Ouch

71-69, it still hurts almost a week later. The underdog York Lions slew your not so mighty Ryerson Rams in a Kerr Hall Gymnasium packed with over 700 spectators. The place was rockin' with the sounds and chants of playoff basketball. We even had to open the upper balcony for the extra fans. Gerald Carlse, one of York's assistant coaches, commented to me about it would be nice if all the games had this kind of atmosphere. Aye! Aye! York won the first two quarters and was ahead, 37-33 at halftime. We came out strong in the third quarter and played the kind of game that had carried us to two regular season victories over York. Aha, we finally got it together and our, 22-12 quarter translated into a, 55-49, 3rd 1/4 lead. Alas, York led by 5th year Senior (hooray and goodbye) Tut Ruach, 22 pts for the game, had a 22-14 final stanza, which got them to Ottawa on Saturday. Not a good thing, as Carleton demolishioned them by 41 points. 

So the year is over and we are all sad the way it ended. However, have we got a bright future and there will be another posting coming out soon which will address that optimism. Until then, thanks for all your support.

Gulp!

Before a crowd of almost 300 the last regular season game against arch-rival University of Toronto Blues was pretty, as in pretty ugly. The final score, 100-59, says it all. U of T was on a roll and couldn't miss from the perimeter and we were on a slide and could miss from everywhere. The Blues packed in the middle and stopped Boris from going off with his patented pivoting moves. Joey wasn't able to put back to back big games together. In the end Boris had 19 & 10, Joey had 9 & 6. The team went 0-10 from outside the arc and overall shot 27.4% from the field. Ugly is not strong enough. For the Blues PG Anthony Degiorgio ate us up for 20 pts, 3 rebs & 3 assists, while teammate Rob Paris 19, 3 & 4 in the same categories. 

The good news is that we are in the playoffs and host the York Lions on Wednesday the 25th starting at 8 PM. We'll have to work a little harder and smarter in that game as the Lions will be out for blood after we took them 2 games to none in regular season play. It should be an intense affair.

Joey Night

If you were a 6'10" 4th year Senior with above average athletic ability and a decent skill set getting 33 points and 14 rebounds wouldn't be that big of a deal given the dearth of Bigs in Canada. However, if you are Joey Imbrogno and are averaging 5 pts & 7.5 rebs it is a huge big gigantic deal. Especially, if the last time you had a big game was in your Freshman year when you flirted with a triple double 17 pts, 21 rebs & 7 bs.  So what happened in between, were we going through the Gobi Desert? Does that mean that this is just an oasis and next weekend we are packing sand up our a%* again? Tune in 2 da Road and we'll tell you all about the season ending game at the U of T Athletic Complex against the hated Blues. Or better yet make your way down on the 21st at 8p. We'll need all the support we can muster.  

For the game against York the Lions had a lot at stake, as they wanted to guarantee a playoff spot and possibly move up in the placings. For the Rams it didn't much matter what happened as we have fourth place wrapped up and with it a first round playoff game at home (February 25), Of course, there is always the matter of pride and momentum creation, a couple of heady concepts that are not always brought to the table. ("You've got to be kidding me". - random fan) Anyway, the two differing mindsets showed as the Lions sprinted out to leads in the 1st and 2nd quarter under the auspices of Ruach, Tyndale & Company finishing the half in front, 42-36. At halftime we all gave thanks to some last minute heroics from our side and last minute flubs from the bad guys, otherwise the spread would have been much more than six. 

In the second half everybody woke up from the bus trip (we just pulled in from our previous night's game in Sudbury), including Joey who went 22/8 in the half. Can you imagine the nightmares Tom Oivera, York Assistant Coach, is now having, as he was one of Joey's teachers in high school at Brebeuf College. Alright already enuff talk about Joey, how about that above the rim off the backboard to beyond the 3-point line block that N'Krumah Hylton put on outstanding Freshman David Tyndale. It was so highlight reeling emphatic that even Tyndale gave Hylton a low five. Of course, Tyndale came back next possession and hit a trey plus some self-congratulatory words he directed at Krums (pronounced Krooms). OK, four other things about Joey and then that's it. Nice dunk (That got Sal - Joey's Dad - off his feet arm extended in the air). Nice spin move to a power layin. Nice jump hook. Nice reverse layin off one bounce. In other words, true big man moves done with authority. 

