But coming into the 2010 OUA football season, one thing is clear — this year’s competition is truly a crapshoot. Five of the ten…. errr nine teams have a legitimate shot at advancing to the Yates Cup, which is why the myriad of preseason rankings that currently litter the internet are kind of incredibly pointless.

So in lieu of irrelevant rankings based on silly things like talent, coaching or personnel, I’ve accumulated rankings based on optimism — ordered from those with the highest aspirations going into the season to the teams wallowing in despair.

As Larry Dobrow — whose awesome weekly MLB  power rankings and MLB optimism index are the inspiration for this experiment — put it, “think of it as a power rankings for your feelings.”

So here it is — your first ever OUA optimism rankings, along with selected notes and an optimism measure which I assure you is entirely arbitrary and based on absolutely nothing.

Photo by Jeff Chan

All photos courtesy of the incomparable Jeff Chan.

Ottawa Gee Gee’s — 96.4 — Aggressively confident

• The Gee Gee’s are singlehandedly keeping Ottawa bus drivers in business with their annually atrocious travel schedule. They get a bit of a break by drawing a date in Kingston and a bit of a kick in the teeth by opening their season in Windsor. It’s only 800 km…
• Of course, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. The Gee Gee’s went 4-0 on the road in 2009 but just 2-3 at home including their 27-15 playoff loss to McMaster.
• Tough to pinpoint why, but the Gee Gee’s have under-performed the last few years. Will rookie head coach Jean-Philippe Asselin — who, at 27-years-old, could probably play on this team — help shake them out of their funk?
• QB Brad Sinopoli is suddenly the most experienced pivot in the league after the three musketeers (Faulds, Brannagan, Dunk) moved on. He had a quietly impressive season — 11 touchdowns, 2084 yards — in 2009
• The team will field a starting lineup made up almost entirely of fifth year players — I guess they just like education that much…
• I’d love to make more fun of the Gee Gee’s here, but I’m struggling — this team actually looks really good.

Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks  — 90.2 — Firmly undaunted

Dillon Heap and head coach Gary Jeffries. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• This could be trouble. Taurean Allen is off to the CFL, Chime Ihekwoaba is gone to the NFL and Courtney Stephen is lost to the NCAA. Suddenly one of the scariest defences in the league doesn’t look so frightening.
• What they do have is a nifty training camp video featuring the Remember the Titans — “Are you sure football is fun!?!?!?” —  ‘run up and down the stadium stairs workout.
• Dillon Heap returns with his Tasmanian devil routine on kick returns. He’s easily the most exciting returner in the OUA.
• Meanwhile, University of Waterloo deserter Dustin Zender crosses University Ave. to join the Golden Hawks receiving corps and take some of the weightoff the shoulders ofHeap and Shamawd Chambers .
• No wonder the quarterback position is such a big question mark for so many OUA teams this year — Laurier is hogging all of them. They have three quarterbacks (incumbent Luke Thompson, last year’s second stringer turned starter Evan Pawliuk and NCAA transfer Shane Kelly) who can easily play well in this league. Someone’s not going to be happy with their playing time in that locker room.
• Not much to see on defence but if your ridiculously loaded offence can score 50+ points a game, what does it really matter?
• Slot back Vince Luciani has easily the best twitter account in the CIS. Never underestimate the value of street cred.
• Running back Mike Montoya and his Jersey Shore arms bench pressed 225 lbs 40 times at the CFL’s evaluation camp last year. Of course those wel-sculpted guns don’t really help when it comes to holding onto the football — he had more fumbles than touchdowns last season. But when you lead the league in rushing I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

McMaster Marauders — 88.7 — Discreetly promising

• There is legitimate reason to be optimistic here. The Marauders kind of resemble the 2009 Queen’s Gaels — a solid core of cohesive veterans who have been playing together for years. Add a division weakened by losing its top three quarterbacks and it could be a perfect storm for a McMaster run in the playoffs this year. Seriously…
• Sometimes it’s easy to forget that CIS football players are also full time students enrolled in anywhere from three to five courses per semester. Apparently Marauders cornerback Cody Lynch forgot about that too — after being named the OUA rookie of the year in 2009 he promptly flunked out of school.
• Marauders kicker Andrew Waugh was 9 for 12 on field goals last year which apparently wasn’t good enough to stop McMaster from recruiting kicking wizard Tyler Crapigna who may just be the next Rob Maver. Nice knowing ya, Andrew.
• Head coach Stefan Ptaszek’s name may be hard to pronounce, but he’s one of the craftier coaches in the OUA and hasn’t had a losing record in the regular season since he took over in 2006.
• The Marauders are probably regretting whatever they have done to scorn the OUA schedule-maker — they play Queen’s, Laurier, Western and Ottawa in their first four games.

