the 4th star

NEKO CASE
Winnipeg Folk Festival
Birds Hill Park
Friday, July 10, 2009
Main Stage
11 o’clock
Picture
Picture
Picture

After ignoring a 25 year layoff, with three of those spent begging to play, I have decided to make a triumphant return to the beautiful game. In a stunning act of charity, the Crescentwood Saturday Soccer Club has done the unthinkable and allowed me to play with them in the Winnipeg Soccer Division this summer. If I can score one goal this year, I’d be pretty happy. Judging from my inconsistent play, my teammates would be equally ecstatic, too. Here’s the weekly update:

Well, the much-anticipated “top of the table” match between the mighty CSSC and the Red Devils United did not fall the right way for your local heroes. It might have been the delay to start the game. Or maybe it was the fact the Red Devils United were wearing all yellow. Or perhaps it was seeing an opposing club with names on their uniforms. However you want to slice it, the resulting 4-1 deficit at the final whistle had the CSSC spinning like a top at game end. To further punish the guilty for their panicky play, a trip to Boston Pizza’s Lounge was ordered. All in all, it wasn’t a good night for the Red and Black attack.

Not surprisingly, it also wasn’t a good night for yours truly. A short first half warm-up led to extended minutes in the second half, but all that led to were no shots on goal and barely any resemblance to competent soccer participation. I mishandled a high ball early in the second half and all confidence was lost. Next thing I know I’m more worried about positioning than I am about breaking for open space, and suddenly my worst game of the year is in the books.

Fitting, as it was our worst showing in some time. Adjustments will be made in the week leading up to Tuesday, when the CSSC (4-2-2) takes on Inter-Milan (5-3-1). If memory serves, they beat us 2-1 to start the season. Bastards.

Doug Brown goes on his radio show Monday night and tells the masses how he would have gone over to Derick Armstrong and said something if he was on the sidelines (the big Blue Bomber is still fighting a viral infection he picked up a few days before the opening season loss in Edmonton last week). Further comedy ensues when he pens a vague column about the incident in the broadsheet pages of the Winnipeg Free Press yesterday. I didn’t know he played in the NFL. Oh, no wait. What I meant to say is that it’s been half an hour since he’s mentioned that he played in the NFL. Never heard that before.

The first sentence pretty much sums it up:

Everybody likes getting their picture in the paper, and a lot of players love being one of the voices of the team or the “go to guy” the media seeks out when they want a sumptuous quote. But even the most veteran and practiced acts in front of the scribes say things they wished they hadn’t after a game, just like last season when Ed Tait and yours truly got a little too descriptive and creative trying to describe an “ugly ” win after a game in Hamilton.

Oh. How crazy is that? You mean to say in practicing your act, you got too descriptive and too creative? Oh no. There must have been a good chuckle about that at practice the next day. Hard-hitting and side-splitting, that guy.

Back to point, before I get totally side-tracked with the sarcasm here. Living by what he preaches, Brown uses a different series of events in a different league to air out his thoughts on the Bombers dirty laundry. The castration of his commentary since Mike Kelly took over is exactly the carefully worded response he suggests players should use with media types, so good job there. This brings me back to the top of the post: Brown suggesting he would have said something to Armstrong, the relationship between his freelance time and the football team, and how the former impacts the latter.

The people who cheer for the club consider Brown a leader — no questions asked. A strong Canadian football player, sure, but what he has done to earn this standing during his time in Winnipeg escapes me, though. Is it because he lives here? Is it because he can put a sentence or two together? Is it because he’s played in the NFL? Is it because he complains about Bomber fans wearing bags on their heads? Is it because he’s stitched out a piece of the media cloth for himself, essentially making him immune to the small town football fan’s venom? The two largest media operations — the ones he collects paycheques from — are Doug Brown media partners.

Smart business plan. No Grey Cup championships, but still a smart business plan.

No real reason is given for this leader label, and at no point in my former toy department time has any player or coach told me off the record that he is a commanding presence in the locker room. On the record, sure. Nothing but flowers. What a great guy in the room. Of course, you and I know that off the record is where the real story sits.

Perhaps as a result of their Washington Redskins bond, Kelly basically anointed Brown a leader on this team through Booster Juice photo-ops and prophetic statements ensuring that “(Brown) would finish his career as a Blue Bomber.” Still, despite those press clippings and appointments, I wonder if Brown would have really said something to Armstrong if he was dressed last Thursday. From where I sit, it doesn’t seem like he’d want to get involved in the story, as it’s hard to pass judgment when you’re in the middle of it. I mean, he can’t exactly speak up in the room or intervene in a situation like this — he’ll have to eventually talk about it when donning the media hat and all that will do is create some bad mojo in the room. Serving two masters is a dangerous game. You try to appease both sides. That extra commitment limits your potential and people begin to question where loyalties lie. Next thing you know you find yourself being criticized on a blog that no one reads.

I’m sure teammates really embrace the knowledge that their actions in the room or on the sidelines could possibly wind up on the radio waves or in the newspaper. And I’m also willing to bet dollars to donuts that players are thrilled to see Brown allowed to extra-curriculate (not a word) in the media world while they are frowned upon for returning reporter’s texts when it’s after hours and away from the football complex.

Complex, indeed. Mixed messages. Different rules for different players.

I recall a conversation I had with a few members of the CFL media following the disappointing 2008 season. I brought up the scenario of trading Brown, suggesting the club maximize the asset into a few younger pieces required for rebuilding a club. Of course, people rolled their eyes. The value of return wouldn’t equal the value traded, they said. Then the subject of the player OFF THE FIELD came up. Getting past the fact that I apparently had a second head growing out of my neck, the initial shock produced the unanimous sentiment among those who know the real deal.

Great quote, not really a great leader.

That was off the record, of course. This media game is a tough business sometimes.