Final Post

We brought some closure to our season last week when gathered for a Christmas party. The Dunsmore Cup is now far enough behind us, to the point where we can actually discuss the game without too many emotions surfacing. Generally, the consensus seemed to be that we had a really good season, and a really great team. Before seeing how the rest of the CIS play-offs unfolded, I think that only a few of us realized how well we stacked up against the competition from the rest of the country. 

Now that football's been removed from my schedule for about a month, I've had some opportunities to reflect on the season that was. The most significant realization that I've made is that coming back to play in my fifth and final year at Concordia was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Playing alongside teammates whom I've forged great relationships with, and playing for coaches who've contributed a great deal to my development as a person and a player was a privilege. Working towards a collective goal is something that unites a group of people, and experiencing the good times and bad times together will strengthen relationships that will persevere for many years to come. I do feel that I'm leaving Concordia without having accomplished all that I wanted, namely, winning a Vanier Cup. Next year's team should be strong once again though, and if there's one thing that I'm confident in, it's that Concordia will always field competitive teams. I'm already looking forward to watching my teammates compete next fall, and I will carry many great memories of being a Stinger with me for the rest of my life.

Thank you to those who expressed their complements in regards to my blog; I hope I was able to give some interesting insights into the 'goings-on' that the team experienced from a perspective that you wouldn't otherwise have been able to know. 

 

Losing the Dunsmore Cup will be a tough memory to recall, I'm sure for a long time to come. After seeing the results of the Uteck Bowl this past weekend though, the pain of that loss has been compounded by the realization that had we managed to pull out a win in Laval, our chances of advancing to the Vanier Cup would have been great.

Without taking anything away from Calgary, as they emerged as the champions from another tough conference, it's still hard to accept that they would have been nearly as tough an opponent as Laval was after they lost by a margin of 49 points on Saturday. Now I know just as well as anyone how tough it is to play in Peps Stadium, especially how tough it is to respond once Laval gets rolling, and the crowd is pumped, and Calgary was not prepared to play in that environment, and wasn't able to adjust to the difficult circumstances that they faced early on in the game.

We love our fans, and all those that come out to support us; Calgary wouldn't have been facing the same disadvantages though, had they been playing on our field. Still, after seeing the effort that they put forth, I think our team would have been well prepared to succeed against them. I realize that certain teams match up differently against each other and it is possible that Calgary is much better suited to play our team than they are to play Laval. Maybe it's arrogance then that makes me think this way, and the best team doesn't win on every occasion, but I really believe that we would have beaten Calgary. So the same scenario has repeated itself three years in a row now, and I would be lying if I said it wasn't frustrating; we have always felt that advancing past the Dunsmore Cup is the greatest obstacle to overcome in our quest to advance to a Vanier Cup final, and it seems true again this year. Good luck to Laval and Western this coming Saturday, I will watch and enjoy the game regardless of which team wins. The only thing that will upset me will be if Western gets trounced as easily as Calgary was. This would only add to the disappointment of knowing that 2008 could have been Concordia's year-- it was there for the taking. 

Dunsmore Cup

With under 2 minutes left in the game, I couldn't help but feel that the game was ours.  We had battled back in the fourth quarter from being down 20-3, and closed the score to 20-17. We had all of the momentum; while I was on the sideline watching our offense make plays, I could sense the crowd getting nervous. Though it wasn't the biggest Laval crowd we've played in front of, it definitely seemed like the loudest, as they were doing their best to force us to take offsides and delay-of-game penalties, trying desperately to give an advantage to Laval's defense.

After Mike Donnelly caught a short pass and ran for another 40 yards down to the Laval 15 yard line, I remember thinking to myself that we had to go for the touchdown. Yes, we were in field goal range, and could have played to go to overtime, but we had them on the ropes, and I felt like we needed to go for the knockout punch. We had to capitalize on our opportunity while we had the chance, and that's exactly what our coaches decided to do. Unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way we had hoped, and Laval's defense came up with a big turn-over in the endzone. The crowd roared; a demoralizing sound that I've heard many times before, except this time, it was as much an expression of relief as it was exuberance.  

