So long as no objects, it seems best to put our shallow, fairly accurate observations about Canadian university football over at The CIS Blog.
The big news today, since it's always has to be about Western, is that the Mustangs are 0-2 for the first time since 1970 after a 22-15 loss to McMaster. Officiating, turnovers and the absence of star safety Matt Carapella will probably be part of Western's spin control, but it did seem like Greg Marshall didn't coach aggressively enough early on when Mac was very shaky.
How's this for a mixed metaphor? The 'Stangs had an early 12-3 lead, but were leaking oil from the first quarter on since it took its foot off the gas, not challenging the young Marauders secondary after getting an early 65-yard TD pass.
Queen's is in tough tomorrow vs. Guelph, so it seems best to keep a humble exterior. Still, Western plays the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Guelph and Windsor in the next three weeks.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
GAITERS NEARLY LEAVE STINGERS BLUGH
Napanee's Leroy Blugh nearly pulled off his biggest win as a coach last night -- his Bishop's Gaiters took the Concordia Stingers down to the wire, losing 20-18 after being stopped inside the five-yard line in the final two minutes.Bishop's led in the fourth quarter, no mean feat considering it had faced halftime deficits 23-0, 24-0 and 34-4 in its three matchups vs. Concordia during Blugh's first two seasons. The Stingers were able to get a late touchdown, then make a goal-line stand after the Gaiters had driven to the three-yard line. Bishop's kicker Josh Maveety then missed a chip-shot field goal that would have tied it up -- the second time in the game, actually, that his team had gone for the short three after being inside the 10-yard line. (We're of the opinion, by the way, that teams should go for it for more down there, since the average play gains six yards and the other team, if it holds on, ends up conceding a safety most of the time.)
Bottom line, it was the first game. Regardless, coming so close vs. a program with Concordia's rep might show that Blugh is starting to turn around a Gaiters program that, for reasons not all of its own making, has been barely treading water in the Quebec conference.
Bonus Hometown Breakdown note: Concordia's new starting QB, Robert Mackay, claims Port Dover, Ont., (10 minutes south of Simcoe), as his hometown. Who knew?
Related:
Stingers' Mackay has big shoes to fill (Randy Phillips, Montreal Gazette)
Friday, September 07, 2007
LYNX: MILES TO GO, BUT THERE'S HOPE
Someone else can dwell on the feeling that a guy from North Carolina, Miles Wolff, cares more about having baseball and green spaces in this country's major cities than some of the decision-makers appear to, but that's for another time.
The long and short of this city's post-Lynx baseball future is that the Can-Am League is eager to get into this market. Carl Kiiffner at Ottawa Lynx Blog got the commish on the phone the other day (please, go read it) what Wolff told him about his dealings with City Hall raise questions about where Mayor Larry O'Brien and city council's heads are these days.
Carl's take, after talking to Wolff:
"Here's the killer: The Can-Am League deal has no strings attached. It wasn't contingent upon finding a local owner, arranging funding or any other proviso. As has been widely reported, they (the league) would undertake a five-year lease agreement with the City, picking up the remainder of the Lynx lease at the same cost -- even though they were only playing 50 games."
Also, something that bears underlining in the Nashua's paper about the Can-Am League taking over the Lynx lease:
As part of the deal, the Lynx would drop litigation against the city over parking issues.
So much for the Lynx not showing their hand! Anyway, it is such a no-brainer.
Anyway, if the Can-Am League is shut out by the city, don't say that Ottawa and its fans are have become anathema to an "American game." Miles Wolff, who already owns a team in Canada, and who helped bring indie ball to Winnipeg with the Northern League Goldeyes, believes in baseball in this city.
Don't beat ourselves up and start listing off the teams that have failed. It looks every bit like the mayor and City Hall alone are the ones saying no to a something that's very cost-effective and which would stand a good chance of succeeding. Why, no one knows. Sorry, but an elected official's worth is based on what he or she will do for people who don't make a up a big voting bloc and when an election is not coming up soon. They should be standing up for baseball fans now.
It's odd how in the States, where capitalism is next to godliness, the Americans get it with green space and the simple idea of going to a minor-league ballgame. The short-season indie leagues and summer college leagues are booming. Meantime, in Ottawa, we get let's just tear everything down approach.
USING THE INDOOR VOICE NOW...
The Can-Am League has one franchise, maybe two that might be moving. The Nashua, N.H., team isn't drawing well. Then there The Grays, the league's "road team." I'll admit I overthought the Grays' reason for being, assuming it was one of those indie-ball gimmicks, but a 2005 Boston Globe feature on The Grays captures the reality of what those players go through. No league would want to put a team through that and the team could be moved here.
Related:
Former owner weighs in on future (Tom King, Nashua Telegraph)
Ottawa hoping to land Can-Am franchise (Tom King, Nashua Telegraph)
TRYING TO KEEP AN EVEN ANKIEL ABOUT THIS
Here's a link the New York Post story stating Rick Ankiel used HGH during his long road back to the National League after switching from pitching to playing the outfield.
Worth keeping in mind, maybe:
Nothing is cut-and-dried in this world. It's so ironic that there's a St. Louis Cardinals slugger getting pinched for performance enhancers now. What is Mark McGwire doing these days?
Worth keeping in mind, maybe:
"Ankiel, 28, has not been accused by authorities of wrongdoing, and according to the Signature records obtained by The News, he stopped receiving HGH just before Major League Baseball officially banned it in 2005. MLB does not test for HGH, but a player who is known to have used it or even possessed it from the time it was banned can face a 50-game suspension."
Nothing is cut-and-dried in this world. It's so ironic that there's a St. Louis Cardinals slugger getting pinched for performance enhancers now. What is Mark McGwire doing these days?
Thursday, September 06, 2007
UP AT 6: BARBER'S CUTTING COMMENTS
Gibby, before the fall (right around the 1:42 mark)...
- Did anyone not call shenanigans on Tiki Barber yesterday for criticizing his old coach?
- Football Outsiders now figures there's it's more than likely last season's Super Bowl teams, the Colts and Bears, could miss the playoffs. Don't tell the Dertingers!
(How about the Vikings? "Shut up," Sager answered.) - Raptor Land is keeping close tabs on the European Olympic qualifier. Italy and Andrea Bargnani is 1-2. Imagine what would happen if Italy doesn't qualify and ends up in the last-chance Olympic qualifer, which Canada is trying to host?
It's hard to believe Slovenia is 3-0 with Rasho Nesterovič playing centre. Something got lost in translation. - The Tao of Stieb is giving it 6 months until some hoser talking head asks Joey Votto about joining the Jays. He homered in his second at-bat at a Cincinnati Red, although can it really be called a "major-league debut" when it came in the National League?
JAYS-SOX: AND THEN YOU GO AND SPOIL IT ALL... (OR, SHUFFLE OFF, BUFFALO)
Wednesday, Jays 6, Sox 4: Any temporary glow raised by Troy Glaus and Vernon Wells smacking the tying and game-winning homers (good thing the Massholes picked up Eric Gagné!) lasted only long enough for Sportsnet Connected to come on the air.It's embarrassing enough to be 30 years old, home alone and watching a ballgame when your team is dead to rights in the playoff race. About 10 minutes after the final out, Connected played up the fact that the Buffalo News said John Gibbons "deserves consideration for manager of the year honors." No offence to that broadsheet, the city or its pro sports teams -- say, how is it possible that the Bills are already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention? -- but for most people, the reaction is "big woop what the Buffalo News says about anything other than the three major fires per day in North Tonawanda."
Instead, Sportsnet Connected practically treated this as the baseball equivalent of an author having her book praised by Oprah Winfrey. It must have been some convincing argument, yes?
"Gibbons has kept the Jays in shouting distance of the Yankees despite a rash of injuries. He lost closer B.J. Ryan for the year. Gustavo Chacin hasn't pitched since April. A.J. Burnett has been on and off the DL. Roy Halladay missed three weeks. Reed Johnson and Gregg Zaun missed most of the season."In fairness to the News, the Jays aren't a team of interest and no one knows if the guy who wrote that is even a fan (most people in Western New York tend to go for the Yankees). But...
- Jeremy Accardo has filled in for Ryan to the extent B.J.'s shoulder surgery barely gets asked about on the post-game shows and besides, the value of closers is overrated;
- Opie Litsch has an ERA a full run lower (4.03 to 5.05) than Chacin did in 2006 in about the same number of innings;
- Burnett will end up throwing more innings than he did in '06, when the Jays won 87 games, which they won't this season;
- Doc will likely make five more starts, which would be 32 for the season -- the exact number he made last last season when the Jays won 87 games, which they won't this season (what, heard that one?);
- Reed Johnson? Three words: Matt effing Stairs. Oh, and get this: Zaun has already batted more times and caught more games than he did in '06. His broken thumb has clearly killed his stats, but how does that help exonerate Gibbons, who's written Zaun into the lineup card for 27 of the Jays' last 33 games? (Jason Phillips, who was signed on Gibbons' recommendation, didn't work out.)
A general-interest sports column's bullet points will be off the mark occasionally. It happens. The onus here is on Your Home For The Jays for taking a throwaway observation and running with it, apparently without checking whether the rationale could even stand up in a faint breeze.
Besides, what does it say that Canadians in North America's fourth-largest media market can't form its own baseball opinion, but needs one from a U.S.-based writer in, what, the 50th-largest market? It's not participle physics or even the Bowl Championship Series, it's frigging baseball. We can figure out for ourselves, although this is the same network that had Gibbons playing on the "1986 Miracle Mets" (he did do that, but the nickname applies to the 1969 Mets) a while back.
(In fairness, Connected and sportsnet.ca sometimes comes in for criticism that would not be levelled at TSN and tsn.ca, since yours truly hasn't relied on either since the end of hockey season. By the way, check out The Tao's post on small ball.)Tuesday -- Sox 5, Jays 3: Manager Boomhauer wasn't totally out of it for letting Roy Halladay pitch the bottom of the eighth. Aren't all y'all the same ones who complain about the overemphasis on pitch counts? Besides, Doc's splits suggest he's OK from the 101st pitch onward. Still, blind pig, meet acorn; acorn, meet the blind pig.
UPDATE: Chuck Swirsky opened his 1-4 show on The Fan 590 on Wednesday by inviting callers to weigh in with what changes they would recommend to Toronto's sports solons. His suggestion for what people should implore Jays president Paul Godfrey to do was, "Change the uniforms and the manager." Effin' A, Swirsk.
Monday -- Sox 13, Jays 10: In honour of the first day of school, write out, "I will not second-guess John Gibbons' handling of the bullpen," 100 times.Doing so would presumes (a) there's still a debate over whether Gibby should be back next season; (b) that there's still a chance at the wild card and (c) it really matters whether the Jays finish 83-79 or 84-78. That's just mental masturbation, even though they probably will finish with a better record than one of the division champs in the National League... again.
That said... Josh Towers, who'd come in to mop up, should not have come out for a second inning of work after that eight-run rally in the Jays sixth cut the lead to 10-9. (The Red Sox got three -- a field goal -- to put the game away.) At that point it had gone from whatever gets you through the night to actually being in a close ballgame, so using a starting pitcher who hadn't worked in two weeks didn't make a whole lot of sense. Neither Scott Downs and Brian Wolfe -- isn't he supposed to be trustworthy now? -- each threw less than 10 pitches to live batters in Sunday's win over Seattle and didn't have a lot of ups, so they were ready.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: SAINT MARY'S HUSKIES
Crack open a Clancy's and break out the Sloan MP3s... you're on the East Coast now. Presenting: the Saint Mary's Huskies.
In '06: 3-4 regular season, lost 32-24 to Acadia in Loney Bowl
Players to watch: QB Erik Glavic, RB Jacques Lumbala, G Derek Weber, LB Tim St. Pierre, DL Clayton Chiurka, DB Jeff Zelinski
Head coach: Steve Sumurah (2nd season)
Co-ordinators: Sumurah (offence), Mike McLean (defence), Terry Baker (special teams)
Last league title: 2004
Big ones: Sept. 15 at Mount A, Sept. 22 vs. Concordia, Oct. 13 at Laval
On the web: huskiesdogpound.com
Strengths: Glavic leads an offence that has three returning starters on the line, a big back in Lumbala and plenty of receivers. There's a nucleus here that's weathered the loss of Blake Nill to Calgary and Sumurah's transition to the top job. They haven't won in a couple years, so they're champing at the bit, especially the St. Pierre-led defence.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... It's more a case of the whole conference being under scrutiny
OFFENCE
Last year, the take here was that the Huskies lacked a bit of an identity and that the dilemma over whether to be loyal to veteran QB Bill Robinson or give Glavic a shot would be a distraction. That turned to to be more or less true. Now Glavic is The Man and the 6-foot-6, 215-lb. two-sport athlete (he helped the SMU hoops team make a Cinderella run to the national semi-final at the CIS Final 8) could end up being the conference's nominee for the Hec Crighton Trophy.
Former Regina Ram Kyle McNeil will slide into the centre spot, with Weber moving to guard. Receiver Carl Hardwick was the team's offensive MVP last season and the return of Fraser O'Neill, who last played in '04, might give the Huskies more balance in the passing game.
DEFENCE
Saint's Mary front four returns Chiurka, conference sacks leader Brent Shabley and added tackle Dan Schutte, who was an all-star last season with Edmonton in the Prairie junior league. Andrew Paopao (son of Joe) is supposed to help SMU get more of a push up front, which will help in a conference with pass-heavy attacks such as Mount A and Acadia. St. Pierre plays on the outside, but he's kind of the Huskies' analog to Joe Barnes with the Ottawa Gee-Gees -- a linebacker who is around the the pile at the end of most running plays.
