For a second there, it was just all so strange.

The Mustangs first touchdown of the season. An undersized quarterback drops two steps and hands off to a long-haired, scraggly running back who ekes around the right tackle and scrambles into the end zone for the major. The diminutive quarterback starts hopping backwards, arms raised in the air, as the crowd erupts.

Then on defence, a skinny defensive back with a shaved head who faded to the background for much of his 2009 rookie campaign leaps into the air three times and comes down each time with the ball — already besting his 2009 interception total in just the first game of the season.

Who are these people?

This will be the story of the Mustangs in the 2010 season’s infancy. Can the offensive replacements make plays and put up the same big points as their predecessors? Can the defence rise to the occasion and take some pressure off a relatively inexperienced offence?

Both units did just that in a game that couldn’t have possibly gone any better for the Mustangs — a veritable manhandling of the Laurier Golden Hawks, 46-1 at TD Waterhouse Stadium Wednesday night.

It’s true that defence wins ball games — Western’s did just that on Wednesday night, holding Laurier to a mere point. Much of that is due to the stellar play of linebackers Craig Butler, Jason Kosec and John Surla who picked up four tackles a piece. Meanwhile, defensive back Mike Spence couldn’t have started his sophomore year any better with three interceptions.

The fact that the Golden Hawks, who have one of the best offences in the conference, were held to just eight first downs and 157 yards of offence is a huge indication of just how well the Mustangs defence played.

Of course, there was also Donnie Marshall, beginning his season-long quest to silence his critics. We haven’t had much of a chance to see Marshall throw the ball in his first two years with the team — his dad wouldn’t even give him snaps when Michael Faulds was playing on one leg.

But what we can take away from his early season work is that Marshall is a lot more polished than most give him credit for. He’s taking his drop quick and releasing the ball even quicker, trusting his receivers to do the rest of the work. The Mustangs certainly don’t have the league’s best offensive line but that won’t matter if Marshall is able to distribute quickly like he did on Wednesday.

And those legs. Head coach Greg Marshall wasn’t kidding when he said his son Donnie was the second fastest player on the team behind Nathan Riva.

The third-year pivot picked up 65 yards on the ground and showed a combination of speed and elusiveness that may be his greatest weapon. When you can pick up first downs on the ground as a quarterback, it goes a long way to freeing up those receivers downfield.

But that’s it. There will be no more talk of how well Western played. There will be no homerist headlines about message sending or making statements or proving anyone wrong. It’s just too early to plan the parade.

There’s a game at hand in Ottawa this weekend that will be a much tougher test. And a game that may bring a lot of Mustangs fans back down to earth.

Because really, for as well as Western played — Laurier made them look good.

It would be one thing to say that Laurier didn’t play their best football on Wednesday night, but the truth is they played just about as poorly as they possibly could have.

Everyone agrees that this Golden Hawks team should be a contender. Just look at the weapons they have on offence — they should be putting up at least 26 points a game like they did last year or even more. Mustering just a measly point in their opener is not an indication of how this unit is going to play.

Sure — if the Golden Hawks don’t beat McMaster next week their chances at a first round playoff bye are probably gone with the wind. But with two home games against Toronto and York on the horizon, this team is easily still in contention for a playoff spot. And in the hyper-competitive OUA, once you make the playoffs anything can happen.

But maybe I’m wrong.

Maybe Laurier isn’t the contender that we all thought they were coming into the season.

Maybe Western is stronger than they were in 2009, despite the entire nation believing they’ve been weakened by the losses of the graduated Michael Faulds and the injured Nathan Riva.

Maybe this is the year when you just don’t know what’s going to happen in the OUA.

Maybe this is the year that the University of Toronto can come within two points and a last second field goal of upsetting the Guelph Gryphons — a 2009 playoff team that had the OUA’s second best offence.

Maybe this is the year that McMaster can defeat the defending Vanier Cup champions.

Maybe this is the year where predictions, pre-season rankings, prognostications and the like are more useless than usual. Maybe this is the year where it’s really anybody’s game.

If week one was any indication, one thing’s for sure — it’ll be fun to watch.

John Locke. Immanuel Kant. Plato.

But when it comes time to describe life in law school, he turns to a more modern philosopher.

“My goal was to spin law school life in a different light and show people that, man, it’s a hustle here too,” Lickver said, taking the words right out of rap star Rick Ross’ mouth. “Whatever your hustle is, our hustle is law school and we grind it out every day.”

Well, certainly Locke and Plato wouldn’t approve of that description of their favourite topic but these days you have to relate to the kids.

And that’s exactly what Lickver was going for when he and some of his closest buddies set out to create the music video about life in law school that would quickly become an overnight YouTube hit.

“Law School Husslin’” — the product of a weekend of filming in and around Western — boasts over 10,000 views

on YouTube and has been featured in Precedent Magazine, the National Post and on the front page of the London Free Press.

Not bad for something nobody was supposed to see.

“No one believes me, but at the time I actually did not know that anybody was going to see this. It’s one of those things that you make for your buddies to laugh at and then it just spins out of control and somehow ends up being watched by like 10,000 people,” Lickver said.

Lickver — in his third year of the combined law and MBA program at Ivey — produced the video for the annual Western Law talent show, held every year in February to benefit the London Hospice.

Inspired by other faculty themed videos he had seen on YouTube, Lickver set out to create what he hoped would be the greatest law school video Western had ever seen.

