Flag Football Registration is open and going great.  The MFL is expanding flag football this season.  Starting May 27th boys and girls age 7-12 will take to the field at Erindale Secondary School ready for another full season of Flag Football.  Want to be sure your child has a spot?  Register today at http://www.M-F-L.ca.  Only $125 this season–that is a $25 decrease in the price compared with 2011!

Tackle Football registration for the fall is open, ages 9-17, along with another season of flag for our younger players age 7 & 8.  Tackle practice starts mid-August.  Jerseys have been ordered,  football fields are getting booked and most important of all our coaches are busy planning for the season!  The cost for Tackle football this season is being held at $275 – register today to be sure to secure your spot.  Visit www.M-F-L.ca  Remember only fully registered players in the MFL are assigned to a team.

Toronto Argos; the MFL is once again working with the Toronto Argos as the CFL heads into the 100th Grey Cup in Toronto.  Watch for your chance to win tickets to the 100th Grey Cup this season.

And….on a finale note:  Congratulations goes out to Jack Finley, President of the MFL, as he was presented a City of Mississauga Civic Award this week for over 30 years of volunteering for the Mississauga Football League.

But is that what we want?

Forgive me for putting words in people’s mouths but I feel like Raptor fans right now aren’t sure what to do or how to feel.  Winning games can’t be a bad thing, unless losing games brings you greater opportunity at a top three pick in this years draft.

Personally I feel like I’m in a Mini Wheats commercial.  The fan in me wants my team to win at any cost, but the pragmatist in me wants losses to ensure a greater chance at a Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist or Anthony Davis.

Wednesday night against the Sixers I couldn’t help but feel excited.  I haven’t seen the Raptors play with that kind of energy in a long, long time.  The Raps took complete control of the game in the second half and blew out a formidable opponent for the first time in I don’t know how long.  More remarkably, they held their opponents to 7 points in the 4th quarter.  I don’t know if that clutch play has ever happened. Especially on the second night of a back to back.

But now the Raptors have positioned themselves much lower on the current draft rankings and are quickly playing their way out of a top flight player in this years draft.

That’s not good when you consider the future is still very much up in the air.  Derozan and Bargnani are playing well now, but maybe they won’t when the pressure is back on next year.  That would leave the Raptors, likely, in a similar position to this year.

They need a Kidd-Gilchrist.  They need an Anthony Davis.  These are game changers that could make a huge difference in the Raptors fortunes next year, especially when you consider the arrival of Jonas Valanciunas as well.

So should I stop cheering for my team? Should I not be able to enjoy a win, even if our star players play well?

I’m confused.  I’m torn and I imagine most Raptor fans are.

What makes this all especially hard for Raptor fans is the complete lack of anything else to cheer for in this city.  The Leafs are awful, TFC is all over the place, the Argos are an after thought and the Blue Jays are only now beginning their season.  If we can’t cheer for this what can we cheer for?

The Toronto sports scene is a real life tragedy. The only cheering we can do is for losing enough games to give ourselves a chance at a higher pick.

Pretty Sad.

Dwane Casey has really turned this years Toronto Raptors around. They are performing at a level no one ever expected them to. That's a good thing, right?

We want playoff basketball next year.  Colangelo needs a playoff appearance to ensure job stability and from the looks of this team, they are a couple of solid acquisitions away from that goal.

Wouldn’t a top three draft pick help expidite that playoff goal?

Casey has improved our overall defense.  We used to rank dead last in defensive efficiency under Jay Triano.  With Dwane Casey calling the shots, according to John Hollinger ,the Raptors are now 13th in the league in points allowed, 14th in rebounding and a remarkable 5th in defensive rebounding.  That’s quite the turnaround for a team that was dead last in almost every defensive category a year ago.

How can you not applaud that? Or get excited when the team works hard defensively to win a close game?  This is what Dwane Casey was brought in to do.  The fact that we are already seeing a major turnaround is a great step in the right direction.

Now it’s up to Colangelo to give Casey the tools he needs to turn the Raptors into a game no one wants to see on their schedule.

Fans should cheer when their team wins, not when they lose or just when they win some pizza.  This years version of the Raptors deserves the fans support.  If they win it is because the coach has these players playing out of their shoes.  The whole team has bought into “pounding the Rock” and the results are starting to take shape.