Zelinski and Tyrone Roue are the focal points of SMU's secondary.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Justin Palardy impressed as a rookie last season, with a long field goal of 49 yards. He'll do the kicking and punting. His long snapper, Chad Moore, has graduated, so there's some turnover there. Hardwick has a fair bit of experience returning kicks.
NEED-TO-KNOW
"Smoo" is the one Atlantic school putting football on a front burner in a conference which has been more competitive nationally in men's hockey and basketball. On paper, they're set to walk through to the Jewett Trophy, but it's wearisome to read about winning a title and having however many all-stars in a 4-team conference. The best thing Saint Mary's can do this season is be competitive in the interlock vs. Concordia, if not Laval, since it's starting to become a general assumption that the Atlantic league is falling behind the rest of the CIS.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 3-4 regular season, lost 32-24 to Acadia in Loney Bowl
Players to watch: QB Erik Glavic, RB Jacques Lumbala, G Derek Weber, LB Tim St. Pierre, DL Clayton Chiurka, DB Jeff Zelinski
Head coach: Steve Sumurah (2nd season)
Co-ordinators: Sumurah (offence), Mike McLean (defence), Terry Baker (special teams)
Last league title: 2004
Big ones: Sept. 15 at Mount A, Sept. 22 vs. Concordia, Oct. 13 at Laval
On the web: huskiesdogpound.com
Strengths: Glavic leads an offence that has three returning starters on the line, a big back in Lumbala and plenty of receivers. There's a nucleus here that's weathered the loss of Blake Nill to Calgary and Sumurah's transition to the top job. They haven't won in a couple years, so they're champing at the bit, especially the St. Pierre-led defence.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... It's more a case of the whole conference being under scrutiny
OFFENCE
Last year, the take here was that the Huskies lacked a bit of an identity and that the dilemma over whether to be loyal to veteran QB Bill Robinson or give Glavic a shot would be a distraction. That turned to to be more or less true. Now Glavic is The Man and the 6-foot-6, 215-lb. two-sport athlete (he helped the SMU hoops team make a Cinderella run to the national semi-final at the CIS Final 8) could end up being the conference's nominee for the Hec Crighton Trophy.
Former Regina Ram Kyle McNeil will slide into the centre spot, with Weber moving to guard. Receiver Carl Hardwick was the team's offensive MVP last season and the return of Fraser O'Neill, who last played in '04, might give the Huskies more balance in the passing game.
DEFENCE
Saint's Mary front four returns Chiurka, conference sacks leader Brent Shabley and added tackle Dan Schutte, who was an all-star last season with Edmonton in the Prairie junior league. Andrew Paopao (son of Joe) is supposed to help SMU get more of a push up front, which will help in a conference with pass-heavy attacks such as Mount A and Acadia. St. Pierre plays on the outside, but he's kind of the Huskies' analog to Joe Barnes with the Ottawa Gee-Gees -- a linebacker who is around the the pile at the end of most running plays.
Zelinski and Tyrone Roue are the focal points of SMU's secondary.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Justin Palardy impressed as a rookie last season, with a long field goal of 49 yards. He'll do the kicking and punting. His long snapper, Chad Moore, has graduated, so there's some turnover there. Hardwick has a fair bit of experience returning kicks.
NEED-TO-KNOW
"Smoo" is the one Atlantic school putting football on a front burner in a conference which has been more competitive nationally in men's hockey and basketball. On paper, they're set to walk through to the Jewett Trophy, but it's wearisome to read about winning a title and having however many all-stars in a 4-team conference. The best thing Saint Mary's can do this season is be competitive in the interlock vs. Concordia, if not Laval, since it's starting to become a general assumption that the Atlantic league is falling behind the rest of the CIS.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: ST. FRANCIS XAVIER X-MEN
Presenting: the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.
In '06: 2-5, lost to Saint Mary's 24-6 in conference semi-final
Players to watch: DE Yahia Dalloul, CB Jonathan Hood, RB Tyler Kirby, TE Jeremy Marchand, DB Steve McCart, QB Corbin Sharun
Coach: John Bloomfield (4th season)
Co-ordinators: Chris Bertoia (offensive) Gary Waterman (defensive)
Last league title: 1996
Big ones: Sept. 22 at Mount Allison, Sept. 29 vs. Laval, Oct. 26 at Acadia
On the web: xmenfootball.ca
Strengths: X quietly finished seventh in the country in total defence last season; it's lost D-lineman Adam Kania and D-back Travis Noel but most of the proven players seem to be on this side of the ball.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... The two touchdown threats, slotback Bryan Pozzobon and tailback Marvin McCooty, have to be replaced and Sharun is a first-time starting QB. The X-Men's issues, though, go beyond some turnover at the skill positions.
OFFENCE
There's nowhere to go but up, that's the positive spin. X finished 25th of 27 teams in the CIS in total offence and scored just one touchdown across the final six games of last season. Sharun is opening the season at QB after being the X's relief pitcher, so to speak, during its second-half struggles in 2006.
Marchand (400 yards on 24 catches in '06) is a 'tweener who can play tight end (a position almost extinct in Canadian ball), a little fullback and create matchup problems for linebackers and DBs. Kirby and James Green return at tailback, and 230-pounder James Cochrane, who played for some top junior teams with the Ottawa Sooners, has joined the program.
DEFENCE
Bloomfield told the Halifax Herald the other day the D-line could be the "true strength" of the team. It's hard to see why not with Dalloul and Dave Skillen (whose brother John is a starting linebacker) at the ends, plus intriguing newcomer Jon Emminger, a D-tackle from Tampa, Florida. Hood and McCart are fourth-year players who were part of the modicum of success X enjoyed in 2005, when it lost to Acadia in the conference final.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kyle Chisholm, who's bounced between a couple programs, is taking over the kicking duties for the X-Men, replacing all-star Kyle Henderson.
NEED-TO-KNOW
X is fighting the current in CIS football. In the summer, Bloomfield sent out a newsletter (as many coaches do) reminding fans and grads to remember St. FX''s program "is unique among CIS football schools in that the bulk of our funding of this program comes from our alumni and not from private 'ownership' and/or corporate sponsorships/donations." You can see how it becomes a double-edged sword for one of Canada's great schools. It needs to win to get the money donated to football, but it's hard to win without money coming in. Meantime, as a school in a smaller community, there's less access to those corporate dollars and a multinational looking to create brand awareness is more likely to hit up a larger, urban campus. That's not meant in a mean sense, it's just the times we're in.
The X name does carry a long way and the school has an awesome sports tradition and school spirit, but games are played in the present. They look like the odd team out in the Atlantic this season, but they'll be heard from during the hockey/basketball season.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 2-5, lost to Saint Mary's 24-6 in conference semi-final
Players to watch: DE Yahia Dalloul, CB Jonathan Hood, RB Tyler Kirby, TE Jeremy Marchand, DB Steve McCart, QB Corbin Sharun
Coach: John Bloomfield (4th season)
Co-ordinators: Chris Bertoia (offensive) Gary Waterman (defensive)
Last league title: 1996
Big ones: Sept. 22 at Mount Allison, Sept. 29 vs. Laval, Oct. 26 at Acadia
On the web: xmenfootball.ca
Strengths: X quietly finished seventh in the country in total defence last season; it's lost D-lineman Adam Kania and D-back Travis Noel but most of the proven players seem to be on this side of the ball.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... The two touchdown threats, slotback Bryan Pozzobon and tailback Marvin McCooty, have to be replaced and Sharun is a first-time starting QB. The X-Men's issues, though, go beyond some turnover at the skill positions.
OFFENCE
There's nowhere to go but up, that's the positive spin. X finished 25th of 27 teams in the CIS in total offence and scored just one touchdown across the final six games of last season. Sharun is opening the season at QB after being the X's relief pitcher, so to speak, during its second-half struggles in 2006.
Marchand (400 yards on 24 catches in '06) is a 'tweener who can play tight end (a position almost extinct in Canadian ball), a little fullback and create matchup problems for linebackers and DBs. Kirby and James Green return at tailback, and 230-pounder James Cochrane, who played for some top junior teams with the Ottawa Sooners, has joined the program.
DEFENCE
Bloomfield told the Halifax Herald the other day the D-line could be the "true strength" of the team. It's hard to see why not with Dalloul and Dave Skillen (whose brother John is a starting linebacker) at the ends, plus intriguing newcomer Jon Emminger, a D-tackle from Tampa, Florida. Hood and McCart are fourth-year players who were part of the modicum of success X enjoyed in 2005, when it lost to Acadia in the conference final.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kyle Chisholm, who's bounced between a couple programs, is taking over the kicking duties for the X-Men, replacing all-star Kyle Henderson.
NEED-TO-KNOW
X is fighting the current in CIS football. In the summer, Bloomfield sent out a newsletter (as many coaches do) reminding fans and grads to remember St. FX''s program "is unique among CIS football schools in that the bulk of our funding of this program comes from our alumni and not from private 'ownership' and/or corporate sponsorships/donations." You can see how it becomes a double-edged sword for one of Canada's great schools. It needs to win to get the money donated to football, but it's hard to win without money coming in. Meantime, as a school in a smaller community, there's less access to those corporate dollars and a multinational looking to create brand awareness is more likely to hit up a larger, urban campus. That's not meant in a mean sense, it's just the times we're in.
The X name does carry a long way and the school has an awesome sports tradition and school spirit, but games are played in the present. They look like the odd team out in the Atlantic this season, but they'll be heard from during the hockey/basketball season.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: MOUNT ALLISON MOUNTIES
Did it just get a lot more cerebral in here? Yep, that must mean we're up to the Mount Allison Mounties.
In '06: 2-5 regular season, lost 16-6 to Acadia in conference semi-final
Players to watch: QB Kelly Hughes, WR Gary Ross, OT Zac Macaulay, OT Gaetan Richard, LB Jerome Downey, LB Matt Harding, DE Scott Sheffer
Coach: Steve Lalonde (3rd season)
Co-ordinators: Lalonde (offensive), Peter Estabrooks (defensive), Kelly Jeffrey (special teams)
Last league title: 1997
Big ones: Sept. 8 vs. Acadia (at Halifax), Oct. 6 vs. Acadia
On the web: mta.ca/football
Strengths: Hughes and Ross, each entering their second season, give Mount A one of the best passer-receiver combos in the country. Mount A is set up to play shootout football.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... The defence gave up far and away the most yards in the Atlantic last season even with the considerable improvements it made over the nightmarish past few seasons. Mount A will probably have better but younger talent at many positions, which means it could be a year away from making a serious run in the conference.
OFFENCE
Mount A will probably have to play its trump card, throwing first and running maybe later. Hughes and Ross, as noted, make a nice combo, while Jon Dyer and Adam Molnar (formerly of Holy Cross in the NCAA) are also expected to be the QB's main targets. The offensive line returns the centre and both tackles. The rule of thumb with the O-line is the players always improve the longer they're together.
Hughes might have to be his own running game. Leading rushers T.J. Williams and Colin Weldon are not back.
DEFENCE
It's been boys against men in the tackle box for Mount A for a long time and that figure of 501 yards allowed per game last season is really eye-popping when you consider the schedule included two struggling offensive teams, Bishop's and St. FX.
Matt Harding sat out last season, so his return will help in the short run. In the long run, LaLonde has focused on improving the defensive backfield, both in quality and quantity. The hope from Mount A is that projected starting corners Bradley Daye and Jermaine Oram will play well enough that Mount A can apply more pressure.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Placekicker Euan Crisp, from Toronto-area powerhouse Northern Secondary, was a considered a big recruiting coup when he signed on at Mount A before last season. He went 8-for-13 with a long of 42 yards and might also take on the punting duties, although Olivier Eddie is also in the mix. Mount A's lack of depth beyond the first name on the depth chart has hurt the coverage and return teams. Along with catching the ball, Ross can also be a return man.
NEED-TO-KNOW
The buzz originating out of Sackville, New Brunswick is so persistent it could keep the two official siblings of Out of Left Field currently based in Saint John from getting down to a nice, restful sleep at night.
It would be a fantastic sports story if Mount A goes from being outscored 379-23 in 2005 to playing in the Loney Bowl (the conference final) two years later. It played Acadia tough in last season's semi-final and might have had a shot at sticking the dagger if a couple of long passes had been caught.
Mount A still faces questions about long-term competitiveness that other small Eastern Canada schools such as Bishop's and St. FX are facing, but it's got a glimmer of hope for the first time in several seasons. A 3-5 finish -- sweep X, split with Acadia or beat Bishop's in the interlock -- seems like the safe call.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 2-5 regular season, lost 16-6 to Acadia in conference semi-final
Players to watch: QB Kelly Hughes, WR Gary Ross, OT Zac Macaulay, OT Gaetan Richard, LB Jerome Downey, LB Matt Harding, DE Scott Sheffer
Coach: Steve Lalonde (3rd season)
Co-ordinators: Lalonde (offensive), Peter Estabrooks (defensive), Kelly Jeffrey (special teams)
Last league title: 1997
Big ones: Sept. 8 vs. Acadia (at Halifax), Oct. 6 vs. Acadia
On the web: mta.ca/football
Strengths: Hughes and Ross, each entering their second season, give Mount A one of the best passer-receiver combos in the country. Mount A is set up to play shootout football.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... The defence gave up far and away the most yards in the Atlantic last season even with the considerable improvements it made over the nightmarish past few seasons. Mount A will probably have better but younger talent at many positions, which means it could be a year away from making a serious run in the conference.
OFFENCE
Mount A will probably have to play its trump card, throwing first and running maybe later. Hughes and Ross, as noted, make a nice combo, while Jon Dyer and Adam Molnar (formerly of Holy Cross in the NCAA) are also expected to be the QB's main targets. The offensive line returns the centre and both tackles. The rule of thumb with the O-line is the players always improve the longer they're together.
