ROBSERVATIONS: Fare ball! Mace, Mueller ready for Red Sox dinner … kudos to the new commissioner … and to a former CFL boss
The fare at tonight’s Regina Red Sox Sports Dinner and Auction will include an M&M.
Mace and Mueller.
Saskatchewan Roughriders Head Coach Corey Mace and the CFL team’s Offensive Co-ordinator, Marc Mueller, are to be the special guests at Regina’s Turvey Centre.
It will be the third appearance by the comedic coaches in a sports-dinner setting.
It will also be a departure from pigskin protocol, which calls for a reliance on carefully scripted plays.
“There is no routine,” Mueller stated. “That’s just the way it is all day, every day (at the office).
“It’s a delicate balance. You know when it’s time to work and to get stuff done. At other times, it’s just having a regular conversation and having fun.”
In that spirit, Mace and Mueller will talk about football — and who knows what else? — at an always-anticipated baseball bash.
“He’ll tell you that he only gets the invite because I’m invited and he’s the plus-one, but I think it’s the other way around,” Mace said.
“People love Larry Mueller and (his son) Marc Mueller. I’m just the fill-in.”
After everyone has their fill of the buffet, M&M will whet everyone’s appetite for football and high comedy.
“I think they’ll ask questions and then, no matter what the question is, you’ll try to dig the other guy a little bit,” Mueller mused. “You just see where it goes from there.
“You can’t have too much planned, because that’s when you get off base. I just want to make sure everybody has a good time and, personally, I think Corey is an easy target, so it will be good.”
Right, Corey?
“For me, Marc’s easy to pick on, so it just comes so naturally,” Mace said, no doubt salivating at the notion.
“He’s got a good wit and a great sense of humour, which is ultimately the main driver and why we’re good friends.”
That has been the case since 2014, when the Regina-born Mueller joined the Calgary Stampeders’ coaching staff. At the time, Mace was in his penultimate season as a CFL defensive tackle.
They became coaching colleagues with Calgary in 2016 and continued to be cohorts until Mace joined the Toronto Argonauts as their Defensive Co-ordinator in 2022.
Mace was named the Roughriders’ field boss on Nov. 30, 2023. Just a week elapsed before Mueller was hired to choreograph the offence.
“We’ve had an opportunity to be around each other for quite some time and grow together,” Mueller said.
“Our kids are the same age and our families are friends. Our daughters are in dance together and our kids go to daycare together.
“We’re together a lot and I think both of us enjoy bugging the other guy, so it kind of just shows.”
Joking aside, Mace and Mueller bring plenty of substance to the table.
“When Marc joined the team in Calgary, I was still playing and we all kind of knew that he was the young buck,” Mace recalled. “He was kind of green and he was on the opposite side of the ball.
“What you knew was how hard the guy worked and how much he cared for the success of the team. He has carried that with him since 2014 — as long as I’ve known him.
“When I made the transition over to the coaching side, seeing how much of a bright mind he was and his work ethic, those are things that you respect, first and foremost.
“We get on each other, but we respect each other for what we do as it pertains to our jobs. But if you’re sitting down having a beer, he’s the guy you want to sit down and have a beer with.
“He’ll crack jokes. He gets it.”
NO BEEF WITH STEW
A rough(rider) calculation: I have done at least 40,000 interviews on behalf of the Roughriders (2023-present) and Regina Leader-Post (1986-2023).
But I can’t think of one chat that quite compares to Thursday’s yak session with Stewart Johnston.
Mere milliseconds after the CFL’s newly appointed Commissioner accommodated my request for a telephone interview, he felt like a long-time friend.
For 23 minutes, it felt like we were casually sitting down over coffee.
Pretty much everything he said in response to my questions appeared in a story that was posted Friday morning on Riderville.com.
There was substance to every syllable he uttered.
What also resonated with me was how personable and relatable he is. Moreover, he is blessed with a sensational sense of humour.
I felt like part-interview, part-studio audience.
The ultimate objective was to produce the aforementioned story on the CFL’s 15th Commissioner.
An accompanying consideration was a segment for Insider Report — a newsletter that is distributed exclusively to season-ticket members.
“Meet the Riders,” a regular feature, was temporarily amended to “Meet the Commissioner” for a newsletter that is to be issued in early May.
Instead of asking a Roughriders player about his hobbies, favourite food, favourite TV show, favourite movie, etc., those hard-hitting questions were posed to Johnston.
While introducing one of the categories, I pointed out that I had never discussed “favourite food” with someone whose first name happens to be edible. So, would Stew nominate stew? (My fingers were crossed.)
No such luck. His wife’s spaghetti Bolognese is delectable.
Then we got to “favourite TV show.” I said: “I’ve never asked this question to someone who has worked in TV!”
Johnston, a long-time elite executive at TSN and Bellmedia, naturally deferred to SportsCentre as a preference before suggesting a reference to a non-sports-related show might be more revealing.
The Johnston Ratings:
(1) The Sopranos.
(1A) Breaking Bad.
Well, guess what? Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris is a Breaking Bad encyclopedia. He can break down that engrossing crime drama series nearly as well as he can dissect a defence.
