Vanier Santas on CBC TV

 

Vanier 2024 in the books

Another Vanier Cup Road Tour in the books as all attendees enjoyed the Limestone City.

- 24 guys rode the prison bus, driven by Julz, from CP to Kingston for the game. Another 20 or so joined us at the tailgate and game.

- We made only two brewery stops on the bus on the way down, learning from last year's experience. 

- One of our rookies destroyed a hotel room ironing board pre dinner Friday night.

- Slack night featured a delicious dinner at The Keg followed by refreshments at The Merchant. 

- Pre-game tailgate was a huge hit, with the ironing board and shooters on site. 

- The weather was nice for late November.

- We had an unprecedented number of elves accompanying the Santas.

- Commander, will assistant Mull, put on a delicious breakfast and lunch spread to keep us fed.

- Various tour members were featured on Radio Canada French TV, USports Tiktok and Laurier Alumni social media.

- We took up a position in the end zone beer terrace and were featured at least once on the CBC TV broadcast of the game.

- Unfortunately, Laurier lost 22-17 to Laval, with the Rouge et Or not even scoring a touchdown but still winning the Cup.

- Saturday night featured the typical debauchery.

- Our rookie of the year, the Mayor of CP.

1 sleep newsletter

Hi Lads ,

Here is our last pre-trip communication. Below are very informative and important details to outline the trip and weekend. Looking forward to seeing everyone and having a great weekend. Please be in time tomorrow AM for the bus as we have a tight sched tomorrow!!! Cheers!

FRIDAY

10-10:15 AM – meet at CP Canadian Tire Parking lot. Greetings and Salutations, Load, and depart

10:45-ish – first stop at Bridgemasters’ Brewery – Perth, Ontario Home | Taproom + Kitchen (bridgemastersbrewing.com). Food order has been given so we will drink and eat lunch here

12:45 – depart for ARBRU Solar Brewery in scenic Mallorytown, Ontario Location and hours – arbrubeer

3:15 depart for hotel and check-in

5:00-7:44  FREE TIME = shit, shower, and shave to prepare for Slack night. There is a Laurier Alumni event at The Merchant so a few of us will be heading there before dinner

7:45- Meet in lobby, walk to Dinner/slack night @ The KEG Kingston (8 minute walk)

After supper - night out on K Town @ various establishments.

 

SATURDAY

8AM-9AM – arise scrape fur off tongue, get breakfast

9:30 -  Get Santa gear on and gather stuff for game/Tailgate

10 AM – Load up bus and get ready to depart to Tailgate

10:30 – 12:45 Tailgate extravaganza, Candy cane shooters,  and general debauchery. Commander Landers will be manning the grill but there are supposed to be food trucks onsite.

12:46 – Santas get to beer gardens for game

1PM = kick off for 2023 Vanier Cup! GO HAWKS

Post game – meet at bus, load up and head back to Hotel

5PM - ??? Free time. Rinse and repeat Friday night

 

SUNDAY

10 AM… load and depart for home. Straight shot back to CP.

11:45 – unload, goodbyes. Head home to nurse heads

 

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

 

• Don’t forget your Santa Suits and beers for bus/tailgate!!! But you can also stock up at one of our micro-brewery stops
• Weather is looking meh for Saturday... between 5-7 degrees and some potential drizzle for the game. We will need layers and hopefully no rain, but poncho but might not be a bad call.
• Candy Cane shooters and food for the tailgate – We have bought the supplies and food and add the costs to the ticket price. Commander Landers is bringing tents and his grill and will be serving food before the game
• Hotel has a pool but there is no hot tub. J-Rock, better bring your bubble bath for the tub in your room

 

Vanier Cup Predictions - Laurier (11-0) vs Laval (10-1)

 

V-Line:

This is shaping up to be an epic battle. Experts are suggesting this may be the BEST VANIER EVER. The Rouge et Or lead the nation with 11 Vanier Cup wins all time, and the Golden Hawks have two in 1991 and 2005, both of which several Tour members attended. The teams have never met in the Cup.

The game will feature Laurier's potent offense with Taylor Elgersma, Ryan Hughes and Tayshaun Jackson against Laval's top ranked defense. I predict a back and forth game with several lead changes and highlight reel plays, but at the end of it a game winning field goal by the Hawks' Dawson Hodge with little time left on the clock wins the third Vanier Cup in Laurier history, and the Santas storm the field.

Laurier 26

Laval 24

 

Other predictions: 

• The all time high in elf attendees turns heads amongst several Queen's co-eds and attracts much wanted attention.
• The prison bus driver propositions at least one Santa.
• At least one 1991 Laurier Vanier Cup winner joins in for a photo with the Santas and tells Kenny he was "more than big enough" to have made that team.

