Sonny Wolfe, who took over from Chuck McMann as the McGill football program’s head coach in April of 2007, has stepped down from his post.

Wolfe announced the decision to his team after practice on Oct. 11. Earl Zukerman, Communications and Publications Officer for the Department of Athletics at McGill, broke the news to the public in a press release.

“The chances of making the playoffs are slim so it’s time to start thinking of next year,” Wolfe said, in an interview with Zukerman.

Wolfe had planned to step down next year, leaving the position open for the apparent heir-in-waiting—defensive coordinator Clint Uttley, who’s been with the Redmen for four years.

Wolfe will stay with the team in some capacity until his contract ends in April.

With three games remaining in the season, the next of which is this Saturday, Uttley will find himself in the hot seat sooner than anticipated.

 

There is an old adage that says “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Although this can be said about many sports teams, it applied particularly well to the Bishop’s Gaiters on Thursday as they roared back from a 9-5 deficit at the end of the third quarter to an 11-10 overtime win over the previously undefeated Redmen.

The large crowd that had braved the cold to attend “Fill the Hill” seemed confident that McGill would prevail, as they ended the first half leading their rivals 7-3. Yet an unruly fourth quarter cost the Redmen enormously and their 9-4 lead had evaporated by the time the final buzzer rang. 

“We made some mental mistakes, and we took some stupid penalties, and unfortunately we lost our composure a little bit in the second half, which really affected our concentration offensively,” Head Coach Timothy Murdoch said. “We had to stay on the defensive for way too long, and we allowed them to creep back into the game, tie it up and then actually get ahead.”

Despite the late game collapse, the team can focus on the many positives. McGill dominated Bishop’s during most of the first half, only allowing them to score two quick goals 13 minutes into the game, and then one late in the frame. McGill’s Alex Rohrbach and Ryan Besse potted two apiece in the first quarter, with Besse completing his hat trick in the second. This feat didn’t go unnoticed by his coach. 

“I’d say Ryan Besse was probably the outstanding player of the game [for McGill], he had a hat trick …[and] he played extremely well offensively,” Murdoch said. Jishan Sharples and Nolan Prinzen scored the other McGill goals.

McGill was also strong in the third quarter, as both sides scored twice, making it 9-5 Redmen. The score might have been much closer had it not been for McGill goaltender Ward Waesche who  made three incredible saves on point blank shots, including a gliding foot save.

The fourth quarter was a different story, as Bishop’s players got under the Redmen’s skin, leading to 13 penalties against the home team. The Gaiters scored five unanswered goals to take a one-goal lead before McGill’s J.J. Miller was able to tie the game in the last minute of play. However, Miller’s last-minute heroics weren’t enough, as Bishop’s scored once more in overtime to end McGill’s winning streak at seven.

Despite his apparent disappointment over the loss, Murdoch remained positive about his team’s performance. “I was proud of the team, even though we lost, I thought we played extremely well … in an emotional game. We fought back hard, and just ran out of gas in the overtime,” Murdoch said.

Despite the loss, McGill remains in first place in the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association East standings with two games remaining in the regular season. The Redmen will attempt to get back on track as they close out the year with a pair of games against winless Queen’s.

 

The defending champions saw their reign come to a crashing halt Monday, as the Redmen baseball team dropped the deciding third game of their CIBA Northern Conference semi-final against the Concordia Stingers. With the win, Concordia qualifies for the National Championship tournament while McGill will be left at home wondering what could have been. After taking home the title last year, the Redmen sputtered to an 0-4 start. They closed the season in much better form and even took the first game of the series against the Stingers 9-3 on Sunday afternoon. That lead was squandered, however, as Concordia took the last two games by scores of 5-2 and 9-0. “There could have been [a championship hangover]. You know, guys were still on a high after winning, there’s still a lot of talk about the rings and all the garments we got that had ‘national champions’ on it. The minute that championship was done, for me it’s done,” Head Coach Ernie D’Alessandro said. “We were a little disappointed with how everything turned out. Short season, things get off to a slow start, and sometimes it’s tough to right the ship. We lost a couple of guys that we didn’t expect to lose, we had a bunch of injuries, and things just never seemed to turn around for us.”

 

After his appearance at the POP versus Jock Charity Basketball Game, held at McGill’s Love Competition Hall on Saturday Sept. 24, the Tribune had the privilege of speaking to current NBA player and former Toronto Raptor Matt Bonner.