Hughes might have to be his own running game. Leading rushers T.J. Williams and Colin Weldon are not back.
DEFENCE
It's been boys against men in the tackle box for Mount A for a long time and that figure of 501 yards allowed per game last season is really eye-popping when you consider the schedule included two struggling offensive teams, Bishop's and St. FX.
Matt Harding sat out last season, so his return will help in the short run. In the long run, LaLonde has focused on improving the defensive backfield, both in quality and quantity. The hope from Mount A is that projected starting corners Bradley Daye and Jermaine Oram will play well enough that Mount A can apply more pressure.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Placekicker Euan Crisp, from Toronto-area powerhouse Northern Secondary, was a considered a big recruiting coup when he signed on at Mount A before last season. He went 8-for-13 with a long of 42 yards and might also take on the punting duties, although Olivier Eddie is also in the mix. Mount A's lack of depth beyond the first name on the depth chart has hurt the coverage and return teams. Along with catching the ball, Ross can also be a return man.
NEED-TO-KNOW
The buzz originating out of Sackville, New Brunswick is so persistent it could keep the two official siblings of Out of Left Field currently based in Saint John from getting down to a nice, restful sleep at night.
It would be a fantastic sports story if Mount A goes from being outscored 379-23 in 2005 to playing in the Loney Bowl (the conference final) two years later. It played Acadia tough in last season's semi-final and might have had a shot at sticking the dagger if a couple of long passes had been caught.
Mount A still faces questions about long-term competitiveness that other small Eastern Canada schools such as Bishop's and St. FX are facing, but it's got a glimmer of hope for the first time in several seasons. A 3-5 finish -- sweep X, split with Acadia or beat Bishop's in the interlock -- seems like the safe call.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: ACADIA AXEMEN
Hope you left room in the trunk for a big bushel basket since it's almost apple-picking season in the bucolic Annapolis Valley... Presenting: the Acadia Axemen.
In '06: 5-3, beat Saint Mary's 32-24 in Loney Bowl, lost 57-10 to Laval in national semi-final
Players to watch: WR Matt Carter, KR-DB Najja Coley, RB Cale Inglis, QB Keith Lockwood, DB-K James Michener, S Elliott Richardson
Coach: Jeff Cummins (4th season)
Co-ordinators: Cummins (defensive), Josh Lambert (offensive)
Last league title: 2006
Big ones: Sept. 22 at McGill, Oct. 19 at Saint Mary's, Oct. 26 vs. St. Francis Xavier
On the web: ace.acadiau.ca/sports
Strengths: The offensive line is more or less back intact and Cummins has pretty literally spanned the continent to find replacements for the Chris Judd & Ivan Birungi show. Acadia is preaching balance on offence after being a little pass-heavy in the past.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... Heavy turnover among the team's leaders has many people predicting a drop-off for the two-time Atlantic champs, since it lost a lot of experience. The defence had some big letdowns last season and has to replace its leader, linebacker Steve Faoro.
OFFENCE
Cummins' idea of the Acadia Advantage is tapping into his California roots to restock the passing game. Keith Lockwood followed Chris Judd at a L.A.-area junior college and now he's won the starting job at Acadia, with Judd staying on as quarterbacks coach. Lockwood's going to face the learning curve all American QBs do when they adjust to the unique geometry of Canadian ball and having to account for an extra defender (note that Calgary's junior college transfer QB, Casey Brown, isn't starting), but it's probably smarter to go with the best athlete.
Carter was one of Canada's best No. 2 receivers complementing Hec Crighton Trophy finalist Birungi the past couple seasons. Among the pass catchers, A.J. Moskus, another Californian and a converted high school quarterback. Acadia might take it slow early on and try to run the ball until Lockwood settles in. The offensive line is all back and Inglis was an Atlantic all-star last season.
DEFENCE
His literary namesake knew from thick books, but Acadia's James Michener had to learn a new playbook (sorry) in training camp after switching to from quarterback to defensive halfback. Having a player who's been around for a few seasons switch sides usually raises questions about the depth and overall skill at the group he's joining. Michener is joining a group that does have a veteran safety in Richardson.
The Axemen are a little deeper in the front seven. Five linebackers who've played significant minutes return to try and off-set the loss of Faoro. Do keep in mind this is a group that gave up 207 rushing yards to Saint Mary's Jacques Lumbala in the Loney Bowl and also gave up 42 and 57 points in games vs. Quebec teams.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The specialists have been pretty solid for the Axemen. Michener, who comes off as one of those all-around athlete types, was an all-Canadian pick as a punter and also handles kickoffs and field goals. Coley is the Axemen version of an "offensive defensive back." He had three kick-return TDs in '06, including two that earned him the most valuable player honours in the Loney Bowl win over Saint Mary's.
NEED-TO-KNOW
The Axemen have been on quite a roll, winning Atlantic conference titles in basketball and hockey to go along with back-to-back Jewett Trophies. That's bound to even out, so it might be worth noting that Acadia's winning margin in the conference final vs. SMU was furnished by having a punt and kickoff returned for TDs in the same game, which some teams never experience in a dozen seasons.
The Axemen did make out OK in the interlock, drawing Bishop's and McGill as their Quebec opponents. That might help them make it a race against Saint Mary's for the bye into the final that goes to the first-place team. A step back might come this season, but Cummins has a decent program.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 5-3, beat Saint Mary's 32-24 in Loney Bowl, lost 57-10 to Laval in national semi-final
Players to watch: WR Matt Carter, KR-DB Najja Coley, RB Cale Inglis, QB Keith Lockwood, DB-K James Michener, S Elliott Richardson
Coach: Jeff Cummins (4th season)
Co-ordinators: Cummins (defensive), Josh Lambert (offensive)
Last league title: 2006
Big ones: Sept. 22 at McGill, Oct. 19 at Saint Mary's, Oct. 26 vs. St. Francis Xavier
On the web: ace.acadiau.ca/sports
Strengths: The offensive line is more or less back intact and Cummins has pretty literally spanned the continent to find replacements for the Chris Judd & Ivan Birungi show. Acadia is preaching balance on offence after being a little pass-heavy in the past.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... Heavy turnover among the team's leaders has many people predicting a drop-off for the two-time Atlantic champs, since it lost a lot of experience. The defence had some big letdowns last season and has to replace its leader, linebacker Steve Faoro.
OFFENCE
Cummins' idea of the Acadia Advantage is tapping into his California roots to restock the passing game. Keith Lockwood followed Chris Judd at a L.A.-area junior college and now he's won the starting job at Acadia, with Judd staying on as quarterbacks coach. Lockwood's going to face the learning curve all American QBs do when they adjust to the unique geometry of Canadian ball and having to account for an extra defender (note that Calgary's junior college transfer QB, Casey Brown, isn't starting), but it's probably smarter to go with the best athlete.
Carter was one of Canada's best No. 2 receivers complementing Hec Crighton Trophy finalist Birungi the past couple seasons. Among the pass catchers, A.J. Moskus, another Californian and a converted high school quarterback. Acadia might take it slow early on and try to run the ball until Lockwood settles in. The offensive line is all back and Inglis was an Atlantic all-star last season.
DEFENCE
His literary namesake knew from thick books, but Acadia's James Michener had to learn a new playbook (sorry) in training camp after switching to from quarterback to defensive halfback. Having a player who's been around for a few seasons switch sides usually raises questions about the depth and overall skill at the group he's joining. Michener is joining a group that does have a veteran safety in Richardson.
The Axemen are a little deeper in the front seven. Five linebackers who've played significant minutes return to try and off-set the loss of Faoro. Do keep in mind this is a group that gave up 207 rushing yards to Saint Mary's Jacques Lumbala in the Loney Bowl and also gave up 42 and 57 points in games vs. Quebec teams.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The specialists have been pretty solid for the Axemen. Michener, who comes off as one of those all-around athlete types, was an all-Canadian pick as a punter and also handles kickoffs and field goals. Coley is the Axemen version of an "offensive defensive back." He had three kick-return TDs in '06, including two that earned him the most valuable player honours in the Loney Bowl win over Saint Mary's.
NEED-TO-KNOW
The Axemen have been on quite a roll, winning Atlantic conference titles in basketball and hockey to go along with back-to-back Jewett Trophies. That's bound to even out, so it might be worth noting that Acadia's winning margin in the conference final vs. SMU was furnished by having a punt and kickoff returned for TDs in the same game, which some teams never experience in a dozen seasons.
The Axemen did make out OK in the interlock, drawing Bishop's and McGill as their Quebec opponents. That might help them make it a race against Saint Mary's for the bye into the final that goes to the first-place team. A step back might come this season, but Cummins has a decent program.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
WARNING: TICKETS SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN INTERNALLY
Good catch by Raptor Land -- the Star reported today that the Raptors had the highest season-ticket renewal rate in the NBA, 98 per cent.
Knowing what we know about the mommy-I-want-it ... now nature of too many T-Dotters when it comes to sports, let's hope there won't be any stories about fans not renewing if the Raptors merely do about it the same as last season's 47 wins. The Titanic Division is a lot tougher and most people should not dwell too much on this season, since the Raptors have a much longer window for a playoff run than Boston.
Knowing what we know about the mommy-I-want-it ... now nature of too many T-Dotters when it comes to sports, let's hope there won't be any stories about fans not renewing if the Raptors merely do about it the same as last season's 47 wins. The Titanic Division is a lot tougher and most people should not dwell too much on this season, since the Raptors have a much longer window for a playoff run than Boston.
CIS CORNER: MUSTANGS ARE FREE-FALLIN', BUT GLOATING IS JUST PETTY
Feel free to start wondering if the Western Mustangs are already up against when it comes to hosting a playoff game in Greg Marshall's first season.
Two-player Matt Carapella (safety, slotback, return man, kick holder... does he drive the team bus too?) is out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury. The Mustangs are heading into the meat of their schedule
A 5-3 record is often good enough to finish fourth and host an OUA quarter-final, but it usually means having a tiebreaker over someone else. Western lost that against Queen's and could lose it to McMaster or Windsor, whom it faces during a front-loaded schedule that also includes the U of O Gee-Gees next week and a reportedly improved Guelph program on Sept. 22. Finishing 6-2 is going to be a tall task with that schedule.
Let's see how it plays out Saturday in Hamilton, since the Marauders have their own issues after giving up 304 yards on the ground to Laurier. Regardless, either Western or Mac will be 0-2 after Saturday's action. Just sayin', especially since the Gaels host Mac in Week 3 and its coach, Stefan Ptaszek, has been a Queen's nemesis over the years.
Related:
Mustangs lose 'Mr. Everything' (Morris Dalla Costa, London Free Press)
Two-player Matt Carapella (safety, slotback, return man, kick holder... does he drive the team bus too?) is out 2-4 weeks with a knee injury. The Mustangs are heading into the meat of their schedule
A 5-3 record is often good enough to finish fourth and host an OUA quarter-final, but it usually means having a tiebreaker over someone else. Western lost that against Queen's and could lose it to McMaster or Windsor, whom it faces during a front-loaded schedule that also includes the U of O Gee-Gees next week and a reportedly improved Guelph program on Sept. 22. Finishing 6-2 is going to be a tall task with that schedule.
Let's see how it plays out Saturday in Hamilton, since the Marauders have their own issues after giving up 304 yards on the ground to Laurier. Regardless, either Western or Mac will be 0-2 after Saturday's action. Just sayin', especially since the Gaels host Mac in Week 3 and its coach, Stefan Ptaszek, has been a Queen's nemesis over the years.
Related:
Mustangs lose 'Mr. Everything' (Morris Dalla Costa, London Free Press)
UP AT 6: SO HOT TODAY... REX GROSSMAN WAS A BAD CHOICE!
Your get up and go just got up and went...
- Short synopsis of the look at the NFL that the big brains from Football Outsiders have up at Slate: Watch out for Washington... and get ready for the Chicago Bears to have a fall worse than Ron Burgundy's in the middle part of Anchorman.
- Oh, and punting the ball is for wusses who are really bad at math, although most NFL coaches would need the same contract the pope has before they went for it on 4-on-2 inside their own 30.
- If doubles player Bethanie Mattek (pictured) can wear that in public, no one should knock her for it.
- Reviled Orioles owner Peter Angelos isn't Mr. Limousine Liberal when it comes to how he treats the working poor "scraping the crud off his stadium."
- To think one of these teams will be seven wins away from being in the World Series title in four weeks... here's the winning percentages the three teams in the running for the National League Central title have outside the division:
Cubs: .500
Brewers: .493
Cardinals: .440 - No one's mentioned this yet but doesn't the epic -- since Appalachian State is the Mountaineers, a mountain climbing terms seems to fit -- that Michigan had last weekend really make an argument for a playoff system in NCAA football? Not that would ever happen, but imagine what a story it would be if the Wolverines regrouped, won the Big Ten and then an eight-team tournament.
