Men’s Football: Report card time

By Sarah Stall

The 2000 edition of the University of Calgary Dinos football had a year of ups and downs. The team went undefeated in their last five games heading into the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Regina Rams beat them in the final seconds of the Canada West semi-final. The Rams then went on to the Vanier Cup.

Fitness: A-

The Dinos were in shape this year, attributing some of their success to the off-season fitness they undertook in the summer.

Talent: A-

The team has developed over the last few years, offensively and defensively. The Dinos proved themselves on the field. Running back Dean Fisher had a phenomenal year, nominated for the Hec Creighton (Most Valuable Player) trophy from Canada West. Other Dinos, such as David Swaggar, received Player of the Week for Canada West as well.

Effort: C+

The Dinos had the efforts of giants for the first 45 minutes of most games, but the last 15 will haunt them the rest of their lives. Calgary started slow and then gained momentum through the second and third quarter, then released their tight grasp of the game around the fourth quarter. When the Dinos played a complete 60 minutes of game, they were unstoppable.

Performance: B-

The Dinos played a tough home opener in front of more than 5,000 fans and lost to the University of British Columbia, a defeat many fans will remember. They did better away from home and in bad weather than they did in Calgary when it was nice outside. Their performance also dampened in the last 15 minutes when the end of the game approached.

Overall: B

The Dinos had a good year overall but losing in the last quarters of many of the games sobered the

performance of these well-trained athletes. Quarterbacks were good, defence was good, as was the offence. Now, if all of those things could pull together in the fourth quarter the University of Calgary Dinos would have had a phenomenal season.

Food they remind me of: Chinese. Can be great, but soggy and mysterious at times.