One of the side effects of SFU's decision to jump to NCAA Division II and UBC's subsequent decision to remain in CIS for the time being was the potential loss of CIS football's most storied games, the annual Shrum Bowl between the two teams. The Shrum Bowl has been contested 32 times over the years and always gets a fair bit of attention; everyone in the Lower Mainland knows about the UBC-SFU rivalry, and the annual football game has been one of its best expressions. Fortunately, as Howard Tsumura of The Province reports, that's going to continue for at least this year.
Oddly enough, SFU's switch to the NCAA both threatened and preserved this year's game. The two teams will no longer meet in Canada West competition, but the Clan's departure left Canada West with only six football teams and forced a conference-wide bye on the Oct. 8-10 weekend. During that bye, the game will be played under the Friday night lights at UBC's Thunderbird Stadium on Oct. 8.
The other interesting element of this is the changes in the rules. They go back to the days when UBC was in CIS and SFU was in the NAIA. The two schools would alternate hosting the game, and it would be played by Canadian rules at UBC and by American rules when SFU was hosting, giving it a unique atmosphere and feel. When SFU joined CIS, the Shrum Bowl was still important, but it was also just a league game (and one of the two the teams would play each year). Now, it's set to go back to a once-a-year event with alternating hosts and rules, and it will become much more unique again.
Of course, the scheduling issues might make this just a one-off. We don't know if Canada West will add more football teams or alter the schedule after this year, and the Division II Great Northern Athletic Conference might do the same thing. Either of those changes could kill the game for good. UBC might wind up jumping to the NCAA as well, which could let the game continue but turn it back into a regular league game. For now, though, the Shrum Bowl is alive and well, and back to the clash of countries it used to be. Let's hope it's able to continue in some form; it's a unique showcase for CIS football.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Showing posts with label SFU. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SFU. Show all posts
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
CIS: The end of a streak
Maybe the SFU Clan had the Olympics on their mind this afternoon, as they fell 63-61 [Mike Tucker, UVic Sports Information] on the road to the sixth-ranked University of Victoria Vikes in their final league game. It would be all too easy to see the Vikes' upset of the top-ranked Clan as some sort of game-changing moment for CIS women's basketball, but there's more to it than that. The Clan had won 49 straight games, or 54 if you count the playoffs, so it's certainly noteworthy that someone finally found a way to beat them. In truth, though, this probably just shows that Canada West is about more than just SFU.
As the most recent Top 10 rankings show, the conference is absolutely stacked in women's basketball. They have No.1 SFU, No.2 Regina, No.4 Saskatchewan, No.6 Victoria, No.8 Alberta and No.10 UBC, six out of the ten slots. Back in 2008, I wrote a piece for the Queen's Journal about the West's dominance in men's volleyball. What I wasn't able to include for space reasons is that they've been just as dominant in women's basketball, and for similar reasons (earlier introduction of athletic scholarships and earlier investment in facilities).
Canada West teams have won the last 18 national championships since Laurentian's back-to-back wins in 1990 and 1991. In fact, since the first national championship in 1972, there have only been nine championships won by non-Canada West teams, seven by Laurentian and two by Bishop's. It's not like it's been one absolutely dominant team, either; starting with the 2000 championship, Regina has one title, Victoria has two, UBC has three and SFU has four. That shows there's a long tradition of outstanding basketball in the conference, and it means it's not that surprising that someone finally knocked the Clan off.
The win also shows the progress the Vikes have been making, and suggests they'll be a tough team to face in postseason play. Kayla Dysktra had a huge game for UVic, scoring 18 points and adding 13 boards, while Debbie Yeboah dumped in 21 points, including 15 in the second half and the final buzzer-beater. The Vikes didn't get discouraged after being held to four points in the second quarter, which suggests they're a resilient bunch. They'll have their hands full against No. 4 Saskatchewan in the playoffs, but counting them out wouldn't be a wise move.
