York Asks Us Why You

York University Cheerteam kept screaming in our ears, during the Lions' near win against the Ottawa Gee Gees 54-31, "Hey Why You"?

Kind of reminded me of how Redeemer always has that religious philosophy mantra "What Time Is It"?, I know it is year two of three since my original acceptance letter to York, with time a ticking downward in an ever going and growing spiral. So, it kept going off in my head for this second year of football recruitment days, throughout all the speeches by Football Head Coach Mike Mclean and Athletic Director of Sports and Recreation Jennifer Myers. Even going home to watch replay of tonight's End in North Bend, where Notre Dame barely lost it to UniSoCal 34-27 with shades of the Lions game found within, I could hear that old refrain over and over again.

So this brings us to why, York asks us "Hey Why You"?, to which we reply "Hey Why Not"!

Land of Snow, Cold and Flu

Before Thanksgiving Holyday, just under half of Redeemer University College was hit by either the common flu or cold symptoms, afterwards it has become over half. My pal Kyle Gowling would say "Dude, it is like dejavu Doomsday, all over again!", but of course he is not here, instead helping build a rivalry between his Emmanuel Bible College in Kitchener and Heritage Bible College in Cambridge just north of us here. But now the snow has hit us, all three of these events seemed to have the RUC student body struggling with tired weariness right now, as Redeemer's Head Chaplain Syd Hielema pointed out earlier in an emailed message for TSF devos.

As this seems to be a trend that started in early October, we have to be thankful nothing worse has actually hit the population on campus, such as the supposed flu of the swine that lives amongst those in both Toronto and Hamilton.

Disease and sickness are serious issues, I have tried my hardest to be a model on campus on them, but we do have to recognize that humans do not have full control over how they fully work. A shot or dose of what ails you here and there will not fully equip oneself to fight off the cold or flu, however doing this, plus maybe a little prayer to He who can just might do the full trick for those in need. The Crown I believe comes out today, perhaps it will better address these issues of importance for those on campus, then again I would not bet my health on it.

Minneapolis is the New City of Champions

I think for those who enjoy professional football and baseball, you would now have to agree with the statement that, Minneapolis is the new city of champions. The twin cities that are three, including St. Paul's and Bloomington, have a red hot Minnesota Vikings team, who as of Monday with Quarterback Brett Favre, cheezed off his old squad in the Green Bay Packers 30-23 for the Monday Night National Football League victory, just a week after making his 43th career comeback from fourth quarter deficits or ties with just 3 seconds left against San Francisco, and a just as fired up Minnesota Twins club, who as of yesterday without First Baseman Justin Morneau, defeated my favourite Detroit Tigers 6-5 in 12 innings during a special tiebreaking playoff game, who had been 146 days in first place, became the first team in Major League Baseball history to lose a three game lead with four games left to play, at one point had a 7 game lead in the standings, only to completely lose it to Minnesota right up to the final weekend of play. The Hubert Horatio Humprey Metrodome, which is sadly in its last days now as it is the same age as the university I currently attend, has never seen such excitement in all of its years and I for one am happy.

Lots of emotion all around, Minnesota, and specifically Minneapolis, may just be in the line of having not one, but two championship banners flying within its domed stadium, with a pennant for American League Central finishing at 87-76 and National Conference North currently at 4-0 already in sight.

Though I love my Detroit and its Michigan and Green Bay and its Wisconsin, my third love of the Mid West is Minneapolis and its Minnesota, I picked the Vikings with Favre to win the Super Bowl and now so I will pick the Twins without Morneau to win the World Series, though I still wished my Tigers had not have blown it. Now, they must play a favoured Yankees squad in New York tonight, but I still think that their winning streak will continue throughout the league division series and beyond, as Detroit knows, Minnesota has a lot of heart and spirit to get where they are and know better than to lose it all in a four game sweep. As for the Vikings, three more wins, then off to Lambeau Field, to give those Green Bay Packers the business on the first day of November, with a bye week rest right after, the last eight will be interesting, but I have a feeling Favre just needs to play his new found rivals one more time for his emotions to burrst out for another run into divisional, conference and then league championship games for the wins.

Western and Laurier share with Queens

Since the Mauraders of Mcmaster won four straight, the Yates Cup, the oldest still existing sports trophy in North America that surpasses the professional Canadian Football League Grey Cup and college Little Brown Jug of Michigan and Minnesota fame in longevity, has been kept by just three clubs. A repeat by the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks from 2004 to 2005, once by the University of Ottawa Gee Gees in 2006 and then another repeat by the University of Western Ontario Mustangs from 2007 to 2008, this little factoid is why I had picked in the preseason Queens University Golden Gaels for the 102nd Yates Cup win this year, bringing the provincial pigskin prize back east, only for it to come back west next year in another repeat. But fact of the matter is, no matter who takes it here in Ontario, no Vanier Cup is coming here for awhile yet, I would however love a fight between the Pacific West's University of Calgary Dinosaurs and the Atlantic East's Saint Mary's University Huskies for the Cup nationally this year, though I know in my heart of hearts it will be Quebec's Laval to lose yet once more.

Not sure between Laurier and Western exactly who Queens would face, I kind of left it up to who would win the first game of the year on the Scores University Rush, which was won by Western 30-7 in London against Laurier. As it stands, past the halfway mark in the season, CIS # 4 Queens is 5-0, while CIS # 2 UWO fell to Mac this weekend 42-35 in London, making them 4-1, CIS # 8 WLU who beat Mac last week 30-14 in Hamilton, fell down to 3-2 with CIS # 10 Guelph, Ottawa and Mac. Mac, along with these other clubs, seems to be part of the middle of the pack group that will make the playoffs, but clubs like the York University Lions at 0-5, Toronto at 1-4 along with Waterloo and Windsor at 2-3 will be on the outside looking in as predicted.

Losing the 40th Argo Cup 45-27 in the Red and Blue Bowl, after coming within a couple of seconds of winning against the Lancers 17-14 as Jason Marshall returned a missed field goal 125 yards for a touchdown with 40 seconds left in the game but no onside kick was tried, thus now the Lions' losing streak continues at 16, picking up from the 2001 to 2008 Varsity Blues of Toronto's 49, although York previously owned it at 47 from 1988 to 1995, with off season woes like a three month faculty strike and one week training camp affecting it. York will need more than 26 year old, 440 pound and 6 foot 8 inch rookie DT Duane Mark who currently wears size 18 shoes, former Australian rugby PK Adam Moretti who can kick 60-yard field goals, projected starting QB Patrick Hooey who backed up 2007 Hec Crighton Trophy Erik Glavic and Ted Abraham on 2007 Saint Mary's Huskies Vanier Cup team and 31 year old Michael Hyatt, formerly of the Concordia Stingers making a possible comeback. No, a hardcore dose of some real hard smash mouth hitting football is what any hard luck squad needs to get back into the game, old school action that no program seems to work into, like the kind of in the gym training Duke uses in the final Rocky Balboa film of the saga, yeah, let us start building some hurting bombs, indeed!