Just in case you thought nobody else was in the game don't forget about the best player in the CIS, Boris Bakovic. He had a routine, for him, 25 & 12. York had no answer as the Bigs were too slow and the Smalls were too short. When he gets a look at the basket, which is whenever he wants, he is pretty hard to stop. He threw in a dunk in his repertoire against the Lions, something he has been doing regularly of late. Boris leads the CIS in scoring at 27.7 and would have even more if he wasn't such a team player. Did you know he is 7th all-time career scoring leader in the OUA after three seasons. The guys ahead of him all took 4 or 5 seasons to accumulate their points. First Team All-Canadian easy, except for that little thing called Politics. 

Those of you who have read this far will now know that the final score was, 92-83 for the Rams. Big shout out to Freshman Matthew Cupido (Hamilton Cathedral) three point specialist and team bon vivant simply b/c he asked for the ink. 

This was  Tut Ruach's last home game after five sterling seasons at York, including in his first year CIS  Rookie of the Year. We're glad we don't have to deal with his shyte anymore from the guard spot. Of course, York reloaded with Tyndale and things won't be any easier out there over the next four years. Tuts family were there fort the Senior Night presentations, including his sister who is worthy of mention b/c of her exuberant drumming, enthusiastic chanting and extravagant outfit....Good to see former Rams T.C. Cline and Philip Rowe in attendance. 

Eddie & Out

The team was over at Eddie's Restaurant for the pre-game in Sudbury before our game against the bottom dwelling Laurentian Voyageurs. Eddie tells Deefirst, "these guys look dead they're going to lose tonight." One of his customers told a couple of the guys to sit tall instead of slouching over looking like losers. Holy Geez, talk about predicting the future. Sure enough that night we gave it just enough gas to make it through the 40 minutes and come out on the wrong side of an, 85-80, score. This gives Laurentian hope that their mathematical chance to make the playoffs is still on the right track. Meanwhile, our chance of getting to third spot relies on the Voyageurs having back to back wins, beating U of T tonight. NOT going to happen. And us we get on the bus and head to York to redeem ourselves. 

Matas Trilis had 24 pts, 4 assists while his teammate, Paul Kovacs had 20 pts for the northeners. Our game plan was to stop these two guys, didn't really work. For us an ailing (cold) Boris Bakovic had 27 and 3 steals. Home-returning Josh Budd (sort of, Timmins is only three hours away) had 13 pts and 3 assists in 40 minutes of play. OK, we flatlined that game and now it is over and I'm out. 

Gee What Happened G?

We had our chances, but truth be known we just didn't know how to take advantage of those opportunities. Heck, we had it down to six in the 4th quarter when we let Freshman, Warren Ward sling two consecutive treys to the glee of his camera toting Dad. Now we are 12 down. Here's how the game went, tied the first quarter, lost the 2nd by 15, won the 3rd by 4 and lost the final stanza by 8. We're almost there, but not quite. Now we have less than three weeks to get there. Playoffs are just around the corner.

The game ended 89-70 in favour of the Ottawa Gee Gees. It was an exciting game with a number of dunks, dunk blocks and long distance shooting. One memorable play was 6'3" Akin Brown blocking 6'8" Dax Dessureault's attempted dunk at the end of the 1st half. Another was Josh Budd's spin dribble in the paint that led to a reverse layin. I am sure the Gee Gees had some highlight reels also, but I can't seem to able to bring them readily forward in my memory bank. Boris had 26 & 9. Josh and N'Krumah both had a dozen. JGB had 23, 6 dimes and 4 steals for the enemy. Ward, the Brampton fella, playing in front of his fam for the first time this season had 18. Dax also had 18.

Scott Belasco, Godfrey Hunte, Duane Quashie and Ricky Gairey were former Rams seen in the crowd of a little over two hundred. My former bone crusher, Dr. David Lee, was also in amongst the masses attending the game. 

