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 […]
Tag: UBC Thunderbirds
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 […]
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 […]
UBC men’s hoops 2021-22: A new season tips off Thursday with game-ready additions as defending Canada West champ ‘Birds ready for small-ball or tall-ball!
VANCOUVER — They are not exactly a team shrouded in mystery, yet on the night of the final sleep before opening the 2021-22 Canada West men’s basketball season, it’s impossible to have a genuine handle on just what kind of team the UBC Thunderbirds are going to be.And you can take that right down to […]
UBC women’s hoops 2021-22: War Gym a land of opportunity as youthful, untested ‘Birds open post-Huband era Thursday vs. TWU Spartans!
VANCOUVER — Its veterans are staring opportunity square in the face, and its rookies are going to get a chance to show early all it is that they are capable of becoming,It’s not the simplest of tasks to quantify just how different the first UBC Thunderbirds women’s basketball team of the post-Deb Huband era will […]
UBC’s Glynis Sim: After injuries forced her into medical retirement almost four years ago, ex-Salmon Arm harrier back on track at Canada West XC championships Saturday!
VANCOUVER — There were times when Glynis Sim didn’t want to look over her shoulder for fear that she may well have left her competitive running career too far behind in the rearview mirror.After all, when you cut bait and walk away from a promising career in the manner she was forced to almost four […]
More drama, more lessons learned, more proof, following 26-24 upset of No. 4 Manitoba, that UBC Thunderbirds football is once again a program on the rise!
VANCOUVER — The UBC Thunderbirds looked so good off the opening kick-off Saturday at home to the Manitoba Bisons that it appeared like the young team’s continued resurgence was going to be high-pointed with a blow-out victory.Alas, along the way to what was nonetheless a milestone 26-24 win over the No. 4 nationally-ranked Bisons (3-1), […]
UBC-Mantoba Football Notebook 10.21.21 edition: The skinny on rookie QB Rooker, the return of Gavin Cobb, ‘Birds rising WR Robert Lutman & much more!
VANCOUVER — Fans of UBC Thunderbirds football have delighted in the potentially season-changing fourth-quarter of last Saturday’s rally from 23-0 down to beat the Regina Rams on the road 31-30 in overtime and move to 1-2 on the season.Yet this week’s Saturday afternoon (1 p.m.) visitor to Thunderbird Stadium, the No. 4-ranked Manitoba Bisons, showed […]
A SUNDAY READ: After his young ‘Birds complete miracle rally from 23-0 down in fourth for a 31-30 OT win over Regina, UBC head coach Nill says “Maybe now the dam will break”
He is nearing a quarter of a century as a head coach in the U SPORTS football world, and along that journey, UBC’s Blake Nill has seen his share of comeback victories.Yet ask him to find something comparable to Saturday afternoon’s stunning rally from a 23-0 deficit in the fourth quarter to a 31-30 overtime […]