WINNIPEG \u2014 Relievedly, I point out to you, the valued reader, that the Grey Cup\u2019s mass interview session is not even remotely comparable to the media maelstrom that precedes every Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
Nary a \u201creporter\u201d arrived at Winnipeg\u2019s RBC Convention Centre in a wedding dress.<\/p>\n
Nobody asked: \u201cIf you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?\u201d (Some poor sap actually posed that, er, question to Washington defensive lineman Dexter Manley in the 1980s. I pine for those days.)<\/p>\n
The CFL\u2019s Media Day was, as I spluttered to a much-younger (who isn\u2019t?) CFL employee near the end of the two-hour storytelling smorgasbord, \u201ca gas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me quizzically: \u201cIs that a good thing?\u201d (I mean, look at the price of gas these days!)<\/p>\n
I quickly realized that the term was dated \u2014 unlike me throughout the 1980s \u2014 so I hastened to provide clarification.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was amazing \u2026 great \u2026 nice \u2026 awesome \u2026 a \u2026 a \u2026 a gas!\u201d<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t aghast, so all ended well. But here is how it began:<\/p>\n
Wednesday, 11:58 a.m.: Ahead of the noon kickoff to Media Day, I enjoy a wonderful conversation with Jeff McWhinney \u2014 the keeper of the Cup. Chatting with TSN\u2019s Claire Hanna and yours truly, Jeff tells a story about emergency repairs to the trophy that were performed one day before the 2022 Grey Cup Game was played in Regina. Jeff also speaks of his friendship with the late, great Jim Hopson and his wonderful wife, Brenda. As well, Jeff lets me zoom in with my iPhone camera and take a picture of the \u201c1966 Roughriders\u201d plate on the trophy. Sweet.<\/p>\n
12 noon: Six representatives of the Roughriders \u2014 Vice-President of Football Operations and General Manager Jeremy O\u2019Day, Head Coach Corey Mace, quarterback Trevor Harris, receivers Samuel Emilus and Dohnte Meyers and defensive tackle Micah Johnson \u2014 and six members of the Montreal Alouettes sit at different tables, poised to field any and all questions. Ready, set \u2026<\/p>\n
12:01 p.m. \u201cEveryone,\u201d Roughriders Communications Intern Amelie Sarauer observes, \u201cis walking toward Trevor.\u201d I soon ask him about (wait for it) Media Day! \u201cIt kind of builds anticipation for the game,\u201d Harris tells this impartial observer, who just happens to be wearing a Roughriders cap, Roughriders jacket, Roughriders shirt, etc., to go with a green complexion. \u201cFor a number of years, you watch the guys do this and you\u2019re like, \u2018It should be us.\u2019 You hear guys talk and you wish you were in that moment. Then you get here and you\u2019re like, \u2018I don\u2019t want to do media. I just want to practise. I want to play. I just want to prepare.\u2019 But these are the moments you never get back and when you\u2019re done \u2014 which is in the blink of an eye \u2014 it\u2019s something that you\u2019ll look back on and you\u2019ll appreciate, so I\u2019m grateful to be in this spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
12:18 p.m.: I approach Meyers, who greets me with a warm handshake. He will be featured very shortly on a Roughriders-centric team website near you. I marvel at how accessible and amiable the principal players are, only four days before the Roughriders and Alouettes collide with a championship at stake. \u201cHonestly, I like the media,\u201d Meyers says. \u201cI don\u2019t have an indifference to the media, because all you guys that we deal with are nice. There\u2019s a relationship and it\u2019s not taxing every day, with an hour or two hours of media. I know today is the most media we\u2019ll do all year, but it\u2019s because of the hard work we put in to earn that right and the privilege to tell our story.\u201d<\/p>\n
12:35 p.m.: O\u2019Day typically cedes the spotlight to Mace and the players, but it is important to underline the crucial contributions of someone who has been a Roughrider since 1999. O\u2019Day was not yet 25 when he joined the Green and White as a free-agent offensive lineman. This is his fifth Grey Cup in green garb. \u201cIt means the world,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been a Roughrider more than half my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
12:44 p.m.: Over to Johnson, who has just been visited by a media crew that showed him highlights from Mace\u2019s playing days, plus a childhood photo of a current teammate. Cue a classic \u201cme being me\u201d moment. For some reason, I thought Micah said \u201cA.J. Alouette.\u201d You mean, A.J. Allen? \u201cNo,\u201d Johnson responded with understandable bewilderment, \u201cA.J. Ouellette.\u201d To which I replied: \u201cWho\u2019s A.J. Alouette?\u201d The opposing team\u2019s mascot, maybe? At that point, the five-time All-CFL defensive tackle has two options. (1) Call security. (2) Explain it in even simpler terms, if that is possible. Then, suddenly, it kicks in and the four remaining brain cells return to life after decades of dormancy \u201cOhhhhh!\u201d I exclaim, \u201cA.J. OUELLETTE!\u201d Micah, bless his heart, finds it hilarious. I was embarrassed. \u201cIt\u2019s all good, bro,\u201d he says with a smile. \u201cIt\u2019s been a long week.\u201d I revere this man.<\/p>\n
12:55 p.m.: I professionally eavesdrop on a conversation between two other members of the media. \u201cI love covering the CFL,\u201d one of them says, \u201cbecause you have access to anyone, anytime, anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
