Photo: 3DownNation
Where there was once discord, there is now harmony — and it came on the CFL’s most hallowed day.
For the Football Reporters of Canada (FRC), the Canadian Football Hall of Fame media induction breakfast is a staple of Grey Cup Sunday. This year’s inductees were Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun and Judy Owen of the Canadian Press, both of whom are talented, hard-working reporters of close to three decades.
Most inductees choose to be introduced at the breakfast by a longtime colleague, close friend, or family member. Owen, for instance, was introduced by Ed Tait, who now serves as the in-house reporter for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Friesen, whose out-of-the-box, never-boring style has made him a legend in Winnipeg, chose perhaps the most unconventional possible option: Mike Kelly, the subject with whom he had perhaps the most highly-contentious relationship.
Kelly was the head coach and general manager of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2009, a short-lived but extraordinarily newsworthy tenure. Friesen was on the team’s beat, which resulted in daily must-read coverage.
There was the infamous “handled internally” news scrum, which still often plays on television compilations, along with countless other memorable moments. Friesen asked tough questions, held Kelly accountable, and was critical of the struggling team, which drew the coach’s ire. In one particular interview, Friesen recalls Kelly suggesting he take the pencil he was holding and “stick it” somewhere.
When Kelly was let go, Friesen drove down to the parking lot at old Canad Inns Stadium for one last interview. Kelly accused the reporter of being happy about the firing but that wasn’t at all true. If anything, Friesen wanted the embattled coach to stay for another year, since he consistently generated such incredible storylines.
On Saturday, word spread around the FRC that Friesen’s introduction would not be a live speech but a prerecorded video. This caught many by surprise given that Friesen doesn’t have much use for technology developed after 1975. He also kept the identity of who would appear in the video a closely-guarded secret. Even with the increased media presence in Winnipeg, there were no leaks.
Ever a showman, Kelly’s three-minute video introduction was full of laugh-out-loud moments. He took a few shots at Friesen, who it turns out was a game statistician for Matt Dunigan’s CFL record 713-yard passing game, which occurred when Kelly was the team’s offensive coordinator in 1994.
“I was just so impressed that the little redheaded guy could almost count to 800,” quipped Kelly. “That was pretty good for him!”
While interviewing for the head coaching job at Widener University in 2014, Kelly said a school official handed him a one-inch stack of paper and asked, “Who is Paul Friesen?” Presumably, the school had done some research and read all about Kelly’s tenure with the Blue Bombers through the online pages of the Winnipeg Sun.
“I looked him right back in the eye and I said, ‘(Friesen is) somebody that did their job better than me,’ and that’s really what it came down to. Paul was doing his job and I let him get under my skin, but that’s what he was supposed to do,” said Kelly.
“Paul makes people want to read about the Blue Bombers and about the Canadian Football League and anybody that does that, they’re in my heart, because I love those two institutions. What Paul has done is create interest where others couldn’t, so this is well-deserved. I applaud Paul for doing what he’s done, I think this is awesome.”
Friesen was at it again during Grey Cup week in Winnipeg, asking tough questions of CFL commissioner Stewart Johnston and writing a scathing column accusing him of ignoring negative feedback to the league’s incoming rule changes.
Two days later, Johnston attended Friesen’s induction ceremony, offered brief greetings to the assembled media, and shook the reporter’s hand.
It’s just as well, since it’s never personal with Friesen — just ask Mike Kelly.
To watch the full video of Kelly’s introduction, click here.