Three games to go with Laurentian, York and U of T in that batting order. Then, whether we finish 3rd or 4th we will host a first round playoff game on Wednesday, February 25. 

Big Up to Greg Francis for getting the coaching headship at University of Alberta. My money says he'll do a great job out there. Another product of the GTA in a head coaching position in the CIS. The others: Dave DeVeiro, Ottawa (Harvey); Ross Quackenbush, St. Mary's (Thistletown); Mike Katz, Toronto (Vaughan Road); Keith Vassel, Brandon (Mother Teresa); Glenn Taylor, Ryerson (Brampton Centennial).

 

Learn From Your Mistakes. NOT!!

Carleton came into Dodge last night and it was a slaughter at the KH Gym. The Rams started out strong with Josh Budd hitting a couple of big shots - now if he would just hit the books with that kind of determination. Boris Bakovic got in on the act early joining Budd with a basket of his own, but if truth be known it wasn't a clean one with the ball bouncing around the rim b4 going in. Maybe if it had gone in clean Boris would have got the vibe he needed on this night. Josh ended up with 14 points and Boris had 23 after that the crew dropped off considerably. Stuart Turnbull had 23 for the Ravens and the much improved post, Kevin McCleery had 18 & 9 boards. 

Over three hundred at the game. Our biggest turnout of the year. Sorry to disappoint. We were in sync and playing modestly well, as our 14 turnovers indicate. The problem was that that was not good enough against this opponent. It was like taking a Ford Focus and racing it against a Lamborghini. The Focus can do everything right and it still is not going to win the race. We're definitely going to have to retune in time for the playoffs. Actually, it would probably be good to retune for tonight as we take on the #3 ranked Ottawa Gee Gees. Pfft, done. More to come on that. 

Akin Brown, 6'3", F, Brampton made his Ryerson debut. As a matter of fact it was his all time debut period, as he had never played post secondary ball. He muscled in for 5 pts, 1 steal, 1 bound and 17 minutes of solid defense.... Brandon Krupa, 2004-2008 was honoured on Seniors Night for his contributions to the program as a co-captain and solid combo guard with exceptional perimeter shooting skills. His parents Ed & Bev (same last name) were there as they were everytime over Brandon's four year career. Some of his former teammates also showed including Pete Crack, Sanel, Geoff Proctor, Duane Benjamin and  Brady.... Thanks to high school coaches Branko Samsa, Mel Stein & Brian French for coming out to the game and bringing some of their star players.  

Big Up to B Lo who I understand had some bad heart palpitations  the other day. Bill hope you are feeling better. Probably a good thing you weren't at this game. Yes you are right Hell does not freeze over. 

Ho Hum Agin

101-68 that was the final score and somewhere between those two numbers was the number of people watching the game between Ryerson and RMC. It was over before it started, but I got to give kudos to the Cadets they are an ever improving team. They are young and a couple of recruits could make them competitive next year. Boris almost had a triple double 27, 14 & 8 steals. Ryan McNeilly started this game the same way as the previous against Queen's by draining a trey. He is becoming quite skilled at that task, as a matter of fact he leads the country in 3FG%. He finished with 18 pts. Forki had a magical 16. Corey May had 10 agin.

This weekend we play Carleton at home on Friday night. then the next night we play Ottawa. Carleton is #1 and Ottawa #3 in the country. However there is something crazy happening in the air and don't be surprised if we take both games from these unsuspecting foes. If you are in the area drop by the games you could see history in the making.

Clutch & Grab in Bartlett Gym

It didn't take long to get things going against the Queen's Golden Gaels Full Contact Jujitsu Team on a crisp winter Friday night in the old Upper Canada capital of Kingston. We had a 10-0 lead to start, but then again we had the same against Duquesne a couple of years ago and that got us nowhere, but a big L. However, this time things are different. Much different.  First  of all junior forward/combo guard Ryan McNeilly starts the game off with three treys and our 9-0 lead. Then Boris Bakovic, the CIS leading scorer decides that it is time to show his stuff, we're talking 24 points at halftime, 36 points with 2 minutes to go in the third quarter. He never saw anymore of the floor. He even got long time Queen's heckler, Jeff Smith, to leave the game early. Before leaving the bellow-lunged, white haired Smith pleaded with Boris to, "take it easy on us Boris". Bakovic was showing some range shooting treys from NBA distance, but the best was his steal (1 of 4) off a hapless dribbler which turned into a swing-from-the-rim dunk. This was the 5th game in a row for Boris to top 30 points. Can we say First Team All-Canadian. 

