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VIEWPOINT: CHRIS CUTHBERTMaciocia:
a model coach
Danny Maciocia could have bowed out. He didn't and
because of it Canada is celebrating a global under-19 football championship.
Maciocia honoured his commitment to coach Canada's junior team at the worlds on Super Bowl weekend in Jacksonville even after he was named head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos.
When Maciocia succeeded Tom Higgins in Edmonton, he fulfilled a dream that began in the 1970s when he attended CFL games with his father at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.
As a youngster, he was in attendance for the famous 1977 Grey Cup game as the Alouettes routed the Eskimos with the help of Tony Proudfoot's infamous staple gun. It would later be known simply as the Ice Bowl.
Now, Maciocia has the reins of the Eskimos and the responsibility of upholding the franchise's winning tradition. With free-agent season fast approaching and a defensive coordinator vacancy to fill, Danny could have taken a pass on the one-month commitment to Canada's junior program.
Instead, he conducted a December tryout camp and a training camp in January to prepare Team Canada for its upset victory over the perennial champions from the United States.
The victory provided a couple of insights into why Maciocia will be a successful CFL head coach.
First, he takes a personal interest in his players.
He arranged for private sponsorship which enabled star running back Jerome Messam to make the trip to Jacksonville. Messam not only ran roughshod over the opposition but converted the opportunity to claim a scholarship from Rutgers University.
Secondly, when Maciocia discovered that the U.S. team had been sized for championship rings before the final, he dangled that motivational carrot in front of his players to achieve the desired result.
Now with his own world championship ring, Maciocia can focus all his energy on winning his first Grey Cup ring as a CFL head coach.
In other football news, the first major battle of
the CFL year is over Dave Ritchie.
Both the Eskimos and B.C. Lions are courting the former Blue Bomber boss to become their defensive coordinator. Ritchie is a defensive specialist who would make a significant impact on how the west is won in 2005.
Most importantly, it's great to see that Dave has recovered from bypass surgery last fall and is ready to return to the sidelines.
On the hockey front, Groundhog Day has come and gone
and yet we keep waking up to the same old lockout story day after
day.
Red Fisher, the dean of hockey writers, provided a respite from the tedium with a fascinating Montreal Gazette series on the Top 10 Montreal Canadiens he has covered over his distinguished 50- year career. For the record, Red's top 10 includes Jean Beliveau, Rocket and Henri Richard, Guy Lafleur, Doug Harvey, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard, Bob Gainey, Dickie Moore and Boom Boom Geoffrion. Red has forgotten more about the Canadiens than I'll ever know, but I was surprised that he did not include a goaltender on his dream team.
Over those 50 years of glory, Jacques Plante and Patrick Roy revolutionized the goaltending position, while Ken Dryden backstopped the 1970s Habs dynasty.
Plante and Dryden are enshrined in Hockey's Hall of Fame while Roy is a Hall of Famer in waiting. One could easily make a compelling case for any or all three to be included in a Canadiens Top 10. For a hockey team to be successful it's crucial that the goaltender be one of its 10 best players.
In fact, few – if any – championship teams or dynasties are built without the foundation of exceptional goaltending.
Who is the Canadiens' best goaltender of all-time? Let's leave that up to Red.
Now that the [salary] cap is
accepted, bring the negotiators back in, and meet halfway. Owners want
a $40 million cap, players want 52, so meet halfway, and thats a $36 to 46
million dollar cap, and add in some serious revenue sharing and we have
hockey. I am firmly in the owners' corner, but the fans won't put up with
the owners now that the players have conceeded a cap. Negotiate or forever
hold your peace ... and forget hockey as we know it.
And who says that the season needs to be shortened that much? Is there a
law against playing into June, for this season, then a shortened
off-season? Both sides would profit from a longer season, and from a
shortened off-season, not to mention all the folks that lost their work, bet
they wouldn't mind working into June or August.
Mark Conabree
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For Chris Cuthbert, versatility has been the key
to success.
A Queen's University graduate, Cuthbert got his start at Radio CFRC with play-by-play
coverage of the Queen's Golden Gaels - Vanier Cup champions - while still a
student. From there, at radio station CJAD in Montreal, he was the voice of
the Montreal Manic of the NASL and the CFL's Montreal Alouettes and Concordes.
In 1984, Cuthbert moved to Edmonton to work for CBC Sports.
Along with his play-by-play duties for the CFL on CBC, where he made his Grey
Cup debut in 1996, Cuthbert also called the play-by-play for Hockey Night in
Canada's second game of the weekly doubleheader.
In addition, Cuthbert hosted CBC's coverage of the World Figure Skating Championships
and he was figure skating commentator at the Nagano and Salt Lake City Olympic
Games. He also covered gymnastics and cycling at the Commonwealth Games.
Cuthbert received glowing reviews for his work as the rowing and canoe/kayak
commentator at the 2004 Olympic Games. He also had the call of the controversial
figure skating events – revolving around Jamie Sale and David Pelletier
– in Salt Lake City at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
An episode that aptly demonstrated Cuthbert's true versatility occurred during
a NHL playoff game in 1988 in New Jersey, where he learned about the pressure
of live television. A power failure in Montreal forced Hockey Night in Canada's
to switch to a Washington vs. New Jersey game. Cuthbert was supposed to supply
updates to the national broadcast but when focus shifted, he became host, analyst,
commentator and runner. Cuthbert was nominated for a Gemini Award for that program.
Cuthbert co-authored The Rink - Stories from Hockey's Hometowns with
fellow CBC Sports broadcaster Scott Russell.
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