What a weekend of Basketball. St,Mary's a 10 seed beat #2 seed Villanova today and a 9 seed from Northern Iowa shocked #1 seed Kansas. Then there were the buzzer beaters that seemed to be commonplace throughout the weekend. Or how about the braket buster victories from the likes of #11 seed Old Dominion on day 1 of the tounnament. The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has begun!
And if the over 50 hours of television coverage on CBS, the 13 hour days on the Score, the NBA on ABC and TSN wasn't enough - somewhere through all of this on TSN2 there was the CIS Basketball Championship. Not to worry though if you didn't know because you aren't alone, because truthfully who really cares when even the CIS itself doesn't seem to.
How else can one explain that the pinnacle of men's basketball - the CIS Championship would be held on the same weekend as the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Wouldn't this be akin to planning a stag party for New Years Day, a movie release the night of the oscars or a hockey game on Game #7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Logistics aside, outside of football does anyone really care about CIS Sports anymore.
The fact is, Collegiate sports in Canada has become a haven for the over-aged athlete looking for that one last chance at competition. Case in point Mike Danton. Danton, a 29 year-old former NHL Hockey Player and felon after serving 5 years in prison for attempted murder, showed the flaws in the CIS system this past year when he played university hockey for St. Mary's Huskies.
Danton is the norm not the exception. In hockey, the majority of players are Canadian Hockey League rejects returning to university as 20+ athletes making it difficult for a 17 year old to compete. Meanwhile in the States the majority of players are up and coming pro's.
In football - the Hec Creighton Winner - Erik Glavic is a relatively young 23 years old but with 2 more years of eligibility and looking to return to school he won`t be finished his collegiate days until he is 25. Meanwhile in the States 22 year old Heisman Winner Sam Bradford is trying his hand at the NFL.
The facts are that CIS Sport is no longer relevant. Many of the nations best athletes leave Canada for the opportunity to compete in the high glamour world of NCAA Athletics. In a recent Globe & Mail article it is estimated that over 100 of our best basketball players have taken the skills south of the border. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/making-a-run-for-the-border/article1493032/. It is no different in other sports. In rowing, this blogger estimates that over 66% of the Canadian Olympic winning 8+ and Silver medal winning pair consisted of athletes from U.S Schools. Further those athletes that that are seen as the future in the sport (Colin & McCabe) attend school in the States. In Track & field the lone medallist from the 2008 Olympics attended school south of the border.
So how do we fix it........................
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