Western Mustangs — 85.3 — Cautiously optimistic

Donnie Marshall (7) chats with his father and head coach Greg Marshall, left, and his predecessor Michael Faulds, right. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• Michael Faulds, who carried the team — sometimes on just one leg — for the past five years, is gone — off to York to pursue a career in coaching.
• Who will step up to fill the void? Donnie Marshall, the coach’s son? Ben Rossong, the incoming east coast phenom?  Jack Fairs, the former Mustangs basketball, hockey and tennis athlete who also played both ways for the football team and is currently the Mustangs squash coach? Okay maybe that last one is a stretch. But nevertheless, intrigue!
• Defensive Lineman Mike Van Praet is healthy — well, as healthy as you can be at 300+ pounds — and was recently described as a “dyke” by the London Free Press. Ummm… sure! UWO will just be happy if he can fill the void left by Chris Greaves who now plies his trade for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
• Running back Nathan Riva will be busy. If he can run for 200 yards a game like he did in the playoffs last year then maybe this team has a chance! Look for timeless head coach Greg Marshall — he’s still got it! — to call his own number and take over the running back duties if Riva falters.
• And as I write that Riva tears his hamstring in training camp. Panic! Does anyone have Da’Shawn Thomas’ cell number?
• Lil’ Wayne fan and occasional Gazette model John Surla — the 2009 OUA defensive player of the year — still patrols the secondary at TD Waterhouse, which is bad for opposition running backs but good for trash talk enthusiasts.
• WR Brian Marshall — son of head coach Greg, brother of QB Donnie, nephew of 80’s era FB Blake, not related to former Golden State Warriors small forward Donyell — joins the team as the Marshall brood’s plan to turn the Mustangs into a family business continues to evolve.
• Thanks to the wisenheimers at Waterloo, the Mustangs now open the season with three games in 11 days.
• My office is on the campus of the University of Western Ontario so be my guest and question this, but I think this Mustangs team is being seriously under-rated in pre-season polling.

Queen’s Gaels — 83.1 — Basking in the glow

• The good news is they’re still technically the national champions until November 27. The bad news? They lost the entire core of their team. Minor detail…
• Last season the Gaels’ offensive line was a lot like the mother hen at the bar on Saturday night — nothing was getting through that. But with several new faces this season, things could get rather uncomfortable for the Gaels quarterback…
• Oh yeah, who the hell is going to play quarterback? Justin Chapdelaine would seem to have the inside track, but he’s going to have a steep learning curve. He was sacked three times in the extremely limited action he saw last season. A point of reference? Danny Brannagan — who took 98% of the snaps — was sacked just five times all season…
• Whoever gets the call behind centre will certainly have some targets to throw too. Devan Sheahan, Blaise Morrison and Chris Ioannides will spread defences like butter.
• The defence is Osie Ukwuoma’s unit now, I guess. But when your best defensive player past him is probably sophomore Frank Pankewich, we may have a problem.
• I will say this — Ben D’Andrea, Alex Daprato and Stephen Laporte picked up their games defensively in the 2009 playoffs when it counted. Especially in the Vanier Cup.
• Of course the biggest advantage for the Gaels is Richardson Stadium, the dilapidated grassy abyss… I mean… football field they play on. They haven’t lost a regular season game at home since 2007.

The Gaels offensive line was their mother hen in 2009. Photo by Jeff Chan.

Gryphons — 73.4 — Shaken resolve

• Good news for people who like bad news — the Gryphons lost easily their three best players from 2009 in QB Justin Dunk, K Rob Maver and OL Ryan Bomben.
• Standout running back Nick FitzGibbon is still around but past him things get real iffy on the offensive side of the ball which is traditionally a strength for the Gryphons.
• True story — Dunk is the sports editor for the Guelph student newspaper The Ontarion this year. Objectivity is overrated anyway…
• We are talking about optimism here and, quite frankly, second year QB Chris Rossetti doesn’t inspire confidence in anybody.
• Conventional wisdom says defence wins football games so respect to the Gryphons for thinking outside the box by not fielding one. This is easily still one of the worst defensive units outside of metropolitan Toronto. They allowed an astronomical 490 yards per game last season.
• Another true story — At last year’s homecoming game, the nor’ westerly wind caught the cloud of marijuana smoke that hung over Guelph campus and blew it down onto the sidelines of the Western Mustangs. The Gryphons were almost able to beat their suddenly timid and hungry foes, but Western held on for the 41-39 win. Good try, fellas…
• Incoming Head Coach Stu Lang — who won hearts when he said he would coach the team if they only paid him a dollar — brings two full time coordinators with him who should help over-complicate things for this young Gryphons squad.
• New coaching staff, same atrocious defence, young yet underwhelming offence — this is a team just trying to tread water

University of Toronto Varsity Blues — 60.3 — Gaining courage

• Oh, silly U of T. Investing all of your money into academics and research instead of athletics. Idiots…
• The Blues are actually fairly excited about their backfield this year. Really, no joke. Walter Cariazo — who is deceptively speedy — returns to battle for snaps with University of Toledo — like, the NCAA division one University of Toledo — transfer Chris Weiland and prized recruit Keema Nnawuchi.
• Here’s a reason for optimism: They have the Neate Sager bump. The CIS guru — and unabashed Queen’s supporter — actually picked this team to finish 3-5 and earn the sixth and final OUA playoff spot.
• Here’s a reason to forget about that optimism: the team does not have a defence. They gave up 500 yards per game last season and didn’t make a single significant addition to the unit in the off season.
• Andrew Gillis is back behind centre. Surely he’s familiar with the playbook but it doesn’t really matter when half your snaps just turn into scrambles anyway. If only he had some semblance of an offensive line we could actually see what it’s like when he passes the ball.
• The Varsity Blues are kind of like Entourage — Any given week you might get a good surprise individual performance but as a whole it’s pretty bad.

