Ada Sonnenfeld

After winning four straight QURL Championship titles, expectations were high for the McGill Rugby Team in 2010. The beginning of their season started well, as they consistently dominated with 30 to 40 point blowouts against Bishop’s University and University of Sherbrooke. All seemed to be going well until the team’s 15-game conference winning streak ended with a loss to Concordia. This was the only blemish on McGill’s record all season. They redeemed themselves in the final with their strongest performance of the season and a 22-10 win against Concordia. The Redmen controlled the game from the beginning and were never in danger of losing

After losing some veterans last year, the young team grew throughout the season. Focusing on specific game tactics and skills, especially working on playing the full 80 minutes, the team finally came together. They destroyed Sherbrooke in the semifinal and carried that momentum into the final.

Winger Gideon Balloch played spectacularly and consistently. He scored a personal best of 20 points twice throughout the season. One of these performances was in the final, in which he scored all of McGill’s 22 points. Cameron Perrin, a first-year called up from the Rugby Club A team, proved himself a threat on the field. In his first game he scored a fantastic try, and in following games was considered an offensive threat by the other teams.

MVP:  Gideon Balloch

Player to Watch:  Cameron Perrin

Alice Walker

The lacrosse team came into this season with little in the way of expectations and even less in continuity. The team lost 16 players from the 2009 squad to graduation and 2010 seemed destined to be a rebuilding season.

However, early on, McGill looked primed for another year of contention as the team got off to a strong 5-2 start before losing three in a row and falling to Carleton in the quarter-final of the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association playoffs.

Despite losing in the quarters, the team was competitive thanks to contributions throughout the lineup. Talented veteran Noah Miller from the University of Vermont led the team in goals with 25 and had 27 points for a share of the team lead. There were in-house improvements from Ryan Besse (who also scored 27 points), Guy Fox and Jishan Sharples. The rookies also chipped in, with strong performances from Ross Burst and Nolan Prinzen.

Since it was supposed to be a rebuilding season, we can’t hold this year’s team to the same standards as last year. Still, the players showed too much talent and heart early in the season to be satisfied with a .500 season and an early playoff exit. The lacrosse team will lose only four players to graduation this year and should be at the top of the CUFLA East standings next fall.

MVP: Guy Fox

Player to Watch:  Jishan Sharples

John Kelsey

Entering 2010, expectations were high for the Redmen football team. By all measures, however, the season was a big disappointment. During the 2009 season, the Redmen made huge strides under Head Coach Sonny Wolfe and actually won a couple games. However, this year started off terribly, as sophomore starting quarterback Jonathan Collin suffered a season ending knee injury in a 50-9 loss to Laval. Things only got worse as McGill lost in a heartbreaking double overtime game to Bishop’s and blew a 15-point lead against Concordia in the annual “Fill the Stadium” game. The dismal season’s most embarrassing performance was a 68-0 loss at the hands of eventual champions Laval.

Despite again finishing with no wins, there were a few bright spots for the Redmen. In the final season of his remarkable career, star receiver Charles-Antoine Sinotte became the all time leading receiver in CIS football history and led the Redmen with 52 receptions. In addition, Defensive Tackle Ben Thompson was named a second-team All-Canadian at the CIS Football Awards Gala. Thompson is only the 43rd All-Canadian in school history and the first since 2007.

While Collin’s injury played a major role in the Redmen’s struggles, they lost winnable games against Concordia and Bishop’s. The 2010 season can only be looked upon as a letdown. Despite Sinotte leaving the team, next season looks more promising as Collin returns from injury and McGill aims to get in the win column.

MVPs: Ben Thompson and Charles-Antoine Sinotte

Player to Watch:  Jonathan Collin

Adam Scotti

As the year’s first snowfall blankets the city, and the water is drained from the rowing basin in Parc Jean Drapeau, McGill’s Crew season comes to an end.

The McGill rowers, under the guidance of Head Coach Philip Hedrei, trained nearly every morning since late August and had a successful season, with promising results throughout the fall. The women’s lightweight crew, comprised of Patricia Latendresse (Coxswain), Marie-Christine Razaire (stroke), Emma Sheehan, Iris Karry, Jennifer Allan, Bridget Schrempf, Fred de Muszka, Leiya Kenney, and Megan Lydon were recently voted “Crew of the Year” at the season ending banquet. Their season was highlighted by impressive performances at the  Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston (placing in sixth, a mere seven seconds off fourth place) and at the OUA final in St. Catherine’s, finishing third with a time of 6:55.8, three seconds behind the first place Queen’s University. Allan received the Crew’s MVP award and was one of four McGill lightweight women (along with Razaire, Sheehan, and Karry) to travel to Victoria in early November and participate in the Canadian University Rowing Championship. After making the A final, the lightweight four finished fifth overall.

