The winners, the losers
An unscientific guide to the best and worst in university sports
Worst facilities
Affectionately known as the “Gritty Grotto,” the University of Manitoba athletic complex, which probably hasn’t changed since the Centennial, is housed in the windowless basement of the Frank Kennedy athletic centre, and has a famously strange smell—a mix of rubber, dust and sweat.
Honourable mention: Despite a top 10 nationwide ranking, Waterloo’s hockey arena is cramped, uncomfortable, and far too cold, says CIS Blog sports writer Rob Pettapiece.
Honourable mention: UVIC’s basketball team “literally plays out of an old high school gym,” says McElroy.
Honourable mention: The University of Alberta’s “Butterdome,” also known as the Universiade Pavilion, is shaped like a block of butter and painted banana yellow. (Inside the field house, the facilities aren’t bad.)
Hireability, post-grad
McGill University: “It’s got cachet, baby. It’s got cachet up the yingyang.” Face it jock, one day, your five years of eligibility will expire. When it does, you’ll have to hit the pavement like the rest of us.
The longest journey to the CIS
St. FX, which has signed Riiny Ngot, one of Sudan’s so-called “Lost Boys,” who left the war-ravaged country with his sister at age 11. At seven foot two, Riiny will be the tallest player in the CIS this season. (See full story on page 134.)
Honourable mention: Western, which has signed Da’shawn Thomas, one of the most-talked-about rookie football players in the Canadian university game. Thomas, a standout U.S. high school player, made it onto the Toronto Argos roster before being released last spring. At 22, he is starting with the Western Mustangs. (The NCAA doesn’t allow athletes with professional sports experience to play in the college league.) Greg Marshall, head coach of the Mustangs, figures Da’shawn has the tools to eventually make it to the NFL.
Where is the Guelph Gryphons cross country running team. The women’s team has won the past four CIS titles and look poised to take home the trophy again this year with their number one ranked team. The men are no different looking to pull in their 10th title in the past 13 years. What a program. Alot of the credit goes to coach Dave Scott-Thomas for his remarkable work woth the athletes. GO GRYPHONS!!!
What about Laurier?
The Wesmen name originates from the name of The University of Winnipeg’s founding college, Wesley College.
Nice to see university sport get a review here.
Western’s teams finished in the Top 5 in their division in 36 of 38 sports last year and in the market-driven men’s hockey, men’s basketball and men’s football made it to the national semifinals (and national finals in men’s hockey and football).
A clarification – RE: Da’shawn Thomas – he signed to the practice roster, not the full roster, and therefore it’s not like a former professional coming to the CIS. There are rules preventing that for a reason… do different than a player attending an NHL camp and – even after spending time with a semi-pro team, for example – coming back to play at the university level after being cut… players lose eligibility based on their forray into semi-pro sports.
I don’t think the Gee-Gees nick name stinks at all. It is much more colorful than mundane names like the Lions,Ravens,Rams and other common animals.
The name has cultural connotations in the Ottawa Valley, where farmer settlers from Ireland called their work horses gee gees going back to the nineteenth century. They borrowed the name from race track slang in the British Isles.There a gee gee is the lead horse in a race, or the first horse out of the gate. Francophone farmers in Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec soon adopted it too. So, the name works in both English and French at Canada’s bilingual university.
Of course GG also stands for the school colours, Garnet and Grey. It is compatible with other Universities that use their colours as nicknames, such as the R&O of Laval and the Vert and Or of Sherbrooke.
The Gee-Gees have been around for more than a hundred years , won many championships, and nobody should mess with a fine old name steeped in tradition.
How about the University of Manitoba Bisons, for improper plurals
I agree, I’m proud to be a Gee-Gee! I love the originality of the name.
GO GEEGEES. I’m disappointed that this review fails to mention that, while the GeeGees do lack a varsity team that dominates it’s sport entirely, many teams at the school rank consistently within the top teams in Ontario (especially club teams like baseball, waterpolo, ultimate frisbee, and rowing). The football team is always in contention for the vanier cup, the women’s soccer team barely loses a game, and ofthe men’s basketball team is a mere step behind the nationally renowned ravens. And those are just a few of the highlights of GeeGees sports teams…
This list of teams was extremely exclusive and barely scratched the surface of Inter-University sports. Perhaps a more comprehensive and fair look at the state of CIS competition would give more accurate insight into the world of Canadian varsity sport programs.
Finally, an issue that I am passionate about. I’ve appeared for data of this caliber for the last a number of hours. Your website is drastically appreciated.