“I saw these videos out there and I knew I could make a better one. I knew I could take it to the next level,” Lickver said. “When I do things, I don’t like to do them half-assed.”

Using his networks from both Toronto and London to leverage connections, Lickver secured time in a professional recording studio, a top of the line $15,000 camera, professional lights and even a green screen.

“That’s why people see the difference between some other videos that just get thrown on YouTube. We had professional equipment,” Lickver said. “I told the film company I was a student and it was for charity and because of that they gave me an amazing rate on everything.”

When it comes to whether or not Lickver has achieved his goal of producing the best law school video of all time — well, the jury’s still out.

But the reaction, according to the Richmond Hill native, has been overwhelmingly positive, including an unexpected e-mail from Dr. Ian Holloway, Western’s Dean of Law.

“That was the best one for me — he e-mailed me and said he was ‘gob smacked.’ I literally had to look up that word,” Lickver said. “It wasn’t just the dean too. It was the entire faculty. They all loved it.”

Of course, once Lickver’s Ivey friends caught wind of the video, they had to have one too. After weeks of pestering, the 26-year-old was convinced to get back behind the camera for the Drake-inspired “MBA Forever.”

Many of the characters from “Law School Husslin’” make return appearances and the auto tune on the chorus — “I don’t plan on stoppin’ at all, I’m an MBA forever, man” —is pitch perfect to Drake’s multi-platinum original.

“I actually recorded it at a studio that has worked with Drake a bunch of times. That’s how we got the sound quality,” Lickver said. “I started at the bottom. I made the song and then the video just fell into place.

“MBA Forever” has been even more successful than “Law School Husslin,’” garnering just shy of 14,000 YouTube views. But when you talk to Lickver, it’s clear that “Law School Husslin’” is really his baby.

That’s why come February — just in time for this year’s Western Law talent show — Lickver plans to drop his third single, a sequel to “Law School Husslin’” where we’ll learn the verdict of the trafficking case from the original.

“For the next video, I’m thinking about doing it on a much larger scale. I want to get corporate sponsors. I really want to outdo myself,” Lickver said.

Of course, if you’re Mike Lickver you can’t stop there. You’ve produced two of the best faculty videos Western’s campus has ever seen and your services are in high demand.

“I’m being pushed to do a med school video,” Lickver said with a laugh. “I don’t mind taking on the campus title of professional video consultant. If any other faculties out there want to make a video, they know who to come see.”

But coming into the 2010 OUA football season, one thing is clear — this year’s competition is truly a crapshoot. Five of the ten…. errr nine teams have a legitimate shot at advancing to the Yates Cup, which is why the myriad of preseason rankings that currently litter the internet are kind of incredibly pointless.

So in lieu of irrelevant rankings based on silly things like talent, coaching or personnel, I’ve accumulated rankings based on optimism — ordered from those with the highest aspirations going into the season to the teams wallowing in despair.

As Larry Dobrow — whose awesome weekly MLB  power rankings and MLB optimism index are the inspiration for this experiment — put it, “think of it as a power rankings for your feelings.”

So here it is — your first ever OUA optimism rankings, along with selected notes and an optimism measure which I assure you is entirely arbitrary and based on absolutely nothing.

Photo by Jeff Chan

All photos courtesy of the incomparable Jeff Chan.

Ottawa Gee Gee’s — 96.4 — Aggressively confident

• The Gee Gee’s are singlehandedly keeping Ottawa bus drivers in business with their annually atrocious travel schedule. They get a bit of a break by drawing a date in Kingston and a bit of a kick in the teeth by opening their season in Windsor. It’s only 800 km…
• Of course, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. The Gee Gee’s went 4-0 on the road in 2009 but just 2-3 at home including their 27-15 playoff loss to McMaster.
• Tough to pinpoint why, but the Gee Gee’s have under-performed the last few years. Will rookie head coach Jean-Philippe Asselin — who, at 27-years-old, could probably play on this team — help shake them out of their funk?
• QB Brad Sinopoli is suddenly the most experienced pivot in the league after the three musketeers (Faulds, Brannagan, Dunk) moved on. He had a quietly impressive season — 11 touchdowns, 2084 yards — in 2009
• The team will field a starting lineup made up almost entirely of fifth year players — I guess they just like education that much…
• I’d love to make more fun of the Gee Gee’s here, but I’m struggling — this team actually looks really good.

Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks  — 90.2 — Firmly undaunted

Dillon Heap and head coach Gary Jeffries. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• This could be trouble. Taurean Allen is off to the CFL, Chime Ihekwoaba is gone to the NFL and Courtney Stephen is lost to the NCAA. Suddenly one of the scariest defences in the league doesn’t look so frightening.
• What they do have is a nifty training camp video featuring the Remember the Titans — “Are you sure football is fun!?!?!?” —  ‘run up and down the stadium stairs workout.
• Dillon Heap returns with his Tasmanian devil routine on kick returns. He’s easily the most exciting returner in the OUA.
• Meanwhile, University of Waterloo deserter Dustin Zender crosses University Ave. to join the Golden Hawks receiving corps and take some of the weightoff the shoulders ofHeap and Shamawd Chambers .
• No wonder the quarterback position is such a big question mark for so many OUA teams this year — Laurier is hogging all of them. They have three quarterbacks (incumbent Luke Thompson, last year’s second stringer turned starter Evan Pawliuk and NCAA transfer Shane Kelly) who can easily play well in this league. Someone’s not going to be happy with their playing time in that locker room.
• Not much to see on defence but if your ridiculously loaded offence can score 50+ points a game, what does it really matter?
• Slot back Vince Luciani has easily the best twitter account in the CIS. Never underestimate the value of street cred.
• Running back Mike Montoya and his Jersey Shore arms bench pressed 225 lbs 40 times at the CFL’s evaluation camp last year. Of course those wel-sculpted guns don’t really help when it comes to holding onto the football — he had more fumbles than touchdowns last season. But when you lead the league in rushing I suppose it doesn’t really matter.

