X-Men and Gaiters to battle for Bigg Bowl

Antigonish, NS—The StFX Department of Athletics is planning for an action packed CIS interlock football weekend on October 16-17 when the Bishop’s Gaiters will visit StFX Oland Stadium.

The Gaiters are scheduled to visit the X-Men on Saturday, October 17th at 2:00 pm, when fourth year Bishop’s head coach Leroy Blugh will be leading his team against first year X-Men head coach Gary Waterman and his X-Men in interlock competition.

“Bishops has some tremendous athletes, they are going to be strong opponents,” comments X-Men head coach Gary Waterman. “We are looking forward to playing for the Bigg Bowl but we will have to show up and work for 60 minutes, they will be ready to play.”

History will be made as the X-Men and Gaiters will battle it out for the honor of hoisting the Bigg Bowl after the game. The Bigg Bowl was donated in 2002 by the family of H. R. Bigg and is awarded after competition between the StFX X-Men and Bishop’s Gaiters in CIS competition.

Former StFX student Brian McA’Nulty has ties to both StFX and Bishops universities and when the AUS and QSSF interlock games commenced in 2002, he wanted to commemorate the inaugural game between the two schools and give them something to play for, hence the Bigg Bowl was created. McA’Nulty’s family donated the Bigg Bowl trophy in honor of his grandfather Reverend H. R. Bigg, a rector in Sherbrooke, QC from 1915 to 1940 and a multi-sport athlete. Other members of the McA’Nulty family have ties with Bishops University and Brian himself has always had a special fondness for StFX University.

This year will mark the third time the two teams have met in recent history. The X-Men won the inaugural Bigg Bowl in 2002 with a 22-7 win over the Gaiters at Sherbrooke, QC, and followed with another win in 2004 in Antigonish, NS by a 50-17 margin.

Activities planned in conjunction with the interlock weekend include a dinner Friday evening involving both teams, which will feature an appearance by The Score sports personality Cabral ‘Cabbie’ Richards. Cabbie will speak with both Coach Blugh and Coach Waterman along with team captains, and will be at StFX for the weekend taking in various sporting and Student Union events. Promotions and events during the Saturday football game include a tailgate party starting at 12 noon in Keith’s Korner, along with Minor Football Day and half-time contests.

The interlock game will be webcast live on SSN Canada. Visit www.ssncanada.ca to access the live link on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 2:00 pm (AST).