- Hometown breakdown: Kingston's Jayna Hefford had three assists for in a 4-1 win over Sweden at the Canadian women's hockey team's fall festival in P.G. last night.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: LAVAL ROUGE ET OR
It's finally here... presenting: the Laval Rouge et Or.In '06: 11-1, defeated Saskatchewan 13-8 in Vanier Cup
Players to watch: QB Benoît Groulx, DB Samuel Lajoie, DL Roody Jean, SB Laurent Lavigne-Masse, LB Éric Maranda, CB Olivier Turcotte-Létourneau
Head coach: Glen Constantin (7th season)
Co-ordinators: Justin Éthier (offensive), Marc Fortier (defensive), Francesco Pepe Esposito (special teams)
Last time it didn't win league title: 2002
Big ones: Oct. 13 vs. Saint Mary's, Oct. 27 at Concordia (and odds are, Nov. 23 in Toronto)
On the web: rougeetor.laval.ca
Strengths: The Rouge et Or win with shutdown defence and trying not give pesky upstarts an inch with turnovers and short fields. They make relatively few mistakes on either side of the ball and seem able to wait for an opportunity to score a touchdown. The receivers and DBs have a great relationship -- both groups are deep and practise against each other every day.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... Damn, that's a tough one. There's always complacency. The Rouge et Or did lose familiar faces from last season's national championship team -- D-lineman Michel Jean-Louis, defensive back Alexandre Vendette and receivers Nic Bisaillon and Samuel Grégoire-Champagne -- but in one of the game's great clichés they don't rebuild, the reload.
OFFENCE
Like Manitoba, Laval returns the bulk of its, well, bulk up front. Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, who's 6-foot-3, 315 lbs., is one of the brighter lights of a group which allowed Groulx to be sacked only six times in 2006, no small feat considering the quickness of the defensive players at Concordia and Montréal.
Groulx also had only six interceptions in 250 attempts, one of the lowest rates in the CIS. That's all in keeping with Laval's risk-free offence. The Rouge et Or trust their talent to take over and Groulx is the ideal QB for the offence -- he's an accurate medium-range passer (68% completion percentage) who can pull the ball down and run when it's required. Leblanc, Lavigne-Masse and fifth-year senior Duane John give him a trio of receivers who should complement each other very well.
Guillaume Allard-Caméus (pictured) was the runner whom Rouge et Or fans were talking up toward the end of the season, but veteran Pierre-Luc Yao does remain. He scored the only touchdown Laval needed to beat Saskatchewan in the Vanier Cup. Both he and 226-lb. Samuel Fournier are a load to tackle, which is good for a ball-control team.DEFENCE
Maranda and Parent give the Rouge et Or the luxury of having two veteran linebackers. There's not much that gets past them. Laval is typically a well-prepared group defensively and they run very well. It might not be a group that racks up sacks and interceptions, since opposing quarterbacks tend to get the ball out early against them, but it doesn't break easily. This might be more of a comment on the nature of QUFL offences, but Laval allowed only four TD passes last season.
Roody Jean and Jean-Phillippe Gilbert are the brightest lights on the D-line. Laval has been known to get burned on the play-action pass, but so has every other defence that's ever taken the field.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Cameron Takacs spoiled a pretty good running joke among Rouge et Or fans that the team was writing the book on winning football games without a kicking game. He was written up by the national media (and eventually, even his hometown Brantford Expositor) for being an Anglophone from Ontario at Laval and for solidifying a position which had been a black hole. He was 19-for-21 on field goals, although his season long was only 37 yards. Rookie Christopher Milo figures to take over the punting; it's not often that a CIS team dresses two players to do nothing but kick, so it does look an interesting position battle is shaping up.
Bisaillon, now graduated, was Laval's best punt returner last season but there should be plenty of candidates to replace him.
NEED-TO-KNOW
Laval is the model program for CIS football and no one should begrudge them for what they've accomplished. It would be better for all concerned if more schools in the eastern half of the country could implement Laval's model.
In the meantime, some disaster, or maybe the Concordia Stingers playing far above their heads, would have to be lurking for the Rouge et Or and their faithful not to travel west to Toronto for the Vanier Cup on Nov. 23, where the program won its first two titles in 1999 and 2003. Is it cliché to say, well, they still have to play the games? Yes, yes it is.
(Much thanks to Jay Ouellet for contributing a photo of Guillaume Allard-Caméus.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: MONTRÉAL CARABINS
We're winding our way across the country... presenting: the Montréal Carabins.
In '06: 6-2, lost 23-3 to Concordia in conference semi-final
Players to watch: QB Marc-Olivier Brouillette, DL Martin Gagné, DB Jean-Philip Provencher, WR Frank Bruno, RB Hantz Boursiquot, RB Dominic Chamberland-Pinto
Head coach: Marc Santerre (2nd season)
Co-ordinators: Pat Gregory (offensive), Denis Touchette (defensive)
Big ones: Sept. 15 vs. Concordia, Sept. 22 at Saint Mary's, Oct. 6 vs. Laval
On the web: carabins.umontreal.ca
Strengths: Defence, defence and defence ... the Carabins were top-5 in the country in scoring defence, fewest yards allowed, and they were sixth vs. the run and seventh against the pass.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... the offensive line is new, the gamebreakers on offence (Joseph Mroué and Yves Bériault) have moved on, and discipline seems to be an issue after being the most penalized team in the CIS last season.
OFFENCE
Brouillette seems to be what's known south of the border as a dual-threat quarterback -- a passer who's almost as effective as a running back when he carries the ball. He'll get to show that ability to take off since Les Bleus have lost four of five starting offensive linemen from last season. Very few teams can overcome that. Basically, it comes down to finding out how young players can adjust to the university game.
Rookie receiver Frank Bruno is supposed to be a deep threat. Third-year running back Hantz Boursiquot and second-year Dominic Chamberland-Pinto were projected to compete for carries. The Carabins could struggle to put up points.
DEFENCE
There is good depth at each position group, although the mean age and amount of experience has probably dipped since the end of last season, especially with Maxime Gagnier no longer being the last line of defence at safety. Gagné lost two of his veteran linemates so he probably will get more double-team blocks, which could affect his numbers. So long as he's in the lineup, though, he will show that he's one of Canada's best at his position.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jean-Luc Lamarche graduated, so it's up to rookie Pierre-Paul Gélinas to take over the placekicking. Niki Demers, the team's primary punt returner, completed his eligibility last season. If Bruno has the wheels he's reputed to, it would stand to reason that he could return some kicks. Montréal has been known to play a little Beamer Ball, putting an emphasis on blocking punts and breaking off big returns to kick-start the offence.
NEED-TO-KNOW
Montréal is likely going to take a step back in '07 after being a pre-season sleeper pick to go the Vanier Cup last fall. Santerre isn't the first coach who's had a less than seamless transition after taking over a program, and the Carabins do draw a lot of water when it comes to name value among the players in Quebec's CEGEP teams. They are still in the top half of what is a two-tiered league.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 6-2, lost 23-3 to Concordia in conference semi-final
Players to watch: QB Marc-Olivier Brouillette, DL Martin Gagné, DB Jean-Philip Provencher, WR Frank Bruno, RB Hantz Boursiquot, RB Dominic Chamberland-Pinto
Head coach: Marc Santerre (2nd season)
Co-ordinators: Pat Gregory (offensive), Denis Touchette (defensive)
Big ones: Sept. 15 vs. Concordia, Sept. 22 at Saint Mary's, Oct. 6 vs. Laval
On the web: carabins.umontreal.ca
Strengths: Defence, defence and defence ... the Carabins were top-5 in the country in scoring defence, fewest yards allowed, and they were sixth vs. the run and seventh against the pass.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... the offensive line is new, the gamebreakers on offence (Joseph Mroué and Yves Bériault) have moved on, and discipline seems to be an issue after being the most penalized team in the CIS last season.
OFFENCE
Brouillette seems to be what's known south of the border as a dual-threat quarterback -- a passer who's almost as effective as a running back when he carries the ball. He'll get to show that ability to take off since Les Bleus have lost four of five starting offensive linemen from last season. Very few teams can overcome that. Basically, it comes down to finding out how young players can adjust to the university game.
Rookie receiver Frank Bruno is supposed to be a deep threat. Third-year running back Hantz Boursiquot and second-year Dominic Chamberland-Pinto were projected to compete for carries. The Carabins could struggle to put up points.
DEFENCE
There is good depth at each position group, although the mean age and amount of experience has probably dipped since the end of last season, especially with Maxime Gagnier no longer being the last line of defence at safety. Gagné lost two of his veteran linemates so he probably will get more double-team blocks, which could affect his numbers. So long as he's in the lineup, though, he will show that he's one of Canada's best at his position.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Jean-Luc Lamarche graduated, so it's up to rookie Pierre-Paul Gélinas to take over the placekicking. Niki Demers, the team's primary punt returner, completed his eligibility last season. If Bruno has the wheels he's reputed to, it would stand to reason that he could return some kicks. Montréal has been known to play a little Beamer Ball, putting an emphasis on blocking punts and breaking off big returns to kick-start the offence.
NEED-TO-KNOW
Montréal is likely going to take a step back in '07 after being a pre-season sleeper pick to go the Vanier Cup last fall. Santerre isn't the first coach who's had a less than seamless transition after taking over a program, and the Carabins do draw a lot of water when it comes to name value among the players in Quebec's CEGEP teams. They are still in the top half of what is a two-tiered league.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: MCGILL REDMEN
The Quebec and Atlantic conferences kick off in a couple days so we better get cracking. Presenting: the McGill Redmen.In '06: 4-4 regular season, lost 52-0 to Laval in conference semi-final
Players to watch: QB Matt Connell (top photo), OL Ben Walsh, SB Erik Galas, WR Charles-Antoine Sinotte, DE Jean-Nicolas Carriere, DB Anthony Lucka
Head coach: Sonny Wolfe (1st season at McGill; 20th as CIS head coach)
Co-ordinators: Bob Bindon (co-offensive), Sean Doughtery (co-offensive), Dennis Waide (defensive), Gino Perreault (special teams)
Last league title: 2002
Big ones: Sept. 6 vs. Montréal, Sept. 29 at Sherbrooke. Oct. 13-20 back-to-back vs. Concordia
On the web: athletics.mcgill.ca
Strengths: Connell can keep McGill in almost any game. He put up numbers in '06 that were just slightly shy of phenomenal considering his team passed on almost every down and had a defence which couldn't get off the field.
Potential problems: Anything on the ground was a problem last season -- the Redmen made the playoffs while being outrushed 232-44 on average. McGill also made a coaching change relatively late in the game, hiring Wolfe in the late spring, although the transition is balanced out by losing only three starters.
OFFENCEFinding some semblance of a rushing attack to complement Connell is kind of important; the Redmen ver did so in '06, largely since the passing game clicked early. Galas (pictured; 487 yards on 43 catches) will see more passes thrown his way after star slotback Greg Hetherington caught on with the Calgary Stampeders and Sinotte can stretch a defence. The offensive line, led by Walsh, gave up only 11 sacks in '06.
DEFENCE
Good news: Eleven of 12 starters return. The unit was basically brand new in 2006, which added up to a lot of missed tackles and blown assignments last season. McGill has a more favourable schedule -- just one game each vs. Montréal and Laval, albeit in the first two weeks -- and should improve defensively.
SPECIAL TEAMS
McGill typically has a good return game, almost a kind of a holdover from the Charlie Baillie days. Starting defensive back Schuyler O'Brien had a 9.2-yard average as a punt returner last season, including a 65-yard runback. Kicker Robert Eeuwes who was 9-of-11 on field goals, has graduated. Robert Vescio looks likely to win the punting job, but who will kick the field goals is a battle between three newcomers.
NEED-TO-KNOW
The Redmen only play Montréal and Laval once apiece, albeit back-to-back to start the season. If Wolfe keeps the Redmen afloat through that -- and the Carabins are an enigma -- they should be able to return to the playoffs.
McGill will always be in tough under the current conference setup. (True, unlike Concordia and Bishop's, it has won a conference title since the QUFL took form in 2001, but many players on that team had come aboard during the days of the old O-QIFC.) Good coaching and targeted recruiting should help the program remain competitive. The upshot is the hazing scandal debacle that scuttled the 2005 season is well behind everyone.
(Andrew Dobrowolskyj photos courtesy of McGill Athletics.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: CONCORDIA STINGERS
The Quebec and Atlantic conferences kick off this week, so we better get cracking. Presenting: the Concordia Stingers.
In '06: 9-3, lost 28-12 to Laval in conference final
Players to watch: LB Nathan Agadzi, T Wayne Dauper, LB Cory Greenwood, DB Sammy Okpro, DL William Miller, SB Nick Scissons (of Ottawa)
Head coach: Gerry McGrath
Co-ordinators: McGrath (offensive), Warren Craney (defensive), Peter Regimbald (special teams)
Last league title: 1998 (Ontario-Quebec conference)
Big ones: Sept. 22 at Saint Mary's, Oct. 27 vs. Laval
On the web: stingers.ca
Strengths: Defence is Con U's calling card, much like the rest of the Quebec league. With the notable exception of all-everything Patrick Donovan the bulk of the group which finished sixth in the CIS in defence last season (and fourth vs. the run) has returned. That should buy the Stingers some time to get first-year starting QB Robert Mackay settled.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... A new starting quarterback and likely new starter at tailback might lead to some early struggles on offence. After having nearly no worries in the kicking game for the past couple seasons, the Stingers have to replace two all-Canadians.
OFFENCE
McGrath made sure to give Mackay some playing time in most games last season, getting him ready to take over from standout Scott Syvret this season. Freshman Liam Mahoney is waiting in the wings, but an educated guess is that he's probably a year away from being ready.
The Stingers have received a double whammy at the skill positions since leading rusher Andrew Hamilton has stuck with the Montreal Alouettes, but word is they have more speed at the receiver spots. Cedric Ferdinand of Ottawa is one three starting tailback candidates.
That could be taken as a reference to all-purpose wideout Marc Champagnie, a third-year player. Champagnie, who played running back in high school (Toronto media take note -- he was a Metro Bowl MVP), averaged nearly 19 yards per touch and also had a 69-yard punt return touchdown last season. Ottawa native Nick Scissons, who was the Quebec nominee for the Russ Jackson Award last season, is back for a fifth season.