Don't go writing off SFU just yet, though. They lost to the No.6 team, on the road, in a game that was meaningless for their playoff position, on an improbable buzzer-beater. That's quite a collection of circumstances, and it's one that may not be repeatable. Moreover, their streak is made even more impressive by the quality opposition it's come against. The Clan have been incredibly dominant for the past two years; I watched them lay a smackdown on a very good UBC team just two weeks ago, and a single loss doesn't mean that incredible team has disappeared. Moreover, they'll be still looking to exit CIS competition with a bang. Sure, they're no longer invincible, but that doesn't make them any less of a juggernaut.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
As the most recent Top 10 rankings show, the conference is absolutely stacked in women's basketball. They have No.1 SFU, No.2 Regina, No.4 Saskatchewan, No.6 Victoria, No.8 Alberta and No.10 UBC, six out of the ten slots. Back in 2008, I wrote a piece for the Queen's Journal about the West's dominance in men's volleyball. What I wasn't able to include for space reasons is that they've been just as dominant in women's basketball, and for similar reasons (earlier introduction of athletic scholarships and earlier investment in facilities).
Canada West teams have won the last 18 national championships since Laurentian's back-to-back wins in 1990 and 1991. In fact, since the first national championship in 1972, there have only been nine championships won by non-Canada West teams, seven by Laurentian and two by Bishop's. It's not like it's been one absolutely dominant team, either; starting with the 2000 championship, Regina has one title, Victoria has two, UBC has three and SFU has four. That shows there's a long tradition of outstanding basketball in the conference, and it means it's not that surprising that someone finally knocked the Clan off.
The win also shows the progress the Vikes have been making, and suggests they'll be a tough team to face in postseason play. Kayla Dysktra had a huge game for UVic, scoring 18 points and adding 13 boards, while Debbie Yeboah dumped in 21 points, including 15 in the second half and the final buzzer-beater. The Vikes didn't get discouraged after being held to four points in the second quarter, which suggests they're a resilient bunch. They'll have their hands full against No. 4 Saskatchewan in the playoffs, but counting them out wouldn't be a wise move.
Don't go writing off SFU just yet, though. They lost to the No.6 team, on the road, in a game that was meaningless for their playoff position, on an improbable buzzer-beater. That's quite a collection of circumstances, and it's one that may not be repeatable. Moreover, their streak is made even more impressive by the quality opposition it's come against. The Clan have been incredibly dominant for the past two years; I watched them lay a smackdown on a very good UBC team just two weeks ago, and a single loss doesn't mean that incredible team has disappeared. Moreover, they'll be still looking to exit CIS competition with a bang. Sure, they're no longer invincible, but that doesn't make them any less of a juggernaut.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Saturday, January 30, 2010
CIS: UBC - SFU women's live blog
It's SFU and UBC again, this time on the women's side. Join in the live blog below!
CIS: Thunderbirds bounce back against SFU
The top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball squad rebounded well from their Thursday loss to No. 7 SFU, finishing with a 77-68 victory in today's rematch against the Clan. The two teams were pretty close throughout, with SFU leading 35-30 at the half, but UBC turned it up a notch in the third quarter. They outscored SFU 25-15 in the frame and finished strong down the stretch.
UBC's shooting improved significantly after the half, boosting their field goal percentage from 42.3 per cent in the first half to 46.7 per cent after the break. They also got stingier on defence, and SFU's shots stopped falling; the Clan shot 40.6 per cent in the first half, but only hit 30.4 per cent of their field goals in the final quarters. Part of that came from the Thunderbirds' transition to a higher-tempo game; SFU didn't have anyone who could run with Josh Whyte, Blaine LaBranche and Nathan Yu. Whyte finished with 16 points, while LaBranche had 21 and Yu chipped in seven. The fast-paced offence seemed to knock SFU off guard and created lots of second chances for the Thunderbirds off rebounds; they picked up eight offensive rebounds to the Clan's five, and outrebounded SFU 41-34 over the course of the game.
SFU guard Chas Kok, who led the Clan with 18 points, said afterwards their failure to control the glass cost them the game.
"Defensively, we didn't really do what we wanted to," he said. "We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and that's what killed us."
Kok said the Clan weren't able to keep up with UBC late in the game.
"In the second half, we just played one speed," he said.
He said it was disappointing to lose their final CIS regular-season home game.