On the men’s side the lightweight four, made up of veteran rowers Renaud Garon-Gendron, Michael Ross, Nate DeBono, and Evan Dejonghe, and coxed by Rinita Mazumder, had success throughout the season. Their third place finish at Head of the Charles, a painstaking 1.5 seconds off first, along with a third place finish at the OUA final were some of the many successful results of the season.

Finally, the novice men’s eight finished their season impressively, winning silver at the OUA finals.

McGill’s outlook for the future is promising given the tremendous dedication and success shown by this year’s novice rowers and several retuning rowers next season.

MVPs: Jen Allen and Renaud Garon-Gendron

Players to Watch:  Philippe Toren and Leiya Kenney

Holly Stewart

All the Martlets want for Christmas are two more wins to keep their regular season record unblemished going into the winter break. On Saturday, they took a step towards that goal by beating the UQAM Citadins 76-70 to improve to 4-0. Even when the pressure was on, the Martlets kept their composure and came out on top.

The Martlets led 19-17 at the end of the first quarter and 40-28 at halftime.

Despite heading into the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, McGill’s defence floundered and UQAM was able to close the gap, gaining the lead with five minutes to play. After a McGill time out, forward Anneth Him-Lazarenko used her signature drop-step to score, finishing with six points in the fourth. In the last two minutes of the game, UQAM resorted to fouling to get the ball back and the team’s Marjolaine Gauthier-Théorêt fouled out with 24 seconds to go. Despite UQAM’s relentless efforts, McGill went six for six at the line in the last few minutes of the game and stayed patient on offence. Power forward Valerie L’Ecuyer, who scored eight points, made a huge contribution on the boards by grabbing seven offensive and three defensive rebounds.

“It went well,” L’Ecuyer said. “We had a great comeback at the end but I think we all need to work on the little things, like being sharp on pressure and reducing our turnovers.”

Natalie Larocque showed off an impressive all-around game with 20 points, three three-pointers, and five rebounds. She was also perfect from the stripe, making nine out of nine free throw attempts.

“Previously, I hadn’t been driving to the basket, but today I didn’t want to settle for my outside shot,” Larocque said. “In the first half it made it really easy for me to find my teammates. In the second half, I drove to the basket because my teammates were covered and UQAM was fouling.”

“The team worked really hard and we played with leadership and poise,” said Head Coach Ryan Thorne. “On our part, there were a few breakdowns on defence and communication, but UQAM also made some highly contested shots. However, saying that, we allowed too many points today. We are where we want to be at offensively with about 70-80 points, but we are aiming for 40 points for the other team. As we are working towards the championships, we will definitely need to work on our defence.”

Larocque agreed with her coach about the team’s goals.

“The good thing about this team is that every night somebody else contributes and somebody else steps up,” said Larocque. “Right now, we are feeling pretty good with a 4-0 record, but from the beginning we knew our objective is the championships and this game is a little step towards that.”

The Martlets’ last game before the break is at home on December 3 at 6 p.m. against the University of Laval.

What’s going on with the Miami Heat? Following the acquisition of Lebron James and Chris Bosh this summer, the Heat became the consensus favourite of pundits and fans across the league to win the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. However, the heated discussion that ensued wasn’t reserved for whether they would win the championship, it was for whether or not the Heat could go down in history by bettering the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls’ 72-win season. In recent history, the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics were the only team to unite three superstars, winning the Larry O’Brien trophy in their first year together. The expectations for the Heat are even bigger; the only issue is that the results have been disappointing so far.

With a fifth of the season over, the Heat are sitting at a pedestrian 9-8, sixth in a weak Eastern conference. Far from looking like the elite of the league, the Heat instead seem like a team that’s lacking direction and leadership.

The Heat have struggled in two important areas. They rank 21st out of 30 teams in rebounds per game, and they are the league’s third worst team in turnover differential. Following a loss to the Indiana Pacers, James said the issue was that, “We aren’t having fun right now.” While it may be the true that they aren’t having a good time, the reality of their struggle, it seems, is a basic economic principle: the law of diminishing returns.

For those unfamiliar with economics, the law of diminishing returns simply says that if the number of workers is increased (while all other factors of production remain constant), the resulting increase in output will eventually level off and then decline. The Miami Heat are an example of this law in action, as the added superstars have been less effective than they were on separate teams. This has made the Heat less productive overall.