McMaster Marauders — 88.7 — Discreetly promising

• There is legitimate reason to be optimistic here. The Marauders kind of resemble the 2009 Queen’s Gaels — a solid core of cohesive veterans who have been playing together for years. Add a division weakened by losing its top three quarterbacks and it could be a perfect storm for a McMaster run in the playoffs this year. Seriously…
• Sometimes it’s easy to forget that CIS football players are also full time students enrolled in anywhere from three to five courses per semester. Apparently Marauders cornerback Cody Lynch forgot about that too — after being named the OUA rookie of the year in 2009 he promptly flunked out of school.
• Marauders kicker Andrew Waugh was 9 for 12 on field goals last year which apparently wasn’t good enough to stop McMaster from recruiting kicking wizard Tyler Crapigna who may just be the next Rob Maver. Nice knowing ya, Andrew.
• Head coach Stefan Ptaszek’s name may be hard to pronounce, but he’s one of the craftier coaches in the OUA and hasn’t had a losing record in the regular season since he took over in 2006.
• The Marauders are probably regretting whatever they have done to scorn the OUA schedule-maker — they play Queen’s, Laurier, Western and Ottawa in their first four games.

Western Mustangs — 85.3 — Cautiously optimistic

Donnie Marshall (7) chats with his father and head coach Greg Marshall, left, and his predecessor Michael Faulds, right. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• Michael Faulds, who carried the team — sometimes on just one leg — for the past five years, is gone — off to York to pursue a career in coaching.
• Who will step up to fill the void? Donnie Marshall, the coach’s son? Ben Rossong, the incoming east coast phenom?  Jack Fairs, the former Mustangs basketball, hockey and tennis athlete who also played both ways for the football team and is currently the Mustangs squash coach? Okay maybe that last one is a stretch. But nevertheless, intrigue!
• Defensive Lineman Mike Van Praet is healthy — well, as healthy as you can be at 300+ pounds — and was recently described as a “dyke” by the London Free Press. Ummm… sure! UWO will just be happy if he can fill the void left by Chris Greaves who now plies his trade for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
• Running back Nathan Riva will be busy. If he can run for 200 yards a game like he did in the playoffs last year then maybe this team has a chance! Look for timeless head coach Greg Marshall — he’s still got it! — to call his own number and take over the running back duties if Riva falters.
• And as I write that Riva tears his hamstring in training camp. Panic! Does anyone have Da’Shawn Thomas’ cell number?
• Lil’ Wayne fan and occasional Gazette model John Surla — the 2009 OUA defensive player of the year — still patrols the secondary at TD Waterhouse, which is bad for opposition running backs but good for trash talk enthusiasts.
• WR Brian Marshall — son of head coach Greg, brother of QB Donnie, nephew of 80’s era FB Blake, not related to former Golden State Warriors small forward Donyell — joins the team as the Marshall brood’s plan to turn the Mustangs into a family business continues to evolve.
• Thanks to the wisenheimers at Waterloo, the Mustangs now open the season with three games in 11 days.
• My office is on the campus of the University of Western Ontario so be my guest and question this, but I think this Mustangs team is being seriously under-rated in pre-season polling.

Queen’s Gaels — 83.1 — Basking in the glow

• The good news is they’re still technically the national champions until November 27. The bad news? They lost the entire core of their team. Minor detail…
• Last season the Gaels’ offensive line was a lot like the mother hen at the bar on Saturday night — nothing was getting through that. But with several new faces this season, things could get rather uncomfortable for the Gaels quarterback…
• Oh yeah, who the hell is going to play quarterback? Justin Chapdelaine would seem to have the inside track, but he’s going to have a steep learning curve. He was sacked three times in the extremely limited action he saw last season. A point of reference? Danny Brannagan — who took 98% of the snaps — was sacked just five times all season…
• Whoever gets the call behind centre will certainly have some targets to throw too. Devan Sheahan, Blaise Morrison and Chris Ioannides will spread defences like butter.
• The defence is Osie Ukwuoma’s unit now, I guess. But when your best defensive player past him is probably sophomore Frank Pankewich, we may have a problem.
• I will say this — Ben D’Andrea, Alex Daprato and Stephen Laporte picked up their games defensively in the 2009 playoffs when it counted. Especially in the Vanier Cup.
• Of course the biggest advantage for the Gaels is Richardson Stadium, the dilapidated grassy abyss… I mean… football field they play on. They haven’t lost a regular season game at home since 2007.

The Gaels offensive line was their mother hen in 2009. Photo by Jeff Chan.

