Craig Lingaard started out a Cheesecake

The year was 1983 and he was playing pickup games with high school buddies when they decided to put a team in TFBC.
"The only sponsor we could get was Cheesecake Etc." he says. Another famous Cheesecake was Brad Fey of TSN.

Wanting a more "manly" name they changed to the Bandits. When they got to Division 1 Craig had to make a decision: play with friends, whom he didn't think were "physically athletic enough" to compete or try to win. He decided playing football at its highest level was his goal.

They merged with the Chargers who had a young QB by the name of Duncan Kerr. Craig who could play any position, became one half back with the other being Kevin Robertson.

A few seasons later Kurt Cameron, fresh from being cut from the Dolphins,[See Dolphins ] approached him to put together a team to beat the Dolphins. And thus was born the Bears. They went to Nationals 4 or 5 years, but never won. In the era of the Dolphins the Bears would be the second best team in BC.

They did accomplish their mission: May 3 1992, they ended the 6 year unbeaten streak of the Dolphins with a 27-26 victory, Craig was at the helm QBing the team. It came down to a triple slant on the last play of the game.

At the peak of their success in 1996 the Bears were ranked #4 in Canada.

Craig was always looking to play at the highest level and when Kurt retired after the 1996 season he again hooked up with Duncan Kerr. They would be the Packers, then the Wyvern and finally the Raiders. The relationship with Duncan was a love/hate relationship, with both men wanting to compete at the highest level.

Craig was also active in the league and served on the board of directors. "I was more a cheerleader," says Craig. "Monica Hayes did the organizing…. I was more interested in playing."
However it was Craig and David Bruce who came up with the idea and did the organizing for the Radical Bowl.
"I saw it as a way to bring the whole league together .. to celebrate TFBC."

At its height the Radical Bowl attracted men and women in mixed teams to compete, as well as held individual skills competitions which attracted BC Lions players and cheerleaders. "We mounted targets to golf cart and ran it across the field, and the QBs had to throw a ball through the target." Still today the TFBC board still gets requests to hold Radical Bowl.

Craig is current playing for the Raiders and still has the passion to play football at its highest level.