By Jaime Stein,
CFL.ca
It is fitting the Canadian Football League will be giving back this weekend by paying tribute to the men and women who have served in the Canadian Forces. A moment of silence will be held prior to the East and West Semi-Final games.
The link between football and the military is a natural fit. So many terms thrown about on a day-to-day basis in football are borrowed from the military.
Each week teams prepare for battle as if they were some kind of modern day General Currie heading to the Western Front.
One of the most common terms borrowed by football is blitz. It is derived from the German word blitzkrieg, which described their ‘lightning war’ of the Second World War.
Michael Bishop has become adept at throwing bombs to the back of the end zone while the Calgary Stampeders had the best aerial attack, by the numbers, during the 2007 season. Mind you, their field general was less than content when he wasn’t named as the West Division’s Most Outstanding Player.
In 2005, Robert Baker blew up Trey Young while the later was returning an interception at the Rogers Centre. That same season, I was criticized for using the term War Room – in a column I wrote on Argonauts.ca – to describe the room used by the Argos brass to discuss strategy during the Canadian Draft. Even the word draft brings back memories of military conscription.
In 2007, Hamilton Tiger-Cats newcomer Zeke Moreno was a man on a mission, patrolling from sideline to sideline while Cameron Wake was racking up sacks faster than the City of Rome.
If a game is slow offensively, it will be demanded of a quarterback to attack the defence.
We have weekly wars in the trenches between offensive linemen who are protecting quarterbacks who stand in shotgun formations. If they fail to move the ball ten yards in two downs then out comes the punting team which has a “gunner” position – their job is to line up like a wide out and be the first one down field to tackle the returner.
Even a simple world like squad is actually the term used for a small group of eight to 12 soldiers in the British Army. The word corps is borrowed to describe a unit of players, such as receivers or linebackers.
In the broadcast booth, Walby has his Warriors and Glen has his Gladiators.
Fast forward to the post game show and you’ll find a player on the mic stating how he would “go to war” with a teammate any day of the week.
Recently, Jim Popp stole a page from the military by closing off Montreal practices for operational security reasons or OPSEC in military lingo. This practice is common south of the border, but creeps into the CFL once the chase for the Grey Cup begins.
We often hear broadcasters describe plays as heroic or state that a player has shown courage for his actions on the field. I was fortunate enough to spend five weeks with the Canadian Forces in Wainwright, Alberta as a media consultant for the next group of soldiers slated to deploy to Afghanistan.
The stories I heard during my tenure at the base were nothing short of heroic. I spoke with several members of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry and learned a great deal about the situations they faced while in theatre.
I also learned that there are a lot of CFL fans in the Canadian Forces. Rider fans are like trees, they’re everywhere and this is once again the case in 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group – the group that covers Western Canada and is based out of Edmonton. Second to Rider fans are Eskimos supporters, due to the location of the base.
While there is a fierce rivalry between the soldiers when it comes to their respective CFL teams, they are able to find consensus in the ABC Rule – Anyone But Calgary.
During my first weekend on the base, I was watching a Hamilton-Calgary game with some soldiers inside a command post at a forward operating base. Everyone was cheering for Hamilton. I couldn’t believe how many Tiger-Cats fans were in Western Canada. I quickly discovered that I was not amongst the largest contingent of Tiger-Cats fans this side of Steeltown and so became my introduction to the ABC Rule. The Stamps were losing and the troops were happy.
Canadian Football and the military have been closely liked in the past. The Grey Cup was not handed out from 1916-19 because of the First World War. In 1942 the Western Interprovincial Football Union and Interprovincial Rugby Football Union suspended operations as a result of the Second World War. Some players used the opportunity to serve their country.
More recently, the story of former CFL receiver Nigel Williams was publicized for his role as a radio operator for Canadian battle group commander Lieutenant-Colonel Ian Hope during their 2006 tour in Afghanistan.
Another former Ottawa Renegade, Jason Kralt, has served as a Sergeant in the Canadian Forces as a member of the Governor General’s Foot Guards. He, too, has served overseas. Kralt was part of a United Nations peace keeping tour in Croatia in the mid-1990s.
Williams and Kralt were linked together at last year’s Grey Cup celebration in Winnipeg when they joined the RCMP in escorting the Grey Cup to the podium for the presentation to the BC Lions.
This Sunday in Winnipeg fans will receive a commemorative poppy when they enter the stadium and donations will be accepted on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion’s annual Poppy-Remembrance Campaign.
“This is a small token of our appreciation in showing support for those who have sacrificed so much so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today,” said Bombers President and CEO Lyle Bauer.
While you watch the East and West Semi-Final make sure to take a moment and pay tribute to those men and women who have served our country and to the soldiers currently deployed. Chances are, they’ll be watching, too.
Jaime Stein is the former play-by-play voice of the Toronto Argonauts.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
