A MAN ON A COMMISSION
Ambrosie went from being a Bombers fan to the boss of the CFL, Tim Baines writes.
OTTAWA Randy Ambrosie gets the Canadian Football League. After all, he was one of the guys.
For nine seasons, he played in the trenches as an offensive lineman with the Toronto Argonauts, Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos, with whom he won a Grey Cup in 1993.
The second-overall pick of the Stampeders in 1985 out of the University of Manitoba, the 54-year-old Winnipegger later became the CFLPA secretary. He then turned a business background into jobs as manager, president and CEO.
Now he’s back. Two weeks ago, Ambrosie became the 14th CFL commissioner. Here’s what he had to say in a one-on-one interview earlier this week:
Q Ottawa is in the middle of a stretch of three games in 11 days. In your opinion, is that dangerous?
A I can say, as a player, I would have struggled with three games in 11 days. Now I’m looking at it through a lens of the last four or five years of my career and you’re a little beat up. I think it’s too much football in 11 days. It’s hard to recover. This isn’t hockey. This isn’t baseball. I spent some time with coach (Rick) Campbell earlier today and he raised the issue. I said, “Coach, I think it’s too much.” I know it’s also a very complicated issue around stadium availability and travel, but if I was asked, I would do everything in my power to avoid these kinds of scenarios where the teams are playing too many games in too tight a schedule.
Q As a former player and fan, what was it about the CFL that appealed to you?
A It was just what we grew up with. From the earliest days — Don Jonas, Mack Herron — my brothers and I were Bombers fans. I remember going to Bombers practices as a kid because it was so cool to watch these largerthan-life guys. They were our heroes. They were stars.
We were CFL fans, we were Bombers fans and that’s just the way it was. It’s been part of my life from the very beginning.
Q Were there things that you looked at from afar and thought, “If I were ever in charge, this is what I would fix?”
A The players are so fantastic, I’d like to celebrate these amazing athletes more than I think we do. In typical Canadian fashion, we undervalue them. One of the things I’m most proud of is that CFL players do as well or better than any players in the world. They’re so eager and willing to go into the community and lend a helping hand. Again, that’s something I wish we’d celebrate.
Q Officiating has been an issue early this season. Is that on the to-do list to evaluate?
A I’ve made a habit of yelling at refs in all sports. I yell at the umpires in baseball. I yell at the referees in hockey. I yell at the referees in football. I basically like to have a good yell at the referees as a fan of all sports.
When you separate yourself from that, we have a great group of officials, we should be doing everything we can to help train and develop those officials to maximize the opportunity for them to be as good as they possibly can be. But we’re talking about gigantic human beings playing at speeds, like really fast. In a blink of an eye, things are happening. To expect these guys to be perfect is not a realistic expectation. In some ways, it’s the imperfections that make the game so special. It’s human beings — we’re all flawed. We all make mistakes. In one sense, what I fear is that we use technology to try and make something perfect that’s not.
Q Do you have any hobbies outside of football?
A My life has been work and then after that, it’s all family, all the time. My wife Barb and I have been together for 31 years. We have three daughters.
My wife and I like to walk, we like to do it together. We have a family cottage. … We’re on the water enjoying the cottage as much as we can. I’m a waterskier, (but) not a great one at this stage. I also love to golf.
Q We’re going to give you three people you can take on a dinner date. Whom do you choose?
A Winston Churchill has always made that list when I’ve thought about it. Martin Luther King, I’d like to sit with Dr. King and have some time to see through his eyes the vision he had for this harmonious society he talked about. I think it’d also be cool to sit down with Sir John A. Macdonald, at that moment where Canada was on the doorstep of becoming Canada, and have a chance to hear what he was thinking of the dawning of this country. Wouldn’t that be interesting to actually ask him what that moment was like when you actually created a nation, then have him look through a lens of the last 150 years of what we’ve become based on that vision?
Q Favourite after-hours beverage?
A I’m a cold beer guy. I’m actually a two-beer guy. Apparently they have really good cold beer here in Ottawa. I really don’t drink anything else alcoholic.
Q Who makes you laugh?
A Pretty much everybody makes me laugh, in part because I would like to say I’m filled with a lot of happiness. My girls (Alice, Samantha and Emily) make me laugh all the time. They pick on me, they make fun of me, they make me humble. For Barb and I, they’re the most wonderful part of our life. For their old Pops, they give me a hard time, which makes me laugh.