DEFENCE
There's no Donovan at the heart of Concordia's defence for the first time in several seasons -- Patrick, the younger of the two brothers who combined for consecutive CIS defensive player of the year awards, has graduated. That and the loss of tackle Mark Kang does raise questions about leadership and chemistry on this side of the ball, but Okpro is on a very short list of the best defensive halfs in the country, plus there's a strong presence from The 613 in weakside linebacker Cory Greenwood of Kingston and corner Sylvester Sarfo, each of whom are projected to be impact players.
SPECIAL TEAMS
No team had it as good in the kicking game as the Stingers did the past few years with all-Canadian kicker Warren Kean and punter Mike Renaud. Both have graduated and, obviously, are not easily replaceable. Rene Paredes, out of John Abbott College, is pencilled in to handle both duties. Champagnie is a bit unproven at receiver, but could provide a threat in the return game. The Stingers are deep on defence, so covering kicks should not be a problem.
(Hometown Breakdown note: Backup safety Bryan Charleau, a graduate of the Simcoe Sabres, saw quite a bit of time on special teams last season.)
NEED-TO-KNOW
The irony to the common refrain that the Stingers would have a couple Vanier appearances on their C.V. if it wasn't for Laval is that McGrath seemingly needed the Rouge et Or to build up his program. The Stingers haven't played a game that counted in the standings vs. an Ontario team since Oct. 28, 2000, but look at how many Ontario hometowns dot the roster. The salespitch is pretty simple: Playing against in the country's No. 1 program and so many players from Quebec's fecund grass-roots football culture is a great platform for impressing CFL scouts.
The Stingers are a near sure bet to finish near the top of the Quebec conference again. Basically, the season comes down to being able to beat Laval, since that will be needed to keep the momentum going in the program.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 9-3, lost 28-12 to Laval in conference final
Players to watch: LB Nathan Agadzi, T Wayne Dauper, LB Cory Greenwood, DB Sammy Okpro, DL William Miller, SB Nick Scissons (of Ottawa)
Head coach: Gerry McGrath
Co-ordinators: McGrath (offensive), Warren Craney (defensive), Peter Regimbald (special teams)
Last league title: 1998 (Ontario-Quebec conference)
Big ones: Sept. 22 at Saint Mary's, Oct. 27 vs. Laval
On the web: stingers.ca
Strengths: Defence is Con U's calling card, much like the rest of the Quebec league. With the notable exception of all-everything Patrick Donovan the bulk of the group which finished sixth in the CIS in defence last season (and fourth vs. the run) has returned. That should buy the Stingers some time to get first-year starting QB Robert Mackay settled.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... A new starting quarterback and likely new starter at tailback might lead to some early struggles on offence. After having nearly no worries in the kicking game for the past couple seasons, the Stingers have to replace two all-Canadians.
OFFENCE
McGrath made sure to give Mackay some playing time in most games last season, getting him ready to take over from standout Scott Syvret this season. Freshman Liam Mahoney is waiting in the wings, but an educated guess is that he's probably a year away from being ready.
The Stingers have received a double whammy at the skill positions since leading rusher Andrew Hamilton has stuck with the Montreal Alouettes, but word is they have more speed at the receiver spots. Cedric Ferdinand of Ottawa is one three starting tailback candidates.
That could be taken as a reference to all-purpose wideout Marc Champagnie, a third-year player. Champagnie, who played running back in high school (Toronto media take note -- he was a Metro Bowl MVP), averaged nearly 19 yards per touch and also had a 69-yard punt return touchdown last season. Ottawa native Nick Scissons, who was the Quebec nominee for the Russ Jackson Award last season, is back for a fifth season.
DEFENCE
There's no Donovan at the heart of Concordia's defence for the first time in several seasons -- Patrick, the younger of the two brothers who combined for consecutive CIS defensive player of the year awards, has graduated. That and the loss of tackle Mark Kang does raise questions about leadership and chemistry on this side of the ball, but Okpro is on a very short list of the best defensive halfs in the country, plus there's a strong presence from The 613 in weakside linebacker Cory Greenwood of Kingston and corner Sylvester Sarfo, each of whom are projected to be impact players.
SPECIAL TEAMS
No team had it as good in the kicking game as the Stingers did the past few years with all-Canadian kicker Warren Kean and punter Mike Renaud. Both have graduated and, obviously, are not easily replaceable. Rene Paredes, out of John Abbott College, is pencilled in to handle both duties. Champagnie is a bit unproven at receiver, but could provide a threat in the return game. The Stingers are deep on defence, so covering kicks should not be a problem.
(Hometown Breakdown note: Backup safety Bryan Charleau, a graduate of the Simcoe Sabres, saw quite a bit of time on special teams last season.)
NEED-TO-KNOW
The irony to the common refrain that the Stingers would have a couple Vanier appearances on their C.V. if it wasn't for Laval is that McGrath seemingly needed the Rouge et Or to build up his program. The Stingers haven't played a game that counted in the standings vs. an Ontario team since Oct. 28, 2000, but look at how many Ontario hometowns dot the roster. The salespitch is pretty simple: Playing against in the country's No. 1 program and so many players from Quebec's fecund grass-roots football culture is a great platform for impressing CFL scouts.
The Stingers are a near sure bet to finish near the top of the Quebec conference again. Basically, the season comes down to being able to beat Laval, since that will be needed to keep the momentum going in the program.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: SHERBROOKE VERT ET OR
It's-a coming, slowly but surely, almost through the Quebec conference now... presenting: the Sherbrooke Vert et Or.
In '06: 3-5, missed playoffs
Players to watch: QB Jean-Philippe Shoiry, RB Pascal Fils, LB Pierre-Luc Labbé, CB Philippe Beaubien, RB Diego Ratelle, WR Samuel Giguère
Head coach: André Bolduc (1st season)
Co-ordinators: David Lessard (offensive), Marc Loranger (defensive)
Big ones: Oct. 6 vs. Concordia, Oct. 13 at Montréal, Oct. 27 at McGill
On the web: usherbrooke.ca/football
Strengths: The gang green's hallmark is defence, and with Labbe as the man in the middle, that's unlikely to change. Shoiry, who tied for the conference lead in TD passes as a first-year starter, will have most of the same backs, receivers, and blockers around him and the offence has apparently been tweaked.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... The Vert et Or seem to be putting some talented players together, but it is the first season for a new head coach (Bolduc) and defensive co-ordinator (Loranger). They play Laval twice in the first three weeks, which is tough.
OFFENCE
The 6-foot-4, 210-lb. Shoiry averaged more than eight yards per pass last season, which isn't bad by Quebec conference standards. He averaged almost 18 yards per completion, which shows the Vert et Or are never reluctant to go downfield. That means maybe being a little sporadic from week to week, but ideally, the production would get better since so many players are back on this side of the ball.
The major change in the skill positions is that Alain Dorval has been moved out to receiver. Dorval had an 83-yard touchdown catch last season, so the move was a natural. Ratelle and Fils split time at tailback last season, while Giguère was an offensive MVP in last spring's East-West Bowl and should be getting some CFL buzz. Jonathan-Massé Simard, Dave-Anthony Gaudeau and Alexandre Poirier are also projected to start at the receiver spots.
DEFENCE
Loranger was at Bishop's last season and the Gaiters, for all their woes, did hold other teams to less than four yards per rushing attempt. He will have better personnel in the force unit and in the secondary now that he's made the short trip up Rte. 143. Labbe and Sébastien Jalbert each finished among the leading tacklers in the Q last season.
Improving on last season's total of 11 sacks is no doubt a priority. The U de S is expecting D-linemen Dominic Biron and Mathieu Lecompte, and LBs Guillaume Desmarais and Patrice Marcoux to get to the quarterback.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Charles-Olivier Audet, who was a rookie last season, went 6-of-9 on field goals in 2006. Dorval can also contribute in the kicking and return games. Getting better on runbacks is probably a priority for Sherbrooke, who averaged just 16 yards on kick returns and less than seven yards returning punts.
NEED-TO-KNOW
Honestly, the Vert et Or are the toughest team to get a read on these days. College Colours has it bang on, noting that the fifth season is long past the time to apply the "expansion label." The program hasn't exactly set the conference on fire, but it's starting to show hints of potential. The Vert et Or showed last season that its A-game was good enough to compete with Concordia and Montréal (it had three-point losses to both) on some days, but its other three losses were all by 19 points or more.
Other than the double shot of Laval, the Vert et Or play the Stingers and Carabins only once, so it can go 5-3 if the offence comes around.
I mentioned in the Bishop's preview that the Eastern Townships is a great place to watch a game; not to be too boosterish... but there's two Saturdays in a row -- Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 -- when the Gaiters and Vert et Or have staggered their game times to create a doubleheader.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
In '06: 3-5, missed playoffs
Players to watch: QB Jean-Philippe Shoiry, RB Pascal Fils, LB Pierre-Luc Labbé, CB Philippe Beaubien, RB Diego Ratelle, WR Samuel Giguère
Head coach: André Bolduc (1st season)
Co-ordinators: David Lessard (offensive), Marc Loranger (defensive)
Big ones: Oct. 6 vs. Concordia, Oct. 13 at Montréal, Oct. 27 at McGill
On the web: usherbrooke.ca/football
Strengths: The gang green's hallmark is defence, and with Labbe as the man in the middle, that's unlikely to change. Shoiry, who tied for the conference lead in TD passes as a first-year starter, will have most of the same backs, receivers, and blockers around him and the offence has apparently been tweaked.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... The Vert et Or seem to be putting some talented players together, but it is the first season for a new head coach (Bolduc) and defensive co-ordinator (Loranger). They play Laval twice in the first three weeks, which is tough.
OFFENCE
The 6-foot-4, 210-lb. Shoiry averaged more than eight yards per pass last season, which isn't bad by Quebec conference standards. He averaged almost 18 yards per completion, which shows the Vert et Or are never reluctant to go downfield. That means maybe being a little sporadic from week to week, but ideally, the production would get better since so many players are back on this side of the ball.
The major change in the skill positions is that Alain Dorval has been moved out to receiver. Dorval had an 83-yard touchdown catch last season, so the move was a natural. Ratelle and Fils split time at tailback last season, while Giguère was an offensive MVP in last spring's East-West Bowl and should be getting some CFL buzz. Jonathan-Massé Simard, Dave-Anthony Gaudeau and Alexandre Poirier are also projected to start at the receiver spots.
DEFENCE
Loranger was at Bishop's last season and the Gaiters, for all their woes, did hold other teams to less than four yards per rushing attempt. He will have better personnel in the force unit and in the secondary now that he's made the short trip up Rte. 143. Labbe and Sébastien Jalbert each finished among the leading tacklers in the Q last season.
Improving on last season's total of 11 sacks is no doubt a priority. The U de S is expecting D-linemen Dominic Biron and Mathieu Lecompte, and LBs Guillaume Desmarais and Patrice Marcoux to get to the quarterback.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Charles-Olivier Audet, who was a rookie last season, went 6-of-9 on field goals in 2006. Dorval can also contribute in the kicking and return games. Getting better on runbacks is probably a priority for Sherbrooke, who averaged just 16 yards on kick returns and less than seven yards returning punts.
NEED-TO-KNOW
Honestly, the Vert et Or are the toughest team to get a read on these days. College Colours has it bang on, noting that the fifth season is long past the time to apply the "expansion label." The program hasn't exactly set the conference on fire, but it's starting to show hints of potential. The Vert et Or showed last season that its A-game was good enough to compete with Concordia and Montréal (it had three-point losses to both) on some days, but its other three losses were all by 19 points or more.
Other than the double shot of Laval, the Vert et Or play the Stingers and Carabins only once, so it can go 5-3 if the offence comes around.
I mentioned in the Bishop's preview that the Eastern Townships is a great place to watch a game; not to be too boosterish... but there's two Saturdays in a row -- Sept. 29 and Oct. 6 -- when the Gaiters and Vert et Or have staggered their game times to create a doubleheader.
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
TACKLING THE CIS: BISHOP'S GAITERS
Better get a move on... Presenting: the Bishop's Gaiters.
In '06: 1-7, missed playoffs
Players to watch: QB Jesse Andrews, RB Jamall Lee, DL Dan McCullough
Head coach: Leroy Blugh (3rd year)
Co-ordinators: Tony Addona (offensive), Ray Gagnon (defensive), Blugh (special teams)
Last league title: 1994
Big ones: Sept. 29 vs. Mount Allison, Oct. 6 vs. McGill, Oct. 13 at Acadia
On the web: ubishops.ca/gaiters
Strengths: Lee, whose dad Orville Lee was the last Canadian to win a CFL rushing title with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1988, might be the country's best unknown player.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... see below.
The difficulty in finding any pre-season information on the Gaiters sends a message: Writing a conventional preview about Bishop's just misses the point entirely.
The Gaiters' lot is arguably more abject than the universally acknowledged figure of CIS football futility, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. It's just that the U of T is 60,000 students in Toronto, readily accessible. Bishop's is some 2,000 students nestled in the woods of Quebec's Eastern Townships -- literally voices in the wildnerness, to a Toronto perspective -- plus Blugh's team has never gone 0-8. No, it's only gone 1-7 three straight seasons.
With U of T, it's more a case of just choosing not devote resources to football. It's all about wondering how much longer Bishop's even has a choice. The smallest school in Canada that fields a football team has seen enrolment drop 14%, according to a recent Montreal Gazette report, and it faces a severe cash crunch that played a part in a staff work stoppage this summer. All of that could further affect the quality of life amid those neo-Gothic buildings and the ability to attract standout athletes.
