The UBC football nation, just like all of the other tight-knit, tradition-laden programs across Canada, mourned the loss of 2020 university football season. Thunderbirds’ head coach Blake Nill, however, is excited and hopeful for the prospects of a 2021 campaign… that much is obvious as the three-time Vanier Cup national championship-winning coach joins host Howard […]
Tag: U Sports football
VL Podcast series debuts Monday: UBC’s Billy Greene, SFU’s Bo Palmer on Shrum Bowl’s 10-year absence and their own lives in and out of football!
LANGLEY — Plans for the resumption of the best football rivalry game in the province of B.C. were not actively underway when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March.Put it all together, and the fall of 2020 marks the 10th straight season that the Shrum Bowl, that formerly annual crosstown clash between Simon Fraser and UBC, […]
Simon Fraser’s Bernd Dittrich: A decade-plus after the iconic quarterback’s passing, a former teammate pays homage to his remarkable spirit and courage
ABBOTSFORD — Mathis Baumbach remembers how he never felt like a stranger in the summer of 2008, even though he had flown halfway around the world from Germany to join his new teammates on the Simon Fraser University football team.And all of that was due to the presence of one of the most iconic athletes […]
While smoke-filled air delays UBC football’s first official workout, ‘Birds coach Nill talks a different strategy with players and their families
VANCOUVER — Sitting in his office overlooking Thunderbird Stadium on Tuesday morning, Blake Nill afforded himself a solitary moment to take a deep breath.These days, you can’t take anything for granted.In the midst of the global pandemic, and with its Canada West season already long cancelled, UBC’s veteran head football coach had worked towards Tuesday […]
A Sunday Tribute: For UBC’s Kory Nagata (1996-2020), football was a glorious portal to the possibilities of life
RICHMOND — Finding a perfect state of balance while doing the thing you love the most is powerful enough to change the way you see the world.
UBC football 2020: In wake of first cancelled season in 76 years, ‘Birds HC Blake Nill’s hopeful ‘redshirt season’ wish list includes the return of Shrum Bowl!
VANCOUVER — The first cancelled UBC football season in 76 years, and just the third over its 96-year history.
Eric Hamber’s gridiron pioneers! UBC-bound Luke Lee, Bishop’s-bound Mathis Henderson are Griffins’ first-ever university football recruits
VANCOUVER — They have spent the past decade as Vancouver’s only public high school football program, and now, the Eric Hamber Griffins are taking the next step in their gridiron evolution.For the first time since planting roots as a start-up junior varsity program in 2010, followed by a debut senior varsity season in 2011, the […]
Who is UBC’s next starting quarterback? Five pivots form preliminary pecking order as the Michael O’Connor era comes to an end
LANGLEY — UBC football fans knew the Michael O’Connor era was officially over early last month when the Toronto Argonauts made him the second-highest selected Canadian quarterback in draft history.
UBC football’s amazing rise: Win over Huskies sees ‘Birds vault from last place to second place in just one game
VANCOUVER — Excuse the UBC Thunderbirds for feeling a little on the light-headed side as they get out of bed Saturday morning and ponder their place in the Canada West football world.
UBC’s game-ending, 30-yard penalty gives Regina a chip-shot field goal victory as ‘Birds endure another walk-off loss
It’s too bad the football gods won’t implement a quota for the number of walk-off losses a Canada West football team must be forced to endure over a pre-determined span of time, because with any kind of reasonable number, the UBC Thunderbirds wouldn’t have to worry about getting their hearts ripped out for quite a […]