This is the closest I've ever come to winning the Dunsmore Cup. It's unfortunate, because as a team we knew we had an opportunity to do something special, and it was not for lack of effort that we came up short. Afterwards, some of my teammates apologized for not getting myself and the other fifth-year guys to the Vanier Cup. I have to say that no one person could be held accountable for the way things turned out, and that we lost as a team. Instead of dwelling on the loss, I would prefer to thank my teammates and coaches for contributing to one of greatest experiences of my life: representing the University as a Concordia Stinger. 

After a convincing win over Sherbrooke this past weekend, we are all eagerly anticipating our next opportunity to compete for the Dunsmore Cup. This will be our third straight Quebec-final appearance, and those of us on the team that have experienced the past 2 defeats are especially motivated to prevail this year. Though we've lost twice already to Laval this season, our team feels that we played well enough to win at Laval in week 4, and that losing the turnover battle was the factor that made the difference. This is encouraging though because it is a correctable factor, and it is an aspect that we will focus on throughout the week.

If I were to compare this year's edition of the Concordia Stingers to those of the past 2 years, our current team is the one that has faced the most adversity throughout the season. We underperformed in a few games this season, and had to win a couple of them on the last possession of the fourth quarter twice. We were upset by Bishops, and we struggled through the turmoil that such inconsistency brings. We've matured as a team throughout the season though, and I think that it has been evident in our last two wins. We are not a perfect team, but we are now constantly improving, and have been able to overcome the mistakes that had really set us back earlier in the season. Our entire team is excited and ready to take the next step, and prove that we are a Vanier Cup calibre competitor, and perhaps better prepared, mentally, to compete for the Dunsmore Cup.    

Race After Practice

Well we've managed to have a good week of practice despite the crappy weather. As I mentioned in the previous blog, our team was in good spirits at the beginning of the week, and it carried over into Monday night's practice when we all stayed on the field for an extra few minutes to settle the dispute as to who is the fastest player on our team. Corey Watson and Sanchez Deschamps were arguing that each could out-run the other, so naturally, they had to race. Some of the defensive guys felt like we needed a representative in the competition, so we nominated Devaughn Harper to step up. 

So the three of them set up on the goalline to run the 40 yard dash, and they all stripped down to their Reebok tights to try and reduce wind resistance (serious bragging rights were on the line).  The rest of the team was lined up on either side of the hashmark, and everyone was cheering for one of the guys; I don't know how many actual bets were made, but some of the guys were really getting into it. Then, once the runners were ready, we had to call them back twice due to false starts. We finally got an even start and Sanchez had a quick jump on Watson and Harper. The two traillers almost caught up once they got to full stride, but Sanchez pulled away in the last 10 yards, separating himself from Harper by about 2 yards. 

So I guess Sanchez is the fastest Stinger on our team. Perhaps the smartest though is Watson, as because just before we 'broke it down', someone yelled out that he had bet on Sanchez.  

It's been a busy week, and though I mentioned last week that I wasn't stressed about midterms, I did end up spending a lot of time writing a midterm essay. This week has gotten off to a great start though, as we were at the Concordia sports complex yesterday to watch film and take our team picture. The complex was the busiest I've ever seen it, as soccer, hockey, rugby and wrestling were all going on, and everyone was in a good mood after our win against Sherbrooke the day before. How we play on the weekends has a great effect on our team's frame of mind, and this week at practice should be a positive one. 

Beating Sherbrooke had a big impact on the final standings in the conference; they are our opponents again next week in round one of the play-offs, and since we both finished with a record of 5-3, our win against them gives us the tie-breaker and we will host the game next week. 

The elements were a huge factor on Saturday, and the heavy rain definitely altered the offensive play-calling. Still, the conditions were equal for both teams, and we feel like we outplayed them in all 3 phases of the game. We're not sure yet what the weather will be like this weekend, but looking ahead at the forecast, it looks like we'll be practicing in some pretty cold temperatures; so between the cold and the rain, we should be prepared to play in whatever Mother Nature throws at us. 