Last year, Wade was the lone superstar on the Heat. This season he’s scoring five fewer points per game, and has just over half as many assists as last year. James, the reigning MVP, has also seen his stats take a hit. His points per game have dropped by six, and his assist totals have dropped as well. Finally, Chris Bosh—always mentioned after James and Wade—is averaging almost seven points per game fewer than he did last season. While it was expected that there would be some decrease in scoring for each member of the “big three,” the decrease in assists is concerning for Heat fans.

The team suffered their eighth loss on November 27. In 07-08, the Celtics didn’t hit eight losses until exactly two months later, on January 27. Boston didn’t suffer from the law of diminishing returns to the same extent because their big three (Pierce, Garnett, and Allen) understood their respective roles in the offence. They also didn’t all require the ball in order to be effective.  One of Allen’s primary skills is his ability to move without the ball, and Garnett’s tenacity on defence was, and still is, his most valued asset for that Celtics championship team.  

The Heat are nearly the polar opposite of that team. Miami’s big three were each the primary offensive weapon on their respective teams last season. This is shown by the metric usage percentage, which roughly measures a player’s involvement in his team’s offence. Last season, James, Wade, and Bosh all ranked in the top 10 for usage percentage, and James and Wade were first and second respectively. Under that guise, it’s understandable why they seem unable to work together as teammates and instead are playing like individuals. James conceded that fact, saying, “[Wade, Bosh and himself are] used to having the ball, making plays, finishing plays. It’s a process of having to still be aggressive but playing off the ball. It’s an adjustment.”

Additionally, Head Coach Erik Spoelstra runs an offence that is fairly isolation oriented. The Heat have been taking too many long two-point shots, as opposed to getting the easy, efficient buckets that the three superstars were supposed to provide. Previous teams stacked with superstars were a stark contrast to the Heat, including the Bulls teams of the 1990s and the Lakers teams of the early 2000s. Coached by Phil Jackson, these teams ran a triangle offence, which is conducive to getting more players involved.

Given the lack of success, there’s been growing recognition that it might be time to replace Spoelstra. Following the team’s seventh loss, Wade said, “We never predicted we would be 8-7. You understand it’s bigger than just talent. This is a prime example of that.” Jackson also stirred controversy by saying that Spoelstra should be replaced mid season by Pat Riley, like the Heat previously did with Stan Van Gundy en route to their 2006 championship.

In order for the Heat to shed their early disappointing performances they need to learn from their opponent, the Boston Celtics. The Celtics’ big three were able to adapt their style of play to fit, and excel in, a new situation. The Heat thus far have been unable to do so. Unless they can learn to better integrate each other into both the offence and defence, the Heat are doomed to go down in the books—not the history books, the economics textbooks.

Holly Stewart

The McGill Redmen defeated the UQAM Citadins 78-67 at Love Competition Hall on Saturday night to improve to 3-1 on the season. The team now shares the QUBL division lead with Laval (3-0) and Concordia (3-1). Sophomore centre Greg Gause scored a career-high 24 points and standout freshman Simon Bibeau added 16 as McGill continued its strong play under first-year coach Dave DeAveiro.

Coming off a tough 72-68 loss at Concordia on Friday, in which the Redmen were out-rebounded by a staggering  33-17 margin, McGill hit the boards hard on Saturday managing 41 rebounds to the Citadins 29.

“Today, we were playing the number one rebounding team in the country,” DeAveiro said. “We knew if we didn’t rebound it was going to be a long night for us, so that was our focus.”

The Redmen controlled the tempo of game from the opening tip as they jumped out to a 23-17 lead after the first quarter, and pushed ahead by as many as 14 points with 5:37 left in the half. Sophomore point guard Olivier Bouchard and centre Greg Gause demonstrated strong chemistry on offence, hooking up on a number of ball screens.

“We run a lot of two-man game ball screens with me and my point man Olivier,” Gause said. “That’s what we are looking for: if they switch, he takes the big man, or if they double, I got that shot right there in the short corner.”

Momentum switched, however, in UQAM’s favour at the end of the half, as McGill failed to use the shot clock to their advantage. McGill rushed their possessions, turned the ball over and took bad fouls. UQAM forward Gregory St-Amand and guard Eric Côté-Kougnima led the Citadins on a 18-7 run to shrink the McGill lead to 39-36.

The Redmen were obviously aggravated by their inability to put the game out of reach early.