Gryphons — 73.4 — Shaken resolve

• Good news for people who like bad news — the Gryphons lost easily their three best players from 2009 in QB Justin Dunk, K Rob Maver and OL Ryan Bomben.
• Standout running back Nick FitzGibbon is still around but past him things get real iffy on the offensive side of the ball which is traditionally a strength for the Gryphons.
• True story — Dunk is the sports editor for the Guelph student newspaper The Ontarion this year. Objectivity is overrated anyway…
• We are talking about optimism here and, quite frankly, second year QB Chris Rossetti doesn’t inspire confidence in anybody.
• Conventional wisdom says defence wins football games so respect to the Gryphons for thinking outside the box by not fielding one. This is easily still one of the worst defensive units outside of metropolitan Toronto. They allowed an astronomical 490 yards per game last season.
• Another true story — At last year’s homecoming game, the nor’ westerly wind caught the cloud of marijuana smoke that hung over Guelph campus and blew it down onto the sidelines of the Western Mustangs. The Gryphons were almost able to beat their suddenly timid and hungry foes, but Western held on for the 41-39 win. Good try, fellas…
• Incoming Head Coach Stu Lang — who won hearts when he said he would coach the team if they only paid him a dollar — brings two full time coordinators with him who should help over-complicate things for this young Gryphons squad.
• New coaching staff, same atrocious defence, young yet underwhelming offence — this is a team just trying to tread water

University of Toronto Varsity Blues — 60.3 — Gaining courage

• Oh, silly U of T. Investing all of your money into academics and research instead of athletics. Idiots…
• The Blues are actually fairly excited about their backfield this year. Really, no joke. Walter Cariazo — who is deceptively speedy — returns to battle for snaps with University of Toledo — like, the NCAA division one University of Toledo — transfer Chris Weiland and prized recruit Keema Nnawuchi.
• Here’s a reason for optimism: They have the Neate Sager bump. The CIS guru — and unabashed Queen’s supporter — actually picked this team to finish 3-5 and earn the sixth and final OUA playoff spot.
• Here’s a reason to forget about that optimism: the team does not have a defence. They gave up 500 yards per game last season and didn’t make a single significant addition to the unit in the off season.
• Andrew Gillis is back behind centre. Surely he’s familiar with the playbook but it doesn’t really matter when half your snaps just turn into scrambles anyway. If only he had some semblance of an offensive line we could actually see what it’s like when he passes the ball.
• The Varsity Blues are kind of like Entourage — Any given week you might get a good surprise individual performance but as a whole it’s pretty bad.

Windsor Lancers — 42.1 — Secure with own inadequacy

• Wait, these guys still have a team?
• Kinda like how standing next to the pimply kid with the lazy eye in class pictures always made you look better by comparison, not much attention has been paid to the Lancers’ futility in recent years because, well, York and Toronto are just a bit better at being terrible.
• The Lancers made absolutely zero sense in 2009, only managing to beat the putrid York Lions by three points and allowing Waterloo to shut them out 49-0, while at the same time losing to McMaster by just a point and putting up a good fight against Ottawa in the final week of the season. Why don’t things ever just happen the way they’re supposed to in this league?
• Say what you will about the Warriors, they certainly make things interesting. They managed to lose to McMaster in overtime last year when they blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown only to have the play negated by a blocking penalty, giving McMaster a single point and the win.
• I really, really want to mention a couple notable incoming players for this season, but it’s just a wasteland of poor recruiting and misused resources.
• Their perceived advantage in American recruitment — Like Brett Favre’s retirement and hangover-free beer — was unfortunately just too good to be true.
• There is a very real possibility that this team could drop below Toronto if they don’t get their act together. And that’s something I never thought I would write.

York Lions — 24.9 Soul-crushing despair

• Optimism? What is this optimism that you speak of?
  

  York quarterback Nickolas Coutu. Photo by Jeff Chan.

• True optimists will tell you that, like Shania Twain in a basement elevator, the Lions can only go up from here. Unless they somehow get worse this year — which is actually a possibility…
• Last season the Lions defensive strategy basically consisted of trying to hold the opposing team to under 50 points — a feat they only accomplished in half their games…
• The last time York won a game? September 29, 2007 when they beat the University of Toronto 21-20 in a barn burner that saw both teams punt for more yards than they collected offensively. We’d all like to pretend that debacle never happened, but until York wins again — don’t hold your breath — it’s a part of history…
• The season should get off on the right foot — the Lions chose to play their only preseason game against perennial Vanier Cup favourites Laval for reasons that can only be explained as masochistic.
• Unless they can figure out how to multiply his DNA and begin farming an army of football players in his mold, it’s doubtful that former Mustangs QB and CIS all-time leading passer Michael Faulds can save this offence as its new coordinator.
• But look on the bright side, not many teams boast offensive coordinators who are better athletes than the majority of the team. So they’ve got that.

Waterloo Warriors — 2.9 — Awkwardly lingering

• Waterloo looks to challenge this year with a good core of returning players plus a talented class of incoming recruits. They’ll have strong contributions from…
• What’s that? They arrested who? And the school did what? For the entire season? Oh… This is awkward….

Ever taken the five-hour Via Rail trip from Toronto to Montreal? It’s not exactly an invigorating experience.

Some pass the time testing the arm rest’s structural integrity. Some plot revenge on

the seat-reclining oaf ahead of them. Some just sleep.

Toronto Argonauts offensive lineman Rob Murphy gets all xenophobic on the internet.

The story goes like this. On the Argonaut’s train ride to Montreal last week for the team’s inevitable drubbing — it was only 41-10 this time — at the hands of the league-best Alouettes, Murphy chose to bide his time on twitter, freely sharing his opinions of our country’s storied francophone heritage. He’s since deleted the tweets, but once upon a time they read like this:

“At train station… Pumped to be smelling foreigners this early in the A.M. They smell less offensive this way… little known fact.”

