Although we got a brief weather reprieve on the weekend, the "winter blahs" have definitely set in.
How do I know? Because people are getting snippy with each other, doing and saying crazy things. It always happens around this time of year.
Today's MMG will demonstrate how people are getting punchy, suffering from cabin fever, and ready for winter to end. It was quite a week!
However one guy who certainly wasn't cranky was Matt Dunigan, who delivered a fun, light-hearted yet entertaining speech at Friday night's University of Regina Rams fundraising dinner at Queensbury Centre. While some people were critical of his address, the
sports guys I spoke with came away quite impressed. Those are guys like Mike Blaisdell, Andrew Greene, Todd Ripplinger, Warren Woods, Larry Mueller, etc.
Below is a collection of quotes and comments from the Canadian Football Hall of Famer and CFL On TSN commentator:
- Dunigan has two regrets from his Hall of Fame CFL career: leaving the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1994, and never having played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. "I feel my mentality would have fit in well with the Aldags, Poleys and Jurasins. I would've liked to 'run with those boys'".
- "What would I tell someone in the Rams Nation that you don't already know? I'll talk about how it all started and like most everybody in football, it started when somebody told me I couldn't do it."
- Dunigan was born in Ohio but moved with the family to Dallas in grade 6. He grew up a block-and-a-half from the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility.
- "(Rams coach) Frank McCrystal is like a bum on a baloney sandwich, to quote Scott Schultz. You just can't get rid of the guy!"
- "How many here have seen the show
Friday Night Lights? My brother and I lived it. In Ohio we didn't know colour but in Dallas, there was a ton of racial tension. My brother and I fought for our lives in school. We didn't even know why we were fighting, but we fought anyways. For punishment we got to chose from four paddles to get whooped with by the principal. Once your ass was no longer on fire, you went out and practiced football."
- "I wanted to be a wide receiver, not a quarterback. I told my Mom not to tell the coaches I could throw the football. She didn't, but I became a QB when I had to throw back the footballs that the quarterbacks overthrew to me."
- Dunigan's high school football league drew crowds of 45,000 to Texas Stadium for playoff games. Unfortunately, Matt's team never made it that far in playoffs.
- He went to Louisiana Tech because all the Texas schools said he was too short. The coach who recruited him at his house chewed tobacco and swallowed the juice. Having DUNIGAN on the back of his jersey meant he was playing for his family, and wanted them to be proud.
- He was a two-time All-American during his career at Louisiana Tech. He got the starting job in his freshman year replacing the starting quarterback in the Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes. "My pee was hot," Dunigan commented, which had several in attendance scratching their heads. Rider DE Shomari Williams said later, "Barrin Simpson says the same thing. Must me a southern thing."
- In 1983 in Edmonton the Eskimos veterans chose who made the team, not the coaches. In Dunigan's rookie year, he and Blake Dermott were the only rookies to make the team.
- Dunigan appeared to get choked up when discussing his late-game interception in the 1988 Grey Cup. "Those things stay with you," Dunigan revealed.
- He was a head linesman four years ago for a CFL exhibition game in Hamilton. "If you've got football in you, be an official," Dunigan advised. "You'll be amazed at how great it is, and the interaction you'll have with players."
- "I challenge all you Rams and Riders in the room to get better everyday and outwork your opponents. While they're getting fat and happy, you should be busting your tail to be better than your opposition".
- "I prefer to be positive. I prefer that the glass be half-full rather than half-empty and to look at the world through rose-coloured glasses. My heads not in the clouds or anything, but I'm a positive person."
- At this point, he loses his place and train of thought. "Welcome to Matt Dunigan World!" he laughed. "I've been dealing with post-concussion syndrome since 1996."
- "Concussions in football? You know what you're getting into when you sign up. It's frustrating especially when you're trying to entertain 700 people and you lose your friggin' spot!" The crowd erupts in a round of applause for support.
- "Be wherever you're at," Dunigan advised. "Wherever you are, give it your all. I traveled from Georgia to Toronto for five years to do TSN. I found myself thinking about coaching at Valdosta when I was in Toronto and vice versa. It almost cost me my marriage. I just wasn't very good. Be where you're at with that passion. You'll get more out of your workouts, your community work, heck even with your dates."