"I wanted to win that one for the seniors," he said.
Kok said the team still has plenty of work to do going into the playoffs despite impressive play this week.
"Defensively, we need to get better," he said. "Offensively, we need to get better. We just need to get better overall."
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
UBC's shooting improved significantly after the half, boosting their field goal percentage from 42.3 per cent in the first half to 46.7 per cent after the break. They also got stingier on defence, and SFU's shots stopped falling; the Clan shot 40.6 per cent in the first half, but only hit 30.4 per cent of their field goals in the final quarters. Part of that came from the Thunderbirds' transition to a higher-tempo game; SFU didn't have anyone who could run with Josh Whyte, Blaine LaBranche and Nathan Yu. Whyte finished with 16 points, while LaBranche had 21 and Yu chipped in seven. The fast-paced offence seemed to knock SFU off guard and created lots of second chances for the Thunderbirds off rebounds; they picked up eight offensive rebounds to the Clan's five, and outrebounded SFU 41-34 over the course of the game.
SFU guard Chas Kok, who led the Clan with 18 points, said afterwards their failure to control the glass cost them the game.
"Defensively, we didn't really do what we wanted to," he said. "We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds, and that's what killed us."
Kok said the Clan weren't able to keep up with UBC late in the game.
"In the second half, we just played one speed," he said.
He said it was disappointing to lose their final CIS regular-season home game.
"I wanted to win that one for the seniors," he said.
Kok said the team still has plenty of work to do going into the playoffs despite impressive play this week.
"Defensively, we need to get better," he said. "Offensively, we need to get better. We just need to get better overall."
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
CIS: Final league showdown for UBC and SFU
It's a special day for Simon Fraser University's basketball teams. They're hosting the archrival UBC Thunderbirds in a pair of rather important games. On the women's side, the No. 1 Clan are coming off thumpings of the Winnipeg Wesmen and Manitoba Bisons last weekend. They're looking to maintain their perfect 13-0 record in conference play, but they'll face a tough opponent in 10-4 UBC, as the Thunderbirds are tied for second in the Canada West Pacific division. It's also the last home league game for their seniors, including popular blogger Kate Hole, and the team's also raising funds for breast cancer research.
On the men's side, the 12-2 Clan (ranked No. 7) are flying high after knocking off No. 1 UBC 82-79Wednesday Thursday (thanks, Peter!). That was the 13-1 Thunderbirds' first conference loss. They'll be out for revenge in today's rematch.
The other interesting subplot to these games is that they're the final regular-season CIS home games SFU's basketball teams will play, as the school's planned move to the NCAA in 2011 got bumped up to this coming year after Canada West put them on probation earlier this year. As Rob wrote, that also could mean that SFU's fourth-year players either end their careers here (thanks to the NCAA's four-year eligibility window, as compared to the five years in CIS) or wind up moving to another school. This adds another dimension to what's already a compelling pair of contests. I'll be covering both games today (the men's game is at 3 p.m. Pacific, with the women's game to follow) and live-blogging both if I'm able to get an Internet connection; feel free to stop by! I'll have a post-game piece later tonight as well.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
On the men's side, the 12-2 Clan (ranked No. 7) are flying high after knocking off No. 1 UBC 82-79
The other interesting subplot to these games is that they're the final regular-season CIS home games SFU's basketball teams will play, as the school's planned move to the NCAA in 2011 got bumped up to this coming year after Canada West put them on probation earlier this year. As Rob wrote, that also could mean that SFU's fourth-year players either end their careers here (thanks to the NCAA's four-year eligibility window, as compared to the five years in CIS) or wind up moving to another school. This adds another dimension to what's already a compelling pair of contests. I'll be covering both games today (the men's game is at 3 p.m. Pacific, with the women's game to follow) and live-blogging both if I'm able to get an Internet connection; feel free to stop by! I'll have a post-game piece later tonight as well.
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Friday, September 18, 2009
What does SFU probation mean?
