DEFENCE CHANGING
2017 excites Muamba
Robservations ...
Confidential memo to the Canadian Football League: CFL Week should return to Regina next year. The inaugural event was a hit — a superbly conceived and executed football fest that accentuated the league’s past, current and future stars. Given the fanatical football following in Regina, the home of the Saskatchewan Roughriders was the natural place to launch CFL Week. Why mess with success? Return to Regina, make the week bigger and better, smooth out any imperfections, and then take the show to a different CFL centre.
During CFL Week, league operatives routinely boasted about the number of media interviews that were done and used “accessibility” as a buzzword. And indeed, it was a wonderful, landmark week for someone who covers the league, considering that media access has diminished over the years. The hope here is that all nine teams will embrace the spirit of CFL Week and facilitate every interview request, unless it’s audacious or simply impractical. The true test of the league’s resolve will come during the regular season, when it can be challenging to get extended oneon-one time with a head coach or any significant player (especially a starting quarterback). If the league is genuinely serious about selling its stars and its product, the in-season restrictions will be relaxed. End of self-serving Robservation. Turning to hockey …
Fast fact: Regina Pats centre Sam Steel’s 131 points were the most by a player in the WHL’s Eastern Conference since Pavel Brendl of the 1998-99 Calgary Hitmen rang up 134.
The 2016-17 Pats finished first in the WHL’s overall standings and completed the regular season as the CHL’s top-ranked team. Would that have been possible without a major contribution by the Toronto Maple Leafs? The Leafs’ brass opted to send centre Adam Brooks — a 130-point producer in 2016-17 — back to Regina instead of having him play in the NHL team’s chain this season. Many teams decide that a drafted 20-year-old should play somewhere in the pro ranks. The case of Brooks is a notable exception.
When Brooks and linemate Austin Wagner are killing penalties, it often seems like the opposition is short-handed.
Following last week’s PST increase, all hockey players in Saskatchewan will now be required to give 111 per cent.
The NHL needs to crack down on slashing. Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby’s injurious, yet unpenalized, hack at Ottawa Senators defenceman Marc Methot is merely one example of an obvious indiscretion being ignored by not one, but two, referees. The same applies to flagrant cross-checks.
A mini-reunion of note took place the other day in Orlando, where former Roughriders receivers Joey Walters and Brian O’Hara had a chat. On Oct. 29, 1978 in Edmonton, Walters caught Ron Lancaster’s last career touchdown pass. Not too long after that, O’Hara was on the receiving end of The Little General’s final completion.
O’Hara, by the way, played at Whitworth College under head coach Hugh Campbell — Lancaster’s first go-to receiver with the Roughriders. Small world.
The CFL should name a trophy after Lancaster.
In that aforementioned 1978 game at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, Lancaster engineered one final fourthquarter comeback victory after replacing rookie Larry Dick. As Lancaster trotted on to the field, he received a handshake from Eskimos cornerback Larry Highbaugh. It was a classy gesture by Highbaugh, an exciting and affable player who, sadly, died last week at age 67.
After the Riders won 36-26 in Edmonton, Regina Leader-Post legend Bob Hughes asked Lancaster: “Did you see Highbaugh applaud?” To which the alwayswitty Lancaster responded: “He should have applauded. I’ve put him in the Hall of Fame. He probably figured he’d get a couple of more interceptions off me.”
Reminder: It’s the Canadian Football Hall of Fame — not the “CFL Hall of Fame,” even though that wording was attributed to the league’s able commissioner, Jeffrey Orridge, in a media release that touted the appearance of Warren Moon during
CFL Week.
Moon also played in Lancaster’s final game, by the way. In fact, Moon was sacked for a safety by Bill Baker late in the fourth quarter. Like Lancaster, Baker retired as a player after that game.
Nice people who deserve a plug: Stacey Cattell, Joe Lange, Norm Johnson, Lori Vanjoff, Patrick Book, Don Rice, Davis Sanchez, Bo Levi Mitchell,
Henoc Muamba, Amanda Ruller, Kevin Glenn, Weston Dressler, Rob Bagg, Marquay McDaniel, Dave Woodward, John Hudson, Marty Burke, Jo Hartnell, Bernie Hartnell, Tyson Hartnell, Will Redl, Dick Stark, Helen Forbes, Teresa Shipley, Susan Hertz, Bill Armstrong, Jeff Pow, Bill Baker and Geoff Glasspell.