Queen's once! Queen's Twice!

I am a proud graduate of Queen's University and an even prouder Football Gael alum ... although it was a Golden Gael when I played in the golden yellow uniforms of the early 80's. 

I can still hear the student section's chant, "They're BIG! They're YELLOW! They're BIG YELLOW guys!"


I recently participated in a Zoom meeting with some of my former team mates that was aimed at getting to know the new Head Coach, Steve Snyder, while he shared his plans for the future successes of the team. Coach Snyder was looking to former players for an enhanced alumni presence as he puts his thumb mark on an already storied program. Coach's presentation was impressive, thorough, passionate and Uber exciting.

My team mates from those years are still some of my greatest friends, and in particular, the lads from the '83 team. We get together on a pretty regular basis since our playing days, and we are quick to slip back into a friendly war of good natured barbs about all facets of varsity life, past and present. To say that we're a pretty tight-knit group would be an understatement.

The question of the underlying reasons for the camaraderie was by put forth by Coach Snyder following his explanation surrounding his coaching group's insistence of developing a sense of family as one of his primary goals early in his tenure. Those of our group who went on to a professional career were queried how their post-Gael experiences compared to those in good old Kingston. What was already known to many was enthusiastically affirmed by all who had a voice to lend to the question, almost as if deep down they thought the question was ridiculous in nature.

Of course being a Gael was the best time in our life!
We have a 1000 stories that we re-hash each get together to prove it!

The core of the 100's of players who represented the university in the early part of the 80's decade share one particularly awesome experience ... the 1983 Vanier Cup and it's last second loss to the Calgary Dinos. So many people over the years have shared their wide-eyed amazement when they first find out that I was a part of the "underdog" '83 Gaels, but I am quick to retort that we never felt like we wouldn't win that game. For those that don't know about the 1983 CIS Football season, we were on the lips of many as we stumbled our way through the OQIFC division that fall. We burst out of the gate to win the first 4 games, causing a bit of a stir, but then slipped a little with back-to-back ties against Ottawa, and completely flopped with a Homecoming loss to McGill. Fortunately, we rallied in the playoffs, summarily defeating first Carleton (32-18) and then McGill (36-5) to earn a berth to the Churchill Bowl vs the University of Toronto in a national semifinal. I guess I would have to admit that losing to McGill in front of our feverishly passionate homecoming fans started the "underdog" label as detractors predicted a choke was in our future.

Sure, we were all a little nervous in the locker room the morning of the Carleton playoff game, wondering if we really had what was needed. Fortunately, the first quarter action was the nudge needed and it started a swelling collective belief, much to the relief of the student body and the coaching staff. The following weekend, OQIFC final vs McGill was over early and we were relieved that we had turned the season around.

If we harboured any doubts about our future, the week leading up to the national semifinal vs the U of T could have shaken our resolve as every newspaper ... you remember those, eh ... predicted a decisive U of T victory. We were more than happy to play the role of spoiler.

I remember the morning of the Churchill Bowl, looking out my window, and realizing that we were gifted with a thick blanket of snow. Arriving at Richardson Stadium early that day, I marvelled at the efforts being extended to clear the field, but the footing looked to be a potential problem. When the kickoff finally arrived, the sun was shining, and Richardson was rockin' and rollin' as the student fans put on a show of school spirit for the national TV audience that was rarely seen in Canada. Despite U of T scoring on their first possession, we slowly discovered our groove on route to our own lopsided victory, winning 22-7.

Leading up to the Vanier Cup, it was again predicted that Queen's was the overwhelming underdog, but the energy of the crowd (it was estimated that 80% of the Queen's student body of 11,000 were rockin' the stands) was almost palpable. I was playing O-Line that year, but at only 215 lbs, the guy across from me out-sized me by at least 70 lbs. Early in the game, we struggled to move the ball, putting our defence in terrible field position, but our defence intercepted three passes to keep the game close despite being vastly outplayed in offensive yardage. The action was all Dinos as they led 17-3 at halftime.

Just before the first half ended, the coaching staff pulled out our starting quarterback in favour of our backup quarterback, Pete Harrison, running the triple-option, an offence that the Calgary defence had not prepared for. It's difficult to execute, rarely used in those days, but we had great faith in it. Pete ran it brilliantly. It made my job a whole lot easier since I would be pulling and using my agility on people more my size like LBs and DBs.

We scored a couple of times in the beginning part of the 2nd half, and with 3 minutes left, we finally took the lead 21-20. The go-ahead touchdown was almost a catastrophe for us when Pete fumbled in the end zone on a QB sneak, but O-Line mate Steve Hudson recovered it and is still the only lineman in Vanier Cup history to score a TD. When you think about it, the final score doesn't really indicate how close and exciting that second half was. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, the stands were full of Queen's people, and I remember them getting louder and louder with each passing minute.

In the end, it wasn't meant to be and Calgary scored a late TD and FG to win 31-21.

There are a TON of memories of that experience stored in my brain cells! One of the most crystal clear was one that helped me deal with the disappointment of that last second loss. The final whistle had just sounded, Calgary was celebrating, I was completely spent, and obviously, pretty emotional. The thousands of Queen's fans had rushed the field, and from where I knelt, I could clearly see a young man, purple faced, wearing dyed coveralls, Queen's tam cocked to one side, on his knees, throwing haymakers into a stuffed dinosaur, sending chunks of stuffing into the air. I couldn't help myself. A smile emerged and I started to giggle, pushing the disappointment out of my core.

We had plenty to be proud of, despite the loss. Our head coach, Doug Hargreaves, was named Canadian Intercollegiate Coach of the Year. We had narrowly lost a Vanier despite our arguably two best players, FB Larry Mohr and LB Mike Schad, being sidelined with season ending injuries. We silenced all of the critics with our inspiring play, and dare I say, made some converts that day.

There's lots of stories ... not all fit to print.
Every year that passes, we get better and better.
I love those guys!