Windsor Lancers — 42.1 — Secure with own inadequacy

• Wait, these guys still have a team?
• Kinda like how standing next to the pimply kid with the lazy eye in class pictures always made you look better by comparison, not much attention has been paid to the Lancers’ futility in recent years because, well, York and Toronto are just a bit better at being terrible.
• The Lancers made absolutely zero sense in 2009, only managing to beat the putrid York Lions by three points and allowing Waterloo to shut them out 49-0, while at the same time losing to McMaster by just a point and putting up a good fight against Ottawa in the final week of the season. Why don’t things ever just happen the way they’re supposed to in this league?
• Say what you will about the Warriors, they certainly make things interesting. They managed to lose to McMaster in overtime last year when they blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown only to have the play negated by a blocking penalty, giving McMaster a single point and the win.
• I really, really want to mention a couple notable incoming players for this season, but it’s just a wasteland of poor recruiting and misused resources.
• Their perceived advantage in American recruitment — Like Brett Favre’s retirement and hangover-free beer — was unfortunately just too good to be true.
• There is a very real possibility that this team could drop below Toronto if they don’t get their act together. And that’s something I never thought I would write.

York Lions — 24.9 Soul-crushing despair

• Optimism? What is this optimism that you speak of?
  

  York quarterback Nickolas Coutu. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• True optimists will tell you that, like Shania Twain in a basement elevator, the Lions can only go up from here. Unless they somehow get worse this year — which is actually a possibility…
• Last season the Lions defensive strategy basically consisted of trying to hold the opposing team to under 50 points — a feat they only accomplished in half their games…
• The last time York won a game? September 29, 2007 when they beat the University of Toronto 21-20 in a barn burner that saw both teams punt for more yards than they collected offensively. We’d all like to pretend that debacle never happened, but until York wins again — don’t hold your breath — it’s a part of history…
• The season should get off on the right foot — the Lions chose to play their only preseason game against perennial Vanier Cup favourites Laval for reasons that can only be explained as masochistic.
• Unless they can figure out how to multiply his DNA and begin farming an army of football players in his mold, it’s doubtful that former Mustangs QB and CIS all-time leading passer Michael Faulds can save this offence as its new coordinator.
• But look on the bright side, not many teams boast offensive coordinators who are better athletes than the majority of the team. So they’ve got that.

Waterloo Warriors — 2.9 — Awkwardly lingering

• Waterloo looks to challenge this year with a good core of returning players plus a talented class of incoming recruits. They’ll have strong contributions from…
• What’s that? They arrested who? And the school did what? For the entire season? Oh… This is awkward….

Ever taken the five-hour Via Rail trip from Toronto to Montreal? It’s not exactly an invigorating experience.

Some pass the time testing the arm rest’s structural integrity. Some plot revenge on

the seat-reclining oaf ahead of them. Some just sleep.

Toronto Argonauts offensive lineman Rob Murphy gets all xenophobic on the internet.

The story goes like this. On the Argonaut’s train ride to Montreal last week for the team’s inevitable drubbing — it was only 41-10 this time — at the hands of the league-best Alouettes, Murphy chose to bide his time on twitter, freely sharing his opinions of our country’s storied francophone heritage. He’s since deleted the tweets, but once upon a time they read like this:

“At train station… Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way… little known fact.”

Followed shortly thereafter by…

“Ok… the novelty of riding on a train thru Ontario and “Frenchland” has worn out… get me off this damn thing!!!!”

After the ensuing backlash, Murphy — who has since made his twitter account private, meaning only those who he approves can follow him — defended himself on the social network, saying he was just trying to be funny.

“Obviously my recent tweets have gotten blown out of proportion. […] I’m sorry if I offended anyone by my recent comments. I was JOKING around.”

Both the Argos and the CFL don’t seem to share Murphy’s, um, unique sense of humour. They both fined the 33-year-old under the league’s social media policy, making Murphy the first player to be punished under the act.

Were Murphy’s comments, say, offensive? Sure. Misguided? Of course. But they weren’t unlike anything else that’s freely available on Twitter and, in a larger sense, the internet. The web is ungoverned and — in most areas of the world — uncensored which means it has the dubious ability to turn into a global dumping ground for all the world’s sexism, racism, homophobia and good ol’ general hate. It’s not a particularly good thing, but it is what it is. The positives of the internet far outweigh the negatives.

The problem with Murphy’s case is that he’s a professional athlete. He’s not just representing himself — which would make it okay for him to be as offensive and disparaging as he pleases. He’s representing the Toronto Argonauts, the Canadian Football League and Canadian football itself. You just can’t say whatever you want.

That’s why the league instituted its social media policy last season as more and more of its athletes began experimenting with twitter. Any comments players make on twitter are considered public and subject to discipline. The league also took the step of banning players’ twitter usage from 20 minutes before a game until 20 minutes after the game.

What the CFL would like to protect here is the romantic idea that the locker room at half time looks like Any Given Sunday.

It’s a nice image. Players huddle around each other, nervously clenching water bottles with nary a smile in the room — focusing purely on the game and what to do in the second half.

The CFL certainly doesn’t want fans to think that when players enter the locker room the first thing they pick up is their Blackberry — not their playbook.

But it’s clear that minds may be wandering in game. Saskatchewan’s Tad Kornegay tweeted during halftime of the 2009 Grey Cup and several athletes from other sports (Charlie Villanueva and Shaquille O’Neal to name a couple) have taken to their smart phones during down time to keep themselves — and, of course, all of us — entertained.