A very interesting story came out yesterday that hasn't received a ton of coverage to date. Vancouver radio station CKNW reported that Simon Fraser University's athletic program has been placed on probation by Canada West for the 2009-10 season. Unlike NCAA probation, this move won't affect SFU teams and their quest for regional and national titles. However, it does remove SFU's vote on conference decisions. More importantly, it leaves them in limbo for next season (2010-11), the year before they're scheduled to join the NCAA's Division II (for the 2012 year).
Sandy Slavin, the president of Canada West and the director of athletics at the University of Lethbridge, told CKNW the decision was made thanks to SFU's plan to join the NCAA.
"We don't believe they have a vested interest in our business any more and they shouldn't be voting," she said.
She said they decided to avoid measures that would penalize SFU's teams this year, though.
"At this point, doing anything that would affect Simon Fraser's ability to fully compete in '09-10, we felt was very unfair to the student athletes," she said.
This seems pretty logical. SFU doesn't seem to have a vested interest in the future of Canada West beyond the 2010-11 season. When the original decision to join the NCAA was made, there was some speculation about splitting SFU's teams between the NCAA and CIS (as they currently do with CIS and the NAIA), but that seems to have withered; CKNW's piece says "Beginning with the 2011-12 season, all of the SFU varsity teams will compete in the NCAA's Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference." Thus, if they're not going to have teams in CIS competition beyond 2011, it would seem to make sense to exclude them from voting on CIS decisions. It also appears logical to avoid competitive sanctions for this year; teams are already in action, athletes have chosen their schools and schedules have been set. Taking away SFU's ability to compete would have appeared a merely vindictive move, and one that would have hurt CIS.
Nothing's been decided on the eligibility of SFU's teams for next season, though, and that could be a very interesting debate. Would Canada West be willing to boot a prominent university like SFU from competition? If Canada West decides to kick them out, would they be able to join the NCAA early? What would happen to their teams and athletes? There are plenty of questions, but for now, the best answer comes from what SFU athletic director David Murphy told CKNW:
"Next year is rather up in the air right now."
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Sandy Slavin, the president of Canada West and the director of athletics at the University of Lethbridge, told CKNW the decision was made thanks to SFU's plan to join the NCAA.
"We don't believe they have a vested interest in our business any more and they shouldn't be voting," she said.
She said they decided to avoid measures that would penalize SFU's teams this year, though.
"At this point, doing anything that would affect Simon Fraser's ability to fully compete in '09-10, we felt was very unfair to the student athletes," she said.
This seems pretty logical. SFU doesn't seem to have a vested interest in the future of Canada West beyond the 2010-11 season. When the original decision to join the NCAA was made, there was some speculation about splitting SFU's teams between the NCAA and CIS (as they currently do with CIS and the NAIA), but that seems to have withered; CKNW's piece says "Beginning with the 2011-12 season, all of the SFU varsity teams will compete in the NCAA's Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference." Thus, if they're not going to have teams in CIS competition beyond 2011, it would seem to make sense to exclude them from voting on CIS decisions. It also appears logical to avoid competitive sanctions for this year; teams are already in action, athletes have chosen their schools and schedules have been set. Taking away SFU's ability to compete would have appeared a merely vindictive move, and one that would have hurt CIS.
Nothing's been decided on the eligibility of SFU's teams for next season, though, and that could be a very interesting debate. Would Canada West be willing to boot a prominent university like SFU from competition? If Canada West decides to kick them out, would they be able to join the NCAA early? What would happen to their teams and athletes? There are plenty of questions, but for now, the best answer comes from what SFU athletic director David Murphy told CKNW:
"Next year is rather up in the air right now."
[Cross-posted to The CIS Blog]
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Campus Corner: Not much fear in this one
Justin Chapdelaine may be the new kid on campus [Neate Sager, Out Of Left Field], but he's hardly intimidated. Of course, that might be a bit easier when you're coming off a spectacular high school campaign where you threw for 1,827 yards and 21 touchdowns, were named a provincial all-star and took your school to the AAA provincial final.Genetics can't hurt either. Chapdelaine's father is famed CIS and CFL player/coach Jacques Chapdelaine, while his mother Kim is a former track and field athlete [Dan Kinvig, Abbotsford News] who competed for Canada, his older sister Kaela plays for the women's national basketball team and his older brother Matt is his new teammate at Queen's.