At halftime da  Rams possessed a 27 point lead, 53-26, and in line for their 4th game in a row scoring more than 100 points. We started to unload the bench on the clutch-&-shove Gaels in the third quarter and our 22-17 effort gave us a 75 point total, still on track for the century mark. This included quality minutes by diminutive PG Arsalan "AJ" Jamil who earned his time with some focused hard work in practice all week long. About this time the 4th quarter came along, otherwise known as the disaster from the pines. Except 4 the much maligned & misunderstood triggerman, Teddy Tochev, nobody scored a point in the quarter. Make no mistake it wasn't easy for Trigger either, as he had to trade 6 trey trys to make one. So that was it, 78-60, at the end of the night and enough of a poor finish to send G4 into a tirade at the post game meeting. 

 We had a shoot-around in the afternoon b4 the game and it was a pretty loose affair mainly consisting of shooting games. This was a format that fit nicely into Corey "Hack-A-Gael" May's repertoire, as he won or hotly contested most of the games. In another bit of drama Forki attempted to unseat assistant coach Michael Kennedy as King of the 1 on 1. Afeworki's efforts were in vain as he was defeated again by the former 2x finalist of the popular Nike Battleground 1 on 1 contest. 

Wow, our home games next weekend are shaping up to be season-making tilts, as we take on the Number One ranked Carleton Ravens on Friday, February 6 in the Ivy covered (Of course, no sign of Ivy at this time of year) Kerr Hall Gymnasium. The next day we host the second ranked Ottawa Gee Gees. Both games are at 8 PM and something tells me those guys could be in for a surprise. Hope you can make it the entertainment and suspense will be unprecedented in the hallowed hall that Howard built. 

Freshmen Freakout

A couple of Freshmen brought their "A" Game to Kerr Hall on Saturday night in a win against the Laurentian Voyageurs, 104-83. First off, the Northern Transplant, starting point guard Josh Budd (Timmins) had a solid night with 7 boards, 6 assists, 3 steals and 9 pts in only 19 minutes of play due to foul trouble. Secondly, in a classic display of herky, jerky, stop and go moves that had the opposition falling all over him Afeworki Gebrekerestos (Ottawa) dropped a career high 21 pts to go with 5 rebs and 3 thefts. Not to be outdone sophomore Chris Blouin (Ottawa) threw down his first dunk of the season as he put together a solid night's work on the frontline. Also having some fun out there was junior co-captain Ryan McNeilly (Thornhill) with 12 pts, 4 dimes and 7 boards. At one point in his game high 38 minutes he took control on three consecutive possessions dribbling the ball up court against considerable pressure. At 9-10 FT senior Joey Imbrogno (Toronto) was almost perfect from the charity stripe, which helped him top out at 15 pts to go with 6 rebs and 3 blocks. As has come to be expected Boris Bakovic (Toronto) potted 35, including 14-15 free throws, and 9 boards. Two of those free throws came as a result of a shoulder tackle enroute to what would have been a breakaway slam. A very dangerous play and we held our collective breath as we tried to fathom WHY. 

Third game in a row were scored over the century mark. How long will this trend last?

Some of the alumni in attendance Dave Petropoulos '99', Sasha Ivankovic '01', Bill Price '92' and Ron Campbell '97'.

Hey, I want to give a big shout out to Molly Sebastian and her son Joseph who came and attended the game. During the week Molly and I are work colleagues and her coming out to support the team is a tremendous testament to her belief in my monologue. By the way, good shot Joseph (he won a prize during half time festivities).

Whew, That Was Close

Going into the game The Rams are thinking, "here's an easy two points against a team that really is not that good". Surprise. We're down, 24-21, at the quarter as the yeomen, err Lions, show us how to break guys down and get to the basket. OK, you don't want to play defense then we'll take it at you again and be in front 52-43 at the half. G4 (Head Coach Glenn Taylor) forceably informed the guys about the meaning of the word defense at halftime. Did it make a difference? Not really as the third quarter was a 23-23 affair. Talk about a run in the park. Can nobody stop somebody in this game. The 200 plus crowd, give or take a baker's dozen, was sitting on their hands as they waited patiently for the Ryerson Rams to warm up. Finally, the fourth quarter came alive and so did the Rams as they went on a 37-19 tear. Now that's more like it. 

Alright let's talk about the refereeing. I agree, we don't want to go there and we just have to accept what we get. Good job fellas. BTW, are you still going to Hakim's sale next week? Just wondering. 

York did a good job as John Lafontaine went on a shooting spree finishing with 18 pts. Actually, their real gunner was Tut (pronounced Toot) Ruach who ended up with 31 pts, 4 assists & 4 steals. Whew, glad we don't have to chase that Tut around for another couple of weeks. My question is, how does Tut make those step back one legged jump shots from 17'? Anyway, we had some action of our own, Boris Bakovic, 34 pts, 16 boards. WOW! His running mate, Ryan McNeilly had 24 pts as he started to assert his leadership. Getting more than his share of entertaining moves was #6 Afeworki Gebrekerestos. Obviously a contortionist and seller of illusion in his previous life he went to the line numerous times as the befuddled Yorksters hacked and slashed at the ever changing #6. Kudos to York for just hanging  in there against something which appears to be ascending at a rapid rate. (That's the Ryerson Rams if you didn't figure it out already.)

Next up the Laurentian Voyageurs. We'll have the spiddle on that shortly. 

Ho Hum

I wore red on Friday the 16th, as I do every Friday, in support of the troops overseas in the Afghani wilds, both urban and rural. If I were the Taliban I would fear the news that the Canadians are near arrival, but this is Ryerson's Kerr Hall and the Cadets are coming to town. There is no fear here as the Royal Military College Paladins are not even close to being a credible threat. As a matter of fact, Deefirst was expendable for this game (some might mutter that this application of expendability should be expanded for the worthless sod) and was found lurking in the unfriendly confines of U of T's Athletic Complex scouting the next opponent, Queen's Golden Gaels. BTW, permission to plug a memory stick into the game recording laptop at U of T was denied. Something about being against department policy and that that request has to be submitted to the Communication Department beforehand. Are you serious? The game is on the internet shortly after the final buzzer for easy download. We are just talking about a little convenience amongst neighbours. I am sure there will be an opportunity in the future to make U of T have to jump through an extra bureaucratic hoop.

Back to the game. Actually, I never did make it back to the game, but I heard and read the reports. RU 102 RMC 51. Boris had 31 pts and 8 bounds. coming off the bench Muddy (Madhav) Trevedi had 13 pts in 11 minutes and Freshman Corey May had 10 pts in 12 minutes of questionable defense. At this point I have to give some props to the Cadets who have come to a gun fight with knives. The two leading knives were Mathieu MacDonald & Nicolas Cooke with 15 points each. I would hope and assume that in the off season RMC improves it's arsenal. It has a lot going for it. Enlist and it is free education and a guaranteed job for five years after graduation. Don't enlist and you can still attend a school with first class facilities, support and programs. Plus if you are an above average player you are going to get playing time and lots of it. Alright enuff already let's not give them too much fodder, I mean these are two guaranteed wins a year.

The next night it was Queen's turn to face the mighty Rams in Howard's Hall. Unfortunately, there most significant player went down with a knee injury in the U of T game and the Golden Gaels were facing Rye without Mitch Leger. Him being in the lineup probably would not have made a difference as we came flying out of the gate winning the 1st quarter 21-11 and the 2nd 22-5. That was enough to cruise to a, 82-65, win. Boris Bakovic had 31 & 12, which helped propel him to OUA Athlete of the Week. Dan Bannister had what appeared to be a career game for Queen's with 26 pts.

Next weekend, York and Laurentian at home.