And what we have right there is the fine line that professional leagues like the CFL must tread. The positives that come from having their athletes participate in the world of social media are too large to ignore. Allowing players to interact with fans and show their personalities outside of post-game clichés is an exceptionally good thing — especially now that everyone and their arrogant cat have Twitter.

But it’s increasingly hard for leagues to control their athletes’ public image when they are free to roam within social media. And any league executive will tell you that in professional sports, public perception is absolutely paramount.

Figuring out how to walk that line makes the art of what and when to tweet still a bit tricky for the CFL and its athletes. The good news is that several current stars (Avon Cobourne, Arland Bruce, Byron Parker) and even a couple former ones (Damon Allen, Wally Buono) have figured it out.

As we carry on in the social media era there will surely be more public missteps — rule number one of professional sports is that athletes will do silly things. But the CFL knows twitter is a good thing for their league and don’t be surprised if they start encouraging more of their athletes to open accounts.

Let’s just say that players shouldn’t skip the ‘right and wrong times to express xenophobia’ session during media training.

E-mail Arden at arden@westerngazette.ca . You can also follow him on Twitter at @ArdenAtGazette

The future of the Canadian Football League looks bright.

In a game that showcased the very best Canadian Interuniversity Sport football has to offer, special teams prevailed as the East team came out on top 12-9, earning its second victory in the eight year history of the East-West Bowl.

Weather was a major factor, as the teams were forced to play through heavy rain, wind upwards of 50 kilometres per hour and even brief spurts of snow, making it tough for either side to muster any offence.

In a game that was filled with errors, including four fumbles and two interceptions, special teams was the difference, with Laval kicker Christopher Milo putting 10 points on the board for the East.

“The game was definitely a special team’s battle,” East and Queen’s Gaels head coach Pat Sheahan said. “Better weather would’ve been great, but the whole week has been a great experience for everyone involved.”

University of Regina quarterback Marc Mueller kept the West team in the game, throwing 16-of-34 for 227 yards and the game’s only touchdown in his two quarters of action.

“The whole week has been a great experience,” Mueller said. “It’s a chance you have to relish and take full advantage playing against the best players the [CIS] has to offer.”

Nick Cicchini, an offensive lineman from the University of Windsor, echoed Mueller’s thoughts.

“Going up against the best players in the country— you get to see how you stack up against them. You get to see what it takes, and having so many coaches here you learn a lot from their experience and knowledge,” he said.

The game is also crucial for the CFL scouts to see the potential of the CIS athletes.

“The game’s a great way to look at talent,” Tim Fleiszer, representative of the Gil Scott Sports Agency, said. “You can only look at so much game tape. Everything is pretty vanilla on both sides of the ball, so it’s a great way to see how guys react on their own skill. It’s also the only game where you have the best players of the CIS playing, so it’s important for everyone involved.”

If there’s one person who knows what it takes to make it to the CFL, it’s Fleiszer. The former first overall pick in the 1998 CFL draft went on to win four Grey Cups in his nine-year career.

The players are also aware of the importance of this game. With 24 players from last year’s game being selected in the 2010 CFL draft, any player with hopes of being drafted can improve their draft stock with a good showing during the week.

“Every time the players get on the field and work hard they improve their chances of being noticed and moving on to the next level,” West and University of Calgary head coach Blake Nill said.

“The scouting adds a little pressure, but it’s great,” Mustang defensive back Craig Butler said. “It adds a level of seriousness to [the game] and the testing during the week teaches you what to improve on.”

Western was well represented with five players on the West roster, including Mustangs linebacker John Surla who led the defence with 9.5 tackles and a sack. Butler contributed 4.5 tackles in a strong defensive effort.

“A different outcome would’ve been great, but the whole week has been a great experience on and off the field,” Butler said. “You talk with guys throughout the country, get different viewpoints on your game, and see what you need to improve on to help your team and move on to the next level.”

Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall had previously stated a desire to bring the game back to TD Waterhouse Stadium and everyone involved was quick to praise the first class manner in which the entire event was run.

“The game certainly helps player development and they all learn from one another,” Sheahan said. “It’s great for the CFL, university programs and the players.”

Linebacker Conor Elliott was drafted 44th overall by the Toronto Argonauts, while defensive lineman Christopher Greaves followed directly after, selected 45th overall by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

It was the third year in a row the Mustangs have had two players selected in the CFL’s entry draft. Offensive lineman Josh Buttrill was eligible to be drafted, but was not chose

Conor Elliott

n on Sunday. He will now have an opportunity to sign a free agent deal with any of the CFL’s eight teams.

Elliott joins an Argonauts franchise that has undergone a drastic winter rebuild, revamping both their offence and defence through trades, free agent signings and Sunday’s draft where they selected nine players — tying them with the BC Lions for the most picks in the draft.

“It’s unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable,” Elliot said after being drafted on Sunday. “I’m excited and I’m nervous. I don’t really know what to expect. I just want to go in there with my head up and run with it.”

Elliott was second on the Mustangs in the 2009 regular season with 30.5 tackles, adding three interceptions and two forced fumbles as well. His strong play continued into the playoffs,where he recorded 14 tackles and an interception in 3 games.