Naturally, I mentioned that to Johnston, who has been a lifelong friend since Thursday at 1:02 p.m.
His favourite movie: The Shawshank Redemption.
“It’s the perfect movie,” he correctly stated.
The best part of being the CFL Commissioner (so far)? “I get to be obsessed every day with Canadian football.”
I have used those very words to describe my vocational transition. I treasured my 36 years at the L-P, but the opportunity to focus exclusively (OK, obsessively) on the Roughriders and the CFL was impossible to turn down.
All things considered, it was like conversing with a kindred spirit.
My predominant reflection on those 23 minutes: Wait until the fans meet him!
People will absolutely love the new appointee.
It is impossible to make a better first impression.
Don’t just take it from me. Scour the media reports on his introductory media conference. Or check it out on cfl.ca.
He is positive, yet pragmatic, about the state of professional three-down football.
He is quick on his feet, blessed with the ability to provide answers that are as perfect as, well, The Shawshank Redemption.
The resume is impeccable.
The personality is top-tier.
Intelligence? Also off the charts.
Patience? Infinite. After all, he put up with me for twennnnnnty-threeeeeee minnnnnnutes — time that he cannot have back — on an impossibly busy day.
Congratulations to Stewart Johnston on: (a) The Commissionership; and, (b) Surviving the interaction with yours truly.
One more vignette from Thursday’s interview, if I may.
Johnston grew up in Ottawa and, in fact, was a next-door neighbour of former Rough Riders punter/placekicker Gerry Organ.
The new Commissioner’s first CFL memory, dating back to when he was five years old, is of Ottawa’s Organ taking off on a 52-yard run on a fake punt in the 1976 Grey Cup Game.
After Johnston reminisced about Organ’s long-distance run, I discourteously pointed out that Ottawa Rough Riders quarterback Tom Clements was intercepted by Saskatchewan middle linebacker Cleveland Vann on the very next play.
“No, I do not want to hear that,” he responded, feigning (I hope) disappointment. “That’s my one and only memory of that game.
“Frankly, because Mr. Organ was our next-door neighbour, I almost don’t care about the interception. It was his great play and he did that.”
Speaking of great picks: Stewart Johnston as Commissioner!
BILL BAKER’S BIG BIRTHDAY
Breaking news from the too-cheap-to-buy-a-card department: Bill Baker, The Undertaker, turned 80 on Wednesday.
In addition to being a CFL legend, Baker falls into the all-time greats category as a friend.
The past few months have not been the easiest. I have struggled with extreme anxiety.
Knowing that, Baker — I will chummily call him Bill from now on — will check in from time to time, just to see how I am doing.
On each occasion, I see “BILL BAKER” on my phone and try to process how this is happening. The seven-year-old version of me could not have imagined this.
Growing up, BILL BAKER was No. 65 — and then No. 76 — for my beloved Roughriders.
He was the most ferocious defensive lineman I have ever seen.
In 1972, Bill dispatched three Edmonton quarterbacks (Tom Wilkinson, Bruce Lemmerman and Dave Syme) to the sideline in a span of two games.
It was because of The Undertaker that the CFL banned the clothesline.
In addition to playing with the Roughriders for eight seasons (1968-73, 1977-78), Bill was the team’s General Manager during the 1987 and 1988 campaigns.
In Year 1, Bill was a key figure in a successful, save-the-team telethon. The Undertaker would not allow the Roughriders to expire on his watch.
In Year 2, Saskatchewan snapped a playoff drought that had stretched back to 1976.
Bill resigned as the GM shortly after the 1988 season to become the CFL’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
As part of his responsibilities, he presented the Grey Cup to the winning team — his beloved Roughriders — in 1989.
Bill was subsequently enshrined in the SaskTel Plaza of Honour (1990) and Canadian Football Hall of Fame (1994).
His playing career ended, fittingly enough, by sacking another Hall of Famer (Edmonton’s Warren Moon) for a safety touch.
The Roughriders’ Oct. 29, 1978 visit to Commonwealth Stadium was also the farewell appearance for Ron Lancaster as a CFL player.
In storybook fashion, Ronnie threw a fourth-quarter touchdown pass (to Joey Walters) to produce a 26-26 tie. Bob Macoritti’s convert produced what proved to be the winning point.
The Little General subsequently scored an insurance TD on a quarterback sneak. Macoritti’s extra point fattened the visitors’ lead to 34-26.
As a punctuation mark, Bill trapped Moon in the end zone, completing the scoring in a 36-26 Roughriders victory.
How many other defensive linemen can say they impacted the scoreboard on the final play of an illustrious career?
Bill Baker is, for so many reasons, one of a kind.
ROLL CREDITS …
• Nice people who deserve a plug: Stewart Johnston, Bill Baker, Ryan Jupp, Noah Pelletier, Aldo Galvan, Dave Thomas, Corey Mace, Marc Mueller, Jordan Greenly, Pete Paczko, Kyle Carson, Samuel Emilus, Mike Woytowich, Jaxon Ford, Alan Ford, Sally Ford, Dale West, Steve Mazurak, Cindy Schneider, Brett Lauther, Jill Lauther, Troy Lauther and Mitch Picton.
