TORONTO - Head coach Doug Berry has no problem with his
Winnipeg Blue Bombers players scoring off the field during Grey Cup week, so long as it's on their own.
When asked the traditional coaches news conference question regarding
players engaging in sex leading up to the big game, a smiling Berry had
a saucy reply.
"If it's with themselves . . . ," he said to thunderous laughter
Wednesday morning. "You ask a question you're going to get that kind of
an answer."
Saskatchewan Roughriders coach Kent Austin had a more imaginative response.
"Well, I'm glad you brought that up because we take this very
seriously," he said. "Matter of fact, we've taken some extra measures
with our club.
"We've gone to the expense of putting surveillance cameras into each of
the rooms. We've also 60-65 private investigators to track them all day
long, to watch where they go and who they interact with."
-
GAME OFFICIALS: Referee Glen Johnson will make his eighth Grey Cup
appearance Sunday when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Saskatchewan
Roughriders square off at Rogers Centre (6 p.m., ET).
Johnson, from
Toronto, is in his 18th CFL season and will head up this year's officiating crew. He has appeared in 311 career games.
Umpire Bill Hagans, a 19-year veteran from Toronto, will make his
seventh Grey Cup appearance. Head linesman Don Cousens, of Kirkland
Lake, Ont., will call the fourth career CFL championship game of his
10-year career. The line judge will be Boris Velcic of
Calgary, a 17-year veteran appearing in his third Grey Cup.
Heinz (Woody) Brademann, a 17-year veteran from Sherwood Park, Alta.,
working his fifth Grey Cup, will be the side judge. Back judge Don
Ellis, a 26-year veteran from Newmarket, Ont., will make his ninth Grey
Cup appearance while field judge Kim Murphy, of Beamsville, Ont., in
his 14th CFL season, was named to his sixth Grey Cup game.
The alternates are Jack Ireland of Townsend, Ont., a 29-year CFL
veteran, and Jason Maggio of Oakville, Ont., a six-year veteran who
will be involved in his first Grey Cup game.
-
RIDERS TO CALL TOSS: The Saskatchewan Roughriders were designated the visiting team for the Grey Cup game Sunday.
As the visitors, the Riders will call the coin toss at the start of the
game to determine which club receives the opening kickoff. Should the
Grey Cup contest require overtime, Saskatchewan will again call the
toss.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers will be deemed the home team for the game and
wear their dark jerseys while the Riders won don their white and green
uniforms.
-
THANKS, COACH: When Kent Austin retired following the '96 season with
the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he left football to go into private business.
But that all changed in 2002 when Austin got a call from his former coach at Brentwood Academy, a Christian high school in
Tennessee to come and help as a volunteer coach.
"At first I said I couldn't because I didn't have time," Austin said.
"But then I thought about what he had meant to me and what the school
mean to me as both me and my wife graduated from there.
"So I decided to go out and help him and that year we went to the state
final and got beat but the football bug hit me again. When I left
football in '96 I went completely cold turkey because I didn't want to
be one of those guys that said, 'Oh, I'm going to come out of
retirement and play,' and try it two or three times. Credit my high
school football coach for bringing me back in.
"It was that year that my wife said after that season, 'You know, Kent,
this is the happiest I've seen you since you left football,' She was
the one who actually encouraged me to get back into coaching."
Austin returned to the CFL as the Ottawa Renegades quarterbacks coach
in 2003 before becoming the Toronto Argonauts' offensive co-ordinator
the following season. The Argos captured the Grey Cup that year, then
in '05 quarterback Damon Allen was named the league's outstanding
player.
However, the Argos fired Austin midway through the '06 season. In the off-season, he was hired as the Roughriders head coach.
-
HAPPY TIMES: Doug Berry of the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
finds himself in his first Grey Cup as a head coach, but he has plenty
of previous experience in the CFL's biggest game during his time as an
assistant coach with the Montreal Alouettes.
Berry spent six seasons in
Montreal,
first as the club's offensive line coach before being promoted to
offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2003. During Berry's
tenure, the Alouettes appeared in four Grey Cups (2000, 2002, 2003,
2005), winning once.
When Berry was the offensive line coach, Alouettes running back Mike
Pringle won CFL rushing titles in '99 and 2000. In 2003 with Berry as
the offensive co-ordinator, quarterback Anthony Calvillo threw for
5,891 yards with 37 touchdowns. The following season. Calvillo had
6,041 passing yards.
But he left Montreal on Dec. 15, 2005 to sign a multi-year contract as
Winnipeg's
head coach. He led the Bombers to a 9-9 record last year and their
first playoff appearance since 2003. This season, the Bombers finished
second in the East Division with a 10-7-1 but advanced to the Grey Cup
with playoff wins over Montreal and
Toronto.
However, Berry said he will always have a soft spot for Montreal.
"I miss that organization," Berry said Wednesday. "I really think it's a great place for coaches to coach at.
"I just felt when I took the interview with Winnipeg it was time for me
to get involved with a place that I also believed had an opportunity to
win, that was going to make a commitment to be winners."
-
OVERNIGHT SENSATION - Ryan Dinwiddie was thrown into the spotlight when
Winnipeg's starting quarterback Kevin Glenn broke his arm in the East
final, and he's enjoying the attention.
He said that after the Blue Bombers' victory over Toronto, he got about
50 text messages and 10 voice mails from family, friends and other
well-wishers.
His family will be in the Rogers Centre seats when he starts the Grey Cup game Sunday against Saskatchewan.
"Everyone back home's excited," he said. "They all said they'd be
praying for me, watching me. It's exciting. It's been about four years
since I've had this opportunity."
That was in 2003, when Dinwiddie led Boise State to a 34-31 win over Texas Christian University in the
Fort Worth Bowl.
-
GLENN'S REGRETS - Kevin Glenn was the CFL's top passer this season
5,114 yards and 25 touchdowns, but he will watch the Grey Cup game from
the sidelines with a broken arm.
"It's tough being out here and not being able to participate in
practice and everything," he said. "But it's a team sport and I still
feel part of the team.
"I watch film and go through the same preparation as if I would play.
It's good to show the guys that I'm still here to win a game. My duties
on game day will be on the sidelines, being an extra set of eyes for
Dinwiddie.
"I'm just trying to give back to Ryan what he gave me all season."
While the injury is not to Glenn's throwing arm, he said playing was out of the question.
"I thought about trying to wrap it up or shoot it up and get out there
on the field," he said. "But once we got the x-rays, I saw there was no
way I could play."
With Glenn out,
Kliff Kingsbury becomes the backup to Dinwiddie, while Zac Taylor should move onto the roster as the No. 3 quarterback.