Bonner has been with the San Antonio Spurs organization since 2006, and won a championship with them in 2007. However, lately, instead of fighting for the Larry O’Brien Trophy on the hardcourt, Bonner, as Vice President of the NBA Players Association, has been battling the NBA owners in the boardroom for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

The Tribune contacted Bonner at his home in Toronto, and we discussed rookie tribulations, the origins of his “Red Rocket” nickname, his thoughts on the city of Montreal, and, nearest and dearest to all our hearts, academics.

 

After you were drafted by the Raptors you were asked to spend a year in Italy. Can you describe that experience?

While I was in Italy I had a great year on the court, but off the court it was an absolute nightmare. I only got paid half of my money, I had my electricity cut out: I had two  eviction notices because the team wasn’t paying my rent. My water heater broke the first week I was there and never got fixed. I’d do the old freezing cold shower, like when you jump in, get wet, jump out, soap up, jump in, rinse off, jump out. And also I think because of that, because I couldn’t disinfect anything with hot water, I ended up getting salmonella poisoning at one point. I was sick for six days and I lost 22 pounds. I hit 105-temperature fevers. I was hallucinating and stuff. And…uh…that was a lot of fun.

But that taught me two things: One, it made me want to make it in the NBA that much more, and two, once I got to the NBA, I never took anything for granted. I’m so happy just to be in the NBA. That was always my dream.

[A]t the end of all that I got my one-year rookie minimum, unguaranteed contract. The worst contract you can get, but I took it, even though I was getting much bigger offers in Europe because, like I said, playing in the NBA was my dream.

 

How do you feel about being such a fan favourite in Toronto?

I don’t even know what to say, it’s just incredibly flattering and awesome that all the fans would take to me, you know?…I don’t consider myself a flashy or exciting player to watch, I just try to go out and do whatever I can to help the team win, you know, through hustle and hard work….

It was funny, in Toronto, I got the nickname “The Red Rocket” because I never had a car and I just would either walk to the games or practice, or if it was raining I would take the streetcar or the subway. [Editor’s note: The red colour of Toronto’s TTC transit system and Bonner’s red hair both contributed to the nickname.] A lot of times, going to the game and coming home, I’m on the streetcar with fans who are also going or coming from the game. And they’re just like, “What are you doing here?” And I’m like, “I’m going home, just like you!” And I remember, every time I’d do a basketball camp we’d open it up for questions and one of the questions would be, “What kind of car do you drive?” You know, a big NBA player must have an awesome car. And they just could not understand when I’d tell them that I don’t have a car.

Another funny one…I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, it’s so embarrassing…because I didn’t really make much money in Italy—then I came back and played for the Raptors and I never really had time to secure living arrangements, so, when I came home that following summer, I remember I lived in my parent’s tiny basement with my brother for the whole summer. A year after playing in the NBA. And I remember, same thing at camps, [fans would ask] “How big is your house?” and I’d have to explain to them that I lived in my parents’ basement.

One thing I learned about the NBA is that in college I might average 20 points a game, in Italy I might average 20 points a game, but in the NBA I’m not going to score 20 points a game, ever. I’m not an All-Star. I’m not even a full-time starter. I’m fine with that, I understand that. It’s about finding your niche and your role that is part of the whole and that will win.

 

You said you’re not an All-Star but a lot of people felt like you should’ve been at the All-Star game in the three-point competition.

Don’t get me started on that. I feel like I’ve gotten the shaft a few times in that department but they always come back with some reason or excuse why I didn’t go. I’m just going to keep shooting the ball and hopefully one of these times I can catch a break. I just hope when I finally catch it I don’t go up there and shoot a two.

 

How great has it been playing with Tim Duncan in San Antonio?

It’s been awesome, he’s an incredible player. I mean, not just about his physical skills on the court, but his mentality; he’s about all the right things and will do whatever it takes to win. Some nights he won’t shoot the ball if he’s getting double-teamed because he knows if he kicks it out we can swing it and get a better shot off the rotation but if he needs to score he will. He’s not selfish. He doesn’t have an ego. He just goes out and wants to win.

He’s a really funny guy. I get along great with him because I’m from New England and people in New England have a very dry, sarcastic sense of humour and he shares that same attribute. He has a very sarcastic sense of humour and is definitely a funny guy.

 

What are your plans for the lockout?

I’m vice president on the executive board of the Players Association so I’ve been sitting in on all the negotiation sessions, which means a lot of travelling back and forth to New York City, so I’ve been busy with that, obviously, spending a lot of time with my family. [I’m] enjoying that aspect of the lockout. Normally right now I’d be in training camp but I can put in more time with my family and just work out and try to be healthy and in shape for whenever the lockout ends.

