If you like a box of chocolates, Nov. 24, 2013, was sweet day
The other day, this grizzled scribe was reminded of that noted CFL aficionado, Tom Hanks.
Hanks, remember, was among the 44,710 eyewitnesses when the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeated the visiting Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45-23 in the 2013 Grey Cup game.
The very same Hollywood icon, cast in the role of Forrest Gump, memorably uttered: “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Those words are applicable to the 101st Grey Cup — more than anyone could have suspected while the Roughriders celebrated a home-field championship.
Little remains of the venue, but we knew that Taylor Field was doomed as soon as a new Mosaic Stadium became a reality. But who could have envisioned how the careers of three principal figures would unfold?
Corey Chamblin became only the fourth Grey Cup-winning coach in Roughriders history. He was fired a season and a half later.
Kent Austin, the losing head coach in 2013, returned to the championship game a year later and suffered a 20-16 loss to the Stampeders. That was the peak of success for Austin with the Tiger-Cats, by whom he is still employed — but not as a coach.
Darian Durant savoured his finest hour in the 2013 Grey Cup, throwing: (a) Three touchdown passes; and, (b) Every one of his detractors under a fleet of buses. Fast forward to today. Durant, who was seemingly destined to finish his CFL career in Saskatchewan, has just completed a 3-15 season with the Montreal Alouettes. Chamblin, meanwhile, has just said “thanks, but no thanks” to the Alouettes, who had wanted to talk to him about perhaps filling the team’s latest head-coaching vacancy.
Chamblin, who recently revelled in a Grey Cup victory in his role as the Toronto Argonauts’ defensive co-ordinator, can afford to be choosy. Honestly, who would want to coach the mess that is Montreal?
Once, the Roughriders’ brass was hoping Chamblin would be part of a Grey Cup winner in 2017. Early in 2014, he signed a four-year contract extension with Saskatchewan. Thereafter, the box of chocolates was more like the “Spring Surprise,” as conceptualized by Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
And Austin? He handed the Tiger-Cats’ head-coaching reins to June Jones after the team lost its first eight of the 2017 season. The Ticats quickly improved under Jones, whose full-time hiring was made official Monday.
Austin remains with the organization, as vice-president of football operations, but this is a man who was born to coach.
On Monday, Austin told Hamilton radio station TSN 1150 that he has had “some correspondence” with American universities about possible coaching positions, “but nothing that I would say at this point would be very serious.”
If that remains the case, the Tiger-Cats will be paying Austin not to coach — a situation that would have been inconceivable on the final Sunday of November in 2013.
All in all, it does appear that the Forrest Gump theory — “you never know what you’re gonna get” — is in effect. Hopefully it will not apply beyond football.
The other day, I waddled toward my cluttered work station and noticed someone had left a gift. A box of chocolates.