Speaking of which, College Colours puts it best, "Bishop's is getting squeezed out of the Quebec recruiting wars and has been for several years." The reality is that Bishop's has more in common academically and socially with an Atlantic conference school or a liberal arts college in New England, but it has to play against much bigger universities such as Laval, Montreal, Concordia and McGill. (Really, the Gaiters present a good example for CIS football realignment.)
It's hard to see how Blugh and his staff can compete under such circumstances. It's a damn shame since Bishop's has had more than their share of moments in football and men's and women's basketball. The Gaiters never made a Vanier Cup despite winning four conference titles from 1986 to '94 and producing long-time CFLers such as Blugh and Tom Europe, but the small schools who have (Acadia, Mount Allison, St. FX) never won back-to-back national titles in women's hoops like Bishop's did in the mid-'80s.
Another BU, Brandon, has always had observers marvelling about how a small school can do so well in hoops, but the Bobcats can't claim national titles for both its programs and don't compete in football. (Eddie Pomykala's men's team won it all in 1998.)
The Gaiters were a big part of helping yours truly become a CIS nut. Like a lot of people, it was a heartbreaking loss that made me a made member of the sports fan mafia. The first Queen's football game I ever listened was a Gaels-Gaiters contest in September 1988 where Bishop's, despite Jock Climie setting a receiving record, pulled out a tense three-point win after Doug Hargreaves elected to go on third down rather than try a tying field goal in the final minutes. To an 11-year-old kid, there was something about it -- the closeness of the game, the anguish in the CFRC announcers' voice when the final third-down pass fell incomplete, that demanded further attention. Bishop's having such a tough team and having a star player from my neck of the woods -- Leroy Blugh, then an all-Canadian linebacker, is from Napanee -- played a big role.
Bishop's-Queen's, the Apostrophe Bowl, was always tense in that era. The Gaiters beat the bejesus out of the Gaels, 49-14 in Kingston (and no, they didn't run up the score -- it was 40-7 at the half) in the second game of the 1992 Vanier Cup season. It was the Rocky III storyline: Take a beating in the first act, learn from it, and get ready to drop the hammer in the rematch. The Gaels drilled the Gaiters in the conference final and went on to win the national title.
Last, but far from least why it's a shame why Bishop's football situation is so regrettable is that a game in Lennoxville, Que., is a matchless experience in this country (although I haven't been to Sherbrooke yet and it's close by, so it could be virtiually identical). If you went into a game there a few weeks into the season, once the leaves had started to turn, it made you wish you could get a job writing copy for the J. Peterman catalogue. The late-afternoon sun would be hitting those silver helmets at just the right angle and the action on the field would be outlined by the brilliant colours of an Eastern Townships autumn. Very idyllic. No wonder Mordecai Richler hung out around there.
Bishop's was an everybody knows your name kind of place, and the games there spun off into stories about rabid fans, which sometimes included the local biker gangs. (The joke was that you could judge the importance of the game by the size of the batteries flying out of the stands.)
That was in a radically different landscape for university football, though -- Laval hadn't got going yet. The Gaiters, who are 11-45 so far this decade, haven't cracked .500 since '98 (when they got into the playoffs by beating, you guessed it, the Gaels in the last regular-season game).
They do have Jamall Lee, who apparently needs that extra letter in his name since he is 'ell on wheels (sorry). Last season, he gained more yards rushing than his team's starting QB gained passing. Blugh, with his Eastern Ontario ties, has given plenty of Kingston-area footballers a chance, which is good to see.
It's not a no-win situation. It seems like a near no-win situation, and that's just as tough to watch even if it doesn't draw the gawkers.
In '06: 1-7, missed playoffs
Players to watch: QB Jesse Andrews, RB Jamall Lee, DL Dan McCullough
Head coach: Leroy Blugh (3rd year)
Co-ordinators: Tony Addona (offensive), Ray Gagnon (defensive), Blugh (special teams)
Last league title: 1994
Big ones: Sept. 29 vs. Mount Allison, Oct. 6 vs. McGill, Oct. 13 at Acadia
On the web: ubishops.ca/gaiters
Strengths: Lee, whose dad Orville Lee was the last Canadian to win a CFL rushing title with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1988, might be the country's best unknown player.
Mountains to climb, rivers to cross... see below.
The difficulty in finding any pre-season information on the Gaiters sends a message: Writing a conventional preview about Bishop's just misses the point entirely.
The Gaiters' lot is arguably more abject than the universally acknowledged figure of CIS football futility, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. It's just that the U of T is 60,000 students in Toronto, readily accessible. Bishop's is some 2,000 students nestled in the woods of Quebec's Eastern Townships -- literally voices in the wildnerness, to a Toronto perspective -- plus Blugh's team has never gone 0-8. No, it's only gone 1-7 three straight seasons.
With U of T, it's more a case of just choosing not devote resources to football. It's all about wondering how much longer Bishop's even has a choice. The smallest school in Canada that fields a football team has seen enrolment drop 14%, according to a recent Montreal Gazette report, and it faces a severe cash crunch that played a part in a staff work stoppage this summer. All of that could further affect the quality of life amid those neo-Gothic buildings and the ability to attract standout athletes.
Speaking of which, College Colours puts it best, "Bishop's is getting squeezed out of the Quebec recruiting wars and has been for several years." The reality is that Bishop's has more in common academically and socially with an Atlantic conference school or a liberal arts college in New England, but it has to play against much bigger universities such as Laval, Montreal, Concordia and McGill. (Really, the Gaiters present a good example for CIS football realignment.)
It's hard to see how Blugh and his staff can compete under such circumstances. It's a damn shame since Bishop's has had more than their share of moments in football and men's and women's basketball. The Gaiters never made a Vanier Cup despite winning four conference titles from 1986 to '94 and producing long-time CFLers such as Blugh and Tom Europe, but the small schools who have (Acadia, Mount Allison, St. FX) never won back-to-back national titles in women's hoops like Bishop's did in the mid-'80s.
Another BU, Brandon, has always had observers marvelling about how a small school can do so well in hoops, but the Bobcats can't claim national titles for both its programs and don't compete in football. (Eddie Pomykala's men's team won it all in 1998.)
The Gaiters were a big part of helping yours truly become a CIS nut. Like a lot of people, it was a heartbreaking loss that made me a made member of the sports fan mafia. The first Queen's football game I ever listened was a Gaels-Gaiters contest in September 1988 where Bishop's, despite Jock Climie setting a receiving record, pulled out a tense three-point win after Doug Hargreaves elected to go on third down rather than try a tying field goal in the final minutes. To an 11-year-old kid, there was something about it -- the closeness of the game, the anguish in the CFRC announcers' voice when the final third-down pass fell incomplete, that demanded further attention. Bishop's having such a tough team and having a star player from my neck of the woods -- Leroy Blugh, then an all-Canadian linebacker, is from Napanee -- played a big role.
Bishop's-Queen's, the Apostrophe Bowl, was always tense in that era. The Gaiters beat the bejesus out of the Gaels, 49-14 in Kingston (and no, they didn't run up the score -- it was 40-7 at the half) in the second game of the 1992 Vanier Cup season. It was the Rocky III storyline: Take a beating in the first act, learn from it, and get ready to drop the hammer in the rematch. The Gaels drilled the Gaiters in the conference final and went on to win the national title.
Last, but far from least why it's a shame why Bishop's football situation is so regrettable is that a game in Lennoxville, Que., is a matchless experience in this country (although I haven't been to Sherbrooke yet and it's close by, so it could be virtiually identical). If you went into a game there a few weeks into the season, once the leaves had started to turn, it made you wish you could get a job writing copy for the J. Peterman catalogue. The late-afternoon sun would be hitting those silver helmets at just the right angle and the action on the field would be outlined by the brilliant colours of an Eastern Townships autumn. Very idyllic. No wonder Mordecai Richler hung out around there.
Bishop's was an everybody knows your name kind of place, and the games there spun off into stories about rabid fans, which sometimes included the local biker gangs. (The joke was that you could judge the importance of the game by the size of the batteries flying out of the stands.)
That was in a radically different landscape for university football, though -- Laval hadn't got going yet. The Gaiters, who are 11-45 so far this decade, haven't cracked .500 since '98 (when they got into the playoffs by beating, you guessed it, the Gaels in the last regular-season game).
They do have Jamall Lee, who apparently needs that extra letter in his name since he is 'ell on wheels (sorry). Last season, he gained more yards rushing than his team's starting QB gained passing. Blugh, with his Eastern Ontario ties, has given plenty of Kingston-area footballers a chance, which is good to see.
It's not a no-win situation. It seems like a near no-win situation, and that's just as tough to watch even if it doesn't draw the gawkers.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
GOOD THING SPORTS ISN'T ENTERTAINMENT!
That will cure Kansas Jayhawks football player Raimond Pendletonof any urge to ever return a punt for a touchdown again.
Mark Mangino lost it on a player for getting the team penalized in a game it won 52-7. So let's get this straight, Coach: It's OK for your school to schedule a cream-puff team from a smaller conference so you can pad your record with an easy win and increase the chance of getting into one of those Dec. 27 bowl games that are just kind of pathetic... but God forbid one of the players should do something that's a natural outgrowth of emotion after scoring a touchdown and some killjoy ref throws a penalty flag.
There's so many talking points that can be spun off "hotdogging." The one here is that yes, it's a bit of a dick move, but you can't take away a guy's right to pull a dick move.
(Via Rock Chalk Talk and Deadspin, where it has already been pointed out that it must be terrifying to be called a "hot dog" by someone of Mangino's rather rotund build. Can't people make fun of the dude without fat jokes?)
Mark Mangino lost it on a player for getting the team penalized in a game it won 52-7. So let's get this straight, Coach: It's OK for your school to schedule a cream-puff team from a smaller conference so you can pad your record with an easy win and increase the chance of getting into one of those Dec. 27 bowl games that are just kind of pathetic... but God forbid one of the players should do something that's a natural outgrowth of emotion after scoring a touchdown and some killjoy ref throws a penalty flag.
There's so many talking points that can be spun off "hotdogging." The one here is that yes, it's a bit of a dick move, but you can't take away a guy's right to pull a dick move.
(Via Rock Chalk Talk and Deadspin, where it has already been pointed out that it must be terrifying to be called a "hot dog" by someone of Mangino's rather rotund build. Can't people make fun of the dude without fat jokes?)
TOUGH SLEDDING FOR CANUCK TAILBACKS
Here's something to indulge the nostalgia of you Ottawa CFL fans: The Vancouver Sun caught up a few weeks back with former Riders running back Orville Lee, which was germane since he's the last Canadian to win the league rushing title and there was talk that Jesse Lumsden could do this season.
Lee, at 43, still looks like he could suit up tomorrow if he was asked to, but saying that would probably trivialize the work he and his spouse, Ruth, do with a non-profit youth charity. His insights into the hard road Canadian running backs face in winning over the American player-personnel guys are definitely worth a read.
Stat geek moment: It's hard to believe there was an age when someone could lead the CFL with 1,075 yards in an 18-game season as Lee did in '88. B.C.'s Joe Smith and Winnipeg's Charles Roberts could each hit that in just 11 games. Unless either one gets hurt, the shoulder injury that kept Lumsden out of yesterday's Hamilton Ticats' folderoo vs. the Argos (saw that coming from about a four-hour drive away) and his team constantly having to play catch-up in the second half is going to squelch that talk. (That said, Lumsden is still frigging amazing -- eight yards per carry this deep into the season?)
Lee, at 43, still looks like he could suit up tomorrow if he was asked to, but saying that would probably trivialize the work he and his spouse, Ruth, do with a non-profit youth charity. His insights into the hard road Canadian running backs face in winning over the American player-personnel guys are definitely worth a read.
Stat geek moment: It's hard to believe there was an age when someone could lead the CFL with 1,075 yards in an 18-game season as Lee did in '88. B.C.'s Joe Smith and Winnipeg's Charles Roberts could each hit that in just 11 games. Unless either one gets hurt, the shoulder injury that kept Lumsden out of yesterday's Hamilton Ticats' folderoo vs. the Argos (saw that coming from about a four-hour drive away) and his team constantly having to play catch-up in the second half is going to squelch that talk. (That said, Lumsden is still frigging amazing -- eight yards per carry this deep into the season?)
BLEEDING TRICOLOUR: BIG MELLOW GUYS
It's so, so tempting to rub it in after how it went down in London, Ont., last night.
Knowing the Queen's Golden Gaels' come-from-behind 26-20 overtime win over the Western Mustangs was just the first game, plus knowing the 'Stangs have a member of their football family (former CFLer J.P. Gleason, whose brother Paul is the 'Stangs defensive co-ordinator) badly injured in a hit-and-run collision less than a week ago dictates staying mellow. Granted, spoiling Greg Marshall's first game as Western's head coach by coming from two touchdowns down to win on the road is the stuff of Tricolour-tinged schadenfreude.
Mike Giffin (156 yards, including the tying and winning TDs), a retooled Gaels offensive line and defence that hung in (again) delivered a heavy dose of reality, confirming doubts about the Mustangs being ranked No. 7 in the country. (The Gaels didn't even get one vote in the same poll, by the way -- hey, it's not like they beat Western last season and went just as far in the OUA playoffs.)
Queen's coach Pat Sheahan basically beat Marshall at what used to be his game. The Gaels were never able to beat Marshall's McMaster teams a few years back when they were built around Tom Denison throwing the ball from now till next Tuesday. Last night, Sheahan's Gaels stuck with the run even when down by two scores. It led to Giff, a power back with some giddy-up -- basically a discount-store version of Marshall in his playing days -- capping the night with a 22-yard touchdown run for the winning points.