Elliott was also cultivated by the Argonauts for his special teams play. He was the only long snapper invited to the CFL’s Evaluation Camp in Toronto in March where he was watched closely by Argonauts special teams coordinator Mike O’Shea.

“I feel like that was a big part of the Argos drafting me,” Elliott said. “[The Argos] said I looked good and that they really needed someone who could come in and step up on special teams.”

Much like his teammate Elliott, Greaves is joining a rebuilding franchise in Winnipeg. After finishing 7-11 last season and out of the playoffs for the first time since 2005, the Blue Bombers are looking to rebound this season with a new coach in Paul LaPolice and four Canadian university players who they selected in Sunday’s draft.

Greaves played on the defensive line for the Mustangs, but many have speculated that the six-foot-five, 290-pounder has the size and athleticism to make the switch to the offensive line. To his credit, Greaves is not picky about where he plays.

“I don’t really care ­— as long as I play,” Greaves said bluntly of playing on either side of the ball. “I think I can play defensive tackle fairly well or switch to the offensive line and play well there too. I’m pretty athletic for my size, so I can see myself playing on either line.”

Christopher Greaves

Greaves racked up 30.5 tackles and 2.5 sacks in eight regular season and three playoff games for the Mustangs in 2009. He was relied on to play almost every defensive snap fo

r Western late in the 2009 season, after two of the Mustangs regular defensive linemen went down with season ending injuries.

After four years at Western building towards Sunday’s draft, Greaves is ready to move on to the next level in his career.

“Getting drafted was really relieving — it’s a big weight off my chest,” Greaves said. “I’m really excited to get to training camp. I want to see the competition and what CFL offensive linemen are like.”

Both players said spending their university career’s under Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall — who coached the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger Cats from 2004-2006 — helped prepare them for the step up to the CFL.

“He’s really in your face. He makes you a tougher player,” Greaves said of Marshall. “You’ve got to make sure you bring it every time — he doesn’t accept anything less than that. He’s a good motivator as well. He makes you really want to get better.”

Both Greaves and Elliott will report to their respective training camps in late May or early June. Greaves has one year of athletic eligibility left at Western, while Elliott has three.  If either player does not make their team out of training camp, the team could retain their rights and return them to the Mustangs for the 2010 season.

10. Mustangs keep playoff hopes alive

It was a tough season for the Mustangs women’s hockey team who lost ten games by just a goal on their way to finishing one point out of the playoffs. Head coach Paul Cook stepped down at the end of the season after accumulating a 53-99-21 record over his seven years at the helm. We were criticized for our coverage of the women’s hockey team here but I stand by our reporting. We cover the Mustangs — we are not their cheerleaders. It would be detrimental to our journalistic integrity if we wrote off poor play because the team ‘tried really hard’ or blamed officiating and bad bounces for losses. Some media outlets in this city and on this campus make a habit of that kind of unprofessional boosterism. Not the Gazette. Read the article.

9. Argos could be in play for Canadian QB

I wrote this blog ahead of the CFL’s annual evaluation camp in Toronto where several Canadian Interuniversity Sport athletes auditioned for jobs in the CFL. I felt that one of the three quarterbacks from the CIS had a pretty good shot at earning a contract with the Toronto Argonauts and, as it turned out, I was right — Danny Brannagan signed with the Boatmen the following Monday. Of course, Mustangs quarterback Michael Faulds was invited to the camp but had to sit out because he’s still recovering from a torn ACL which he suffered last season and played on throughout the playoffs. Whether a healthy Faulds would have earned a CFL contract at the evaluation camp remains — much like his future as a football player — up in the air. Read the article.

8. Men’s hockey off to semis

My fellow sports editor Daniel Da Silva wrote this recap of the Mustangs men’s hockey team’s opening round playoff series against the unnecessarily lengthily named University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks. UOIT was a thorn in the Mustangs side all season long. They snapped Western’s 16-game winning streak in January, forced a shootout in the second-last game of the season and beat the Mustangs 2-1 at Thompson Arena in the opening game of the 2010 playoffs. The Mustangs got by UOIT in the first round of the playoffs but would eventually fall shy of their bid to return to the National Championships. Read the article.

7. Sixteen Things

This is the second of four of my blog posts to appear on this list which certainly bodes well for the Gazette’s increased web presence in 2010. This one dealt with the NHL’s participation — or lack thereof — at the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the Toronto Raptors’ reliance on power forward Chris Bosh and the Toronto Blue Jays prospects for the coming season. If you ask me, it’s not my best work. Read the article.

6. Mustangs bury Guelph

This game story was written after a Mustangs women’s basketball mid-season game and for the life of me I cannot figure out why it is on the top ten list. I was lucky enough to cover the team several times this year and was always impressed with the commitment and hard work the girls showed on and off the court. Head coach Stephan Barrie is one of the most dedicated, caring coaches at this school and if you ever question the girls’ work ethic, just stroll down to their locker room post-game where you can find them running laps in the hall before they talk to the media or celebrate their victory. Read the article.