Mid-Term Anxiety

Experiencing it for the fifth year now, I can undoubtedly say that this time of the season is the most stressful and taxing for university football players.  This 'time' in mid-October is when most classes have their mid-term exams.  Thankfully, in my case, I've already graduated, and will be receiving the diploma that proves it next month.  Not to say that I won't make an effort in the classes I'm currently enrolled in- I'm just not as stressed out as I would have been in previous years.

For the rest of the team though, this mid-term anxiety is all going on while we're preparing for the final 2 weeks of the season, and we're expected to be putting an increasing number of hours into studying our opponents game films, and learning our game plans.  Football never gets neglected, but I can see the effects of the stress on the guys who are trying to balance this while studying for school. Guys can be heard in the locker room asking each other if they've started their essays yet, or if they're up to date on their readings; topics which normally wouldn't exist within the locker room walls during other times of the year.  

Although it is not always the case, most of us are in school to get our degree while playing football. Those that manage this feat will have to succeed in their mid-terms; and the football teams who peak at the right time and excel throughout the end of the season must not get overwhelmed by them.  It wouldn't be completely accurate to say that the best university football teams are made up of the best students, but they do have the ability to balance their academics and athletics efficiently, and get good results out of both. 

After the Break

After a couple of days off for Thanksgiving, we're back at practice tonight.  Many of our out-of-town players had gone home to their families following our 66-13 defeat of Mount Allison on Saturday.  I expect that everybody will be fresh and ready for the final two weeks of the regular season. We've got two big games ahead of us, and must win both to be able to assure second place, and a home play-off game. 

Bishops is our next opponent, and we won't overlook the fact that they are in desperate need of a win.  So far, this season has been full of upsets and surprises across the CIS.  Some teams with high expectations like Ottawa and Manitoba have struggled, while perennial basement-dwellers Toronto and Mount Allison each have two wins.  It's proof that the competition has been high throughout the whole season, and no team will win a game merely by showing up.

The W is All That Matters

The last 3 minutes of this Saturday's game versus Universite de Montreal seemed like the longest last 3 minutes I've ever experienced. After leading 10-2 at half-time and completely shutting down their offense, we allowed them to take the lead early in the second half, and they were seemingly in position to win the game. It became even more discouraging when, what I thought would be our last possession failed, and we had to punt the ball away. Montreal picked up a first down, and ran the clock out as much as they could, but were forced to punt the ball back to us with about a minute left. 2 penalties on the initial punt, an illegal substitution and a no-yards penalty, forced the referees to a lengthy conference to figure out the result of the play. At this point, I had pretty much abandoned hope, and was just waiting for the fourth quarter to expire. Montreal ended up having to punt again though, which would have pinned us deep in our own end had it not been for a personal foul that advanced the ball fifteen yards. Liam and the offense took the ball with less than a minute left and no time-outs. Time was running down when Liam connected with Mike Donnelly over the middle for a first down, leaving 1.8 seconds on the clock. With only 1 play left, Liam took the ball at midfield was forced from the pocket. After hurdling a Montreal defender who had forced him to the sidelines, Liam threw a pass that was much shorter than expected, to Sanchez Deschamps who was underneath most of the coverage. Deschamps turned upfield though, and cut across the flow against all of the Montreal defenders who had completely over-pursued. I had lost sight of the play at this point, standing behind some of my teammates on the sidelines, only to see Deschamps re-emerge into my vision with a clear path to the endzone in front of him. Never before had I experienced such an immediate change in emotion, from a feeling of pure disgust to a feeling of pure exhilaration. After scrambling to get our whole team off the field, we kicked the convert to win the game by a single point. I can't wait to see the play again on film, as I'm still in shock over how we were able to win that game.

O-LIne vs. D-Line Touch Football

On Monday night, we reconvened to watch film and run, as per our usual day-after-game routine. It is never an intense practice, as our bodies always need a day to recover from the game, and we usually just do a stretch-run. This week however, the O-Line had the audacity to challenge the D-Line to a game of touch football. Now, to put this into perspective for anyone who isn't close to our team, this is a big deal for our O-Line. They play touch football, it seems as often as possible, while the rest of the team is in special teams meetings. Though it doesn't exist in tangible form, they practically have a touch football playbook that they recall from memory.

