By Howard TsumuraVarsityLetters.caVANCOUVER — It a little crazy to think that when the UBC Thunderbirds come charging onto the field Friday to face the visiting Calgary Dinos (6 p.m., Canada West TV) that they will have reached the midway point of the Canada West football regular season … in just 23 days.In what has seemed […]
University Football
UBC football: Who are the 2025 Thunderbirds, really? After tough loss in Saskatoon, Friday test against No. 6 Regina Rams could go long ways towards revealing team’s true identity!
By Howard Tsumura (VarsityLetters.ca)VANCOUVER — There comes a point in every great piece of mystery writing where the protagonist is confronted by a sense of the unknown, creating a work of dramatic tension best described in literary terms as a real ‘page turner’.In a manner of speaking, that’s kind of been the story arc thus […]
Veteran mentorship helps ex-‘Birds O-lineman Giovanni Manu tackle the challenges of climbing the depth chart with Detroit! New NFL season opens Sunday as Manu and the Lions face Green Bay!
By Howard Tsumura(VarsityLetters.com)VANCOUVER — Giovanni Manu came to the Detroit Lions draped in a blank canvas. Now, two NFL training camps later, the 6-foot-7, 350-pound former UBC Thunderbirds standout from Pitt Meadows has put himself in the big picture.“Short story is, if they told me I had to play left tackle against the Green Bay Packers […]
Tsumura on UBC Football: My two big takeaways from impressive win over No. 8-ranked Manitoba! Why ‘Birds have an enviable QB situation, and why anyone would covet the blue-&-gold’s front 7!
By Howard Tsumura (VarsityLetters.ca)VANCOUVER — It’s not that Blake Nill misunderstood the question.More than that, it’s all part-and-parcel of the DNA of post-game coach speak to remain in the moment. You know, the micro… not the macro.Yet, in the aftermath of a Canada West season-opening 21-9 victory over the No. 8 Manitoba Bisons here Thursday […]
In a case of ‘carpe diem’ defined, UBC’s Theo Benedet puts adversity behind him and seizes the day with Chicago Bears! Handsworth grad still in the battle for starting left tackle spot!
By Howard Tsumura (VarsityLetters.ca)VANCOUVER — Theo Benedet showed up at Chicago Bears training camp and made such an impression that it was senseless to whisper.And on Tuesday afternoon, after the North Vancouver native and UBC Thunderbirds’ alumnus was announced as part of the NFL team’s final 53-man roster, what wound up speaking loudest of all […]
From Ghana to Point Grey: UBC’s Ben Sangmuah may have started late, but fourth-year linebacker a quick study! Birds’ recent NFL successes bring Steelers, Colts, Bears for a Thunderbird Stadium peek!
By Howard Tsumura (VarsityLetters.ca)VANCOUVER — If you could invent a device to measure the collective quickness with which a developing football player grasps the concepts of the game and then proceeds to carry them to the next level, it would be the rare few who would calibrate in the same neighbourhood as Ben Sangmuah.Just four […]
UBC Football 2025: As coach Nill begins second decade at the helm, program’s passing excellence creates a hallmark legacy! Ahead of opener, latest QB room boasting experience and promise!
By Howard Tsumura (Varsity Letters)VANCOUVER — Blake Nill is set to begin his second decade at the helm of the UBC football program, and so perhaps it’s fitting that the coach who landed two of the most prodigious quarterbacks in program history is starting his next big chapter with what not only qualifies as a […]
Tracing the football journey of W.J. Mouat Hawks grad Ercy Avul: From Abbotsford to Saskatoon, his late heroics help Sask Huskies grab Hardy Cup finals berth!
VANCOUVER — How long had Ercy Avul worked and waited for what was about as glorious a 108-second span a football player can experience?Last Saturday, Saskatchewan receiver and Abbotsford-W.J. Mouat grad Avul, who prior to the current campaign had missed three of his last four seasons, announced himself with two brilliant plays over the final […]
Late rally by Saskatchewan stuns UBC 38-33 in opening playoff round! Thunderbirds head coach Nill: “I don’t know what to say. I have never been a part of anything that drastic before”
VANCOUVER — When it comes to a post-mortem discussion of the 2024 UBC Thunderbirds football season, one which ended with a stunning 38-33 Hardy Cup semifinal home field loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies, you must first determine the focal length at which the conversation must begin.So do you want to take the macro view of […]
On a night the heavens open up, UBC’s back-to-basics excellence tops Calgary as part of a ‘perfect storm’ at Thunderbird Stadium!
VANCOUVER — If you were to make yet another argument for football as sport’s ultimate game of survival, then UBC’s Friday night victory against the visiting Calgary Dinos was — both literally and figuratively— its perfect storm.Against the backdrop of a night sky, the lights at Thunderbird Stadium provided the perfect level of illumination from […]