5. UFC spurs fresh interest in jiu-jitsu

One of our goals coming into the year was to cover the emergence of mixed martial arts on campus at Western, so you can imagine our excitement when Elton Hobson — a talented writer and MMA junkie — walked into our office this year looking to volunteer. Hobson wrote a three-part series on MMA in London, examining its connections to collegiate wrestling, the Western Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club and…

4. Adrenaline powers London MMA boom

…Adrenaline MMA, one of London’s premier MMA training grounds and the home of six-time UFC pay-per-view veteran Sam Stout who has helped put London, ON on the MMA map. We sent Hobson to Adrenaline where Rowan Cunningham, who holds a 6-3 MMA record, showed our brave reporter the ropes, literally tying Hobson into knots. See the story for the photographic evidence and be sure to read the first and second installments of the series, as well. Part one. Part two. Part three.

3. Brannagan will have steep hill to climb

The Zwellin’ it like it is blog accounts for the bronze and silver positions on this list, starting with this blog that I wrote after Queen’s QB Danny Brannagan signed with the Toronto Argonauts. Brannagan’s signing was great news for the CIS and Canadian quarterbacks in general, seeing as it’s been 14 years since a Canadian started a CFL game under centre. But it will certainly be tough for Brannagan to crack the Argos roster out of training camp against Gibran Hamdan and Cleo Lemon — both former NFL QBs. Not to mention Dalton Bell who played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders last season. Read the article.

2. Fourteen Things

“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” I reckon Mark Twain and I would have gotten along just fine. Despite coming in at a healthy 1,664 words — a word count that would be considered blasphemy to most bloggers — this was the second most read sports piece of 2010. This one came during a particularly busy period in professional sports, with NHL teams wheeling and dealing, head shots coming to a front at all levels of hockey, the Blue Jays making a free agent splash and the tragic death of Brendan Burke, son to father Bryan who is the Toronto Maple Leafs President and G.M. I also have to give a hat tip to Gazette alumnus Elliotte Friedman whose blog inspired me to break up my own with numbers to make it more palatable for those with short attention… um, what was I talking about? Read the article.

1. Mustangs have high hopes for CFL

Rounding out the top ten is my story about three Mustangs football players — Josh Buttrill, Conor Elliott and Chris Greaves — who took part in the CFL’s annual evaluation camp in Toronto ahead of the CFL draft. The popularity of this story was due in big part to Twitter where the CFL — hat tip to Jaime Stein — and its fans picked up on it. It was an exciting year for the Gazette on Twitter and this story demonstrated how we can use the tool to expose our work to a readership well beyond Western’s campus. The fantastic, honest quotes I got from the guys didn’t hurt either. Read the article.

Great for me because I called that the Argos would sign a Canadian QB here.

But somewhat more importantly, it’s great for the growth of the game in Canada and the emergence of Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition as a true proving ground for future pros. Nine of the top 15 CFL prospects as ranked by the CFL’s Amateur Scouting Bureau ply their trade in the CIS. That includes four from the OUA.

A host of other CIS players also made names for themselves at the CFL’s evaluation camp this weekend, including Bishop’s wide receivers Steven Turner and Sean Gore, Laurier running back Mike Montoya and Laurier defensive lineman Chima Ihekwoaba.

The Western Mustangs also had three players at the camp, offensive lineman Josh Buttrill, defensive lineman Chris Greaves and linebacker Conor Elliott. You can read my article with comments from the trio here.

Brannagan’s signing is by far the biggest news to come out of the evaluation camp this past weekend.

The Burlington native was very impressive, bench pressing more than some of the linemen and running a faster 40-yard dash than some of the running backs. He’s clearly stepped up his conditioning since the Vanier Cup and several onlookers thought he was throwing the hardest passes at the camp.

Add that to Brannagan’s proven ability to play well in high pressure situations — this year’s Yates Cup, Mitchell Bowl and Vanier Cup are excellent resume points — and you have a nice looking quarterback. It’s no surprise the Argos wanted to lock him up as soon as possible, not even waiting 24 hours after the evaluation camp wrapped to sign him.

Brace yourselves for a wave of human interest stories heavy on Canadian pride coming from our nation’s news outlets during training camp. Our media loves nothing more than a feel good story about a Canadian kid making it in the big leagues against all odds.

But even Greaves was blown away this weekend when he saw Washington State offensive lineman Joe Eppele at the Canadian Football League’s annual evaluation camp in Toronto.

“That guy is a monster — an absolute monster,” Greaves said of the six foot eight, 306-pounder. “The guy is 300 lbs and he has abs. I didn’t even know that was possible.”

Greaves was one of three Mustangs who were measured up against Eppele and the nation’s other highest ranked football players at the CFL’s annual combine, spanning two days of drills, interviews and fitness tests before representatives from the CFL’s eight teams.

Joining Greaves were Mustangs linebacker Conor Elliott and offensive lineman Josh Buttrill, who will hope to hear their names called on CFL draft day May 2.

“It was a pretty stacked camp in terms of talent,” Greaves said. “It was good to get a gauge of what they expect from you and what you have to bring to the table. It gives you a good idea of where you need to be.”

One of the toughest events of the weekend is the team interviews, where the players’ psyches are put to the test. Each team can have an individual session with any player they want and no discussion topic is off limits.

“I heard about one guy who was told by the head coach before the interview even began that he was undersized, so you have to be ready for anything,” Buttrill said. “You have to roll with the punches. You know they’re going to try to throw you off guard and try to get you to stumble so you just have to stay loose and comfortable.”

