Moonlighting Lion tunes in to Bingo
Linebacker Mckenzie suits up for new game and Bingo is its name- o
Burly B. C. Lions linebacker Anton McKenzie dabbles in musical Bingo, ( seriously) at a local watering hole when he’s not trying to punish rival players during the long CFL season.
Musical Bingo, London’s favourite game show, has come to Vancouver.
Actually, it’s been here for a while now, at Malone’s Bar and Grill on Seymour and Pender streets.
And Wednesday night, a new bingo caller made his debut at Malone’s — Anton McKenzie, a man better known as a fifth- year veteran linebacker with the B. C. Lions.
McKenzie is still sticking with his day job, but now he’s working the night shift in an effort to raise his own profile, the Lions’ brand and the goal of his second employer to sell more suds and shots after hockey season ends.
Malone’s, a Lions “preferred pub” partner, is making an effort to reach out to other sports fans who follow the Canadian Football League and Major League Soccer and put more football and soccer butts on bar stools and in booths.
“When hockey dies down, everybody feels it in the hospitality industry in Vancouver,” explained Sarah Yu, marketing director for the Cambie Malones Group. “We wanted to embrace our other sports teams more. We’re not just a hockey bar. We’re a sports bar. Anton has been a frequent customer over the years. He’s a wellspoken individual ... not a star, but one of the guys who makes things happen on the Lions. We thought he would be a great fit.”
McKenzie is replacing standup comedian Neil Robinson, who had the gig for nine months as Malone’s’ regular Wednesday night caller. Musical bingo is like regular bingo, only with the names of tunes replacing numbers. It costs $ 2 a card to play. Winners take half the pool. The other 50 per cent goes to Covenant House, a charity which aids troubled youth in Vancouver.
“It’s a new outlet for me,” McKenzie explained after practice Wednesday. “As a football club, we’re trying to reach out to get more publicity, to network with more people. It’s going to be fun. We’ll have a good time.”
Asked what he’d normally be doing on a Wednesday evening in the summer, McKenzie said, straight- faced: “I’d be at home, watching ( game) film or TV.” And you’d probably believe him. One of the advantages he offers as a football player is that his highs are never that high and his lows are never that low. McKenzie is imperturbable, a hard worker who relies on applied intelligence more than the pure athleticism and emotion of the Lions’ more prominent linebackers, Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill.
“Biggie, honestly, is like a freakish athlete,” said Lions halfback Ryan Phillips. “He can do everything — fast, athletic, phenomenal jumping ability, explosive. Solly is aggressive, downhill, 100 miles an hour, tenacious, a great tackler. Anton is instinctual. His football IQ is up there. He’s a guy who does his homework. Those other guys have some qualities he doesn’t. But that’s where his IQ comes in. That’s what sets him apart.”
Still, they all seem to fit so well together, and the combination of nastiness, quickness and intelligence among players who know what they are doing, and have confidence in each other, is quite imposing.
That’s why, with Bighill missing from Saturday’s game in Edmonton with a sprained ankle, head coach Mike Benevides winces slightly when it’s suggested that McKenzie is a good “fallback” player to have.
“He plays the game from a cerebral point of view,” Benevides said.
“He’s always where he needs to be. When we picked him up in free agency ( McKenzie spent his first three CFL seasons, 2006- 2008, with the Saskatchewan Roughriders), the analysis we had on him at the time was that he was a very smart football player, and a leader. He was telling everyone else what to do. And he still does. That says something, given the multiplicity of the defences we run. At the same time, he makes plays.
“I’ve always respected him because he’s never gotten enough credit. And I respect him because he knows that.”
When the Lions signed Bighill and Elimimian to contract extensions in the off- season, McKenzie took one for the team by taking a haircut, necessitated by squeezing others to get under the salary cap.
“Everything’s got to fit together,” Benevides said.
“He understood that. A lot of guys wouldn’t do it. But Anton’s continued to play at a high level, and I consider myself fortunate to have him on our team.”
McKenzie concedes the pay cut was tough and affected his lifestyle, but he reminds himself that very few people get to follow their passion and be compensated for doing so.
“I’m one of the lucky ones to still be playing football,” said the 32- year- old linebacker.
“When the ( contract) numbers were presented to me, I had to ask myself, ‘ How much do you want to play football?’ The answer was, ‘ I want to keep playing as long as I can.’ It was an easy decision. How much do I think about it now? Honestly, I can’t answer that because, in season, all I want to think about is football.” But now there is musical bingo. Yet as much as McKenzie would like to believe he’s born to his new calling — “I know I’ll be good” — dabbin’ with a dauber won’t cancel out his true love.
“Football is what gets my heart and mind going every day,” he said. Bingo. Can’t touch that. END ZONE: Long snapper Jason Matechuk, plucked off Saskatchewan’s practice roster, arrived during team meetings Wednesday morning, practised with the Lions and will replace Tim Cronk for Saturday’s game in Edmonton.