University of British Columbia - Totem Yearbook (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada)

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i'Thunderbird football squad had lots of drive but not the ability to score tries. Above UBC bal carrier is stopped despite efforts of team mates to clear the way for him. merican ooibauera oat Every game A no-win, all loss record chalked up by the Am- erican Football squad this season would seem to belie the statement that they really got something done for a change. The greatest contribution made by the undermanned football team was not from their ability on the field of combat, but rather from the lack of it. Shortage of players, the unimpressive games before smaller crowds than usual, the obvious lack of enthusi- asm of the players who seemed to have adopted a what,s the use attitude because they were getting nowhere bashing their bodies against finer and heavier American talent with better equipment and better train- ing, all contributed to inspire the UBC student body to raise their voices in protest and demand a new athletic system. But demands for a change in the athletic picture did not help the ailing grid machine during the re- mainder of the football schedule. Working with only a handful of players, with his few reserves on the bench more to psychologically boost the teammates on the field than to sub in for them, Head Coach Orville Burke saw another bad season achingly slide by. Nucleus of the team was composed of about fifteen men who carried most of the weight during the entire season. In the season opener, which took place even before theopening of the university, Burke and assist- ant coach Ieliy Anderson fielded few more than eleven men to hold off St. Martinis best, including a Vancou- ver track star who was down south on an athletic scholarship. 102 St. Martin's handed the home town team their first of seven defeats by rolling to their Z7-6 win in the latter stages of the game when the overworked Bird- men began to tire. A theoretical win for the Thunder- birds came at the end of the season when Whitworth College Pirates failed to appear at the Point Grey campus because they had been plagued by injuries. With nothing but defeats in between the first and last scheduled games at UBC, the crowds began to dwindle, until the Homecoming Game came along on November 4. Playing to a near-capacity crowd despite had weather which haunted Vancouver almost until game time, Thunherbirds changed style completely from their previous four games and played it wide open. Opposition for the feature game of the season was provided by Northern Idaho College Loggers, a team that UBC had beaten the year before. Throwing all caution to winds, Thunderbird gridmen managed to score three touch- downs against the visi- tors, but in the process they had five scored against them. Final score ended at 33-18 but every- one went away happy for the first time in the 217 f

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W 2 Lx I - I v' 50 ' x !!! administrative with coaches coming from student ranks. Women's intramural were handled by last year's Women's Athletic Directorate president Carol MacKin- non, who returned to campus for teachers' training. Working as Graduate Manager for the last year was Cloverleaf player Ole Bakken, who worked hard trying to keep Vancouverites and students informed on student athletics. If any group may be evaluated in terms of its successes, then the Men's Athletic Directorate is not to be excepted. Under the guiding hand of Brock Ostrom, MAD's chairman for 1950-1951, university athletics took a new turn. Past years had witnessed a steady decline of campus sports to the extent that UBC's Evergreen Conference entrants faced expulsion from inter-collegiate activity. As the result of a humiliating defeat in an Am- erican football game, although far from unusual, student lethargy was chucked down the drain. and in its place appeared the Ostrom Plan. Athletic assistance was finally realized at the Uni- versity of British Columbia, and this school's sport activities were now to rise from their long depression. i'Student leaders in Athletics were Mimi Wright ltopl and Brock Ostrum lcentrel. Ostrum was responsible for the giant reorganiz- ing of athletics on campus. Below the Men's Athletic Directorate which approved all of 0strum's plans and help put them into effect. W . M' -

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season. Being outscored by at least three touchdowns became the rule rather than the exception. Linfield held UBC to no score while mark- ing up forty-six points on the score- board, and Western Washington ended their game with a forty-seven to seven score. At least UBC had a new score- board this year on which to record the major tallies of the visiting teams. A gift of the 1949 graduating class, it was unyielded and used for the first time at the Homecoming game. The football season ended in sad state, but with the instigation of a new athletic plan, things began to look up. At least next year, the campus thought, things would be better. Then came the unwelcome news that head coach Burke would not be back to coach the team in the 1951-52 term. He had been working under a two-year contract which had expired, and the press of his work did not allow him the time neces- sary to coach a team. Visitors UBC St. Martins-UBC ...... 21 6 Whiteman Callege -L BC ............,.. .- 21 6 Western Wash.- UBC ...r............ -- 47 7 Linfield College- UBC ................... -- 46 O Northern Idaho- UBC ...................... 33 18 Eastern Washington- UBC ........................ 34 O Whiteworth-UBC Defaulted to UBC Western Washington- UBC ..rr......r......,...... 27 9 Totals ..... ...r................ 2 29 47 Total Wins O Total Defeats 7 One game defaulted i'Games were always action packed even if it was the other team calling all the plays and leading the game from the starting whistle. Standouts on the team were Gil Steer, Cec Taylor, Dave MacFarlane and George Puil. A big uplift to the team was the rally that preceded the starting of the Ostrum plan. At least the team could be sure of one thing, that next year there will be a training table, better equipment, and most important a full squad.