Ravens Ram Ryerson

A Timmy's inside the athletic hall, a great touch to one of the better facilities in the league. Also a great way to warm up the innards on a frigid winter's night in Ottawa. We are in town to take on the nation's #1 ranked Carleton Ravens and after our previous nights debacle with #4 ranked (now #2 thanks in part to our unfavourable performance) Universite d'Ottawa Gee Gees. The casual observer would suggest that we are up to our armpits in latrine waste. However the game is played on hardwood, not paper and we are pretty confident that we can give these guys a go of it.


Before the game the ever amicable Carleton coach, Dave Smart, (No really he is quite pleasant before and after the game. It is just during the game that his take-no-prisoners persona resonates for all to see.) came by to chat about some of the peculiar quirks of the FIBA rules which the CIS has adopted. He was looking particularly dapper this night with a presidential looking sky blue silk tie tightly knotted to go with what looked like a newly pressed form fitting suit. You can well imagine my surprise and dismay that within a few seconds after the tip-off there was a totally different look to Coach Smart. There was a definite disheveled look to the coach as the tie was loosened, top button undone and a wild eyed look of desperation took over. He had good cause for his consternation as the Ryerson Rams played even with the Ravens for the first quarter ending it only two behind, 23-21. The second quarter was similar with us losing by six, 16-10. Overall we were hanging in there and with a couple of lucky bounces we could have been on top and this with Boris Bakovic sitting out the last 5'16" with three fouls.


In the third quarter our scoring ability abandoned us and the Ravens took full advantage of our haplessness, 29-9. Now some might say that there was increased defensive intensity by Carleton, but I would deny that presumption. The disheveled look on their coach shortly after the initial tip off is my proof. These guys are playing with intensity from the giddy up, as directed by their boss. For my money if the Rams can improve their shooting percentage by just a few points they will be a contenda and a serious one at that. For the game Boris had 18 points fouling out early in the fourth quarter. For Carleton Stuart Turnbull had 20 & 4 dimes, Aaron Doornekamp had 20 & 8 boards (a bonus here as his usually obstreperous father could not be heard all game. Do you think they were confident of the W as a given?). And the winner is Carleton, 96-60.

Pasting at Monpetit

It all started out well, but the ending was something out of a horror movie. As in a 35 point loss, 98-63. We showed a lot of spirit b4 the game with enthusiasm galore. This continued in the first quarter as the unranked Rams for the most part maintained a lead over the 4th ranked Gee Gees. The quarter ended, 16-15, in favour of Ottawa. Then the bottom dropped out and we couldn't make a shot while Ottawa kept up their pace. And what a pace, 23-7, they took us apart in the second quarter. For the half we shot 22% compared to Ottawa's 45%. Still we were only down 17 at the half, 39-22. We've been down by more and come back, but not today. Geez Ottawa even put their student manager in the game and he lit us up.

For the most part the 300 strong crowd went home happy as their favourite sons laid a beating on our melancholy a%*$#... Our women's Vball team was in attendance and were able to inform the refs about their productivity in ways that those of us on the team could never get away with... NCAA transfer, Josh Wright, was aight, but then again so was the student manager... Team bus this trip is a Seta and it is NICE... Boris Bakovic had 27 & 13 for us... Josh Gibson-Bascombe had 22 pts & 8 dimes for them. Wazzup with the Garnet & Grey's 25 assists for the game. Can nobody stop a pass... Things don't get any easier tonight as we take on the number one ranked Carleton Ravens.

Dems Da Brakes

Last weekend, the first weekend of the New Year, G4 and this writer went west on Highway 401 looking for our fortune. Boy did we find it in the form of the 51st Annual Purple & White Senior Boys Basketball Tournament hosted by The University of Western Ontario. After our recent spanking of the #9 ranked Stangs we were welcomed by that team's leadership with open arms. NOT. However, there were a couple of high school players who seemed to be happy to see us. Certainly we were happy to see them because these are Bigs who can rebound and Lord knows we could use some help on that front while we wait for Joey to become the player that only he can be. (Had a daydream recently that we made it to the Nationals and Joey did an Owen White. Then I woke up and continued with the practice.) Generally speaking, the teams in this tournament were rather weak with a few CIS diamonds in the rough sprinkled about. We get kind of spoiled viewing some of the H.S. tourneys in the GTA with athletes galore. Some even have marks these days. The times they r a changin.


