Always OUA

Figuring out a draft eligibility system that works

2012-05-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

In a recent blog post, Canadian football broadcaster Jim Mullin takes a look at the recent trend of CIS and CFL teams getting into a tug of war over talent between the two levels. As we know each year there is a "Will he or won't he?" approach to players who have been drafted and are stuck between the two levels. Not everyone is a lock to make a roster, no one is a lock to make an amount of money which is deemed "worth it" to commit to the jump.

Obviously we have a conflict here.

It makes sense that CIS teams want to retain their top players and CFL teams want to keep their draft picks in the system.

This new wave raises more questions than answers.

Is the CIS coach being selfish convincing their good players to stay?

Does this penalize other CIS programs who promote their talent to the CFL and in rare cases to the NFL while others convince players to hold back for a year?

Is the potential conflict between the CIS and CFL worth the trouble and does it work against the big picture of player development? The idea of CIS teams fighting CFL teams for players could become a counterproductive wedge between the cultures of the two levels.

The emphasis is mine.

The key point, as I see it, is there. I've stressed that the CIS has a huge opportunity to try and establish itself as the chief proprietor of talent for the CFL and, consequently, the regulations to ensure that this potential relationship need to be clarified.

Across all of Canada, in any league in the CIS, the most direct opportunity to become a professional athlete by way of an interuniversity sport comes through the football ranks. We've obviously seen athletes make the leap elsewhere -- Laurier's women's soccer success has been particularly impressive -- but the most common example each year comes when CIS athletes are selected in the CFL draft.

CIS rules on eligibility are vacuous across the board, but the rules in this instance need to be hammered out. Mullin suggests bringing back a rule from the past:

A few years back the CFL draft rules allowed a player to defer his draft year from his fourth year to his fifth. If a player isn't ready or wants to stay in school this rule should be reinstated. This would result in clarity from the player and an end to conflict between the two levels.

I absolutely agree with this assessment. Every player, at the conclusion of their fourth year, should have the option of whether or not they want to enter the CFL Draft. If you choose to enter after your fourth year, you lose your fifth year. If not, you play your fifth year and are automatically entered into the draft after that. Clear, direct and programs can handle their CFL calibre talent how they choose. Obviously coaches that groom the talent which make the leap ought to be prized, but there is a balance to be struck between maintaining competitiveness and getting players to that next level.

The strength of the CIS game going forward will depend largely on its ability to assimilate with the CFL and establish itself as a feeder organization. While I firmly believe the calibre of the game is strong enough to hold up as a stand alone brand like that of the NCAA's relationship to the NFL, it's clear that the desire to have the two linked exists on a top level and, as such, the exploitation of the link to its fullest extent is key.

Step one is establishing clear measures on getting players from one level to the other. Step two will be tailoring schedules to maximize talent development to push them there.

Construction at Alumni Stadium in Guelph!

2012-05-26T15:50:00.001-07:00

We're nearing football season here in the CIS which is obviously a time of great excitement. In Guelph, it will signal the beginning of a new era for the home of the Gryphons -- Alumni Stadium -- which is currently undergoing a $4.9 million facelift.

I've been a big advocate of the updates in facilities that we've seen across the OUA and CIS. It simply improves the quality of the programs and bolsters the legitimacy of the league. Our top athletes are less likely to head South in any sport when they can get equally qualified coaching and quality facilities close to home.

Now if only a few other football stadiums would catch up to speed. I'm looking at you, Richardson Stadium.

Our friend, Peter Gryphon, who runs the very informative Gryphons Football Blog has photos and a news link for your consumption.

An quick aside on the Quinlan/Graves signings

2012-05-11T17:23:00.003-07:00

When the Kyles (Quinlan and Graves) were signed by the Montreal Alouettes, I was surprised.

Not that these two fellows were signed, and as quarterbacks no less, but that they were signed by the Alouettes. Anyone who has seen them in person or television can attest to their throwing ability or football sense or poise or escapability or any other made up football term we want to throw out there. These guys are good.

