003ETo those who call taking a knee symbolism, what do you think standing for the anthem is? Symbolism is important and should be chosen carefully.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOne digression from sticking to sports: Never underestimate America's ability to have a sports scandal conventionally come up when everyone should be mad about something else.\u003C\/b\u003E The FBI dragnet into corruption in college basketball, which has already taken down \u003Cb\u003ERick Pitino\u003C\/b\u003E at Louisville and is likely to ensnare further high-major D1 coaches, defys downplaying. When the FBI is looking into bribery and kickbacks, it goes well beyond \"what's always happened.\" And if it brings an end to the Shamateur Sports Industrial Complex in the States, so much the better.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt the same time, this taking up time in the conversation when the real scandal is having a president who, at worst, is willing to build a political base on white supremacy, and attained the office after an election that involved serious interference from a Hostile Foreign Power who shall remain nameless. What should really be the outrage that prompts a great reckoning?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(Whether HFP's interference swung the outcome last November cannot be established, but the likelihood of one candidate winning Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all by 1 per cent is extremely low. Also, it's been shown HFP tries to interfere with everyone's national elections.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EIt's no coincidence that Trump picked a fight with NFL players and Russian trolls used it as an opportunity to seed division on social media\u003C\/div\u003E— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JYSexton\/status\/913166719383990272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EThe Russians got exactly what they paid for, and it doesn't matter if he passes a single bill as long as he keeps the wound bleeding.\u003C\/div\u003E— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JYSexton\/status\/913167350748368898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EThat awkward moment when the Russian government forgets to turn off location services on their disinformation network Twitter accounts. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SqV2eArN7g\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/SqV2eArN7g\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Vets Against Trump (@commondefense) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/commondefense\/status\/913119245835304960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPoint being, is the biggest thing happening really a bunch of coaches being glorified bagmen?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETen years ago, the American media seemed to be a lot more interested in pushing people's buttons over\u003Cb\u003E Barry Bonds \u003C\/b\u003Ebreaking the home run record with a chemical boost than President \u003Cb\u003EGeorge W. Bush \u003C\/b\u003Einvading Iraq on false pretenses. And the early 1920s might be more remembered for the Chicago \"Black Sox\" dumping a World Series than the Teapot Dome scandal, and so on and so on.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECall this 6B. It's high-larious to see MLB's water-bearers make Mark McGwire the go-to guy for a testimonial about baseball's new crop of sluggers.\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;It definitely reads like an attempt to rehabilitate the Great American Home Run Chase of\u0026nbsp; 1998, when McGwire and\u003Cb\u003E Sammy Sosa\u003C\/b\u003E, both goosed on steroids, shattered Roger Maris' seasonal standard. It's also funny since Bonds \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/ca.sports.yahoo.com\/news\/giancarlo-stanton-credits-barry-bonds-helping-monster-season-045929233.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eactually coached \u003Cb\u003EGiancarlo Stanton \u003C\/b\u003Efor a season in Miami\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-video\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EEven Mark McGwire is in awe of what Aaron Judge is doing \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Yankees?src=hash\"\u003E#Yankees\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Padres?src=hash\"\u003E#Padres\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Athletics?src=hash\"\u003E#Athletics\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZXtfAxpQKa\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/ZXtfAxpQKa\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— MLB Network Radio (@MLBNetworkRadio) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBNetworkRadio\/status\/913159783036923904\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMcGwire gets that, because white privilege, and Bonds never will. One can see the not-so-subtle attempt to convince people that the 70 homers McGwire hit in '98 is the real record. Either every stat from the 1993-2003 ArenaBall era is valid, or all are invalid.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EBack to our bailiwick; contact to the head is a \u003C\/b\u003E\u003Ci\u003Etopic du semaine\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cb\u003E after video circulated of some of the shots Concordia's skill players took from Laval defenders last Sunday. \u003C\/b\u003EThe one hit on a Stingers receiver would have been a targeting foul in the NCAA and resulted in ejection for the offending defender.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EDear \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RSEQ1\"\u003E@RSEQ1\u003C\/a\u003E officials. Protect your players from head-to-head hits. Signed, Logic. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qPAEjydn1t\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/qPAEjydn1t\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Jim Mullin (@Jim_Mullin) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jim_Mullin\/status\/912772343830683648\"\u003ESeptember 26, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003EPeople have received one-game suspensions for far, far less. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESpeaking of Concordia ... Shrine Bowl week!\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EIt's not often that Georges Laraque is not the biggest man in the room. Stinger Maurice Simba joins him to promote the 2017 Shrine Bowl. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QnTvQMQudo\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/QnTvQMQudo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Concordia Stingers (@The_Stingers) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/The_Stingers\/status\/913053605191700480\"\u003ESeptember 27, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EKickoffs are on the endangered special teams play list. \u003C\/b\u003EOn The Athletic, there is a non-paywalled piece by\u003Cb\u003E Nicole Auerbach \u003C\/b\u003Edetailing how the Ivy League's experimental kickoff rule has reduced brain injuries among players. Brain injuries happen more often on kickoffs than on scrimmage plays due to the speed with which players collide.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Ivies moved the kickoff spot up to the 40-yard line, reducing the number of returnable kicks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EFollowing up on my kickoffs story last week -- What the Ivy League found in 2016 when it moved kickoffs up 5 yards: \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/go2P4PyjP8\"\u003Ehttps:\/\/t.co\/go2P4PyjP8\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NicoleAuerbach\/status\/912654529002434560\"\u003ESeptember 26, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003EMea culpa; I've long beefed about U Sports placing kickoffs on the 45-yard line instead of the 35, as in the CFL, without giving enough space to player safety. Too often, it contributes to a snowball effect for the straggler teams; returner gets downed shy of the 20, offence goes short run-incomplete pass for a two-and-out, and the defence is right back out trying to defend a short field. But that's a small thing compared to making football safer.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat said, the kickoff cannot be eliminated entirely, since coaches still need the option of trying to recover a short kickoff. This is a topic perhaps better expanded upon at a later date, but here's a modest proposal:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EKickoff to start each half;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EKickoff after the first touchdown of the second and fourth quarters, if it comes before the 10-minute mark (10:00 to play). \u003C\/b\u003EThis allows for a chance to flip field position shortly after changing ends and a chance to recover a short kickoff. It can also be woven into the mid-quarter media timeout. Granted, it's an arbitrary cut-off point, but you want any rule to be easy enough for competitors and officials to remember.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EKickoff after any score after the three-minute warning of each half. \u003C\/b\u003EThat's the CFL and national rule in U Sports. There could be a waiver on it if the lead is 25 or more points. Twenty-five seems like a good number since most coaches would concede defeat by that point.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPossession begins at the 35 after a field goal and on the 25 after a touchdown in all other scenarios (this is negotiable).\u003C\/b\u003E Do more coaches try for the first down\/touchdown if it helps them on the other side of the ball?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EThe Laurier-Waterloo game (as it were) had 13 kickoffs. With my suggestion, there would have been \u003Ci\u003Ethree.\u003C\/i\u003E (Start of each half, and after a Laurier touchdown with 27 seconds left in the second quarter).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/oua.ca\/sports\/fball\/2017-18\/boxscores\/20170916_txyg.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EOn Sept. 16, when Waterloo won that 45-43 scorefest against Carleton, the game had 17 kickoffs\u003C\/a\u003E. This rule would have cut it to eight (start of each half, two after touchdowns early in the second and fourth quarters, four after scores in the last three minutes).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThose are cherry-picked convenience samples, granted, but there's probably a minimum 50-per-cent reduction of the most dangerous play in the game.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAhead of No. 4 Western at No. 5 Laurier on Saturday, the key stat to fixate upon is probably the touchdown-to-interception ratios of the purple powerhouses' passers.\u003C\/b\u003E It is 8-to-7 for the Mustangs' \u003Cb\u003EChris Merchant\u003C\/b\u003E and change-up quarterback \u003Cb\u003EStevenson Bone\u003C\/b\u003E, compared to the 10-to-3 for the Golden Hawks'\u003Cb\u003E Michael Knevel \u003C\/b\u003Eand backup \u003Cb\u003ETristan Arndt\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EIn terms of story and setting in Canada West, UBC needs to defeat on Calgary on Friday. \u003C\/b\u003EThat's not to say it will happen, since the Dinos offence is the Golden State Warriors on fake grass in its capacity to go to another option when one is nullified. If Calgary wins, it's pretty much wrapped up home-field advantage straight through the Hardy and Mitchell Bowl playoffs. The Thunderbirds would wrest away the first-place tiebreaker if they win, although they would also have to win out to get top spot.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPoint being, the compact on-campus confines of Thunderbird Stadium \u0026gt;\u0026nbsp; utilitarian McMahon Stadium. That's all. Both Calgary's\u003Cb\u003E Adam Sinagra \u003C\/b\u003Eand UBC's \u003Cb\u003EMichael O'Connor \u003C\/b\u003Ehave run hot and cold, and whoever makes the fewest damaging mistakes will probably get the W.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EHandicapping the Hec Crighton.\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;At this writing, Saint Mary's dual threat\u003Cb\u003E Kaleb Scott \u003C\/b\u003Eis akin to Louisville's\u003Cb\u003E Lamar Jackson\u003C\/b\u003E down south in 2016: the eye-popping yardage totals, the wow factor, the drawback of playing for a team that doesn't have a big national profile, relatively speaking. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt's hard to ignore Scott, and AUS has not had a Hec winner since\u003Cb\u003E Erik Glavic \u003C\/b\u003Ein 2007. An Atlantic conference player also won in 1997, '87 and '77, incidentally.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESticking with strained similes, Laurier is like Penn State — do you pump the passer's tires or the rusher's? \u003Cb\u003EKnevel \u003C\/b\u003Ehas an adjusted net yards average of 9.89 and his floor is likely a 2,500-yard regular season, presuming good health. But\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003ELevondre Gordon \u003C\/b\u003Eis also a beast. Western's \u003Cb\u003EAlex Taylor\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;will have the career achievement case.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe big four's quarterbacks — \u003Cb\u003ESam Caron\u003C\/b\u003E of Montréal, \u003Cb\u003EHugo Richard\u003C\/b\u003E of Laval, O'Connor of UBC and Sinagra of Calgary — are not really standing out in any way.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/5919498891823123902\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/09\/in-for-dozen-loic-kayembe-heat-warnings.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5919498891823123902"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5919498891823123902"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/09\/in-for-dozen-loic-kayembe-heat-warnings.html","title":"In For A Dozen: Loïc Kayembe, heat warnings, a pox on Panda Game profanity and a kickoff-reduction rule"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/TVeJxrAHS1U\/default.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-7607790612452382942"},"published":{"$t":"2017-03-06T01:54:00.003-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-03-06T02:49:43.516-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Badgers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Redmen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Basketball: Ryerson, Carleton, McGill 1-2-3 for men's Final 8, Calgary gets wild card"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"It is human nature to think there ought to be a way to solve something irksome without thinking of the practicalities of said way. That seems to be the subtext for the suggestion there was some great injustice with decision to award the at-large berth to Canada West bronze medallist Calgary instead of OUA bronze medallist Brock (\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/03\/the-road-to-halifax-stops-at-carleton_5.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eas predicted\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EOFFICIAL: M🏀: The 2017 \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ArcelorMittal_D\"\u003E@ArcelorMittal_D\u003C\/a\u003E Final 8 field is rounded out with the University of Calgary Dinos! Full seeding below. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CHAMPSZN?src=hash\"\u003E#CHAMPSZN\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7fzyqaog6E\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/7fzyqaog6E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USPORTSca\/status\/838588714372771840\"\u003EMarch 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E The spur for doing this has always been to try to be a rational actor and give people an idea of how the Final 8 seeding rules work. Whether those rules are righteous or wrongheaded or whether the system goes too far in trying to quantify signature wins \u003Ci\u003Eis a parallel conversation\u003C\/i\u003E. Everyone agreed to play by these rules. You can say have play-in games, a Final 10, a Final 12, a Final 16 and say \"what would the NCAA do?!\" Given all the challenges U Sports faces both internally and externally, it might be better to play the pragmatist and appreciate that we still get to see eight teams spread out over nearly 6,000 kilometres still convene in Halifax for a national championship.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI say all of that, believe you me, knowing it is not for nothing the \u003Cb\u003ELouis CK\u003C\/b\u003E clip open in another Chrome tab just got to the \"\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/C-Y17YG63B4?t=1m37s\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eyou need to go once in a while, 'uh, I'm kind of an asshole'\u003C\/a\u003E \" part. The above paragraph probably comes off that way to a few people, but I am okay with that reaction.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EEnd rant. These fellows said it better anyway:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EIf you disapprove of the criteria and think of a better, cost-effective one that all conferences will approve of, that's fine. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CHAMPSZN?src=hash\"\u003E#CHAMPSZN\u003C\/a\u003E 4\/\u003C\/div\u003E— Lucas Meyer (@meyer_lucas) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/meyer_lucas\/status\/838593377536876544\"\u003EMarch 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NaitSAYger\"\u003E@NaitSAYger\u003C\/a\u003E That and the whining that went along with the Final10 when it actually did happen. There's a reason they went back to a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/final8?src=hash\"\u003E#final8\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— John Edwards (@Anorak_CA) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Anorak_CA\/status\/838626007770939392\"\u003EMarch 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Anorak_CA\"\u003E@Anorak_CA\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NaitSAYger\"\u003E@NaitSAYger\u003C\/a\u003E Wasted games and a marathon week in the Final 10. Stick with 8.\u003C\/div\u003E— Jim Mullin (@Jim_Mullin) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jim_Mullin\/status\/838631196586233857\"\u003EMarch 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jor_Henry\"\u003E@Jor_Henry\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrianSwane\"\u003E@BrianSwane\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NaitSAYger\"\u003E@NaitSAYger\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dougmclean15\"\u003E@dougmclean15\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Basketball_Hour\"\u003E@Basketball_Hour\u003C\/a\u003E I've been at a couple of \"Final 10\" tourneys. A marathon with wasted games\u003C\/div\u003E— Jim Mullin (@Jim_Mullin) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jim_Mullin\/status\/838656206457614340\"\u003EMarch 6, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E Until such time that the gauntlet is picked up, here is what we have on tap at the arena forever known as the Halifax Metro Centre on Thursday:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ENo. 2 Carleton vs. No. 7 Calgary, 11 a.m. ET.\u003C\/b\u003E The \"never con a con artist\" principle probably transfers over to any attempt to practise dollar-store sports psychology from a distance on a Dave Smart team. However, losing the No. 1 seed to Ryerson granted Carleton with two things it wanted. They tip off six hours earlier than Ryerson on Thursday and would be in the early semifinal on Saturday. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe loss also helps Carleton snap to attention. In 2006, '07, '11, '14 and '16, they didn't win the OUA banner but went on to capture the W.P. McGee Trophy.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ENo. 3 McGill vs. No. 6 Manitoba, 1 p.m. ET. \u003C\/b\u003EMcGill us an .800 team (21-5) which won its conference without really seeing a formidable team in the playoffs and Alberta is a .700 team (24-10) that can de described similarly. That is why the Redmen rate the No. 3 seed. That and the need to avoid a same-conference matchup.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ENo. 1 Ryerson vs. No. 8 Saint Mary's, 5 p.m. ET. \u003C\/b\u003ECalgary and Carleton have the highest combined scoring averages in any first-round matchup, but the potential for a 5-on-5 40-minute game of H-O-R-S-E probably resides in the day's third game. Ryerson is fourth at 86.2 points and Saint Mary's is fifth at 84.3.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETen years ago, also in Halifax, Saint Mary's was the No. 8 seed and upended Concordia in the quarter-final. No doubt SMU's history as a low seed -- they were No. 7 when they won in 1999 -- will form a convenient if dated narrative.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn that vein, both Thursday evening sessions the last two years have involved an overtime game where the higher seed was on the ropes in the last half-minute of regulation time. \u003Ci\u003ECould it happen again?!\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ENo. 4 Alberta vs. No. 5 Dalhousie, 7 p.m. ET.\u003C\/b\u003E The Tigers have got away with some slow starts but probably cannot afford one against Alberta. The Golden Bears are too imposing.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBack to Brockgate for a second ... it is understandable why people expected the Badgers to get the wild card. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOntario has had at least three teams in the tournament for five years in a row and 13 of the last 14. On reflection, one can see how that would have conditioned expectations that Brock was in line for a tournament ticket when it earned the OUA bronze medal by defeating Ottawa, who's been going to the Final 8 on the regular. \u003Ci\u003EWe defeated you, so don't we become you now?\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt the same time, even if Ottawa had earned the OUA bronze, Calgary probably still gets picked.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/7607790612452382942\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/03\/basketball-ryerson-carleton-mcgill-1-2.