CIS Hoops.ca

** JUST ADDED ** The Scrum (Larkins and Sawatzky) interview Brad Rootes

Matt Slan's CIS Nationals report on Canada Basketball web site.

Here is a note that brings tremendous gratification for doing this site. As many who have heard/read my thoughts on strategic marketing of CIS basketball, gaining some degree of profile in the Greater Toronto and Montreal areas, which together represent a large chunk of Canada's population is critical to further developing our game. At this point, I see no evidence of any initiatives to do so. I hope that this small story is the start of something bigger that in the long run benefits our game:

Last summer I discovered your blog as a source of information for Canada's national program. I am a basketball fan but it is very difficult to get information about the game at the university level in this country. I know several people who played university ball here back in the 1980's. They played with very little recognition.

I have tried to watch the national final game every year. This year was different because of your information, I was able to watch a number of games in the tournament. There is a lot of good basketball being played at all levels in this country. At the university level, it is a very exciting game. The Acadia vs Carleton game was extremely exciting.

I know that there is a small community in a rough neighbourhood in Toronto. I heard it was hard to find the young men on Saturday night because they were in the community centre after hours watching the game. So something is happening. Your blog provides information and promotes the game. I pass it onto people and we are all benefiting from your passion for the game.

Neate Sager winds down from the Final 8 and Final 8 rates well

Excerpts from a William Houston article in the Globe and Mail earlier this week:

Friday night audiences:
Basketball, Laval-Acadia, CIS quarter-final, Score, 41,000 – Good start to CIS tournament
Basketball, Raptors-Nuggets, Sportsnet, 93,000 – Later start than usual (9 p.m. EDT)
Basketball, Carleton-Alberta, Score, 84,000 – CIS audience close to Raptors
Saturday audiences:
Basketball, Western-Brock, CIS semi-final, Score, 73,000 – Excellent number
Basketball, Acadia-Carleton CIS semifinal, Score 118,000 – Largest CIS audience of weekend
Sunday's audiences:
Basketball, Brock-Acadia CIS final, Score, 58,000 – Up 53 per cent from 2007
Curling, Ont.-Alta. Brier final, CBC, 1.171 mil. – Down 2 per cent from 2007
Basketball, Raptors-Kings, TSN, 143,000 – About right for Raptors on TSN
Good for the Score to provide full coverage of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport men's basketball tournament last weekend. A year ago, the CIS games conflicted with the Score's coverage of the U.S. college men's basketball tournament and ended up streamed on the Internet. The Score's tournament average audience of 77,000 is a record.

Thanks to Arash Madani of the Score for sending along this article excerpt...

From C.G. Morrison's father (Alberta guard) who made the trip to Ottawa all the way from Victoria, B.C.

Good day Hoops Fans, Well after a long and safe journey home I wanted to capsulize the weekend for all of you from the perspective of a fan and a father.
a) The Venue: Scotiabank Place was terrific for watching basketball...great sight lines, great sound, super Jumbotron, etc. The bigger the crowd the better. Location of course presents some issues for the CIS to work out: anyone from out of town, sans vehicle, was forced to vacate the premises between sessions for 1-2 hours. Of course you could go to Marshys and pay $25 for a burger and beer !!!!!!!! I found that part of the weekend irritating..being from Victoria I was not going to stand outside in freezing weather so I ponied up, but for two days in a row??? They have to come up with a section we can still sitin while they clean or something. I was in attendance for every game, paid in advance for the tickets, but still got herded up and shoved out between the sessions. Ridiculous. When I raised it to Security they called for " backup" thinking I was going to cause trouble.....hah !!
b) The Host Hotel the Marriott; Good location hotel, clean, central, comfortable rooms, fitness, pool etc. Pricey for eats and beers especially for the students, athletes and families. Since when is it normal to pay $8 for a pint ??? think again.and $16 for breakfast?? CIS forgets that most parents are drained by this time of year from paying the athletes bills all year long...we can't afford such high prices. A little too elite for my taste. I suppose thats the charm of Halifax. Great job having shuttles between the Hotel and site for FREE. I caught the first one each day and the last one coming home at night. Clean big and mostly empty !!! Thank you Carleton/CIS/Marriott
c) The Tournament... I watched each and every game.....and I was impressed with ALL the teams. UBC losing on Friday was sad but they were simply not hungry enough. Alberta gave all on Friday night, ran in to very biased calls....Doornekamp got away with everything...Bears never got any game going and when they did the technicals started flying and a 5 point turnaround happens and the game is over. Bears never shot well Friday night. Bell is an amazing defender. CG has to go to the Hoop more often. Bears need him to do so. All in all a great game that was winnable. Saturday's games by the Canada West teams were sloppy. UBC won, Alberta lost. Obvious that Alberta's heart was not in it on Saturday...they did well but without any desperation. Laval wins because it mattered to them obviously. Same call for Laval/UBC...Laval wanted it more. The Acadia versus Carleton game was THE game to see whether it is live or taped....see it if you haven't. Double OT and some of the best clutch shooting I have ever witnessed. That game was worth the trip alone. Thank you to both teams for such a display. Acadia was literally " spent" for Sundays final against Brock and the Badgers were calm cool and collected for the final push. Well done Brock. Great clutch shooting by Dusty and Mike Kemp. Wow.
Will I go back???... For sure.

Andrew Buchholtz of Sporting Madness has a note on Stan Peters settling with TWU

The Ubyssey reports on UBC's trip to the Nationals

A encouraging article on Sue Stewart, a great baller in her day from Mississauga & former Laurentian All-Canadian who looks to regain her physical freedom

As a follow up to his pre-tournament article which essentially questioned how good a job Carleton University and Scotiabank Place would do with the Nationals, good on TSN's Alex J. Walling, a native of Atlantic Canada, for complementing the organizing group, led by Jennifer Brenning of Carleton and Cyril Leeder of Scotiabank Place. Note also the figure Brenning quotes for attendance, which is consistent with how she has tracked attendance in the weeks leading up to and right through the completion of the tournament Carleton does a good job hosting CIS tournament

Morris Dalla Costa in the London Free Press on Cinderella leaves dance

Ryan Hendrick of the Western Press Badgers win tournament of upsets plus Mustangs have tipped the odds in their favour

The Scrum has their take on the Nationals The Come Down and is later this week promising an interview with Brock's Brad Rootes

Austin Kent from the Brock Press Kings of Canada also from the Niagara Falls Review A sweet win no one saw coming

Laurier's campus newspaper, the Cord, takes a closer look at CIS Rookie-of-the-Year Kale Harrison

Owen White tribute articles Small-town boy had lots of help on way to National glory Ryan Hendrick from the Western Gazette White saves best for last another article from Port Hope's local press White: it was one of my best games ever Finally, Mayor of Port Hope leads his team to national title

The Gateway Online, Alberta's campus newspaper, with a look at the Bears tournament summary

Family commitments will take up a bunch of my time in the coming days as we hopefully very soon welcome our fourth child into the world.