Elliott spoke to the Edmonton Eskimos, Hamilton Tiger Cats and Montreal Alouettes. Greaves had interviews with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and BC Lions, while Buttrill had sit-downs with the Lions and the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

“It was intense. Basically you walk into a room — there’s a circle of six or seven chairs for the scouts and your chair opposite to them. They stick this video camera right in your face and these guys just sit there and drill you with question after question after question,” Elliott said.

“They were asking questions about anything you can think of,” Greaves added. “After a few questions you get past that awkward nervous stage and you just get into it.”

Elliott also received considerable attention for his role on special teams where he serves as a long snapper.
Guelph kicker Rob Maver — who is the seventh ranked prospect by the CFL’s Amateur Scouting Bureau — was in London last week to help Elliott work on his long snapping and prepare for the evaluation camp. For Elliott, working with Maver was invaluable.

“We worked a lot together. It helped me feel really comfortable with him standing behind me for the e-camp snaps,” Elliott said. “I think [training with Maver] worked out in my favour. I ended up doing really well.”

Elliott was the only long snapper at the camp, which gave him the dubious pleasure of going through on-field drills by himself Sunday morning in front of about 60-70 scouts.

“It was a little crazy with so many scouts looking at you. It was kind of nerve wracking,” Elliott said. “But once you get that aspect out of your head you calm down and just go with the flow.”

After Saturday’s highly scrutinized fitness testing, the live drills on Sunday at the University of Toronto’s Varsity Centre gave the players a chance to show what they can do on the field. Although the players were not wearing full padding, no one was letting up in order to impress the scouts from the CFL’s eight teams.

“We only had half pads but everyone was still going pedal to the metal because you have every single scout looking at you,” Elliott said. “You don’t even have time to think about what you just did. Everyone’s moving so fast, you’re hopping back in right after your last rep.”

Elliott went through the paces with the other linebackers at the camp in one-on-one pursuit drills with the running backs and coverage drills with the wide receivers. That meant going up against some of the country’s most highly touted offensive threats like Bishop’s wide receiver Steven Turner and Laurier running back Mike Montoya.

Greaves and Buttrill took part in live pass rushes against some top linemen from both Canada and the U.S., including Washington St.’s Eppele who is ranked 11th on the CFL Amateur Scouting Bureau’s list of top prospects.

“The competition level was pretty high, there [were] a lot of talented guys there,” Greaves said. “I think I did pretty well compared to the rest of the them. I feel like I was one of the best defensive linemen there in terms of pass rushing and drills.”

“It was good to learn how I compared to the other players at my position in the country,” Buttrill added. “Going against a new set of guys was a little different. It’s fun to try to figure them out but it’s hard to win when you’re going against those top guys.”

The only thing left to do for the Mustangs trio is to wait. CFL teams aren’t allowed to communicate with the possible draftees in any way between the evaluation camp and draft day, in order to avoid tampering and to ensure a level playing field.

“Hopefully on draft day I’ll hear my name called,” Elliott said. “It’s going to be a long month and a half, that’s for sure.”

It’s really, really hard to be a Toronto Argonauts fan right now.

The team, still reeling from their latest campaign under an unpopular import coach, boasts an awful 7-29 record over the past two seasons and was recently sold to BC Lions owner David Baley because, well, no one else would take them.

Talk about a team you can get behind.

To make matters worse, up until three days ago there was not a single person listed as a quarterback with the Toronto Argonauts. Not one.

The Argos have been very quiet about their plans at the, um, pivotal position after releasing incumbents Cody Pickett and Kerry Joseph last month.

They settled some of the mystery earlier this week when they traded for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Dalton Bell and signed former Buffalo Bills pivot Gibran Hamdan. But neither of those two can be considered a lock as the Argo’s number one starter and there still remains one quarterback spot on the Argonaut’s roster. That could leave the door open for one of the highly talented class of quarterbacks coming out of Canadian Interuniversity Sport competition this year.

Queen’s Danny Brannagan, Guelph’s Justin Dunk, Western’s Michael Faulds and Calgary’s Erik Glavic all had stellar campaigns in 2009 and have all garnered some serious interest from Canadian Football League teams.

Toronto has the first pick in the CFL’s entry draft on May 2 and have the most picks overall with 10. Don’t expect the Argos to take a quarterback with their first overall pick — Concordia LB Cory Greenwood or Nevada OL John Bender are the most likely, it says here — but there is a good chance they could be in the market for a Canadian quarterback in one of the later rounds.

Interestingly, this year the CFL made it clear that any Canadian quarterbacks invited to training camp would not count against a team’s training camp roster, which is capped at 75.This means teams can invite as many quarterbacks to camp as they please, as long as they’re Canadian. The league hopes this will level the playing field for Canadian quarterbacks and help them crack a team’s roster by simply having the chance to show their stuff at training camp.

The first test the Canadian quarterbacks will have to pass comes this weekend at the CFL’s annual evaluation camp in Toronto, where they will run through a series of drills and interviews with the CFL’s eight teams.

Unfortunately for Mustangs fans, Faulds — who set a CIS record for passing with 3,033 yards in 2009 — won’t be taking part in the weekend’s festivities. He’s still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered at the end of the Mustangs season and played on throughout the playoffs.

