Looking Forward

4th down, clock winding down in the 4th quarter of the Battle for the Drum, Southern California’s oldest college football rivalry between the Occidental College Tigers and the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens. The Sagehens have the ball with the Oxy clinging to a slim 21-24 lead. As the players lined up for the ensuing play, everyone in Jack Kemp stadium rose to their feet, trying to cheer their team to victory. It was almost as if this were a real college football game.

Saturday night’s win by Oxy showed us what Occidental football has the potential to be. The play that I described above was the first time in my limited involvement with Tigers football that I have experienced fan support worthy of this prestigious program. Even when the Sagehens converted that fourth down, and eventually took the ball into the endzone to take the lead, the belief that the Tigers could win the game never seemed to fade.

This season has not gone the way that the Tigers would have hoped, but the way the team played Saturday night provides great hope for the future. Every facet of the game worked for Oxy. Mark Kuzbari not only kicked a career long 40 yd. field goal, but also averaged 44.3 yds per punt. The defense made big plays when it needed to. And of course, Tommy Edwards lit up the Sagehens while putting an exclamation point on the game with his near perfect two minute drill to lift the Tigers to victory.
Oxy has the opportunity to bring their SCIAC record to 3-3 with a win over Whittier tomorrow night at home. A late season charge by this team could really get this program back in the right direction towards regaining its former glory.

A Tribute To A Great Tiger

This past Saturday the Tigers football team picked up their first win of the 2012 season, and it was an extremely important victory for many reasons. It was coach Bill Redell’s first win as Oxy’s head coach, it was Tommy Edward’s first win as the team’s quarterback, but most importantly the win came on a day that the entire college paid tribute to a great football player, and an even better man, Andy Collins. Before the game Collins’ #1 jersey was retired, the first time such an honor has been bestowed upon someone in Oxy’s 125 year history. The three time SCIAC offensive player of the year, Collins, tragically passed away in August of 2011 at the age of 27. His family was presented with a framed No. 1 jersey accompanied by a huge ovation from the crowd just before kickoff. Unfortunately, there was one person who was not able to attend the event that would have liked to more than anyone, former Oxy quarterback Justin Goltz. Goltz, a quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, expressed just how much his relationship means to him even to this day in this article written by Kirk Penton. I urge you to read the article to understand just how important Andy Collins was, and still is to Occidental.

Bombers’ Goltz will never forget deceased friend By KIRK PENTON, QMI Agency

Bombers QB Justin Goltz will never forget the impact former teammate and friend Andy Collins had on him. Collins died in August 2011. (QMI Agency/CHRIS PROCAYLO)

WINNIPEG – Justin Goltz believes there’s a future for him in Winnipeg, that one day he’ll be slinging passes for the Blue and Gold.

The fourth-string quarterback, who has dressed in plenty of games over the past two seasons due to Buck Pierce’s injuries, will be in uniform once again on Monday in Montreal. Pierce is out with a concussion, and Goltz, the team’s developmental quarterback, as it calls him, will be on the sidelines once again.

Right there with him, even though he passed away 14 months ago, will be Andy Collins. Goltz will never forget the impact his former teammate and friend had on him while they were at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

“I’m trying to live out a dream for two of us now,” Goltz said. “Andy was my mentor, kind of my big brother in college. He was an incredible athlete with an incredible work ethic. He laid a foundation for me.”

Collins transferred from Oregon to Occidental when the Ducks wanted to make him a safety. He played at Occidental for three seasons, and they were 27-0 in games he started. When Collins was a junior, Goltz arrived on campus from his Michigan home as a freshman. Collins welcomed him with open arms, even though Goltz was technically the competition.

“I distinctly remember walking on the practice field,” Goltz said. “He was like, ‘This guy’s the future of Occidental College.’ He was just a very good, supportive guy. A great Christian, a man of God.”

They became fast friends and kept their friendship going after Collins graduated and got a tryout with the New York Giants, which was quite exciting for a small NCAA Division III school. Collins was unable to stick with the Giants, but he kept the dream alive for Goltz.

“(Occidental) wasn’t necessarily the best path to play pro football,” Goltz said, “and I saw him do it and I thought, ‘Why couldn’t I do it?’ So I just kind of followed in his footsteps and worked my ass off and I put in the work and was able to go to minicamp with Detroit.

“Nobody was happier for me than him. The dude was just an inspiration.”

Goltz joined the Bombers late in 2010 and was invited back to training camp in 2011. He was fourth on the depth chart and didn’t want to stick around on the practice roster, so he went back to the U.S. to look for playing time. When Joey Elliott suffered a torn ACL in Week 3, Goltz was brought back.

Collins, meanwhile, got married just after Goltz returned to Winnipeg. Collins’ wife, Brooke Olzendam, was a sideline reporter for CBS, and Collins decided he was going to get a job in the real world after bouncing around indoor leagues for a while.

He and his wife were still living in a hotel in Florida because they hadn’t found a house yet. Collins went down to the fitness centre on Aug. 1, 2011, and suffered a fatal heart attack while running on a treadmill. He was 27 years old. He had been married for 10 days.

“It was surreal, because Andy’s damn near super human,” Goltz said of getting that phone call. “The guy is stronger than anybody I ever met, faster than anybody I ever met.”

It turned out the arteries around Collins’ heart were abnormally small. That’s why it ultimately gave out. Goltz was 23 years old, and one of his best friends had just died of a heart attack.

“When he passed away it was a big point in my life, a big eye-opener,” Goltz said. “I felt an obligation to try and live a dream for the both of us.”

Trying to live a football dream for two people doesn’t pay the bills, but it is a big reason why he’s continuing to pursue his football dreams.

