BURNABY — Ethan Beselt had long since stopped counting the days since his last football game.All the unflappable Simon Fraser Red Leafs’ receiver knew was that it had been a long, long time.For the record, it was 1,037 days, which within the window of eligibility for an NCAA student-athlete is indeed nothing short of an […]
University Football
For Simon Fraser Red Leafs’ defensive back Gideone Kremler, finding his inner ‘safety’ comes after a pain-stamped journey to the top of Burnaby Mountain!
BURNABY — A framed photo sits on the dresser drawer of his room in the Burquitlam rental he shares with six other housemates, and for Simon Fraser sophomore safety Gideone Kremler, all it takes is a simple daily glance back at his 12-year-old self to understand — despite all of the pain and disappointment — […]
From offence to defence, UBC’s Ryan Baker now the ‘tackle maker’ … Thunderbirds’ linebacker records 13 tackles in opening win! No. 9 ‘Birds at No. 2 Sask Huskies on Friday!
VANCOUVER — Ryan Baker came to UBC four years ago with a football resume seemingly as vast as the geographic dimensions of the school’s sprawling Point Grey campus.Now, five seasons into a gridiron career punctuated by not only the pandemic, but by a switch from one side of the ball to the other, the prowess […]
UBC Football 2022: The ‘Canadianization’ of ‘Birds Texas-born quarterback Garrett Rooker takes flight! Reigning CW Rookie of the Year leads Blue-&-Gold into Saturday opener vs. visiting Alberta!
VANCOUVER — If you’re a fan of B.C. football, I am sure you’ll agree that the summer of 2022 has been blessed by a thick coating of something best described as quarterback karma… the likes of which we have never seen.Of course, you can start with the previously unthinkable: Canadians Nathan Rourke and Michael O’Connor […]
Despite mid-week re-start, Carson Graham’s Air Raid offence is on point, QB Mellish and Co. top Ballenas, head to B.C. Place to face No. 1 Langley!
NORTH VANCOUVER — The Carson Graham Eagles are flying high just when it matters most.When the B.C. School Sports ruling came down mid-week regarding the creation of two separate regional Subway Bowl championships, the Eagles went from preparing for the Langley Thunderbirds to preparing for Parksville’s Ballenas Whalers.Despite having to change everything mid-stream, the Eagles […]
UBC Football 2021: Gutted by playoff loss to Huskies, Birds’ coach Nill won’t skip steps that turns young team’s cache of promise & talent into its fully-realized potential!
The 2021 Canada West football season revealed a level of promise within the ranks of the UBC Thunderbirds that is darn near impossible to ignore.Yet in the immediate aftermath of a season-ending 39-17 loss Saturday afternoon in the Canada West’s Hardy Cup semifinals to the host Saskatchewan Huskies, ‘Birds head coach Blake Nill wasn’t about […]
UBC and the Hardy Cup playoffs: Despite its role as big road underdogs vs. No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies, opportunity knocks Saturday for these young, untethered Thunderbirds!
VANCOUVER — With the ink still just five days dry on a what has been for them a revelatory regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds are being talked about in Canada West football circles as a team of tomorrow.Yet for a 3-3 team which was a fourth-quarter away from opening its six-game conference slate at 0-3, […]
TSUMURA ON UBC FOOTBALL: A reporter’s reflections on ‘Birds playoff-clinching win over Alberta, plus who’s in line for this week’s Game Balls?
VANCOUVER — A reporter’s reflections on a great day at the old ball yard on Saturday, watching the UBC Thunderbirds finish their six-game Canada West season by getting into the Hardy Cup playoffs with a dramatic, do-or-die 30-27 victory over the Alberta Golden Bears at Thunderbird Stadium.And all of this, of course, not possible unless […]
A SUNDAY READ: In Simon Fraser’s Saturday loss at Western Oregon, we examine the ripple effect of three snaps, no reward and a young team’s search for momentum
It’s impossible to encapsulate all the moments which, when taken as a whole, add up to that most fleeting of sports intangibles: Momentum.The Simon Fraser football team has been attempting to find as much of it as it can with the hope that it will help lead them in the direction of their most elusive […]
Playoffs hang in the balance! After horrific start in Calgary dooms ‘Birds in 53-14 loss, UBC needs a home finale win vs. Alberta, and likely a little help!
It didn’t take too long to reason on Saturday that the same youthful UBC Thunderbirds football team which had so convincingly flipped the fortunes of its 2021 Canada West campaign over a rags-to-riches two-week span, was perhaps suffering from a kind of collective swoon, the kind most commonly associated with too rapid a rise in […]