Followed shortly thereafter by…

“Ok… the novelty of riding on a train thru Ontario and “Frenchland” has worn out… get me off this damn thing!!!!”

After the ensuing backlash, Murphy — who has since made his twitter account private, meaning only those who he approves can follow him — defended himself on the social network, saying he was just trying to be funny.

“Obviously my recent tweets have gotten blown out of proportion. […] I’m sorry if I offended anyone by my recent comments. I was JOKING around.”

Both the Argos and the CFL don’t seem to share Murphy’s, um, unique sense of humour. They both fined the 33-year-old under the league’s social media policy, making Murphy the first player to be punished under the act.

Were Murphy’s comments, say, offensive? Sure. Misguided? Of course. But they weren’t unlike anything else that’s freely available on Twitter and, in a larger sense, the internet. The web is ungoverned and — in most areas of the world — uncensored which means it has the dubious ability to turn into a global dumping ground for all the world’s sexism, racism, homophobia and good ol’ general hate. It’s not a particularly good thing, but it is what it is. The positives of the internet far outweigh the negatives.

The problem with Murphy’s case is that he’s a professional athlete. He’s not just representing himself — which would make it okay for him to be as offensive and disparaging as he pleases. He’s representing the Toronto Argonauts, the Canadian Football League and Canadian football itself. You just can’t say whatever you want.

That’s why the league instituted its social media policy last season as more and more of its athletes began experimenting with twitter. Any comments players make on twitter are considered public and subject to discipline. The league also took the step of banning players’ twitter usage from 20 minutes before a game until 20 minutes after the game.

What the CFL would like to protect here is the romantic idea that the locker room at half time looks like Any Given Sunday.

It’s a nice image. Players huddle around each other, nervously clenching water bottles with nary a smile in the room — focusing purely on the game and what to do in the second half.

The CFL certainly doesn’t want fans to think that when players enter the locker room the first thing they pick up is their Blackberry — not their playbook.

But it’s clear that minds may be wandering in game. Saskatchewan’s Tad Kornegay tweeted during halftime of the 2009 Grey Cup and several athletes from other sports (Charlie Villanueva and Shaquille O’Neal to name a couple) have taken to their smart phones during down time to keep themselves — and, of course, all of us — entertained.

And what we have right there is the fine line that professional leagues like the CFL must tread. The positives that come from having their athletes participate in the world of social media are too large to ignore. Allowing players to interact with fans and show their personalities outside of post-game clichés is an exceptionally good thing — especially now that everyone and their arrogant cat have Twitter.

But it’s increasingly hard for leagues to control their athletes’ public image when they are free to roam within social media. And any league executive will tell you that in professional sports, public perception is absolutely paramount.

Figuring out how to walk that line makes the art of what and when to tweet still a bit tricky for the CFL and its athletes. The good news is that several current stars (Avon Cobourne, Arland Bruce, Byron Parker) and even a couple former ones (Damon Allen, Wally Buono) have figured it out.

As we carry on in the social media era there will surely be more public missteps — rule number one of professional sports is that athletes will do silly things. But the CFL knows twitter is a good thing for their league and don’t be surprised if they start encouraging more of their athletes to open accounts.

Let’s just say that players shouldn’t skip the ‘right and wrong times to express xenophobia’ session during media training.

E-mail Arden at arden@westerngazette.ca . You can also follow him on Twitter at @ArdenAtGazette

A couple notes today — one from the pros and two from close to home.

Jose Bautista

Well this has worked out well, now hasn’t it.

Acquired by former Blue Jays general manager JP Ricciardi in 2008 for a player to be named later — the player turned out to be switch-hitting catcher Robinson Diaz, who is now a minor leaguer treading water in the Detroit Tigers organization — Jose Bautista can’t be labeled as anything less than a smashing success.

Currently leading the league in home runs on Wednesday morning  with 30 — he’s probably smacking a couple more right now as I write this — Bautista has the most dingers of any professional baseball player since last September. More than Ryan Howard. More  than Mark Teixeira. More than Alex Rodriguez. You get the point.

That’s why the Blue Jays have to get rid of him. Soon.

If Jose Bautista is still on the Blue Jays roster after the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, the Jays will have made a huge mistake.

Look, by all accounts Bautista is a really good guy and a fantastic comeback story, but everyone and their escaped boa constrictor knows that the guy is hitting way over his head. Eventually, his production will slow down and return to his career norms. Remember, he’s never hit more than 24 home runs — he did it in 2oo5 in double-A — in any season at any level in his career. The time to cash in on Bautista’s inflated value is now when his stock is through the roof — before it comes crashing back down to earth.

Bautista turns 30 this year, which is typically the age where power number decline. The exceptions to that rule come, of course,  during the steroids era when, well, you know how that story goes.

No matter what any of the mouth-breathers who phone radio call-in shows say, the Blue Jays are not going to contend this year or next. If Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos is savvy, he’ll trade Bautista now for quality young ball players who can help the team down the road when it’s ready to challenge for a playoff spot.

Noteworthy Mustangs

Aa always, your Western Mustangs are hard at work over the summer, training for their upcoming seasons and participating in events around the continent.

Unfortunately we only had one summer issue this year — sorry, I couldn’t stop the frisbee thing — so we weren’t able to shine as much light on their goings-on as we have in the past, but here’s a couple stories you should check out.