 

How did you maintain such a high GPA while playing so much ball?

Just busy. Hard work and being busy. I remember I’d go stretches where I’d wake up at 8 and go to bed at midnight for weeks at a time where every spare second was either something academic—studying, class, lab, whatever—or basketball—lifting weights, individual instruction, practice, games. So I just buckled down, put my head down and said I’m going to get the most out of college I can. I’m a student athlete and that means I’m going to get the most I can out of academics and on the court, and that’s what I tried to do.

 

How did you like our city when you came here for Pop Montreal?

It was amazing. Growing up in New Hampshire, which is about a three hour drive to Montreal, I remember in high school all my buddies would drive up to Montreal to party. You know, the drinking age is lower, they had the casino, and the US dollar was worth twice as much as the Canadian dollar back then and they would just go up there and go nuts and come back Monday morning and tell me all about it. And I obviously never went, I was at the YMCA working on my jumpshot. So the only stories I ever heard about Montreal coming up were these stories of just how…I don’t even know what I was picturing in my head, I was picturing the craziest party place, like Las Vegas times 10, like young 18
-year-old kids just passed out on the street from going nuts. And so I never really had a chance to take a proper visit to Montreal because I went to the University of Florida, then my career and everything. It just never happened for whatever the reason, even though it’s so close. So to be able to go to Montreal and have Win and Will and everybody from Arcade Fire be our hosts and be passionate about sharing their city with me and my wife, we had an absolute blast. We went to so many amazing restaurants and concerts and the whole Pop Montreal festival and everything that entails was amazing. We got to do the Old Port. 

We just got a really good cross-section of what Montreal’s about over those four days and it really blew my mind. I loved it, loved the city and it definitely shattered my preconceived notion of what it was.

I look forward to next year when I come back and hopefully participate again and get some of those same experiences.

 

As an American, the concept of Thanksgiving in October has always seemed a bit odd. Instead of coming home to Long Island for nearly a week at the end of November to see all of my family and friends at once, I return for only three days when everyone is busy making preparations for fall and when turkeys aren’t even on sale (or readily available) at most grocery stores.

The worst part about not being home for American Thanksgiving, however, is missing football. Perhaps this is why it made sense to my father that if I couldn’t be home on American Thanksgiving and watch American football, we would instead go to the Islanders’ home opener every year on Canadian Thanksgiving and watch a Canadian sport. 

Despite what you may think, going to see a game at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is not that bad. The Coliseum itself looks exactly like what you would expect from an arena. It was built long enough ago that my father saw Led Zeppelin there in the flesh; it’s a bit past its prime, but still has more structural integrity than any bridge in Montreal. Sure, the seats are probably not as wide as they should be for the modern fan, but that’s common in old arenas. While some of the nose-bleed seats (our favourite section) have limited sightlines, that’s more than compensated for by the fact that tickets are under $40 and you can still see everything that happens on the ice. 

For a team that my Canadian friends tell me no one goes to see, the Coliseum was packed. I counted about seven open seats during the first period. Fans were energized and excited for the start of a new season, despite the fact that the game was against a weak Florida Panthers team. 

Fans in New York are exactly as we are rumoured to be. When Rick DiPietro’s name was announced for the first time this season, he was greeted with a chorus of boos. Say what you will about us, but at least we’re honest, and we hope DiPietro and the upper levels of management get the message that hiring a sack of potatoes to play goaltender would probably be cheaper and more effective.

The game itself was great. Even though the Islanders were shut down in the first period and looked as though they didn’t know the regular season had started, the crowd remained energized and engaged for most of the game. Occasionally I heard quips from the people around me about how in three years the team would move away and how the drive up to Quebec City would be difficult. Most likely as a result of years of suffering, Islanders fans have realized that we don’t have a front office or a team – all we have is each other and our wisecracks. 

Some fans took comfort in the fact that the Islanders do have the most over-paid, most scantily clad snow shovelers in the league in the “Ice Girls.” These girls, who someone once described as “the girls who didn’t quite make the Olympic ice-skating team,” were surely there to draw attention away from the team on the ice. They did so with little success. 

As the game wound down and people decided that their time would be better spent fighting to get out of the parking lot early than watching the game, I was sad. The Islanders probably need a better roster and a better arena, but for a team that has had relatively little success over the past 30 years, they have a tremendously loyal and devoted fan base.That is something to be valued by any team.