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7607790612452382942"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7607790612452382942"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/03\/basketball-ryerson-carleton-mcgill-1-2.html","title":"Basketball: Ryerson, Carleton, McGill 1-2-3 for men's Final 8, Calgary gets wild card"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-6421236026011043453"},"published":{"$t":"2017-03-05T12:47:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-03-05T14:04:53.715-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bronze Baby Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Gaels"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Martlets"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Regina Cougars"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"U of S Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Vikes"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Bronze Baby Bracketology: Carleton likely wrests No. 1 seed; will committee split up OUA and Canada West"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"A juxtaposition of the sportgeist in Canada in 2017. On Friday in Kingston, 700 people watched the men's team in our national sporting obsession play for a berth in the Canadian championship. On Saturday, there was a turn-away crowd of 1,900-plus to watch the women's basketball team at the same school. Don't worry, surely no one in a position of influence to do anything about the media coverage noticed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ENo \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/CritelliCup?src=hash\"\u003E#CritelliCup\u003C\/a\u003E victory would be complete without... A selfie with the hardware! Congrats \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CURavens\"\u003E@CURavens\u003C\/a\u003E! \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/OUA?src=hash\"\u003E#OUA\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/QuestfotheCup?src=hash\"\u003E#QuestfotheCup\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pnMlWQa4Vk\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/pnMlWQa4Vk\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— OUA (@OUAsport) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OUAsport\/status\/838238938242367488\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EA sold-out Critelli Cup with a capacity 1,904 at the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/queensu\"\u003E@queensu\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/QueensARC\"\u003E@QueensARC\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/queensgaels\"\u003E@queensgaels\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zFRp1fN5jJ\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/zFRp1fN5jJ\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— OUA (@OUAsport) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OUAsport\/status\/838208438190673921\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003E. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WindsorWBB\"\u003E@windsorwbb\u003C\/a\u003E coach Chantal Vallee a good sport with her likeness from \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/queensgaels\"\u003E@queensgaels\u003C\/a\u003E fans at \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OUAsport\"\u003E@OUAsport\u003C\/a\u003E final four \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zYdi56iBmW\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/zYdi56iBmW\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Ian MacAlpine (@IanMacAlpine) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IanMacAlpine\/status\/838193042104463360\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E Anyway, the carefully plotted brackets have been reduced to rumble like the protagonist in the second act of a Will Ferrell comedy:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003ERegina has the \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/usportshoops.ca\/history\/standings-overall.php?Gender=WBB\u0026amp;Season=2016-17\u0026amp;Focus=CIS\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Enation's highest winning percentage\u003C\/a\u003E, highest SRS of any automatic qualifier and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/usportshoops.ca\/history\/rankings-rpi.php?Gender=WBB\u0026amp;Season=2016-17\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eprobably the highest RPI\u003C\/a\u003E if playoff games were counted. The Canada West banner, though, is presumably in Saskatchewan coach \u003Cb\u003ELisa Thomaidis\u003C\/b\u003E' office and not in Regina coach\u003Cb\u003E Dave Taylor\u003C\/b\u003E's at this writing, though.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPro tip: never let the championship banner out of your sight, what with the memorabilia market being what it is these days.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECarleton was the third seed in the OUA and this site's SRS had them fourth, but under traditional standings they would have finished first with an 18-1 record and a tiebreaker against Queen's.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESaskatchewan is the lone top seed to emerge as a playoff champion\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEach bye team at AUS Final 6 was ousted on Saturday, setting up an unlikely Acadia-Cape Breton final on Sunday. Acadia has \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/usportshoops.ca\/history\/team-coachseasons.php?Gender=WBB\u0026amp;Team=Acadia\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Edoubled its postseason win total from this century within the last 48 hours\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EAny way, the opinion here is that after defeating McMaster on a neutral floor in an auto-berth game and holding Queen's to its fourth-lowest and lowest scoring outputs of the season on the Gaels' home floor, the Ravens have to be No. 1. \u003Cb\u003EHeather Lindsay\u003C\/b\u003E, \u003Cb\u003ECatherine Traer\u003C\/b\u003E, \u003Cb\u003EElizaberth Leblanc\u003C\/b\u003E, et al., smothered -- what else do you call it? -- two very good teams this weekend.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe first four are Carleton, Regina, Queen's and Saskatchewan. It's hard to see how Regina should be any lower than No. 2, even if it is the Canada West runner-up. Saskatchewan should get some bump for winning a banner, in spite of the fact it was RPI-aided.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe question is whether the committee will split them up to avoid potential rematches in the semifinal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton (OUA champion).\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;Second season in a row OUA has a first-time women's basketball champion. Ryerson did so last season, also on the road, and went on to silver nationally.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERegina (Canada West auto berth)\u003C\/b\u003E. They've very capable of \u003Cb\u003EGiles\u003C\/b\u003E!\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaskatchewan (Canada West champion).\u003C\/b\u003E Shout-out to Huskies wing \u003Cb\u003EMegan Lindquist\u003C\/b\u003E, who went the full 40 minutes in both games this weekend. They lost a lot from the 2016 championship team, but still had \u003Cb\u003ESabine Dukate\u003C\/b\u003E to keep a firm handle on the offence.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EQueen's (OUA auto-berth).\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003EThe guiding thought was to rank the teams in order of merit. There is nothing in the rules about putting \u0026nbsp;a conference's two reps on opposite sides so they can meet in the final and avoid meeting in the semifinal.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcGill (RSEQ champion).\u003C\/b\u003E Six conference titles in a row.\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EHere's my second video of \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MartletBBall\"\u003E@MartletBBall\u003C\/a\u003E celebrating their 6th straight \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RSEQ1\"\u003E@RSEQ1\u003C\/a\u003E 🏆. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USPORTSca\"\u003E@USPORTSca\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1ig4UzmFv6\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/1ig4UzmFv6\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E— Casey Leigh Dulson (@Casey_Dulson) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Casey_Dulson\/status\/838243005236658177\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EHere's my video of \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MartletBBall\"\u003E@MartletBBall\u003C\/a\u003E winning their 6th straight \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RSEQ1\"\u003E@RSEQ1\u003C\/a\u003E 🏆 this afternoon. \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2JDU1Zy6I1\"\u003Epic.twitter.com\/2JDU1Zy6I1\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E— Casey Leigh Dulson (@Casey_Dulson) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Casey_Dulson\/status\/838241860560773120\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECape Breton (AUS champion).\u003C\/b\u003E When they were losing five consecutive games late in the regular season, they weren't gettin' killed out there, they were getting mad! Congrats Capers!\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ECongratulations to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gocapersgo\"\u003E@gocapersgo\u003C\/a\u003E on winning the Subway AUS Women's basketball championships with a score of 79-61 over \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AcadiaAthletics\"\u003E@AcadiaAthletics\u003C\/a\u003E!\u003C\/div\u003E— AUS_SUA (@AUS_SUA) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AUS_SUA\/status\/838460906027778049\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003ECongratulations to Colleen Keane from \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gocapersgo\"\u003E@gocapersgo\u003C\/a\u003E on earning the tournament MVP at the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SUBWAYCanada\"\u003E@SUBWAYCanada\u003C\/a\u003E AUS women's basketball championships!\u003C\/div\u003E— AUS_SUA (@AUS_SUA) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AUS_SUA\/status\/838463302527303691\"\u003EMarch 5, 2017\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ELaval (at large). \u003C\/b\u003EThey have the criteria. Walt White had the chemistry.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EVictoria (host). \u003C\/b\u003EAnd what a fine host they are.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/6421236026011043453\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/03\/bronze-baby-bracketology-carleton.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/6421236026011043453"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/6421236026011043453"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/03\/bronze-baby-bracketology-carleton.html","title":"Bronze Baby Bracketology: Carleton likely wrests No. 1 seed; will committee split up OUA and Canada West"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-3297072656712606370"},"published":{"$t":"2017-02-15T13:07:00.002-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2017-02-15T13:07:47.703-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bronze Baby Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Gaels"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Regina Cougars"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Hooray for random results (and offensive rebounding) ... Bronze Baby Bracketology, 3 weeks out"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Last weekend's results, namely Carleton earning an eight-point victory on Queen's court, hastens re-extrapolating. Carleton has run the table in league play since that inexplicable road defeat against Algoma in November. Somehow, the one-loss teams in Ontario are respectively Nos. 4 and 5 in the coaches' poll while the Marauders remain No. 2, even though they were defeated soundly by one team and lost at home to the other. Is there strategic voting happening? Quite possibly. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn Canada West, No. 9 Saskatchewan is \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.canadawest.org\/sports\/wbkb\/2016-17\/standings\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Etop seed for the RPI-offs\u003C\/a\u003E, with the 2-3-4 slots filled by Regina (ranked No. 3 nationally), Winnipeg (No. 7) and unranked Alberta. Based on the consensus of the cognoscenti, then, the conference's two best teams are on course to play for an auto-bid. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003ERather than be capricious and arbitary -- see, \u003Cb\u003EStephen Miller\u003C\/b\u003E is not the only one who can use bigly words to betray that he's easily threatened -- we'll go strictly by the poll for seeding this one.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ELaval (RSEQ champion).\u003C\/b\u003E They have scored 90 points twice in conference play. Their male brethren have hit 80 once.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERegina (Canada West champion).\u003C\/b\u003E They have defeated Winnipeg on its floor, so the Cougars would seem eminently capable of doing so on a neutral floor.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcMaster (OUA champion).\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;If they are as good as the poll says they are, then the Marauders should be able to win out, upend Carleton in the play-in semifinal and then win the Critelli Cup to get the top spot out of Ontario.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-lEiDuSctHaw\/WKSVzdh0NlI\/AAAAAAAADOc\/YsR2iWX_-pk1_d-wTm37GTSgJWBcEOv1gCLcB\/s1600\/feb15.oua.wbb.rpi.projn.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"582\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-lEiDuSctHaw\/WKSVzdh0NlI\/AAAAAAAADOc\/YsR2iWX_-pk1_d-wTm37GTSgJWBcEOv1gCLcB\/s640\/feb15.oua.wbb.rpi.projn.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EQueen's (OUA finalist).\u003C\/b\u003E The first-in-RPI Gaels will have benefit of home-court advantage throughout the Critelli Cup playoffs. Carleton was full value for its 60-52 win last Friday, but the Ravens made 8-of-18 treys against the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/oua.ca\/sports\/wbkb\/2016-17\/teams?sort=\u0026amp;r=0\u0026amp;pos=def\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ebest three-point defending team in OUA\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and the Gaels were 2-of-10 from deep against the 14th-ranked three-point defending team. That 18-point gap was the game story.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is likely no chance of a rematch between Carleton and Queen's until the Critelli Cup or the Final 8. Queen's is in line to get either Ryerson and Windsor in the semifinal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaskatchewan (Canada West finalist). \u003C\/b\u003EYes, there would be poetic (in)justice if the teams who were each first in RPI go head-to-head at nationals.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf Alberta gets knocked out in the quarter-finals, then there's a potential Winnipeg-Saskatchewan play-in Canada West semifinal. Winnipeg has already defeated Saskatchewan twice.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaint Mary's (AUS champion). \u003C\/b\u003ERemember they defeated Carleton and played close scores against the other members of the Ontario triad shortly after Christmas.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton (at large).\u003C\/b\u003E Have a higher spot in the polls than Winnipeg and one fewer loss in conference play. The Wesmen are 5-1 against the other teams included in this exercise and the Ravens are 5-2. That also comes into play. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EVictoria (host).\u003C\/b\u003E Their seeding ain't changing, barring a miracle run.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/3297072656712606370\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/02\/hooray-for-random-results-and-offensive.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3297072656712606370"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3297072656712606370"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2017\/02\/hooray-for-random-results-and-offensive.html","title":"Hooray for random results (and offensive rebounding) ... Bronze Baby Bracketology, 3 weeks out"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-lEiDuSctHaw\/WKSVzdh0NlI\/AAAAAAAADOc\/YsR2iWX_-pk1_d-wTm37GTSgJWBcEOv1gCLcB\/s72-c\/feb15.oua.wbb.rpi.projn.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-7522861567187198986"},"published":{"$t":"2016-10-23T10:53:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-10-23T11:02:33.568-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Gaels"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Hawks"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Marauders"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"OUA Football Recap"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"OUA football: Western, Laurier get byes, Ottawa-Carleton \u0026 Guelph-McMaster in quarters"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Paraphrasing Bud-Lite Kaminski in the 1993 cinematic masterpiece \u003Ci\u003EThe Program\u003C\/i\u003E, \"Great Week 9 in OUA football -- wish I'd seen it.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(Half-full disclose: the stuff one watches on YouTube on the weekend while packing up to move to a new city and also tracking down Canadian divers who are 12 time zones away in Malaysia \u0026nbsp;never ceases to amaze.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELong story short, OUA shook out in way that could have been foreseen in August: Western in first, Laurier, McMaster and Carleton getting a home playoff game, and Ottawa being inscrutable Air Raid team. The Ravens will have their first on-campus playoff game since 1986, while the rivals in the nation's capital will meet in the post-season for the first time since '96.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnyway, now that the IV drip of Red Bull is inserted, we have narratives:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWestern got a good scare from McMaster, a potential Yates Cup opponent, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lfpress.com\/2016\/10\/22\/football-stangs-finish-first-with-win-over-mcmaster\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eafter squeaking by 19-18\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;in a first-place battle. It was a wind-affected game, which certainly hurt the probability of success, but chances are the weather will not better for the Yates on Nov. 12.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EChris Merchant\u003C\/b\u003E,\u003Cb\u003E Alex Taylor \u003C\/b\u003Eand Co. were 30 points and 200-plus yards below their seasonal average. And as Morris Dalla Costa's column notes, \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.lfpress.com\/2016\/10\/22\/football-stangs-finish-first-with-win-over-mcmaster\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ewith third-and one with 30 seconds left, for some reason, the Mustangs’ left\u003Cb\u003E Simon Bahru \u003C\/b\u003Eall alone in coverage. The Marauder receiver got behind in but quarterback\u003Cb\u003E Asher Hastings \u003C\/b\u003Emissed him\u003C\/a\u003E.\" Western typically doesn't repeat mistakes or leave their leaks unattended, which is why they are always playing into November.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWestern prevailed on the margin of a missed field goal single after\u003Cb\u003E John Biewald \u003C\/b\u003Egot downfield to make the tackle two yards deep in the end zone. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOne is welcome to the Hot Take that a Carleton-Western semifinal would be a de facto championship game. Those are the two squads with the best offensive lines, and capable front sevens on the other side of the ball. Each has explosion play capability in the third phase.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOne presumes Laurier defensive coordinator\u003Cb\u003E Ron VanMoerkerke\u003C\/b\u003E might have glean some things from seeing how McMaster defended against Western. The upshot for the No. 2 seed Golden Hawks is they have the bye, but the three-score loss in London still has some stickiness. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMany good teams have got it right the second time. Four of the last eight OUA champions finished second in the regular season (2008 and '10 Western, 2011 McMaster and 2015 Guelph).\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOnly Western, in 2007, has won the conference without benefit of the bye.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Carleton Ravens' path to the Yates goes through two teams they have defeated, Ottawa next week and potentially Western in the semifinal (although Western in November and Western on a hot summer night on Labour Day weekend ain't one and the same).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe way McMaster and\u003Cb\u003E Mike Kashak\u003C\/b\u003E (11½ sacks) get after it gives them a strong shot at being the second. (If they get upset by Guelph, this bullet point never happened.) Likewise, being in the 4 seed might work out for Carleton.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETo the Jim Mullin Red Book! It can be ascertained that an Ottawa-Carleton postseason matchup has happened twice, in 1986 at Keith Harris Stadium and 1996 at Frank Clair Stadium. Each was a 4 vs. 1 semifinal, and the home team prevailed each time.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn 1970 and '73, Ottawa and Carleton also finished first and fourth respectively. In 1967, they were second and third in the 12-team Central Canada Intercollegiate Football Conference (where were the marketing people to shorten that name?)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECoach of the week honours to the Gee-Gees' Jamie Barresi, one for going for the high-reward all-or-nothing plays twice to defeat Queen's 42-41 in overtime.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs you might have heard, all-Canadian\u0026nbsp;candidate Mitch Baines grabbed a tipped pass for the winning two-point convert.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ou3rfHezevY?start=30\" width=\"560\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003Eddd\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs Barresi explained: \"It meant everything to get that sixth win. The fact of the matter is that we learned from last year’s overtime against Carleton. That was a big lesson learned because we should have ended it then. Today, the players on the bench were in my ear a bit to go for it – we knew had a play. We all felt confident about it, and they urged me on to do it. But right away I thought about that Panda Game last year.\" \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBarresi and the Gee-Gees also went 'double or nothing' on the last play of the first half. Queen's \u003Cb\u003EChris Osei-Kusi\u003C\/b\u003E fumbled while trying to return a well-short 55-yard field goal attempt and Ottawa recovered with 10 seconds left. Ottawa worked the shallow cross \/ wheel combo pattern perfectly so that\u003Cb\u003E Bryce Vieira\u003C\/b\u003E was wide-open for an easy touchdown, cutting Queen's lead to nine points.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Gees had a lot of mental outs: bad loss to Western, dank weather, the prospect of being locked into fifth place since Carleton was 99.98 per cent likely to win at Waterloo. They made it matter.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA sign of being in the upper quadrant of second-rate minds is believing Queen's can be held to account for the Homecoming \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/10\/football-queens-failing-to-fill-new.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Edebacle\u003C\/a\u003E,\" while having a heart for the coaches and players. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA season-ending\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;walk-off\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;must feel devastating. Queen's defensive back \u003Cb\u003EJason Shamatutu\u003C\/b\u003E, who tipped the ball, did his job by reading and side-shuffling into the window \u003Cb\u003EDerek Wendel\u003C\/b\u003E had to throw to Baines. The ball just happened to deflect right to a likely all-Canadian receiver.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Gaels hung in while losing starting QB \u003Cb\u003ENate Hobbs\u003C\/b\u003E, and having another injury-dictated change in the kicking game.\u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;Kyle Gouveia \u003C\/b\u003Ehad\u0026nbsp;a decent 17-of-26, 172-yard, two-TD passing line in relief on a wet day. They also had\u0026nbsp;a contacting the kicker penalty that extended Ottawa for a field goal drive in the third quarter.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESo Baines put Queen's out of the playoffs, and put Guelph and his brother, OLB\u003Cb\u003E Riley Baines\u003C\/b\u003E, into the playoffs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWendel upped his CIS single-season completions record to 232. Regina's\u003Cb\u003E Noah Picton\u003C\/b\u003E has 197 heading into his final game at Manitoba on Saturday. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is a chance, then, that Wendel could have a national record nicked by a Canada West QB. Last season, of course, he got the passing yards mark with 3,136, which set the bar for Calgary's \u003Cb\u003EAndrew Buckley\u003C\/b\u003E to go off against Alberta and finish with 3,162.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EEnjoy the playoffs.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/7522861567187198986\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/10\/oua-football-western-laurier-get-byes.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7522861567187198986"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7522861567187198986"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/10\/oua-football-western-laurier-get-byes.html","title":"OUA football: Western, Laurier get byes, Ottawa-Carleton \u0026 Guelph-McMaster in quarters"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/ou3rfHezevY\/default.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-7812730314818941235"},"published":{"$t":"2016-10-08T15:02:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-10-08T15:03:12.417-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"OUA Football Recap"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"OUA football: Scrambling, rambling thoughts; Western-Ottawa play with first at stake, Guelph, Queen's and Windsor have must-wins "},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Week 8 includes a 'first and third' scenerio with Western visiting Ottawa, who are each unblemished apart from road defeats against Carleton.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMeantime, Guelph is up against Laurier, and Windsor's is at Queen's. Three of those four teams are fighting for their postseason life.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E1. Western (5-1). Remaining: bye, @Ottawa, McMaster\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStyles make fights. Western's juggernaut rushing game, accentuated by Chris Merchant, goes against a fast but undersized Gee-Gees defence on Saturday. Meantime, Derek Wendel, who made a 514-yard night look routine against York, will try to test the Mustangs defence.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf this game were Sept. 15, Ottawa would stand a stronger shot. The seasonal change probably works in Western's favour, but a Jamie Barresi offence should make the Gees a tough out at home.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-2. Laurier (5-1). Remaining: Guelph, @Windsor\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Golden Hawks, back in the day, were everyone's second-favourite OUA team. Wonder if that will be the case when they have a chance to help Guelph appreciate the concept of \u003Ci\u003Esic transit gloria\u003C\/i\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-2. Ottawa (5-1). Remaining: Western, @Queen's\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe million-dollar questions about the Gee-Gees stem from the line of scrimmage, on each side of the ball. Their biggest O-lineman,\u003Cb\u003E Ibra Ndiaye\u003C\/b\u003E (brain injury protocol), was held out against York. Sack leader\u003Cb\u003E Sam Randazzo \u003C\/b\u003Ealso did not play. Ottawa is first-rank in the passing phase with a varied repertory among the receivers and some fluid coverage in the second and third levels. The offensive line and the pass rush count as question marks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOttawa had a punt blocked against York. Western will surely try to block another.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-2. McMaster (5-1). Remaining: \u0026nbsp;@York, @Western\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGetting 36 points against Queen's with one offensive touchdown, that's pretty amazing. No one seems able to contend with The Power That Is\u003Cb\u003E Mike Kashak\u003C\/b\u003E, who had 4½ sacks and a 'hockey assist' on a defensive TD after forcing a fumble that was recovered in the end zone. The lack of finish in the score zone is concerning.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMcMaster (+8) has the tiebreaker advantage over Ottawa (+2) and Carleton (-10), should they all end up either 5-3 or 6-2. Carleton would have it over Ottawa, since they won the head-to-head matchup.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E5. Carleton (5-2). Remaining: bye, @Waterloo\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton is closing in on a home game, although it is likely contingent on an Ottawa defeat.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnly flies on the was a slow start during the 53-10 rout against Windsor. It was 4-4 early in the second quarter. Then, p \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-6. Queen's (2-4). Remaining: Windsor, Ottawa\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELegit playoff team, or are they just collecting W's against weaker teams? Queen's did little to disabuse any of the latter suspicion while going touchdown-free against McMaster. Queen's has scored 20 or fewer points in 4-of-6 games.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-6. York (2-4). Remaining: McMaster, @Guelph\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is talent in Lions territory; \u003Cb\u003EBrett Hunchak \u003C\/b\u003Ehas a fantastic arm at this level and his 329 yards on Friday was the most any team has had against Ottawa. York under offensive minds Kyle Quinlan and Kamau Peterson is playing exciting football, even when they they are losing by 20.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe degeneration on defence was stark. On top of the 741 yards (528 aerially) against Ottawa, the Lions committed some undisciplined penalties. There was a bad hit to the head on Gee-Gees cornerback\u003Cb\u003E Ty Cranston \u003C\/b\u003Ewhile he was catching a short punt. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-6. Windsor (2-4). Remaining: @Queen's, Laurier\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETallied only 231 yards against Carleton, and 164 came through\u003Cb\u003E Tarrence Crawford\u003C\/b\u003E. As an observer, it was frustrating to see an underdog miss opportunities.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBoth of their sudden-change takeovers inside Carleton's 30-yard line only produced\u003Cb\u003E Clark Green \u003C\/b\u003Efield goals. On the first instance, Nick Vincent recovered a fumbled punt on Carleton's 27. An illegal procedure penalty negated a first-down completion, and then a swing pass to Crawford on second-and-11 only got 10 yards. On third-and-1, Windsor kicked the field goal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn the third, an end-over-end kickoff ricocheted off Windsor's \u003Cb\u003EEvan Martin\u003C\/b\u003E and rolled to\u003Cb\u003E Kaeden Walls\u003C\/b\u003E, who turned a broken play into a 71-yard return to Carleton's 25. All the Lancers could do with that fluky play, and a defensive holding on the next down, was a two-yard rush and an overthrown fade route that someone who never played football could tell was coming.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDoes anyone else get annoyed by that?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003Et-6. Guelph (2-4). Remaining: @Laurier, York\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGuelph-Laurier is essentially a playoff game. The Gryphons are playing for their postseason life, and the Golden Hawks would stay in the bye hunt.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/7812730314818941235\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/10\/oua-football-scrambling-rambling.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7812730314818941235"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7812730314818941235"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/10\/oua-football-scrambling-rambling.html","title":"OUA football: Scrambling, rambling thoughts; Western-Ottawa play with first at stake, Guelph, Queen's and Windsor have must-wins "}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-6705475687334968863"},"published":{"$t":"2016-08-30T16:02:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-08-31T10:21:29.178-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bisons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Carabins"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS football"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Hawks"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gryphons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Marauders"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mounties"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Rouge et Or"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Stingers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Top 10"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"U of S Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UBC Thunderbirds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"X-Men"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#Top10VoterProblems: UBC opens the season No. 1, by slim margin over Montréal"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"A buzzsaw named \u003Cb\u003EDeezar \u003C\/b\u003Ecame through B.C. last weekend, but that was not enough to change voters' minds for the first football Top 10 of the season.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EVoters in the poll have free reign to decide how much stock to give to exhibition results, such as Manitoba's 50-7 win against defending national champion UBC last Friday at Westhills Stadium on Vancouver. Those games aren't played at full intensity, and the road team is often coming with a lean travel squad whereas the hosts will carry extra players.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe first poll of the season is always as the hardest; an invisible hand -- thank you, \u003Cb\u003EAdam Smith\u003C\/b\u003E -- tends to help a consensus develop. Six teams got at least one No. 1 vote, and there seems to be strong consensus around eight teams. That's really all that should be ranked, but for marketing purposes, you need 10 teams. A novel total would break the haters' brains.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUBC Thunderbirds (266, 20):\u003C\/b\u003E Never been a fan of the 'they are champs until proven otherwise' argument, since it defeats the purpose of having an opinion about who is the best. The 'Birds are young, but they showed last season that the early stages of a season aren't a be-all.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMontreal (261, five):\u003C\/b\u003E The line out of the Carabins' camp: \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.tvasports.ca\/2016\/08\/29\/la-carte-cachee-des-carabins\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EEven the pope is replaceable\u003C\/a\u003E.\" New quarterback\u003Cb\u003E Samuel Caron\u003C\/b\u003E has been in the system for a few seasons, and aged-out\u003Cb\u003E Gabriel Cousineau \u003C\/b\u003Ehas stayed on as an assistant coach. Time will tell how U de M manages the transition.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ELaval (218):\u003C\/b\u003E For the first time in memory, Laval comes out of the chute without someone thinking they are No. 1. They are rebuilding, relatively, and perhaps the age cap finally is starting to have an effect.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWestern (188, two):\u003C\/b\u003E As a greater mind put it, good to see the blowout issue has been addressed in Ontario! The Mustangs beat Windsor by 72 points in the opener. Last season, they met in Week 1 and Western won by 69. Defensive lineman \u003Cb\u003EJohn Biewald\u003C\/b\u003E, who was in camp with the Ottawa RedBlacks, returns to #The613 for Sunday's game against Carleton. As if he won't find motivation intrinsically.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EManitoba (182, one): \u003C\/b\u003ESomeone put stock in the wipeout at Westshore, judging from the first-place vote. \u003Cb\u003ETheo Deezar\u003C\/b\u003E had three touchdown passes. The Bisons welcome in Calgary on Thursday.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EGuelph (177): \u003C\/b\u003EAll three rotational tailbacks got exactly 11 totes against U of T, with aptly named \u003Cb\u003EMack Jones \u003C\/b\u003Ecounting 92 yards and two TDs. Outside linebacker \u003Cb\u003ERiley Baines\u003C\/b\u003E, who missed the Yates Cup season while upgrading some courses, made his return with a sack last week.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECalgary (147, two):\u003C\/b\u003E Lose the Hardy Cup two seasons in a row and everyone forgets you have been pretty damn good for a long time. I put Calgary in my top 5, and not just because new QB1 \u003Cb\u003EJimmy Underdahl\u003C\/b\u003E is a left-hander, which is rare in three-down football for reasons no one has ever been able to explain.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcMaster (146, one): Asher Hastings\u003C\/b\u003E,\u003Cb\u003E Dan Vandervoort \u003C\/b\u003Eand the whole Maroon and Grey gang averaged 9.8 yards per play in the 40-10 win against Carleton. Mac's September slate is Toronto-Waterloo-Ottawa-bye, so there might be some opportunity to be a little experimental before that circled date on the calendar, Oct. 1 vs. Guelph. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOn little more than a hunch, I had Mac at No. 4 with Montréal, Western, Calgary as the top three and Laval at No. 5.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton (37):\u003C\/b\u003E The Ravens certainly were caught off-guard against McMaster, and it doesn't get much easier with Western coming to the nation's capital on Sunday. It is a pivotal season for CU, since underachieving is going to slow the momentum the program had at the launch phase. A greater concern than the 30-point loss is that key defender\u003Cb\u003E D'Sean Thelwell \u003C\/b\u003Egot banged up last Sunday. Still a good chance of being a 6-2 team.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ELaurier (37):\u003C\/b\u003E Since the other two big-boy conferences have yet to play, having a fourth OUA team as a placeholder at No. 10 makes sense. There's some evidence on them, compared to Concordia or Saskatchewan. Laurier's Onyekas were outstanding against Queen's: \u003Cb\u003ENakus Onyeka \u003C\/b\u003Ehad nine tackles and two sacks, whereas \u003Cb\u003EGodfrey Onyeka \u003C\/b\u003Ehoused an interception return for the ahead-for-good TD.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003EAlso receiving votes: Concordia (18), Saskatchewan (13), St. Francis Xavier (6), Mount Allison (5), Sherbrooke (2).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;3½\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/6705475687334968863\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/08\/top10voterproblems-ubc-opens-season-no.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/6705475687334968863"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/6705475687334968863"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/08\/top10voterproblems-ubc-opens-season-no.html","title":"#Top10VoterProblems: UBC opens the season No. 1, by slim margin over Montréal"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-5234110368018998570"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-21T02:28:00.002-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T08:34:50.163-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#CISFinal8: Carleton nets 101, highest championship game total in 44 years"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — Pun time: Carleton gave a master class in Basketball 101. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Carleton Ravens had their own Sweet 16, as in the number of three-point baskets they sank during their 101-79 CIS Final 8 championship-game win against the Calgary Dinos. It was a far cry off from the score in the previous championship game in Vancouver in 1972, when UBC defeated Windsor 117-84 without benefit of a shot clock or three-point line. Still, it's notable when a team does something that hasn't happened in the national final in 44 years.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was a classic example of Carleton getting their players dialed in for the final challenge. Graduating guard Gavin Resch hit the first and was afforded open look after open look, making 6-of-12 triple tries for 18 points.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I shot so poorly in the first two games that i figured my luck would have to even out eventually,\" said Resch, who was 4-of-15 on threes against Thompson Rivers and Dalhousie. \"Once I hit the first I felt good and kept shooting.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWith the Ravens setting tight ball screens, that Calgary never seemed to adjust to, the looks were wide-open. Four players tripled in the first 10 minutes. Tournament MVP Connor Wood (22, 5-of-12 from deep), centre and B.C. native Cam Smythe (2-of-4) and rookie T.J. Lall (2-of-2) all had multiple triples.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"They shot the ball well, and we didn't provide a whole lot of resistance,\" Calgary coach\u003Cb\u003E Dan Vanhooren \u003C\/b\u003Esaid. \"The game was going up and down, the style we played all year, We couldn't keep it in front of us, and they hit a lot of three-balls.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECalgary was 20-of-25 at the free-throw line to Carleton's 5-of-10. It still lost by 22. The Dinos shot an effective 45 per cent (19-of-38 twos, 7-of-28 threes). Carleton was an effective 59.3% (24-of-45, 16-of-36).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"We haven't had 16 threes shot against us all year,\" said Dinos star\u003Cb\u003E Thomas Cooper\u003C\/b\u003E, who had a game-high 25 points but also was charged with nine turnovers.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe century points came when forward\u003Cb\u003E Ryan Ejim \u003C\/b\u003E(12 points) tapped in a miss in the final minute. In past finals, Carleton has eased off the throttle in a semiconscious effort not hit triple digits.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe point was made to Smart that he can point out to Dave Smart that breaking 100 in a championship game occurred on his watch.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"That's a pretty good jab, I'll have to use that,\" the interim coach said.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/5234110368018998570\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-carleton-nets-101-highest.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5234110368018998570"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5234110368018998570"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-carleton-nets-101-highest.html","title":"#CISFinal8: Carleton nets 101, highest championship game total in 44 years"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-3811975541272891753"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-21T02:15:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T08:34:50.143-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#CISFinal8: Rob Smart gets his title, notes assist from Dave Smart: 'As much as he drives me crazy, Dave knows how to win basketball games'"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — Rob Smart declared that he is a one-time CIS championship-winning coach. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"He's back, he's back, there's a lot of family time for me, he's back right away,\" Smart coolly stated when asked about his uncle Dave Smart, who took a sabbatical from the sidelines this season.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere was speculation, of course, in August when Dave Smart availed himself of his right as an employee to have a personal leave. The 16-year head coach, who's also an assistant to Jay Triano with the senior men's national team, averred at the time that a break was essential to keeping roots in Ottawa with his spouse, Emily and two young sons, Theo and Gabriel.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt might also read like it was opportunity for Rob Smart to get his due by being the coach of record, for a season. Smart juggled the expanded role while he and his wife were having their third son, and while teaching in Carleton's Sprott School of Business.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Rob's been fantastic this year,\" said Gavin Resch, the graduating guard who scored 18 points on Sunday against Calgary, making 6-of-12 triples. \"The change of pace, it was good, because it made it feel like we could all stand to make adjustments, It was a really fun year. He's got a million things going on. He's a professor, his third child was born this year. It's just fantastic for him.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would only be confirmation bias to suggest the change of messenger unlocked something for the Ravens as they went on to another CIS title, the sixth in a row and 12th in 14 seasons.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It's tough to compare the two because they do things similar,\" said fourth-year guard Connor Wood, who was named tournament MVP after scoring 22 points on Sunday. \"I really like the way Rob coaches. He really leads and really got us focused\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Rob will joke around a little more,\" Wood related.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton did a good job of, to quote from \u003Ci\u003ELetterkenny\u003C\/i\u003E, taking 20 per cent of the normal preseason expectations. There is no such thing as a no-pressure situation in that program, with the way the bar has been set and with the way that observers, even those who support the Ravens 100 per cent, look for any slivers of evidence that they are slipping from the perch.