Tag: men

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Student Life

Men: commercial failures

Graphic by Phil Waheed

Allow me to set the scene: a man has just finished his business on the side of the road and goes back into a car filled with his buddies. Thinking themselves to be clever, the man-filled car edges just out of his reach each time he goes to open the door. Sheepishly, the man

Graphic by Phil Waheed

attempts to grab the door handle again and again, much to the delight of his friends who continue to edge the car forward. Then suddenly, the car edges over a cliff the men were too busy laughing to see, leaving their friend staring down at the ravine as the words “why we insure only women” flash on screen, followed by the logo for 1st for Women insurance brokers.

As a man, if reading that description didn’t make you wince, then you haven’t been exposed to the commercials I have. The problem with this ad is one that has been a disturbing trend for as long as I care to remember.

The difficulty here comes from the overwhelming presence of this “men are morons, women are wiser” trope in advertising. If someone unfamiliar with our culture were to assess it based solely on what they saw on television, men would come off as a sorry bunch of ne’er-do-wells who just can’t figure out that incredibly simple Fedex shipping plan and have the hardest time getting the Febreze plug-in to work properly.

In many of these ads women consistently come off looking better, more grounded and sensible than their male counterparts. Should you question the sexist nature of this; simply reverse the genders and see how people would react to clueless women constantly being corrected by doting men who roll their eyes at their male’s incompetence?

Some may think this is not an issue and merely representative of some good-natured ribbing between the sexes. Surely we men can take the occasional jab to our pride; we’re not perfect, after all. Men are not above being ridiculed, and should not have their feelings spared more than any other demographic. Having said that, a recent study from the University of Illinois confirmed that the stereotypical ‘dumb guy’ cliché not only offends many viewers, but has proven counter-productive as a marketing gimmick as well.

“While partying and promiscuity are often depicted in advertising, some men find these images to be negative portrayals of their gender and are, in fact, turned off by them,” said Cele Otnes, marketing professor at the University of Illinois and co-author of the study. “Those stereotypes don’t actually fit the vast majority of males. Advertisers and marketers need to broaden the spectrum.”

In brief, there is no need to put down an entire gender every time you want to sell a cleaning product. We men have to buy detergent too and if your product is really that complicated for men to use, maybe we’ll just switch to another brand instead and save ourselves the trouble.

Categories
Sports

Men’s rugby team earn first victory

Concordia won their first men’s rugby game of the season on home field during a rainy Friday night.

“The forwards won us the game,” said assistant coach Jamal Benouahi.

While Concordia’s tries were all scored by the back three, it was an outright dominating performance from the set piece that won the Stingers the game.

Second row Marc Roche had a standout game for the maroon and gold. He credits the team’s work on the practice pitch for the victory.

“It came down to practice,” Roche said. “Tonight it all came together and we drove them the hell off that ball.”

The first half saw both Concordia and Université de Montréal playing rather evenly in terms of possession and defense. The rain made it difficult for both teams to properly handle the ball, as a lot of knock-ons were being handed out.

The low point of the half was a complete meltdown from the Stingers in the 14th minute that lead directly to a Carabins try. The ball made its way down the wing through a series of offloads. Fortunately, this mistake did not decide the outcome. The Stingers pressed hard and defended effectively for the rest of the half.

The team came out flying in the second half. From the start, the Stingers’ back three showed how dangerous they are when they play to their ability and the line is able to provide them with the ball.

Only three minutes in, the Stingers broke down their opponent’s rush. Stinger Caleb Jordan snagged the ball and left defenders in awe with his sharp cuts and quick feet.

Con U’s second try was scored after a series of unorthodox plays forced a penalty and a scrum-down on U de M’s side of the pitch. As they did all game, Concordia won the set piece and took the ball wide to Frederic Kacou. He found an impossible gap sneaking into the try zone.

The icing on the cake came with 11 minutes remaining. Full back Vasken Redwanly got hold of the ball at midfield, after Jordan offloaded to him, letting him take off down the field. Redwanly left every Carabins defender behind before putting the ball down with authority in the far side of the try zone

“We know that we can beat the defense,” said Kacou. “When we get it, we know it’s going to work.”

“I’m proud of the forwards for keeping us in the game when the backs had trouble early,” said Captain Dario Pellizzari.

Getting rid of the goose egg in the win column was a must for the Stingers who now head out on the road.

“We have a platform for our game and we’re going to work from there,” said head coach Clive Gibson.

 

The Stingers head to Bishop’s University to face off against the Gaiters on Friday, Sept. 28 at 8:15 p.m.