On the way out of London town we stopped by Joe Kools for some lake perch. Don't know what lake the fish were from, but they sure were tasty. My mouth has been glowing ever since.


We started practice this week after a month of fun & frolic, also known as the Holiday Break. The injuries are healed, the guys are hungry and their shot is there (Their idea of "working out" during the break was to go in the gym and shoot for two hours.). Seven practices to synchronize our teamwork and then we are up against a ton of trouble in #5 ranked Ottawa and #1 ranked Carleton.



A little trivial dribble for those who have made it this far into the posting. Paid a surprise visit with John "The Golden" Godden last night. He was passing through the big smoke with Trudy, his wife of a quarter century. Him and G4 rode the pines in their freshman year at Acadia watching from courtside seats as Steve Pound launched multiple running hook shots. BTW, the golden locks have been replaced by pure epidermis and the formerly svelte Gee Gee All-Star is now locked in at an imposing 320 lbs of five day a week weight and swimming workouts in Airdrie, Alberta. Great surprise for G4 and The Golden Godden as neither knew the other would be in attendance at the late night rendez vous.

Home Schedule

Much encouragement from some old faithful readers. Greatly appreciated.


B4 I get into another posting I really should do some mundane housework and list our home games for the remainder of the season. Here they are:


Friday, January 16 at 8:00 PM
Royal Military College
(Staff and Faculty Night, Libations available)


Saturday, January 17 at 8:00 PM
Queen's University
(must win rival)


Friday, January 23 at 8:00 PM
York University
(suburban cousins)


Saturday, January 24 at 8:00 PM
Laurentian University
(sleeper team always dangerous)


Friday, February 6 at 8:00 PM
Carleton University
(Top Dog)


Saturday, February 7 at 8:00 PM
University of Ottawa
(Top Ten Team)


Six home games. Six chances to get one up on the opposition.


As an aside, Sports and Recreation had a Christmas Party last Saturday at the northern home of Ivan Joseph, the new AD. The potluck fare was extrodinaire. Ribs, meatballs, ham, 2 x rice, curried chicken, wrapped hotdogs, creamed green beans, roast potatoes, salads, pine tarts, cheese cake. Of course, the unchallenged hit was the Deefirst spinach dip with accompanying french stick. The hit of the night, Mr. Joseph taking the lead in a rousing rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer" as a prelude to the Secret Santa gift exchange. Other notable events; plethora of kids running hither and thither, tobogganing in the backyard, Mr. Epp facilitating a no-eating-curried-chicken-on-the-white-carpet initiative, egg nog. Compliments and thanks to the Joseph crew for a hosting job that covered all the bases.



Merry Christmas



to all in the CIS/Ryerson basketball community.

Three & Out!!

Persistent pressure to return to the keyboard has finally won the day and here I am back in the saddle hacking out my take on basketball fortunes at Rye Hi. I used to do this back in the 20th century to small amounts of fame and no fortune, but this is the 21st century and my smack has changed. I'm using this blog instead of a electronically distributed newsletter and I'm using a nome de plume instead of Coach Dean. For those of you who enjoy this off-the-beaten-path journalism you have Ken Murray to thank who gave me the final push back to Keyboarding 101. Before our recent mauling of the Badgers he asked me when I was going to write the newsletter again because he really enjoyed reading it. So here we go again.

Let me add a disclaimer. This blog in no way is sponsored by Ryerson and does not represent the official viewpoint of Ryerson or the Ryerson Men's Basketball Team. Commentary is not purposely written to offend or hurt anyone and if it does....well, you are just much too sensitive and probably should not be reading this in the first place. That said, this blog will definitely take a lighter and more satirical look at the basketball culture in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) then most folks are accustomed to read in standard media type thingies. If needed more disclaimers will be added in the future.

