North Bay Segway

Alright, this blog post is going to be kept short and sweet. Has anyone seen the man who drives a Segway to class? Well I have and let me tell you, he doesn’t drive it up the Monastery Trail; he rides it right up one of the most ferocious hills in North Bay, the College Drive Hill.

For those of you who don’t exactly know what a Segway is... you can check it out on Wikipedia. It’s basically a one-person vehicle with two wheels (no, it’s not a bike). The wheels are placed near the lateral side of each foot. A handle bar is erected from the middle of the standing platform up to the hands. An onboard computer stabilizes the ride, making sure that the driver doesn’t fall forwards or backwards. Some models of the Segway are also available with 3 wheels. Segways usually max out at around 20mp/h, which is a great speed for cruising down a well paved sidewalk.


Some of the world’s most famous people own and drive Segways on a regular basis. Take for instance Shaq, he has a Segway. It’s debatable that he is one of the largest people (7 foot 1, 330lbs) in the world to ever ride one successfully. And if the “most followed athlete on Twitter" is cruising around on one, you know it’s got to be good for ya!

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Segways... in fact I fully support Segways. It’s one of the coolest ways to get around (often seen in large urban centres) and are especially suitable in North Bay. If the Segway man is reading this blog post, please know that I do fully support your decision to ride a Segway to class in March. No matter how many cars pass you, or how snowy College Drive gets... Ride on good sir, ride on!

P.S. I’ve posted some outrageous pictures and videos of Segways.

Polo?

Great parenting.

No comment.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Nipissing University Inaugural Basketball Teams!

Most of you have probably noticed the RJSAC expansion that is going on right now. You know, the giant iron beams that are scraping the clouds... the big construction zone that forces some of us have to walk that rather sketchy pathway to the upper parking lot? Anyways yeah, so we’re getting a bigger gym, nice. But with a bigger gym comes a bigger athletic program right? SO the real question is... What is the next varsity team for Nipissing University going to be? Well I’ve outlined a few of the possibilities and then ranked them accordingly:


1. A women's hockey team. This choice makes the most sense, because we already have a men's team, and the women have proven themselves with their extramural team. We don't have Title IX in Canada, but gender equality is still important across the board.
*Fun fact: the only event in the Olmpics that is strictly for Men is boxing (Women's Boxing will be at London 2012), and the only event that is strictly for women is synchronized swimming.

2. One of the most obvious choices would be to have a varsity basketball team. With this giant gymnasium just around the corner, we’ll have enough seats to fit just about every student in there to watch the Nipissing Lakers (not to be confused with the LA Lakers). But with a basketball team the question rises: Do we have a Men’s team? Women’s team? Both? OUA or OCAA? I think if we take the basketball route, we’ll have to have a men’s and women’s team... just to be fair --And I mean we already have Extramural teams that seem to be doing pretty good so why not build off of that? Well the reality is that adding TWO Varsity teams is a little TOO expensive.

3. Maybe it’s time that our OCAA Volleyball teams move UP to compete at the OUA level? And I know me mentioning this idea is going to start a huge fight... oh well. APPARENTLY our gym right now is not big enough to allow our volleyball teams to compete at the OUA level, but who knows. I just think that maybe it’s time for all of our teams to be on the same playing field (the OUA playing field). Plus the Lakers have drowned the Panthers hopes and dreams one too many times.

4. A track and field team! Yes, I know that the new gym addition isn’t going to have an indoor track. And right now I could go off on a huge rant about how an indoor track is the single most important thing North Bay needs. For the time being our Lakers Varsity Cross Country team will continue to train all year around (outdoors and in the Northgate parking garage) and compete at indoor track meets unofficially. 

5. Well if basketball is too expensive, everyone thinks that volleyball should stay in the OCAA, and a Track team isn’t realistic then maybe it’s time for a swim team?... HAHAHA too soon? Oh yes, that’s right... the rumours aren’t true and there will not be a pool in the new athletic centre. But, we do have seasonal access to the pond behind campus. The reality is that no matter which team the university decides to go with it's going to be expensive, and probably won't happen for a few years.

So thanks for reading my latest blog post. Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you think the next varsity team should be (CHECK OUT THE POLL-->)? Maybe the University should ask the students what they want!