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Ruth Bonneville \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive fack Evan Holm, who is learning Japanese, takes a sip of mizu during a practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to remove yourself from that environment and think about something else can relax your mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
For halfback Evan Holm, that means challenging his brain in different ways, including learning Japanese. At one point, he was devoting an hour a day to the language through several online learning services while also working with a tutor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to learn a language, I like anime, and my wife and I went there for our honeymoon,\u201d said Holm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something to do for my brain because if you\u2019re bilingual, you\u2019re less likely to have Alzheimer\u2019s and other kinds of things. So I try to use my brain in a way I don\u2019t normally do. It\u2019s really hard, and that\u2019s also kind of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Holm returned to Japan during the off-season for a month with his wife, Erica, and daughter, Nora, to celebrate her first birthday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do know a pretty decent amount of Japanese. I can get by a little past beginner, I would say,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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That level came after former Bombers and Global players from Japan, Les Maruo and Tomoya Machino, were on the team a few years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy skills weren\u2019t great then, so it would be nice if I had someone to chat with,\u201d Holm said.<\/p>\n
Holm also organizes board game nights with teammates. Blood on the Clocktower, a social deduction game, is one of several he has introduced to the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cRedha (Kramdi) is pretty good at being not so good,\u201d Holm said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t like to lie, but he\u2019s really good at figuring out who\u2019s the liar. He\u2019s a good detective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson, meanwhile, competes with guys on the team after work through a different avenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as I get home, I try to clear my mind and play video games,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of gamers on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
They frequently go head-to-head in NBA 2K, and according to Wilson, no one is better than linebacker Michael Ayers on the virtual hardwood.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers cornerback Major Williams (left) used to upload songs to SoundCloud under the handle Juiced Down.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m the best, but I\u2019m not the worst either,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cAs for my go-to team, I feel like LeBron is an organization, so wherever LeBron\u2019s at, that\u2019s who I play with.\u201d<\/p>\n When Wilson was signed by the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2023, he got the chance to play as himself in Madden NFL 24. Despite receiving an overall rating of just 64, he made sure to get his money\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n \u201cI would definitely sub myself in and throw myself every ball,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cI probably had four or five touchdowns in a game with 30 or 40 targets.\u201d<\/p>\n For cornerback Major Williams, music has been an outlet since his teenage years. He used to rent studio time with friends, but these days, he turns to an app called BandLab whenever inspiration strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t uploaded a song since 2016, but I used to be a SoundCloud rapper. They called me Juiced Down,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy nickname is Juice, but I go by Major around here. I\u2019m a professional now. And everybody says Major is too good of a name to have a nickname.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams resurrected his musical alter ego during a rookie talent show the Bombers held during training camp.<\/p>\n \u201cI performed one of my songs in front of the team. I don\u2019t let them know that I take it seriously, but they were bopping with it, though,\u201d he said. \u201cI got good reviews.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking of reviews, guard Gabe Wallace might have a future as a film critic when his playing days are over.<\/p>\n \u201cI just love watching movies. That\u2019s my way of winding down,\u201d Wallace said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had to guess, I\u2019d say I watch five a week on average. I really like the older movies. Just yesterday, actually, I watched Dracula \u2014 the Bram Stoker one with Keanu Reeves where he does a horrible British accent. I don\u2019t know why, but it\u2019s one of my favourite movies.\u201d<\/p>\n Even Dracula doesn\u2019t come close to Wallace\u2019s all-time favourite: Heat, the 1995 crime thriller starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.<\/p>\n Wallace makes a habit of watching the film before every game.<\/p>\n \u201cEnough that my wife doesn\u2019t watch it with me anymore,\u201d Wallace said when asked how many times he has seen it.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t John Woods \/ THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES<\/p>\n Winnipeg Blue Bombers guard Gabe Wallace watches about five movies per week during his downtime, with Heat and Dracula among his favouries.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you watch Heat and you\u2019re not like, \u2018That was a frickin\u2019 awesome movie,\u2019 then you don\u2019t know what it is. Tom Sizemore says in it, \u2018The action is the juice.\u2019 Just that line alone gets you fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n Kramdi has earned a reputation as a football junkie who is always in the film room. But even he sinks his teeth into a different passion.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and Stan (Bryant) will laugh that I\u2019ll probably be fat when I\u2019m done playing. I like going out to eat, I enjoy a good meal,\u201d Kramdi said.<\/p>\n He grew up surrounded by good food. His father was a chef, and his late brother Sami was talented in the kitchen, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI was the one eating,\u201d Kramdi said. \u201cI\u2019m a horrible cook.\u201d<\/p>\n He manages to keep his cravings in check during the week, but all bets are off after a game.<\/p>\n \u201cI treat myself. I deserve it after a whole week. I\u2019ll order Popeyes \u2014 probably a deluxe chicken spicy sandwich, I switch the fries for a poutine, I get mac n\u2019 cheese, a biscuit, and I get a diet Coke, you know, to try to stay healthy,\u201d Kramdi said with a grin.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd usually when I order it on Uber, they have two-for-one from Dairy Queen, so I\u2019ll get two snack-sized Blizzards. And then the next day I got to fast because I\u2019m too fat.\u201d<\/p>\n Kramdi will have the opportunity to enjoy some authentic poutine in his hometown this weekend when the Bombers (7-7) visit the Montreal Alouettes (11-3) on Saturday (6 p.m. CT).<\/p>\n \u201cLa Banquise is my favourite poutine spot, it\u2019s pretty popular,\u201d Kramdi said. \u201cIt\u2019s underrated in Montreal, but a lot of random burger spots have good poutine, too.\u201d<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/taylorallen<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Taylor Allen Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree\/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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