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere's just the outcome, that with the better-known Smart stepping away, there was a slightly different vibe, but the same result. Dave Smart stayed behind the scenes until the midway portion of the regular season, when Carleton lost thrice in a four-week span, with an 18-point loss at Ryerson sandwiched between both ends of a sweep by Ottawa. Against Ryerson and in the second Ottawa game, there were a lot desultory threes, instead of confidently flicked ones facilitated by a ball screen.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Dave's really involved, he's involved with the mental side a lot,\" Rob Smart, 37, said. \"He's helped our coaches with the mental side a lot. I got to be honest, I'm first-year, about halfway through I realized, 'I don't know how to win games, my team's playing differently. I really need to sit down with him.'\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"As much as he drives me crazy, Dave knows how to win basketball games. As a first-year coach, his advice is unbelievably valuable.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"In the Ottawa games [both losses], our team looked mentally different,\" Smart added. \"He just helped us with details, \u0026nbsp;little things that he's learned through hard losses, most of which I played in.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResch and \u003Cb\u003EGuillaume Boucard\u003C\/b\u003E, the fifth-years, are graduating. From the sound of it, Dave Smart will be refreshed when Carleton readies for 2016-17, with Wood and Kaza Kajami-Keane being the final-year players.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/3811975541272891753\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-rob-smarts-title-comes-with.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3811975541272891753"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3811975541272891753"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-rob-smarts-title-comes-with.html","title":"#CISFinal8: Rob Smart gets his title, notes assist from Dave Smart: 'As much as he drives me crazy, Dave knows how to win basketball games'"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-3157487700366596077"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-20T18:30:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T00:03:40.412-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Bears"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Men's Puck Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Patriotes"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"SMU Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"U of S Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"University Cup"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Varsity Reds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"X-Men"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Men's Puck Bracketology: Varsity Reds return to the summit; AUS medal sweep"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cb\u003EChampionship Sunday\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E— \u003Ci\u003EUNB 3 St. Francis Xavier 1\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETwo goals in 17 seconds in the mid-second put the Varsity Reds on the path, with \u003Cb\u003ERandy Gazzola\u003C\/b\u003E, the St. Catharines, Ont., native who helped Val-d'Or come one goal from the 2014 Memorial Cup, chipping in an assist from his D spot.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELooks like this was the usual muck-a-thon that prevails late in the season, that hockey types will tell you is tense and great and you can't get it since You Never Played The Game. This contest had 83 faceoffs, one each 43.37 seconds. So, it was a lot of souvenir pucks, and a lot of tedium.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGazzola, like the X-Men, has played some triple overtime. He was in that record-OT semifinal at the 2014 Cup that the Ottawa Senators' \u003Cb\u003ECurtis Lazar \u003C\/b\u003Eended in the third extra session, sending Edmonton to the final where it beasted the Guelph Storm and \u003Cb\u003ERobby Fabbri\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EBronze-medal game\u003C\/b\u003E — \u003Ci\u003ESaint Mary's 5, Saskatchewan 2\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECalder Brooks\u003C\/b\u003E (Calgary\/P.A.\/Spokane, WHL) has two goals, and he is from Emerald Park, Sask., so sick burn on his home province. Good finish for Saint Mary's, going with the bronzes in women's basketball and women's hockey. If only they could be third in AUS in football!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaturday's semifinal\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E—\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESt. Francis\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E2 Saskatchewan 1 (3OT);\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUNB \u003C\/b\u003E4 Saint Mary's 0\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERecord for longest CIS University Cup overtime, or it did not happen! Well, it \u003Ci\u003Edid\u003C\/i\u003E: \u003Cb\u003EMichael Clarke \u003C\/b\u003E(Cape Breton, QMJHL) ended the 107-minute 35-second gruelathon with the triple-OT winner in St. Francis Xavier's 2-1 decision against the Saskatchewan Huskies.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow the X-Men get to verify that there was nothing aberrant about the two-game sweep of UNB in the AUS final, when both teams were playing for the higher seed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETalking point: is this tournament showing the worth of a two-year host cycle, where the host schools rotate? St. FX was in as host last season, and no doubt that experience fed having to play more than 100 minutes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EJordon Cooke\u003C\/b\u003E (Kelowna Rockets, WHL), Saskatchewan's goalie, made 61 saves. Cooke has logged 223 minutes 46 seconds in the tournament, which normally, would mean the backup gets the next start.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMeantime, New Brunswick has won each of its games by four goals. That is not a portent of anything, plus the opposition was barely-ranked Western and Saint Mary's, the third or fourth-best AUS.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EQuestion: Should Cooke be MVP if Saskatchewan wins the bronze game? Probably a little too radical an idea, but 11 periods of hockey in 48 hours, and the goalie allowed four goals.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENo excuses for Halifax not to have a crowd. It's kismet since the hockey went to a conference for a two-year run instead of a one-off hosted by a school.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt's also the last good hockey Halifax will have till September, since the Quebec League's Mooseheads are an also-ran after reaping some \u003Ci\u003Esic transit gloria\u003C\/i\u003E. That is Latin for \"\u003Cb\u003ENik Ehlers\u003C\/b\u003E made the Jets.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFriday's\u0026nbsp;1\/8\/4\/5 pod\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;—\u0026nbsp;\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaint Mary's Huskies\u003C\/b\u003E 3\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003ETrois-Rivières Patriotes 2\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003E;\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EUNB Varsity Reds\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;5, Western Mustangs 1; \u003Cb\u003EUNB \u0026amp; SMU play the late-afternoon semifinal at 5 p.m. ET\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGiven that the Saint Mary's Huskies are bolstered by \u003Cb\u003EStephen (Birdman) MacAulay\u003C\/b\u003E, who had two primary assists in the 3-2 takedown of Trois-Rivières, it's not surprising they won in the host vs. top seed game.\u0026nbsp;Remember, MacAulay might be one of the winningest players who ever graced the Quebec League, with four finals, three President's Cup titles and Memorial Cup wins with the 2011 Sea Dogs and 2013 Mooseheads. On top of that, if there was a friendler player on any Q team at the 2010-14 Cups, he must have been a black ace who wasn't requested for interviews.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMemory of MacAulay saving a slow news day at 2012 Memorial Cup in Shawinigan. Word got around Centre Bionest that the night before, MacAulay had set a plastic bag containing a T-shirt down on his hotel room's hotplate, which was turned on, although no player owned up to it. Suddenly, there was a smell of burning plastic assailing nostrils up and down the hall. A high odor tolerance is a vocational necessity to play hockey, but eventually, Tomas Jurco went down the hall and said, \"Hey Mac, I think your room's on fire.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe point of the story is that MacAulay was cool about an awkward moment being shared in the media. Just one more reason to pay attention to the junior exes in CIS.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIncidentally, rough end to a season for UQTR 'tender\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003ESébastien Auger\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;(QMJHL, Saint John Sea Dogs). Auger was the 55-game workhorse in Saint John two seasons back when they finished second-last in the Q and had to make four visits to the Metro Centre to face the Mooseheads with Ehlers and \u003Cb\u003EJonathan Drouin\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENote on the first game: \u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EPhilippe Halley\u003C\/b\u003E would appear to be where he's needed, and where he needs to be. Halley (Gatineau\/Victoriaville, QMJHL) had a hat trick in the 5-1 V-Reds' victory against Western Mustangs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPlease remember that Halley, who was a two-time 40-goal scorer in the Q, took a shot at the Coast league two seasons ago with Gwinnett. Over 2½ seasons with \u003Cb\u003EGardiner MacDougall\u003C\/b\u003E, Halley's put up numbers at about a point-per-game rate. A hatter in a University Cup is pretty special since teams have so much time to video-analyze opponents. There are no surprises at at a hoops or hockey Final 8. That only goes for the teams, not us media types.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThursday's 2\/7\/3\/6 pod\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;— \u003Ci\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaskatchewan Huskies\u003C\/b\u003E 3, Carleton Ravens 2 (4OT); \u003Cb\u003ESt. Francis Xavier\u003C\/b\u003E X-Men 6, Alberta Golden Bears 2, so \u003Cb\u003Ewestern Huskies \u0026amp; X-Men at 1 p.m. ET on Saturday\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPour one out for Carleton's fourth-year forward\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EJoey West \u003C\/b\u003E(OHL, Peterborough Petes).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow, you heard that the longest CIS University Cup game undulated in Halifax until \u003Cb\u003EParker Thomas \u003C\/b\u003E(MJHL, Selkirk Steelers) scored in the fourth overtime to give No. 2 seed Saskatchewan \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/thestarphoenix.com\/sports\/local-sports\/u-of-s-huskies\/thomas-scores-in-4th-ot-huskies-win-longest-game-in-university-cup-history\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ethe 3-2 quarter-final win against wild-card Carleton after 116 minutes 11 seconds\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt would be a hell of a twist had Saskatchewan, after finally being the higher seed out of Canada West instead of Alberta, had lost. Huskies goalie\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EJordon Cooke\u003C\/b\u003E (WHL, Kelowna Rockets) handled 58-of-60 shots for the Huskies. Carleton's cord-cottage counterpart, \u003Cb\u003EPat Killeen\u003C\/b\u003E (OHL, Brampton Battalion) made 65 saves before Thomas poked in his own rebound for the decider.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOf course, all clichés about the end-at-any-moment tension of apply, but one keeps coming back to West, a fourth-year Ravens forward. In 2013, Carleton had also had season-ending quadruple-overtime loss, falling to Trois-Rivières in OUA playoffs. It turns out, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/english.cis-sic.ca\/championships\/mice\/2016\/boxscores_champ\/20160317_kdrt.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eat least based on Thursday's summary\u003C\/a\u003E and the HockeyDB for the '12-13 Ravens, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.hockeydb.com\/ihdb\/stats\/leagues\/seasons\/teams\/0048962013.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EWest has the only Raven who competed in both games\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003Cb\u003EFrancis Dupuis\u003C\/b\u003E was the backup goalie in both times.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt's just sports, but damn, how many people who plays 4-5 years in any team sport that can multiple-overtime games experience that \u003Ci\u003Etwice? \u003C\/i\u003EAnd West is already an OHL\/OUA rarity, as a one-team player in each league. His entire OHL tenure, which was actually only five years, was with the Peterborough Petes, and although West was universally regarded as an outstanding leader, the Petes did not win a playoff series the whole time.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAlso, Alberta's not in the semifinal? Next thing you know the province will have a NDP premier.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/3157487700366596077\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/mens-puck-bracketology-carletons-joey.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3157487700366596077"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3157487700366596077"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/mens-puck-bracketology-carletons-joey.html","title":"Men's Puck Bracketology: Varsity Reds return to the summit; AUS medal sweep"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-7207417983220020077"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-20T13:04:00.004-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T14:46:42.919-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#CISFinal8: A one-off Carleton Ravens title would be very Smart"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — Rob Smart would be the least affected if this turns out to be a one-shot deal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhether his uncle returns at 'C1' at the Ravens' Nest or \u003Cb\u003EDave Smart \u003C\/b\u003Emoves onward and upward after coaching for Canada during its bid for a spot in the 2016 Rio Olympics, the younger Smart wouldn not change. Also, regardless of who cuts down the nets after Sunday's CIS Final 8 game between the Ravens who were supposed to be rebuilding or a new challenger, one-on-one scorer extraordinaire \u003Cb\u003EThomas Cooper\u003C\/b\u003E and the Calgary Dinos, the mental framework will be the same inside the Ravens' Nest in about a week. It will be on to 2016-17.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGo figure that a team from Ottawa would know how to snow-job the lot of outside-looking-inner types. You can hear the hot takes flying off the 140-character grill: \u003Ci\u003Ewhat does it say that Carleton could win the title after Dave Smart stepped out and Phil Scrubb and Thomas Scrubb, who were each a human trump card at each end of the floor?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EIt says, actually, that the Ravens, no matter who coaches, are geared to hitting their stride on the last Sunday of the season. Like Doctor Who, the dynasty does not die, it just regenerates, with the same focused coaching staff that serves the players a game plan full of lean protein and no mental fat.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe best cross-sports analogy is probably swimming. Swimmers put in heavy training, and go to meets fully expectant that they will not post a personal best. It's all about that one weekend.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"We feel like we work the hardest throughout the year,\" said fourth-year shooting guard\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood\u003C\/b\u003E, who had nine of his 18 on Saturday when the Ravens put away Dalhousie with a 16-4 third-quarter run. \"I feel like we had a couple of losses where it was just, learning. At the end is where we start to reach our potential.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe twigs, the cogs given numbers that practically correspond to their portfolio on the parquet, grow as they were bent eons ago. So Number 10, the cocksure volume shooter, goes from\u003Cb\u003E Elliot Thompson\u003C\/b\u003E to Wood. For a further example Numbers 22 and Number 33 are twos and threes who bring a well-toned energy to the right, meaning that one cannot see\u003Cb\u003E Mitchell Wood \u003C\/b\u003Eor \u003Cb\u003EMarcus Anderson \u003C\/b\u003Emake an impact play without thinking fondly of \u003Cb\u003ECole Hobin \u003C\/b\u003Eor\u003Cb\u003E Rob Saunders \u003C\/b\u003Ea half-decade back. Number 3 is the DBO, Designated Bailout shooter, with\u003Cb\u003E Gavin Resch \u003C\/b\u003Efurnishing what \u003Cb\u003EMike Kenny\u003C\/b\u003E once did.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe two newcomers, D1-transfer lead guard\u003Cb\u003E Kaza Kajami-Keane \u003C\/b\u003Eand prep-school-groomed 7-foot big\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003ECam Smythe\u003C\/b\u003E, transferred in and wear 41 and 21, which isn't indicative of anything. Those digits were just available for the newcomers who moved in mid-eligibility.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is all about doing everything possible in order to truly \u003Ci\u003Eexpect to win\u003C\/i\u003E. That is the end goal, and honestly, it must be very fulfilling to be at a level where you don't \u003Ci\u003Ehave\u003C\/i\u003E to enjoy winning. Face it, most of us, maybe this projecting, need that confirmation of, to quote the theme song from the Shamateur Sports Hunger Games Hoops Invitational that still gives chill bumps, \"just how hard you worked.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EApply that to anything, like that sports loss that still burns a little, speaking as a Minnesota Vikings fan. It would be a lot easier.\u0026nbsp;Robert C. Smart, nephew of Dave, son of Rob Sr., has been steeped in that his whole life. It doesn't necessarily means losses slide by, If anything, those can be harder, since it spawns second-guessing about whether they did everything. Extrapolating, though, it does mean having a framework to get past it and start over.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECalgary, with a 25-a-night scorer in Cooper, a very good and gutsy guard\u003Cb\u003E David Kapinga \u003C\/b\u003Eand some Alberta beef down low, is a worthy challenger.\u003Cb\u003E Dan Vanhooren \u003C\/b\u003Erates this opportunity, surely. They might pull this off. You never know, until Carleton makes it feel inevitable.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EConfirmation bias is good like that.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe two turnt-up teams whose athleticism, physicality and lights-out shooting have overcame Carleton during the run each got the Ravens in the semifinal of the 1\/8\/4\/5 half of the draw. The 2008 Acadia Axemen had\u003Cb\u003E Leo Saintil \u003C\/b\u003Eand \u003Cb\u003EAchuil Lual \u003C\/b\u003Eto harry CIS player of the year\u003Cb\u003E Aaron Doornekamp\u003C\/b\u003E into a 4-of-23 night in that double-OT semifinal, and it still took the Axemen about 30 minutes of 55 per cent floor shooting to finish the job. The 2010 Saskatchewan Huskies had two once-a-decade quicksilver points, \u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;Showron Glover \u003C\/b\u003Eand \u003Cb\u003EMichael Linklater\u003C\/b\u003E, getting run-outs, feeding wing shooters and getting to the cup. Carleton hit 2-of-17 triples in that 86-82 loss, then Phil Scrubb arrived months later.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis is an instance where predictions on the championship game and the Carleton coaching deal are designed to reveal the sucker at the table, to paraphrase Rounders.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is also not as if people who know the university game expected much different from Carleton. The Scrubbs were transcendent by their fifth season, and Carleton could pass any immunity challenge defensively or offensively through Tommy and Phil. However, they are always going to be there, with the advantages they have granted themselves in order to be a tough-out tournament team, with premium CIS-level talent.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe burn is on those who attributed that odds-defying run of titles to some Svengali effect, some keys held only by one Smart. Which is silly, since Carleton has a cadre of strong basketball minds. It's a communal culture, not a party of one staked on the iconography of The Leader. The latter group dynamic is destined to fail eventually; just look at the party now holding Official Opposition status in the nation's capital.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe only reason it seemed that way with Carleton was because the media culture around Canadian university sport is very surface level. Even after all these years, some people still need a clarification that Rob Smart is Dave's nephew, for pity's sake.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBasketball, as a game, is probably the sport that most facilitates an \"okay, slide one spot over everyone\" if a new lead voice has to take over. A team has a relatively small travelling party about 22 people once you tally the coaches, players and athletic support staff. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThree of the four OUA Final Four teams did so with an interim coach whilst the program-builder took his sabbatical. A couple broader examples from before b-ball south of the border was bowdlerized ... North Carolina went to the 1998 Final Four with \u003Cb\u003EBill Guthridge\u003C\/b\u003E the season after Dean Smith retired. Larry Bird's '79 Indiana State team did so under \u003Cb\u003EBill Hodges\u003C\/b\u003E, who stepped in when \u003Cb\u003EBob King \u003C\/b\u003Ehad a brain aneurysm.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EYou know what happened to Bill Hodges, eventually? \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/espn.go.com\/mens-college-basketball\/story\/_\/id\/7038392\/larry-bird-college-coach-bill-hodges-teaching-all-years-college-basketball\" target=\"_blank\"\u003EHe became a school teacher\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat segues to the Smarts, and that they are about teaching. Just go in when asked, wherever needed, and help people help themselves with getting a little better every day. Rob Smart, going back 20 years this month to when he was 17 going on 35, and scored 35 on 18 shots to almost will his undermanned high school team past No. 1 seed in a first round at the OFSAA AA championship before they lost by a point, seems to exude that. Dave Smart was at that same school, that season, and people never believe this when they're told, but he coached his nephews on the junior team and also coached the junior boys. Hindsight is 20\/20, but that was the best situation, where he was needed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThree seasons later, Dave was head coach at Carleton. \u0026nbsp;Perhaps Carleton just needed a little adjustment this season. They have pulled it off with aplomb. Dave Smart has only been at one game at Ravens' Nest all season, Senior Night, when Rob spoke about each player and Dave handled the presentations.