They’re just happening a little faster than what we ever expected.

But that’s a good thing.  Right?

***

Kristoffer Pedlar
The Zan Tabak Herald

–

Follow us:

@zantabakherald
@kpedlar

***

As far as the football goes, we could very well be in for two one-sided matchups.  But as the Montreal Alouettes play host to the lowly Toronto Argos, quarterback Anthony Calvillo needs just 258 yards to pass Damon Allen as pro football’s all-time leading passer.  Worth tuning in to see history being made!  Meanwhile, the Edmonton Eskimos will be looking to bounce back from a rough stretch as they host the shitacular Saskatchewan Roughriders.  A win would give Edmonton a share of first place in the West.  Go Riders!

Perhaps the most hotly-anticipated contest of the day comes on Monday Night Football, where the undefeated Detroit Lions play host to the Chicago Bears, a team that’s tougher than their 2-2 record might suggest.  I gotta say, I’m all for the football resurgence in Buffalo and Detroit–and I’d like to see the Lions win, then go on to knock off the Niners next week, heh heh.

As for the baseball action, I like the Rangers and the Brewers.  I’m currently debating at which sports bar I’ll have Thanksgiving dinner tonite…

On the run!

Thank you to the Toronto Argos for having the Mississauga Football League on the field for the third year in a row!  A group of dedicated Bantam age players took to the Argos practice field. What a great way to showcase youth football!

The boys had a great time and what a show they put on.  Lots of hard work in the MFL off-season takes place to get this off the ground but always well worth it.

Youth football is growing in Mississauga and the Argos are a big part of that!  Thanks again!

MFL at 2010 Argos Family Day!

Fans of the Toronto Argonauts will have their first opportunity to meet the 2011 team on Sunday, June 26 Noon – 3 at Toronto Argonauts Family Day.  Family Day is a free, unique and interactive experience for the whole family as Argos fans get an opportunity to watch the team practice and meet the players, coaches and cheerleaders.  In addition once again for the third year in a row a group of dedicated teens from the Mississauga Football League will be on the field participating in a full tackle scrimmage.

Do you have a youth who would like to play in the Mississauga Football League?  Coaches will be on hand to answer questions.  The MFL has programs for all youth age 7 – 17.  Complete information about all their programs can be found on the website:  www.M-F-L.ca

Do not let the mail strike delay your registration.  Register on-line at www.M-F-L.ca and drop your paperwork at the Argos Family Day – Just look for the MFL Tent.

02 September 2006 - Toronto Star

For three years, a scout from the Detroit Tigers hung around the Cal. State Fullerton campus, hoping to catch Damon Allen’s attention. But the baseball club’s pursuit of Allen, a star quarterback and pitcher fresh out of San Diego’s Lincoln High School, was most intense in the summer of 1981, just before Allen enrolled.

Fullerton’s head coach at the time, Gene Murphy, remembers the scout pressuring him to let Allen sign a contract before classes started. Otherwise, the scout would have to wait another year to make an offer.

Murphy turned him down.

And he can’t forget what the scout told him next: “He said, ‘What a disservice you’re doing to this kid. He’s going to get killed on the first day of practice and it’s going to be on your conscience.’”

Twenty-five years and four Grey Cups later, Allen is poised to become the most prolific passer in pro football history and Murphy can now laugh about that conversation. But at the time he didn’t react so calmly.

In fact, he had to burn a Detroit Tigers cap in front of the entire Fullerton football team to make his point: Damon Allen, all 150 pounds of him, was a quarterback.

Allen and his teammates got the message, even if the NFL never did.

If Allen passes for more than 164 yards Monday, when the Argos play in Hamilton, he’ll overtake NFL hall-of-famer Warren Moon for first place on pro football’s career passing yardage list. Moon, who played six years in Edmonton before jumping to the NFL in 1984, retired after 23 seasons with 70,553 passing yards. Barring injury, Allen will set the record midway through his 22nd season and he’ll do it without having played in the NFL.

And he’ll do it without wondering, what if?

