Sports roundtable

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Chris Borland got tired of suplexing fools./ Dainomite

Chris Borland got tired of suplexing fools./ Dainomite

Currently experiencing March Sadness

Authors: Harrison Brooks, John Loeppky, Matt Wincherauk, Brady Lang, Michael Chmielewski

1. The first weekend of March Madness is done, and for some people, it could be viewed as March Sadness. If you did a bracket, how does it look, and who’s your pick to win from here on out? 

Loeppky: I’m going to be that loser who says that he is only rooting for good basketball. I think that Kentucky has the easiest road, but that Wisconsin and Duke aren’t all that far behind. This is not a tournament with a Cinderella-style team. Sure, favourites are dropping, how’s that golfing going Villanova? But this bracket is more about who can take down Goliath (Kentucky).

Brooks: March Sadness indeed. Screw you, Iowa State! I believed in you. With the amount of high seeds gone already I think you have to go with top ranked Kentucky, but beware of Duke.

Wincherauk: I gave up on my bracket after day one, like I do most years. I can’t get too upset though because it’s too much fun watching a number one seed come crashing down at the hands of an upstart number eight seed. My wishful thinking pick is still Gonzaga, but my living in reality pick is the Kentucky, McDonald’s All-Americans.

Lang: My bracket busted in game one – figures. As for my final pick, Wisconsin is where I went; at least I have a shot at that!

Chmielewski: I didn’t have a bracket. I’m a huge loser. I’m more of an NBA guy anyway. I like watching overpaid prima donnas rather than great basketball with players who are exploited.

 

2. With the Track and Field CIS National Championships ending two weeks ago, that marks the end of the winter sports season at the U of R. What was your highlight from this winter season?

Loeppky: This season, for me, has been all about individual accomplishments. The usual suspects (as in the team sports) often get the attention, but the track and wrestling teams won a ton of competitions this year and broke a number of school records along the way.

Brooks: Highlight from the winter season is honestly all of the “genos” I sniped for my red floor hockey team.

Wincherauk: The highlight for me had to be the Track and Field team’s trip to the Canada West Championships. Not only did they bring home a ton of hardware, but the Carillon was able to document a lot of it as well. Props to Marketing Manager Arthur Ward for the hard work that he did with that.

Lang: The track team was impressive yet again for another season, seeing their fifth years kill it was definitely nice to see, but with other clubs rebuilding it’s going to be interesting to see these clubs build for the future.

Chmielewski: The fact that it’s over, that means I’m closer to graduating (fuck yeah).

 

3. The NHL playoffs are just around the corner, and everyone is gearing up for another wild ride to the Stanley Cup. Who’s your pick to take home the big silver cup this season?

Loeppky: I would like to see the Canadiens bring the cup north of the border. With that being said, the Ducks are seven and three in the last ten and have been rolling of late. With how the western conference has performed over the last few seasons, with the Kings and Blackhawks trading the title back and forth, it is hard to bet against the boys from Anaheim to take home the trophy.

Brooks: I didn’t think the flames had any chance at the playoffs but it looks like they might make it, and if they do I don’t think they have any chance at winning the cup so for that reason I’m picking my boys, Calgary Flames, for the 2015 Stanley Cup champions!

Wincherauk: I’m sure that most people are going to get cute with their picks and choose a team like the Blues or the Capitals to win, but I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong. They won’t win, it will be a team that actually has success in the playoffs in recent years, like the Ducks, Kings or Penguins. However, my pick is the Blackhawks, because I’m “very basic.” (Quote from Multimedia Editor Brady Lang)

Lang: Easy pick would be Los Chicago (a combination of the two teams that have dominated in recent memory), but this year I see a different era of dominance in hockey. The Cup will head west once again with Anaheim taking Lord Stanley’s Mug in five games over the New York Rangers.

Chmielewski: Gotta go with my boys, the Canucks. This will be their year. Whenever they’re a “great” team, they drop the ball (puck? Drop the puck? I don’t think that works). Now that they’re in rebuilding year, they’re in a better position I think as underdogs. Also, they got rid of Tortorella.

 

4. NFL linebacker Chris Borland retired seemingly out of nowhere last week, to the shock of almost everyone, considering he had only played one season. Borland’s reasoning was that the risk of playing outweighed his need to play the game. What do you think of Borland’s controversial decision?

Loeppky: I say good for him. It took a lot of strength (regardless of his max bench) for Borland to make this decision. Forget the money, there is a level of social stature that comes with being a professional athlete and Borland, against what most of the world probably told him, decided that the consequences of playing were not worth the advantages afforded to those who play sports for a living.

Brooks: A full career in the NFL can take 10-20 years off of a player’s life, so if you don’t love the game it’s not a tough decision to leave.

Wincherauk: Good for him. I’m happy to see that some of these players are getting out before it’s too late. I’m sure Borland still had the passion to play, but not enough to be assisted regularly in his early 40s. The important thing is that he set an example; someone else doesn’t have to be the first to take that risk – especially doing it in one of the most manly and macho sports on the planet.

Lang: Good decision. It took a lot of guts to retire that soon and you have to respect a guy focusing on the future rather than overdoing it and having post concussion symptoms for their life after professional sports.

Chmielewski: Although I support his decision, I’m kind of confused about the timing. Why quit now? Did you really just realize that playing in the NFL hurts you? I wonder if he played a year just for the bragging rights of being an NFLer without facing the normal consequences. I also can’t help think of all the people in the world with really dangerous jobs who can’t just quit.

 

5. The Rams are going to be holding an open tryout on Apr. 6 for any student who thinks they can make the team. How do you think you would fare at this open tryout if you did compete?

Loeppky: Ha! I think, just for the hell of it, I’ll try out to be their kicker. Or maybe running back. Maybe they can throw me over the pile or I can just waddle into the end zone unaided. Actually, I think I’ll just settle for being the team’s resident tackling dummy. How bad could it be?

Brooks: Honestly I’m still a little razzed that I got passed over for the draft again despite being 6’3” with a decent 40 time and great hands!

Wincherauk: I think I would make the team as a fast moving tackle dummy. Some of the Rams players are upset with some of the things that I’ve said about them over the past week, so what better to motivate them than to send out a guy that they don’t like, and let them take my head off. I’ll take one for the team.

Lang: In the words of Bobby Boucher, “that’s some fine H2O.” Let’s be honest, I’d be the waterboy.

Chmielewski: At one point I used to be okay at football. I chose a life of books, working too much, and not taking care of my health, so I would probably get injured pretty bad.

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