Tuesday, December 24, 2019

So What Happened Before 1927?

Any reference I've ever seen to city high school football championships has only listed winners as far back as 1927. The graphic below, lifted from a 1943 Ottawa Citizen, serves as a good example.


For a number of years, nearly every article about the high school football championship winner would include an updated version of that list. But the list never began before 1927.

For years I assumed that high school football prior to 1927 was being played, but only as exhibition games and not in any organized, regularly-scheduled fashion. In other words, a champion only began being crowned "officially" in 1927.

So with a little time on my hands after Christmas Eve supper, I thought I'd take the time to check and...That's not the case at all.

A four-team league ran in 1926 and a champion was indeed crowned. It was Ottawa College, but it is actually only recognized, that I could find, in a game between two other teams near the end of the regular season. Read on.


I was unable to find a recap of the Ottawa College/Lisgar game. So I wonder if no champion being named is a simple matter of research failing to uncover one.

Adding to the confusion somewhat, years ago at a Gee-Gees game, I bought a records and facts book about the team. It was quite good but, by the writer's own admission, incomplete.

I bring this up because that book stated that Ottawa U. did not even field a club in the late 1910s and early 20s. It claimed that the school only resumed playing football in 1927 after being absent from the gridiron for several years. True enough, it did have a team in the Junior City League in 1927 but if "Ottawa College" refers to some other institution in 1926, I don't know who it could be.

Here are the nearly final standing from 1926. Presumably Ottawa College defeated Lisgar and nailed down an undefeated season.


Tuesday, December 17, 2019

2020 RedBlacks Coaching Staff Updates

I'm old enough to remember when people said we wouldn't be able to get quality coaches/players to come Ottawa because GM Marcel Desjardins has no people skills and is only working on a one-year deal.

With the most qualified head coach candidate secured, and that coach already building a quality staff, I think it's safe to say that those fears are unfounded. Let's catch up on how this coaching staff is shaping up so far.


Paul Lapolice: "We are excited to bring Mike on board as our defensive coordinator. Mike has been a successful assistant coach as well as a Head Coach in our league. He has a vast background in CFL football and his input will be very valuable to our staff and our players. Our players will also enjoy working with him on a daily basis."
 “I’ve known Mike for a long time. We’ve kind of grown up in the business together. We’re on the same page on a lot of things. Making sure we had experienced co-ordinators is part of the course in the Canadian Football League. We were excited to get Bob Dyce. He’s going to help me through the process. He knows the building, he knows the players and he’s well-respected. Bringing in Mike, who’s been a head coach and defensive co-ordinator and has been successful, it’s another person who has experience. You want to surround yourself with the best people possible."
Mike Benevides: “We want to be a group that’s going to be physical and fast and aggressive and well taught. But the vision has started way before today. It didn’t go the way they wanted (in 2019). Marcel and the group have been working hard at it and Paul’s been on the job for a while now. It was an off year. Now we have an opportunity to do things to improve it. There’s a ton of work ahead of us, but that’s OK. If you do anything in life, whether it’s football or something else, there’s always a lot to get done. You get excited about it, roll up your sleeves and get at it.”
Here are the most recent recent highlights of Benevides' career.
He...began a four-season stint as the (BC) Lions’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 2008 and after winning his 3rd Grey Cup in 2011, he was promoted to head coach.  In 2012, Benevides guided the Lions to a first place finish in the west with a 13-5 regular season record and in his three-seasons at the helm, the Lions were a combined 33-21.  Benevides moved-on to the Edmonton Eskimos in 2016 as the team’s assistant head coach and defensive coordinator and in his 3rd and final season with Edmonton, he also assumed the role of linebackers coach.
Benevides' appointment is, of course, in addition to retaining Bob Dyce as special teams coach and hiring Bob Wylie to coach the offensive line.


Paul LaPolice: "We’re ecstatic to have Bob Dyce back for a fifth year with the club. I’ve known and respected Bob for many years. He’s an excellent Special Teams Coordinator, he’s got a good feel for this organization and he’s beloved by his players. We think Bob will continue to play a key role in the success of this team going forward. We worked together in 2003 in Winnipeg, Bob’s first year in the CFL, and we have been friends ever since." 
Dyce has had great success in the Canadian Football League over the years. The Winnipeg native won his first Grey Cup while with Saskatchewan in 2013 and became a champion once again with the REDBLACKS in 2016.
It's crazy to think that Dyce has already been with the team four years. Prior to his involvement, it seemed like there was at least one big return given up every game and a quality punt or kickoff return was more rare than a humble Saskatchewan fan. I don't miss those days.
Paul LaPolice: "We’re also very excited to have Bob Wylie as our Offensive Line Coach. This will be the third time that we have the opportunity to work together, so he already knows what we want to do to protect our quarterbacks and how we will run the ball. He’s an unbelievable teacher of men and he will create a great atmosphere in the offensive line room.  Our players will love the experience of working with coach Wylie."
Wylie's resume is a lengthy one indeed. Here's how it is summarized in the press release.
Bob Wylie, arrives in Ottawa with decades of experience at the college and professional football levels in the US and Canada. Wylie has worked for six Division I schools, two CFL teams and eight NFL organizations. Most recently, the Rhode Island native was the O-Line coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2017-2018 after serving in the same role with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 2014-2016.
His Wikipedia page connects his stops with the success of his former players.
Saskatchewan (2009):  Under his coaching center Jeremy O'Day, and guard Gene Makowsky were named CFL All-Stars. 
Winnipeg 2014 - 2016: Under his coaching, guard Travis Bond was named a CFL All-Star as well as an All-Division selection.
The interesting part of that is that while O'Day and Makowsky had been honoured multiple times in the past, that was Bond's only season in which he was so decorated. he's a free agent in February and I wonder if he wouldn't want to reunite with his old coach.

