The Tribune

Staring up at the scoreboard in McGill’s Love Competition Hall, the visiting team watched the seconds tick down to zero before they began to celebrate their 74-68 exhibition basketball win over the Redmen volleyball team last Tuesday. The visitors are used to keeping an eye on the clock, though, because the sound of the buzzer isn’t very helpful.

Philadelphia Phillies: In their quest for a third straight pennant, the Phillies added Roy Halladay. Now they have great starting pitching, and four guys on the team who hit 30 home runs or more last season. Factor in a shutdown bullpen, and here’s the team to beat in the entire senior circuit.

2010 marked the end of an era for the Martlets. Canada’s top women’s hockey program was finally humbled by the Alberta Pandas in the CIS championship game last month by a score of 2-0. The victory ended the team’s record-shattering 86-game winning streak against CIS competition, as well as McGill’s 20-game playoff winning streak, dating back to 2007.

Before Matt Connell, no McGill quarterback had ever thrown for 400 yards in a game. On Saturday, the senior pivot surpassed the quadruple-century mark for the fourth time in his career and the second time this season. Connell powered the offence to 410 yards through the air and four touchdowns, as the Redmen took two crucial points from Sherbrooke with a 33-14 win.

The Redmen have struggled to put together a full 60 minutes of football this season, in recent weeks having held the lead at halftime against top-ranked Laval and keeping the score close at the break against Université de Montréal. Last Saturday, the story was no different.

Not that there was a contest, but with its new high-definition studio, TSN has solidified itself as the superpower of Canadian sports. In all realms of sports broadcasting, TSN is superior to its rivals at the CBC and Rogers Sportsnet. But what does having sports-broadcasting hegemony mean for the Canadian market? Most significantly, it means that CBC and RSN might as well kiss the NHL goodbye after 2007-2008.

This past Thursday, Hockey Night in Canada kicked off its 54th season on the CBC. This year’s edition features a few fresh faces in former San Jose Sharks colour commentator Drew Remenda and former Canadian women’s national team captain Cassie Campbell as well as a new feature called “Think Hockey.

Despite key personnel losses, the McGill Redmen hockey team is set to make a run at their third straight OUA East division title. More importantly, the Redmen hope to get another shot at the CIS Nationals after last year’s campaign ended in heartbreak. Although the loss of star forward Doug Orr and last year’s captain Pierre-Antoine Paquet stings, Head Coach Martin Raymond remains optimistic.

It’s an unfortunate circumstance of our society that female sports almost always get tucked away behind their male counterparts. Even here on the largely egalitarian campus of McGill, women’s athletics still seem to lack the spotlight that Redmen squads receive.

The wind was howling Saturday afternoon at Forbes Field, conspiring with the McMaster Marauders to blow away McGill’s chance at an undefeated season. Two unanswered overtime goals, including a hat-trick marker for the Marauder’s Matt Morgan, left the Redmen on the wrong side of a 10-8 score.