Regardless, we as a D-Line were still confident in our ability to win, especially since some of our bigger guys sat out to nurse their aching bodies. This created match-up nightmares for the O-Line all over the field, as their bulk was no match for our speed. Still, the O-Line managed to post the first score of the game, on a go-route no less, on a beautifully thrown ball to Christian Matte, who reeled in an over-the-shoulder catch for the touchdown. Needless to say, this took us by surprise, and we stepped up our game from that point on. Despite questionable quarterbacking from JP Binette and Sasha Palatnikov, our D-Line managed to move the ball up the field with ease and put up points. Will Miller and myself proved to be legitimate deep threats, while Nate Agadzi was a menace on the defensive side of the ball. The O-Line made a late push to make it respectable, but the D-Line prevailed with a 5 scores to 3 victory. Will there be a rematch? With the egos on our team- most definitely.

Though last week's loss to Laval was embarrassing, this week's loss hurt even more. We know that any time we have to visit their stadium that we'll be playing in a hostile environment. Such was the case again yesterday, as their boisterous fans filled the Stade Peps. We weathered the storm though, and our offense was able to drive down and put 3 points up on the board early, despite all of the crowd noise. 

Playing well, in the second quarter, the game was 8-6 in Laval's favor, and something that always seems to happen occurred. Laval suddenly capitalized on 2 of our turnovers and increased their lead to 18-6 within the span of five minutes. This was something that coach McGrath warned us about: if we ever let up for a couple of minutes, they are a team that will make us pay, especially when they are feeding off of their fan's energy. Contrary to last week though, we were optimistic going into the locker room, as we had added another field goal, reducing the margin to nine. We knew that we were playing well, and that if we could limit our mistakes in the second half, the game was ours.

Points were hard to come by in the second half, as both teams traded field position back and forth. We were able to score twice more, unfortunately settling for field goals again. These points did put us within 1 score of taking the lead though, and we had the momentum. With the ball at midfield and 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, we were forced to punt, and trusted our defense to get the ball back. Laval's dagger though was a first down conversion on second and fifteen that brought the ball deep into our end. They kicked a field goal to go up by 2 scores, and effectively ended the game. 

Despite the result, I think this was our best-played game of the season so far, but once again, our miscues made the difference. We outplayed Laval, but we were unable to force them to turn the ball over; and just as we feared, they put up ten points on 2 of our successive turnovers. I do think that as a team, we can take a lot of positives out of this game, and I know that we are a better team than our 2-2 record indicates. We have another tough game coming up this weekend against Montreal, and I'm hoping we will be able to add another W in the 'win' column against them.

Another Loss to Laval

I'm still upset over our loss to Laval this weekend. We put forth a very disappointing effort, and it's a shame because we were right in the game up until there was 2 minutes left in the first half. Laval scored ten points in those 2 minutes though, taking advantage of some of our numerous mistakes. Suddenly we were heading into the locker room down 17-3, rather than 7-3; not only making it more difficult to come back, this also stole our composure at the half. Instead of being pumped up, excited, and ready to make adjustments, we were upset and unfocused. This of course resulted in more unnecessary penalties and mental errors in the second half. Laval is a very good team, but we made their job easy this week.

Shrine Bowl

On Wednesday I attended the Shrine Bowl Press Conference for the first time. In each of my previous Shrine Bowl experiences, the games never seemed to be all that different from any other regular season games, apart from meeting some of the kids on the field afterwards. It's much different to see them in a hospital setting though, and it gave me a better understanding of what the game's proceeds help to accomplish. 

At the hospital, we met this year's Shrine Bowl King and Queen, Jason and Katie, who will both attend the game;  as well as Shayor, Pamela, Brandon  and some of the hospital staff. Each one of the kids are battling through illnesses that no child would want to experience; but it is clear that the Shriner's provide the necessary care and facilities in an environment where the kids can feel comfortable throughout their stay. Play areas, nightly activities and daytime classes are among some of the activities available for the children who are able to participate.   

