Buono’s orange-coloured glasses
General manager makes an ironclad case for his players
Wally Buono will one day be in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame as coach and general-manager, but as anyone who has tried to make a trade with him over the years will attest, he is already summa cum laude on the B.C. Lions debate team.
He is, of course, slightly biased on a lot of issues and not just when it comes to his team, but whether it was the lousy weather or just his Italian coming out, he was at his competitive best upon hearing the Lions list of nominees for the CFL Awards Wednesday.
Yet it was the manner in which he stumped for his players which was more compelling than the reflex action of reaching for the league stat sheet that normally provides the ammunition for voting members of the Football Reporters of Canada who will decide finalists in six categories next week.
In some ways, it’s been an odd year. No B.C. player leads any high-profile individual category this season, yet the Lions are within a win against the Saskatchewan Roughriders Saturday of having the best regular season record.
So whether it was Travis Lulay, Andrew Harris or Adam Bighill, three of the club’s nominees, Buono seemed to be waging a battle against voting fatigue that didn’t sound much different than when his team won the Grey Cup in 2006 and the Lions took home five of the six major awards beforehand.
Same for Tim Brown, Jovan Olafioye and Jabar Westerman, the Lions’ other nominees in their respective categories (see chart). Buono made a case for all of them, even though a realist might not suggest his team had a chance in more than four categories. The man wearing orange-coloured glasses was only hoping the next round of balloting becomes something more than just a numbers game.
The same goes for coach Mike Benevides, who is involved in the voting process for the first time but sees races that are so close he suggested the stat sheets be put away until the regular season concludes this weekend.
“There’s more information in the games, and for me as an analytical coach, if there’s more data you might as well use it,” Benevides said.
You could do that, or just listen to Buono as he rattled off a few of his nominees in some of the more tightly contested categories.
■ Lulay (most outstanding player): “When you look at the No. 1 offence and the team with the most wins, a lot is predicated on the quarterback. We’re first or second in almost everything, and we don’t have a receiver in the top 16 and the offensive stats are very productive,” he said.
■ Harris (top Canadian): “Look at offensive output,” said Buono, mindful of popular belief the balloting will between his back and Calgary’s Jon Cornish, one of six double nominees in the league. “A running back isn’t limited to running the ball. A running back is limited to offensive output, and Andrew is slightly ahead.”
■ Bighill (top defensive player): “Everything is against him from having more stats,” Buono said of his middle linebacker, who is up against Edmonton’s JC Sherritt, the league leader in tackles.
“Because [Bighill’s] so dominant and has a tremendous impact on the best defence in the league he has more production with fewer plays.”
“He’s making stats on a team which has had much more two-and-outs than any other defence,” said fellow linebacker Anton McKenzie.
■ Olafioye (top offensive lineman): A third nomination in as many Lions seasons makes a relative assessment unimportant to the 24-year-old, other than to measure his progress since becoming a fixture at right tackle. It is, however, rewarding given the mental punch he absorbed upon having his first NFL contract voided by the St. Louis Rams in the offseason for a medical disorder, which Olafioye admitted took some time to process.
“It makes the year a lot better,” said Olafioye, who is in position to try in the NFL again after this season.
■ Brown (top special teams): There are rivals with better touchdown numbers but true to his nature, the Lions returner has quietly produced field position from yardage throughout the year. No matter what happens in the other categories, the eventual winner is guaranteed to be the finalist in the East Division between Chris Williams of Hamilton and Toronto’s Chad Owens.
“But I don’t know of a better player in our conference,” Benevides said.
■ Westerman (top rookie): The lack of alternative is almost more revealing about the age imbalance on the Lions, as Westerman was one of only five eligible candidates.
But the 23-year-old established himself for the future when playing significant minutes this year when Eric Taylor and Khalif Mitchell were out, and already is considered part of the regular rotation on the defensive line.
“For a guy who was straight out of the college draft he was very effective,” said Benevides.