Ferguson: My 10 favourite moments of 2023

Marshall Ferguson

CFL.ca

@TSN_Marsh

Each year the CFL takes on a uniquely different shape. Sure, the Bombers continue to be great and the game still features the 65-yards wide, three-down madness we all know and love but the seasonal script is always evolving with twists and turns unimaginable when camps open.

With that in mind — and in no particular order — here are my top 10 moments of 2023.

Montreal zooms

When Jason Maas and Cody Fajardo were reunited in Montreal I was cautiously optimistic based on their recent pairing in Saskatchewan. I was lukewarm at best to the idea of the Alouettes toppling Toronto and even Hamilton based on paper rosters.

When I saw 10 Alouettes games on my CFL on TSN schedule I knew I’d be chatting with both leaders of the Alouettes on-field product plenty throughout the season. Secretive is an unfair adjective, but protective is the best way to put both Maas and Fajardo when it comes to media availability.

Forty-eight hours before kickoff of each Alouettes game I’d hop on a Zoom call and talk with both. As the weeks went on their vision became clearer and clearer. I had a front row seat to the roller coaster ride to a championship, with Maas and Fajardo both giving great insight in each weekly call. It’s an experience I won’t soon forget, and wouldn’t have regardless of the season’s final note.

The Canada Day triple

On Sunday before Canada Day weekend I got a call requesting me to work the following Saturday’s Winnipeg at Montreal and Monday’s BC at Toronto game on top of my previously scheduled Friday night Edmonton at Ottawa matchup.

Of course I jumped at the challenge and had the chance to call three games in a single weekend. I left home in Hamilton on Thursday morning and drove to Ottawa, then Montreal and on to Toronto. All the while I was totally immersed in preparation and phone calls with contacts to get prepped for the whirlwind Canada Day weekend that I could only have dreamt about growing up as a kid watching CFL games at backyard barbecues.

Chad Kelly vs. Calgary

When Calgary came to Toronto this season Chad Kelly had a relatively lacklustre first half by his standards. I had the feeling the pent up frustration of Kelly and the Argos’ offence couldn’t last forever and sure enough down the stretch Kelly made two throws I don’t think anyone else in the CFL could this year.

The first was a wide side hole shot as the furthest target from Kelly settled down into a zone and caught a ball that never got higher than 10-yards off the BMO Field grass. Kelly followed that up with a deep touchdown pass while getting blasted in the chest. A most outstanding pair of passes when his team needed it most.

Dequoy pick six

As mentioned earlier I got to know the Als pretty well this year, and no regular season game impressed me more than a number of confusing looks thrown at Ottawa QB Dustin Crum as Noel Thorpe picked apart the mind of the young REDBLACKS passer. The icing on top of the performance was a goal line interception returned over 100-yards by Marc Antoine Dequoy. It was an act he would duplicate against Kelly to open the score of the Eastern Final months later.

The Riderville experience

A night after calling a game in Hamilton I was in Regina for the REDBLACKS and Riders, a rare opportunity for this East Division headset wearer. It was a Sunday night extravaganza with the two teams trading blows until a final minute Brett Lauther kick sent Riders fans home happy. A classic Mosaic outing for all involved.

Tre Ford magic

It’s easy to say hindsight 20/20 on this one, but I have seen Tre Ford play football for about five years now and everything about his energy and skill set screamed ‘I AM THE ANSWER’ for a struggling Elks club.

Ford didn’t get his shot until far too late in the campaign but we enjoyed a moment in the tunnel at Tim Horton’s Field during a Hamilton weather delay (AGAIN) where we talked football, life and had a few laughs with fellow Canadian players. Tre was as cool then as he was in Toronto later in the season. With time dwindling in the first half of that game he rolled away from pressure like Doug Flutie in his prime and slung a dart into the middle of the end zone for a touchdown.

That day my alma mater McMaster had beat Ford’s (Waterloo) in OUA regular season play and I was watching the game with some Canadian football die-hards. Needless to say the room exploded with pride for Ford as all I could do was laugh at his creative excellence.

Touchdown Atlantic

Watching from a hotel in Montreal ahead of my game assignment the next day, I took in the sights, sounds and stories of Atlantic Canada five days after I had returned from a work trip to Nova Scotia, an area ravaged by forest fires this summer that also experienced severe flooding during my stay.

The game was an Argos win but the people, the scene and the pride I felt watching our game be united in support and love for all things Atlantic Canada just felt so right.

Crum craziness

I was in transit when the Crum-back happened at TD Place in Ottawa, but I couldn’t stop laughing at how incredible the highlights were when I had the chance to catch up. The following week in Calgary, Crum went wild late in the game once again as I laid on an Airbnb couch with my three-year-old son in Halifax on the last night of our trip East.

He was completely transfixed by the tall guy running all over the place and kept asking me “who is that?! Who is that?!” THAT is what it’s all about in a game viewing experience I never could have imagined to start 2023.

VA in the Western Semi-Final

Simply put, Vernon Adams Jr. played quarterback as well as it can be played in the 2023 Western Semi-Final. From arm angles to tempo, elusiveness to decision making, window throws to deep ball accuracy, he had the type of game every quarterback dreams about when throwing the ball around in the backyard with friends.

Philpot championship greatness

The route, the story, the skill, the glory. The Philpot Grey Cup touchdown is everything we love about the CFL wrapped into one tidy red and white bow.

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