As Shrum Bowl 2022 approaches, UBC Thunderbirds head coach Blake Nill found time to chat and joke with coaches from rival SFU this past weekend during the B.C. high school Subway Bowl semifinals at BC Place Stadium. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Football

Shrum Bowl XXXIV: With a new QB at the helm, UBC Thunderbirds set to climb Burnaby Mountain on Friday for meeting with SFU Red Leafs in first clash since 2010!

VANCOUVER — B.C.’s football community has gone 12 years without the ability to anticipate, watch and debate another Shrum Bowl clash.Consider that for a second, and you could also say that it’s been a dozen years since the coaches at UBC and rival Simon Fraser have actually had common ground on which to both greet […]

Slinging on his way to the best QBR of his collegiate career in last Saturday's win over West Texas A&M is Simon Fraser senior quarterback Justin Seiber. (Photo by Ethan Cairns property of SFU athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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After taking the road less travelled, Simon Fraser senior quarterback Justin Seiber reflects on adversity, the game of his life and a Shrum Bowl opportunity!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — With the end of his football career now just weeks away, Justin Seiber admits he is pondering a professional path into the world of sports analytics.All of that seems fitting in light of the numbers that the 6-foot-3, 200 pound Simon Fraser senior quarterback put up last Saturday as the previously-winless Red […]

UBC's Keijaun Johnson has been all over the ball all season long. What he was doing in a season-opening win back in September over the Alberta Golden Bears at Thunderbird Stadium ([pictured), he continued to do Saturday in Regina. His game-changing 46-yard interception return helped vault the Thunderbirds into next Saturday's Hardy Cup championship final in Saskatoon. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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A SUNDAY READ: UBC’s Keijaun Johnson reminds us all of the heart-stopping power of playoff football! Road underdog ‘Birds shock Regina for Hardy Cup title game berth!

Playoff football’s most defining moments have a way of coming out of the shadows and taking our breath away.Yet beyond the most obvious ways in which they dole equal parts joy and despair to their most loyal fans, they also seem to deliver, with barometric precision, a universal truth about their victors.That’s what I was […]

One of the best UBC head coach Kevin Hanson has coached is Jadon Cohee. This season Cohee returns after a brief absence as one of the team's assistant coaches and will bring the energy on the bench Friday as SFU pays a visit to War Memorial Gymnasium. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of VarsityLetters.ca 2020. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

Buchanan Cup 2022: UBC hoops notes include the return of Jadon Cohee, our look at three rising ‘Birds in Luka Lizdek, Nikola Guzina, Triston Matthews and more!

VANCOUVER —Kevin Hanson loves the fact that his 2022-23 Thunderbirds are getting a great taste of post-season atmosphere before the conference season even gets a chance to tip off.On Friday, a little over two months after the ‘Birds kicked it all off in front of a near-capacity home crowd of 2,103 on Aug. 16 with […]

Simon Fraser forward Jahmal Wright is one of only three returning Red Leafs with substantial playing time in 2021-22. SFU unveils its new team on the road Friday as it visits War Memorial Gym to face the UBC Thunderbirds in the Buchanan Cup classic. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball University Men's Basketball

Buchanan Cup 2022: “Coach, you’ve got a lot of new guys…” Simon Fraser Red Leafs face host UBC Thunderbirds on Friday with a new-look team intent on finding some instant karma!

BURNABY — A reporter takes a seat last week in the Burnaby Mountain office of Simon Fraser head men’s basketball coach Steve Hanson, offering an apology ahead of what must be the most obvious observation of all.“Coach, you’ve got a lot of new guys…”Willing to indulge his inquisitor in the playful manner in which the […]

UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu has proven himself to be a plug-and-play standout at both tackle and now guard this season. (Photo by Bob Frid property of UBC athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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UBC Football Notebook 10.19.22 edition: An O-line overhaul sparks ‘Birds run game ahead of Huskies’ Saturday visit, plus more football Thunder Bolts!

VANCOUVER — A UBC football team able to define its identity through the ground game.As easy as it is to over-complicate the modus operandi, it’s always been that simple when it comes to predicting success or a lack thereof for the 2022 edition of the gridiron Thunderbirds.Today, as we open up the notebook from the […]

UBC Thunderbirds' linebacker Ryan Baker has his focus set on the U SPORTS' No. 2-ranked Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night in Saskatoon. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
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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 quarterback Garrett Rooker is equally at home these days with both the Canadian and U.S. versions of the game. (Photo by Don Voaklander property of U of Alberta athletics 2021. All rights reserved)
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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 […]

Your author, presenting with pride, the MVP trophy at the 2015 Tsumura Basketball Invitational, to McMath Wildcats' Jessica Jones. (Photo by Wilson Wong 2015 All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Boys Basketball High School Football University

A message from Howard: After 40 years, I’ll bring a new writing direction to Varsity Letters for the 2022-23 high school and university sports season!

NORTH DELTA –  Heartfelt greetings to all of you, my loyal, longtime readers.It’s been five months since I decided to take a break from my writing life.As was the goal from the very start, my decision to take sabbatical after 40 years of daily practice — first from my typewriter, and of course later, in […]

Former Tamanawis Wildcat and Fraser Valley Cascade big man Sukhman Sandhu has brought a revelatory skill package to his first season as a UBC Thunderbird. Despite the stops and starts of the 2021-22 Canada West season, Sandhu and fellow UBC newcomer James Woods have helped set the 'Birds in place for a productive post season. (Photo by Richard Lam property of UBC athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

As UBC Thunderbirds host UFV Cascades on Friday, the trick in a 2021-22 Canada West hoops season of stops and starts is finding a way to stay in rhythm with your routine!

VANCOUVER — You’re the head coach of a Canada West men’s or women’s basketball program, and as the most disjointed regular-season campaign in conference history does its best to wind towards an organized conclusion, one question seems to keeping topping all others in terms of relevancy.Between re-scheduled games and extended byes, what’s the best way […]