Head into the Varsity weight room any weekday around 5 p.m. and you'll notice the big Filipino guy with the bulbous arms.

At first glance he looks like a bad nightmare - a killing machine. However, once you get to know Florente Macapagal, you're more likely to call him Winnie than Rambo.

"He is the biggest teddy bear. He's so outgoing and so friendly," said U of A student Tashie Macapagal of her dad, a man who packs a wallop with the barbell regularly at the University of Alberta's Fitness and Lifestyle Centre.

It's just down the hall from the Clare Drake Arena, where Flo is rink supervisor and general Van Vliet Centre handyman. He's worked on campus for 16 years, after arriving from Manila 19 years ago. But work isn't the only thing that keeps him on campus.

Tashie and Florente Macapagal

At 46, Macapagal is the biggest - both in size and support - university sports fan in Edmonton.

"I played basketball when I was in high school. I like sports. That's why I support them all the time," said Macapagal. And support them he does.

"He's in there. He's in with every sport. He knows everybody on every team and how they're doing," added Tashie Macapagal. "He follows everything. He just loves it."

Tashie is a 20-year-old third-year middle with the Pandas volleyball team who has known only national titles. A graduate of O'Leary High School, Tashie earned her third national medal and the Pandas university-record, fifth consecutive title in dramatic fashion before 2,449 at Varsity Gym March 6. Alberta, facing the top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds, trailed 6-0 in the first game of what became a four-game match victory, gritting out another championship with five of six new starters on the floor.

"It was so surreal, especially when we won. How many people would have expected us to win, especially coming in as an underdog and losing to them the last four matches we played against them? It was amazing," said Tashie.

Not for Florente Macapagal. He was courtside the entire match, his eyes glued to the spectacle, his muscular arms flapping with each rise in the action. A calm smile crossed his face after the Pandas won and flooded the floor for the fourth time at home as champions, mugging for the cameras, hugging family and friends, and taking it all in.

Flo was right with them, from a distance.

"I didn't feel we were going to lose that game. I wasn't nervous at all," said Macapgal, his voice calm, his accent still heavy after all these years. "Same with the game Friday in the semi-finals. I was just relaxed and said `We're going to win.'

"I'm just not supporting my daughter. I am supporting the team.everything, all events, all the sports. But I'm really proud of her. She made it to the best team in Canada. There you go. Three-for-three."

Actually for Tashie, it's three-for-four. Big daddy is scary to the uninitiated.

"It's his appearance that gives him the 'Oh-my-God-I'm-scared-of-him' kind of look," said Tashie. "It really takes a toll on my boyfriends, let me tell you that."