Still, Chapdelaine shows a surprising amount of confidence for a rookie entering the famed Queen's football program. He said the tradition and history around the program is a motivational boost, not an intimidating factor.
"It's actually flattering being recruited by Coach Sheahan and hopefully being part of that tradition, being part of that history," he said. "I want to eventually win a Vanier Cup here and hopefully be part of the Hall of Fame here one day."
That's a bold claim from a rookie quarterback, but Chapdelaine has faced plenty of pressure at the high-school level and has excelled to date. He said pressure inspires him to greater heights.
"I love the pressure," he said. "It's motivation to me, you know. I want to be that person who always gets the ball off the snap and I want to be that person who makes the last pass of the game with three seconds left when you're losing by a few points."
Chapdelaine's father starred for the SFU Clan in the 1980s, but he said he was always more interested in going to a school outside of B.C.
"Oh yeah, I didn't want to stay in B.C," he said. "UBC and SFU weren't really schools for me; I didn't really like the team, the whole situation with the school and that kind of stuff. But out here, it's that I just wanted to get away from home. University, you want to get away from home sometimes. I wanted to get away from home but stay in Canada, you know?"
The Queen's program looks to be a good situation for the highly sought-after recruit, as he'll have the chance to study under All-Canadian Dan Brannagan for a year and then will have a good shot at taking over the starting role. Chapdelaine said he can learn a lot from Brannagan.
"He's a great quarterback," Chapdelaine said. "He knows the offence well and he has a lot of experience, so that's what I'm going to want to learn from him and hopefully bring to my game."
Chapdelaine said his years of high school football under Denis Kelly have prepared him for pressure-packed situations.
"Hopefully, I'll bring my game from what he's taught me to here and hopefully bring my own swagger to this team," he said. "We play American football out there, so I'll hopefully bring that American swagger."
[Note: You can see the full transcript of my conversation with Justin over at Out Of Left Field. I'll have another post later on my conversation with his brother Matt.]
Still, Chapdelaine shows a surprising amount of confidence for a rookie entering the famed Queen's football program. He said the tradition and history around the program is a motivational boost, not an intimidating factor.
"It's actually flattering being recruited by Coach Sheahan and hopefully being part of that tradition, being part of that history," he said. "I want to eventually win a Vanier Cup here and hopefully be part of the Hall of Fame here one day."
That's a bold claim from a rookie quarterback, but Chapdelaine has faced plenty of pressure at the high-school level and has excelled to date. He said pressure inspires him to greater heights.
"I love the pressure," he said. "It's motivation to me, you know. I want to be that person who always gets the ball off the snap and I want to be that person who makes the last pass of the game with three seconds left when you're losing by a few points."
Chapdelaine's father starred for the SFU Clan in the 1980s, but he said he was always more interested in going to a school outside of B.C.
"Oh yeah, I didn't want to stay in B.C," he said. "UBC and SFU weren't really schools for me; I didn't really like the team, the whole situation with the school and that kind of stuff. But out here, it's that I just wanted to get away from home. University, you want to get away from home sometimes. I wanted to get away from home but stay in Canada, you know?"
The Queen's program looks to be a good situation for the highly sought-after recruit, as he'll have the chance to study under All-Canadian Dan Brannagan for a year and then will have a good shot at taking over the starting role. Chapdelaine said he can learn a lot from Brannagan.
"He's a great quarterback," Chapdelaine said. "He knows the offence well and he has a lot of experience, so that's what I'm going to want to learn from him and hopefully bring to my game."
Chapdelaine said his years of high school football under Denis Kelly have prepared him for pressure-packed situations.
"Hopefully, I'll bring my game from what he's taught me to here and hopefully bring my own swagger to this team," he said. "We play American football out there, so I'll hopefully bring that American swagger."
[Note: You can see the full transcript of my conversation with Justin over at Out Of Left Field. I'll have another post later on my conversation with his brother Matt.]
