When Calgary Stampeders head coach John Hufnagel reads this piece, and I know he will, he will not be a happy camper.
That, even though I’m going to bat for him big time because, in my mind, he got hosed in the recent fight that isn’t a fight to be the Canadian Football League coach of the year.
This is something I’ve been harping about for years because of the way they put this thing together. I think the league should make massive changes to the selection process.
When the votes are tabulated for the most outstanding player in the league, they are done before the Grey Cup game.
But to name the coach of the year for the Annis Stukus trophy, they waited three months before handing the honor to Scott Milanovich of the Toronto Argonauts.
In the eyes of Hufnagel, that was the choice to make. In fact, he told me before he went to the coach-of-the-year function in Regina that he was only going to get involved in league matters and to shake Scott’s hand in congratulations.
Winning a Grey Cup in his first year deserved such recognition. But would those voters have even considered Milanovich before the Grey Cup game? I think not.
Milanovich was an obvious winner after taking a 9-9 club to a Grey Cup title, beating Calgary’s Stampeders in the final. But I’m saying it was the Grey Cup win that got him the award and not what he did during the season. He beat out Hufnagel along with Mike Benevides of B.C.’s Lions. But Hufnagel should have had this one wrapped before the playoffs. He ended the season using no less than 72 players to compile a 12-6 record and eventually win the Western Conference. He was magic in overcoming injury after injury, many to his stars, and still winning football games. As I said, the other individual awards are voted on before the Grey Cup game, and I think the coaching honor should be determined the same way.
For Calgary’s National Hockey League Flames the season has not been all that pretty. But they are still in a playoff hunt with half a shortened season to go.
But where this club is always a winner is in community service. A recent roast of John Forzani raised more than $100,000 for various charities.
Earlier this month a poker tournament raised $250,000 for the Flames Foundation for life. Add that money to the money raised in seven previous poker affairs and the total is more than $2.7 million.
Today’s joke is a bit on the lengthy side but worth the read, I think. A game warden in Northern Saskatchewan comes upon a man who has two ice chests full of live fish in water as he was leaving a river well known for its fishing. The warden asked the man if he had a licence to catch the fish. His reply was: “Naw, my friend, I ain’t got no licence. These here are my pet fish.”
When asked for an explanation about pet fish, he declared: “Well, every night I take these fish down to the river and let ’em swim round for a while. Then I whistle and they jump right back into one of these ice chests and I take ’em home.” The warden suggests the man is lying because fish just can’t do that. So the guy looks at the game warden and said: “It’s the truth. I’ll show you. It really works.” The warden is now more than a little interested but still thinking it’s a joke and suggests the guy prove himself. The man poured the fish into the river and stood and waited. After several minutes, the warden turned to him and said: “Well.”
“Well what?” replied the man. “When are you going to call them back?”
Guy says: “Call who back?” “The Fish!” declared the warden. The guy responded by saying, “What fish?”
The moral of the story could be never fool with a veteran Saskatchewan fisherman.