The Alouettes are a curious fit. Obviously it's a great opportunity for these young men to learn from one of the best to ever play the Canadian game in Anthony Calvillo, they get to learn from one of the top football minds in the country in Marc Trestman, but whether or not they can break into a depth chart which features the aforementioned quarterbacking legend, Adrian McPherson and Ricky Santos is very much up in the air. Breaking camp with the Als would be a very impressive feat.

For a more comprehensive breakdown, CIS Blog editor Andrew Bucholtz has you covere d at Yahoo!'s 55 Yard Line.

The reason I though the Als were such a curious spot, outside of their immense depth, was a conversation I had with a Montreal scout during a game between McMaster and Queen's. After some generic banter I asked him straight away, "Anyone out here catch your eye?" to which he replied, "A couple guys are good, but nobody out there is good enough to play for our team."

Of course, these two played one another for the Uteck Bowl and made it pretty clear that they were the top CFL eligible quarterbacking talents on a national scale, with all due respect to Billy Greene at UBC, and Quinlan went on to win a Vanier Cup after he bested Graves and the Axemen. Fast forward a few months and they'll be at the same CFL camp.

It's amazing what a national stage can do for your pro prospects.

Just ask Danny Brannagan.

Hi Friends: An Always OUA Update

2012-05-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

Hello internet,

This is just a friendly reminder from yours truly here at Always OUA that this is still, in fact, a blog.

It has been slim pickings here for some time. According to this site, our last post was published in February, which is a little embarrassing. Unfortunately this is the case and, as a wise man once told me, "it is what it is."

I don't like the fact that our output fell off a cliff, but it did just that, hit a few jagged spikes along the way and then gradually bled out while the athletes we cover wrote their exams. It sucks. Unfortunately, between one of us trying to become a self-respecting taxpayer and the other pursuing post-graduate opportunities, time was scarce and as such time for blogging in our free time was seemingly non-existent.

I would like to take this moment to reaffirm that this blog will persist, coverage will be more frequent in the coming year and I'm sure we'll come up with lots of brilliant, self serving pieces of content to bring to your browsers on a regular basis. Now, I can't promise that they will be brilliant, or even passable, but I'll be damned if they're not self serving.

We hope you enjoyed the crickets while they lasted because the exterminator has been called. He is not messing around.

Warm Regards,

Chris

(Matt was absent at time of composition)

Any Given....Thursday?

2012-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

You know the Western Mustangs, right? Great athletic program and facilities. The #1 men's hockey team in the country. A team with the CIS leading scorer and top goalie tandem? Ya those guys.

You know the UOIT Ridgebacks, right? A school not even 10 years old. The last place team in the OUA West. The team who has suffered blow outs to the tune of 10-1, 9-1, and -2. Ya, those guys.

This past Thursday, the UOIT Ridgebacks pumped the Mustangs 9-5.

Midway through the game, Western was up 4-2 before a barrage of goals from the Ridgebacks. UOIT scored 7 straight goals (2 shorthanded!) and went on to take the game.

If you're new to the OUA (welcome aboard!), you may think this is a rare happen stance. However, the Ridgebacks, have been a real pain in the Mustangs' side for past three years, playing David to their Goliath on several occasions.

I wasn't at the game, but this boxscore raises a few questions

1)Did Western just have an off game? Seems possible. However, if you're the top ranked team in the country, there is no way you should be allowing any team to score 7 straight on you.

2)Is parity in the league much greater than there appears?

3)Did UOIT expose Western to the rest of the league?

Leave a comment to let us know what you think

Things that should never happen: Lakehead's Caria suspended for racial slur

2012-01-24T23:23:00.000-08:00

I'd really prefer to not bring up a story like this - ideally because it would never happen - but it definitely caught my attention.

