Rivalry set aside

When Blue Bombers quarterback Matt Nichols was at the hospital Friday for the birth of his daughter, he received a FaceTime call from an old friend.

It was Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly, who Nichols will go up against today in the CFL West Division semifinal.

“For him to give me a Facetime and chat with my family and everything and put everything else aside, I think it’s great,” Nichols said yesterday, a day ahead of the playoff game at Investors Group Field.

“We were joking around because I named my daughter Parker and I guess I had heard that name somewhere before. (B.C. Lions quarterback Travis) Lulay texted me and said that his oldest daughter Parker approves of the name. Mike said he knows he’s destined to have another girl, as it seems like all of us quarterbacks do, and just to fit in with the club he’s probably going to name her Parker.”

Nichols has known Reilly since before they came to the CFL and they were teammates and roommates when they both played for Edmonton.

With the Eskimos, they were always trying to beat each other out for a job and now they are trying to beat each other to get to the playoffs.

But it won’t hurt the friendship.

“It’s a weird thing where you want to beat the guy out but you are also buddies with him,” Nichols said. “It’s a juggling effect.”