“We have to understand how to play when we are winning by 10 or 12 or 14 points, we don’t have to come down and throw up quick shots. I was frustrated with that more than anything else,” DeAveiro said.  “We don’t know how to play when we’re winning. We are selfish. What we have to learn as a team is that it’s a different game than when you are up 10 or down 10 or up five or down five. That’s the thing that I talked to them about at halftime.”

McGill continued to play strong defence throughout the game. They forced UQAM star Eric Côté-Kougnima into bad shots late in the shot clock. Despite logging 38 minutes of playing time, Côté-Kougnima shot a miserable 2-10 from the field and 2-5 from the free throw line, turning the ball over three times.

McGill also got a better effort from their bench players on Saturday night, outscoring UQAM’s reserves by a margin of 26-15. Nicolas Langley, a 6’7″ forward from Golden, B.C., was a nice complement to Gause’s career day, tallying 12 points and six rebounds in just 21 minutes of play.

“[Langley and I] worked well together,” Gause said. “We were knocking our shots down, and it is tough to guard when we can do that.”

The Redmen were again able to pull away in the fourth quarter, increasing their lead to 11 with 5:22 left in the game. UQAM frantically tried to close the gap, but the deficit was ultimately too much for the Citadins, whose loss dropped them to 2-3 in the division.

DeAveiro has added a spark to the squad this season, creating intensity that was lacking in previous years. He seems to have the ability to light a fire under his players and has shown an adept ability to make effective adjustments during the game. DeAveiro’s record speaks for itself, at 210-127 overall during his 10 seasons coaching in the CIS.

“I think [Coach DeAveiro’s] good,” Gause said. “So far our season has proven that. We’ve won some big games, and are off to a great start to the season. Hopefully we can keep it up.”

McGill will look to build on its strong start on Friday, when the Redmen play third ranked Laval at home.

For those of you who don’t keep TSN as your home page or Sports Illustrated as your bedtime reading, we know sports can be hard to understand. This section is for you.

Laval wins Vanier Cup over U of Calgary

CIS FOOTBALL: The top ranked Rouge-et-Or won their sixth Vanier cup with a dominating 29-2 victory over Calgary. Playing in a snowstorm in front of a sold out home crowd, Laval quickly jumped out to a 17-0 lead behind star running back Sébastien Lévesque. Looks like Laval can do a lot more than just shut out the Redmen.

The glass slipper doesn’t fit

NCAA FOOTBALL: It was a wild weekend in the NCAA. First, the incredible Cam Newton led a 24-point comeback against defending National Champion Alabama to keep Auburn’s undefeated season alive. Then, Nevada mounted an impressive 17-point comeback of their own, as they extinguished Boise State’s national title hopes. Oregon won too, meaning that if they and Auburn win their next games the two teams will meet for the National Championship. The confusing BCS picture just got a lot clearer.

The only Harvard grad struggling to stay employed

NFL FOOTBALL: Buffalo Bills starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is literally playing for his job. Heading into last year’s draft pundits were expecting the Bills to target a franchise QB, but they passed. This year, team owner Ralph Wilson said the team’s top priority for the offseason was finding a starting QB. However, with every win he earns Fitzpatrick not only demonstrates his value, he also puts his team further back in a draft that should include potential franchise QB Andrew Luck and decreases their chances of getting him.

Saskatchewan devastated; rest of Canada indifferent

CFL FOOTBALL: On Sunday, in a sequel to last year’s matchup, the Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders travelled to beautiful Edmonton to contest the 98th Grey Cup. The Als held onto a late lead for the second year in a row. Previously labelled with the “perennial underachiever” tag the Als are now drawing some dynasty talk with the two-peat. Anthony Calvillo cemented his Hall of Fame status with the win.

Quote of the week

“I was going to spank him. He may not hurt. It may hurt me.”

­—Boston Celtics Head Coach Doc Rivers discussing how he planned to punish Shaquille O’Neal for missing practice.

Maxime Sawicki

The Martlets Cross Country Team was finally able to bring back the QSSF title this season. The team had won that title for 20 consecutive years heading into the 2008 season before losing it in 2009. The season started strong and the Martlets became regulars on the CIS weekly Top 10 list.

Returning after an impressive rookie season, sophomore Sarah McCuaig consistently dominated the Quebec conference. McCuaig ended the season as the top runner in Quebec and earned All-Canadian honours. Junior Charlène Puel and sophomore Madeleine Cummings also exhibited their strength and experience as they helped the team’s placement throughout the season. Despite the Martlets’ victory at the QSSF championships, unexpected injuries and illnesses resulted in their season ending disappointingly with an 11th place finish at the National Championships. With a powerful core of runners remaining, the Martlets will be aiming for a stronger finish at nationals next season.