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat continuity helps Carleton keep that energy\u0026nbsp;coursing down that bench in one direct line, while other teams get a short in the system. They should have good energy by 5:30 local time on Sunday, know that much.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/7207417983220020077\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-one-off-carleton-ravens-title.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7207417983220020077"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7207417983220020077"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-one-off-carleton-ravens-title.html","title":"#CISFinal8: A one-off Carleton Ravens title would be very Smart"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-7756102991440126319"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-20T11:56:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T08:34:50.181-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bisons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bobcats"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Carabins"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Panthers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Sea-Hawks"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"U of S Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UBC Thunderbirds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Varsity Reds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Wesmen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"X-Men"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Championship weekend: All 4 hockey, hoops finals lack the No. 1 seed, 7 regions repped!"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — Leave it to the football commentator to have the correct spot!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\"\u003E\u003Cdiv dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\"\u003EFour CIS championship games tomorrow, not a single #1 seed. Love it!\u003C\/div\u003E— Gord R. (@GARandall) \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GARandall\/status\/711438052330045441\"\u003EMarch 20, 2016\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003EIt might be the most uniquely Canada In The 21st Century set of finals. Eight teams, seven provinces, each official languages, and the X factors in making this happen where a Calgary baller named \u003Cb\u003EJasdeep Gill \u003C\/b\u003Eand a UBC puck-chaser with the handle off \u003Cb\u003EHaneet Parhar\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EChanneling 2016 \u003Cb\u003EGord Miller\u003C\/b\u003E, if he was doing the work of 1994 Gord Miller: \u003Ci\u003Edoes it get any more Canadian than this?\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cscript async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003EPushing past the creeping Carleton net-cutting to come in the last final of the day, Championship Sunday offers a rarity. When the women's hockey Gryphons and men's basketball Rams fell on Saturday night, none of the four national finals will include a No. 1 seed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETalk about a talking point that shows the depth of good teams in the country. That's the positive light to put it in. It should be leavened by pointing out that this is an off-shoot, as well, of having a very empirical, linear criteria to decide the tournament seeding. Even that is a good thing, since it should be a prompt for the observers to really focus on the matchups.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnyway, here is what we have today:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWomen's basketball: (4) Ryerson vs. (2) Saskatchewan, in progress, SN360\u003C\/b\u003E — Central Canada finesse against Prairie functional strength. \u003Cb\u003ECarly Clarke \u003C\/b\u003Eagainst\u003Cb\u003E Lisa Thomaidis \u003C\/b\u003Ein the coaching matchup; always great when the women's basketball final involves a pair of head coaches who are women.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWomen's hockey: (4) UBC vs. (2) Montréal, 2:30 ET, SN360 \u003C\/b\u003E— The West Coast first-timers, by the margin of the \u003Cb\u003EHaneet Parhar\u003C\/b\u003E decider in the eighth round of the shootout, ousted No. 1 Guelph. Their reward is a matchup against Les Bleus, who have been in this situation previously.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMen's hockey: (5) UNB vs. (3) St. Francis Xavier, 5:30 ET, SN360\/TVA2\u003C\/b\u003E — An all-Maritimes matchup that reprises the AUS \u0026nbsp;final where the chaser, \u003Cb\u003EBrad Peddle\u003C\/b\u003E's X-Men sweep \u003Cb\u003EGardiner MacDougall\u003C\/b\u003E's Varsity Reds to get the higher seeding. It arguably worked out that the V-Reds sliding to 5 helped, since they played the second-best OUA team, then Saint Mary's took care of Trois-Rivières.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMen's basketball: (4) Calgary vs. (2) Carleton, 8:30 ET, SN360 — \u003C\/b\u003EDinos reserve \u003Cb\u003EJasdeep Gill \u003C\/b\u003Epouring in 24 points off the bench in the semifinal was a microcosm of U of C coach \u003Cb\u003EDan Vanhooren \u003C\/b\u003Ebeing willing to fly by the seat of his pants with a hot hand. Carleton is Carleton; the dynasty doesn't die, it just regenerates with new cogs.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EThat is wild. Should go create a spreadsheet to see if there was ever that much diversity, in terms of where the teams hail from, in the finals. Ontario, of course, is the only province with more than one school going for gold, but Carleton is in Eastern Ontario and Ryerson is Southern Ontario, which are two very different corners of the country. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMen's basketball had the B.C. Interior involved with that splash of Thompson Rivers orange, too. This is a good reminder there is a lot of good out there, even when CIS sometimes seems like a logistical impossibility: trying to create a fabric out of 56 schools spread about 6,000 km apart, and on budget.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EBased on this, the law of averages would dictate some CIS gold and silver is lurking for Brandon, Manitoba, Memorial, UPEI or Winnipeg. \u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/7756102991440126319\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/championship-weekend-all-4-hockey-hoops.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7756102991440126319"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7756102991440126319"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/championship-weekend-all-4-hockey-hoops.html","title":"Championship weekend: All 4 hockey, hoops finals lack the No. 1 seed, 7 regions repped!"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-2933929273236955480"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-19T19:01:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T08:34:50.119-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"liveblog"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tigers"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#CISFinal8: Carleton 76, Dalhousie 66 (FINAL) — Wood(s) wake up in 2nd half"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — The recap in real time (ish), as Dalhousie tries to put up the forcefield and Carleton goes for a 17th consecutive win at nationals.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt was level at 32-all, but Carleton came alive with nine points\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood \u003C\/b\u003Ewith a drive, wide-open wing three and two free throws. By quarter's end, it was 56-46, then Carleton got the first seven of the fourth, including a \u003Cb\u003EMitchell Wood\u003C\/b\u003E triple and sweet transition assist to Ryan Ejim, that floor-running four. At that point, it was 63-46 and officially over, but that really started about the time Carleton had a 16-4 run when the Woods had 13 points (nine from C10, four from M22).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERyan \u0026nbsp;Ejim also had a dunk near the end.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDalhousie dialed up the defense as per usual, and outscored the Ravens 13-3 across the last 6:50 of the half. It wasn't really a true run, since it took so long \u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EJarred Reid \u003C\/b\u003Egot a steal and layin just before the halftime horn.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cb\u003EImpact for\/on the Ravens — \u003C\/b\u003ECarleton has not got inside since early in the second quarter, with a Gavin Resch triple being their only scoring in the last five minutes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003Estarted well with two first-quarter triples, but just missed a deep lock from the right pocket.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton shot to become the second program to win six titles in a row, although let's not get ahead of ourselves. It is merely coincidence that first five-peat ended against another hard-edged defensive team from AUS in 2008 when Carleton was edged 82-80 by Acadia. Those Axemen had Leo Saintil and Achuil Lual, who were big bodies and used them wisely. Dal trends more toward scrappy.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EImpact for\/on the Tigers — \u003C\/b\u003EHow long can they maintain and keep it close? Keeping Carleton under 25 for 20 minutes is tremendous.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDal's two best players, forward \u0026nbsp;Lawrence has two fouls, and Dal's aggressive point guard\u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;Ritchie Kanza Mata\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003Ealso just got his second.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd that happened ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is a marching band!\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOverheard on The Mitch's concourse, from a UBC student: \"It's empty! It's so empty!\"\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELate in the third quarter, Cam Smythe is getting some run as a run protector, and Mitchell Wood has four points in the quarter. A\u003Cb\u003E Kaza Keane \u003C\/b\u003Esteal-and-score makes it a 10-point lead.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe blocking foul with 2:10 left in Q3 on \u003Cb\u003ECedric Sanogo \u003C\/b\u003Ethat put Dal into the penalty? Should have been an offensive foul on Wood, all the way.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/2933929273236955480\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-carleton-24-dalhousie-17-330.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/2933929273236955480"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/2933929273236955480"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-carleton-24-dalhousie-17-330.html","title":"#CISFinal8: Carleton 76, Dalhousie 66 (FINAL) — Wood(s) wake up in 2nd half"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-9130249294279794181"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-19T13:45:00.000-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T08:34:50.213-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tigers"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#CISFinal8: Semifinal Saturday storylines; No. 1 Ryerson ramps up for Calgary, and likely Carleton"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — Since it gets late earlier on the west coast, perhaps the Ryerson Rams can make themselves think it is getting late earlier in the game.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAhead of Semifinal Saturday,* the 'whither' is whether the Rams can avoid their propensity for putting themselves in seemingly manufactured survival challenges, game after game. Kind of like Barney Stinson with his \"challenge accepted!\", the Rams like to get down early, than just work their way out of it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESure, UBC, you can get up 15 in the second quarter, and our fifth-year guard \u003Cb\u003EAaron Best\u003C\/b\u003E will never be in the flow due to foul trouble and hotter hands. Hey, Carleton, have a 13-point lead halftime lead in the OUA Wilson Cup. Structural flaw, or just a team whose all-eight-cylinders state runs faster than everyone else's in high-leverage situations? It makes the Rams, who draw Calgary for the semifinal, a\u003Ci\u003E fun \u003C\/i\u003Ewatch. One can go a while without having that vibe in CIS, so ride with it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESeriously, though, can the Rams get away with it against Calgary and Carleton?\u003Cbr \/\u003EWe have two more games for the season so I hope we can get off to quicker stats,\" Rams coach \u003Cb\u003EPatrick Tatham\u003C\/b\u003E said after the 109-101 outlasting, outwitting and outplaying of UBC on Thursday. \"I think our guys kind of feel too many teams out at the start of games. Hopefully against Calgary, which is going to be a tough game, I hope we don't feel them out. I hope we knock first.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EHope, as in, you never know in this strata of basketball. You can only think you know. For instance, Ottawa's vanquishing validated the skin feeling that no one can defeat the Carleton Ravens thrice in succession. The built-in off-day that was introduced last season is likely helping with recovery and rest. It also means that Carleton's wired-in staff have more video time to try to figure out which ways to force Ryerson's guards. And, as well, Ryerson has to show their 'whale' wasn't an OUA Wilson Cup at home.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESome storylines:\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cb\u003EDalhousie vs. Carleton: \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u0026nbsp;How does Connor Wood trend upward after an off shooting day against Thompson Rivers? The 6-4 off-guard could go into Turnbull mode against the smaller but aggressive Tigers guards such as \u003Cb\u003EJarred Reid\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA greater finish to the weekend than his start would be in character for Wood. Shooters just need to get acclimated.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESimilar question, with\u003Cb\u003E Kaza Keane\u003C\/b\u003E's name in place of Wood's, since the point guard was 1-for-15 on Friday?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAlso, \u003Cb\u003ERitchie Kanza Mata\u003C\/b\u003E, will he keep it together for Dal? Kaza vs. Kanza, it's better than watching Kansas.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHow long does Dal maintain? \u003Cb\u003EPlato\u003C\/b\u003E's Republic Of Pressure Defence (patent, pending) can throw teams off, but Carleton keeps their composure very well.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECalgary vs. Ryerson\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is a reasonable chance this is a prequel to future matchups, but before that, we are guaranteed a new Championship Sunday participant. Calgary is in their fourth semifjnal under \u003Cb\u003EDan Vanhooren \u003C\/b\u003Eand, of course, Ryerson is in their second in a row.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMcGill dee'd up on Thomas Cooper very well, keeping with the métier of a\u003Cb\u003E David DeAveiro\u003C\/b\u003E team. His teams always pressure as much as possible for the full 40. One of these days, they will play on Saturday thanks to that. Ryerson defends slightly differently, using lateral quickness and length, whether it is\u003Cb\u003E Kadeem Green \u003C\/b\u003Eat the rim or when\u003Cb\u003E Adika Peter-McNeilly \u003C\/b\u003Eand \u003Cb\u003EJean-Victor Mukama \u003C\/b\u003Eare re-routing cutters and drivers out on the wing. Plus there is Diressa at the one, and Calgary has a smart two-way guard in\u003Cb\u003E David Kapinga\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPrediction: two teams of human beings survive till Sunday.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(* Probably not something to turn into an acronym.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/9130249294279794181\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-semifinal-saturday-storylines.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/9130249294279794181"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/9130249294279794181"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-semifinal-saturday-storylines.html","title":"#CISFinal8: Semifinal Saturday storylines; No. 1 Ryerson ramps up for Calgary, and likely Carleton"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-1980216864964351939"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-17T17:05:00.001-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-21T08:34:50.113-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"#2016Final8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WolfPack"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"#CISFinal8: Carleton Ravens 91, Thompson Rivers 75"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"VANCOUVER — In the interest of killing the game story real good, the game posts from The Mitch (uh, no one calls it that), will be more real-timey.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFINAL —\u003C\/b\u003E Carleton 91, Thompson Rivers 75\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EImpact for\/on the Ravens\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;— Through to final four for the 14th consecutive season, where they will be in the 6 p.m. ET\/3 p.m. semifinal against the Calgary-McGill victor. Ryan Ejim (26 and 14 on 78.6% EFG) won the Battle of Bigs against 'Lord' Volodymyr Iegorov (14\/10 over 39-plus minutes, 43.4% EFG). Then there was stretch-three Tajinder Lall, who did not score in three Wilson Cup matches, scoring 15 in 23 on 87.5%.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat off-set a rough shooting day from lead guard\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EKaza Keane\u003C\/b\u003E (1-of-15, but 9:5 assists\/turnovers) and an intermittent day by fourth-year volume shooter \u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood\u003C\/b\u003E (18 points on 51.9 EG).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EImpact for\/on the WolfPack\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;— Huge. \u003Cb\u003EScott Clark\u003C\/b\u003E's WolfPack didn't have the juice for a full 40, but for 30 they played well and repped the Interior and Explorer Division. It was a one-point game until the final seconds of the third, when a Carleton basket and a \u003Cb\u003EReese Pribilisky\u003C\/b\u003E turnover that \u003Cb\u003EMarcus Anderson \u003C\/b\u003Eparlayed into a buzzer layup and 65-60 three-quarters lead.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EGerald Gore \u003C\/b\u003Etopped TRU with 22 in their Final 8 debut.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EEntertainment value\u0026nbsp;—\u0026nbsp;B+\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Mom, make Dad tell the story right! \"That's what really happened ...\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWith all the blue seats in The Mitch, as it shall henceforth be known, and a lot of TRU fans in orange, it kind of evoked 1980s Edmonton Oilers jerseys. I mentioned this frequently, hoping it could be a trigger in this old seaside Smythe Division city.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThis would be a great game to share with the people who fill out brackets for the Shamateur Sports Hunger Games Hoops Invitational, and base picks because, 'oh, that team was in the Final Four a few years ago.'\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton started winning titles before TRU got university status.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EFirst quarter: TRU showed they could physically match the Ravens, and Carleton surged last for the 29-23 after-10 lead. The worrying thing was that TRU had a 75% eFG (6-9 2PT 3-5 3PT)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETajinder Lall\u003C\/b\u003E, the gunner outta Galt, checked in and he and fellow frosh Marcus Anderson combined to triple thrice in succession. That off-set Connor Wood having a 35.7% eFG in the first 20.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESecond quarter was a lot tighter, with some tough misses after everyone had seen everyone's tricks. \u003Cb\u003ERyan Ejim\u003C\/b\u003E got his combo-forward repertoire working, finishing the half with 11 and seven across 12 minutes. Ravens by five at recess.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThird quarter, where one is conditioned, or maybe resigned, to seeing the Carletons of yore run away with it. The WolfPack are a-comin', though. Reese Pribilisky with an in-front-of-the-bench wing triple; Volodymyr Iegerov bulls through the toughest interior D in Canada for a layin. There's couple lead changes, as some Ejim takes keep Carleton out front.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAt the media timeout, Ravens 49-WolfPack 48.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA Wood-from-Wood triple restores Carleton, 53-50, at 4:15. That ended a dry spell where Carleton had missed 11-of-12 triples. Another Connor Wood triple for a four-point lead followed almost immediately thereafter.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDetails: Reese Pribilsky, the fifth-year guard, over a three-possession span. Good drive\/dish for a layup that got TRU within one, but had a turnover that led to Anderson's buzzer layup and it's five points again after 30 minutes.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EKaza Keane missed his first 14 shots, and yet his team is winning. Lall's face-up jumper is so fundamental that he should be called Canadarm.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGavin Resch rips off an expiring-clock triple for the largest lead, 70-60, 8:46 left.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EKeane's first make all day was a deep two from the left corner with 6:30 left. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAt about 4:25, Pribilisky changed pace on the drive and got to the cup, but Lall's length and a well-timed backboard slap created a miss.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe dagger: Connor Wood's triple for an 82-69 lead with 3:36 left. A turnover led to a Tajinder Lall dunk 12 seconds later.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEach team walked off their starters with 27.8 seconds left.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECarleton by quarters; 29, 10, 27, 26.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/1980216864964351939\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-carleton-ravens-thompson.