Wally Buono instilled a winning culture in the Stampeders during his 13-year tenure with the team.Wally Buono instilled a winning culture in the Stampeders during his 13-year tenure with the team. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"The Eskimos have been beating the Stampeders for so long, 17 of the past 18 games, that the response to the opening whistle is Pavlovian. The Stampeders roll over and wait to get beaten." — Al Strachan, Globe and Mail, Sept. 4, 1990.

It was 228 wins, 115 losses and three ties ago that new head coach Wally Buono was being looked upon by many Calgary fans, and a lot of the local media types, as just another potential bum in a long list of bums going back almost two decades.

Today, of course, the now-B.C. Lions' field boss and general manager is on his way to the hall of fame as he closes within three victories of tying Don Matthews for most wins by a CFL coach.

But back in January of 1990, when the former assistant was elevated into the hot seat upon the exit of Lary Kuharich, there was more than a little scepticism.

For one thing, over the prior decade the Stamps had welcomed and waved goodbye to Ardell Wiegandt, Jerry Williams, Jack Gotta (second time), Steve Buratto, Bob Vespaziani and Kuharich. The Grey Cup slump traced back to a 1971 win in the pouring rain of Vancouver over Leo Cahill and the Toronto Argonauts.

Memorable debut

There's a statistical anomaly in Wally Buono's 228-115-3 record that few football head coaches can claim: His first game was a tie.

It's also one of only two contests from 1990 he has any clear memory of, and it involved the first CFL game for another future legend — Doug Flutie, then of the B.C. Lions.

"And the famous Doug Flutie did what he did that made him famous — threw a Hail Mary on the last play of the game to tie the game up. It was unbelievable," Buono remembers.

Flutie had made his name by throwing a famous Hail Mary to beat Miami while at Boston College.

"Doug Flutie has always been Doug Flutie. He just became bigger than life when you played against him and coached against him," says Buono, who two years later would get the pleasure himself for what would ultimately be four big seasons after the QB signed in southern Alberta.

As for the rest of the 1990 year, well, it's hazy.

"Somebody asked me and I don't remember anything about that year other than the tie. I remember we lost in the Western Final [to Edmonton]. That's what I remember."

Worse, though, was the way the city and its media looked upon itself as poor second cousins to those big, bad old boys up the road in Edmonton. Think Flames fans had an inferiority complex when it came to the NHL juggernaut Oilers?

"In the football world, it was not even close. Not even close. Not even close," says Buono, trailing off at the memory over the phone from Vancouver, where he was already in the office at 6 a.m. local time.

Hot start for 'Wallyball'

Chatting about those early days, the man whose wide-open offensive style was quickly dubbed "Wallyball" remembers it took a while to convince people times were different in the land of the white stallion.

"There were a lot of naysayers, right? A lot of people didn't want to believe. Because it was like, how many times are you going to get jilted before you believe that life is tough?

"They had been jilted so many times that they were not going to let a little success fool them," he says.

And there was early success — a 4-0-1 start and 204 points scored — that for a team whose 10-8 season the year before was considered startling. Then along came Game 6. Against Edmonton. A contest Buono and his new club lost 46-20.

A couple of weeks later Calgary was 5-2-1 and played the Eskimos again. Lost 38-4. And again seven days later. Lost 34-17.

Naysayers, Wally? Yes, there were a few.

"That's okay," he says now. "It wasn't so much it was tough, I think, it was either cynical or it was apathetic."

The team finished 11-6-1, won the Western Conference, beat Edmonton in the final week but then were hammered by the Eskimos in the West final.

Just win, baby

But Buono and his new director of scouting, Roy Shivers, were determined to do things their way and that meant bringing in a new attitude, one based on doing what it takes to win — something the coach had learned both growing up and playing in Montreal where victory from all the local clubs was expected.

"It was just an attitude we were going to bring in and, at the end of the day, everything was going to be predicated on winning," he says. "And if you couldn't help us win, then you were not going to be part of what we thought the future was."

Hard to imagine now, but Buono was criticized for getting rid of guys who were considered good in the community. They didn't necessarily win, but they showed up for pancake breakfasts.

Didn't sway the new coach, who believes in getting involved but after the job's done.

"If you're good in the community, you should get into community relations, right? Football players get paid to win, not to be good in the community."

Buono and his ways would eventually sway Calgary and convince the city they could give their hearts to the Stampeders — especially when they won the Grey Cup in 1992, their first of three titles under Buono.

But it was a moment in 1991, when the Stamps beat Edmonton in the final to win the West, that the coach saw first-hand how things had changed.

"We landed at the airport. What do you think [it] would be [like] in a normal city? There would be nothing. There would be nothing," he says. "You come home, you get ready for the Grey Cup … there might be a few people.

"There were thousands of people at the airport," and even from 4,492 or so kilometres away you can hear what it meant. "So, that tells you something."

It tells you the people of Calgary had finally bought in.