12:59 p.m.: Part 1 of Media Day is nearly finished. When I arrive at Coach Mace\u2019s booth, he is responding to a question about the status of KeeSean Johnson. The All-CFL receiver has missed the past three games, including the Western Final, with a knee injury. \u201cHe\u2019s very close,\u201d Mace notes \u2014 two hours, as it turns out, before Johnson\u2019s return to the practice field. That, you should know, is the news of the day. And it only took 851 words to get here. Remedial journalism school is a wonderful thing.<\/p>\n
1 p.m.: Time for Part 2. O\u2019Day, Mace, et al, leave the convention room. Next up: Two players named A.J. \u2014\u00a0Allen (linebacker) and Ouellette (running back) \u2014\u00a0so I am perilously prone to becoming a gormless mess once again.\u00a0The select Saskatchewan sextet also includes cornerback Tevaughn Campbell, defensive halfback Rolan Milligan Jr., offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick and linebacker Jameer Thurman. Reporters of various affiliations approach different stations. My mission for Part 2 is to hear the backstory of Milligan Jr., who as a human being is even more exemplary than the on-field version, for a future story. We chat for nine minutes. During that time, I advise him that a fellow University of Toledo alumnus \u2014 Dave Ridgway \u2014\u00a0kicked the game-winning field goal for Saskatchewan in the 1989 Grey Cup. Will Toledo tip the scales in the Roughriders\u2019 favour once again?<\/p>\n
1:04 p.m.: The Alouettes\u2019 Tyson Philpot, who caught the Grey Cup-winning TD pass in 2023, is being interviewed as I stroll by. \u201cI want it to be, \u2018No time on the clock. You look at me. I want that matchup,\u2019 \u201d Philpot states as I surreptitiously scribble. I point this out simply for the purpose of noting that Philpot\u2019s father, Cory, was on the Roughriders\u2019 practice roster from Sept. 23 to Oct. 6, 1998. One of Cory Philpot\u2019s teammates was Jeremy O\u2019Day.<\/p>\n
1:19 p.m.: The same TSN tandem that visited Johnson is now showing the Mace highlight footage to Allen, who provides narration. \u201cChase him down \u2026 strip-sack \u2026 pose for the camera, man! You know it\u2019s something to celebrate.\u201d The overall appraisal of Mace is effusive. \u201cI love it!\u201d Allen says. \u201cThat is a good nose tackle right there!\u201d<\/p>\n
1:24 p.m.: When it is my turn to yak with Allen, he lights up the notepad, as always. \u201cI never would have dreamed of this,\u201d he says. \u201cHere I am. I\u2019m at the Grey Cup. I used to watch this on the couch with my friends. Now my friends will be watching me on the couch. That\u2019s sick.\u201d (He means \u201csick\u201d in a good way, much like \u201ca gas\u201d is, well, \u201ca gas\u201d!)<\/p>\n
1:29 p.m.: Hello there, Yoshi. The always-quotable Hardrick \u2014\u00a0the West Division\u2019s Most Outstanding Offensive Lineman \u2014\u00a0is entertaining a handful of reporters. He knows the drill, having previously played in the 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 Grey Cup Games as a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. \u201cThe first couple of times, I didn\u2019t really know what was going on,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI was a little starstruck. I\u2019m a CFL fan so, the people I\u2019m seeing, I\u2019m seeing them all over the Internet, on TSN, and all this, so it was pretty cool. Now it\u2019s more like a business but, after the season when you look back on it, it\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
1:43 p.m.: After a lengthy chat with Hardrick, I thank him profusely, make a sharp right turn, and trip over a light stand. Even if someone does show up in a wedding dress and asks the dreaded \u201ctree\u201d question, my goofiness for the day is unsurpassable. For some reason, I am not too ashamed to report this.<\/p>\n
1:51 p.m.: Campbell, a former football and track star at the University of Regina, is familiar with Winnipeg for reasons that do not pertain strictly to the CFL. He has sprinted here for the U of R Cougars. As a U of R Ram, he opposed the University of Manitoba Bisons \u2014 whose locker room at 12-year-old Princess Auto Stadium belongs to the Roughriders this week. \u201cIt\u2019s funny,\u201d Campbell says, \u201cbecause I\u2019ve seen (Bisons alumnus) Kienan LaFrance\u2019s poster up there on the wall. I played against Kienan, and with Kienan in Sask. I remember when the stadium was built. We got to play in it all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
1:52 p.m.: Closing time approaches. Fittingly my final stop is at A.J. Ouellette\u2019s booth. I wisely avoid telling him about, you know, The Incident. As I arrive, he is looking at pictures of eight-year-old A.J., shown to him by TSN. \u201cI look like an O-lineman at that time,\u201d Ouellette says. \u201cI had some chubby cheeks.\u201d One of the most fan-friendly players I have ever met, Ouellette also welcomes the steady stream of questioners on Media Day. \u201cI love the hype,\u201d he says. \u201cAnytime the CFL can be broadcast and talked about, it\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
2 p.m.: Media Day is over. I have everything I need \u2026 and then some! Oh. Cancel that. Hold on. Is anyone still here? I forgot to ask: \u201cIf you were a tree \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2014 Relievedly, I point out to you, the valued reader, that the Grey Cup\u2019s mass interview session…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-279507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-canadian-football-league","11":"tag-canadianfootballleague","12":"tag-cfl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}