 

G-Spot:

The Hawks are in for a tough match against a squad who is seasoned and accustomed to the Big Game. Laurier may be undefeated, but Laval only lost one game, and it was by one point to a very good team. I didn’t like the fan interaction by the Rouge et Or players taunting the Regina fans last week … they did not <insert French accent> “show class on de field of play!”.  Booooooooo!

I feel that WLU has a slight edge with a well-rounded team with solid D, great QB with lots of weapons. Hawks will have a great showing of fans, and Laval fans travel well, so should be an awesome crowd. I expect it will be sold out or close to it. If the rain holds off, it could be a bit of a track meet with both schools having fast teams. Calling  (and hoping) for Laurier to pull out the win in an exciting game.  GO HAWKS!!

Laurier 41

Laval 37

 

Other predictions: 

• Tailgate patrons will be very high to visit the Laurier/Vanier Santas. I have prepared and bought 10 bottles on liqueur and 300 shooter cups
• We should be interviewed by media
• U Sports President will want another pic with us… and I plan on giving him my thoughts on lack of proper U Sports football coverage and terrible website
• Santas will be on the field at the end of the game

 

 

2024 Fir Sure list (Rookies highlighted)

 

Kent "Kenny G"

Jerred "Jrock"

Gabe "Gibby"

Adam "V"

Owen "O-Ball"

Spence "Guenter"

Rob "Berty"

Darin "Big D"

Linc  H Owen bud

Brian "Dickster"

Ryan

Mike "leisure Man"

Matt DD Jr.

Van van

Steve "Kinger"

Steve "Sharpie"

Greg "Fozzy"

Karsten

Kyle

Mike "mullster"

Brent "Commander"

Scott "I.T."

Lincoln "White Lincoln"

Palmer "Baby Pom Pom"

Conner "Con-Man"

Brett "Bretty-Boo"

Matt "Benny"

Mike "Chief Broken Condom"

Ed "Con-Ed Ed"

T  "man-pig"

Poor little Rich

Toby "his Worship"

Jeff "Robert Loggia"

Eric (Loggia Rookie 2)

Liam (Loggia Rookie 3)

Loggia 4

Loggia 5

Loggia 6

Loggia 7

Loggia 8

Jacob “Honey Badger”

Jeff "Ginga' Ninja"

Kobe "White Mamba"

Kael "Big Thunder"

Adrian "Boy toy"

Loggia 9

Sam (Samonella)

 

Additional Rookie Profiles;

 

Adrian - this rookie comes straight from The Rock (Born in St. Shotts), and Lord Tunderin' Jesus, you better talk to him before he has a few pints ‘cuz after dat, good luck understanding this Newfie. His daughter actually attends Queen’s He's infamous for being in bed at 8pm and up at 5am. So, he better be ready to reverse that schedule pretty quickly, but don't be surprised if you're dragging your shameless ass in from the bars at 4am and see him sipping on a coffee in the hotel lounge, dressed and ready for the day. He loves his pints, but he'll sleep for a week after this tour! If you need a Septic repair, Adrian is your man

 

Jeff – the Ginga Ninja! Don't let this pasty white, red-headed,125lb lad fool you....he may be able to run beside the bus all the way to Kingston, but he'll still crush a dozen pints and party with the best of us. He's heading back to his second home of Kingston where as a child, he roamed streets wearing plaid shirts and sporting a bright red mullet.  He grew up hitting the bars in K Town, and as a "Towny", he may be our best guide to the seedy underworld Kingston has to offer. One thing is for sure, he'll need to steal a few hotel pillows for under that Santa suit!

BEST VANIER EVER

Get ready for this year's Vanier Cup, the Laurier Golden Hawks vs Laval Rouge et Or, projected by your Vanier Cup Road Tour executive to be the BEST VANIER EVER

6 sleeps newsletter

Good Morning Fellas,

I wanted to send an update as I didn’t get it out yesterday as I had hoped. Big “Final 4” Game Day to determine who play in next week’s Vanier Cup! The 2 games are both interesting matchups. On paper are they are set-up for either a Blow-Out, or a huge upset. Neither game is expected to be super close, but this is why they play the games! Games can be streamed from; https://www.cbc.ca/sports/streaming-schedule 

And here are the games and predictions! GO HAWKS!!!!

