09-13-2009, 09:11 PM
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#4
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Lifetime Suspension
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Watching 7ungo Giving Up Goals A 5 Year Old Could Stop!
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An article that was posted by leaderpsot about 22 minutes ago.
Quote:
Not long after many members of the University of Regina Rams woke up Saturday morning, their loss to the Saskatchewan Huskies the night before seemed inconsequential in the big picture.
It was then that most learned rookie teammate Spenser Borlase had been killed in a two-vehicle collision on Friday.
The team met with university counsellors Sunday afternoon to talk about Borlase and begin the process of dealing with losing a teammate. Some players, such as quarterback Catlyn Todorovich and receiver Jared Janotta who graduated from Riffel High School with Borlase, met with the Rams before going to Riffel to be with other friends of the redshirt defensive lineman.
Rams defensive co-ordinator Paul Dawson, whose son Dillon was a Riffel teammate of Borlase and is now a member of the Rams, recalled sitting with Borlase just a few nights ago discussing things as simple as the price of textbooks and how the player planned to visit his girlfriend in Prince Albert on the weekend.
Borlase was on his way to P.A. after watching the Rams game in Saskatoon when his car crossed the centre line and collided head on with a southbound van. A 25-year-old woman from Prince Albert who was driving the van was also killed while four passengers were sent to hospital.
After Borlase's first month with the team, Dawson noted that he was coming out of his shell more every day.
"I think for the first time (last week) he was a little more relaxed," said Dawson. "(During film study) he was supposed to identify their top two plays out of a certain formation. He nailed one of them and the other he just kind of threw his hands up in the air. You could tell he was feeling a little more comfortable with everyone."
This is the second time in two years the Rams have had to deal with the death of a player affiliated with the team. On April 27, 2007, receiver Alex Rodier had just decided to leave the Rams to pursue other course options at the University of Manitoba and join the Bisons football program. While on his way from Regina to Winnipeg, Rodier was killed when his car hit a patch of gravel and rolled from the Trans-Canada Highway near Austin, Man.
"It's just very shocking," defensive tackle Bjorn Person said of the loss of Borlase. "I wish I would have had more of a chance to know him."
While the Rams and U of R officials are still determining how best to recognize Borlase and the others involved, the team will start with a moment of silence prior to Friday's game against the Calgary Dinos at Mosaic Stadium. Borlase's No. 61 jersey is expected to remain hanging in his locker in the Rams dressing room as well.
"We need to find some balance," said Rams head coach Frank McCrystal. "We need to manage this. We have to live. We have to live as individuals; we have to live as a team. We will follow our routine and we will provide support and resources for our team at whatever level or whatever capacity we need to do."
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