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/1980216864964351939"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/1980216864964351939"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/cisfinal8-carleton-ravens-thompson.html","title":"#CISFinal8: Carleton Ravens 91, Thompson Rivers 75"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-1137588400339271160"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-13T12:21:00.004-04:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-13T12:21:55.252-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WolfPack"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"OUA Wilson Cup: Carleton's 'pride' will make it a tough out in the tournament"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"TORONTO — Carleton came to play, and it took 1½ games for these new-look Ravens to fray in the face of more skilled and uniquely motivated Ryerson in the OUA Wilson Cup.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat, and the fact the first digit in the Ravens' combined 1-4 record against Ryerson\/Ottawa was the OUA semifinal on Friday night, should suffice for the No. 2 seed at Final 8 for coach\u003Cb\u003E Rob Smart\u003C\/b\u003E, his players and staff. The seeding, which will be will released at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, works on more a last-in basis. Recency should reign when the committee tries to create deserving and compelling quarter-finals and potential semifinals.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe way the Ravens got after it was something to share with the 'one week in March, and around Capital Hoops time' intelligentsia, since so many presumed this would be the inevitable off year without sabbatical-ing\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EDave Smart\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;and the rote brilliance of \u003Cb\u003EPhil Scrubb \u003C\/b\u003Eand \u003Cb\u003EThomas Scrubb\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton, even with fourth-year shooting guard \u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood\u003C\/b\u003E getting only three of his team-high 20 after recess as he fought foul trouble, and even with his backcourt running mate Kaza Kajami-Keane getting his second and third 10 seconds apart in the third quarter en route to fouling out late, was a tougher out than\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EEddie Yost\u003C\/b\u003E. It was a one-possession game in the last 30 seconds. Ryerson's long 6-foot-8 super-Ute, \u003Cb\u003EJean Victor-Mukama\u003C\/b\u003E, was able to alter a driving layup by young Marcus Anderson that would have pared the spread to one point. Also in that point, the Rams pressured Wood on a sideline inbound, forcing a parabolic pass and a tough catch for fifth-year guard\u003Cb\u003E Gavin Resch\u003C\/b\u003E, who stepped on the timeline for a costly backcourt violation.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I think it's just about playing in attack mode,\" Rob Smart said of the Ravens' takeaway from the weekend. \"In the second half, guys were getting hesitant. Even if you're playing with fouls, you cannot play the game tentative. There's just no way. Trusting our fundamentals and our base is hopefully something we can take out of it. In the second half we got away from what we wanted to do in terms of getting into some of their weaknesses. We have to do it for the full 40 minutes.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhichever Smart is coaching, however high the talent level, Carleton can just chameleon itself into being the chaser, instead of the defender. This is also — hello, small sample size that serves a story line — the fourth time in 10 seasons it lost in the OUA final after a nationals berth was locked up. The previous three, 2007, '11 and '14, won the CIS title.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"That's the priority, that's the goal for this season,\" Smart said of the CIS title. \"The bigger goal is to get guys playing for a full 40 minutes\u0026nbsp;—\u0026nbsp;representing what they do on a daily basis, for 40 minutes.\u0026nbsp;That's the biggest thing you can see in the room. They have the pride.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat is a talent, to never quit and not rely on the genetically graced, made-in-gyms-and-playgrounds mechanics. The two are mutually inclusive, and the Rams and Ottawa Gee-Gees also have each.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"We expected to be in the game with them,\" Resch sid. \"We tried to do some things and did not do them the best, at the end of the game they made some shots and we didn't. Overall, we know where we have to improve\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Things happen,\" Resch said of the late turnovers. \"It's a basketball game and the great thing about it is we have another chance, I get to go in Sunday and get some shots up and look at film and get ready.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWith Carleton having won so often, with those 11 titles in 13 seasons, as well as now 14 consecutive CIS championship berths (and they went in through the front door before hosting from 2008-10 and in '13-14), another team is always Flavour of the Week at Final 8. The flip side of that March after seemingly inevitable March, the current Carleton iteration will always convey that every season is new, although good habits and tested talent carries over.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnly 2008 Acadia and 2010 Saskatchewan have pulled it off, and equally good teams have tried. Ryerson does fit the profile of the team that can beat Carleton. It usually involves the following:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EA huge edge in post defence\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;— Ryerson's\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003EKadeem Green\u003C\/b\u003E, who had six blocked shots on Saturday and 11 across the two games, is the savvy and springy post defender, in the old-school Bill Russell mode as the rim protector whose redirects can become apposite outlet passes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EQuick guards, or guards who can also back down defenders\u0026nbsp;—\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;In March it is all about matchups. Ryerson's four regular guards, with \u003Cb\u003EAmmanuel (Manny) Diressa\u003C\/b\u003E's dribble penetration, Best and \u003Cb\u003EAdika Peter-McNeilly\u003C\/b\u003E's maturity, court sense, and shooting, and Mukama's length at 6-8 and shooting, each brings a special something to the party.\u003Cb\u003E Roshane Roberts\u003C\/b\u003E, who plays like a hard-hitting football defensive back that joined the game, is a valuable energy player. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(Hopefully Ryerson AD\u003Cb\u003E Ivan Joseph\u003C\/b\u003E will not be put out by this gratuitous gridiron analogy.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFeeling it from well out in three-point land —\u003C\/b\u003E Random variance with three-point shooting does not support the confirmation-bias cliché about \"you live by the three, you die by the three.\" The two teams that beat Carleton in national semifinals, were each hot from outside while, concurrently, the Ravens didn't get the rattles. They were 2-for-17 on triples in that 86-82 loss six years ago against\u003Cb\u003E Showron Glover\u003C\/b\u003E, \u003Cb\u003EMichael Linklater \u003C\/b\u003Eand Saskatchewan.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton has a fair bit, to borrow some more football-speak, to clean up as the drama shifts to Vancouver. Kajami-Keane and Wood cannot have the same foul trouble. The same goes for the stout \u003Cb\u003ERyan Ejim\u003C\/b\u003E, who fills the 4-forward spot that was once earmarked for the rangier\u003Cb\u003E Jean-Emmanuel Pierre-Charles\u003C\/b\u003E, who is sitting out a transfer season while waiting to join the Gee-Gees.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It's good experience,\" Smart said. \"Connor knows he has to be smarter, he and Kaza. They have to learn how to not take the touch ones and be aggressive and draw fouls.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe best guess is that it will be the first-timers from Kamloops, \u003Cb\u003EScott Clark\u003C\/b\u003E's Thompson Rivers WolfPack, against the all-the-timers from Carleton in the quarter-finals.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA footnote for the Vancouver media covering the tournament is that both head coaches have Simon Fraser ties. Clark spent 15 years 'on the mountain' in Burnaby, B.C., before \u003Cb\u003EKen Olynyk\u003C\/b\u003E brought him to Thompson Rivers in May 2010. Smart played for the Clan in 1997-98 and 1998-99, then transferred to a certain OUA school in eastern Ontario to reunite with a certain uncle whom people often take for his older brother.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EClark likely will not have much trouble getting the WolfPack into an us-against-the-world mentality. Carleton, meantime, is getting back to their roots when they made that their thing better than anyone, and then the talent blossomed from that.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/1137588400339271160\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/oua-wilson-cup-carletons-pride-will.html#comment-form","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/1137588400339271160"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/1137588400339271160"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/oua-wilson-cup-carletons-pride-will.html","title":"OUA Wilson Cup: Carleton's 'pride' will make it a tough out in the tournament"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-7264962730110971898"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-13T01:30:00.002-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-13T19:03:18.616-04:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Wilson Cup"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"OUA Wilson Cup: Ryerson likely No. 1 seed after beating Carleton, but Final 8 carries a different energy from the MAC"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"TORONTO — \u003Cb\u003EAaron Best\u003C\/b\u003E, \u003Cb\u003EKadeem Green\u003C\/b\u003E and all of OUA coach of the year\u003Cb\u003E\u0026nbsp;Patrick Tatham\u003C\/b\u003E's Ryerson Rams now have to find their peak on the other side of the Rockies.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAn OUA Wilson Cup triumph, especially when it is a school's first, won in front of a raucous home crowd and in the last home game for Rams such as Best (21 points on 53.8% eFG) and Green (eight rebounds, six blocks and countless altered shots) must be savored. Especially when it also involves surmounting a 13-point halftime deficit against No. 1-ranked Carleton Ravens for a 73-68 victory. Feeding off the crowd that smelled blood once Ryerson started creating a Ravens parade into the penalty by using their quickness to get inside and go 20-for-24 from the free-throw line just in the second half, Ryerson got the job done.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It's big. It's big for the university,\" said Best, while he had the OUA championship banner draped across his shoulders. \"It's big for all of us\u0026nbsp;— all the alumni, all the players who played here. It's a testament to the work everyone put into it. What a way to end it. It's a testament to how far the university has come.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I think we have about 24 hours — probably less — and then we have to focus in for the next three games. The next three games are going to be even harder.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Rams will get the No. 1 seed, which Tatham believes might entail facing the host UBC Thunderbirds on Thursday night. An energy team won't have the adrenaline shot it gets on the reg at the Coca-Cola Court. The neutral floor at nationals is something completely different. It's probably also not lost on anyone, one night after Ottawa seemingly showed how daunting it is to defeat well-prepared, no-quit Carleton three times in a season, Ryerson might face the prospect if there is a rematch on Championship Sunday on March 20. Ottawa beat Carleton by two on the road and by six in an arena game. The Rams' 18-point and five-point wins were each at home.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne has to love Ryerson's chances. Although, they can often operate at a deficit on the offensive glass. They were behind 0-16 in second-chance points at halftime Saturday, and won. Any great shooting team is vulnerable if it's a touch off.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EStill, playing in the country's best conference, the Rams are 16-1 since Jan. 13 with an average point differential of 17.65. The 96-92 loss to also-ran Guelph on Feb. 17, where veteran forward\u003Cb\u003E Juwon Grannum\u003C\/b\u003E was injured, also came when they were in a hectic stretch of playing four games in seven days due to having a game with city rival U of T moved to the Sunday afternoon of NBA All-Star Weekend.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe other side of the coin, though, is that past-two-months record includes being 11-0 at home, with that neutral floor game against U of T and a 4-1 small sample on the road. That included the Guelph game and a two-point win against improved Queen's. (Of course, Queen's also nearly eliminated Ottawa.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Final 8, with neutral floors and sometimes quiet crowds is a different beast. Also, at long last, it is OUA facing a three-hour time change after Canada West dealt with it for 30-plus years.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Once you get there and practise hard once, it just becomes another gym and you try to makes things routine if you can,\" said Carleton coach \u003Cb\u003ERob Smart\u003C\/b\u003E, who would know since the Ravens are going to their 15th in 16 seasons.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESaturday's game was Ryerson's to win and, Carleton being Carleton, the Rams had to win someone else's style of fight. They pulled it off with aplomb, tightening up defensively and going directly at the Ravens on the offensive end.\u003Cb\u003E Connor Wood\u003C\/b\u003E, encumbered by foul trouble, had 20 points in 27 minutes. His only second-half score was a step-back three with 80 seconds left that restored a one-possession game.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"This victory, it's a stepping stone,\" Green said. \"In order to win a championship, we're probably going to have to face Carleton.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It all comes down to being solid,\" Green added. \"Coming together each end of the floor and trusting the system.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Rams' resident rim protector pretty much won the weekend. Green had 11 blocked shots across two games, even though his main counterpart on Saturday was the 7-foot post, \u003Cb\u003ECam Smythe\u003C\/b\u003E. Green has become more consistent thanks to the rapport he enjoys with Tatham, also a power forward.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"Last year I didn't really play with as much as confidence,\" Green said. \"In the summer when I watched tape I realized I wasn't playing my game. Patrick's helped me since he's a player's coach who played my position so he relates to me very well.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EThe 31-year-old Tatham will have \u003Cb\u003ERoy Rana\u003C\/b\u003E, the program architect who took a sabbatical after a hectic 2014-15 spent organizing the Final 8, \u0026nbsp;as a fresh set of eyes for the championship.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"It's so surreal — I never expected it would happen this year,\" Tatham related. \"I knew we were on the up and up. I was way too nervous at the start of the year to think that we would make it to the OUA championship game and be the champions. I am so grateful, and so thankful, and in so many ways.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003ERyerson was balanced in the win, with \u003Cb\u003EAdika Peter-McNeilly\u003C\/b\u003E putting up a 16-8-5 in the triple-double. Six-foot-eight sixth man \u003Cb\u003EJean-Victor Mukama \u003C\/b\u003Ewas more oriented toward disrupting Carleton's rhythm with his length, but shook free of that to score 11 points on just five shots, including a three-pointer as part of a 15-5 run after recess.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhen the scoreline changes that abruptly in the second half, observers often presume there was high-level strategic adjustment. Truthfully, there are so many of those going on in every game for all four quarters. Down a baker's dozen at home, Tatham only had to remind the Rams what they could have.,\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"There was one speech and one speech only — 'we have got to rebound the ball; if we give them second shots they are going to bury us,' \" he said. \" I told the guys when we come back up here at the end of the game, you'll either hear 'nice try' and 'you're No. 1.' I think that really resonated and they went out and kicked ass in the second half.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\"I put it solely on Kadeem and Aaron\u0026nbsp;—\u0026nbsp;it's your last game here on this court, ever. Go out as winners. It\u0026nbsp;was beautiful to watch.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat is the territorial imperative talking. Ryerson now has new territory to conquer.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/7264962730110971898\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/oua-wilson-cup-ryerson-likely-no-1-seed.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7264962730110971898"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/7264962730110971898"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/oua-wilson-cup-ryerson-likely-no-1-seed.html","title":"OUA Wilson Cup: Ryerson likely No. 1 seed after beating Carleton, but Final 8 carries a different energy from the MAC"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-2190297959210198279"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-12T04:02:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-12T20:29:38.013-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Lancers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Redmen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tigers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UBC Thunderbirds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WolfPack"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Bracketology! The TRU-mphant edition; UBC's drop creates incentive to sandbag for a second seed"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Paint the town orange, everyone, since the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, paced by a savvy handle from the fifth-year guard \u003Cb\u003EReese Pribilsky\u003C\/b\u003E, will be a nationals newbie after taking down Final 8 host UBC.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003ENew is always better\u003C\/i\u003E, so that should be vicariously exciting for all who care about the university game. Okay, maybe not so much to the CIS Final 8 promoters since the hometown draw, UBC, is out of the top six entirely and its odds of making it to Semifinal Saturday are now that much longer.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere are \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/canadawesthoops.com\/tru-and-calgary-to-meet-in-cw-final\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Edeets to digest\u003C\/a\u003E, but the WolfPack's epochal 72-69 win against the \u0026nbsp;Thunderbirds turned on the team from the B.C. Interior being resolute in the interior. Aptly named forward \u003Cb\u003EJosh Wolfram\u003C\/b\u003E piled up 23 points and 14 rebounds, and TRU ultimately was just a little more 'on' from outside than the traditional tournament team.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPresuming the \"results of regional playoffs must be respected\" guideline is invoked, Thompson Rivers rates the No. 7 seed with UBC up at No. 8. By rule, UBC must play one of the evening quarter-finals, including the 11 p.m. ET\/8 p.m. finale to the day.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETo quote \u003Cb\u003EGeorge Costanza\u003C\/b\u003E,\u003Ci\u003E \"Do you see what happened here?\"\u003C\/i\u003E The Carleton-Ryerson victor will surely be the No. 1 seed, but will likely play its quarter-final at a time when their minds and bodies are normally winding down for the night. Conversely, being in the 2\/7\/3\/6 bloc involves the 4 ET\/1 PT or 6 ET\/3 PT Thursday tip times, and rest ahead of Semifinal Saturday.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERyerson, which has never won any OUA basketball title, will have incentive to change that this evening. For Carleton, they do not have to show their hand much on Saturday, so it wouldn't be a shocker if they play a very vanilla game. Then they get the schedule that might work better for an Eastern Time Zone team.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnother permutation, and CIS has countless ones, is that 1\/8\/4\/5 and 2\/7\/3\/6 are not set in stone. They have been known to get re-sorted, by organizers' edict. There is also the matter of where to schedule the Canada West reps' games. Calgary is from farther away but has a much deeper alumni base than Thompson Rivers, which only became a university in a full in 2005 and whose graduates are all busy analyzing the Toronto Maple Leafs.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere is another shot in the dark heading into Finals Day. The Windsor-Ottawa winner should draw in as the No. 5 seed facing McGill, which hosts UQAM in the RSEQ final. A Dalhousie-Calgary quarter-final is on the offing. Ryerson-UBC and Carleton-TRU draw into the 1 vs. 8 and 2 vs. 7 slots.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERyerson Rams (OUA champion)*\u003C\/b\u003E — Fun fact: the last time a Toronto-area team won the OUA Wilson Cup was 1994-95, the season before the Toronto Raptors began play. There is some 'not for nothing' to that, but I cannot unlock it at the moment.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIncidentally, and perhaps other Ontario University Athletics schools are doing this, but something that RU is doing to foster demand is to give free admission to the first 250 students. It creates a buzz, while still relaying that there is a value to attending these games.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt's long been a catch-22 with student attendance in OUA. Charge and they don't come; make it free and they think it is not worth coming.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton Ravens (OUA runner-up)* \u003C\/b\u003E— Gritty 82-74 win against Ottawa, even though primary scorer \u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood\u003C\/b\u003E played through foul trouble. The city rivals have played for 120 minutes and are tied 227-227. The weird part? Only the first game actually felt close.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECalgary Dinos (Canada West champion)* — \u003C\/b\u003EHit a hundred whilst winning their way in and effectively ending Manitoba's season. I cannot wait to see\u003Cb\u003E Thomas Cooper\u003C\/b\u003E play live.