About the Ryerson University Rams Men's Basketball Team. We play out of the venerable Kerr Hall Upper Gymnasium at 379 Victoria Street in the heart of downtown Toronto. If you want to see what we look like, who is coaching and stuff like that then go to http://firefly.ryerson.ca/sportsandrec/sports/varsity/index.cfm?team=110&page=profiles
At the holiday break da Rams are sitting in 4th spot in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East Conference. Having run roughshod over the OUA West teams to the tune of a 5-3 record our sights are now set on the other seven teams in our conference. Play starts January 9th against Ottawa in Ottawa.

We are not going in with much, but a lot of belief in ourselves. that just might carry the day for us. In the meantime we do have a couple of individuals ranked in the Top Ten in the country. Scoring: #1 with a 26.56 ppg average is Boris Bakovic. 3-point FG%: #5 is Afeworki Gebrekerestos at 50%. Rebounding: Boris #6 with 9.67 rpg. FG%: Joey Imbrogno is in a three-way tie for 9th at 57.14%. More to come.

The Ryerson University Rams Men's Basketball three game winning streak began back on November 22, 2008. We played Laurier to a 10 point win that had everybody wondering what happened. Peter Campbell, the head coach at Laurier had hosted our coaching staff the night before at Morty's. This place has the best chicken wings in the country, so of course we were more than happy to accept his invitation and ribald hospitality. Listening to his stories of his team's exploitations kept us enthralled until the last drop of chicken wing juice. Meeting us at half-court after the game Peter's bombastic oratory was somewhat muted as he told us in rather colourful language what he thought of our visit to town. The game, well Forki had a nice game potting 13 points in 18 minutes of play. For the uninitiated Forki the Freshman has a real name and it is, Afeworki Gebrekerestos. A name that is much too long for this body of work and a game which is also hard to describe in a thousand words or less. To put it simply his game is a combination of theatre, art, sport and intelligence. Our other freshman of note, Josh Budd, chipped in 12 points. More on him in later postings. Of course, none of this feel good, fuzziness would have come to fruition without our main man, Boris Bakovic knocking down 35 points. More on him in later postings. The final, 85-75, a 20 pt reversal from the half, 30-40.

On the night of Friday, November the 28th postering was brought to a new height in the upper attic of Kerr Hall. Guelph's Jay Mott was having a great game shooting 4 for 7 from beyond the arc, causing a verbal frenzy from G4 (Glenn Taylor) and the rest of the Ryerson coaching staff. Then in one ill-fated last-man-standing moment Jay got himself posterized on TSN "Top 10 Plays of the Week"(#4). It was a coast to coast run by Ryerson's 6'1" junior guard, N'Krumah Hylton, ending in a monster one-hander over the under the net Mott, who subsequently fell to the floor. If you haven't seen it yet, then check it out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxpwhKXS0yc&eurl=http://firefly.ryerson.ca/sportsandrec/sports/varsity/index.cfm

The rest of the game, well we won by 17, 92-75. Once again we were down at half, this time, 44-50. There is a trend here, and that is that we are getting better. Living up to his storyline Boris had 35 pts in 36 minutes while pulling down double digit (12) rebounds.

The next night Brock Badgers were in the house that Howard Kerr built. Without a majority of their starters this was not the same team that won the National title last March. Mind you they still had their floor leader, PG Brad Rootes, who is now their off the floor leader as an assistant coach to the above referenced Murray. Rootes is back after a stint in the Ukrainian Professional League this past Fall. Too many guys with bulging leather coats patrolling the sidelines for his liking. We finally bucked our trend and won the first half, 42-30. The final 19 pt spanking, 85-66, was enough to have the rabid Badger fans yelling for G4 to pull the starters well before the game was done. Obviously, they have not had to endure the kind of trimmins the Rams have been handed the last few years. When you have lost like we have you are not sure if this is the light at the end of the tunnel or just another locomotive bearing down on us. Let's not let up until we know for sure.

Balanced scoring for the Rams. Boris had 19. His other hip, Ryan McNeilly had 14. Josh had 14. Joseph Imbrogno (remember that name there is much more to come from the 6'10" Sr.) had 14. Brock's sensational freshman, Didi Mukendi had 26 pts. Brock may be rebuilding,but it is not going to be long before they are a major threat again. Like March '09'. Nah, but isn't that what they said last year. You never know with coaching legend Ken Murray at the helm.

More postings to come.