Long story short: Matt Caria of the Lakehead Thunderwolves has been suspended two games for a racial slur directed at Yashar Farmanara. This, from tbnewswatch.com:

Caria, who leads the Lakehead Thunderwolves with 24 points in 17 games, was kicked out of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Mustangs after skating past the Western bench and having words with Farmanara, who is of Middle Eastern descent. The two were teammates on last year's University Games team.

Lakehead athletic director Tom Warden on Tuesday said the suspension was agreed to upon by the school, Ontario University Athletics and officials at Western.

“Incidents like this we obviously take very seriously,” Warden said, reached by phone. “It is our goal to deal with them swiftly and expediently. Matthew has been suspended for two games … and he has been asked to apologize to the player in question.

“He’s been asked to apologize to the administration at the University of Western Ontario. He’s been asked to apologize to the officials who were doing the game on the night of the incident, and he’s been asked to apologize to the program and his teammates.”

What else can you say? The fact this happened is ridiculous and he should absolutely be suspended. The fact they have been teammates before makes the situation curious to say the least, but doesn't take away from the seriousness of the issue. I can only hope that people would have come forward with this had it not happened right in front of the referee.

We've all been there in a sporting event where things get heated. Caria was pissed off that things weren't going well and lost his temper and reached for the worst thing he could think of. There's no "he's not that kind of guy" crap. It happened. I have no doubt Matt Caria is a good dude who lost his temper and said something he would gladly take back. The fact is, it happened and now he has to deal with what comes as a result. End of story.

What mystifies me, however, is when people make completely egregious remarks about any situation like this. For example, this comment from the article:

Swirly-Q says:
Why would anyone make light of this? This is horrible news for Thunder Bay and Lakehead.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME "SWIRLY-Q"?

I get that Thunder Bay is a small town that wants to protect its reputation. I also get that Lakehead also wants to look as clean as possible. Regardless of what Caria said, that commenter's insight is what happens when you put pure idiocy in a pot of boiling water and see what you have left after the process. You want to not solve a problem? Turn your back to it. Considering the type of punishments being laid down by The FA (English soccer's governing body) for similar incidents, this is a slap on the wrist.

It happened. Enforce the suspension. Don't let it happen again. The End.

OUA Headline of the Day: "Thieving Gryphons drop Waterloo hoopsters"

2012-01-16T12:52:00.000-08:00

That's what it's called.

Sounds a little like some sort of 1930s throwdown, no?

The actual story refers to Saturday's 19 point win by the Gryphs over the Warriors in OUA Men's Basketball action.

GUELPH — Three acts of thievery by the Guelph Gryphons led to victory Saturday afternoon at the Mitchell Athletics Centre.

With the Waterloo Warriors a little too close for comfort, the Gryphs swiped the ball on three consecutive throw-ins by the visitors and turned the steals into points to pull away to an 82-63 OUA men’s basketball triumph.

“We came in wanting to pick them up full-court (man-to-man defence) as much as we could the whole game to try to wear them out, make them make decisions and take the ball out of their point guard (Cam MacIntyre),” Gryphon coach Chris O’Rourke said.

“Maybe it doesn’t pay off for you in the first 10 minutes, 20 minutes, but you’re banking that you’re going to grind it and make them make some turnovers and that was huge for us.”

At any rate, great, great headline. Slow clap goes out to the Guelph Mercury.

Full story: Thieving Gryphons drop Waterloo hoopsters

Sumarah will be the Ravens' Ole Ball Coach

2012-01-16T08:35:00.000-08:00

In unshocking news, the Carleton Ravens unveiled Steve Sumarah as their inaugural (does this count as inaugural if the had a team already?) head coach at 10:30 am today.

I'd have to think that the Carleton football brass somewhere are giggling like 12 year old girls that St. Mary's decided to can Sumarah for reasons unbeknownst to him. It always helps to get a program started with a bonafide (the Blogger spellcheck suggests I change this word to debonair - why?) elite CIS head coach.

Define elite, you say? Ok.

