TOP 10 CFL STORIES OF 2017

Photo: CFL.ca

10 – ED HERVEY IN BC/MIKE SHERMAN IN MTL: Whenever there’s a GM or Head Coach hiring it’s big news, and the Lions and Alouettes made it a December To Remember for their fans by bringing on two proven football men. Results to follow ..

9 – MOSAIC STADIUM OPENS: With apologies to Parliament Hill, Regina was the place to be on Canada Day when the Saskatchewan Roughriders officially unveiled glitzy New Mosaic Stadium to a nationally televised audience on TSN. The Blue Bombers spoiled the party with a 43-40 OT victory in a game the Riders still lament was the ‘One That Got Away’, but the game served up enough fireworks to last a lifetime.

8 – HENRY BURRIS RETIRES: Smilin’ Hank pulled a Peyton Manning, riding off into the sunset with a championship trophy tucked under his arm on January 24. Burris departed after a 17-season career, 267 games played and three Grey Cup rings and made a seamless transition into TV broadcasting. Good things happen to good people. Next stop: the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.

7 – JEFFREY ORRIDGE STEPS DOWN: For some reason this was a ‘Where Were You When?‘ moment and I was sitting by the pool at the Mirage in Las Vegas on the morning of April 12 when I got word the CFL and its 13th Commissioner were parting ways. In football terms, the CFL punted on 2nd down. The New York product is a nice, highly-intelligent guy but never seemed to mesh in the role. Where does he land next?

6 – THE RIDERS SIGN VINCE YOUNG: The internet broke on March 9 when V.Y. – one of the biggest names in football – signed on the dotted line with Canada’s Team after years out of the game. As we learned, it wasn’t a hoax but the experiment ended on Day 11 of training camp when Young tore a hamstring and returned to Texas just a few days later. Never to be heard from again? We’ll see.

5 – ARGOS HIRE TRESTMAN AND POPP: The pair who was synonymous with success in Montreal was introduced at a news conference in Toronto on February 28. They took over the CFL’s worst club at 5-13 and we all know how it miraculously turned out nine months later. Was there egg on the Alouettes’ face after this one? Marc Trestman and Jim Popp are too classy to gloat.


4 – RIDERS TRADE DARIAN DURANT: Appropriately enough it was Friday, January 13 when the Saskatchewan Roughriders did the unthinkable: trading their franchise great to Montreal in arguably the most-controversial transaction this franchise has ever made. The Als stumbled to a 3-15 record while the Riders posted 10 wins and appeared in the East Division Final with a stable of quarterbacks whose combined salaries didn’t even add up to Durant’s wage in Montreal. You don’t hear much grumbling about The Trade anymore.

3 – KENT AUSTIN STEPS DOWN: It was August 24 when Hamilton’s Vice President of Football Operations Kent Austin announced he was handing over the head coaching reins of the 0-8 Tiger-Cats to recently-hired June Jones. The Tabbies went 6-4 the rest of the way earning Jones an extension for 2018. Regrettably, it was August 28 that the Ticats hired, then un-hired, reviled figure Art Briles after a fan backlash.

2 – ARGOS WIN THE GREY CUP: Toronto capped off one of the best Grey Cup Weeks ever with a 27-24 comeback win over the Calgary Stampeders in the 105th Grey Cup in Ottawa. Despite a snowglobe setting and icy track, Toronto pulled off the unthinkable in a wildly entertaining finish. A popular rumour is that the Argos switched their footwear at halftime for better grip while the Stampeders did not. Who knows if that’s true, but it certainly adds to Grey Cup lore.

1 – AMBROSIE HIRED AS COMMISSIONER: It’s fitting that former CFL lineman and successful businessman Randy Ambrosie was named CFL Commissioner on Independance Day (July 4). The guy is as real as a heart attack. In just six months, Ambrosie’s positive impact on the league has been staggering and he’s got full support of the teams and their governors. The question still gets asked: How come he wasn’t hired when he first applied two years ago? It doesn’t matter now. Onwards and upwards into 2018.

RP
@rodpedersen