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The NFL combine

Men in tights proving their manhood

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By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer

nother NFL combine has come and gone.
A™ so-called “Underwear Olympics” has

performed its annual duty of blowing the
importance of the “measurables” so far out of the
water that one almost forgets to check if any of
these guys can actually play football.

What?

I know. It’s insane. You figure if a guy can run
a 4.3 40 and put up a 45-inch vert, he’s already
better than most players in the league. Wrong.
Wrong? Suddenly the Raiders’ demise makes
sense.

If it’s not clear, I’ve never been a fan of the
combine. Teams place more stock in individual
workouts than Tiger Woods places... you get the
point. However, this year, being a self-proclaimed
masochist (a.k.a., Rams fan), | was intently praying
for a strong showing from Robert Griffin III so that
teams would fall head over heels for him and offer
my beloved Lambs a much needed bevy of draft
picks in exchange for the coveted number two
spot.

For the first time in some time, my NFL hopes
came true. RG3 ran a 4.41 40, flew up to a 39-inch
vert, and landed an extremely respectable 10 foot
broad jump. He also turned out to be as tall as
advertised. That massive rush you just heard is
several QB-needy GM’s dropping everything and
hitting the phones. They knew nothing of this
Heisman Trophy winner before now. Thank God for
the combine.

In other news, wide receiver Stephen Hill of
Georgia Tech may have managed to vault himself
from a borderline third-to-fourth rounder into the
first round. “But how?” you may ask. Well, he’s
six-foot-four, 215 pounds, and just ran a 4.36 in the
40. Sure, he only caught 28 balls in his final college
year, but he can run a 4.36 40.

Equally disappointing as Hill was surprising
was speed demon Kendall Wright out of Baylor.
Those trademark wheels that he put on display
all season suddenly disappeared at the combine,

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, Stephen H a Tech

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and he put up a miserable 4.61 in the, you guessed
it, 40. He may have recorded 1,663 yards and 14
touchdowns this year, but his 40-yard dash time
clearly shows without a doubt, that he’s fallen
apart since the end of his season. Just not the same
player. Slow as frozen molasses. Expect Wright to
fall into the late-first to mid-second round now
unless he has a ridiculous performance at his pro
day.

One more offensive standout, Lamar Miller of
Miami, will find himself being called in the first 32
selections come draft time due to his workout. The
5’11, 212 pound running back ran a 4.4 40. Season
validated. Give him a fat contract and sign him up!

Switching over to the defensive side of the
ball, one player truly impressed me: Dontari Poe,
the defensive tackle out of Memphis. I generally
only absentmindedly watch the combine, but
this big boy made me perk up. The six-foot-four,
346-pound DT went through an incredible 44
reps (225 pounds each) and ran a 4.98 40. A 4.98
40. A 350-pound man running 40 yards in under
five seconds? I don’t care who you are. That
should scare you. Some had him pegged as a third
rounder, but now he’s expected to go as high as
the top 10.

Janoris Jenkins. Talented cornerback. Decent
combine highlighted by a 4.46 in the 40-yard
dash. But that’s all backstory. Busted several times
for possession of marijuana. Arrested for a bar
fight. Father of four children, from three different
women. This guy has more issues than a daily
paper (or a Cincinnati Bengal). Some will say that
he had a good combine since he showed well and
took the hard interview questions like a man, but
I wouldn’t touch the former Florida corner with a
10-foot pole. Though he’ll most likely go in the top
15, [sure hope that the team that takes him keeps a
tight leash on the problematic DB.

And to wrap it up, the winner of the 2012 Al
Davis you-shouldn’t-be-drafted-this-high award is
Stephen Hill of Georgia Tech. Al, you would have
loved this kid.

 

Royals Roundup

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

ast week the Royals men’s
| econ team took part in the
PacWest Provincial championships
at Capilano University in a good old
fashioned affair. However, the sixth-seeded
Royals came up just shy against the number
three Camosun Chargers in a 68-62 contest,
finishing off their season earlier than what
they had hoped for.

The UNBC Timberwolves and the VIU
Mariners were the teams that battled in
the finals for gold for both the men and
womens teams. In the men’s finals the
Timberwolves beat the Mariners by a score
of 69-62 to take the championship, while in
the women’s finals the Timberwolves were
the winners as well taking out the Mariners,
62-53. In the bronze medal games for both
the men and women’s basketball teams,
the Camosun Chargers faced off against
the Capilano Blues. In the men’s game,
the Chargers beat the Blues 84-78 to take
the Bronze while in the women’s game the
Blues were the winners in a 72-52 win.

UNBC becomes the first school to
win both men’s and women’s basketball
championships in the same season since
UCFV won the BCCAA championship back
in 2003-04.

Royals’ badminton superstar, RuiLin
Hang captured gold at Nationals at
Thompson Rivers University this past
weekend for the fourth year in a row,
dominating in the finals against Tracy
Wong from Humber College, OCAA
by ascore of 21-13, and 21-10. She was
also named the 2012 CCAA Women’s
Badminton Player of the Year for the
fourth consecutive year along with other
accomplishments which include the CCAA
Badminton Player of the Month along with
winning all four PacWest tournaments with
a dazzling 26-0 record, and winning gold
and silver at the 2012 Seattle Open. “RuiLin
is in a class of her own,” says Alf McGuire,
CCAA national badminton convenor. “Her
performances are outstanding.”

Bob Sharma took home the silver in
men’s singles for Douglas College, while
our very own Luo Wei and Simon Wu
won gold in the men’s doubles finals;
Charmagne Yeung, and Logan Campbell
won the mixed doubles gold.

Yes, Douglas College cleaned up as
PacWest and PacWest host players won
seven of the 15 medals in the CCAA
championships. What a way to finish!

   

@ Aurel David