This week we sat down with Jae Won Hur, Matt Wincherauk, Kristian Ferguson, Destiny Kaus, and John Loeppky to talk about sports.

Smells like team spirit!/Elma Kaus

Round tables are the best kind of tables

1. This season has seen the Rams play in two very close games. Do you think this bodes well for the season or will we see the boys in green and gold skid their way to the end of the season?

JL: I hope it does. I think that when the Rams play well, the entire athletic department feels the effects, like it or not. It’s also nice to not have to write headlines like, “Why the Rams suck” every other week. In related news: I am not a massive fan of hate mail.

JWH: It is encouraging to see the Rams stay in close games. Their ways can’t be worse this year, unless they go winless once again. I think that they will have a losing season, with possibly two or three wins.

MW: Who are these Rams that you speak of? Ever since I dropped that sports editor gig, I have purged all U of R sports from my brain. But I hope these fine fellows do well!

DK: Huzzah! There’s hope! I mean, close games are almost wins right? Still losses, but almost wins. And, that’s legit. So, I will remain slightly optimistic for the Rams this season, but I won’t get my hopes up too high.

KF: If green and gold are doing just as well as the green and white, it’ll be less of a skid and more of a terrible road rash. All football is a bust for me this season; I’ve given up.

2. The start of the semester means that students often flock to the CKHS to use the gym. Have you been frequenting the place or are you more of a Netflix and chill kind of person?

JL: Right now, because of Neither Heroes nor Ordinary People, the theatre show I’m involved in, if by gym you mean staring at pretty lights and making actors look good, then yes. I push my wheelchair enough to swear off treadmills. Also, whoever designed the elliptical must have a complicated definition of natural movement.

KF:  I am going to start going back. Since my plethora of free gym passes expired early last summer, I’ve been missing my hobby of picking things up and putting them down. I will be looking like my aesthetic goal of Khal Drogo in no time. Hopefully.

MW: Netflix and chill with my cat. The U of R gym is a cesspool for dudebro weight lifters, with a crappy little track where people don’t understand the concept of a running and walking lane. If I do want to work out, I’ll just go outside for a run.

JWH: I’ve been trying to go as much as I can. I find our gym to be one of the bright spots for this University. I go to Good Life during the summer and it feels like I am a hamster trapped in a cage sometimes. The track and the open concept coupled with windows really is a nice change.

DK: I workout off campus at Anytime Fitness ‘cause there’s less of a chance of me getting ringworm or some weird rash from the wrestlers who use the U of R gym. The U of R gym is gross. Ew. No thanks. But, when I’m not working out, I’m watching Netflix…so I’m basically living the dream *chucks deuces*.

3. Which Cougars teams are you most excited about and why?

MW:  Cougars cross country team. Those runners are my former brothers and sisters, and I follow their wonderful exploits every year. They rock and I hope they continue to kick ass.

JWH: The swimming team. Shout out to Noah Choboter and Brian Palaschuk who are two of the top swimmers in the country. Noah was a double gold medalist at CIS last year and Brian has been consistently making finals at senior nationals and represented Canada in international competition. Those boys are quick. We should be a force to be reckoned with this year.

JL: Ball is life. Also, I’m going to half lie and say the softball team so that Destiny doesn’t send a bat to the back of my head. Don’t judge her, she just wants more concussed people to hang out with. Apparently our executive director, Jae Won Hur, wasn’t enough.

KF: Huh?

DK: THE U OF R SOFTBALL TEAM ‘CAUSE I’M ON IT! I love each and every one of the girls on my team, and I think we’re well on our way to kicking butt in playoffs and at Nationals. Go Cougs softball!

4. If you could play any position in any sport, which would it be and why?

KF: Receiver for the Riders. Even at my less-than-ideal fitness level, I’m sure I can keep up with them now, too.

JL: Soccer goalie. Aim high, kids, aim high. That or that I be a really good darts player. Mixing beer and darts, what could go wrong? To find out just that, ask any twenty-something with bad life choices and an affinity for Pilsner.

JWH: Punter for the New England Patriots.

DK: I secretly wish I was a UFC fighter so I could beat the crap out of other humans for a day job.

MW: Quarterback. All NFL QBs are ridiculously good looking, and even if I wasn’t very good, I’d be guaranteed to make good money because even the backups get paid like princes.

5. Who is your favourite sports journalist and why?

JWH: There are so many. But it’s got to be either Woody Paige (because he’s so ridiculous on Around the Horn), Zach Lowe (because he actually knows what he’s talking about), or the PTI gentlemen (because they make me laugh).

DK: John Leoppky [Editor’s note: Mennonite name problems]. He’s a beauty. And I think he works for, like, the U of R student newspaper or something like that. He’s done some pretty cool stuff and written some things.

JL: Because Wincherauk will inevitably pick his adopted father, Bill Simmons, I am going to go with ESPN’s Dana O’Neil. She always has super interesting stories about the lives of collegiate athletes that leave me both thankful and mourning that I didn’t go to a school like the University of Kentucky.

MW: Zach Lowe because: a) he’s a phenomenal writer, with a witty yet educational style; b) because he’s one of the few sports writers that doesn’t get caught up in his own hype; c) because Loeppky was being a smartass and thought I’d pick Bill Simmons. Take that, jackass.

KF: Me, circa last semester. You’re welcome, John.