2 - of College Football Games

LONDON, Ont. - The London sports
community has lost a great friend with
the death of Bob Gage at University
Hospital on Sunday July 12. Known as
the dean of amateur sports reporters in
Canada, “Scoop” covered the Western
Mustangs teams throughout his 33-year
career with The London Free Press.
On Tuesday July 7, Gage was taken
to University Hospital in London with
a broken hip and there developed
pneumonia. He died Sunday morning at
the age of 89.
“There are but a handful of people,
historically, who have made significant,
lasting professional and personal
contributions to athletics,” said Acting
Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences,
Kevin Wamsley. “Bob Gage is one of
them. Through his work as a journalist,
Bob became a walking history of
Canadian sport and, more particularly,
of Western athletics. He knew everyone
and their accomplishments and, even
in his retirement, Bob was a permanent
fixture at Western events. His personal
contributions will enable future
generations of Western student-athletes
to achieve their goals. Our community
at Western will miss him.”
A member of Western’s football Wall
of Champions, men’s basketball’s Hall
of Honour, track and field and W Club
hall of fames, Gage donated $57,000
Bob “Scoop” Gage
to The University of Western Ontario to
support the construction of the Michael
Kirkley Training Centre at the J.W. Little
Building at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
The Bob Gage Weight Room in the
Centre was named in his honour.
“Scoop” met thousands of studentathletes
and coaches from Western
in his career, and touched as many
lives - through his stories and perhaps
more importantly, the friendships he
developed throughout his career.
Gage championed amateur
sport in the region as a reporter and
advocate of student-athletes and their
accomplishments. It became a lifelong
mission to act in their interest, he said in
2008, and he continued to give back in
his retired life.
“I feel very honoured,” Gage said.
“I can sit back and see other people
being honoured and recognized. It’s
very rewarding for me to be able to give
back.”
Gage, who also has several awards
for athletes at Western named in his
honour, would have it no other way.
“Western, that’s where my heart is,”
Gage said.
It’s said Gage never missed a
Mustangs men’s home basketball
game. Fittingly, he was honoured as
an inaugural member of the Mustangs
Backcourt Club men’s basketball Hall
of Fame to compliment his entry to
other societies and halls of fame in the
community.
Gage often wrote about the gradual
changes of the student-athlete
demographic at Western. He authored
Mustang Tales, a 157-page chronicle of
the history of Mustangs men’s athletics
at Western.
“I felt an impetus to record the history
of Western and share my knowledge
of the Mustangs,” Gage said. “I’m so
pleased I did it.”
Gage said in 2008 he would love to
be able to continue
to help university
athletics for the rest of
his life.
“I owe a lot to
Western,” Gage said.
“I owe a lot to every
athlete, every coach,
for all they did for
me. I made so many
friends through my
career.”
“I guess I
always felt home
at Western,” Gage
added. “Sports
have never
dwindled here.
Western sport is
always at the top.
Allen Philbrick
A mentor to hundreds of Mustang football
players over the years, Allen Philbrick has
reached legendary status when it comes
to Western Mustangs athletics. Philbrick,
best known as “Albert”, has been a fixture
at Western since he arrived in 1965. Sadly,
Philbrick passed away recently at the age
of 93. During his time supporting, he acted
as a faculty advisor for countless players,
teaching the student-athletes listening skills
and discipline.
Philbrick’s legendary status was created
one day in the fall of 1971, when he was out
for a run. At the halftime of a Mustangs football
game, he went down onto the field and stood
with then head coach Frank Costentino. The
I’m just glad I’ve been able to be such
a big part of it.”
Gage said he believes sport makes
people more complete and more likely
to succeed in life.
“I believe in athletics and what it can
do for people,” Gage said. “I suppose
sports are always different, always new.
That’s why it was always such a joy
for me to cover athletes through their
careers.”
A funeral will be held on Wednesday
July 15 at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church in
London at Lyle and York Streets. A tribute
will follow in the church hall at 11 a.m.
Mustangs were losing at the time.
After they scored a touchdown to gain the
lead, Philbrick leaned over to Costentino
and said, “Well, I better be going.” He ran
around the track after that touchdown before
leaving the stadium and continued on his way.
Philbrick remembered that no one really paid
attention that day, but they soon would.
Throughout the season, he came out
to every game, running victory laps after
every Mustangs touchdown to maintain the
momentum of the crowd.
The Mustangs won a national championship
the year he began running the laps. Itís
become a part of Mustang tradition and a
legacy for years to come.
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