Throw in some special teams woes for Western -- it had two potential game-winning kicks missed by all-Canadian kicker Derek Schiavone and allowed Rob Bagg to pile up 204 yards on punt and kickoff returns. Add in Randy McAuley, who's seemingly been touted for the Hec Crighton Trophy since Jean Chrétien was still PM, rushing for 214 yards but coughing up the ball late in regulation, and boy is this a sweet win for the Gaels.
(The missed field goals are a nice turnabout for Sheahan and the players from the Denison era who never got over the hump vs. Mac. In the 2002 and '03 regular-season meetings, the Marauders' Michael Ray kicked the winning field goal after the Gaels kicker had a big miss. Each time, it cost Queen's first place, which it likely needed to win the Yates Cup.)
Notwithstanding those late misses, it's not quite clear how the Gaels pulled it off. Dan Brannagan didn't look too good in the numbers (just 122 yards), Western had almost 100 more yards in offence and its defence held Bagg to just one catch despite losing standout safety Matt Carapella to an injury during the game.
It's best to be mellow about the Big Yellow Guys this a.m., although this does mark the first time since '91 they've beaten Western and McGill in the same season. Queen's is now 6-2 vs. the Mustangs since the dawn of the decade, so beating them is getting to be less of a big deal. Besides, Western's a decent enough team and the game coulda gone either way. They caught some bad breaks, there's the emotional pain and it's not like the Mustangs players and coaches were the ones ranking themselves seventh in Canada.
So say it once to get it out of your system: "Over-rated!"
Related:
Golden Gaels win a wild one (Claude Scilley, Kingston Whig-Standard)
Mustangs fumble opener (Morris Dalla Costa, London Free Press)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Monday, September 03, 2007
LYNX: THIS IS TERRIBLE, THIS IDEA
Ottawa Business Journal reported this morning that that David Butler fella who wants to convert Lynx Stadium into a "multi-service entertainment and sports complex" has a title sponsor lined up. In 100 years, you'll never guess what "charismatic" beer baron is lined up to attach his corporate brand on to this project, although it's only a side issue. Sorry, this space doesn't worry about little people who seem to be beyond education and beyond embarrasment.
The real issue: Miles Wolff, the commissioner of the Can-Am League, has said, "It won't cost the city anything to let us in." That hits on what the Ottawa Citizen touched upon today in its editorial criticizing the city councillor for the area, Jacques Legendre, for his support of this vaguely outlined plan: Legendre is forgetting that politics is the art of the possible.
It's true, as the Citizen put it, that building a baseball-only facility in the early '90s was shortsighted and, "There is very little that would be successful in that perfect little ballpark other than baseball while taking advantage of those 10,000 seats." (Emphasis mine.) That's a bit of a false dichotomy. The June-through-Labour Day Lynx attendance figures have been pored over and it suggests potential to have very good attendance figures by the standards of the Can-Am League. Besides, the local sports scene is poorer without baseball's calming influence.
The best possible solution is the one that costs taxpayers the least and creates the least headaches. Letting the Can-Am League in comes with its own set of concerns. Those are minor, pardon the pun, next to what this city would be taking on if goes in for this plan.
The gut reaction is that the brains behind this seems to be throwing more spitballs than Gaylord Perry in his later seasons: They're mentioning tennis courts, soccer pitches, "talk of a country music hall of fame," not one but two Tim Hortons on site, capacity of up to 25,000 for concerts (can someone remind these guys Coldplay couldn't sell out Scotiabank Place a few years ago when it was only the biggest act in the world?). What, no pool with a swim-up bar?
Oh, but don't worry, baseball could be squeezed in too. We would just give the batter a ground-rule double whenever a high fly ball hits the roof.
Related:
Legendre Strikes Out (Ottawa Citizen)
Chiefs 8 Lynx 5 was a .300 hitter for about 20 minutes in tonight's 3-2 Lynx loss (boxscore, play-by-play): That trio of two-run blasts the Chiefs hit in the decisive sixth inning will serve in place of a 21-gun salute.
There's really not much else to say; the sadness of all this has defeated language. Joe Thurston did sit out to protect his .300 batting average. Gary Burnham ended up one RBI short of tying the team record.The saga of what's to become of Lynx Stadium is getting more surreal by the minute.
How's this for a little numerical coincidence? The team's final won-loss record of 55-88 works out to a winning percentage of .385 — identical to the career on-base percentage of the greatest of all Expos, Tim Raines, who's likely to be snubbed by the Baseball Hall of Fame since there's no obvious reminder of what he did in Montréal.
The real issue: Miles Wolff, the commissioner of the Can-Am League, has said, "It won't cost the city anything to let us in." That hits on what the Ottawa Citizen touched upon today in its editorial criticizing the city councillor for the area, Jacques Legendre, for his support of this vaguely outlined plan: Legendre is forgetting that politics is the art of the possible.
It's true, as the Citizen put it, that building a baseball-only facility in the early '90s was shortsighted and, "There is very little that would be successful in that perfect little ballpark other than baseball while taking advantage of those 10,000 seats." (Emphasis mine.) That's a bit of a false dichotomy. The June-through-Labour Day Lynx attendance figures have been pored over and it suggests potential to have very good attendance figures by the standards of the Can-Am League. Besides, the local sports scene is poorer without baseball's calming influence.
The best possible solution is the one that costs taxpayers the least and creates the least headaches. Letting the Can-Am League in comes with its own set of concerns. Those are minor, pardon the pun, next to what this city would be taking on if goes in for this plan.
The gut reaction is that the brains behind this seems to be throwing more spitballs than Gaylord Perry in his later seasons: They're mentioning tennis courts, soccer pitches, "talk of a country music hall of fame," not one but two Tim Hortons on site, capacity of up to 25,000 for concerts (can someone remind these guys Coldplay couldn't sell out Scotiabank Place a few years ago when it was only the biggest act in the world?). What, no pool with a swim-up bar?
Oh, but don't worry, baseball could be squeezed in too. We would just give the batter a ground-rule double whenever a high fly ball hits the roof.
Related:
Legendre Strikes Out (Ottawa Citizen)
Chiefs 8 Lynx 5 was a .300 hitter for about 20 minutes in tonight's 3-2 Lynx loss (boxscore, play-by-play): That trio of two-run blasts the Chiefs hit in the decisive sixth inning will serve in place of a 21-gun salute.
There's really not much else to say; the sadness of all this has defeated language. Joe Thurston did sit out to protect his .300 batting average. Gary Burnham ended up one RBI short of tying the team record.The saga of what's to become of Lynx Stadium is getting more surreal by the minute.
How's this for a little numerical coincidence? The team's final won-loss record of 55-88 works out to a winning percentage of .385 — identical to the career on-base percentage of the greatest of all Expos, Tim Raines, who's likely to be snubbed by the Baseball Hall of Fame since there's no obvious reminder of what he did in Montréal.
CIS CORNER: FEELING A BIT SAGACIOUS
It's early yet, but this seems to be the year where CIS schools -- and dedicated fans -- really become self-directed in terms of getting better media coverage for the athletes and the teams. One good example is that Scott McLean, the SID at Simon Fraser, posted highlight reels from four SFU men's and women's basketball against NCAA schools on YouTube.
This harkens back to a semi-screed written here early in the new year. It was in response to a National Post column that noted the lack of media coverage for the CIS, but neglected to mention it had spawned a blog culture.
The media gatekeepers surely see that and realize there is a niche audience it needs to reach. Sportsnet Connected did have a short piece on the U of T football team last night. The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix just became the first Canadian newspaper (far as I know) to establish a blog dedicated to the local university sports scene. I'm not privy to the discussions that take place on high, but maybe one of the Ottawa papers will follow suit tout suite. Between Carleton and uOttawa, plus local kids who are playing elsewhere, there's a ton of material.
(For anyone who's interested, Napanee native and Clan centre Matteke Hutzler shows up at around the 35-second mark of McLean's Simon Fraser-Arkansas recap, drawing a charge on defence. That was a big play since the Clan won by a point. Here's links to the recaps from the Clan women's win over New Mexico State and the men's team's games vs. Air Force and Oklahoma.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
This harkens back to a semi-screed written here early in the new year. It was in response to a National Post column that noted the lack of media coverage for the CIS, but neglected to mention it had spawned a blog culture.
The Internet might be where much of the CIS coverage is headed. Simply put,Eight months later, Mark Wacyk is continuing to take blogging CIS men's basketball (and Canada Basketball endeavours) to another level at cishoops.ca. Our man Snake Wilson started a blog to chronicle Saskatchewan Huskies football. James Mirtle has now added The CIS Blog to his writing workload and has been nice enough to ask us to contribute.
we might have to do it ourselves, and hope that eventually the gatekeepers in
the media notice and co-opt us. -- Jan. 5, 2007
The media gatekeepers surely see that and realize there is a niche audience it needs to reach. Sportsnet Connected did have a short piece on the U of T football team last night. The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix just became the first Canadian newspaper (far as I know) to establish a blog dedicated to the local university sports scene. I'm not privy to the discussions that take place on high, but maybe one of the Ottawa papers will follow suit tout suite. Between Carleton and uOttawa, plus local kids who are playing elsewhere, there's a ton of material.
(For anyone who's interested, Napanee native and Clan centre Matteke Hutzler shows up at around the 35-second mark of McLean's Simon Fraser-Arkansas recap, drawing a charge on defence. That was a big play since the Clan won by a point. Here's links to the recaps from the Clan women's win over New Mexico State and the men's team's games vs. Air Force and Oklahoma.)
That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
M'S-JAYS: UP WHERE WE BELONG
Sunday -- Jays 6, Mariners 4: Party like it's 1998! (For those of you who weren't there, don't remember or don't care, that was the season the Jays made a really futile push to finish just four games out of the wild card.)
Ah, it's hard to find too much wrong with a sweep although it probably won't last vs. the Red Sox. The Jays, strange as it sounds, have won five of six, but will turn around at Fenway.
Saturday -- Jays 2, Mariners 1: The hope as a fan is that the Jays are taking these games off the Mariners and Seattle, who really is better than it's shown, will have a big evenout and sweep the Yankees next week to get back in the wild-card race.
(UPDATE: Hey, the Worldwide Leader actually had to acknowledge the Jays' existence -- to tweak them for batting out of order. That's good fun, that a major-league team has a goof-up that would be beneath the Strickland Propane team in the co-ed rec division of the Arlen Slo-Pitch League.)
In reality, Seattle's lack of run scoring is catching up to them. It's damn hard for a team to be 12 games above .500 when it's scored only four more runs than it's allowed, unless that team is the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On another note: Not to pick on one guy, since there's a gut feeling he gets off on it, but a certain columnist kinda reminded us today of one of our previous journalistic stints when a colleague filed a story and left a note at the top: "This story needs a couple more sources... and a point!"
It doesn't amount to a big bag of air that there "are 19 former Blue Jays competing (or disabled) on the top nine NL contenders." It is football season in the States now, but it ain't the the NFL. There are no 53-man rosters so the Jays can carry Orlando Hudson and Aaron Hill at second base.
The synopsis was that the current Jays being out of it and so many current Jays being involved in races -- including Jeff Kent, who was traded two weeks before I entered Grade 10 -- is supposed to be why the "six-year J.P. Ricciardi era as GM has been so disappointing."
Uh, OK. The Jays are a .495 team since Ricciardi became GM. Not great, but it's more or less the same, maybe even better than the .499 from Gord Ash's six seasons when you account for the disaster in 2004, which is behind the Jays, and consider Ash's teams didn't play 18 games apiece against Boston and New York like Ricciardi's do.
Apparently four-1,000ths of a percentage point makes Ricciardi an abject failure while Gord Ash is a champ for being fortunate enough to now be in a division where the Milwaukee Brewers' .500 record (67-67, worse than the Jays' 69-66) has them in the hunt for the NL Central pennant. Point being, dreaming of being a "contender" in the National League, the D student of major pro sports, is for losers.
You know how Al Capone's supposed to have said he'd rather be a lamppost in Chicago than mayor of another city? That's how it is for an American League fan these days -- the Jays are up against it, but that's better than the jerkwater burg that is the NL.
Friday -- Jays 7, Mariners 5: That was shortstop extraordinaire John McDonald who had a bit of a Curtis Granderson thing going on with a triple and double in the same game. Is it totally killjoy to point out that gave Sir John J. a grand total of three extra-base hits in August? Yes, yes it is.
Including Saturday's game, though, the Jays are 46-37 (.554) in McDonald's starts, compared 24-29 (.453) when he begins the game on the bench. Is that him or is the fact Royce Clayton was even worse and McDonald didn't start as often when the Jays were short-staffed early in the season? That's just the kind of hearsay and conjecture -- in the words of Lionel Hutz, those are kinds of evidence -- that makes a call to the post-game show.
Ah, it's hard to find too much wrong with a sweep although it probably won't last vs. the Red Sox. The Jays, strange as it sounds, have won five of six, but will turn around at Fenway.
Saturday -- Jays 2, Mariners 1: The hope as a fan is that the Jays are taking these games off the Mariners and Seattle, who really is better than it's shown, will have a big evenout and sweep the Yankees next week to get back in the wild-card race.
(UPDATE: Hey, the Worldwide Leader actually had to acknowledge the Jays' existence -- to tweak them for batting out of order. That's good fun, that a major-league team has a goof-up that would be beneath the Strickland Propane team in the co-ed rec division of the Arlen Slo-Pitch League.)
In reality, Seattle's lack of run scoring is catching up to them. It's damn hard for a team to be 12 games above .500 when it's scored only four more runs than it's allowed, unless that team is the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On another note: Not to pick on one guy, since there's a gut feeling he gets off on it, but a certain columnist kinda reminded us today of one of our previous journalistic stints when a colleague filed a story and left a note at the top: "This story needs a couple more sources... and a point!"
It doesn't amount to a big bag of air that there "are 19 former Blue Jays competing (or disabled) on the top nine NL contenders." It is football season in the States now, but it ain't the the NFL. There are no 53-man rosters so the Jays can carry Orlando Hudson and Aaron Hill at second base.
The synopsis was that the current Jays being out of it and so many current Jays being involved in races -- including Jeff Kent, who was traded two weeks before I entered Grade 10 -- is supposed to be why the "six-year J.P. Ricciardi era as GM has been so disappointing."
Uh, OK. The Jays are a .495 team since Ricciardi became GM. Not great, but it's more or less the same, maybe even better than the .499 from Gord Ash's six seasons when you account for the disaster in 2004, which is behind the Jays, and consider Ash's teams didn't play 18 games apiece against Boston and New York like Ricciardi's do.
Apparently four-1,000ths of a percentage point makes Ricciardi an abject failure while Gord Ash is a champ for being fortunate enough to now be in a division where the Milwaukee Brewers' .500 record (67-67, worse than the Jays' 69-66) has them in the hunt for the NL Central pennant. Point being, dreaming of being a "contender" in the National League, the D student of major pro sports, is for losers.
You know how Al Capone's supposed to have said he'd rather be a lamppost in Chicago than mayor of another city? That's how it is for an American League fan these days -- the Jays are up against it, but that's better than the jerkwater burg that is the NL.
Friday -- Jays 7, Mariners 5: That was shortstop extraordinaire John McDonald who had a bit of a Curtis Granderson thing going on with a triple and double in the same game. Is it totally killjoy to point out that gave Sir John J. a grand total of three extra-base hits in August? Yes, yes it is.
Including Saturday's game, though, the Jays are 46-37 (.554) in McDonald's starts, compared 24-29 (.453) when he begins the game on the bench. Is that him or is the fact Royce Clayton was even worse and McDonald didn't start as often when the Jays were short-staffed early in the season? That's just the kind of hearsay and conjecture -- in the words of Lionel Hutz, those are kinds of evidence -- that makes a call to the post-game show.
SAVING OTTAWA SPORTS: BASEBALL'S NECESSARY NICHE
It was hard to feel too upset at seeing the Lynx blow a four-run ninth-inning lead in losing 8-6 in 12 innings (boxscore, play-by-play) to the Syracuse Chiefs in my final visit to the Stadium as a home for Triple-A baseball.
Deep down, there was hope for extra innings when the Chiefs' bats started to stir vs. Anderson Garcia in the ninth inning since it meant seeing quote, unquote "free baseball" alongside baseball-blogging friends Carl Kiiffner of Ottawa Lynx Blog and Pete Toms of A Baseball Geek before the Lynx become the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs next season. It was a game full of bits of baseball arcania that would sail over the head of the holders of the public pursestrings like the ball Joe Thurston lined off the first-base bag in the ninth inning, which shot 20 feet into the air for a freak double, enabling him to get his batting average up to .300 with one day left in the season.
Hopefully City Hall types took notice of the turnout of 4,425 and realized (see yesterday's Lynx post) there's a constituency that needs baseball in Bytown. Sorry, but I'm not rooting for another big-box store, condominiums, or weekend tennis hackers.
Minor-league ball, as argued previously, is needed here as a sobering yin to the raging yang of the Ottawa region's obsessiveness with all things Senators. That's one of the best reasons it should stay around, plus real, living, breathing families can actually attend a game together. It's a chance to see semi-skilled pros do something relatively well for a mere $9 ticket and $2 scorecard. There's no elitism at those prices and no one has to be talked off a ledge by the local radio station hosts if the team drops two in a row. (Thank god for that, considering the Lynx are 55-87.)
The game is a reminder not too get too high, not to get too low. It's like life. It's real. The Ottawa Lynx embody What Is. Not to knock the Senators as individuals... but between the unspoken mindset that they have to win to validate the city's worth and being part of the NHL's money-grubbing culture are What Should Be.
Well, there is no such thing as What Should Be no matter how many people try to live up to that unreality (hat tip to Lenny Bruce) by sheepesquely showing up in the middle of the summer to pay 300 bucks for a hockey jersey (remember when they were called sweaters?) that's pretty much the same as the old one. That's lost on too many decision-makers and opinion-moulders in this city and in Canada with respect to baseball, the game that (aside from the CFL) is always first to be called an athletic atavism, a relic of the past.
They overlook that the grand old game survives since it jibes with a certain kind of person. You know who: The man or woman who doesn't follow the trends, goes off on an individual path, might live in the past, maybe is quiet in a room of 15 people but will blow your mind chatting one-on-one. He or she knows sports are experienced best when it comes in a package that's scuffed and nicked-up worse than the balls Mike Scott threw past New York Mets hitters in the 1986 National League playoffs. It's a chance to feel a connection to something that doesn't come through a digital cable box.
It's never come more scuffed or nicked-up than in the Lynx's final seasons. Please try to remember that 90 per cent of that is on the heads of people other than the players and owners. The culprits, among others, are major-league baseball for killing off the Montreal Expos and the city bureaucracy for, as Lynx owner Ray Pecor hopes to prove in civil court, hurting the team's chance to survive by reducing parking around the ballpark.
Deep down, there was hope for extra innings when the Chiefs' bats started to stir vs. Anderson Garcia in the ninth inning since it meant seeing quote, unquote "free baseball" alongside baseball-blogging friends Carl Kiiffner of Ottawa Lynx Blog and Pete Toms of A Baseball Geek before the Lynx become the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs next season. It was a game full of bits of baseball arcania that would sail over the head of the holders of the public pursestrings like the ball Joe Thurston lined off the first-base bag in the ninth inning, which shot 20 feet into the air for a freak double, enabling him to get his batting average up to .300 with one day left in the season.
Hopefully City Hall types took notice of the turnout of 4,425 and realized (see yesterday's Lynx post) there's a constituency that needs baseball in Bytown. Sorry, but I'm not rooting for another big-box store, condominiums, or weekend tennis hackers.
Minor-league ball, as argued previously, is needed here as a sobering yin to the raging yang of the Ottawa region's obsessiveness with all things Senators. That's one of the best reasons it should stay around, plus real, living, breathing families can actually attend a game together. It's a chance to see semi-skilled pros do something relatively well for a mere $9 ticket and $2 scorecard. There's no elitism at those prices and no one has to be talked off a ledge by the local radio station hosts if the team drops two in a row. (Thank god for that, considering the Lynx are 55-87.)
The game is a reminder not too get too high, not to get too low. It's like life. It's real. The Ottawa Lynx embody What Is. Not to knock the Senators as individuals... but between the unspoken mindset that they have to win to validate the city's worth and being part of the NHL's money-grubbing culture are What Should Be.
Well, there is no such thing as What Should Be no matter how many people try to live up to that unreality (hat tip to Lenny Bruce) by sheepesquely showing up in the middle of the summer to pay 300 bucks for a hockey jersey (remember when they were called sweaters?) that's pretty much the same as the old one. That's lost on too many decision-makers and opinion-moulders in this city and in Canada with respect to baseball, the game that (aside from the CFL) is always first to be called an athletic atavism, a relic of the past.
They overlook that the grand old game survives since it jibes with a certain kind of person. You know who: The man or woman who doesn't follow the trends, goes off on an individual path, might live in the past, maybe is quiet in a room of 15 people but will blow your mind chatting one-on-one. He or she knows sports are experienced best when it comes in a package that's scuffed and nicked-up worse than the balls Mike Scott threw past New York Mets hitters in the 1986 National League playoffs. It's a chance to feel a connection to something that doesn't come through a digital cable box.
It's never come more scuffed or nicked-up than in the Lynx's final seasons. Please try to remember that 90 per cent of that is on the heads of people other than the players and owners. The culprits, among others, are major-league baseball for killing off the Montreal Expos and the city bureaucracy for, as Lynx owner Ray Pecor hopes to prove in civil court, hurting the team's chance to survive by reducing parking around the ballpark.
To the end, some kept showing up for however long Triple-A ball would last. They knew it was a can't-win, but can't-win is part of What Is. Those who live with that come closest to being a true sports fan. There's a sad, sad irony that those who on a per-capita basis have shown the most devotion could end up getting the back of the hand if the stadium site is re-purposed and baseball, the Can-Am League, whatever, does not get a chance.
HIP HIP, JORGE
Welcome news to hear for Raptors fans: Jorge Garbajosa's been cleared by the team to lace up for Spain at the EuroBasket (the Continent's Olympic qualifier).
This tournament's of interest to Canadian fans since any early exits by the top teams will make our national team's chances of getting an Olympic spot that much harder at the last-change tournament next summer. The Star's Doug Smith, though, has pointed out it's odds-on that the European teams will snap up all three spots, although that was written before Brazil's upset loss to Argentina at the FIBA Americas.
José Calderón, of course, is playing the point for defending world champion Spain, Andrea Bargnani's on Italy and Rasho Nesterovič is playing for Slovenia. Carlos Delfino played huge for Argentina in that win over Brazil on Saturday... four assists also says a little about how he's going to be able to distribute.
This tournament's of interest to Canadian fans since any early exits by the top teams will make our national team's chances of getting an Olympic spot that much harder at the last-change tournament next summer. The Star's Doug Smith, though, has pointed out it's odds-on that the European teams will snap up all three spots, although that was written before Brazil's upset loss to Argentina at the FIBA Americas.
José Calderón, of course, is playing the point for defending world champion Spain, Andrea Bargnani's on Italy and Rasho Nesterovič is playing for Slovenia. Carlos Delfino played huge for Argentina in that win over Brazil on Saturday... four assists also says a little about how he's going to be able to distribute.
CIS CORNER: DAX EFFECT FOR GEE-GEES
Some scatterbrained thoughts -- sleep deprivation will do that to ya -- from a day of hoops in the capital:
- Dax Dessureault's team-high 12 points and nine boards, plus a block on 6-foot-7 forward Rodney Alexander, was the conversation piece coming out of the Gee-Gees' day game vs. Illinois. The Gee-Gees' only seasoned big got to the rim for a two-handed dunk in the second quarter, a few minutes after a foul at the last possible instant kept him from throwing one down. He noted "finishing" was the biggest thing he worked on in the summer, and it seemed to have paid off.
"I'm just trying to step it up," Dessureault said. "My two mentors, J.C. (Jermaine Campbell) and Curtis (Shakespeare) are gone (after graduating), so I need to."
The Gee-Gees showed a different look in the half court -- "four (guys) out, one in, trying to keep a post outside because we have posts who can shoot," in Dessureault's description. It looks like a lot more of their offence might run through Dessureault. He passed well out of the post and on the final play of the first quarter, had an one-motion rebound/outlet pass to Josh Gibson-Bascombe who was ahead of everyone. (Gibson-Bascombe's layup was waved off after just failing to beat the buzzer.)
"He knows he's got to be The Man in terms of playing in the post with all the young kids we have," Gee-Gees coach Dave DeAveiro said of Dessureault. "The biggest thing with him is maturity... understanding a little bit more what he's capable of doing." - Illinois-Ottawa was our first exposure to a men's game played with the 24-second shot clock. It probably wasn't the best gauge of the rule changes' impact, since the Gee-Gees are a team that tries to play a lot of games up in the 70s and 80s.
"You are going to see the coaching change a little bit," said DeAveiro. "Coaches are going to have to get creative, do some things we haven't used yet. We're changing our style a bit, trying to be a transition team, trying to get some open shots." - The aforementioned Rodney Alexander was the name on our mind after watching the Illini. That is meant to say he's going to dominate in the Big 10, but it would be cool to see how the junior college transfer does, especially after reading up on his humble hoops beginnings. Against the Gee-Gees, Alexander drew two big "ohhhhhhs" with a putback dunk and a block on rookie guard Jacob Gibson-Bascombe.
- The younger Gibson-Bascombe is going to have growing-pain moments, but with eight points and four assists, impressed in his debut. "He's is definitely going to help Josh out in terms of being a backup," said DeAveiro, who needs a second point guard since Willy Manigat, who was a sparkplug off the bench in '06-07, is sitting out the season due to personal reasons.
- Checking over cishoops.ca's wrap of the day's action across the country -- the York Lions beating Morehead State on a last-second shot by Tut Ruach was the big highlight -- it also jumps out that the Gee-Gees wing Donnie Gibson had 18 points vs. Alabama. Defence was off in both of the Tide's games (97-88 over McGill, 104-80 over the Gee-Gees), but it seems like a good bounce-back for Gibson
- Carleton-Villanova (the Wildcats won 61-46) was a Big East basketball slogfest with more fouls than baskets. Aaron Doornekamp had a hard-earned 30 points, but anyone who's followed Carleton knows how it spreads the scoring around. The Wildcats will bear following in the Big East, since Syracuse is at a low point and they have a player, Dante Cunningham, whose name is an amalgam of our two favourite Minnesota Vikings quarterback.
- No regrets, none at all: The Gee-Gees game was at the same time as Appalachian State's upset of Michigan that no adjective could do justice to (the same can be said of App State's promo video). Seeing Carleton meant missing Clay Buchholz's no-hitter for the Red Sox. Those were OK, but it's a good policy never to pass up a chance to see a game in person.
- Michael Jordan didn't show up to watch son Jeff Jordan play for Illinois (he could show up in Montreal over the next two days), but rumours still abounded that he might. It was too cute by half when DeAveiro's nine-year-old daughter, Jordan -- wearing a replica Washington Wizards No. 23 jersey with her name on the back -- was one of the children who took part itnfor the halftime shooting contest.
A basketball coach with a child named Jordan? "It's some coincidence," DeAveiro said with a big smile.
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