- "I challenge you to throw that on the table and concentrate on that."
**That was the key point of his address. He went on to talk about his brief coaching stint with the Calgary Stampeders, his TV show Roadside Grill on The Food Network and told funny stories about the CFL On TSN panel. Then, he posed for what seemed like hundreds of photos with fans.
All in all, he did a great job. Way to go Matt!
---
An article in the Hamilton Spectator by Ticats beat writer Drew Edwards caught my eye on the weekend. It was about new Ticats assistant GM Joe Womack who spent four seasons with the Roughriders.
"Womack has spent his first six weeks on the Ticats payroll getting up to speed on the team's personnel and negotiation list players, scouting U.S. bowl games and lining up American free agents for workouts such as the one he held in Seattle on Friday. He'll be in Toronto next weekend for the CFL evaluation camp for draft-eligible Canadian players.
After coming from a situation in Saskatchewan where he clashed with head coach and vice-president of football operations Ken Miller, Womack says open discussion between all levels of the organization is remarkable.
"I've been in pro football for 40 years and been in just about every situation that you can be and all of them helped mould me," Womack said. "Hamilton is one of the least political, ego-less environments that I've ever been around. I couldn't be happier."
*Womack has made similar comments regarding Ken Miller since he arrived in Hamilton. I wonder how Ken feels about it?
---
People acting crazy? How about this snippet from nationalfootballpost.com:
"At what is annually the largest gathering of NFL types in the league, St. Louis Rams scout Luke Driscoll has gotten himself in a jam.
Driscoll, 33, was arrested early Friday morning at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. According to Fox 2 of St. Louis, he was urinating on a building.
Driscoll, an 11-year member of the Rams' staff and a college scout for the last six years, has been charged with public nudity and intoxication. There is no word if he has returned to St. Louis. Driscoll is subject to discipline from the NFL under the league's personal conduct policy."
---
Football isn't the only sport limited to people seemingly at the end of their rope. The general manager of the WHL's Kootenay Ice, Jeff Chynoweth, took a swipe at his own team's fans in an interview with Kelowna Rockets broadcaster Regan Bartel. Bartel asked Chynoweth if the fans in Cranbrook, BC are getting excited for the Ice's playoff run.
"No they're not," Chynoweth huffed. "They're actually awful. I'm not very happy about it. We're headed for our eighth 40-win season in 13 years here and it's a little frustrating to make a trade like that (to acquire Cody Eakin) and people say 'oh you make a trade like that, you're gonna get more people'. Well for the most part we haven't.
"We had a big crowed against Vancouver Feb. 1 and we had a big crowd the other night, our two biggest of the year. Our attendance is down 14.5% the past two years and it's a concern. It's not like we're putting a product on the ice that's not competitive. Year in and year out we're one of the top teams. We've moved four coaches on to pro hockey in eight years, we've made the playoffs for 13 years in a row - the longest active streak in the WHL - and we've been above .500 for 12 years.
"You don't get access to top-end players when you're drafting #13-22 every year and there's a lot of things that go into it. What's going to happen when we have an off-year? We haven't had one and hopefully we don't for a number of years but it will happen. That's the nature of our business."
Bartel asked Chynoweth if perhaps the Kootenay fans have been spoiled with the team's success.
"I think about that and I've heard it many times," Chynoweth admitted. "You wonder if they're used to that, you don't know. We live in a community of 20,000 people and there's not a lot of things to do. We're not Kelowna and you don't ski at night and you're not going to gamble all the time. This is live entertainment, affordably priced. We're missing a demographic. We've tried different (marketing) things but right now I guess we have to work harder to get people back.
---
Okay on to other things. SJHL play-by-play man Craig Stein of GX94 Yorkton put together a fun poll of league broadcasters. Here are some of the more interesting categories/results:
Most Quotable Coach
1) Jamie Fiesel, MVL (23/24)
2) Darrell Mann, MFT (7/24)
3) Bob Beatty, LAR (4/24)
*Fiesel had 6 1st place votes. One respondant gave him their 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place votes! And it wasn't even me!
