Tag: stingers

Harvard’s men’s basketball team never won a National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament game. In fact, they had only qualified three time in the school’s history. That changed on March 21, when the 14th-ranked Crimson stunned third place New Mexico. Havard was led by Quebec’s Laurent Rivard, whose 17 points and key three-point shooting down the stretch helped to ice the victory. It was, in a word, madness.

The presence of Canadian athletes in the field has led local media outlets to ramp up coverage of the month-long March Madness tournament but, in the halls of Concordia, student interest was decidedly less enthusiastic.

“March Madness? Never heard of it,” was the number one response, followed closely by “March what?”

There are exceptions, though. Recent biology graduate and current Arts and Science Federation of Associations office manager Sofiane Guend follows the tournament closely and fills out a prediction bracket each year. Guend hails from Madison, Wisconsin, and says that down south “everyone watches it, everyone fills out a bracket.”

When asked what the expected response would be if a typical Wisconsinite were questioned about the meaning of March Madness, he quickly replied, “You wouldn’t even have to ask. They’d already be talking about it.”

Canadian university sports are markedly less hyped. According to Guend, media coverage is at the heart of the contrast. While televisions on and around campus are dominated by the Habs, the story is different in the U.S., where “the games are always on, wherever there’s a T.V..”

American-born students aren’t the only ones who catch basketball fever in March. Fourth-year linguistics student and Quebec native Curtish Mesher grew up watching the 64-team tournament.

“I used to get University of Michigan football games on T.V. from some American channel as a kid, so I watch Wolverine games when I can,” he said. “Plus, I have a friend who is a big Kentucky fan.”

Although media coverage played a role in his development as a basketball fan, he provided another reason for local fans’ apathy towards basketball

“[It’s] not that hyped a thing here in Montreal, probably because basketball isn’t a very big sport in Quebec,” he said. “It’s definitely a presence. There are definitely still fans that are super into it, just not in the same numbers as elsewhere.”

When Laurent Rivard and Harvard pulled off their historic first-round upset on last week, they did so in front of 14, 345 fans, many of whom stormed the court after the final buzzer sounded.

Around here, sadly, we measure attendance like we order our doughnuts: by the dozen. If the Canadian Interuniversity Sport basketball championship hopes to bridge the gap with its American counterpart, it needs to start with coverage and hype. How about a CIS final 8 basketball bracket to go along with your March Madness pool, next year?

Until the coverage is provided — and the hype generated — Guend and Mesher will remain the exception rather than the rule. March basketball simply is not a topic that is close to the hearts Concordia students. Most would prefer to talk about how we got 26 centimetres of snow on the first day of spring. Now that’s madness.

The Concordia Stingers women’s basketball team fell to the McGill Martlets in the RSEQ finals for the second year in a row in front of a packed and roaring crowd at the Love Competition Hall at McGill two Saturday’s ago. Unfortunately, the raucous fans don’t seem to fill Concordia facilities during Stingers games as much as they do elsewhere.

“It’s kind of depressing and it is definitely not encouraging,” said Nicole Middleton, a member of the women’s soccer team. “I think that full stands of cheering fans would completely change the atmosphere and intensity of the games.”

There are many factors that result in the empty stands at Concordia, especially at soccer games.

“I feel, as an athlete, that other students are not even aware that Buzz is their mascot, and that their varsity teams are the Stingers,” Middleton said. “Most students ask me who the Stingers are when I wear the sweaters or T-shirts to class.”

Alex Melki, a first-year journalism student, agrees that many Concordia students don’t watch the Stingers because they simply don’t know about them.

“Concordia University doesn’t do enough to promote school unity,” Melki said. “If you look at McGill, it has this prestigious history, alumni and a Hogwarts-like aura. [It is] to the point where it feels slightly more Americanized.”
Not only that, but not having very competitive teams also turns some students away.

“It’s nice to see them win, but I don’t really care much for them, mainly because they’ve never really had success and they don’t have as good a program as other schools,” said Alex Beaubien, also a journalism student.

“Most [students] are too busy focusing on their own schooling to build a personal connection to the school’s identity,” added Melki. “Because of this, the Stingers become just another school sports team. Schools and sport team patriotism is found in spades in U.S. colleges and universities, possibly because the school has more of a presence there.”

However, there are many Concordia students who enjoy following the Stingers and will religiously follow any or all Stingers teams.

“I love sports, and I care about the teams to the point that I want them to do well,” said first-year student Ryan Demberg. “It’s a point of pride for them as individuals and as a team, and looks great on our university that year in and year out we’re competitive, despite having McGill as our neighbour.”

Fredric Christ, a first year biochemistry student, agrees with Demberg.

“I would go watch soccer games or basketball games, because I play those sports,” said he said. “And I always think it’s good to support your university.”

However, he believes that most Stingers fans are athletes themselves and won’t support them if they are not athletic.

Ali Jebboury, a second year Cell and Molecular Biology student, agrees that if you play a sport, you will support that Stingers’ team.

“[I would support the Stingers] because I used to play soccer and watch soccer before. But I don’t anymore because it’s just a question of time, but if you have time, why not?[support the Stingers], he said.”

“I have some friends who play for the men’s basketball team, so any chance I get to go out and cheer them on, I do,” said Marilyn Santucci. “It’s great fun and it’s nice supporting your friends and being surrounding by a great atmosphere. It’s great to see young kids, students and adults attending sporting events. It’s a great opportunity for people to come together and celebrate what every Stingers team has done throughout the year.”

With every Stingers team’s season over, hopefully the 2013-14 varsity sport season will attract sold-out crowds to every home game at Concordia.

Men’s hockey – Antonio Mastropietro

The Montreal, Que. native finished the season on a high note, cementing his status as the team’s number one goaltender entering the 2013-14 season. Mastropietro played all four games in February, compiling a 2-1-1 record, 2.00 goals-against average and a .950 save percentage, and a shutout.

– Anthony Abbondanza, Concordian staff writer

Women’s hockey – Mallory Lawton

Despite going winless in the month in February, Concordia Stingers captain Mallory Lawton led the women’s hockey team with two goals. She netted goals in the final two games of the season, against Ottawa and McGill respectively.  The tallies were the final two of her five-year career with the organization, one that is synonymous with the name ‘Lawton’. The women’s hockey team failed to make the playoffs this year..

– David S. Landsman, Concordian staff writer

Men’s basketball – Evens Laroche

The men’s basketball team had a busy month, playing six regular season games and one in the playoffs. The Stingers had a losing record of 3-4, and subsequently had their season come to an end with a semi-final loss to Bishop’s on Feb. 27.

Forward Evens Laroche made a significant contribution in each game throughout the month. Offensively he led Concordia with an average of 15.1 points a game. He was the team’s leading scorer in three of the seven encounters. Laroche averaged 25.6 minutes per game.

Women’s basketball – Kaylah Barrett

The women’s basketball also had a busy month of February. Like the men’s team, they also played seven games total, six regular season and one playoff game. Concordia posted a 5-2 record, including a semi-final victory over UQÀM this past week.

Guard Kaylah Barrett was a major part of the team’s success during the month. She played in all seven games and averaged 14.6 points per game. She led the team in four of these games, most recently in the playoff game where she scored a team-high 17 points. She was named Athlete of the Week, twice by Concordia in February.

Men’s soccer – Andrew Bryan

The men’s soccer team wrapped up their regular season with four matches this month. The Stingers had a 1-3 record, with the one victory coming against former league-leaders Montréal Carabins. The team has one playoff match to play this coming Sunday.

Striker Andrew Bryan scored three times in his four appearances. He scored a volley in the team’s 5-3 loss to UQTR and scored a brace in Concordia’s 2-0 clean-sheet victory over the Carabins the following week.

Women’s soccer – Jennifer Duff

The women’s soccer team had a roller-coaster month. They had a 2-2 record in four lopsided matches. Concordia started the month with a 3-1 win over UQTR, followed by a 3-0 loss to Montréal, 4-0 win against UQÀM and a 7-0 defeat to Laval. The team will rematch Laval in the playoffs.

Striker Jennifer Duff continued to lead the team. She had three goals in the four matches, scoring a double against UQÀM. Duff was named MVP in three of the four encounters. She leads the league in this category with four MVP selections.