A shy, young, nervous man entered the offices of The Varsity in the spring of 2002 to get instructions for his first assignment-covering the U of T Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He had never written a newspaper article before in his life and was scared as hell to approach and interview anyone.
After conducting five interviews in one night, he eventually got over that fear and submitted his first article for the paper. Who would have guessed that that shy man would grow into the grizzled, eccentric, experienced sports editor that is bidding farewell to The Varsity after four years of service.
Before I go I would like to share some thoughts about my hopes for the future of U of T athletics.
Hopefully the new incarnation of Varsity Stadium that is scheduled to be ready for September will renew interest in our football team. Maybe good athletes will actually choose to come to U of T to play for the Blues like they once did. And maybe there will actually be asses in the seats to watch them play, at least for a couple years.
I am not going to get delusional and pretend that there will be a sudden resurgence in school spirit and that the Blues will become the hottest free ticket in town. But maybe, just maybe, the completion of the new stadium and the renovations of Varsity Arena will show people that this school actually does care about athletics. Hopefully that will make some gifted athletes seriously consider playing football, soccer, hockey, or a variety of other sports for the Blues, which in turn would cause more fan interest in the teams.
After all, who wouldn’t want to be able to tell their grandkids that they saw the next Pinball Clemons or Jesse Palmer…err…Doug Flutie play? Things are finally moving in the right direction.
It was nice to see the FPEH run a more aggressive ad campaign for upcoming games this year. At least that prevents this community from using ignorance as an excuse to not attend Blues events. I believe that if the same thing-except on a grander scale-is done over the next few years, there will again be a buzz around campus and attending sporting events will be an “in” activity once again.
2006-07 should be a great year for many U of T teams, and students need to take notice of them. There is little doubt that there will be superb field hockey, dragon boating, swimming, water polo, cross country, track and field, mountain biking, and golf here next year, and the university community should cheer them on and celebrate their successes, instead of barely acknowledging the existence of these clubs.
And sure, there will be championship-calibre soccer, volleyball, basketball, and hockey played by the men and women in blue next fall, as there has been for my entire tenure at The Varsity. It is about time that the athletes in these “major” sports-as well as the unsung, under-appreciated warriors in every other sport on campus-are toasted for their hard work and accomplishments.
So here’s to everyone that plays intramural or varsity sports at U of T, whether you have finished last in your division or have too many gold medals to count. You have all had to sacrifice a lot of time and nights of drunken revelry to compete for your respective teams and have made my job as a sports writer enjoyable for the last four years.
I must also salute my co-workers and staff of volunteer writers who have made my job possible. I would not have made it to this point with so few grey hairs or wrinkles without all of you.
So now I bid you, the faithful reader, a fond adieu and wish you a great summer. This cowboy is going to take that long, lonely walk into the sunset and attempt to re-emerge in the real world one day. Until then I say never forget the Oxford comma, thanks for the great ride, and now I’m taking my ball and going home.