Sunday, December 15, 2019

The Lost High School Championship

I came across something of an oddity while filling gaps in my high school football page earlier today.

In 1971, the Rideau Rams defeated St. Patrick 10-07 for the senior high school football crown. The recap of that game makes reference to the Ottawa High Schools Athletic Association (or OHSAA). So far so good.

Then in 1972, the Carleton school board fielded a competitive football league at the senior level.  A recap of St. Pius' win over Merivale in the final claimed that it was the first such game.


By all accounts at least some of the team (St. Pius for certain, as they were said to be winless the season before) had been playing for some time but I believe that was at the intermediate level (17 and under). They were now working under a junior/senior system so on that basis, this was indeed the first senior championship for the school board. Okay, fair enough, we've got that ironed out.

St. Pius would continue to roll in 1973. They knocked off Merivale again in the Carleton board finals then met the OHSAA champ Hillcrest and defeated them 33-07. This was the first time that champions from both school boards would meet head-to-head to determine a city champion.

St. Pius' Dave Behm, uncredited photo from the Nov. 10th, 1973, Ottawa Journal

All right, so that all makes sense, except...What happened to the OHSAA in 1972? Any record I find of past high school champions names only St. Pius. Why is the first-ever Carleton board champion St. Pius team generally regarded as the city champion if the two boards didn't play head-to-head until 1973? Why is there no OHSAA title recognized?

There was indeed an OHSAA champion. In fact, there were two.


The second was in 1954. Milton is making it sound like it happens every other day but at this point it hadn't happened in nearly 20 years. They first met in 1952 and their last meeting prior to this one was in 1959.



So while St. Pius is generally recognized as the 1972 high school champions, they are actually one of three champions that year. Rather than recognize St. Pat's and Fisher Park as co-champions, it appears as though history has deemed that a true OHSAA champion was never named. That's actually not the case so I'll add that championship for both teams on the High School page above.

Fisher Park would secure another title in 1977. That shared championship in 1972 would be St. Patrick's last so it really should be recognized.

Monday, December 9, 2019

“I’m Happy As Hell To Be Here”

Initially made public on Saturday night, Paul lapolice's hiring as RedBlacks head coach was made official earlier today. Here are a number of quotes from the press conference.
Marcel Desjardins: “This is a great day for the REDBLACKS. We conducted a thorough process in coming to a decision as to who our head coach was going to be. We started it by talking to a number of our key players and leaders to just get a sense of what they were looking for in a head coach. 
“The main three criteria for them was to have a coach that was a very good communicator, who was going to build a solid staff and also somebody who had a passion and a will to win but also to prepare to win. Those were things that were very important to them so I thank them for that.” 
“We’re excited as a group to have new ideas come in; to have a new vision from what we’ve been doing from a coaching perspective. Off the field in terms of how we prepare from an offensive standpoint, those are things that we’re in line with in terms of how we go about that process.” 
“It was a combination of maybe what some of the people were lacking that he had, plus, the fact he was an offensive guy and could run our offence at a high level – we just felt this was the best option. He’s all about teaching and communicating. When your players are telling you they want a guy who’s communicating, that says something. Paul’s all about that. That stuff, plus his vision, was a good fit for us.” 
“At the end of the day, Paul was by far the best candidate for us. There are a lot of good people in this league that all deserve a chance to be head coach of a CFL franchise. But, for us, Paul was the best choice. We’re excited as a group to have new ideas to come in, to have a different vision from what we’ve  been doing from a coaching perspective.”
Photo by Scott Grant, Image Communications
Paul LaPolice: “I’m happy as hell to be here,” said LaPolice, who had been the Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive co-ordinator since 2016 and was the team’s head coach from 2010-12. “I’m humbled and honoured to be the head coach of the Redblacks, to be in this community.” 
"I don't have any grand aspirations or bold statements to say. I will say this, we will leave no stone unturned in our game planning, our preparation and our willingness to work on a daily basis to put us in a position to win championships. I expect our team to play fast, to play physical and have fun on a daily basis and always worry about our process, not the end result." 
"I'm a better football coach as I've had more experiences and been around other people and been in other organizations. Four years in one organization to take notes on this is how you would do this and see situations and how I would handle things differently." 
"It's important to have conversations about how we do things and how our processes are and then you look at the big picture. We made sure we communicated and made sure we were on the same page, as much as you can be. I heard a lot of good things about Marcel." 
“You can’t win games when you’re minus-17 in turnovers. We have to take the ball away better defensively and protect the ball better offensively. We just have to make sure we do things winning teams do: Protect the football, take it away, put points on the board, prevent explosive plays. I don’t think winning or losing football games is one thing. If you want one thing, we have to play intelligent, smart CFL football. We have to start teaching our players how to do that.” 
“To the fans, I want to say, let’s make sure we make this the loudest place in the east. Let’s start making crowd noise important to us so when somebody comes into our house, it’ll make it even more difficult for them."
Here's a look at LaPolice's coaching history:
2000–2001 Toronto Argonauts (QB/RC/RB) 
2002–2003 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (OC/RC/RBC) 
2004–2005 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (RC) 
2006      Toronto Argonauts (RC) 
2007      Saskatchewan Roughriders (RC) 
2008–2009 Saskatchewan Roughriders (OC) 
2010–2012 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (HC) 
2016–2019 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (OC)
His record as a head coach is not particularly good (16-28), but it does include a Grey Cup appearance off a 10-8 regular season. I don't know the whole story but the disclaimer that I come across most often is to the effect that he was not properly supported by the front office.

Whatever. To be honest, I was fed up with Rick Campbell, the team's all-too-often awful home performance, fourth quarter collapses and baffling in-game decisions. Bring on the fresh start.