“Each year that passes, I’m more convinced that this is where I’m supposed to be,” Allen says. “It might not be the NFL, but I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do ever since I was a kid. If you respect the game of football it doesn’t matter what league you play in.”

As a 10-year-old, Allen needed only one play to convince his San Diego youth league coaches he could be a quarterback.

Early in his first year in organized ball, Allen lined up as a defensive back and, during one practice, a quarterback heaved a wobbly pass that Allen batted down. He corralled the rolling ball about 30 yards from the line of scrimmage and his coaches told Allen to bring it back.

Instead, he threw a tight spiral on target to the head coach, who tossed the ball back and asked him to do it again. So he did.

“The coach said, ‘You’re my quarterback,’” recalls Allen’s father, Harold Allen Sr. “And he’s been a quarterback ever since.”

NFL scouts, however, were tougher to win over. Not that Allen didn’t give them a reason to check him out.

Fullerton had a losing tradition when Allen arrived on campus in 1981, but he graduated with back-to-back conference titles, officially losing only once in his last two years. A 1984 loss was overturned when it was discovered that Nevada-Las Vegas had used ineligible players.

As a slender but strong-armed senior, he passed for 2,469 yards and 20 touchdowns, throwing only three interceptions.

“It was a lot of fun coaching Damon because he was a really sharp guy,” says Jerry Brown, Fullerton’s offensive co-ordinator during Allen’s tenure. “During two-minute drills we would just give him parameters. With someone else you would signal in the plays, but with Damon you let him call his own plays.”

Murphy, who took over at Fullerton a year before Allen arrived, remembers his best games as if they happened last week instead of last century:

The game against heavily favoured Colorado State that Fullerton won behind three TD passes from Allen.

And the Long Beach State game when Allen passed for three TDs and rushed for two more.

The Titans were undefeated heading into the game against Nevada-Las Vegas, led by another lean, athletic quarterback with a strong arm – future NFL star Randall Cunningham. Going into the fourth quarter that night, Fullerton trailed by 18 points, but Murphy wasn’t worried.

“Everybody around him knew that as long as we have Damon, we’ve got something special,” Murphy says.

Allen rallied his squad to 17 unanswered points and Fullerton could have won on the game’s final drive if not for a dropped pass in the end zone.

But none of those performances persuaded NFL scouts to envision Allen as a pro quarterback, even when he finished 16th in Heisman Trophy voting that year. His play in the Senior Bowl and his workout at the NFL combine did not have the desired effect.

Despite his flashy stats, NFL scouts couldn’t get past another set of numbers: 6 feet tall, 160 pounds; fine for a wide receiver, where the Rams suggested he play, but no NFL team wanted a stringbean under centre.

“He’s got the arm strength and he’s got the mind to run an NFL offence,” says Brown, who was on the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff from 1988 to 1991. “But you’re not going to find any quarterbacks in the NFL that small.” And NFL offences of the 1980s weren’t looking for quarterbacks that mobile.

“If he was playing (college ball) right now he’d be an NFL prospect,” Murphy says. “That’s what they’re looking for now, mobile quarterbacks. The prototype back then was the Dan Marino type. Six-foot-2, 6-foot-3 and can’t run.”

That prototype was also white, although no one, least of all Allen, is certain that his race kept NFL teams from giving him a chance to play quarterback.

“Back then (racism) was a possibility,” Murphy says. “That and size. But God dang, he could play. Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

Allen is aware of the old stereotype that blacks lacked the brains to play quarterback, but says it was never applied to him, even by skeptical NFL scouts.

“With me it always came back to size,” he says. “Nobody ever questioned my ability to think.”

Besides, the NFL’s quarterbacking colour barrier had already started to crumble in 1985 when Allen finished school. That spring the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Cunningham, a season after Moon first suited up for the Houston Oilers.

And by then, Moon had already provided Allen with a clue to his football future.

Allen discovered the CFL in 1982, when an NFL strike forced some U.S. broadcasters to show CFL games. That season he watched Moon lead the Edmonton Eskimos to the Grey Cup and later that year he learned the Eskimos had already acquired his CFL rights.

“When the NFL was talking to me about changing positions, I knew I could go to the CFL and play quarterback,” Allen says.

