VIEWS FROM THE PENTHOUSE

It is that time of year again.  The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and luckily training camp is about to begin where the smashing and pounding will disrupt the rest of that crap.  It has been a long winter suffering through the end of the NFL season just to get my football fix and watching meaningless hockey games (thank God for the Olympics) while I waited for this day.  My legs are anxiously awaiting the climb of every stair at Ivor Wynne Stadium to get to our seats perched on the top row of Section 8 that we affectionately call the Penthouse.

This season promises to be one of the best in years.  Every team seems to be pretty well evenly matched.  The off-season hi-jinxes with Lysko and the commissionership and the beginnings of the new Ottawa franchise was just enough of a tease to stir excitement in every Canadian football fan.  With the success of last years Grey Cup (how great was it to see the Olympic Stadium packed??) behind us and an optimistic look at the next three Grey Cups being played in outstanding CFL cities (Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Ottawa) that can only produce sell-outs as well, one can only hope that the CFL has finally turned the corner.

As we enter the 2002 season there is many questions that need to be answered. Will anybody be able to beat the Bombers this season and will they choke in the playoffs again?  Can Calgary repeat?  Will Wally work his magic one more time?  Is Edmonton a team of destiny?  Will Maas suffer a sophomore jinx?  How much has Saskatchewan really improved and how bad will B.C. really be?  Can the Cats rebound from all of their free agent and player losses?  Will Pringle play for Montreal this year and will they make it to the Cup?  What will the Renegade team look like and how competitive will they be?  Will the Argos score a touchdown this year and will anyone be there to cheer about it?

The answer to these questions is unknown at this time and there is only one way to find the answers.  Put on your favorite teams colors (maybe even some face paint) and get to the closest stadium and cheer your face off.  And hey, don’t be selfish.  Why don’t you treat a friend to a game this year?  Show them how much fun a Canadian football game is.  Show them the exciting and fast paced action we all love.  As fans of Canadian football we all know if your friend attends one game they will want to come back again and again.  And in the long run is that not what we all want.  A few hours of entertainment and fun shared with family and friends is what you will get when attending a Canadian football game.  So get out there, support your team and let the fun and season begin.

Tydoggz

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Training Camp can be Fun for Fans

GOVIND ACHYUTHAN

Calgary/Rider Rep

How many of you enjoy going to watch your favorite team at training camp?  It's one of the things we can enjoy in the CFL.  Considering that a lot of NFL teams don't allow fans into camp or charge them money, we are pretty lucky!

I remember attending a few Rider camps (purely as a spectator of course) during my university years.  I was fortunate to be a student at University of Saskatchewan at the time, and the Riders have held a lot of their camps there in Saskatoon.
There was a huge buzz in the air the year I saw my first camp.  The year was 1990 and the Riders were just coming off their Grey Cup win.  You definitely see some things that you wouldn't see during the season.  In Saskatoon, the fields are marked by numbers on the goalposts.  Well the Rider QB's had a little competition to see who could hit the number on the field they were using.  These numbers were about 1 foot by 1 foot.  They lined up about 30-35 yards away.  Some others players took interest and tried as well.  It was very amusing to see who hit the sign first:  slot back James Ellingson!  I don't know if the Quarterbacks were as amused as we were.

That was also one of the years that the Riders and Bombers held an extra pre-season game at Gordie Howe Bowl in Saskatoon.  The big excitement for that game was that high profile rookie Tony Rice would play a bit at quarterback. What a bust!  He had trouble hanging onto the snap from center.  I also remember seeing Rider FB Milson Jones buying a hot dog from concessions before getting on the team bus, totally fitting the image that Milson had.

There were other neat memories from the other 2 years.  You could see how interested the fans were when we were actually using our watches to check hang times when the punters kicked.  Tyrone Jones made quite an impression at his one training camp with the Riders.  The guy always had something to say.  He always had time for autographs for the kids too. One time Jones was signing autographs when he noticed Jeff Fairholm and some other receiver (I can't recall the name) leaving the field and walking towards the locker rooms.  Jones started calling their names in a very loud voice saying, "I think these kids would like you to sign something".  It was so funny, the players had no choice but to come back and sign or else it would have been highly embarrassing to them.

Dave Ridgeway and Glen Suitor liked clowning around during camp as well. There was one time when I watched Suitor pinning the ball on the tee with his nose, and Ridgeway kicked it.  It was unbelievable that Suitor would actually do that.  Being a kicker, Ridgeway had lots of idle time and would talk to us fans a lot.

Training camp was always a good time to talk to reporters too.  Their job was to cover both practices each day and sometimes I think they were happy to have people to talk to.  Geoff Courier was always very approachable in those situations.  I also had a lot of conversations with Peter Loubardias, who many of you probably see on Sports net now.  Peter and I talked enough that he actually remembered me at the Memorial Cup last year in Regina.

That also led to the time when I 'scooped' the Saskatchewan sports reporters who were covering camp. I missed the first part of practice to check out the NHL draft on TV. It was the year of the big Lindros trade.  Apparently all the reporters had heard that a deal was done with Chicago before they left their hotels.  Peter was quite surprised when I told him a deal had been done with the Flyers.  By the time I was done giving him all the names in the trade, there were about 4 reporters around listening to me.  Boy did I feel proud of myself that day!
If you have a chance, I highly encourage all of you to check out training camp in your city.  It's a great way to spend a couple of hours on a nice day.  If you have kids, it's a great chance for them to get some autographs etc after practice and get a look at players a lot closer up than they would in a game.  The only downside?  After watching a practice or two, you will get even more anxious for the season to start!