f?

The Cadre; Oct. J4, ]975, page ]2

Football “(on

The Atlantic Football ‘Conference is a farce. It is not competitive and off— ers very little to the per— son who wants to pay for and see close football.

Here's what I mean: St. Mary's 54 U.N.B. 1 Acadia 51 Dal 0 St. F.X. 61 Dal 7 St. Mary's 56 Mt. A. 1

The only persons who want to see that kind of football must belong to the Masochist Union. Those sc— ores do very little for participants because the

winner's don't get much sat—

is faction, while the lose— rs can only suffer embara— ssment and humiliation.'

I don't think St. Mary's,

which has a full—time foot— ball coach and admits to having a tremendous foot— ball program7should be pun- ished for its success. But on the other hand, schools .like UPEI and Mt. A. shou— 'ldn't be put through a ch— amber of horrors three or four times during a footb- all season. 1

As it stands now,“coll— ege football in the Marit— imes is in serious trouble and unless something is done, we won't have the sp— ort for too long. UPEI is having a hard time getting bodies to try out, and Mt.

Allison is tired of spend— _

ing money and being down— vgraded every time they pl- ay St. Mary's . ' ' The universities are looking for another school to join the league. They're

"crazy. Who'd want to join?

Who is foolish enough to enter? Nobody wants to ge killed. ‘ "UniVersities with diff— erent philosophies should- ’n't compete against each

Gordie Pierce

Photo:

other", says Dal housie"s athletic director Doug Har- graves. ,

' He's right.-Dal's appr; oach toward 8 intercolleg— iate sport is totally dif— ferent from Acadia's and

'St. Mary's. When Dal plays

a game they hope to do well and get something out of it to better themselves. The Dal aim in football is to try and do their best. Do you know what the aim of St. Mary's football Hu- skies is? From the first day in camp the players are geared towards winning the ultimate and that means the Canadian collegiate

. football championship, and

every outing is a Step to— wards that goal. w

I don't think there is anything wrong in trying to be the very best in the country. The odds are ag- ainst you but one should— n't be condemned for tryi— ng. However, the way to get there shoaldnw.ruin Int— ercollegiate football.

Do you realiZe last week's game between St. Mary's and Acadia is the only decent one you'll see this year. They play Dal later this month, and the‘ only question is whether St. Mary's can score more than the 61 points St.F.X. racked up against them this week. ‘

If St. F.X. should upset St. Mary's this weekend it would force a three-way tie (St.F.X.-St. Mary's-Acadia) for first. Then it's going to be the old points for and against deal to see who makes the playoffs and the teams that are going to get killed are Dal, UPEI, and Mt.A.

How do we solve this

1

ferenkce . ~9N-eeds gee

problem without changing- school ideas? I think there is only one way, a‘tier‘or division system.

Let the universities that want to compete for national honours, those who place emphasis on their" football program, those who actively recruit players, compete against each other.

Here's the way I see it;

TIER 1 TIER 2’ St. Mary's UPEI Acadia Dal St.F.X. Mt. A. ...... UNB

As it stands the fans get one game a year between Acadia-St. Mary's and if you are an Acadia fan, the game wasn't in Wolfville this year. If a fourth club could be found to enter the Tier 1 it would mean a home and home schedule for each team. It would rectify the imbalance in the league, create a better rivalry, and probably increase int- erest in the sport in the Maritimes.

Some 5,000 fans turned out for the game between St. Mary's and A cadia: imagine the rematch later. in Wolfville. It could ha—'

ppen under the Tier syst-

em. v r Acadia_defeated St.F.X. in their first game 35-29. It was a close one and I'm sure X would love another shot. They can't get it be- cause of the current set- up. ‘ The best games this

,year have been between the

'weaker clubs. Dal edged Mt.

A. 2§-24 and Mt.A. just got by UPEI 25—21. Under the tier system more of these

games could be posSible. If a tier system were put into operation more schools may want to join the weaker division. Maybe the U. de M. or ﬁt. Thomas would consider tgking their chances with-UPEI, Mt.A., and UNB. Right now they see St. Mary's, Acadia, and St, F.X. rolling over people and they say," we don't want any part of it". Who could blame them./ ' ; Perhaps it-isstime for the athletic directors and football coaches of the Atlantic conference to arr~ iVe at a solution, before the universities that are getting killed say," to hell with it",and cancel intercollegiate football.

( The Editor is grateful for the use of this art- icle from the Fourth Es- tate written by Alex Wa- lling.)

, RESEARCH

_ (mum's LARGEST ssnvnce $3.50 in: p..._

Stud ﬂow for latest En- doao $5.00 to oovmrotum post-

one. ass/w SERVICE§

57 sandin- Avo..'Suin #208. Toronto. Ontario. Con-d.

‘ ,;~.mu.:nsmo: :1 3 fix - Wm W 7,.»iﬁrnﬂv for nmrchdsdumoply. _ - 7

$001M! .mnétréquuga. ngiq'q’vméﬁ ‘

MAGIC CARPET SERVICE _

"(R VEL

XMAS HOLIDAYS, ARE 1 COMING SOONER THAN

YOU THINK -__~ BOOK YOUR FLIGHT EARL r ' ' S'SIDE CHTOWN MONTAGUE 436-2744 892-4148 838-3134

@tanaba imam

. OPEN 11 AM. nu. 1 m.

LARGEST DISCO DANCE ' FLOOR IN TOWN!

using-r mass