GREG MARSHALL GOES BACK TO SCHOOL

This comes as no surprise to the regulars at CIS Football.org -- recently deposed Hamilton Tiger-Cats coach Greg Marshall is rejoining the Western Mustangs, the university team he starred on and coached for throughout the 1980s and first half of the '90s.

Marshall will serve as Western's offensive co-ordinator this fall and then become the head coach in 2007 after Larry Haylor retires.

The Globe and Mail notes that despite the ascendancy of Marshall's former McMaster team and the defending national champion Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, Western remains a "dominant football school." If by dominant you mean "hasn't won a conference title since 1998 in a league that's produced one national champion in that time," then yes, Western is dominant.

Of course, that might come off as sour grapes from an oft-whipped Queen's Golden Gaels fan, but it should be pointed out that the Tricolour is 4-2 against the Mustangs since the traditional rivalry resumed in 2000. Having a coach with Marshall's reputation back in the league can't be anything but good for Ontario University Athletics and Canadian university football in general, so welcome back, Greg.

Now if by some chance the Gaels should pull off a win over Marshall and the Mustangs on any future fall afternoon (something it never did in four tries against his McMaster teams, incidentally), well, then, won't it be all the sweeter, what with all the mitigating factors -- Queen's higher admissions cutoff, smaller athletic budget, a more evolved sense of social conscience and superior vocabularies. Go, Gaels, go.

(In case you can't tell, I do get a little irrational about Queen's football sometimes.)