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HEADLINES

Three Gaiters headed to East-West Bowl

By Mike Hickey, Special to the Record
Lennoxville, Mar. 17, 2005 - Three members of the Bishop's University football team have been invited to participate in the third annual East-West Bowl while a fourth Gaiter is still hopeful of an invitation.

David Delaby, Mathieu Cock's-Morrisette and Matt Chown have all been selected to the East squad while Dan McCullough is still waiting to hear whether or not he will also receive an invite.

The Bowl game is scheduled to be played at Wilfrid Laurier University's University Stadium on May 15 and will be televised live on TSN. The week of activities will kick off on May 9 with more than 90 players from across the country arriving for a week of practices, testing and events culminating in the game itself.

A National committee representing the Canadian University Football Coaches Association (CUFCA) and made up of CIS head coaches selected the players from the list of nominations put forward by each team, with direct assistance from the CFL and their coaching staffs.

The East-West Bowl is designed as a showcase for athletes entering their CFL draft year in 2006, however the rosters will be complimented with players entering their second, third and fifth year whom have not yet been drafted.

The East team will be coached by Glenn Constantin of the Vanier Cup Champion Laval Rouge et Or, while the West will be coached by Brian Towriss of the 2004 Vanier Cup runner-up Saskatchewan Huskies.

"We are very pleased that three young men from our program have the opportunity to participate in the all-star game," Bishop's head coach Tony Addona said yesterday. "This will be David's third time as the all-star game and he has to impress the scouts and show them what he is capable of doing on the football field.

"Matt Cock's-Morrisette is going into the camp in great shape. He has redistributed his weight and is a lot stronger. For Matt Chown this is his first opportunity to showcase his talents to the pro scouts."

For Chown, entering his third season in a Gaiters uniform, the invitation is a step toward reaching his goal of playing in the CFL.

"I really looking forward to the camp," Chown said after a team workout Tuesday morning. "I am not nervous yet but I will be before I leave here. I am looking at it as another training camp that will help prepare me for the CFL, that's my goal."

Chown arrived in Lennoxville with much fanfare three years ago due in part to the fact that he was the son of one of Bishop's greatest football players, former CFL standout Gary Chown.

The younger Chown says that comparisons between father and son were bound to happen.

"I am a lot bigger physically than my father but what he lacked in size he made up for with his work ethic," Matt Chown said. "That is something that I wanted to try to emulate, to work as hard as he did."

Chown realizes that pro career has a short existence and that a serious injury could shatter his life-long dream.

"Education is the most important thing right now. I am majoring in sociology and eventually want to get my Master in anthropology. I know there is life after football and I want to be prepared.

Chown has benefited from the help of another former Bishop's/CFL great, Gaiters assistant coach Leroy Blugh.

"I do all the things that Leroy tells me to do; he has become a mentor to me," Chown said.

A fourth year player, fellow defensive lineman Dan McCullough is still waiting to hear whether or not he is going to be included on the East squad.

"When I found out that I was invited I went into coach and told him that Dan should be invited as well," Chown said.

The two have become trusted teammates and close friends.

"I made a decision in high school that I would go to Bishop's if Dan went," Chown revealed. "I waited until he committed before I decided on Bishop's. We are a good fit for each other. He pushes me in the gym and I push him in the classroom."