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcGill Redmen (Quebec champion)\u003C\/b\u003E — As anticipated, they had a push from Laval, but won 76-69 on the strength of a 49-point second half. \u003Cb\u003ENoah Daoust\u003C\/b\u003E was man of the match with 19 in 23 off-the-bench minutes, hitting 5-of-6 triples. Of course, that's not even the best sixth-man performance since the Rams' \u003Cb\u003EJean-Victor Mukama \u003C\/b\u003Ehad 23 and was 5-of-5 on threes.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMcGill, with the women's basketball Martlets also playing for a conference banner at home on Saturday, could have a sellout at Love Competition Hall. Only about 400 tickets are left.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOttawa Gee-Gees (at large, OUA bronze medal) \u003C\/b\u003E— The first Windsor-Ottawa game was a 34-point blowout. A lot has changed, but the Gee-Gees should end their two-game funk.\u003Cb\u003E Caleb Agada \u003C\/b\u003Eneeded only 23 minutes to record a double-double in that November game, and the fourth-year wing seemed almost possessed when Ottawa started to push back against Carleton.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EDalhousie Tigers (AUS champion)*\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003E— \u003C\/b\u003EWould scoot up to 5 if Thompson Rivers somehow upset Calgary.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EThompson Rivers Wolfpack (Canada West runner-up)\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003E— \u003C\/b\u003EFriday was a big moment for Explorer teams. Take this opportunity to snark, \"No wonder UBC didn't want to play those new CIS members from the province.\" \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUBC Thunderbirds (host)*\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EThey might be locked into eighth, sorry to say.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Ci\u003E(* already qualified)\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/2190297959210198279\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/bracketology-tru-mphant-edition-if-not.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/2190297959210198279"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/2190297959210198279"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/bracketology-tru-mphant-edition-if-not.html","title":"Bracketology! The TRU-mphant edition; UBC's drop creates incentive to sandbag for a second seed"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-2701646495472027511"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-11T19:02:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-11T20:45:23.116-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Wilson Cup"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"OUA Wilson Cup: Carleton 82, Ottawa 74; Ravens qualify for CIS Final 8"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"TORONTO — Carleton played it cool, and Ottawa stayed cold until it was far too late.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAthletically and star power-wise, the Ravens are not in a league with their legendary iterations, but had a characteristically composed championship weekend performance on the Coca-Cola Court with fourth-year shooting guard \u003Cb\u003EConnor Wood\u003C\/b\u003E scoring 18 points (57.7 per cent eFG) and contributing timely late-fourth assists in their 82-74 win against the Gee-Gees in the early-bird OUA Wilson Cup semifinal. That makes Carleton, under interim head coach\u003Cb\u003E Rob Smart\u003C\/b\u003E, the third team in for the CIS Final 8. Meantime, the 'tough to beat a Top 5 team thrice in a row' seems like a ketchup answer for the Gee-Gees, who are flirting with being the best team not at nationals. The crux of it was that fifth-year Michael L'Africain's newfound score-first aggressiveness was turned against him, as the OUA MVP finished 1-for-18 shooting with just five points. Ottawa, which had\u003Cb\u003E Caleb Agada \u003C\/b\u003Ehoop\u0026nbsp;22 (47.6% eFG) with seven rebounds and a game-high five steals across 29 minutes, is mired in a shooting slump that it must correct in Saturday's bronze-medal game.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton never trailed after a 16-0 quarter-bridging first-half run, when Ottawa missed 10 consecutive shots in a portent of a frustrating failure-to-launch evening. Carleton was the first team in the penalty in each quarter, but took a 10-point halftime lead out to 20 and never let Ottawa within single digits until a couple \u003Ci\u003Ewhatthehell\u003C\/i\u003E window-dressing threes in the final 30 seconds.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWhat it all means ...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFor the Carletons — \u003C\/b\u003EThe Ravens won the day with balanced strength and will play at nationals for the 14th consecutive season, having last missed out in 2002, when there was no at-large berth and the current coaching Smart was a fourth-year guard. A Carleton-Ryerson game on Saturday will essentially be for the No. 1 seed. That is, if anyone wants it, since this is the season when the 'No. 1 with a bullet' cliché is apt.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"We definitely know that Ryerson smacked us,\" Wood said, alluding to Carleton's blowout defeat against Ryerson in mid-January in the same venue. We weren't happy with that game. And Windsor, we know they would put up a battle – they always do. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"The improvement has just been building up for the whole year,\" added Wood, who was one of three Ravens starters that finished with four fouls. \"We have just been getting better, and better, each day.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton is an odd amalgam of part. There are the complementary scorers from the Scrubbs era such as Wood and Gavin Resch (16 points on 72.2% eFG Friday) that are adapting to tougher checks. Point guard Kaza Keane and 7-foot centre Cam Smythe (12 points, six rebounds in 22 min.) are learning on the fly. Smart gave eight players at least 18 or more minutes on Friday, with OUA all-rookie pick Stanley Mayambo among those bringing energy.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"It's a totally new group,\" Smart said. \"It feels pretty good to see them beat Ottawa. At this stage of the game they are all good teams. It's good for confidence. From here on, it's nothing but top teams.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"If you've seen us play for the last 10 years, we have our main guys that are featured prominently,\" Smart added. \"This year, we have a very balanced team. It is a mind shift in how you coach the game.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"Even though we have two transfers that we are trying to work in, and a bunch of first-year and second-year players, we have to accept that we need them. A lot of them, it's the attitude that they bring to us. They keep coming.\"\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFor the Ottawas — \u003C\/b\u003EThe Gees' shot at the No. 1 seed is out the window. For the second year in a row, it will have to qualify for nationals by winning the OUA bronze game and receiving the at-large berth. They had a bad 40.1% eFG on Friday (35.3% \u0026nbsp;from two, 29.7% from three). L'Africain, the last-shot savior last week against Queen's, had one of his poorest games. Nathan McCarthy (14 points on 6-of-10) came out strongly, but Carleton denied him looks at the game unspooled.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"It resets next weekend, anyway.\" Gee-Gees coach James Derouin said. \"We have to start play better\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"We started out great,\" Derouin added. \"They made a run and there were missed opportunities. We really fell back. We stopped moving our feet; stopped competing. Then third quarter we gave up a 10-0 run right out of the gate.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"The air went out of the balloon. The crowd got quiet on a neutral floor, and that threw off our energy.\"\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EA lesson in hubris — \u003C\/b\u003EOttawa checked off bucket-list items in January and early February with a win in the Ravens' Nest and their first Capital Hoops Classic conquest since the first in 2007, nine seasons ago. The latter came while Agada was scratched due to the high ankle sprain he sustained in the last minute of the first running of the city rivalry.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"We came in with our heads and our egos a little too big and they just took advantage of it,\" said Agada, who kept making plays that teased at an Ottawa comeback. \"We went up early and let our egos get big again. We know we can beat them; they know they can beat us. It's 50\/50. It's whoever can work the hardest over 40 minutes, or however long the game is.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"We got comfortable and they saw we were vulnerable, and they took advantage,\" Agada added.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EL'Africain looks to bounce back\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EThe Ravens did a job on L'Africain, evoking how they suppressed another fifth-year player-of-the-year honouree, Johnny Berhanemeskel, in the 2015 national final. The Ravens started the game with 6-foot-5 forward Guillaume Boucard on L'Africain, and just inveigled him to take shots.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"Credit their defence,\" Derouin said. \"They started Guillaume on him. Michael's been more aggressive scoring over the last three months and they were more keyed on that. They hard-edged him and locked him in and had two guys on him at all times. He didn't know how to take himself out of that mindset, because he knows he has to score. How do you do that and not force shots? He never got out of that funk. We'll have to do video and show him there are guys open. He's been such a great scorer lately, that now guys are open. And he has to see that. \u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"Mike's a kid that is as hard on himself as anybody. He's our captain and our fifth-year guy and I expect him to bounce back.\"\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003EThe assists-to-turnovers were a wash, 13-to-15 for Carleton and 14-to-17 for Ottawa.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"He is a hell of a player and has had a hell of a season,\" Smart said of L'Africain. \"I did not think that was to happen. We had talked about making him a high-volume scorer, making him take a lot of shots. You watch enough tape, you realize some will go again. And some will go in if we play them again.\"\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERandom variance, thy name might be Ottawa — \u003C\/b\u003EAn uneducated guesstimate is that the outcome was 60\/40 Ottawa beating itself. There was always this hint that a run might be coming, but Ottawa never got the back-to-back big buckets that made it happen. The stuck window was jimmied a bit with 3½ minutes left when fifth-year tri-captain \u003Cb\u003EVikas Gill \u003C\/b\u003E(10 points on five shots in 13 minutes) tripled. Seconds later, Carleton got a run-out; a Wood touch pass created a layup for a 13-point lead.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"A gambler's logic would say that we are due tomorrow,\" Derouin said in a bit of gallows humour. \"Who knows, maybe we will shoot 75 per cent from the floor.\"\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003EThis 'amalgam' of which you speak\u0026nbsp;\u003Cb\u003E— \u003C\/b\u003EOttawa was the deeper team in January, but to borrow an aphorism of a former editor of this little site, teenagers age. Smart used all 12 players. Mayambo, a Fredericton High School product just like former Ravens marksman \u003Cb\u003EElliot Thompson\u003C\/b\u003E, didn't blanch at being put into the breach as a true frosh. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"margin-bottom: 0cm;\"\u003E\"He works his butt off,\" Smart said. \"It's great to just to see him get in there and be 'fundamental' as we all it and play defence. It's fun to see him do that.\"\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton can never be called an underdog, but from a neutral perspective, it's fun to see it fighting through with fewer weapons. \u003Ci\u003EThat's why they play the games.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd Ottawa has to play better, or it might have only one more game.\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/2701646495472027511\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/oua-wilson-cup-carleton-83-ottawa-71.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/2701646495472027511"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/2701646495472027511"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/oua-wilson-cup-carleton-83-ottawa-71.html","title":"OUA Wilson Cup: Carleton 82, Ottawa 74; Ravens qualify for CIS Final 8"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-3117106235554870844"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-10T17:34:00.002-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-10T17:34:21.896-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bisons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Lancers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ottawa Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Redmen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UBC Thunderbirds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WolfPack"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Bracketology! The 'How UBC can do OUA a solid' edition"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-wHfiAGgIR2c\/VuHuPVOYWyI\/AAAAAAAADHA\/xO9-Mwe783gm8VetD2EgqPO-E6X86fggQ\/s1600\/1246995.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-wHfiAGgIR2c\/VuHuPVOYWyI\/AAAAAAAADHA\/xO9-Mwe783gm8VetD2EgqPO-E6X86fggQ\/s640\/1246995.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn our latest hoop-o-thetical, coach \u003Cb\u003EKevin Hanson\u003C\/b\u003E's UBC Thunderbirds are like \u003Cb\u003EHomer Simpson \u003C\/b\u003Ein that episode where takes a drag on his sisters-in-laws' cigarettes to get them out of a jam for smoking in a government building.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EExplain how. Well, Homer does not much like Patty and Selma, just as those in the west don't like Ontario, or its university men's basketball dominance. Yet Homer did something to help himself, over his reservations at helping the gruesome twosome. To totally strain the self-indulgent analogy, UBC will make their case for a high seed at home for the CIS Final 8 if they defeat the Thompson Rivers WolfPack and the Manitoba\/Calgary winner at the men's b-ball Canada West Final Four.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECalgary not being a conference champion might open the door toThat could also make the argument the OUA's big three of Carleton, Ryerson and Ottawa all being top six seeds come next week in Vancouver. Just saying, \u003Ci\u003Eit could\u003C\/i\u003E.\u0026nbsp;Ours is not to make predictions, per se, but to be prepared. (\u003Cb\u003EMark Wacyk\u003C\/b\u003E, as always, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/canhoopsca.wordpress.com\/2016\/03\/10\/wilson-cup-final-four-preview-rams-look-to-hoist-first-banner-ever\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ehas the OUA Wilson Cup covered from all angles\u003C\/a\u003E.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThere is no crystal ball; consider this more of a 'creating a crazy scenario and watching it all go down.'\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo UBC wins Canada West. Calgary or Manitoba is Canada West 1, and the conference's bronze-game winner is Canada West 2 since the Thunderbirds are a host.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EHow could the picture look?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOUA 1\u0026nbsp;—\u003C\/b\u003E Saturday's Wilson Cup winner, either Carleton, Ottawa or Ryerson;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOUA 2\u0026nbsp;—\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/b\u003ESaturday's Wilson Cup runner-up;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EHost team —\u003C\/b\u003E UBC, which had 227 points in the most recent Top Ten;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAt large\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003ESaturday's OUA bronze-game winner if, indeed, it's one of the Big Three;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERSEQ champion\u0026nbsp;—\u003C\/b\u003E \u003Ci\u003EIf\u003C\/i\u003E No. 7 McGill wins their conference;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EDalhousie\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003ENo. 10-ranked Tigers go in the 5-hole \u003Ci\u003Eif\u003C\/i\u003E McGill stumbles;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECW 1\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EThe Calgary-Manitoba winner and conference runner-up;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECW 2\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EThe Canada West bronze-game winner, so either Calgary or Manitoba. Or perhaps No. 11-ranked Thompson Rivers could still surprise us.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003EAgendas, there a few at the time of March. This seeding likely keeps the 'Birds around until Semifinal Saturday, which will help with the surely robust ticket sales for the event that is coming back to a Vancouver whetted with anticipation due to its four-decade absence. Of OUA's big three, two will have a loser-plays-for-bronze steel cage match in the semifinal. The winner than has refresh for Championship Sunday.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Thunderbirds get their high seed, OUA gets its entitlement of high seeds but two of them have to re-stage the playoffs, which gives the survivor a tougher trek toward the national title.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd, of course, you know what it says about the person who is laying out this scenario:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-MTOIc-Qar5g\/VuH2WXFAWZI\/AAAAAAAADHY\/qoR8xduk3OoZsyCFCL8EhPQK1NUBMTCoQ\/s1600\/1251783%2B%25281%2529.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-MTOIc-Qar5g\/VuH2WXFAWZI\/AAAAAAAADHY\/qoR8xduk3OoZsyCFCL8EhPQK1NUBMTCoQ\/s640\/1251783%2B%25281%2529.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/3117106235554870844\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/bracketology-how-ubc-can-do-oua-solid.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3117106235554870844"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/3117106235554870844"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/bracketology-how-ubc-can-do-oua-solid.html","title":"Bracketology! The 'How UBC can do OUA a solid' edition"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-wHfiAGgIR2c\/VuHuPVOYWyI\/AAAAAAAADHA\/xO9-Mwe783gm8VetD2EgqPO-E6X86fggQ\/s72-c\/1246995.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-5664071880299263045"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-09T11:55:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-09T20:54:55.089-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Bears"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gryphons"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Men's Puck Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Mustangs"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Patriotes"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Pronghorns"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"SMU Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"U of S Huskies"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"University Cup"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Varsity Reds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"X-Men"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Men's Puck Bracketology: AKA the 'St. Francis Xavier wins' edition"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ci\u003E(Updated: the X-Men, with Sudbury Wolves alumnus Nathan Pancel sniping a tiebreaking goal 1:59 into the third, \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/atlanticuniversitysport.com\/sports\/mice\/2015-16\/postseason\/boxscores\/20160309_mh95.xml\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ebeat No. 1-ranked UNB 5-3 to sweep the AUS championship series\u003C\/a\u003E. Time to change our tenses!)\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cb\u003EDrew Owsley \u003C\/b\u003Ecreated a domino effect.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESt. Francis Xavier finished the job against No. 1-ranked UNB on Wednesday in Game 2 of the best-of-3 AUS championship, which semi-halfway radically altered the seeding for the CIS University Cup. Men's hockey is relatively straightforward about its seeding. The winners of each sport conference form the top three \"based on their respective team national ranking in the final Top Ten of the season.\" The OUA runner-up draws into the No. 4 seed, and everyone else is arranged accordingly.\u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo we have some idea of the fallout from the X-Men winning,\u0026nbsp;especially in a format that looks deep within each team's soul and assigns them a seeding based on their place in a media poll. Please bear in mind this is using this week's Top 10. There is no anticipating whether there will be a shift when the contributors submit their final, final Top 10 on Saturday night after the OUA Queen's Cup (Trois-Rivières at Western)\u0026nbsp;and play-in bronze game (Guelph at Carleton).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ETrois-Rivières (OUA champion) —\u003C\/b\u003E Based on having 140 points to take the No. 2 spot in the poll. Former Saint John Sea Dogs goalie \u003Cb\u003ESébastien Auger\u003C\/b\u003E was a game-stealer in the sealer last Saturday against Carleton.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaskatchewan Huskies (Canada West champion)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003ESweeping Alberta, 4-0 and 3-2, did not nudge them over the Pats in the poll.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESt. Francis Xavier X-Men (AUS champion)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EOne would think that the X-Men might even siphon away No. 1 votes if they take down the the \u003Cb\u003EGardiner MacDougall \u003C\/b\u003Egang. They were still 34 points adrift of Saskatchewan in last week's penultimate Top Ten.\u003Cb\u003E Brad Peddle\u003C\/b\u003E's lads had some bounce-back in the clincher. They spotted the V-Reds the first two goals, levelled, and former OHLer\u003Cb\u003E Nathan Chiarlitti\u003C\/b\u003E had a mid-second period response goal only 55 seconds after UNB had taken its second lead.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EWestern Mustangs (OUA runner-up)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EAnything can happen in a one-game final on the Mustangs' home ice, just saying.