 

Uteck Bowl - Noon in Lennoxville, QC (Coulter Field) #2 Laurier (10-0) vs #6 Bishop's (10-0)

V- Line;
Neither of these teams have lost all year, but to say the OUA is slightly stronger than the AUS would be like saying that Kenny's breath on Sunday after the Vanier tour will be "slightly stronger" than the ladies' perfume at "Suits Nightclub" (formerly known as The Plaza) in Kingston. Laurier is coming off a huge win in the Yates over #4 Western, defeating them by 20 points. Bishop's needed triple overtime to defeat unranked St. Mary's. Taylor Elgersma, the Golden Hawks QB, will slice and dice the Gaiters defence like the slap chop. The Flock of Hawks Laurier D will be like a band of attacking Santas attacking a helpless mascot (click link). If Laurier can score 51 against Western, I think they may just get 10 touchdowns against Bishop's.
Laurier 70
Bishops 11

 

G- Spot;

I have never understood why a team in Quebec adopted the name “Gators”, but alas it will remain a mystery as are many things in Quebexico. Regardless, if Laurier comes to play, it should not be a close game. The forecast looks good with minimal wind, so Laurier will be able to attack by air and on the ground. This should prove tough for Bishop’s who needed O/T to beat St. Mary’s last week. Playing at home in front of their fans they will put up a but of a fight in the first half, but the Hawks will pull away in the 2^nd half to seal their trip to Vanier Cup next week!

Laurier 45
Bishops 17

 Mitchell Bowl - 3 p.m. in Regina, SK (Mosaic Stadium) - (unranked) Regina (5-5) vs #3 Laval (9-1)

V- Line;
Regina barely made the Canada West playoffs but pulled off two big upsets to make it the Mitchell, beating #7 Manitoba and #10 Saskatchewan, both on the road. Now they get to host a national semi-final at the 2025 location of the Vanier Cup, Mosaic Stadium, home of the Roughriders. Laval's only loss this season came to #1 Montreal during league play, but they beat les Carabins when it counted in the Quebec final last week. As much as it would be cool for the Cinderella story to continue for the Rams, le Rouge et Or will end their playoff run, based on their extremely stingy defence which allowed an average of only 13.3. points per game. 
Laval 32
Regina 14

G- Spot;

I would like to be contrarian to Adam with regards to the outcome of this game, but the only thing I disagree on is the margin of victory. I think the Rouge et Or are hungry to get back to Vanier. Laval’s program boasts the most Vanier Cup Championships in history with 11 and they want to make it a dozen. I think The Ramekins are just happy to be in this game. They are going to get rolled like a shawarma at 1 AM on the Grand Allee… I just hope they don’t also fall don’t the stairs!

Laval 52
Regina 11

 

Rookies

 

2024 has blessed us with the biggest and most impressive group of rookies ever vying for the prestigious Rookie of the Year award.  That said, to get enough points/pints to be in the running for “Rookie of the year”,  rookies need to be involved as many components of the weekend as possible. Main categories are; Rookie Bio, Bus trip, slack night, tailgate, game, Saturday night. There are “wildcard” points available which can be allotted (at the discretion of the panel) for performances worthy of consideration. I am still waiting for all the bios, but here is the 2024 Rookie list and the bios I have received so far;

 

Gabe "Gibby"

Jr. Lincoln "H-Bomb"

Conner "Con-man"

Brett (Bretty-Boo)

Mike “Chief Broken Condom”

Toby "his Worship"

Jacob “Honey Badger”

Kobe “White Mamba”

Kael “Big Thunder”

Adrian “Boy-Toy”

Sam (Samonella) Troy (Loggia Rookie 1) Eric (Loggia Rookie 2) Liam (Loggia Rookie 3) Loggia Mystery Rookie 4 Loggia Mystery Rookie 5 Loggia Mystery Rookie 6 Loggia Mystery Rookie 7 Loggia Mystery Rookie 8   Rookie Bios received thus far;

“Fitzroy Rookie Contingent” have chosen to submit a group Bio… which speaking to the above scoring, will slightly impact their individual scores. However, it is better than a goose-egg;

A large contingent of young rookies from the Fitzroy & area are attending; this includes Gibby, ConMan, Sam, Bretty-Boo, Dirty Don Jr., and Link #2. Their ages range from 19 to 23, so one would hope (expect) they have the requisite Vanier Stamina to make a good impression. Two of these attendees are “legacy” additions, sons of Vanier attendees current  (Adam) and past (Dirty Don). These rookies are anticipated to fight through the adversity, give 110%, and get pucks deep at all times.

 

Toby :

Although he should make an “OK” Santa Claus, he’d be better served as dressing up as the mayor of Whoville. Yes, indeed folks, gracing us with his presence is the dishonourable Mayor of CP himself. His excellency…Mayor Toby. Planning on making Vanier Great Again, “His Worship” will be joining the fray and bringing with him (hopefully along with the Town Credit Card) a PHD in partying, and a scalp so bald that one could confuse it with a snow globe. Let’s Welcome the Mayor to our tour de force!

 

Mike:

This rookie is looking to put the Vanier back in the Vanier Cup. Mike , otherwise known on the reserve as Grand Chief Broken Condom, is a dimwitted, simple man who claims to be 1/64th Anishinaabe.  He is a heating and cooling expert and is known for driving around looking for the best Wi-Fi in order to watch movies in his white creepy van…. on the days he actually does work. However, he is an expert in the realm of drinking and having fun. He has a liver like wiffleball, and he will be a fantastic contributor on this epic weekend. His brand-new Santa suit is freshly pressed and locked and loaded and ready for carnage, so let’s welcome Mike to the fold.