Sumarah was 42-18 at the helm of SMU, won three AUS coach of the year awards and the 2009 CIS coach of the year award.

Not bad.

More reaction as I gather my thoughts and hear Coach Sumarah's mission statements.

Long Overdue OUA Obits: Guelph Gryphons

2012-01-10T17:39:00.000-08:00

Season in a nutshell

The Gryphons entered the 2011 season as an unknown entity in the OUA as they had loads of talent but a fair number of new starters and inexperienced coaches. At the outset of the season I had named the Gryphons as a darkhorse Yates Cup contender here at Always OUA in an attempt to have some sort of foresight, when really I thoroughly proved how fallible I am. The Gryphons failed to build any sort of momentum this season and, after several close but no cigar games, found themselves on the outside of the OUA playoffs looking in. After several injuries, lineup moves, etc. it appears as though the Gryphons will be forced to wonder what could have been after a very difficult 2011.

The turning point

Depends which game you think set them off the rails more. The obvious answer would be the 21-12 loss against Toronto which was on University Rush in week three of the season. The next contender, however, would be their 37-13 loss to the McMaster Marauders on Homecoming after leading 10-3 going into the half. Both were indicative of a team that, for whatever reason, just couldn't find a way to win. Both of these losses made the Gryphons a long shot to make playoffs.

MVPs
Jedd Gardner, WR
39 Recs, 520 yards, 3 TDs

It cetainly wasn't his best statistical season but Jedd Gardner, as he has been for so many years, was the Gryphons' most dangerous weapon. His breakaway speed and sure hands made him a "must double" for any defensive secondary the Gryphons came across. His contributions to the special teams units also can't be denied as he factored in both the punt return and, to a lesser degree, the kick return. His big play potential can't be ignored as he had a season long passing play of 81 yards and a season long punt return of 57. As far as game breaking ability in the OUA this year, there weren't many guys who ranked ahead of Jedd Gardner. Coming to a CFL team near you.

Jake Reinhart, LB
48 solos, 29 assists, 1 sack

We speculated earlier this season that the linebacker corps could be a problem spot for the Gryphons with the departures of Adam Dunk and Matt Rossetti. Obviously Reinhart was at a disadvantage coming into the season for Guelph since a prerequisite for the team is clearly to have a brother who plays quarterback on the roster, but he performed admirably in his first year as a key player in the second level. A season of 62.5 total tackles is certainly nothing to scoff at, especially when you consider his previous season high for tackles was 16. In fact, he recorded double digits in tackles three times this season and never recorded less than six. A first team all-OUA candidate for 2012, should he return for his fifth season.

Bryan Dunjko, DB
33 solos, 6 assists, 4 INTs

The secondary was the primary bringer of fear for opponents when they prepared their game plan for Guelph and Dunjko was a big reason why. He was second on the team in solo tackles with 33 and led the team in picks with four. Dunjko will absolutey be in the pre-season discussion of "best defensive backs in the OUA" after recruiting season wraps up and I fully expect him to have a better season in 2012. When you consider that teams never had to play desperation football against the Gryphons very much (read: they weren't forced to pass) the secondary's chances to make plays was limited. Given that I expect this team as a whole to get better, I'd expect the playmakers in the secondary to see a jump in numbers as well.

Defining Quote
“This has definitely been one of the more disappointing seasons. But all in all, I have fond memories. It’s kind of a rebuilding year for the future, we had a lot of young guys.”

-Jedd Gardner to the Guelph Mercury after his final game

The optimist says
This was a rebuilding year for the Gryphons under a second year head coach and a first year OC who was late to the game in the first place. This is still a program with loads of talent, a young quarterback who has shown that he could very well be among the next batch of great ones and a brain trust that has displayed a strong commitment to recruiting high end talent both in and outside the province in order to compete with the big boys. With the development of new on campus facilities which will rank among the best in the country, the on-field product may have taken a step back but the program is moving forward to the upper echelon of the province which is the ultimate goal.

