CALGARY - Time goes by quickly. It seems like yesterday. The memories are still vivid of what happened on that damp, soggy field at Varsity Stadium on Bloor Street on the campus of the University of Toronto.

It will be forty years ago on Sunday - November 19, 1983 - that the University of Calgary Dinosaurs (that is what they were called back then) captured the school's first Vanier Cup, emblematic of the national championship in Canadian college football.

Several members of the team, including coaching and support staff, gathered to celebrate and reminisce for two days just a few short weeks ago in Calgary. Jim Bailey came from England, Lew Lawrick, joined the festivities from Mississauga, Ont., And others from various locales in Western Canada.

Calgary had four conference winners for the national awards for the first time in school history: Greg Vavra for the Most Outstanding Player (Hec Crighton), offensive lineman David Fordyce for the Most Outstanding Lineman (J.P. Metras), linebacker Wade Buteau for Defensive Player of the Year), and Tony Spoletini for Freshman of the Year (Peter Gorman Trophy).

Vavra became the school's first winner of the Hec Crighton Trophy, the late Tim Petros was the school's first winner of the Ted Morris Trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Vanier Cup, but most importantly it was the school's first national championship win in a game shown live on the CTV National Network.

The 1983 team started a dynasty in what is now Canada West football. It was the first of three consecutive conference titles, and many of those players and coaches were an integral part of the 1985 National Championship team.

Winning the national title helped create the extremely successful Dinos 5th Quarter. The following spring the initial 5th Quarter fund raising dinner occurred at the Danish Canadian Club, organized by Al Bailey, John Siroishka, Cam Innes, and others.

Head coach Peter Connellan acknowledges the impact of the win for the program and for the Calgary and surrounding area football community.

"The win had a big impact on the program and the players. It had a major impact in future years from the prospective of giving back," Connellan stated.

Indeed, it has.

The legacy of this team is embedded with football in Calgary and southern Alberta. Many of graduates of helped grow the game serving as high school and community coaches.

The saying "Once a Dino, Always a Dino" epitomizes this group. Kent Warnock, Vavra, Chester Krala, Bryan Brandford, and Tony Spoletini coached with the Dinos over the years. Others served on executive positions with the 5th Quarter and Calgary Minor Football Association. Many have assisted financially in the creation of scholarships for the program, including the Tim Petros Running Back Award in memory of the game's MVP in the 31-21 win over Queen's University on that dreary afternoon.

Vavra and Connellan are enshrined in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. Both are in the University of Calgary Dinos Athletic Hall of Fame, along with defensive line coach Rick Coleman. The enitre team has been inducted in the University of Calgary Dinos and the Alberta Sports Hall of Fames.

Many of the players have become successful off the field in their chosen vocations as educators, businessmen, firefighters, lawyers, petroleum industry executives, etc.

The Cambridge dictionary definition of success is "the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for."

The 1983 Dinosaurs football team is an example of success on and off the field.

-UC-