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Sports

Another set-piece goal leads to Stingers loss

Courtesy of stingers.ca
Photo by Brianna Thicke. Courtesy of stingers.ca

After Thursday’s draw at UQÀM, the Stingers men’s soccer team were back in action on Sunday afternoon. The team played host to a victorious Sherbrooke Vert et Or at Concordia Stadium.

Concordia made two changes from last Thursday’s match against the Citadins. Striker Andrew Bryan returned to the starting lineup, after coming on as a substitute on Thursday. Midfielder Claude Diesse got the start at right midfield, replacing Gabriel Quinn.

In the early moments of the afternoon, Concordia’s Eduardo Mazzonna almost gave his team the lead. However, his shot was straight at Sherbrooke goalkeeper Shawn Galego Do Couto.

Almost 20 minutes later, the Vert et Or came close to opening the scoring. Sherbrooke’s Kalambayi Junias Ngoyi got on the end of a corner kick, but his quick shot on goal was blocked in front of the goal.

In the 30th minute, Concordia had more difficulties defending a corner kick. This time, the visitors made up for their earlier miss. Center back Ilunga was left unmarked in the middle of the box and made no mistake driving home his header.

Five minutes later, Sherbrooke almost caught the Stingers on the counter-attack. Attacking through the right flank, the team was able to find space and send in a low cross. The ball bounced around inside the Concordia box until it was blasted over the bar.

The Stingers were defending more times than they had hoped for in the first half. Besides the one slip-up, the team was able to keep the score at 1-0. Fabrice Ilunga got the game-winning goal scoring with a header in the 30th minute.

In the 55th minute, the maroon and gold almost levelled the score from their own corner. Bryan got on the end of Mazzonna’s delivery, but the header was over the crossbar.

Sherbrooke continued to work the flanks. Twelve minutes later, midfielder Mohamed El Bachir Haddadi fired his cross in front of the Con U goal. Forward Djibi Diao came within inches of doubling his team’s lead.

As the match neared the end, Concordia started to see more of the ball. Unfortunately, the team made poor decisions with their possession. The Stingers were never able to connect in the final attacking third. They were unable to find the equalizing goal.

“To be honest, I don’t think we deserved to win,” said assistant coach Francois Bastien. “I think we were limited. I give all the credit to Sherbrooke because they got the three points.”

Even though Bastien conceded defeat, he does not feel Sherbrooke dominated the 90 minutes. Rather, he feels his side did not play to their potential.

“I don’t think they [Sherbrooke] did anything special,” he admitted. “I think quality was missing everywhere. It was a shocker today. We’re disappointed.”

The Stingers have a tough road trip this coming week. They travel to Quebec City on Friday to face Laval and head to Trois–Rivières to take on the Patriotes on Sunday. Concordia already has one win against UQTR this season.

“Next weekend is crucial,” said Bastien. “We need to come out with a minimum of four points to stay in the playoff hunt.”

Categories
Sports

Concordia draws McGill 1-1 at home

The Stingers men’s soccer team hosted rivals McGill at Concordia Stadium on Friday night. Concordia grabbed the lead in the first half, but McGill equalized the score in the 78′ minute off a corner kick.

Concordia made three changes to their starting lineup. Midfielder Joseph Couto and forward Gabriel Quinn replaced Anasse Brouk and Sammy Tork. Goalkeeper Remo Taraschi made his first start of the season ahead of Nicholas Giannone.

The visitors threatened early in the match. In the 3′ minute, McGill’s Alexis Pradié got on the end of a cross and narrowly missed his header attempt.

Eight minutes later, the Redmen were at it again. This time, it was forward Marc Palaci-Olgun who fired his shot over the bar.

The Stingers recovered after their slow start and started to find some rhythm. In the 24′ minute, midfielder Eduardo Mazzonna picked up a loose ball in midfield and took off towards the net. He sent a pass to Andrew Bryan, whose first-touch allowed him to beat a McGill defender. Bryan centered a low ball for Mazzonna who continued his run towards goal. He made no mistake in

tapping the ball past the goalkeeper. This goal separated both sides at half-time.

Four minutes after the restart, McGill came close to tying the game. Stingers goalkeeper Taraschi made a fingertip save to keep his side ahead.

Two minutes later, Concordia striker Bryan almost doubled his team’s lead. He was played in by a good pass, but his shot did not test the McGill goalkeeper.

The next chance came in the 76′ minute. Stingers substitute Claude Diesse recovered a bouncing ball just outside the box and fired a driven shot inches wide. McGill made the Stingers pay for that miss.

In the final seconds of the match, the Stingers produced one last effort. Midfielder Fabian Troche found space, but he struck his shot just left of the goal.

“I think we played well,” said Mazzonna, who scored his first goal of the season. “We should have stayed more compact on defense. We let it slip at the end.”