On the men’s side, this season was the definition of a rebuilding year. After enormous turnover, only two veterans were left on the squad. The addition of 12 rookies formed an almost completely new Redmen team. Among the new faces was freshman Jay Boychuk. He entered halfway through the season and immediately began to produce results, eventually winning the bronze medal at the QSSF championships. Overall, the Redmen finished in 4th place in Quebec and 13th in the nation.

Daniel Kramer and Graydon Snider, the sole veterans on this year’s team, will graduate this year. The outlook for next season is difficult to forecast for this young, developing team. They will rely on the progress of newcomers throughout the upcoming indoor track season to reinstate solidarity on the squad.

MVPs:  Sarah McCuaig, Jay Boychuk

Players to Watch:  Ouiam Aabaliq, Oliver Foster

Both of McGill’s hockey teams’ incredible seasons continued this past weekend. The Martlets kept their undefeated season alive with two wins. They dominated the University of Montreal in a 4-0 win as Charline Labonté posted her third consecutive shutout. The Martlets jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.

The next night, Ann-Sophie Bettez scored two shootout goals as the top ranked Martlets squeaked out a 2-1 shootout win over Carleton. Despite out-shooting Carleton 27-17, the Martlets needed a third period goal from Carly Hill to tie the game and force extra time. Overtime ended scoreless and Bettez and Labonté carried McGill to victory in the shootout.

Labonté now has a 7-0-0 record with an impressive 0.70 GAA, 0.955 SV percentage and four shutouts. The wins extended McGill’s QUHL winning streak to a dominant 90 consecutive games.

The Redmen had only one game scheduled this weekend. McGill returned home, to McConnell Arena, after they suffered their first loss of the season against Brock last weekend. Captain Evan Vossen scored 1:27 into overtime to give the Redmen a hard fought 5-4 victory against the University of Guelph Gryphons.

Hubert Genest scored his second goal of the game 2:32 into the third period to give McGill a lead 4-2. However, they were unable to hold off the Gryphon who scored two consecutive goals to force OT. Depsite the collapse, the Redmen kept their composure as Vossen scored the game winner, his ninth of the year.

It was an extremely even game in which McGill was outshot 27-26. The Redmen had their opportunities to put the game out of reach in regulation as they had nine powerplays, however, they were only able to score twice with the man advantage.

McGill sniper Francis Verreault-Paul scored his 21st goal of the season. He is having a year for the record books.

The third ranked Redmen look to build on their momentum when they play UQTR on December 1 while the Martlets will try to extend their conference winning streak when they face off agianst Concordia on December 4.

– Walker KitchensBoth of McGill’s hockey teams’ incredible seasons continued this past weekend. The Martlets kept their undefeated season alive with two wins. They dominated the University of Montreal in a 4-0 win as Charline Labonté posted her third consecutive shutout. The Martlets jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.

The next night, Ann-Sophie Bettez scored two shootout goals as the top ranked Martlets squeaked out a 2-1 shootout win over Carleton. Despite out-shooting Carleton 27-17, the Martlets needed a third period goal from Carly Hill to tie the game and force extra time. Overtime ended scoreless and Bettez and Labonté carried McGill to victory in the shootout.

Labonté now has a 7-0-0 record with an impressive 0.70 GAA, 0.955 SV percentage and four shutouts. The wins extended McGill’s QUHL winning streak to a dominant 90 consecutive games.

The Redmen had only one game scheduled this weekend. McGill returned home, to McConnell Arena, after they suffered their first loss of the season against Brock last weekend. Captain Evan Vossen scored 1:27 into overtime to give the Redmen a hard fought 5-4 victory against the University of Guelph Gryphons.

Hubert Genest scored his second goal of the game 2:32 into the third period to give McGill a lead 4-2. However, they were unable to hold off the Gryphon who scored two consecutive goals to force OT. Depsite the collapse, the Redmen kept their composure as Vossen scored the game winner, his ninth of the year.

It was an extremely even game in which McGill was outshot 27-26. The Redmen had their opportunities to put the game out of reach in regulation as they had nine powerplays, however, they were only able to score twice with the man advantage.

McGill sniper Francis Verreault-Paul scored his 21st goal of the season. He is having a year for the record books.

The third ranked Redmen look to build on their momentum when they play UQTR on December 1 while the Martlets will try to extend their conference winning streak when they face off agianst Concordia on December 4.