So as important as the game itself is to us as players and coaches, it's an honor to simultaneously be a part of the spectacle that is the foundation for this fundraiser. Our job as players couldn't be any easier either, as the numerous staff and volunteers that help to organize the event deserve all of the credit. As a team, we've only been preparing to put on a good show.

To add a few thoughts on the game, I'm hoping that our experience last Friday will turn out to have a positive impact on the rest of our season.  I'm a firm believer that every good team needs to be humbled every once in a while, to keep them sharp, focused and motivated. Usually teams lose when they are humbled though, so we were extremely fortunate to still manage a win, and stay on track during our short season. Our defense is especially eager to prove that we have what it takes to be an elite team, and we're excited to get this opportunity against a quality opponent like Laval. Playing them twice in a row also has huge implications for both teams, and will likely determine which team finishes ahead of the other at the end of the regular season. Needless to say, both teams will be up for this game.  

Close one at McGill

Our offense was on fire this past Friday night, and they bailed us out of many bad situations. Our offensive line in particular had a great game, by opening up huge holes in the running game and giving Liam all day to throw from the pocket. In all our offense racked up over 500 yards, 326 on the ground, and 233 thru the air.

With our offense lighting it up though, our  defense and special teams units weren't 'holding the rope'. Our first punt of the game was blocked and recovered by McGill for a touchdown, which definitely gave their squad a lift, and put us in the hole. We knew that they had an explosive offense, and the last thing we wanted to do was give them points in any other phase of the game. After McGill scored again on their next possession, the thought of an upset occurring must have run through the heads of players on both benches, and it seemed like our defense played with this mentality throughout most of the game. The only time when we actually resembled our normal defense was when we came out in the 3rd quarter, after we had re-taken the lead, and we were playing with swagger. Our DB's jumped routes and were putting some hits on the McGill receivers. This only lasted for half a quarter though, until McGill's quarterback found an open receiver down-field, and suddenly our defense were 'on our heels' again. 

After relinquishing the lead again, our offense got the ball back deep in our own end with only about a minute and a half to go. They executed perfectly, and Devon Mitchell Jr. capped the drive with his second touchdown of the game to put us ahead for good.

Thanks offense, we owe you big!

Bishops Game Re-cap

We came away with a victory this past Friday night, but still feel we have a lot of aspects of our game that still need to be improved. We made some mistakes on both sides of the ball, and committed a lot of penalties that either gave away field position, or took us out of scoring position. We even let Bishops take the lead on us after a special teams turn-over deep in our own end. We had stopped them on second down inside our ten yard-line, but committed an off-sides that gave them a second chance to punch it in, and go up 7-0.

That being said, we did accomplish many good things throughout the game. Newcomer Tony Testa had a great game returning punts, and also caught a touchdown reception. Our offense was consistently able to move the ball, and racked up 355 total yards. This was especially key when we needed to regain field-position, and more often than not, we were able to do so. Though not all of our drives ended in scores, we forced Bishops to start deep in their own end repeatedly throughout the game. Our kicker Rene Paredes, was also a key factor in this respect, making a few angled punts that went out-of-bounds inside their twenty yard line.

Defensively we gave up 24 first downs and a lot of yards to the Gaiters offense, but we also took the ball away from them four times. We even converted one turnover into a score when William Miller picked up a fumble and returned it all the way. Then Nic Arsenault-Hum absolutely blew-up a Bishops receiver in the seam, and set the 'big hit' bar pretty high for us, as we'll attempt to improve upon his effort throughout the season. 

This Friday night we'll look to put another 'W' in the win column, as we go to McGill to play the Redmen.

Complaining About Weather

Well I guess these hot and muggy days that we usually get in July are only showing up now; and they couldn't be any more unwelcome, as far as I'm concerned, especially during the football season. I usually don't even enjoy temperatures above 25 degrees unless I'm pool-side, or on vacation- let alone when I'm underneath my helmet and ten pounds of padding. It's tougher to breathe and easier to cramp up in the heat, and it drains your fluids and energy.