So, like Moon, he began his pro football career in Edmonton, spending six seasons there, spread over two stints. But unlike Moon, Allen never parlayed his CFL success into an NFL job.

In 22 years in Canada, he has never even received a serious contract offer from south of the border. At times, Allen says, NFL teams would call his agent, but he says he hasn’t spoken directly to an NFL team since coming to the CFL.

“I wanted a team to come after me instead of me coming after them,” he says.

It didn’t bother him to see CFL stars Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia head south, but it sure confused Allen’s father, especially since former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci had coached Allen in college.

“I was shocked when Mariucci took Garcia instead of Damon,” Harold Allen says. “Damon’s a better athlete and a better quarterback. I don’t know why they did that.”

Allen doesn’t know, either, but he doesn’t worry about it. He appreciates his CFL success and even though he always wanted to test himself against the NFL’s best, he knows he probably wouldn’t have approached Moon’s record playing there.

“Who’s to say I go to the NFL and play as long as I did here?” he says.

“I wouldn’t trade 22 years here for five years in the NFL.”

By Morgan Campbell

SIMCOE, ONT. – Rayshawn’s flashing those fast hands again, poking the ball from his buddy Kareem at the top of the key, then exploding toward the other hoop.

Before he came to the Sprucedale Youth Centre, the only thing quicker than Rayshawn’s hands was his temper. Anyone at the Toronto Youth Assessment Centre foolish enough to talk about his mom got flattened. That’s disrespect. And the kid who tried to punk him off for his food? Dropped for the count. You’ve got to eat, right?

Since then, 20-year-old Rayshawn has shelved his knuckle game, and now he shares a cramped basketball court with six other residents at Sprucedale, an institution for young offenders 90 minutes southwest of Toronto. He backpedals across half court and with his left hand snags a pass intended for his mentor, Toronto Argonauts defensive back Jordan Younger.

Younger’s there today with his teammate, defensive lineman Jonathan Brown. They’re two of a crew of Argos who have been visiting a group of seven Sprucedale residents every Tuesday and Thursday since late March. As part of the Argonauts Foundation’s Stop The Violence initiative, six players – Brown, Younger, Orlondo Steinauer, Chuck Winters, Clifford Ivory and Michael Fletcher – agreed to spend a month and a half working with seven teens serving time at Sprucedale.

Their crimes range from breaching probation, to robbery, to murder. Some will leave Sprucedale in a few weeks, while others will serve up to two more years. The Youth Criminal Justice Act protects their identities, so the teens used pseudonyms for this story.

And they’re part of a unique pilot project. Funded by the federal Department of Justice, and run by the Argos and the Ministry of Child and Youth Services, it’s the only program in the world in which pro athletes enter a jail to work with at-risk kids, the Argos say.

Everyone involved with the program says the teens have matured more in six weeks with the Argos than they would have in a year on their own. The players say the teens just needed someone to relate to, someone to emulate, and someone to treat them as human beings.

The Grey Cup rings broke down a few barriers, too.

“To say that our being pro athletes doesn’t have an impact, we’d be kidding ourselves,” Steinauer said. “But after we’re in there, the pro athlete thing goes away. My best tools were my ears and my presence.”

Five kilometres north of Lake Erie, between a warehouse and a farmer’s field, the Sprucedale Youth Centre and Secondary School houses about 65 young offenders in a two-story beige brick building. Residents each have their own dormitory rooms, and spend their days taking classes for high school credit.

Roughly half of Sprucedale’s residents come from the GTA, which was important to Toronto Police Constable Andria Cowan. She’s an Argonauts Foundation board member, and she came up with the mentorship idea in January. Her plan was for the players and the teens to build relationships that will last long after the teens leave Sprucedale.

“If they were from Windsor and they went back to Windsor, we’d have no way to support them,” she said.

Cowan and the Argos selected six players who enjoyed community service, and whose experiences would help them relate to troubled teens. All six would make the initial visit on March 27. After that, two Argos would visit the jail every Tuesday and Thursday until May 4. They would spend about two hours with teens, sometimes playing sports, sometimes lifting weights, but every session had a similar plan: to listen, counsel, encourage, challenge and care.