Jacqueline Rennebohm, a visually-impaired Mustangs track and field athlete, set a Canadian record in the 200m at a track meet in Windsor earlier this month with a time of 28.6 seconds, besting the previous record by more than two milliseconds.

The second-year social sciences major — whose eyes can only detect colour and motion from objects five feet away — works with a running guide and competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a paralympic swimmer.

Taylor Stewart, a London native, won a bronze medal at the 2010 IAAF Track and Field World Junior Championships last week.

The 19-year-old, entering his first year at Western, lept 7.63 metres to secure the medal.

I’ve been hearing about Stewart around London for some time now and everyone who sees him compete thinks he’s going to be a star. He’s one to watch this year.

E-mail Arden at arden@westerngazette.ca . You can also follow him on twitter at @ArdenAtGazette

Grasshopper Wheat Ale

When Ed McNally founded Alberta’s Big Rock Brewery in 1985, he said his plan was “to make the beer that I want to drink, not what will be popular.” With Grasshopper, Ed brewed the beer he wants to drink in summer — a golden yellow wheat ale with fruity and citrusy aftertaste. Try it with a slice of lemon.

Granite Brewery Summer Ale

For 19 years the Granite Brewery has  operated at the corner of Mount Pleasant and Eglinton in Toronto, brewing traditional English ales in small batches. Every summer they feature their cask conditioned Summer Ale, which is only available until September. Although it is a light beer by definition, with four per cent alcohol content, Summer Ale is surprisingly full bodied. Try a pint on one of the Granite’s two patios or take it home from the brewery’s own beer store.

Black Oak Pale Ale

A cross between traditional British ales and modern American ales, Black Oak’s Pale Ale is the perfect beer for those who are looking for more flavor than Blue or Budweiser, but not ready to make the step up to heavily hopped, traditional brews. The golden amber ale features a notable bitterness from its generous amount of hops which is, in turn, balanced by a citrusy sweetness.  Look for it in bottles at the LCBO.

Früli

For those looking for a sweet punch to their summer patio beverage, look no further than Früli — a blend of 70 per cent Belgian white beer and 30 per cent strawberry juice. The zestiness of the white beer is nicely complimented by the sweetness of the strawberry juice and a note of bitterness which makes for one of the most unique beers you will ever taste. This beer is easy drinking for those who don’t want to feel weighed down on a hot summer day.

Magners Original Irish Cider

Touching Canadian shores all the way from Ireland, Magners offers a drier, more refined cider for summer imbibers who have tired of the palate-abusing sweetness of Strongbow. Served on its own or over ice, Magners has a subtle, apple sweetness and a dry, smooth finish — the result of months of fermentation in traditional Irish oak vats. Look for Magners in 500 mL cans at the LCBO and on tap at select pubs around Ontario.

Cameron’s Cream Ale

Summertime is a great season for ale drinkers who enjoy the refreshing, full-bodied taste of the traditional English style of brewing. However, for those who prefer lagers such as Molson’s Canadian or Moosehead Lager, Cameron’s Cream Ale provides a quality ale that drinks like a lager. The body of the golden yellow brew is light and malty, while the smooth aftertaste leaves your palate with fruity and citrusy notes. The ale is available in nine packs at the LCBO.

Several students and faculty at Western have noticed that virtually all of the lights at the WSRC are left on overnight, even though the facility closes at 12:00 a.m. during the school year. This raises questions about why the school is not lessening their carbon footprint by turning off these lights when the facility is not in use.

Lights burn bright all night at the Western Student Recreation Centre.

The Gazette contacted Gareth Cunningham, Western’s manager of Campus Recreation, to help explain why the lights are left on.

“Lights in the Western Student Recreation Centre have been on more than anyone would like in our first year plus of operations,” Cunningham said in an e-mail. “Some lights go off every night, while others remain on.”

Apparently, some of the building’s illumination can be chalked up to an optical illusion. While the number of lights left on may be similar to other facilities on campus, the WSRC’s glass walls make it appear more fully lit than other stone-walled buildings.

Another problem is access to the WSRC’s lighting control panel, which is currently in a secured, central space along with the facility’s safes. Cunningham described access to this area as “very limited and controlled” for security reasons.

“[It’s] good in theory to have the control panels for lights in a secure space, but poor design for the number of individuals who may need to access that light panel,” Cunningham said.

Starting in the fall, Western’s caretaking staff will be allowed limited access to the control panel so they can turn off the lights once their work is finished — usually around 2:00 a.m. When the facility’s student staff arrives in the morning around 5:30 a.m. they will turn the lights back on. Meanwhile, some lights will remain on because they are on the emergency light panel system.

“We’re working closely with Western’s caretaking staff to get a process settled moving forward,” Cunningham said. “The new procedures will see more of those lights go off each night.”

See something on campus you want fixed? Email fixer@westerngazette.ca explaining the problem and we’ll look into it.

Sometimes in life — and I know this can be hard to believe — there are things that are bigger than baseball. Believe it or not, a meeting of the leaders of the 20 most economically powerful nations in the world trumps a mid-season baseball series. Whether Roy Halladay is pitching or not.

That’s why on Tuesday the Toronto Blue Jays and Major League Baseball were forced to move the Jays three game series against the Philadelphia Phillies on June 25-27 from Toronto to Philadelphia because it conflicted with the G20 conference, which is scheduled to occur right across the street from the Roger’s Centre that same weekend.

