Matt Cauz
CFL.ca
I started to think about the 1996 Toronto Argonauts while watching Lebron James at the penultimate apex of Ego last week as he twisted the knife into every Cleveland sports fan. For those of you who think I am about to go all ‘Eastern Bias’ on you, please bear with me for a moment. Of course once the CFL Power Rankings go live this week I have a feeling I’ll fly under the radar for at least one week.
I was trying to think of parallels between Lebron hijacking the NBA and the CFL. When was the last time one single player completely swung the balance of power in the CFL?
The closest example I could come up with was Doug Flutie going to the Argonauts. Before Flutie, Toronto had been a rather mediocre to poor squad since winning the 1991 Grey Cup. With Flutie the team won back-to-back Grey Cups.
But to be honest it wasn’t even close to the disgraceful circus we saw unfold last Thursday.
And I’m thankful for that. What the Miami Heat did, well it made me love basketball just a little bit less and turned James from a hero to public enemy #1.
I’m glad this could never happen in football, in the CFL.
Part of the joy of sports is watching a team (Hopefully yours!) grown from the ground up. Years of good drafts, smart trades and player development culminating in a championship. But what Wade, Lebron and Bosh have done is skip over all of that for the quick fix.
Thankfully this is nearly impossible in football. No single player is bigger than the team. Yes the Argonauts managed to snare Flutie but they never would have won without Robert Drummond, Derrell Mitchell, Adrion Smith, Pinball … etc.
Just look at what is going on in Saskatchewan. The ‘Canadian Air Force’ came together through smart drafts and player development. Darian Durant was a brilliant signing by Saskatchewan several years back. Just a classic case of proper scouting. He’s gone from an unknown, to 20+ interceptions last season to a potential MVP candidate (Yes I’m aware it’s early, but sometimes you just know). That comes from countless hours working with the coaching staff.
The Heat’s Axis of Evil again reinforces another problem with the NBA, there’s just too much love between players. I was excited to watch the Calgary/Hamilton game for many reasons. One came after watching a piece on TSN highlighting the animosity between various members of the Stampeders and their former kicker Sandro DeAngelis. This kind of stuff happens all the time in the CFL.
The NBA far too often turns into a contest to see who can French kiss who the longest at mid court before a game. I’m fine with players respecting their opponents, but a bit of friction, lets call it ‘Hate-Lite’, always raises the ante. All you have to do is watch the slate of games on Labour Day to find plenty of Hate-Lite.
I just can’t see Henry Burris, Doug Brown and Paris Jackson all deciding to join forces. There’s just no way it would have the same kind of impact that it can have in the NBA. That’s just not the way the game is designed.
I have no doubt that the Roughriders will win a Grey Cup. They, unlike the Miami Heat, will personify what a Champion really is.
Sorry this part of my column was not directly about what happened in Week Two … I just needed to wash the NBA Free Agency stink off of me.
Now on to something far more difficult.
I’ve never written an obituary or a eulogy, I’m not sure what to call this, I just hope I don’t screw up the next couple of paragraphs. This means a lot to me.
The world of Canadian College Football lost a good friend over the weekend. His name was Doctor Don Dawson. He and I did the broadcasts for McMaster Football for many seasons during the glory years under Coach Greg Marshall. We worked together for nearly a decade and I never had so much fun working in the world of sports than I did calling games with Doctor Don.
You don’t do that kind of job unless you really love sports and Don did. Not only did he do football but he also called games for the women’s basketball team. He was the guy that, every Saturday afternoon, would be carrying all the radio equipment to every game and then loading it all up in his car after. It’s individuals like Don that help keep University sports alive and relevant.
There is so much about Don that I loved and am going to miss. When I started doing games I was quite nervous, I had limited radio experience at that point. But Don was so kind right from the start, always treating me like an equal, something I appreciated considering the massive intellectual gap that existed between us. I never felt like there was much of an age difference between us when we were in the booth. He took my youthful exuberance in stride and did his best to pretend to know what I was talking about when I would drop multiple pop culture references during games.
I could go on forever about our time together but I know I should wrap this up. I’ll just say that my love for football and for sports would not be what it is today without Don. He always loved the games, the new players coming in, he wasn’t one of those media types that had become bitter or cynical with professional sports. Oh he always knew the current temperature of the world of athletics, but around me he always choose to embrace what was best about it.
He was a friend and I’m going to miss him.