Meanwhile, Sprucedale deputy superintendent Melanie Ferdinand chose boys for the program, with help from Rayshawn, a Regent Park native with skin beige as Sprucedale’s bricks, and a build just as solid. She gave him the task because she wanted to build on the leadership skills he had already shown.

Their goal was to find guys social enough to function in a group, and mature enough to learn to trust.

“I don’t care about your charges, if you were immature I wasn’t going to pick you,” said Rayshawn, who’ll finish his three-year sentence in July. “Even if I don’t like you, I’ll pick you if I knew you were going to participate properly.”

Entering the program the players had all received classroom training, but, Brown figured the last thing the teens needed was another specialist to analyze their faults. Guys like Ryan, Rayshawn, Kareem and Omar had already seen a parade of what they call “PhD motherf—-s” – psychologists with degrees and diplomas but no experience on the street. They needed someone who would listen and not judge. They needed people they could relate to. They needed someone real.

“You don’t come to 16- and 17-year-olds with a bunch of book stuff,” Brown said. “So we incorporated a lot of street knowledge.”

This group of Argos had plenty, and when the project launched on March 27, it used it to win over a group of kids unaccustomed to trusting adults.

They had seen poverty. Winters grew up in the Herman Garden Projects, 7-Mile and Evergreen, northwest Detroit, a place that makes Regent Park look like Rosedale. In Seattle, Steinauer had lived on his own since he was 15, and survived with help from friends and food banks.

They also knew pain. Winters’ brother died in a drive-by shooting seven years ago. At 11, Brown buried his own brother, James Norwood, shot in the head and shoulder over some cocaine and heroin.

And they knew the penal system. Right now Winters has a cousin locked up for life in Michigan. As a teenager Fletcher, who grew up in Compton, Calif., served two stints in juvenile hall – one for stealing a car and one for a gang fight.

“We knew we could tell our stories and these guys would understand where we were coming from and we could possibly strike a chord with them,” Winters said.

Some kids took a while to warm up, but the Argos had 18-year-old Kareem the second they shared their stories.

“When I knew where they were coming from I just felt the realness,” he said. “When it was my time to talk I just put everything on the table. Just to know that they were in our situation and they came out successful in life gives us motivation to know we can be successful too.”

“Before, I didn’t want to hear nothing from no one because they haven’t experienced what I’ve experienced,” Rayshawn said. “But real recognizes real.

For Brown, the program’s payoff came during his third session, when the last of the teens finally dropped their guard and talked about how they wound up at Sprucedale, and showed remorse for the people they had hurt.

“These guys had never admitted they messed up,” Brown said. “Just to get them to say, ‘I messed up. I want to get better,’ that’s the first step. It’s an accomplishment in itself.”

Younger’s pivotal moment was a touch football game, when he first saw the teens laugh.

“You realize they want the same things out of life that we want,” Younger said. “They want to be happy and have fun. You can see all that in a little game of touch football.”

The games also let the players provide the teens with encouragement, self-esteem and a sense of family. During Tuesday’s basketball game, players launched shots from all angles. Some went in, some missed by metres, but nobody criticized.

“I’m telling you, shoot,” Younger told Kareem after his three-pointer clanged off the rim. “It will drop.”

And they saved the biggest praise for nice passes, like the one Rayshawn fed to Brown for a layup.

Ferdinand beamed. She doesn’t often see teamwork and encouragement in this gym.

“Historically our players are all about themselves and they showboat,” she said. “(When they pass) you’re witnessing the program in action.”

But the teens say the program had its deepest effect off the court, inside the minds of the kids involved.

Omar says the Argos have cooled the anger that once burned within him. Now he envisions himself earning a college diploma when he leaves Sprucedale, and eventually running his own restaurant.

At first Kareem couldn’t see past his own self-pity at being locked up. Now he plans on finishing high school, re-joining his basketball team and coaching younger kids.

“The players have gotten to places with these kids that staff has not,” Ferdinand said. “This is the most powerful and intense program I’ve experienced in 21 years of working with high-risk kids.”

Rayshawn, father of a 2-year-old boy, rhymes off a list of skills he has sharpened at Sprucedale: barbering, bricklaying, drywalling, landscaping. Now he has the confidence to put them to work when he leaves in July.

