The Canadian Press
Dear Randy Ambrosie,
First off, bang up work in your first month on the job! From not waiting until the end of the season to change the replay rules to moving up the release date of the “Diversity is Strength” apparel, you have acted decisively and correctly. Your approach is the right one when it comes to leadership in that you are leading without fear.
Now that I am done kissing up, I have one small request that will require you to once again act swiftly but you may face just a wee bit of opposition from everyone in the country outside of the Greater Toronto Area: You must do everything in your power to ensure that Ricky Ray does not get hurt. In fact I will get a step further; you must ensure that Ray doesn’t get hit again, not once, for the rest of the year.
Come on Randy, I know right now you must think I’m an insane homer (maybe I am), but as a former offensive lineman, isn’t it in your blood to protect quarterbacks? Especially non-mobile ones who are so old that I bet Ray once owned a flip phone and can vividly recall renting VHS movies at the local Blockbuster?
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The genesis for this common sense letter came from Ray’s second pass against Montreal when he was hit by Jesse Joseph and was on the ground for a moment. Suddenly, we were all staring down the barrel of a thousand “Is Ray healthy??” headlines and double digit-punts for every game.
Alright, I may be slightly biased with this plea but let me try to appeal to the business side of your brain. You had a ton of success in the corporate world so just for a moment, cast aside your “CFL Commissioner” title and channel your former self, the one who experienced a great deal of financial success with HSBC Canada Securities, AGF Funds and MacDougall, MacDougall and MacTier. This league is all about quarterbacks and it is harder to sell the Argonauts both in Toronto and outside if Ray isn’t starting.
The TSN panel’s first topic of conversation was Ricky Ray being the biggest X Factor before the Argonauts took on the Montreal Alouettes. No offence to Cody Fajardo or Jeff Mathews, but those guys are not bringing much excitement to this Argonauts offence. If Ray was to miss significant time, you could write off the Argonauts as a legitimate contender in the East and we would be stuck with a Montreal vs. Ottawa storyline, which doesn’t exactly get the blood pumping when talking division winners. I imagine asset management was a big part of your past life, well, consider the asset known as ‘S.J. Green’. The man is a blue-chipper with Ray under centre but a mere penny stock when Ray is on the IR. Green was lighting up Montreal on Saturday but the week before was invisible against the same defence.
Now, let’s take a look at this from a football perspective. In Week 8 without Ray, Toronto put up nine points and 315 empty calorie yards against Montreal. Compare that to eight days later when the Argonauts controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes: Ray threw four touchdown passes and the offence moved up and down the field to the tune of 473 yards. What a difference a Ray makes!
Despite missing a week, Ricky Ray is on pace to throw for nearly 6,000 yards (The Canadian Press)
I’m sure as Commissioner you caught the entire game but just in case you missed it, that second quarter was the best quarter of offence I’ve seen from the Double Blue all season long. You got to see Ricky Ray at his best, whether it was ignoring the pass rush to convert a second-and-long or a beautiful over-the-shoulder pass to Green for 29 yards where the ball was perfectly placed. We all were witness to 15 minutes of vintage Ray.
There wasn’t much in the way of the spectacular (beyond Green’s crazy 29-yard touchdown, on which he once again just out jumps and out physicals his way into the end zone), just a ruthlessly efficient offence that, in one quarter, generated 217 yards of offence and three touchdowns. Now, Mr. Commissioner, if you are a fan of punts and incomplete passes then by all means ignore this crazy request. But if fun and clinical quarterbacking are a part of your agenda than you must implement my “nobody touches Ray” initiative.
As for the rest of the league, I get it; you will not exactly be Mr. Popular if you agree to my tiny demand. But Edmonton, Ottawa, BC and Hamilton all have more than competent back-ups. I would take Drew Willy in Montreal over the Argonauts backups. Dan LeFevour has 321 career passes to his name. I was nice to Saskatchewan last week so we don’t need to worry about the Roughriders for a little while and let’s be honest, Calgary doesn’t need anyone’s help!
So what do you say Mr. Commissioner? The only thing bigger than your approval rating is the gulf between Ricky Ray and his backups (Quick Note: I know this seems cruel to Fajardo and Mathews but the fact that they are on a CFL roster puts them in the one per cent of athletes at this position and means they have succeeded in life) so now is the time to strike.