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUNB Varsity Reds (AUS runner-up)\u0026nbsp;—\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;Not a bad loss for UNB if the form holds in London, Ont., on Saturday. The V-Reds would get a quarter-final against a team which was unranked much of the season. Being in the 4 vs. 5 game also puts them in the same scheduling bloc as Saint Mary's, which is probably also helpful.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWith the ex-OHLers Nathan Chiarlitti and Nathan Pancel getting big goals for the X-Men on Wednesday, any Ontarian named Nathan might not be welcome around the Aitken Centre for a while.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAlberta Golden Bears (Canada West runner-up)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003ESaskatchewan goalie \u003Cb\u003EJordon Cooke\u003C\/b\u003E, a Kelowna Rockets alumnus, was named Canada West player of the year. The last time a goalie got the honour was Lethbridge's \u003Cb\u003ETrevor Kruger \u003C\/b\u003Ein 1993-94. You know what else Lethbridge did that season? \u003Cb\u003EMike Babcock\u003C\/b\u003E coached it to the national title. There's \u003Cstrike\u003Ea very small sample size\u003C\/strike\u003E an omen for you.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton Ravens (OUA bronze medal)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EConfidence check: 72 per cent sure that the Ravens get 'er done against Guelph on Sunday in the play-in, AKA the OUA bronze-medal game.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ESaint Mary's Huskies (host)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003ESMU has a 48-44-29 poll lead against Western and Guelph. A pair of upsets by the OUA West teams might nudge them into the 7 vs. 2 quarter-final. That would segue into the meaning of \"try to avoid\" same conference matchups. It has occurred in the past, albeit in other sports, that a conference winner and the team that won the bronze-medal play-in game for the conference's third berth were matched in the first round.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/5664071880299263045\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/mens-puck-bracketology-aka-what-if-st.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5664071880299263045"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5664071880299263045"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/mens-puck-bracketology-aka-what-if-st.html","title":"Men's Puck Bracketology: AKA the 'St. Francis Xavier wins' edition"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-5400997307116197975"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-09T09:43:00.002-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-09T12:11:34.773-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Basketball"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"CIS Issues"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Citadins"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gaiters"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Golden Gaels"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Martlets"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ottawa Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"OUA"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Redmen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Rouge et Or"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"RSEQ"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Stingers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Wishful Thinking Wednesday"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Wishful Thinking Wednesday: OUA, RSEQ need basketball interlock to better grow the game"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Hockey rivals should meet five times in a season, not basketball teams.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOnly within the circular logic of university athletics does this make an iota of sense: when the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec men's semifinals take place \u0026nbsp;Friday, host McGill and Laval will be playing or the fifth time, and so too will the Concordia Stingers and the Université du Québec à Montréal Citadins. Meantime, none the three Montreal teams \u0026nbsp;that are within a 2-3½-hour drive of a handful of gyms across the provincial border have faced an Ontario University Athletics opponent since November. Ironically, the exception to the rule is the most geographically distant team. Laval defeated Ottawa on Dec. 28.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe point of mentioning this is that there is a definitely a gap in development in university basketball since OUA and RSEQ don't cross over for regular-season play. With each conference at an odd number with 17 and five teams, creating one-game slack weeks in every team's schedule, would that there was the desire and political will to resurrect it. It would mean, especially for the 10 men's and women's teams in Quebec, meeting, adapting and learning from so many more opponents. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EGenerally, the only time there are cross-overs or \u0026nbsp;Ontario\/Quebec leagues is out of need, either to save money or due to a lack of sufficient teams to make a league. That applies in men's hockey with Trois-Rivières, which will likely win the Queen's Cup as Ontario champion this weekend, being in the league along with Concordia and McGill. Only three Quebec schools ice men's teams. It also goes the other way with Carleton and Ottawa having their women's hockey teams in what amounts to a Montreal-area RSEQ league.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe same notion applied in the 1990s when the OUA East had an interlock with Quebec, which had a couple national championships during the decade with TV's \u003Cb\u003EJohn Dore\u003C\/b\u003E guiding Concordia to the 1990 national title and \u003Cb\u003EEddie Pomykala\u003C\/b\u003E\u0026nbsp;taking Bishop's to the summit in '98. Before romanticizing that era, it's important to remember that interlock was a shotgun marriage.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe OUA East and West had some issues at the time. For a few seasons, the East played a 20-game schedule \u0026nbsp;— a home-and-home with the other six teams, and a home-and-home with the four-team Q. The OUA West had a 12-game January\/February regular season, before everyone held their own playoffs to determine three qualifiers for the Final 8. Eventually, OUA West came around, probably not coincidentally after McMaster lost the '98 final to Bishop's.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe good unintended consequence helped Quebec. The interlock ended in 2001-02, since the two OUA divisions had resolved their differences, and certain schools in Southern Ontario could abide visiting Concordia or McGill but not so much going to rural Quebec (Bishop's) and very French Quebec (Laval).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe obvious flip rejoinder to that: is going to Laval that much more onerous than trekking to Thunder Bay to play Lakehead?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESince the interlock ended, the closest a Q men's team has come to the national title was Concordia reaching the final of the 2005 CIS Final 10, losing 68-48 to Carleton in \u003Cb\u003EMichael Smart\u003C\/b\u003E's final game for the Ravens. The conference is a collective 0-10 in the quarter-final since then, and it's not necessarily all due to low seeding. Concordia was the No. 1 seed in '07 abd No. 3 seed in '12.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EGranted, development is hard to quantify, but a development problem has already been identified. It is on CIS to see what can be done to foment change for the greater good.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt's important not to read a cause-and-effect here. But it's fair to surmise that having five teams whale on each other from November until early March foments intense competition at the RSEQ Final Four, but it's probably not helping Quebec's cause at the \u0026nbsp;men's Final 8. The Q teams\u003Ci\u003E can \u003C\/i\u003Eplay, notwithstanding that decade-long absence from Semifinal Saturday. Bishop's extended Ottawa to overtime in the quarter-final last season. It would have been easier to see that coming if observers in Ontario had the Gaiters come this way some time after the calendar changed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPerception is reality, and everyone would have a clearer picture about \u0026nbsp;(a) the Q being underrated and (b) what it takes to be a top team if there was that interlock.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMen's hockey is a perfect example of the benefit from having Quebec schools as associate members of OUA. Carleton, which hosts Guelph on Saturday in a play-in game for the CIS University Cup, has been able to get better from playing against McGill and Trois-Rivières, who have long set the bar for the division. It is hard to imagine that Carleton coach \u003Cb\u003EMarty Johnston\u003C\/b\u003E hankers for the easier path to the University Cup his team would have in a weaker, Ontario-only league.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHaving the interlock would serve the ideal for CIS of having national championships where anyone can truly win the day. That is always going to be daunting in a country which is geographically vast and historically disinterested in supporting its own university sport. (Why no, I'm not filling out a NCAA Tournament bracket and don't ask me to join your pool.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUltimately, as the power conference, OUA owes it to its neighbour to remember that they had that mutually beneficial partnership in the 1990s. It came together by accident, almost, but it was great and rates a chance to come back. Players and coaches would benefit.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETwenty-two is the most awkward even number of teams to schedule. It is not that hard, though, to imagine grafting Quebec on to a four-division OUA.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstyle type=\"text\/css\"\u003E table.tableizer-table { font-size: 12px; border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 5px; border: 1px solid #CCC; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #104E8B; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } \u003C\/style\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable class=\"tableizer-table\"\u003E\u003Cthead\u003E\u003Ctr class=\"tableizer-firstrow\"\u003E\u003Cth\u003EWest\u003C\/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003ECentral\u003C\/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003EEast\u003C\/th\u003E\u003Cth\u003EQuebec\u003C\/th\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/thead\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EAlgoma\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EBrock\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ECarleton\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EBishop's\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ELakehead\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EGuelph\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ELaurentian\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EConcordia\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWaterloo\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ELaurier\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ENipissing\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ELaval \u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWestern\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EMcMaster\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EOttawa\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EMcGill\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EWindsor\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003ERyerson\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EQueen's\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EUQAM\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EToronto\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003EYork\u003C\/td\u003E\u003Ctd\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E(Laurier and Lakehead are interchangeable. Lakehead in a five-team division is probably more cost-effective.)\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn this bit of blue-sky thinking, one could draft a 20-game schedule where everyone has divisional home-and-homes and plays 10-12 other teams. If OUA uses a RPI \u003Ci\u003Ewhere every game counts\u003C\/i\u003E, an unbalanced schedule does not pose a problem for playoff seeding. Also, each OUA team is getting new opponents. A few teams would have two more opponents that visit every season, which helps with building familiarity and rivalries.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAdding Quebec to the schedule would help develop the rivalries among OUA schools? \u003Ci\u003EYeah, that's right.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThose are just the potential ancillary benefits. The primary one is that the smallest conference in the country is more prepared for nationals, which can only help Canadian university basketball.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003ECome playoff time, Quebec could have its own championship while OUA could proceed apace with the Critelli Cup and Wilson Cup. What is one more grandfathered-in exception in CIS, any way?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWishful thinking — \u003Ci\u003EI know.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/5400997307116197975\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/wishful-thinking-wednesday-oua-rseq.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5400997307116197975"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/5400997307116197975"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/wishful-thinking-wednesday-oua-rseq.html","title":"Wishful Thinking Wednesday: OUA, RSEQ need basketball interlock to better grow the game"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8220121611828242531.post-8509434604555262645"},"published":{"$t":"2016-03-07T01:15:00.003-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-03-07T14:55:13.841-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bracketology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinos"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Final 8"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Gee-Gees"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ravens"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Redmen"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Ryerson Rams"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Tigers"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"UBC Thunderbirds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"WolfPack"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Bracketology! Ryerson goes back on top, and a cry for the WolfPack "},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"All the 'contemplating the ifs' has probably rendered this effort the 'go home, you're drunk' edition.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe points to fixate upon include:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E— Carleton and Ottawa going to the matt at Mattamy Athletic Centre in the OUA Wilson Cup semifinal.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E— What possibility there is that Calgary, which is nicely ensconced in the No. 3 seed like so much velvet, could lose at home in the Canada West Final Four.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E— Whether there is any chance of Dalhousie moving up from the No. 6 seed, the lowest possible for a conference champ. (Answer: probably not.)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere goes very little:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca name='more'\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERyerson Rams (OUA champion)\u0026nbsp;—\u003C\/b\u003E It is about who is healthy and hitting shots, and Ryerson seems fit on each count now that\u003Cb\u003E Juwon Grannum\u003C\/b\u003E is back to fortify their rotation. That crowd at the MAC, where the Rams hosted the 2015 Final 8 but weren't part of competing in the '13 and '14 OUA finals after losing in the quarters, should be something else. There's really no excuse if it isn't. In fact, if there's even a remote possibility of a blah atmosphere, start busing in Brock students.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EOttawa (OUA runner-up)\u0026nbsp;—\u003C\/b\u003E Gut feeling is the OUA hierarchy is now Ryerson, Ottawa, Carleton. The Gee-Gees have played in the MAC enough times for it to feel familiar, and shot an effective 52.4% there in January against the fired-up Rams without having\u003Cb\u003E Caleb Agada\u003C\/b\u003E to create matchup problems. They had a bad shooting night (42.9%) in Saturday's near-disastrous narrow escape against Queen's. That can fluctuate positively.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EDefinitely \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/portal.stretchinternet.com\/oua\/portal.htm?eventId=276239\u0026amp;streamType=video\u0026amp;highlightId=25657\u0026amp;time=1457368776.218\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ewatch the replay of Ottawa's winning bucket against Queen's\u003C\/a\u003E. A \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/portal.stretchinternet.com\/oua\/portal.htm?eventId=276239\u0026amp;streamType=video\u0026amp;highlightId=25657\u0026amp;time=1457368776.218\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Elittle more help D and Ottawa is done early\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECalgary (Canada West champion)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EMuch will depend on Manitoba-Calgary on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym. The Bisons and Dinos split their regular-season series, which was on the U of M's home floor. Calgary is home and \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/calgaryherald.com\/sports\/basketball\/dinos-hoopsters-advance-to-final-four-tourney\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Eought to be more focused after flirting with getting extended in their series against Alberta\u003C\/a\u003E. Calgary also shot the three (38.0%) and defended it (27.5%) better than anyone out West.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow, if Manitoba wins, everything gets cockamamie.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EUBC (host)*\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EA win against Thompson Rivers on Friday will make everyone breath easier. The 'Birds \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cishoops.ca\/mbb2015\/cissrs.php\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ehave the highest SRS of any team outside of Ontario\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EMcGill (RSEQ champion)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EThe Redmen might have lost too many conference games to be considered for anything higher. They have the inside track on the Q title.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EDalhousie (AUS champion)*\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EIt is official after the Tigers had one-point semifinal and two-point championship-game victories in the AUS Final 6. With 6-foot-5 Sven Stammberger as the lone starter taller than 6-2, Dal is the epitome of scrappy underdog. They slowed and stymied UVic in the 6 vs. 3 quarter-final last March. It would be something to see it history could repeat itself.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003ECarleton (wild card)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EIt would not be the first time that Ottawa and Carleton met at OUAs and again at nationals. Each instance usually happens later. If Carleton is OUA No. 3 and either Manitoba or Thompson Rivers is Canada West No. 3, the Ravens have to be higher. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECarleton would likely be facing an OUA opponent as either a 7 or 8 seed. Understandably, you cannot move a team down to get out of facing a team it saw in the playoffs, and put it up against the higher-seeded team from its conference. That's where we are.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cb\u003EManitoba (Canada West auto berth)\u0026nbsp;— \u003C\/b\u003EIt will be Manitoba-Thompson Rivers in a play-in Canada West bronze game if the form holds. The prospective foes are 12th and 13th in the national SRS. The Bisons \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/cishoops.ca\/mbb2015\/cissrs.php\" target=\"_blank\"\u003Ehave a below-average strength of schedule and coach\u003Cb\u003E Scott Clark\u003C\/b\u003E's WolfPack have a really, really bad strength of schedule\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;within CIS competition.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe SRS' value as a predictor is contestable, though. Cases in point: Windsor defeating McMaster, Dal defeating UPEI and Queen's nearly upsetting Ottawa. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EFor obvious intellectual-honesty reasons, games against non-CIS competition cannot be thrown into the rankings mix; there are too many variables to take the results on face. At the same time, though, it's not as if Thompson Rivers, as a program in Kamloops, B.C., has the budget or the geographical convenience to get the even UBC or UVic on their schedule, let alone major central Canada schools for non-conference games. They have played anyone and everyone: BCCAA, NCAA D2, NAIA. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThey have a fifth-year point guard with \u003Cb\u003EReese Pribilisky\u003C\/b\u003E, and this team from the Interior is solid in the interior with 6-10 \u003Cb\u003EJosh Wolfram \u003C\/b\u003Eand 6-7 \u003Cb\u003EVolodymyr Iegorov\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EJust sayin'. Don't cede that berth to the Bisons just yet. (Actually, now that we've lavished praise on the little-known Explorer Division school, watch them come out flat as the Manitoba prairie on Friday since life is like that.)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E* officially qualified\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003EPlease visit \u003Cb\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\"\u003Ecisblog.ca\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003C\/b\u003E.\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/feeds\/8509434604555262645\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/bracketology-ryerson-goes-back-on-top.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/8509434604555262645"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/8220121611828242531\/posts\/default\/8509434604555262645"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.cisblog.ca\/2016\/03\/bracketology-ryerson-goes-back-on-top.html","title":"Bracketology! Ryerson goes back on top, and a cry for the WolfPack "}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"sager"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/08757652892056684490"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-HoppI3_eGQc\/VrWGl9xFY2I\/AAAAAAAADEA\/ucwvqUnIa7M\/s220\/Neate1379-4x4M.JPG"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});