Friday, July 18, 2008
The GBU: Setting the table
Well, I didn't get the chance to post the recap of last week's B.C. Lions - Winnipeg Blue Bombers game earlier in the week, so I figured I'd save it for now to properly set up tonight's rematch. Here's the GBU breakdown from last week's game in Winnipeg:
Final score: 42-24, B.C.
How I saw it: On TSN.
The Good:
Stefan Logan: The pint-sized (5'7'', 185 pounds) running back not only filled in for the injured Joe Smith, he did an exceptional job of it, picking up 143 yards on only 18 carries in the CFL's second-best debut performance ever by a running back (the best was Larry Key, way back in 1978). He forced the Bombers to respect the ground attack, opening up passing lanes for the Lions' air attack.
Jarious Jackson: The Lions' quarterback had a fantastic game, going 19 for 24 to pick up 340 yards and 5 aerial touchdowns while only conceding one interception. He also ran twice for 18 yards. As a result, he picked up the CFL's offensive player of the week award. If he continues in this vein of form, the Lions will be formidable opponents this season.
Geroy Simon: The Lions' star receiver lived up to his billing, making seven catches for an incredible 192 yards and two touchdowns, including one 76-yard catch. He could have padded his stats even further if he hadn't dropped a ball in the end zone.
Javy Glatt: The B.C. middle linebacker (and SFU product) made six tackles and grabbed two interceptions, earning CFL defensive player of the week honours in the process.
The Bad:
Kevin Glenn:
Pretty much all of the Lions had strong games, but the opposite was true for Winnipeg's star quarterback. He was only 9 for 17 through the air for a meager 86 yards, and was picked off twice.
The Ugly:
Charles Roberts: If Glenn was bad through the air, Winnipeg's running game was even worse. The main culprit was Roberts, usually one of the better running backs in the CFL, who was held to a mere 23 yards rushing on eight attempts.
To watch tonight: Winnipeg will be fired up to get revenge, as well as their first win of the season. A key matchup will be Bombers' middle linebacker Barrin Simpson against Logan: he couldn't stop the ground attack last game, so he'll be fired up to do it now. Also, can Jarious Jackson repeat his virtuoso performance of last week, or will he return to the poor form he showed in the first couple of weeks? It should be a great game.
Final score: 42-24, B.C.
How I saw it: On TSN.
The Good:
Stefan Logan: The pint-sized (5'7'', 185 pounds) running back not only filled in for the injured Joe Smith, he did an exceptional job of it, picking up 143 yards on only 18 carries in the CFL's second-best debut performance ever by a running back (the best was Larry Key, way back in 1978). He forced the Bombers to respect the ground attack, opening up passing lanes for the Lions' air attack.
Jarious Jackson: The Lions' quarterback had a fantastic game, going 19 for 24 to pick up 340 yards and 5 aerial touchdowns while only conceding one interception. He also ran twice for 18 yards. As a result, he picked up the CFL's offensive player of the week award. If he continues in this vein of form, the Lions will be formidable opponents this season.
Geroy Simon: The Lions' star receiver lived up to his billing, making seven catches for an incredible 192 yards and two touchdowns, including one 76-yard catch. He could have padded his stats even further if he hadn't dropped a ball in the end zone.
Javy Glatt: The B.C. middle linebacker (and SFU product) made six tackles and grabbed two interceptions, earning CFL defensive player of the week honours in the process.
The Bad:
Kevin Glenn:
Pretty much all of the Lions had strong games, but the opposite was true for Winnipeg's star quarterback. He was only 9 for 17 through the air for a meager 86 yards, and was picked off twice.
The Ugly:
Charles Roberts: If Glenn was bad through the air, Winnipeg's running game was even worse. The main culprit was Roberts, usually one of the better running backs in the CFL, who was held to a mere 23 yards rushing on eight attempts.
To watch tonight: Winnipeg will be fired up to get revenge, as well as their first win of the season. A key matchup will be Bombers' middle linebacker Barrin Simpson against Logan: he couldn't stop the ground attack last game, so he'll be fired up to do it now. Also, can Jarious Jackson repeat his virtuoso performance of last week, or will he return to the poor form he showed in the first couple of weeks? It should be a great game.
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