 

Jacob;

Jacob, the pint-sized middle child with the spirit of a giant, is proof that life’s curveballs can be shaken, stirred, and served over ice. This charming, good-looking, asthmatic, celiac DJ has a knack for turning autoimmune chaos into fuel for a good time—literally. Don’t be alarmed if you see him double-fisting at a party: one hand gripping a vodka cooler, the other clutching his trusty inhaler. A walking paradox of health warnings and heavy pours, Jacob’s hospital trauma has somehow only strengthened his commitment to the art of celebration. Just don’t let his charm take your breath away—he’s already short on air.

 

Kobe;

A uOttawa senior with the right priorities. Beer. Study. Sleep. In his inevitable path to an AA meeting, he was a star representative of the LCBO and will be working to produce more of the good stuff in his next work term. Though remarkably handsome and irresistibly charming, it is shocking that Kobe stays so humble. His extraordinary humility can only be achieved, like the many great men before him, by the wisdom of the liquor. 

 

Kael :

Representing the heavyweight division is Kael. Coming in at 6’2”, 290lbs he certainly isn’t your average elf on a shelf. At the forefront of the next generation of great Blackburn drinkers, Kael aims to be a trailblazer. Pound for pound he claims to posses the fastest beer shotgun you’ll ever see. In fact, in speaking with our sources (Kael’s girlfriend) we’re told that Kael “doesn’t last long at all,”… but we really hope she meant him drinking a beer. Rocking a quadruple XL Elf suit, Kael aims to leave room for plenty of beer, good times, and a lasting impression that will have you considering him for rookie of the year. 

14 sleeps newsletter

Good Morning Fellas,

Apologies for the lack of communications/updates, but it has been a busy few weeks. Vanier is so close I can smell it, but that is not always a good thing LOL!

Time to dig out the Santa suits and take inventory on what apparel is missing or not in “working” order. I know that a new ironing board is required!

We have an excellent crew this year and we will be 40+ Santas strong. The full itinerary for the weekend will be shared closer to the date, but these are the key items for this update;

Departure – Bus Departs @ 10:30 AM sharp at CP Canadian Tire Parking lot on Friday, November 22

Bus – we have the same bus and driver (Jules)  as last year as she enjoyed us so much

Stops – We have 2 stops lined up… lessons learned from last year proved 3 breweries is 1 too many! We are returning to Bridgemaster in Perth Home | Taproom + Kitchen and our second stop with be ArBru Solar Powered Brewery in Mallorytown; arbrubeer

Rookies – we have a good crop of Elves/Rookies this year… including all 3 of my boys! Rookie Profiles are due for next weeks newsletter, so please send them to me!

Slack Night - We have dinner reservations Friday night at the Keg like last year. Pack your slacks and finest Under Armour evening wear!

Here is a look at Saturday's matchups and Adam (V) and Kent (G) ‘s predictions for this weekend’s games:

RSEQ Final

V- Line;

These two teams split their regular season games, with the home club winning by 1 point each time. It happens again,  the Rouge et Or squeak out a one point win.

Laval - 20

Montreal -19

G- Spot;

With Laval playing at home in front of 20,000 screaming Quebexican fans, they surprise and roll Montreal

Laval - 38

Montreal -10

OUA Final (116th Yates Cup) - Western at Laurier | PrimeTime | Sat, Nov. 9, 2024 1:00 PM EST

V- Line;

Laurier stays undefeated, expect Elgersma the OUA MVP to have a big game at QB for the Hawks.

Laurier 35

Western 24

G- Spot;

This one worries me. Laurier is the only team that Western has lost to this year … and they lost bad. So they will be coming hard for revenge. They have the highest scoring offense and lowest points against in the conference. Laurier has to play a perfect game on both sides of the ball, and our QB needs to keep his cool. Going with my heart and not my head as I want the Hawks to move one. And well…. WESTERN SUCKS!!!!

Laurier - 31

Western – 28

AUS Final 

V- Line;

Bishops is far and away the best team in the Atlantic, despite being based in Quebec.

Bishops 45

St. Mary's 10 

G- Spot;

I know nothing about the Atlantic teams other then they all suck except for Bishop’s!

Bishops - 50

St. Mary's - 3

Canada West Final

V- Line;

The Rams pulled off a huge upset defeating 1st place Manitoba in the semis, but their luck runs out and the Huskies advance.

Saskatchewan 35

Regina 17

G- Spot;

Rams upset Huskies. No rhyme or reason other than this pic (I know it’s not a Husky)

Saskatchewan 20

Regina 21