Glowing reviews for inaugural CFL Week
Lions’ Buono among those impressed with off-season exposure of players
1. Message received
For decades, CFL players have grumbled about the league’s refusal to market the stars of the game. Those complaints should abate — at least temporarily — after the inaugural Mark’s CFL Week in Regina where the league flew in 50 top players for extended media interviews and mingling with fans. With traces of snow still on the ground, big personalities such as Odell Willis, Nik Lewis and Chad Owens mugged for the cameras and bared their souls for articles that will go way beyond the cliches like “We need to play smashmouth football,” and “We have to take it one game at a time.” Pithy slogans like “Our balls are bigger,” won’t sell the three-down game. The best bet rests with the players themselves.
2. Darian Durant’s bittersweet divorce:
After 11 years at quarterback for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Durant made it abundantly clear that he did not want to leave Regina. He simply felt that he had to leave given head coach/ GM Chris Jones’s feelings on the matter. “The way that it was handled was very unprofessional,” Durant said of his departure. “Could have just been a simple, ‘We want to go in another direction, thank you for everything, goodbye.’ Would have much rather had that go down and would have respected it more than to take personal shots.” And while Durant maintains he was never Jones’s guy, Riders Nation still clearly adores him. Hundreds of fans lined up Friday night to get the 34-year-old’s autograph and wish him well in his new job with the Montreal Alouettes. “It means the world to me to be here and to say goodbye formally,” Durant said in an impromptu farewell speech that was arguably the highlight of the week for Riders fans. “Just know that I love you with all my heart.”
3. Call to the Hall
The 2017 Canadian Football Hall of Fame class is absolutely stellar, led by the game’s all-time leading passer in Anthony Calvillo and all-time leading receiver Geroy Simon. They are joined by arguably the CFL’s most consistent running back in Kelvin Anderson and Canadian linebacker/Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea in the player category along with Stan Schwartz, the behind-the-scenes saviour of the Calgary Stampeders, and University of Saskatchewan coaching legend Brian Towriss in the builder category. The CFL hit a home run by officially announcing the names of this year’s inductees at a celebration event held at the new Mosaic Stadium. So much better than burying the news in an out-of-the-blue press release.
4. Prairie opulence
Speaking of the new Mosaic Stadium, the Saskatchewan Roughriders granted reporters a sneak peek at their new digs during CFL Week. Let’s just say the Riders are officially the envy of the league given their palatial quarters built in the shadow of the tired Taylor Field. The $278-million facility includes a 2,200-square-foot auditorium with 120 theatre-style seats, indoor turf, doctor offices, an X-ray room and barbershop for the players to snip each other’s hair. And while Riders Nation will no doubt be proud of the new stadium, Premier Brad Wall’s government hiked the sales tax to six per cent from five per cent in the middle of CFL Week. Oil prices are mainly to blame, but the new home of the Riders certainly put a dent in the province’s bank account.
5. King Wally:
The 67-year-old Wally Buono is not only the general manager/ head coach of the B.C. Lions. Buono is also the dean of the CFL coaching fraternity and the sage voice of reason when it comes to the past, present and future of the game. The league should take heed of his advice, for he won’t be around forever. “The CFL cannot exist just in the months from June to November,” Buono said while on stage with the other West Division coaches in a media conference. “We’ve got to keep the focus on the CFL all year round and things like this will go a long, long way to help that. Hopefully this will help us engage the younger generation, which we definitely need again … Obviously, you want the fans involved and the media here, but the fact that the players see this as tribute to who they are and what they do was very, very, very positive.”