The pessimist says
This was a team that theoretically (our theory, at least) had enough talent to push into the top five playoff spots and give the elite teams a run for their money. They showed flashes of it against McMaster (who, granted, were without Quinlan) and Western yet couldn't put it together over the course of a season. Many of their struggles offensively could be chalked up to the loss of Nick Fitzgibbon, what is going to happen when Jedd Gardner leaves this year? The Gryphons are the disappointment of 2011 and with Western, McMaster and Queen's looking as strong as ever, Ottawa retooling, and Windsor coming on the top six will be hard enough to crack. Let's not forget what a well funded, independently run Carleton team could do for the talent distribution of the province. This team needed the 2011 season to go well for the long haul and it didn't.

Next year?
I find myself in cahoots - cahoots dammit! - with the optimist point of view here as I think the Gryphons have a lot of the intangibles needed for a successful program. With a big group of recruiters behind them and the allure of new stuff - training facilities, field, MATTE BLACK HELMETS!!! - they appear more than ready to start taking a chunk of the talent in the province for themselves. The Gryphons have some great high ceiling players in the system and, with the right coaching, could be ready to make some noise sooner rather than later.

OUA to stage outdoor game

2012-01-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

The OUA has announced it will stage an outdoor men's hockey game between the Brock Badgers and the Waterloo Warriors at Ivor Wynne Stadium on January 22nd. The game will be part of weekend festivities that feature tilts between former Leafs and Habs, as well as the AHL's Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs.

Source

Matt O'Donnell a Bengal for 2 more years? Scoop to tide you over to our next real post

2011-12-23T00:03:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the lack of posts here lately, real life has been a real pain. Expect some more football wrap and basketball/hockey projections going forward. Also working on getting some interviews with OUA athletes/alum for your consumption as well so stay tuned.

Meanwhile to the actual news thing, we have it on good authority that former Queen's OL Matt O'Donnell has signed a two-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals. Hardly surprising given that a ton of teams would love to have someone that enormous on their roster. He's worth any time putting in as a project from a sheer physicality perspective.

There's no formal announcement or blurb from the team just yet, but I'd have to think it's forthcoming.

Hope you're all enjoying your holidays.

Ravens vs. Golden Hawks: The Swirsk checks in

2011-12-03T11:44:00.000-08:00

For those of you who aren't compulsively on twitter, you may have missed a Chuck Swirsky sighting in the world of OUA ball.

HE RETWEETED IT! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT! OMGOMGOMGOMG! THE CHUCK SWIRSKY!

Seriously though, that made me smile.

Shoutout to Laurier's Kyle Enright (#3 in your programs, #1 in your twitter feed) who tweeted at the Swirsk and brightened our day as a result.

Also of Raptors interest, one of Swirsky's replacements on the airwaves, Paul Jones, is doing a column for oua.ca on Ontario basketball so be sure to check out this week's piece on this HUGE game.

Who do you have taking this game? My gut and brain say Carleton but you never want to count out Kale Harrison and Laurier.

Comment. Tweet. E-mail. Onions, baby, onions.

Always OUA Shoutout: Nick Fitzgibbon

2011-11-28T08:40:00.001-08:00

It may have been all for naught, but I wanted to give some blog love to former Guelph Gryphon and current Winnipeg Blue Bomber Nick Fitzgibbon for throwing the biggest block of the night during yesterday's 99th Grey Cup.

Start rolling at the 11:45 mark and brace yourself.

Give the man his due: Neate Sager

2011-11-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you unfamiliar with the prophetic insights of Neate Sager - one time editor of The CIS Blog, currently of Yahoo! Sports - where have you been, exactly?

I'll stop the public shaming (seriously, though) for now, but here's the occasion for the praise:

Mac's four straight Yates Cups (2000-03) was the last throes of what worked for the OUA's power programs in the '80s and '90s. The better teams, such as Western and Laurier, typically kept offensive and defensive schemes relatively simple and trusted in having superior athletes. The rise of Laval and Quebec football, the scrapping of the OAC (Grade 13) year in Ontario high schools and Western Canada teams' use of more experienced junior players has put an end to that approach working on a national level.

Laurier had a breakthrough, winning the Vanier Cup in 2005, because it thought more seriously about how to trick its talent into being better. Ptaszek, who was part of that shift in thinking, will probably try to do this over time at McMaster. Considering the school's size, support of sports, its facilities, and the talent and fan support, it should lead to the Marauders delivering a long-sought Vanier Cup appearance inside of five years.

(Via Out of Left Field)
Hmmph. Well then, looks like someone saw this coming all along.

I guess now we can stop with the senseless and baseless Ptaszek bashing, hmm?

Everyone ought to hop on twitter and give Neate a high five. (@neatebuzzthenet)

More Vanier reaction

2011-11-26T07:22:00.000-08:00

Courtesy of theScore - Glen Schiiler and Donnovan Bennett get McMaster reactions from BC Place.

With Kyle Quinlan:

With Stefan Ptaszek:

With Joey Nemet and Ryan Chmielewski:

Your 2011 Vanier Cup Champions

2011-11-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

Congrats to the McMaster Marauders for winning the 47th Vanier Cup.

Are we ready to put to bed the idea that the OUA is a powder puff conference yet?

Dennis McPhee out in Waterloo

2011-11-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

The following was just released by the University of Waterloo:

WATERLOO, Ont. - After five years of coaching the Warrior Football program at the University of Waterloo, Head Coach Dennis McPhee has resigned from his coaching position and will be leaving the University.

“We wish Coach McPhee the best with his future endeavours and thank him for his contributions to the Warrior Football program,” said Bob Copeland, University of Waterloo Athletics Director.

Copeland said the change in leadership comes at a time when the Department of Athletics program is evolving according to a strategic direction built around core values and goals that best position the school for success in interuniversity sports.

Continuity for the football team will be provided by a strong line-up of assistant coaches including Assistant Head Coach Joe Paopao, longstanding Assistant Coach Marshall Bingeman, and Assistant Coach Kani Kauahi, all of whom will be on the sidelines guiding the Warriors through the 2012 season.

“The ongoing commitment of the coaching team of Paopao, Bingeman and Kauahi will provide consistency for the program during this transition period and excellent leadership for our student-athletes,” said Copeland.

The Department of Athletics expects to confirm their leadership plan for the football program within the next two weeks.

Have to say that this is an odd development given the work McPhee did during the team's hiatus to set it up for the long term. I'd have to think that there is more going on here, but the details are pretty fuzzy early on.

We'll have more on this as things become public.

Initial thoughts, comments, or reactions can be commented, tweeted or e-mailed. Interested to hear your collective thoughts here.

"Go Mac Go"

2011-11-20T19:02:00.001-08:00

I gotta say, it's great to see a community rally around their team.

On a personal note, during my undergrad, the highlight of my time at Queen's was seeing people rally around this football team in 2009 which, during most of my time there, I could count the majority of its diehard supporters on one hand.

This is an awesome time to be a McMaster fan. You have arguably the best team in your school's history marching its way to Vancouver to bring a Vanier Cup back to Hamilton. Get behind your boys because it doesn't go unnoticed. A Vanier Cup is a once in a generation feat for every school not called "Calgary" or "Laval" so soak up every minute of it. You could be telling a lot of people about your 2011 Vanier Cup memories.

Thanks to McMaster University's Matt Terry for passing along the video. Anytime we get a nod in the right direction from folks is much appreciated.

Here's to hoping that we have the second Vanier in three years coming back to Ontario on Friday.

Aside: This new Blogger layout is really confusing. Thanks for nothing, Google.

THE DEBUT ALWAYSOUA PODCAST - YATES CUP EDITION

2011-11-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

Hey gang,

We said we were working on content for you ahead of the Yates Cup and it's finally ready to be rolled out. We bring you the AlwaysOUA podcast, your one stop to our 2011 OUA football season recap, award picks and Yates Cup predictions.

Look for this to be a regular thing around here going forward. We've thrown it up on Youtube for the time being, but look for a more regular audio segment to come in the near future as we look to iron out hosting issues/get listed in the iTunes directory.

Have thoughts? Drop a comment here on the site, tweet us, or leave a note under the videos. Similarly, if there's something you'd like us to talk about, a player you'd like us to interview, etc. let us know.

Enjoy!

Your OUA Soccer Championships rundown

2011-11-07T14:56:00.001-08:00

Our friends at Support Local Football have outdone themselves once again and posted a fantastic recap of this past week’s OUA soccer championships.

The men's Final Four was played in Ottawa at Carleton University's Keith Harris Stadium, and featured the host and OUA East champion Carleton Ravens, OUA West champion York Lions, University of Toronto Varsity Blues, and McMaster Marauders. The women's Final Four was played in Waterloo at Laurier University. It featured the OUA West champions Laurier Golden Hawks, OUA East champions Queen's Gaels, McMaster Marauders, and Ottawa Gee Gees.

You'll have to click through here to find out how it wrapped up...

We're doing some work on our Yates Cup specials tonight so stay tuned for what we have in store for you gang... It's going to be sweeeet.

The best Women’s Soccer preview

2011-11-02T20:01:00.001-07:00

Check out this women’s soccer preview which we had tweeted at us. I took a look and it’s really top notch stuff.

For those of you who don’t recall what happened last season:

The host team, Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, are the defending OUA Champions after having downed the Queen's Gaels last year by a 1-0 scoreline in Kingston. Queen's returned the favour at the CIS Championships in PEI by winning 1-0 in extra time in the championship game on a goal by Riley Filion.

The link is here.

The Quiet Dynasty and other sporting notes

2011-10-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

When people think of the sports scene in Canada, they think of hockey.

What a shame!

While its a great sport to play and watch, there are many other options for Canadian boys and girls to participate in while growing up. Here is a run down of those 'other' OUA sports.

Cross Country
Coach Dave Scott-Thomas has built both of his Guelph teams into arguably the best programs of any sport in the OUA. No school is as dominant in any sport as his Gryphons are in XC. The men's and women's team both captured gold over the weekend at the championship meet in Ottawa. It was the men's seventh consecutive title and the women's eighth in a row. With a perfect balance of youth and upper years, the Quiet Dynasty is showing no signs of slowing down. Coach Scott-Thomas has won 22 OUA Coach of the year awards 19 CIS ones. Recently, he got some ink in the Globe
Men's Results
Women's Results

Image courtesy of gryphons.ca

Baseball
For all of our die hard readers, you'll remember one of our first rants was about lack of participation in a sport invented by Canadians. The Toronto Varsity Blues beat Western 8-4 in the championship game. This parity filled league featured a double elimination playoff format, which only seems to work for Mighty Ducks movies.

Rugby
The Gryphons seem to dominate the niche sports. The nationally ranked team yawned their way to a championship, destroying teams by huge margins. They play for CIS gold this weekend. On the men's side of things, the usual suspects of Queens and Western lead the league after the regular season. Playoffs start Wednesday.

Golf
Walking around campus, I always see posters for private golf lessons at the University of Waterloo. I stare at the poster, consider my awful golf game, but then in true university student fashion, agree to procrastinate to next summer.
The Warriors men`s and women`s team swept gold at the OUA championships this year. Fifth year Garret Rank won the individual title for the second straight year. I should really sign up for those lessons.

Field Hockey
The Varsity Blues only lost once during the regular season, a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Guelph. They made up for it though, trouncing the Gryphons 6-0 in the OUA finals. The fly out to Alberta for the national championships this weekend. I hope the kids learned lots, as the team could lose up to five players next year.

If you are passionate about the above sports, shoot us an email. We`d love to hear from fellow OUA fans.

Gaels football is a family affair

2011-10-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

The Kingston Whig-Standard's Mike Koreen put together a feature last week on the Sheahan family tree's connection to Queen's and its football staff. Not sure how many teams anywhere in the CIS can say that they have three individuals from the same family running one squad.

Devan, whose playing career ended last season, never got the chance to play with Ryan, a quarterback and kicker at Queen's, from 2000 to 2004. Now, pops and his sons are all wearing the same coaching gear on gamedays.

"I don't know how many people in the world can say they love what they do and get to do it with their father and their kid brother," said Ryan Sheahan, a quarterbacks coach/video co-ordinator. Ryan became a full-time coach this year after the program did some fundraising.

"It's a positive environment, a great learning environment," Ryan Sheahan continued. "It's kind of like a dream come true. It's an ideal situation. We have great kids here and as soon as (a new) stadium lands, it will be bliss."

I'm sure the family ties elicit eye rolls in some pockets of the OUA, but in a sense it adds to the tightness of a very close knit Gaels program which has been very successful since Pat took over in 2000.

For those of you who missed it last week, theScore's DJ Bennett did a feature on the Queen's Gaels Vanier Cup tattoo which started popping up in 2009 - though Rob Bagg did have a similar tat prior to then.

A Lakehead hockey interlude

2011-10-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

Photo Courtesy: Lakehead Athletics

We take a break from our usual OUA football stretch drive programming to bring you this feature from the Lakehead student paper - The Argus. In this piece, Mike St. Jean tracks down some of Lakehead's hockey alumni and finds that these three are still pursuing pro hockey careers.

Which three players you ask?

Goaltender Chris Whitley

Since leaving Lakehead in 2009, Whitley has remained active in pursuing his dream of a career as a professional hockey player.

Following a strong showing as an invite to the Detroit Red Wings 2009 training camp, Whitley spent the2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons playing in Allen, Texas for the Central Hockey League’s Allen Americans, leading the team to the Ray Miron President Cup finals in his rookie season.

Forward Mike Soares

Since leaving Lakehead in 2010, Soares has spent the past two seasons playing for Kaufbeuren ESV in Germany’s Oberliga, where he finished fifth in team scoring during the 2010-11 season (17 goals, 17 assists in 48 games), while playing with former Thunderwolves Mike Wehrstedt and Scott Dobben.

and Forward Tobias Whelan

Lakehead’s former assistant captain currently plays for the Rødovre Mighty Bulls, a top Danish team that has produced a few notable NHLers, including current players Jannik Hansen, Mikkel Bødker, and Lars Eller.

Unfortunate we couldn't get any quotes from these guys about their OUA playing days, but alas, I'd imagine that setting up interviews with people in Denmark is a bit difficult from Lakehead's campus.

As far as the players go, who knows what's in store - particularly for the guys in Europe. A few good seasons leads to a Spengler Cup which leads to an NHL shot. Either way, it's great for OUA Hockey and the Lakehead program.

A nice Mustangs tribute from MDC

2011-10-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give a tip of the cap to the London Free Press' Morris Dalla Costa for a great piece on former Mustang Bob Allen who passed away this week.

Allen played along the lines for the Mustangs and is a member of Western's football hall of fame.

From 1941-3, Allen was the anchor on Western’s offensive and defensive lines, winning all-star recognition in the football conference then known as the Big 4 (along with the Toronto, Queen’s and McGill), as well as playing centre on the Mustangs men’s basketball team and competing as a high jumper in track and field.

He was inducted into Western’s W Club Hall of Fame, the school’s highest athletic honour for men, in 1987.

Allen, who had been in failing health for a while and recently suffered a stroke, died Sunday in Kingsville, near Windsor. He was 89, two weeks short of his 90th birthday.

It's always a nice touch to see former greats at these schools be honoured, even if it is under unfortunate circumstances. So many of them have great stories that ought to be remembered by fans of today.

Best wishes to Mr. Allen's family.