The fact that this series was to be former Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay’s homecoming is simply an unfortunate coincidence.

The reaction from Blue Jays fans has been far from positive, which is to be expected. It’s irrational and unreasonable — but expected. This is Toronto, after all.

The G20 summit has never taken place in Canada which might explain why Toronto baseball fans seem to not understand the unbelievable chaos it can create on city streets.

At the last summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009, 4,500 people participated in demonstrations, causing $50,000 worth of damage and leading to 190 arrests. At the London summit in March 2009 an estimated 35,000 people took part in protests.

A crowd of 20,000 baseball fans streaming out of the Rogers Centre into the demonstrations would be absurd. There’s no need to add to what will already surely be a difficult situation for Toronto law enforcement.

I know it’s in a Toronto sports fans’ nature to assume every unpopular decision is some extravagant conspiracy against them, but this was really the only solution to a less than desirable situation. As reported by Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail, the city of Toronto requested to have the G20 moved elsewhere — or back to Huntsville where other portions of the conference will take place — in February. The federal government was also asked to change the location to Exhibition place to avoid the inevitable congestion in Toronto’s downtown core. Neither situation came to fruition, thus the baseball series was transplanted to Philadelphia. It was the only solution to a difficult problem.

The fact of the matter is if this were any of the 29 other MLB teams, no one would give two scoops. In fact, if this had happened in 2009 before the Halladay trade, no one would care either. A great majority of fans are only upset because they won’t get the chance to see Halladay pitch in red, white and blue.

Fans could have seen Roy Halladay pitch at the Rogers’ Centre every five days for the past 11 years yet they never showed up. Unless it was opening day, attendance at the Rogers Centre (49,539 capacity) has always hovered around 25,000 for Halladay’s starts in a Blue Jays uniform.

The average attendance for Halladay’s 18 home starts in 2009 was 26,140. Take away opening day (48,027) which is always the Jays best attended game of the year and May 12 (43,737 paid customers) when disgraced former Blue Jays pitcher AJ Burnett returned with the New York Yankees, and you have an average attendance of 23,672 for Halladay’s starts in Toronto. That doesn’t even fill half the stadium.

What’s more, just 20,668 showed up to see Halladay’s final home game as a Blue Jay on September 25, 2009 — a complete game shutout against the Seattle Mariners that saw Halladay allow just seven hits while striking out 9. Where were all these supposedly diehard fans for that classic Halladay performance?

Halladay will be back next year. After a formal request to MLB from the Blue Jays, the Phillies are expected to make an interleague stop in Toronto in 2011 so the team and its fans can properly honour Halladay. And that’s the way it should be.

But Jays fans don’t deserve to cry foul over losing this year’s Philadelphia series. They took Halladay for granted in the decade plus that he pitched in Toronto and now that he’s gone they feel they have some sort of cardinal right to see their former hero pitch for another team. That’s simply not the case — especially when the 20 world leaders representing 80% of world trade are bunking next door.

Blue Jays 2009 home attendance for Roy Halladay starts

(All Numbers from www.baseball-reference.com)

Home starts: 18

Average attendance: 26,140

Average attendance (minus opening day & AJ Burnett’s return): 23,672

Game-by-game attendance

Monday, Apr. 6 vs. DET (Opening Day) – 48,027

Tuesday, Apr. 21 vs. TEX – 20,996

Friday, May 1 vs. BAL – 20,202

Tuesday, May 12 vs. NYY (AJ Burnett’s return) – 43,737

Sunday, May 17 vs. CHW – 37,147

Tuesday, June 2 vs. LAA – 26,809

Sunday, June 7 vs. KCR – 21,071

Friday, June 12 vs. FLA – 17,922

Monday, June 29 vs. TBR – 15,665

Sunday, July 19 vs. BOS – 36,534

Friday, July 24 vs. TBR – 24, 161

Tuesday, August 4 vs. NYY – 33,669

Sunday, August 9 vs. BAL – 27,464

Wednesday, August 19 vs. BOS – 25,925

Monday, August 24 vs. TBR – 17,184

Friday, September 4 vs. NYY – 22,179

Wednesday, September 9 vs. MIN – 11,159

Friday, September 25 vs. SEA – 20,668

It’s hard not to enjoy watching the Montreal Canadiens’ unlikely rise through the NHL playoffs.

Sneaking in the back door as the eighth seed, the Canadiens have already eliminated the President’s Trophy winning Washington Capitals in the first round. Now, with a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins in game six of their second round series Monday night, the team is one victory away from eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Not bad for an underdog bunch who were supposed to just be happy to participate in the post season.

What makes the Canadiens’ success such a fantastic story is the cast that has contributed to it.

Hal Gill was chased out of Toronto in 2008, labeled as old, slow and timid. He joined Darcy Tucker, Bryan McCabe, Nik Antropov and a cast of other scapegoats who were unfairly blamed for the Leafs failings after the 2004 NHL lockout. He was traded to Pittsburgh where he suddenly became a top shutdown defenceman, winning a Stanley Cup in 2009. After that he joined the Canadiens where he has continued his strong play, holding Sidney Crosby — who scored five goals in six games against Ottawa in the first round — goalless through the first five games of the Canadiens series against Pittsburgh. It’s no coincidence that Crosby scored a goal and an assist in game six of the series when Gill was in the press box recovering from a lacerated calf.

Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak was drafted in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL entry draft and despite never posting a goals against average above 2.89 in seven years of professional hockey, the Slovakian has never been regarded as a quality number one goaltender until now. His play in the playoffs has been nothing short of spectacular and all of a sudden his name is mentioned in the same breath as legendary Canadiens goaltenders Ken Dryden and Patrick Roy.

Brian Gionta (five-foot-seven), Scott Gomez (five-foot-eleven) and Michael Cammalleri (five-foot-nine) were considered by most teams to be too small when they hit the free agent market in the summer of 2009. The Canadiens took advantage of their perceived market value, scooping up the diminutive trio who are now three of Montreal’s top four point getters in the playoffs.

The list of role players goes on for the blue collar Habs who are easily — sorry, Vancouver — Canada’s best hope for a Stanley Cup Champion — the first since these same Canadiens won Lord Stanley’s mug in 1993.

And that drives Gary Bettman and the folks who run the NHL nuts.

The NHL playoffs is the only time other than January’s Winter Classic when hockey’s profile is raised in the United States and Bettman and the league’s 29 owners know that this is a terrific time to capitalize on the game’s market presence. But without superstars like Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, drawing interest from passive American fans is next to impossible.

The NBA are the masters of marketing their stars. During their playoffs — which have featured far less drama and intrigue than the NHL’s post season — they run constant television ads featuring Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash, NBA stars whose teams are making long runs in the playoffs. The NHL would love nothing more than to follow this model.

But with the Canadiens having already eliminated Ovechkin and his Washinton Capitals in the first round and pushing Crosby and Penguins to the brink in the second, the NHL is in danger of seeing its two biggest stars watch the rest of the playoffs from home.

The success of the Canadiens is great for the Tim Horton’s drinking hockey fans north of the border who love nothing more than to see a blue collar team go far in the post season with hard work and fundamental hockey. But without Crosby or Ovechkin taking part in the show, the NHL has no icons with which to market their game to Americans. That’s why, for Bettman and the 29 owners of NHL teams, the Canadiens can’t leave the party soon enough.

A Montreal victory Wedneseday night against Pittsburgh in game seven is the last thing the NHL wants. Unfortunately for them, there isn’t much they can do to stop it.

Linebacker Conor Elliott was drafted 44th overall by the Toronto Argonauts, while defensive lineman Christopher Greaves followed directly after, selected 45th overall by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

It was the third year in a row the Mustangs have had two players selected in the CFL’s entry draft. Offensive lineman Josh Buttrill was eligible to be drafted, but was not chose

Conor Elliott

n on Sunday. He will now have an opportunity to sign a free agent deal with any of the CFL’s eight teams.

Elliott joins an Argonauts franchise that has undergone a drastic winter rebuild, revamping both their offence and defence through trades, free agent signings and Sunday’s draft where they selected nine players — tying them with the BC Lions for the most picks in the draft.

“It’s unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable,” Elliot said after being drafted on Sunday. “I’m excited and I’m nervous. I don’t really know what to expect. I just want to go in there with my head up and run with it.”

Elliott was second on the Mustangs in the 2009 regular season with 30.5 tackles, adding three interceptions and two forced fumbles as well. His strong play continued into the playoffs,where he recorded 14 tackles and an interception in 3 games.

Elliott was also cultivated by the Argonauts for his special teams play. He was the only long snapper invited to the CFL’s Evaluation Camp in Toronto in March where he was watched closely by Argonauts special teams coordinator Mike O’Shea.

“I feel like that was a big part of the Argos drafting me,” Elliott said. “[The Argos] said I looked good and that they really needed someone who could come in and step up on special teams.”

Much like his teammate Elliott, Greaves is joining a rebuilding franchise in Winnipeg. After finishing 7-11 last season and out of the playoffs for the first time since 2005, the Blue Bombers are looking to rebound this season with a new coach in Paul LaPolice and four Canadian university players who they selected in Sunday’s draft.

Greaves played on the defensive line for the Mustangs, but many have speculated that the six-foot-five, 290-pounder has the size and athleticism to make the switch to the offensive line. To his credit, Greaves is not picky about where he plays.

“I don’t really care ­— as long as I play,” Greaves said bluntly of playing on either side of the ball. “I think I can play defensive tackle fairly well or switch to the offensive line and play well there too. I’m pretty athletic for my size, so I can see myself playing on either line.”

Christopher Greaves

Greaves racked up 30.5 tackles and 2.5 sacks in eight regular season and three playoff games for the Mustangs in 2009. He was relied on to play almost every defensive snap fo

r Western late in the 2009 season, after two of the Mustangs regular defensive linemen went down with season ending injuries.

After four years at Western building towards Sunday’s draft, Greaves is ready to move on to the next level in his career.

“Getting drafted was really relieving — it’s a big weight off my chest,” Greaves said. “I’m really excited to get to training camp. I want to see the competition and what CFL offensive linemen are like.”

Both players said spending their university career’s under Mustangs head coach Greg Marshall — who coached the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger Cats from 2004-2006 — helped prepare them for the step up to the CFL.

“He’s really in your face. He makes you a tougher player,” Greaves said of Marshall. “You’ve got to make sure you bring it every time — he doesn’t accept anything less than that. He’s a good motivator as well. He makes you really want to get better.”

Both Greaves and Elliott will report to their respective training camps in late May or early June. Greaves has one year of athletic eligibility left at Western, while Elliott has three.  If either player does not make their team out of training camp, the team could retain their rights and return them to the Mustangs for the 2010 season.