Loss could signal changes for aging Argos
Roster packed with veteran starters Team ‘will never be together again’
Mike O’Shea sat on a stool in front of his locker, his flowing reddish locks peeking out from under a blue baseball cap and his chin hanging so low it looked mere inches from the Argonauts’ dressing room floor.
Speaking between sips of a cold beer that he no doubt hoped would wash away the disappointment of a crushing 33- 17 loss to Montreal in the CFL East final, the 35- year- old linebacker was asked if he’d be back next year.
“ I think so,” he said in a voice drained of emotion. “I don’t know how to do anything else.” The Argos took a chance by leaving their roster pretty much alone after last year’s Grey Cup win. They finished first in their division and won one more regular season game than in 2004. But they came up two wins short of the goal, and there almost certainly will be changes. Coach Michael ( Pinball) Clemons started his post- game address to the media by saying the team “will never be together again.” But he suggested his team won’t see the kind of alterations that John Ferguson Jr. made down the road at the Air Canada Centre.
“ We try to keep our guys consistent,” Clemons said. “They worked hard and we came in first place for the first time in eight years. But change always happens; you never have the same group.”
After he finished his 10- minute talk with reporters — it might have been the first time in recent memory Clemons has gone so long without smiling — he spotted co- owner Howard Sokolowski.
“ I’m sorry, man,” he said as he hugged his boss.
“ I don’t make personnel decisions; I know better than that. But I don’t think you’ll see major changes to the team,” Soko- lowski said. “ I’d go to war with these guys.”
Several key players for the Argos are creeping a little higher on the age meter than the team might like. O’Shea will be 36 next September, the same month in which cornerback Adrion Smith turns 35. Quarterback Damon Allen, meanwhile, is already 42.
“ The way the business is there’s going to be change,” said Smith. “ But is there any reason to change? No. We’re still strong.”
“ I don’t think there will be big moves, but there’s always some changes,” O’Shea said.
“ It’s the nature of the business, right?”