I know I'm complaining, but at least it will be the same conditions for both teams tonight when we play Bishops. And though I was cursing the weather this past Tuesday and Wednesday, we were able to get in two high-tempo practices during those hot days, which should be of help to us tonight. 

Since I typically complain about the heat pretty often, people always respond to me by saying that I'll be wishing for this weather by the time winter comes around- not true. And if you come out to see us play in a snowy November play-off game later this season, I guarantee that I'll be sleeve-less on the field!

Last Day of Camp

I had mixed feelings about the end of training camp yesterday, since it will be my last as a Concordia Stinger, and I have to look ahead to a season during which I will experience everything as a varsity athlete for the last time. We're relatively healthy, and I have to admit that of the 5 training camps I've survived, this year's was the least physically exhausting. Not to say we're ill-prepared though, as our practices were all high-tempo, and our focus was on execution. Our trip to Saskatchewan also helped to alleviate some of the rigor of of what would otherwise have been successive t0-a-days, and also provided us with a very good pre-season tune-up. 

We start game-planning for our home-opener against Bishop's as of tomorrow morning, and we're all very anxious to play this game. I know Bishop's will be hoping to avenge their defeat in last year's playoffs, and we'll be looking to set a tone for the season.

Game Re-Cap: Saskatchewan

Well we didn't get the result we were hoping for, but all in all we got a productive experience out of our trip to Saskatoon. The first game of the season is usually full of mental mistakes, and we made a lot of them. Throughout the first half of the game, we looked like a team who had less than a weeks-worth of practices under our belt; which of course was actually the case. We were down 14-3 at half-time, but came out in the second half and began to impose our tempo on the game. We achieved this with many of our younger guys rotating into the game, who proved that they deserve a spot on our roster. In the fourth quarter, Liam Mahoney threw a long touchdown pass to Dan Rodriguez, which pulled us to within a point of Saskatchewan, 14-13. We had the momentum in our favor, but turned the ball over in our own end later in the fourth, and they put us away with a major score a few plays later. 

So the final was 21-13 for Saskatchewan. We did want to win the game, but we learnt a lot about our team in the loss. We were able to evaluate our new guys, and how they respond to certain situations. Some players showed that they're willing to sacrifice themselves on special teams, and we addressed the situations that we were slow to react to pre-snap and during the play. And though our team wasn't as mentally sharp as they were, we can take many positives from our inter-squad practice from the previous day. Our O-line and D-line went one-on-one with their opposing lines, and the rest of our team worked a pass-shell drill against their team. In both drills we performed very well, and we proved to ourselves that we have the physical ability to play with and defeat anybody in the country. As the old saying goes though, "Football is 10% physical, and 90% mental," so even though we feel we are contenders to go very deep into the playoffs this season, we realize that we still have a lot of hard work to do before we get there. 

We stayed in the residence on campus throughout the trip, and had a lot of free time to hang out with each other. We took over a couple of T.V. lounges, and usually had either the Olympics or the NFL Network on. There's never a shortage of jokes on our team, and the guys stayed true to form throughout the weekend (somehow the most repetitive jokes seemed to get funnier the more we heard them). 

As I'm writing this blog though, we've already been home and back to training camp for 2 days- puttin' in that hard work I was talking about. It really makes me appreciate that free time we had, and it already seems like it happened a long time ago!

Taking-Off

The first week of training camp has been a very productive one. Our team testing results have proved that everyone was training hard throughout the off-season, as this year's edition of the Concordia Stingers is the strongest and fastest of any of the past five years. The rookies have shown that they're capable of stepping up to the next level, and it looks like many of them will be able to dress and contribute immediately.

Our first big test comes this Saturday, as we're of to Saskatoon to play an exhibition game against the Huskies. It's going to be a very competitive game, as I know that we're playing to win, and I'm sure they'll be doing the same. Our game plan will be simple though, and our focus on execution. All of the guys are excited to get this opportunity to travel, and it should be a good team-building experience. 

We return on Sunday, and I'll be sure to update the blog with all of the details from the trip.