“It was the best game of the season by far,” said assistant coach Francois Bastien who filled in for coach Barker. “We are progressing every game and I think we deserved the three points.”

Bastien sees a major difference in this year’s team compared to last year’s. The Stingers are more organized on both sides of the field, they just needs to work on defending set-pieces.

“We have to work on set-plays,” he added.”Defensively, we’ve been struggling all year with those, and it cost us again. We were in the driver seat this game. We controlled and had chances. When McGill started pressuring at the end we struggled a little bit, but overall it was a good game.”

 

The Stingers next match is Thursday, Sept. 20 against the UQÀM Citadins at Collège Bois-de-Boulogne. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m.

Categories
Sports

Stingers get back to winning ways

After being dominated by the Montreal Carabins last week, the Stingers men’s football team hit the road to redemption. Travelling to Antigonish, Nova Scotia, the Stingers took on St. Francis Xavier’s X-Men in their home opener on Saturday.

From the initial kickoff, Concordia took control of the game and handed St. FX their first loss, with a final score of 41-20. The Stingers set the tempo on the opening drive by marching down to score the game’s first touchdown. The 76-yard drive was capped off by a pass from Reid Quest to Jesse McPhail. The Stingers never trailed in the game and improved their record to 2-1.

Quest went 26-for-44 in passing attempts and ended the afternoon with 266 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He spread the ball around as four Concordia receivers had three catches or more.

While the aerial assault was virtually unstoppable, running backs Michael Donnelly and Raul Thompson combined for 125 yards and kept the X-Men defense off balance.

On the other side of the ball, Concordia’s defense was just as solid. During the second half, they allowed only seven points, and none in the final quarter. Behind linebacker Max Caron, who had two sacks on the day, the Stingers recorded four sacks, a fumble recovery and a safety.

The defense was a disruptive force throughout the game and never allowed the X-Men offense to gain traction. As the Stingers offense methodically marched up and down the field drive after drive, St. FX never found the same type of rhythm.

One of Concordia’s most underrated aspects of the game was their special teams, specifically their kicking game. Stingers kicker Keegan Treloar went six-for-six in field goal attempts and three-for-three in extra point attempts. Highlighted by a 42-yard field goal, Treloar’s impressive performance was responsible for 21 points and single handedly outscored the opponents.

Concordia controlled all phases of the game and never gave the X-Men a chance to come back. The Stingers overcame the excitement of an opponent’s home opener and focused on playing a complete team game for 60 minutes. With the satisfaction of such a dominating win, a long bus ride home goes a lot more smoothly.

 

The Stingers will look to duplicate this past weekend’s performance when they travel to Bishop’s University to take on the Gaiters on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m.

Categories
Sports

Season opener ends in disappointment

Photos by Brianna Thicke

Hoping to make a statement against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or, the Stingers rugby team came up short in their home opener on Friday night.

“We put ourselves under a load of pressure and we didn’t need too,” said Head Coach Clive Gibson. “We did not play according to our game plan.”

The squad had prepared for a more positive start to the season, but it was clear that this is still a young roster.

The speed of the back line is one of the Stingers strongest assets. Unfortunately, the ball rarely made its way towards them in this game due to many penalties and dropped balls. Concordia was unable to retain ball possession and an abundance of unforced errors cost the team their first game of the season.

While the offensive side of the ball wasn’t clicking, the defense handled itself very well. They were constantly being threatened but managed to fend off the opposition for the majority of the game.

The lack of discipline was also a problem for the Stingers. They received two yellow cards which cost them a player for 10 minutes on both occasions.

“Being short a man for 20 minutes of the game makes it very tough to win,” added Gibson.

Concordia managed to play well throughout the first penalty by applying a lot of pressure. On the second one, the defense was strong.

In the later stages of the match, Sherbrooke capitalized over a tired Stingers team, scoring a try in the final 10 minutes of the game to put them up 14-13. This would become the final score of the game.

Concordia will not have much time to practice this week as they play on Wednesday against rivals McGill. The team will look to improve on decision-making with the ball, their game plan and teamwork.

“The level of play is too high,” added Gibson. “If they don’t learn to play as a team, they’re never going to win, not at this level.”

This loss, however, was not perceived as a back-breaker by captain Dario Pellizzari. He said this loss should not be viewed as a step back in the squad’s progress, but rather a stepping stone for the greater challenges that await the Stingers in the next few weeks.

“Fortunately we have another seven games in the season to pull ourselves together and make a cup run,” he said. “This loss may prove to do us [good] in the end.”

 

The game against McGill on Wednesday is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Concordia Stadium.

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