Nevertheless, three other standout CIS quarterbacks will be showing their stuff this weekend:

Danny Brannagan

Brannagan had a phenomenal final season for the Queen’s Gaels, leading the team to its first Yates Cup in more than 30 years and its first Vanier Cup since 1992. Brannagan picked up MVP honours in both those games, although his 515 yard, five touchdown performance against the Mustangs in the Yates Cup was one of the greatest feats by a CIS quarterback in recent memory.

Brannagan is undersized — listed at a generous 6-0 on the Gaels website — which may scare off some teams. However, Brannagan proved time and again with Queen’s that he has no problem operating if he’s given a solid offensive line in front of him. Brannagan’s stellar performances in big games make him an attractive option as well.

Erik Glavic

The University of Calgary’s Glavic is arguably the most talented of the three CIS pivots being looked at this weekend and has the most impressive resume, boasting two Hec Crighton trophies as the top player in the CIS. He threw for 2,186 yards last season and came within two points of winning the first Vanier Cup for Calgary in 15 years. He’ll be the most likely candidate to hear his name called early on draft day.

Glavic doesn’t have the size issue Brannagan does — he’s only 6-foot-6 — and showed he can run the ball well last season, picking up 508 yards on the ground. Glavic has another year of CIS eligibility left and is expected to return to an extraordinarily strong 2010 Calgary team that will bring back every single starter on their offence which scored just under 40 points a game in 2009.

Justin Dunk

Guelph’s Dunk has the steepest hill to climb when it comes to impressing the CFL scouts. He was serviceable for the Gryphons this year, putting up decent numbers— 1,897 yards, 13 TD, 7 INT — but his attitude and temper have been repeatedly questioned over the course of his career. His on field antics this season — remember “fuck western” — didn’t do him any favours.

One of Dunk’s strongest assets is his legs — he piled up 423 rushing yards in 7 games this year and is always a threat to scramble. In fact, Dunk’s athleticism means he can audition as a wide receiver and a quarterback. Dunk has already worked out as a receiver for the BC Lions — hat tip to The Ontarian’s Mike Treadgold for that one — and certainly several teams will be interested in his multi-position versatility.

It’s not like he was being a very good goon, either. Laraque only fought 13 times in that span or about once every five games. In the NHL, those who cannot score fight. And those who cannot fight or score should look for a new line of work.

2. Chris Bosh is the real deal. He showed everyone his aggressive off-season work out regimen is paying off by following up a 21-point, 10 rebound, 42 minute effort against Cleveland in which he was battling with Shaq the entire night with another 42 minutes of solid play against Milwaukee the next night, where he put up a career high 42 points.

It’s scary how much better the 25-year-old gets with every new season. If MLSE is serious about raising a basketball banner that doesn’t say division champion they will do everything in their power to ensure Bosh stays in Toronto past this season. That includes giving him the maximum salary and spending way into the luxury tax to surround him with quality, championship-driven players.

3. Third is the spot where the Maple Leafs will most likely pick in the 2010 NHL entry draft, assuming they stay in 28th place in the standings, which is where they sit today. Oh, wait. Traded that first round pick away. Well, there’s always next year. Oh, wait. Traded that one too.

Aside from proving my preseason prediction that they would fail miserably to be correct, the Leafs this year continue to demonstrate new ways to lose on a nightly basis — like in overtime to the lowly Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

4. Unlike the aforementioned Laraque, Michael Peca was worth every penny he was paid over his 13-year NHL career which unfortunately came to an end this past week when Peca announced his retirement after he couldn’t find an NHL suitor. Peca was one of the best two-way players in the NHL, providing a scoring threat in the offensive zone while playing shutdown defence in his own end.

His contributions to the penalty kill were also greatly underappreciated, although 30 NHL teams felt his shorthanded services weren’t needed this season, including the Leafs whose 69.7% penalty kill sits dead last in the NHL by a mile. How Rickard Wallin and Colton Orr can find employment in the NHL while Mike Peca can not is a fact that will forever puzzle me.

5. Fifth is the number where the Ottawa Senators currently sit in the NHL Eastern Conference standings — also about five spots higher than anyone expected them to place. Albeit quietly, the Sens are piecing together a nice run in the new year, having won their last six games in a row. The team is only three points behind defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh who the Senators will play next Thursday in a game that may be a bit more intriguing than it was before the season began.

6. Why does everyone hate the Jets? A hard-nosed team who were considered by most to be nothing more than also-rans in the AFC East this year makes the conference championships on the heels of stellar defence, a solid ground game and a 23-year-old QB who has risen to the occasion in just his first year in the league. What’s not to like? Do I think they will beat the Colts on Sunday? No. But, will I be cheering for them to upset Peyton and his troops? No doubt.

7. We can all breathe a sigh of relief now that the rumours about Carlos Delgado signing with the Blue Jays have proven false. Aside from the nice sentimental value of having the greatest Jays first baseman since John Olerud return to the nest, Delgado would have provided absolutely nothing to this team.

His inclusion at first base or DH would take valuable playing time away from the Jays young guns: Travis Snider, Randy Ruiz, Adam Lind and Brett Wallace. Not to mention the age-advanced Delgado will probably hit around the same clip as Jays current first baseman Lyle Overbay, while providing an incredible downgrade in terms of defence.

The Jays have admitted they won’t be contending this year, so taking a flyer on a past-his-prime veteran is definitely a bad move. Let the kids develop and we can all dream of how good this team can be in 2012. Just like how in 2008 we all dreamed of how good the team would be in 2010. Wait a second…