A Stinger in Beijing

Canada has now reached the podium 7 times in the Beijing Summer Olympics, and it was our Women's Wrestling team who were responsible for 2 of those accomplishments. Tonya Verbeek won Bronze in the 55 kilogram class, and Carol Huynh from Hazelton B.C. won Canada's first ever gold medal in women's wrestling by defeating Japan's Chiharu Ichu in the 48 kilogram class. 

We are especially proud though, of former Concordia Stinger, Martine Dugrenier who finished 4th in the Women's 63 kilogram class, surrendering the bronze medal-winning point to the American Randi Miller in the final ten seconds of the match. Martine also wrestled the eventual Olympic champion, Kaori Icho of Japan in the semi-finals. Martine was in fact tied with both these opponents at the end of her matches; unfortunately, when tied in the 3rd round, the victory goes to the wrestler who scores the final point. This was Martine's first Olympic competition, and perhaps we will be able to see her compete again in 2012, in London. Congratulations Martine, an an amazing result!

Stingers football training camp

Training camp is only a few days away now, and I’m itching to get back on the field. Improving in the weight room is always satisfying, but the real pay-off comes when you put on the pads and are able to run faster and hit harder. Traditionally, training camp is a grueling couple of weeks full of meetings, lifting and two-a-days. It is the perfect format to insure that a football team is prepared for the upcoming season not only because of the amount of preparation time we squeeze into a short period, but also because our lives are simplified to the point where football is our only concern. At the end of the day, the only thing I look forward to is a big meal, and getting my body rested up for the next day.

This year’s camp will be much more exciting than any of the previous camps I’ve ever attended. Coach has scheduled us to play an exhibition game in Saskatoon against the Saskatchewan Huskies. We’ll also get the opportunity to have an inter-squad practice with them. Saskatchewan is a perennial contender in the CIS, and this will give us a great opportunity to tune-up for our regular season against a quality opponent. We’ll only be away from the 21rst to the 24th, and we’ll pack as much football into those 4 days as possible, before continuing with our training camp on the 25th. This trip should also alleviate some of the mental fatigue that might otherwise build up throughout camp. I’ve learned how to cope with this factor over the past 3 camps, but I can imagine how a trip like this will really benefit some of our younger players.

New feature on Stingers website

The 2008 CIS athletic season is fast approaching, and as a new feature on our Stingers website, I will have the privilege of commenting on any aspect of it. As a football player, you can expect to get a healthy dose of football related commentary, but will do my best to branch out and touch on the other sports in which we participate.

I’ll use this first entry to briefly introduce myself to those who are unfamiliar with me. This will be my fifth and final season playing for Concordia. Though I have already completed all of the requirements towards my B.F.A. in Film Animation. I couldn’t resist the temptation to exploit all five of my years of eligibility, in hopes of attaining a better team result than ever before. I’m excited at the skill and potential that we have this season, returning many key veterans from last year’s team.

Personally, I’m entering this campaign in the best condition I’ve ever been in. Though I was uncertain for a time whether I would be able to play this season, I was training hard throughout the winter months in hopes of getting an opportunity to try-out for a CFL team. This didn’t happen- going un-drafted turned into motivation though, and I continued my training regiment in hoping to make a greater individual contribution to the team than ever before. I have no excuses either; I’ve got a free membership to a gym that is connected to my apartment by an underground parking lot!

So check back for my updates, as I will be posting 2-3 times per week, and get insight into the Concordia Stingers from someone who will be living through the ups and downs. I’ll do my best to give readers a behind-the-scenes perspective on the events and issues we will encounter this upcoming season.

Welcome to Tom Kuchiran

The Concordia Stingers are pleased to announce Tom Kuchiran will take on the task of writing the program’s first blog. Tom is a fifth-year defensive end for the Stingers football team who has earned respect for both his tenacity and maturity on the field. A major in Film Animation, he has enjoyed a strong academic career as well. He was named the football team’s top academic athlete in 2007.

Tom will write about his experiences and opinions with the Stingers football program and share some insight on the activities and talents of other Concordia athletes. An extremely talented artist, he also hopes to post some of his work.

Check back regularly to get an insider’s view of life around the Concordia athletic complex.