“I want my son to say, ‘I want to be like Dad,’” he said. “The Argos have helped me see that.”

But Rayshawn knows it won’t be easy. Most kids in the program can’t count on friends and family to ease their transition into the community.

Before the Argos arrived, Ryan, a skinny 17-year-old from Keele and Finch, had had only one visitor in the 18 months he had spent in jail. Rayshawn had two visitors in three years. The Argos, though, have pledged to continue the visits throughout the season, even if the federal government decides not to renew the grant. And next week Sprucedale staff will meet with the teens to figure out how best to help the ones, like Rayshawn, scheduled for release soon.

“Who’s out there for me? I’m out there for me,” Rayshawn says. “You can’t depend on anyone else to make sure you don’t come back here. It’s all about what you want in life, and I want a change. I’m trying to roll with a positive group.

“I’m in the middle of the hill. Everyone I knew before is at the bottom of the hill, looking up at me. I’m trying to reach to the top, and the Argos are going to help me do that.”

I thought by 2010 there would be an about-face with certain stereotypes. Like blondes have more fun (they don’t, I now know that). I have been living and breathing them for years, but this is just ridiculous. A group of Toronto Sun readers, you know, the uber intellects of our city who despise half-naked women (the publication you read has one every day), are appalled by a recent news article showcasing the Toronto Argos cheerleader photo shoot for 2010. Heaven forbid they videotape our city’s CFL cheer team getting ready for their upcoming season, after all, what kind of sponsors do that?

I would like all of you who posted negative comments to collectively give your head a shake. Not only are you completely offensive, but you are demonstrating how narrow minded Torontonians can actually be, tsk tsk. I will be the first to admit that not every cheerleader is the brightest pencil crayon in the box, but judge them all? Really! I was a Toronto Argonauts Cheerleader from 2006-2008, crowned Miss Argo 2006 and I am more than proud of that. Just because women are beautiful, doesn’t make them unintelligent. Could it be true, I now MC for another sports team? That’s right folks; I can walk and talk – all at the same time!! A woman can wear a push-up bra, fake eyelashes and still discuss Tolstoy; can I get an amen?! She can also represent numerous charities, all while performing a classic “kick-ball-change” with a smile from ear to ear (showcasing our lovely pearly whites, thanks to our team dentist). What a crazy concept this all is.

“Haters everywhere we go,” didn’t start up because we thought we were better than everyone else, it is because of you lot. I’ll be sure to discuss this with my lawyer friend over brunch this weekend; she’s one of the half-naked girls you think is “so fat and ugly”. As for the comments about us not making it in the dance industry, maybe you should read the article again, Jorie Brown has quite the list of credentials – she’s also a former cheerleader.

So keep on keeping on girls. As for me, I keep my bikini calendars hanging on my wall, next to my degrees.

The Leafs, our dear Leafs, have been nothing short of atrocious;  regardless of  the recent addition of Dion Phanuef.

The Blue Jays may never see the playoffs again. Not until Major League Baseball implements a salary cap or changes the playoff structure.

The TFC have yet to see a playoff game period.

And the Argos are in a league many Canadians tend to ignore regardless of whether the team wins or loses.

But then we come to the Raptors. The only team in the city with a winning record. A ship that’s pointed in the right direction. A team that is competitive every single night; full of youth and talent. If ever there was a time for the Raptors to take market share in the form of fans, it’s now.

Yet growth has been marginal at best. More fans aren’t tuning in. Only the regulars. Guys and gals like you and me; the diehards who read blogs like this one on a daily basis. What’s it going to take to turn more heads?

Talking.

I’m going to talk Raptors’ ball to people I know. Friends who aren’t fans. I’m going to ask acquaintances if they’ve been watching games. If they’ve heard about how the Raptors are playing. And when they say they haven’t, I’m going to tell them they should check the team out. Because I believe this team is damn good and I believe basketball is the best damn sport in the world.

I also believe that if 10 people I know, friends who are not Raptor fans, had tuned in to watch the Raptors play the Lakers two Sundays ago that this city would have 10 more Raptor fans to scream at games.

And maybe one person I mention it to, mentions it to someone else. Maybe it steam rolls from one person to the next. That’s how these things work, right? But it can’t be an army of one.