Favourite Rink to Broadcast In
1) Crescent Point Place, Weyburn (15/24)
2) Northern Lights Ice Palace, Melfort (12/24)
3) Whitney Forum, Flin Flon (8/24)
4) Elgar Peterson Arena, Humboldt (4/24)
*4 1st place votes to Weyburn
Least Favourite Rink
1) Civic Auditorium, Estevan (16/24)
2) Mel Hegland Uniplex, La Ronge (12/24)
3) Duncan McNeil Arena, Notre Dame (9/24)
4) Centennial Arena, Nipawin (6/24)
*4 first (or last) place votes to Estevan.
Loudest Rink
1) Whitney Forum, FF (23/24)
2) Mel Hegland, LAR (10/24)
3) CPP, WEY (9/24)
*Flin Flon had 7 1st, and 1 2nd place vote. Most decisive pick in the entire poll.
Best Rink Food/Coffee (18 votes submitted)
1) Weyburn (14/18)
T2) Estevan (5/18)
T2) Yorkton (5/18)
*Well done Weyburn! Best Broadcast location, 3rd Loudest fans, Best Food!
Favourite Hotel (18 votes)
1) Evergreen, Nipawin (9/18)
2) Elk Ridge (6/18) * not located in an SJ centre, but still a destination, 2 1st place votes.
T3) Gold Eagle, Battlefords (5/18)
T3) Victoria Inn, Flin Flon (5/18)
5) La Ronge Inn & Suites (4/18)
Favourite Out of Town City
1) Flin Flon (8/24)
2) Yorkton (7/24)
3) Weyburn (6/24)
4) The Battlefords (5/24)
---
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
- I want to go out of my way to say thanks to the Press Box Sports Bar for inviting us to their Christmas party last night at the PB. What a great time! They may still be going. And don't forget today it's all-you-can-eat soup & salad at the Press Box...
- Way to go Amber Holland! Saskatchewan is home to the national womens curling champion for the first time since 1997. The post immediately below talks about her Sunday night win over Jennifer Jones and there's plenty of reader comments on the victory.
- Catch the Regina Pat Canadians in playoff action tonight at the Al Ritchie Arena. The Pat C's are home to the Notre Dame Hounds in Game 4 of their first round series Midget AAA series.
- The Toronto Blue Jays have yet to win in the MLB preseason. Meanwhile Mitchell "Scruffy" Blair reports the Kansas City Royals have already been mathematically eliminated from post-season contention.
- Today is the craziest day of the year in Canadian sports. It's NHL trade deadline day and the sports networks will be all abuzz. Toronto Maple Leafs broadcaster Dennis Beyak will be with us on
The Sports Cage today on 620 CKRM to discuss the deals and the Leafs.
- Do what you can to catch the movie
Hall Pass. It's worth the $10. There were several incidents in that movie that you just don't see coming.
- Due to overwhelming popularity, Keith Urban has added a SECOND show. He'll be performing Friday Sept 16 and Saturday Sept 17 in the Brandt Centre. Tickets for both shows go on sale this Friday at 10am.
- Check out Regina's newest morning radio show, Chad & Ballsie In The Morning on Regina's Rock Station the Wolf 104.9 FM. They're at a new time as well, 6-10am.
---
TALK TO YOU TODAY IN THE SPORTS CAGE! HAVE A GREAT WEEK
RP
CTV Regina's Chris Hodges joined me for hour one of Monday's Sports Cage on 620 CKRM. We discussed Amber Holland's Scotties championship and our guests included Leafs broadcaster Dennis Beyak and the newest Edmonton Oiler, Colten Teubert. In hour two John Lynch and the Riders' Jordan Sisco joined us for another RIDER MONDAY. Download the show here:
Here's the transcript of our chat with Rider linebacker Sean Lucas for today's Sports Cage on 620 CKRM. I asked him about re-signing with the Roughriders this week for two more seasons:
