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Thursday, June 13, 20132 GAME DAY

TERRY JONESEdmonton Sun Sports Columnist

The joke around Commonwealth Sta-dium during training camp has been how nice it is of Edmonton to put all those Rider green seats in the upper deck for Saskatch-ewan fans to fill when their team comes to town.

Rider Nation often purchases more upper deck single game tickets in Com-monwealth Stadium than all the other fans supporting visiting teams in the league combined.

The transplanted Saskatchewan folks who live among us are already kidding that it’s only right t h a t S a s k a t c h -ewan fans will be the first to sit in them for tomor-row’s pre-season game, again when the Roughriders return June 29 for the season lid-lifter, and Aug. 24, when they’re back yet again.

They also razz that it’s only appropriate that the Rider green seats are the only seats you see from outside the stadium as you

approach the place on game day.Doh!No?“It’s not Rider green,” said Evelyn Erh-

man, director of Commonwealth Stadium.“I know a lot of people are kidding us

about that. But I have the colour samples right here to show you. It’s a much lighter green than Rider green.”

Eskimos CEO Len Rhodes admits he cringed when he looked out his office win-dow and saw them.

“I thought ‘Whoo, what is this going to look like? But then I thought ‘Well, a lot better than all those red, Calgary-coloured seats. And now, as the entire west side of

t h e s t a d i u m i s c l o s e t o b e i n g complete and we have the full effect of the colour com-bination, they’ve really grown on me.”

For the record, it was a combination of Eskimo, City of

Edmonton and Commonwealth Stadium officials charged with picking the colour scheme.

And if that so-called Rider green is

your only problem with the long-awaited $12-million of new seats, you’ve got a prob-lem. The new seats a getting rave reviews.

Commonwealth Stadium looks brand spanking new again. And it essentially is — new and improved.

Fans watched the transformation of sev-eral sections in the lower bowl from the 34-year-old seats to the new ones from game to game in the second half of the sea-son last year. But when you walk into the place for the 7 p.m. kickoff of the Eskimos’ 64th season Friday, you’ll get hit by the nearly full effect of it.

Virtually the entire west side, upper deck and lower deck, as well as the 95% of the entire lower deck throughout the stadium, is expected to be completed by the sea-son opener at the end of the month. By the Labour Day rematch against Calgary in early September, it could be close to being complete.

And on the sidelines on the east side of the field will be a new $475,000 stretch of LED advertising boards.

Only a new Jumbotron scoreboard will be left to complete the effect in time for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship in 2014 and FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015.

Along with new dressing rooms for the visiting (and FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer) teams, they’re the final touches, the most visible and most personal part of the $125-million upgrade of Commonwealth Stadium affecting the fans.

Erhman has had the chance to witness it all out of her office window at Common-wealth Stadium, as has Rhodes out of his window one floor above her location.

“It’s been fascinating to watch the progress with the seats, especially as the crew has learned to do it faster as they’ve proceeded,” said Rhodes.

Green with seat envy

“I think a lot of people are going to come to a game this year to experience what a

difference they make.”– Eskimos president and CEO Len Rhodes

Thursday, June 13, 2013 GAME DAY 3

“Every time I walk into my office in the morning I marvel at how much they’ve done. I start every day excited. The end of September is now the date they’ve given us when they expect it to be completed.”

“Initially, it was supposed to take three years,” said Erhman of the installation which obviously is going to be done inside two years by the inspired crew from Lorac Construction. They’d done work — partic-ularly on concrete repair in the upper deck — in the past and were familiar with the problems of getting the old seats with rusted bolts out and all and getting new ones in.

“They’ve done amazing work,” said Ehr-man, who watched them battle the ele-ments in a winter which, for the longest stretch, refused to turn into spring.

“The biggest challenge was the amount of snow they had to deal with. They shoveled snow. They blew snow. But it just wouldn’t quit.

“Looking at the stadium transforma-tion out my window every day has been an exceptional experience,” said Ehrman, the stadium executive of 10 years who became the point person on the project in Decem-ber.

“I think it looks wonderful. It adds a real vibrancy,” she said.

Rhodes thinks the new seats are going to sell seats.

A different experience“I think a lot of people are going to come

to a game this year to experience what a dif-ference they make.”

Eskimo fans will get their first look at the new LED boards, which are set up on the visitors (East) sidelines, at Friday’s pre-sea-son game. It wasn’t that long ago that odd-sized bedsheet-like advertising signs were draped off the front of the stands.

The LED boards stretch 40 yards on either side of the visitors bench.

“If the sponsors respond, we’ll move on to Phase II on the other side and Phase III wrapping around the end zones,” said Rhodes.

“So far the sponsor response has us at 70%,” he said of the boards which will also offer non-commercial content.

“We’ve budgeted with the idea of them paying for themselves over three years.”

Five of the eight CFL teams will have the same boards this year.

“The league is attempting to produce a more professional stadium look,” said Rhodes of the boards which had a trial run

at last year’s Grey Cup.Being that the seats are wider, there

will be fewer — from 60,000 to 56,418. But that’s not a bad thing. It will end the era in Edmonton where both football and hockey were played in buildings where every row featured an odd number of seats. In most sections they’ve gone from 17 seats to 16.

And it will make the Eskimos crowds — annually the largest in the league — look

larger in the cav-e r n o u s s t a d i u m than they often do on TV.

The seats are a dramatic upgrade over the faded, fall-ing-apart 19-inch wide seats installed i n 1 9 7 8 w h i c h

are no longer being made and for which replacement parts no longer remain avail-able.

It was the new 21-inch seats, complete with cup holders, that were installed first.

From the day city council approved the

project last year, it took 14 months for the first one to go into Commonwealth Sta-dium.

Early last year, Eskimo fans were provided with a look at mock-up pictures illustrating a starburst of the yellow seats out of the sea of green.

Logistical challengesIn all there will be 14,203 seats in Eskimo

green and another 10,810 in lighter green to go with 19,019 yellow seats between the goal lines with backed seats replacing bench seats of a different design in the end zones, 8,673 in Eskimos green and 3,713 in yellow.

It’s been logistically challenging. First you don’t just ship 56,418 seats to town all at once.

Irwin Seating, one of the biggest compa-nies of its kind in the world, had been mak-ing them and shipping them as they need to be installed.

The installation has been a study in itself.“There’s been amazing ingenuity,” said

Ehrman. “They invented a kind of funicular contraption to transport the seats up and

down to where they were to be installed. When they first started off they figured they could install maybe 2,500 seats a week on good weather weeks with no interruption for games and events. They’ve been doing far better than that.”

As they’ve gone, 500 of the old seats were salvaged to put up for sale as memorabilia for Eskimo fans and 9,500 have been sal-vaged to give to surrounding municipali-ties to use in various small stadium seating projects.

In the off-season the $1.9 million rebuild of the current visitor’s locker room — and the addition of two other smaller sized locker rooms at field level to accommodate four soccer teams for double-header draws at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championships and the massive FIFA 2105 Women’s World Cup — will complete the interior rebuild and provide more legacy.

The new $5-million Jumbotron score-board report, requested by City Council and being worked on by city manager Simon Farbrother, is expected to be complete by the end of the month.

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“I think it looks wonderful. It adds a real vibrancy.”

Evelyn Erhman, Commonwealth Stadium director


TERRY JONESEdmonton Sun

It’s one of those bad news, good news deals.

The bad news for Brandon Lang, when the Edmonton Eskimos went after Odell Willis as a defensive line sack attack bookend to go with Marcus Howard, was that the odds were he wasn’t going to be starting as a defensive end this year.

The good news, in a highly com-petitive Eskimos training camp, was that he pretty much knew he had the team made.

“ T h e b i g g e s t thing I learned last year is that it’s not the No. 1 guy, it’s the No. 2 guy who ends up more important,” said head coach Kavis Reed of the devastating injuries which hit the defensive line last year.

“The No. 2 guy allows you to sustain injury without a dramatic drop-off. And with the defensive end position there’s a strong like-lihood we’ll go with a three-man rotation.

“That will also likely be the same with Donny Oramasionwu, Ted Laurent and Almondo Sewell in the middle as well,” he said.

Lang showed up late last season from the Orlando Predators of the Arena League fol-lowing two years in the National Football

League, in which he dressed for a dozen games with the San Diego Chargers.

He was brought in as an emergency replacement when the Eskimos found themselves in serious injury trouble on the defensive line.

Lang played the last six games, starting all six at defensive end, registering 13 defensive tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, a knock-down and an interception. He also started

the Eastern Con-ference s emi-f i -nal as the Eskimos went up against the eventual Grey Cup champion Toronto Argos as a crossover team.

A t h r e e - y e a r starter at Troy Uni-versity, he finished

his college career with 168 tackles and 22.5 sacks.

Signing as an undrafted free agent with the Chargers, he ended up in Arena Foot-ball and then out of football.

“I was working back home. Warehouse work,” he said.

“I was out of there. As soon as I got the phone call from Edmonton I was gone.

“I didn’t even finish my shift. Seriously, my boss was calling me asking ‘Why ain’t you been at work?’ I was so busy I hadn’t had a chance to call him and say ‘I’m in Edmonton; I’ve got a football deal.’ ”

As long as Howard and Willis are healthy and playing up to their history, Lang isn’t

going to be starting this season. But he will almost certainly be here with a football deal and not going back to work in that ware-house.

“I’m a team player. I’ll do what I have to do,” he said.

“I’ll step up and make the plays they need me to make when they put me out there to make those plays.”

It’s been a long and bumpy road for Lang.

Back in high school at Tucker, Ga., he was considered one of the most coveted prep athletes in the state, and some of col-lege football’s biggest programs recruited him. He picked the Georgia Bulldogs over other South East Conference schools as

well as Nebraska and USC. But he never got there because his S.A.T. scores weren’t high enough to get him out of high school.

He was forced to begin his college career at Hargrave Military Academy before mak-ing it to Troy.

A torn ACL cut into the middle of his col-lege career.

“You have to go through those tough times to appreciate what you have.

“It’s been a tough road for me the way it’s all worked out, but as long as there’s a light at the end of the tunnel ...

“Edmonton gave me an opportunity. Edmonton believes in me. I know what I can do here. I’m blessed to be out here showing the coaches what I can do.”

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“You have to go through those tough times to appreciate what

you have.”– Esks defensive end Brandon Lang

Brandon Lang arrived late last

season after stints with the Arena

Football League and the NFL San Diego Chargers.


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rhodes tripFull Name: Len RhodesNickname: I don’t have a nicknameLast movie you saw: I can’t remember the last movie I saw, because I rarely watch mov-iesLast book you read: Be our Guest, Perfect-ing the Art of Customer Service, by Theodore KinniFavourite Food: ItalianFavourite team growing up: It was the Mon-treal CanadiensFavourite sport other than football: Defi-nitely hockeyFavourite subject in school: It was mathFirst car: A 1973, Cougar XR7. I bought it sec-ond-hand for $1,100.First job: Working at a tool rental store, and I worked the front counter in customer serv-ice.A reality show, you would most like to be on: The Voice, although I have no singing tal-

ent. I can’t even sing in the shower.What do you want to do after football: I hope I don’t have to worry about that for a while, but … open my own Tim Horton’s shop.Your favourite vacation spot: Prague Czech Republic. It has the highest per capita in beer consumption, and I’m glad to have been there and had a few.Place you want to visit, but haven’t yet: That’s an easy one. New Orleans.Favourite pet: Dogs. I’ve never met a dog I didn’t like. I absolutely adore dogs.What did your mom call when you were in trouble: Leonard … come hereWorst food your parents made you eat: Liver.First thing you’ll save in a fire: I wouldn’t worry too much about material things, it would be my personal folders like my tax return … haha.What is a television show you’re embar-

rassed to tell people you watch: I’m not embarrassed to tell anyone what I watch TV, because I watch the news, sports and The Voice … there’s my answer.What has been the greatest invention: That’s a great question. The lightbulb.You own a lot of: A lot of neon beer signs.Tell us something that nobody would know: I was once held up in an armed bank rob-bery when I was 16 years old. I had my back against the entrance door and all of a sud-den everyone in front of me went down, and I didn’t know it right away and I turned around and there were two guys with guns and masks over their face and I was the closest to them.What is your secret talent: Being able to envision things that I would like to see occur five years, and making it happen.Proudest moment: The birth of my daughter, Melissa, shared with getting the job with the Eskimos as president and CEO.


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King reigns as a community champJASON HillS

Edmonton Eskimos

Ryan King knows the true meaning of giv-ing back to the community.

The Eskimo long snapper and Sherwood Park product remembers meeting some of his favourite Eskimos at school events as a young kid. Now, it’s his time to give back and he’s relishing the opportunity.

During the most recent Eskimo Annual General Meeting, Eskimo president and CEO Len Rhodes spoke with great pride about the team’s community work. In 2012, the Green and Gold made 265 appearances across Edmonton and area.

“When I was in junior high and high school, I had players from the Eskimos come and talk at my school. I was one of those kids who were inspired by those talks,” says King, who went to Bev Facey High School in Sher-wood Park.

A chance to give back“For me to fill those shoes now — it’s very

humbling, inspiring and motivating.“Football has given me so much. It means

a lot to me that I can finally be in a position

to give back to the game.”King spent his first off season as an Eskimo

making an impact in the community, going to football camps, speaking to kids at schools and other community events. It’s an aspect of being a professional athlete in this city he doesn’t want to take for granted.

“When we do football camps and go out and talk to teams, you really see that you can impact kids a lot. They come up to you after and you can see it in their eyes that they’re really inspired and motivated to want to be

better,” says King.“I always tell the kids that if I can motivate

even just one out of the whole room, it’s well worth me being out there and doing it.”

King and his teammates certainly try to make an impact every time they step on the field, but, they can play just as big of a role off the field, taking part in community events.

Speaking from the heart“I remember my first couple of talks; I

spent so much time scripting them, but there wasn’t one time that I ended up read-ing anything off a piece of paper. You just start and go with it,” says King.

“I try to talk about different things, but relate a similar message, and that’s for young kids to not be afraid to do something different. Don’t follow anyone and don’t do the same thing everyone else is doing. Pick something different, create change and work hard.

“Those are little things that you might think ‘oh yeah,’ but having a pro athlete tell it to a younger football player — or even an inspiring musician or somebody who wants to go into the trades — can be inspiring.”


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Amber brAcken/Edmonton Sun/QmI A

Thursday, June 13, 201312 GAme DAY

25 Robinson, Ramzee DB98 Rowe, Kenny DE 16 Russ, Eddie DB 2 Sanders, Jock RB 17 Schmitt, Ricky P 1 Sheets, Kory RB 74 Shologan, Keith DT81 Simon, Geroy SB 12 Sisco, Jordan WR 88 Smith, Taj WR 76 Spoletini, Thomas LB75 Steinhauer, Levi DL96 Sumlin, Richard DT8 Sunseri, Tino QB 59 Taylor, Hilee DE 11 Thomas, Carlos DB71 Thompson, Mitch WR82 Tolbert, Jonelle WR24 Turenne, Woodny CB64 Valdez, Jose OL 30 Vaughn, Chip DB 54 Vonk, Matt OL 69 Watman, Corey OL62 Wellman, Ryan DE99 Williams, Mick DT48 Williams, Renauld LB5 Willy, Drew QB21 Woldu, Paul CB

83 Harper, Rod WR 3 Harris, Macho DB65 Heenan, Ben G 46 Heygood, Anthony LB61 Hill, Kyle OL 47 Huclack, Cory LB32 Hughes, Neal FB31 Hurl, Samuel LB80 Johnson, Kierrie SB52 Kromah, Abraham LB57 LaBatte, Brendon G 72 Lalonde, Andre RB27 Langford, Reshard DB86 Livas, Phillip R 38 Matechuk, Jordan LB20 Maze, Terrell CB 45 McCullough, Mike LB91 McElveen, Jermaine DT18 McHenry, Scott WR9 McKnight, Brody P/K19 Milo, Chris K37 Moore, Spencer FB53 Neufeld, Patrick T42 Newman, Graig DB50 Peters, Brian LB 68 Picard, Dominic C79 Pisio, Brett LB78 Régimbald-Gagné, Kevin LB85 Riley, Eron WR

10 Alexander, Donovan S95 Alexandre, Gregory DT88 Bamba, Ismael WR40 Benson, Mike LS 4 Bowman, Adarius SB22 Burnett, Joe CB/KR92 Capicciotti, Justin DE86 Carter, Matt WR17 Chambers, Shamawd WR7 Charles, Hugh RB85 Coehoorn, Nate WR68 Coleman, Thaddeus T8 Collins, Dobson WR49 Cornell, Mike LB14 Crompton, Jonathan QB59 Culbreath, Johnny T35 Curran, Rennie LB64 Curry, Branden T9 Dales, Burke P28 Exume, Kyle RB83 Gant, Ed WR36 Grymes, Aaron DB34 Haenni, Brett FB33 Harris, Cary DB6 Harris, Jacory QB89 Henry, Marcus WR12 Hill, T.J. LB57 Hinse, Gord C91 Howard, Marcus DE

edmonTon rosTer saskaTchewan rosTer26 Richard, Donovan LB37 Ricks, Michael DB56 Rockhill, Carson T65 Rottier, Simeon G15 Rwabukamba, Chris CB38 Samuels, Eric DB51 Servais, Taylor OL90 Sewell, Almondo DT39 Sharun, Corbin LB11 Shaw, Grant K47 Sherritt, JC LB70 Silva, Tomas P/K80 Spencer, Owen WR 2 Stamps, Fred SB97 Steele, Eddie DT18 Sweeney, Isaiah WR29 Thompson, Chris DB50 Thompson, Orrin T71 Tucker , Verran WR81 Wallace, Rico WR30 White, John RB32 Williams, Bryan DB41 Willis, Odell DE99 Witten, Lindsey DL79 Wright, Jorge DL44 Wright, Smith FB23 Young, Marcel DB

33 Anderson, Dwight DB 77 Anthony, Alex WR63 Artmitage, Eric OL6 Bagg, Rob WR66 Best, Chris G 51 Black, Tristan LB41 Brackenridge, Tyron LB10 Brown, Levi QB35 Brown, Weldon DB70 Burko, Drew QB28 Butler, Craig S84 Carr, Greg WR97 Chick, John DE67 Clark, Dan G 90 Coleman , Antonio DE15 Collins, Milt DB 43 Crawford, Aaron LB49 Davis, Will DE 29 Dorsey, DeDe RB 7 Dressler, Weston SB4 Durant, Darian QB 92 Evans, Zack DT 22 Ferri, Diamond LB 95 Foley, Ricky DE58 Fulton, Xavier T93 George, Tearrius DT89 Getzlaf, Chris SB26 Green, Stephfon RB87 Hargreaves, Aaron WR

5 Joseph, Kerry QB46 Kanya, Nathan LB21 Kennedy, Austin QB42 Kent, Clint DB53 King, Ryan LS84 Koch, Cary SB54 Krausnick, Alexander C27 Lampley, Tracy RB96 Lang, Brandon DE94 Laurent, Ted DT82 Lewis, Terrance WR19 Lopez, Hugo S58 Louis, Cliff T31 McCarty, Calvin RB62 Mercer, Christopher T24 Merrill, Otis DB25 Miller, Mike S67 Mitchell, Scott T3 Moore, Tavoy RB45 Munoz , Damaso LB55 Ngoyi, Elie DL16 Nichols, Matt QB48 Norris, Kyle LB66 O’Donnell, Matthew T93 Oramasionwu, Don DT43 Pierre, Shea DB87 Pierre, Youssy WR63 Ramsay, Brian G13 Reilly, Mike QB

Might as well jumpOdell Willis takes a jump test at the field house during the Edmonton Eskimos medicals.


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Eskimos quarterback Matt Nichols throws the ball during Nissan Fan Day at Clarke Park.

CoDiE MCLAChLAn/Edmonton Sun AMbEr brACkEn/Edmonton Sun

Marcus Howard during Edmonton Eskimos training camp in the Commonwealth Fieldhouse.

AMbEr brACkEn/Edmonton Sun

Quarterbacks Jacory Harris, left to right, Mike Reilly, and Kerry Joseph during Edmonton Eskimos training camp.


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Remember Vanilla Ice and Salt ‘N Peppa from last year?

Well, forget ’em.The Edmonton Eskimos, as is the case

with some of the significant changes made on the football side of the operation, have made changes on the non-football side.

Ed Hervey is the new general manager. Joyce LaBriola is the new senior director of marketing. And it’s a whole different deal which fans will get a taste of before kick-off of Friday’s pre-season game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The philosophy is almost a complete U-Turn from Vanilla Ice, etc.

“ Ev e r y t h i n g i s local,” said LaBriola. “We’re a community owned team and we owe it to the city to support that.”

A tailgate area, stretching from Gate 11 to 13 on the East (LRT) side of the stadium, will offer a sig-nificantly different welcome to the stadium for fans, featuring a different band for all 10 games this season.

“We wanted to create a football first feel, featuring lots of life and energy capturing the flavor of a tailgate party,” said LaBriola of the challenge of doing so at a stadium which isn’t set-up to lend itself to the tradi-tional tailgate scene.

“We wanted to do it starting two hours before the game, every game. We think that consistency is very important.

“What we’re trying to do is set up a big

beer garden on the East side of the stadium that will be fenced off and be a stand-up, come-in-and-have-a-beer-and-listen-to-some-great-local-musicians-with-friends. sort of scene. We wanted entertainment because you need music at a party.

“The area is bigger than people think. We’ve been zoned to accommodate 4,000 fans.”

LaBriola comes to Eskimos direct from The Citadel where she was marketing direc-tor until February.

“I finished there on a Friday and started with the Eskimos on the Monday,” said the new senior director of marketing with ticket sale renewal responsibilities as well as game

day operations and customer service duties.

She headed up the Eskimo contest to select 10 local s i n g e r s t o p e r-form the national anthem and said the bands are in line with that.

“We want to celebrate the talent that’s in the community.”

The first band up for Friday night’s debut of the concept will be Rend, an energy-filled rock/pop band recently founded by lead singer/songwriter Carol-Lynne Quinn.

SINGING LEADOFF — The first win-ner of the recent anthem singing contest to perform will be former West Edmonton Mall chaplain Ben Kellert, a fan who used his season tickets to give at-risk youth an opportunity to attend an Eskimo game. “I was born an Eskimo fan and to sing the anthem at an Eskimo game is something I always wanted to do. I guess you could say

it’s been one of those bucket list items.”NEW ESKIMOS CHAIRMAN — Bruce

Bentley was elected new chairman of the Edmonton Eskimos at the annual general meeting. Previously the treasurer, Bent-ley was replaced in that position by John Moquin. Chris Bruce b e c a m e s e c r e t a r y . Shareholders of the community-owned club also elected three new members to the board of directors. Jan-ice Agrios, Douglas Cox and Marshall Saad were all elected to join the board with three year ter ms. The y’ l l replace Allan Sawin, Diane Brickner and Harold Roozen. The Eskimos recorded a consolidated profit of $207,060, down from $ 4 7 3 , 4 7 1 l a s t y e a r. The team averaged a

league-high 33,975 fans per game in 2012.HAIL, HAIL MARY — The documen-

tary series which followed football play-ers trying to make the Edmonton Eski-mos won two Rosie Awards — as the Alberta Film And Television best docu-

mentary series (Anaid Pro-ductions) and best editor for a non-fiction under 30-min-utes (Steve Katakami). The series aired on Edmonton’s Citytv during last football season.