We get about 300 people reading this a day. So let’s start talking Toronto! Let’s start the buzz. The team is doing their part, maybe it’s time the diehards do theirs. Let’s talk to people we know. Let’s encourage people to tune in.  They, like us, will like what they see.

We all know the Raptors are going to need the support come playoff time. Hell, this city could use a little playoff time to support.

Let’s Rap it forward.

***

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @ZanTabakHerald

***

Andrus is out after a brutal season

A month and a bit after a nightmarish 3-15 season drew to a close, the Argos have ousted Bart Andrus as head coach. Andrus, who was brought in in January after spending last year on the Tennessee Titans staff, never really seemed to know what he was doing in his one season in Toronto, managing to find ways to blow games in just about every way possible.

I spent last season covering the Argos and was around Andrus a lot. Personally, I thought he was a good guy and I liked the hard-nosed approach he took in regards to discipline. Still, tactically, the guy was completely out to lunch. A couple times late in games he seemed to have no clue what was going on — I think back to the early-season one against Winnipeg with the senseless delay of game penalty before the potential game-winning field goal and the loss to Calgary where he decided a hail mary was a better shot than a game-tying field goal that just may have been in Justin Medlock’s range. The odds were better with Medlock, for sure. Andrus didn’t blame his players for shortcomings but often stood by his decisions, meaning going in a different direction next year is probably a good choice for the Argos.

The decision to fire Andrus is the first of many changes in store for the Argos this winter — aside from now having to bring in a new coach, there are still plenty of questions regarding team ownership and a possible sale and a potential move to BMO Field for next season, though it looks like there are plenty of roadblocks in the way of that.

A fitting end for Andrus and the Argos

In an all-around ugly season, the Argos saved perhaps their worst performance for last. Despite resting several starters with the playoffs looming, the Montreal Alouettes took command early and romped to a 42-17 win in Saturday’s season finale at Rogers Centre.

The Alouettes, with backup quarterback Anthony McPherson starting in place of the league’s top passer, Anthony Calvillo, scored on their first three possessions and took a 26-4 lead to halftime. McPherson was near flawless all afternoon, completing 16-of-20 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns before giving way to third-stringer Chris Leak to start the fourth quarter. McPherson also ran for 55 yards.

For the Argos, it was only a fitting end to a season of frustration. Even so, head coach Bart Andrus had positive things to say about his squad after the game.

“I told them how much they persevered throughout this year,” Andrus said of his post-game speech. “The way they came to work, their professionalism — this is a good group of people.

“When you have a group that works as has as they work, it’s just a matter of time before positive things begin to happen.”

Of course, time will tell if Andrus is around to witness a possible turnaround. He declined to comment after the game regarding his future and the future of the franchise as a whole. After a 3-15 campaign and with talk of the team potentially being sold, Andrus is as good a bet as anyone not to be back in 2010.

With little more to play for than pride, Andrus handed the starting quarterback duties for the finale to rookie Stephen Reaves. The southpaw struggled from the get-go in his first CFL start, overthrowing Brad Smith on Toronto’s opening possession for an interception that led to a Damon Duval field goal. In all, Reaves threw four picks and had another negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty.

“It was tough,” Reaves said afterward. “I pressed too much. I have to do a better job of taking what the defense gives me. I’d love to have a few of those back. Overall, a tough day against a tough defense.”

Reaves wasn’t the only Argo to slip up on an error-filled day. Andre Durie returned a first quarter kick 104 yards for an apparent touchdown, only to have it called back because of an unnecessary roughness call on Raymond Fontaine. Earlier in the quarter, long snapper Etienne Legare airmailed a snap to Justin Medlock, resulting in a turnover and an 18-yard McPherson touchdown pass to Kerry Walkins one play later.

Running back Jamal Robertson scored Toronto’s only touchdown on a one-yard run late in the third quarter but struggled horribly the rest of the afternoon, finishing with negative six yards on five carries. The Argos finished with zero rushing yards as a team.

If it’s true that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, then the Argos will have something to take from this nightmarish season. Durie, for one, suggested the team gained mental toughness that will provide an important boost in the future.