“It’s a huge factor,” he said. “I kind of take it as a burden to do it for the both of us at this point.”

The Bombers have shown their faith in Goltz by putting him on either the one-game injured list or the four-man reserve this season when he hasn’t dressed, meaning he still received his full salary no matter what. Some are calling for Goltz to get a start or two down the stretch since the Bombers are all but out of playoff contention at 3-10.

“I think I do have a solid future in Winnipeg,” Goltz said. “Obviously it’s pretty cloudy right now. I think they had an agenda coming into this year to kind of figure out who would be the successor in the future. I was kind of the developmental guy, and they told me that from the beginning. I understand my role here, but at the same time I’ve been here for two years and I’m very confident in my abilities.

“I’m not the one to speak up or speak against anything that they tell me, and they’ve been very loyal and very honest with me from the beginning, and everything they’ve told me has come to fruition. So day by day I just continue to work hard. I know eventually I’m going to get a chance and hopefully prove them right with my abilities and show the fans of Winnipeg why I’m here. I think my future here is bright. Eventually people will see that.”

Occidental College retired Collins’ No. 1 on Saturday night in Los Angeles before their game, the first time it has bestowed such an honour on a player. Goltz couldn’t attend because he was getting ready to go to Montreal on Sunday morning, continuing his pursuit of a starting quarterback job at the pro level.

And when that day comes, Andy Collins will be right there with him.

kirk.penton@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/PentonKirk

Mascot Matchups: Here We Go Again

It just wouldn’t be Tiger Talk without Mascot Matchups. For those new to the blog let me explain what we are doing here. The winner of the majority of college football games can be decided based on a hypothetical battle between the school’s mascots. Each week Tiger Talk will attempt to pick the winners of the games of each member of the SCIAC. So without further delay, let’s get started.

 

 

Cal Lutheran Kingsmen vs. Pacific Lutheran Lutes

This will be a bloody battle of two teams that tried to find a clever way around just calling themselves the knights. I can’t see much difference between the Lutes and the Kingsmen, so I am going to have to give the nod to Pac Lu with the battle taking place in Washington.

Final Score: Cal Lu 23, Pac Lu 31

Menlo College Oaks vs. Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens

Two of the least threatening mascots in all of college football, a chicken and a tree. Poor Cecil the Sagehen can try whatever he wants, but he is not going to do more than chip the bark off of that tree. Then again the Oak isn’t going to do much to Cecil, unless one of its branches happens to fall and knock our fine feathered friend out. After hours of pecking at the Oak Cecil will probably pass out from exhaustion giving the tree the victory by default.

Final Score: Menlo 42, Pomona 14

Whitworth Pirates vs. Whittier Poets

Regardless of how you emphasize the “wh” of these schools names it’s pretty obvious who’s going to win this one. Even with an eye patch, a peg leg, and an annoying parrot on his shoulder, I’m still putting my money on the guy with the cannon.

Final Score: Whitworth 50, Whittier 7

Redlands Bulldogs vs. North Central Cardinals (Ill.)

Who cares. Here’s a picture of a bulldog.

Final Score: Redlands 37, North Central 27

 

 

 

 

Lewis and Clark Pioneers vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags

I’ve got to imagine that along their journey to the Pacific Northwest that Lewis and Clark must have run into a stag or two that they eventually made into their dinner, and I have to believe that this will be the case here as well.

Final Score: Lewis and Clark 17, CMS 10

Puget Sound Loggers vs. Chapman Panthers

Loggers are physically fit and equipped with axes and chainsaws, but that is not going to help them against a panther. A stealthy and quick predator with razor sharp teeth and claws, the panther will make short work of any amount of loggers. Have you ever met a logger that survived a fight with a panther? Me neither.

Final Score: Puget Sound 6, Chapman 52

Pacific (Oregon) Boxers vs. Occidental Tigers

I would have loved to come up with some sort of elaborate scenario of a brutal fight between these two animals, but in the animal kingdom the Tiger is just far superior in fighting ability to any dog. Even if we take liberties with Pacific’s mascot and have a world class boxer try to fight the tiger, the outcome would still be Floyd Mayweather taking a trip to the hospital.

Final Score: Pacific 13, Oxy 21

What?

So I went on to oxyathletics.com to checkout the recap of the women’s lacrosse game, more to come on that in another post, and instead what I found was the article below which explains how Oxy football coach of 30 years Dale Widolff has been terminated. I’m sure this comes as quite a shock, and I would like to be able to report more, but all I know is what is written below. I’m sure Throck will get the inside scoop as soon as he can.

————————————————————————————————

Jim Tranquada

LOS ANGELES — Occidental College head football coach Dale Widolff has been terminated in the wake of a NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations, College officials announced today.

The investigation is the second into Occidental’s football program in two years. Widolff was suspended without pay in August 2010 for six weeks for violation of NCAA rules and internal college policies.

“We take violations of the rules very seriously and believe that, however difficult, we have done the right thing,” said Occidental College Athletic Director Jaime Hoffman. “Our top priority is to ensure that the future of our student-athletes is not placed in jeopardy.”

The NCAA has asked Occidental officials not to discuss the details of the case so as not to jeopardize the investigation, which was set in motion when Hoffman contacted the NCAA on April 17. The 2010 investigation also was the result of self-reporting by the college.

During his 30-year career as Occidental’s head coach, Widolff won 11 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles and made seven post-season appearances. His 178 wins ranked him fifth among active NCAA Division III coaches.

Occidental will conduct a national search to find a successor for Widolff. Offensive coordinator Eric Bergstrom will serve as acting head football coach until the search has concluded.