U P N E X T , R I D E R S RETURN — Not only do the Eskimos play the Saskatch-ewan Roughriders in their only home pre-season game Friday, but, after they fly to Vancouver for their second pre-season game, the Eski-mos open the regular season at home against the Rough-riders Saturday June 29. The lid-lifter features a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

esks will go local for entertainment

“Everything is local. We’re a community owned team and we

owe it to the city to support that.”Joyce LaBriola, Senior Director of Marketing

Joyce LaBriola came to the Esks in February from the Citadel, where she was marketing director.

EDMONTON SuN FilE

This year, entertainment features will highlight the many local talents in our own community.


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PRINT • ONLINE • MOBILE

Terry Jones:The Godfatherof Sports.

Columnist with attitude

Don’t miss hisregular column.

C

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CM

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54293_Edmonton_TERRY_JONES_10,333x5,714_v1.pdf 1 11-05-19 14:37



It was like being a figure skating judge for the compulsory dance event.

The same song. Over and over again. Thirty times.

Sixty singers in all, including a 25-per-son chorus (the members of whom seemed the most nervous of all) a few duets and an 82-year-old. There was a vocal coach mar-ried to an Eskimo alumni, a soprano who has sung the anthem for two Prime Minis-ters in both English and French,

They all sang O Canada.The Edmonton Eskimos decided the

anthem singers for Friday’s pre-season game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the following nine r e g u l a r s e a s o n games, should be sung by 10 Eskimo fans.

“We’re a commu-nity-owned team and we felt doing some-thing like this was very much in line with who we are,” said project organizer Joyce LaBriola, the new Eskimos senior direc-tor of marketing, adding that this year they also decided to go with local bands for pre-game events in a tailgate tent stretching the length of Commonwealth Stadium on the east side.

So they decided to hold a contest. And they asked anchor Shaye Ganam from Glo-bal and Alex Hindmarch, afternoon host for 92.5 Fresh FM and your correspondent to act as judges with Eskimos’ marketing and game coordinator Amy Moats as emcee.

I was all in.One of many statistics I always wished

I’d kept during my career was the number of national anthems I’ve stood for over the years. It is my belief that I may hold some sort of sports writing record.

National Anthems Stood For, Career – 1. Jones, Terry ....

When you’ve covered as many Olympics

and major games and international cham-pionships in various sports as your agent, it adds up. I mean, in some of those venues, you’re up and down like a toilet seat.

Add all those two-anthem hockey games, it’s a lot of ‘Oh say can you sees’ and ‘true north strong and frees.’

Judge an anthem singer contest? Me? Absolutely!

Finally a chance to screen those anthem singers who stretch the song out forever, extending their moment in the spotlight. Finally a chance to gong those who add their own “styling” to the songs. And the clincher was that, while I’d be forced to judge all those different anthem singers from noon to 4 p.m., I wouldn’t actually have to stand

for any of them!The plan was to

have the entries all s ing the anthem and experience the sensation of being at the centre of the big stadium even if they didn’t end up

a winner. Unfortunately, rain chased every-body inside to the Quarterback Club on the East Concourse. Next year.

I had it in my head I could maybe play the role of Simon Cowell on American Idol or, to go back further, do a thing from the Gong Show. But other than one guy in particular and a mere handful of others, there weren’t many deserving of getting gonged.

They were all good. Several of them ended up being selected. You’ll learn more about them during the season.

Here’s the lineup:

June 14 – Saskatchewan – Ben Kellert.June 29 – Saskatchewan – Candice RyanJuly 13 – British Columbia – Nathalie TateAug. 2 – Hamilton – 6 Minute WarningAug. 24 – Saskatchewan – Melody LovejoySept. 6 – Calgary – Catherine KubashSept. 14 – Winnipeg – Brent SeetaramSept 28 – Toronto – Carol-Lynn QuinnOct. 5 – Montreal – Faith GaertnerOct. 18 – Calgary – Edmonton Opera Chorus

Tuneful fans sing for the team

A total of 60 singers, including a 25-person chorus, auditioned to sing the game-opening anthem


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Thank you to the many businesses and individualswho make it possible for under privileged children

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LinebackerOn Oct. 28, 2012, J. C.

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