“We’re looking forward to more stability next year,” he said after the game. “Every championship team goes through losing, and we had a lot of it this year. We all stayed mentally strong though, and we’ll take that into next season for sure.”

Perhaps the biggest thing that will come from Saturday’s loss is closure. And with that, a fresh start.

“I’ll go to bat with these guys anytime,” linebacker Zeke Moreno said after the game. “I’d love to come back next year and see no new faces. We have the talent and the potential.”

Adriano Belli and the Argos look to finish on a strong note Saturday

The CFL regular season consists of 18 games over four months, but you can forgive the Argos for feeling like it’s lasted a lot longer. At 3-14 and long eliminated from postseason play, Toronto wraps up the 2009 season Saturday at Rogers Centre against the league-best Montreal Alouettes.

The Alouettes, 14-3 and locked into a first round bye, will likely spend much of the afternoon with big guns such as Anthony Calvillo and Avon Cobourne stapled to the sidelines to ensure their health for when the games actually matter. Similarly, Argos coach Bart Andrus will be sending out a few fresh faces, though for different reasons — he’s holding auditions for next year.

“It’s the last game,” Andrus said after Friday’s walk-through. “It’s their last opportunity to play and make an impression. Still, we’re approaching it from the standpoint that we’re playing to win this game.”

The most notable new face in the Argos lineup will be at quarterback. After spending almost the entire season on the practice roster, Stephen Reaves will get the ball for his first career CFL start. Reaves came in in relief last Saturday in Edmonton, completing 10-of-16 pass attempts for 122 yards and a touchdown in Toronto’s 36-10 loss.

“The last few weeks everyone has been auditioning for jobs,” Reaves said Thursday. “In this league, it seems like it could be one play that could either get you back or not get you back the next year. Personally, I see it as an audition for me.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” he added. “It’s not under the circumstances everyone wants, but I’m excited and hopefully we come out with a win.”

While Reaves and the Argo offense will be looking to finish on a strong note, the Toronto defense, which enters the finale amongst CFL team leaders in several major categories, is left to lament a season of strong play left to waste. Still, that doesn’t mean they’re ready to mail it in a week early.

“It’s the same mindset as every other game,” said defensive tackle Kevin Huntley, who leads the Argos and sits sixth in the CFL with nine sacks. “We want to go in and compete and do the best we can, regardless of whether they’re going to the playoffs and we’re not. We want to end the year on a good note.”

Adriano Belli, Huntley’s partner in crime on the defensive line, echoed his sentiments.

“Tomorrow’s our Grey Cup,” Belli said after the walk-through. “We’re going to go out there and have fun.

“More than anything, we feel bad for our fans, though it hasn’t been for a lack of effort. We’re going to play our hearts out.”

The Argos and Alouettes kickoff at one Saturday.

USA have on their money “In god we trust”.

Canada, specially in La Belle Province, should have on their money “In Montreal Canadien we trust”.

I never saw a place like that.  It’s great!

Many cars with Canadien flag.  People at work wearing baseball cap with Canadien logo on it.  Shirt, hockey shirt, license plate, the Canadien logo is probably the most popular brand in Montreal and you can see it everywhere.

In Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Boston, New York, the five other members of the NHL Original 6, have not their team logo everywhere in the city.

Okay I admit, except the Canadien, Montreal don’t have a lot of major teams.  Alouettes in the CFL and Impact on soccer.

But except their hockey team, Toronto have Argos, Blue Jays, Raptors and team in MLS.
Except their hockey team, Detroit have Lions, Tigers and Pistons.
Except their hockey team, Chicago have White Sox, Cubs, Bears and Bulls.
Except their hockey team, Boston have Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox.
Except their hockey team, New York have Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Giants, Jets.

But in North America, with Montreal Canadien, only New York Yankees have a 24 or more championships team.

The Montreal Canadien team have win 24 championships on only 33 appearances.  That’s a huge winning average. 

Montrealers are very proud of their team even if they didn’t win since 1993.

Is the year of the 100th anniversary of the team will bring Montreal Canadien another Stanley Cup?

I don’t think so, but millions of Montreal Canadien fans believe that season 2008-2009 is THE year, you can see it everywhere in the city.

Montreal is the real hockeytown and it’s very good for the economy of this beautiful city.