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Canwest News Service
Miller has best quip at news conference
Ken Miller doesn't require a joke writer. The Saskatchewan Roughriders' coach can come up with some one-liners on his own.
That was evident during Wednesday's Grey Cup head coaches' media conference, at which Miller stole the spotlight from the Montreal Alouettes' Marc Trestman.
"We're a throwing football team first," Trestman said in response to an inquiry about the importance of deploying running back Avon Cobourne. "We practise the run almost equally to the pass, though. We feel strongly about our ability to run the football, but we've never hid from the idea that we're a throwing-first football team and Avon's aware of that. We also know that he's an extremely important part of what we do as a runner, so that's all part of it.
"But to say that we're going to run it more or throw it more, with coach Miller right here, I don't know – and we won't know, really, until Sunday when the game starts to evolve."
Upon hearing that, Miller interjected: "Could we settle that you would fumble it more?"
Trestman always has a plan
Montreal Alouettes coach Marc Trestman was bemused by the question at the Grey Cup coaches news conference on Wednesday morning.
"You're going to have to ask Avon (Alouettes running back Cobourne) what he means by anal, because I don't know what that means," Trestman said, laughing. "I don't know how to answer that question.
"Coaches are known to try to prepare and pay attention to detail, and I think that's what Avon meant. We're not perfect at it, but over the course of a week, we try to do things that are in the best interests of the football team."
Even by the standards of a detail-obsessed job description, though, it seems safe to say Trestman scores high on taking care of the details.
"As far as weekly preparation goes, as long as a month in advance, the players know exactly what the schedule is," the back-to-back East Division champion head coach explained. "We try to tell them to continually have a plan. "
Calvillo credits good nutrition for energy boost
Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo attributes much of his success this season to an ongoing fitness and nutrition regimen that has provided him with more mental and physical energy through the course of games and the season.
He believes that translates into fewer mistakes and better play overall – not to mention sufficient energy to whoop it up a bit, as he did late in Montreal's 56-18 victory in the East Division final over the B.C. Lions.
"I really think my energy level has totally changed," said Calvillo. "I remember last year, after the (final), I had to do a sit-down (TV) interview.
"I was tired, I was exhausted, I was grumpy, I wanted to leave. This year, it was like I was ready to go out there and play another game.
"The energy level is nothing like it was in past years."
Calvillo will evaluate future after season
Some might think 37-year-old Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo would be tempted to retire following Sunday's game, particularly if Montreal wins, or even if they do not.
Not necessarily.
"The main thing for me last year was the health of my wife (Alexia Kontolemos)," Calvillo said, referring to her successful battle in 2007 with b- cell lymphoma, a family crisis that delayed his decision on whether to return to play in 2008.
Calvillo left the Alouettes late in the 2007 season to support his wife. Following her full recovery, Calvillo returned to the club for the '08 season.
"I'm going to sit back again when the season's over and evaluate, but honestly, I do feel that I can still play for another couple of years," Calvillo said.
Miller, Tillman have good working relationship
Saskatchewan Roughriders coach Ken Miller was asked about his working relationship with Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman, who is waiting for a summary charge of sexual assault against him to work its way through the justice system. So as not to be a distraction, Tillman has carried out his duties from his home this season.
"We communicate almost daily by telephone," Miller said. "I have seen him periodically at his home, not on a regular basis, so most of our communication has taken place either on the telephone or through e-mail.
"We've been able to work effectively. He has worked with personnel and, as you know, has brought in some tremendous players to help us.
"I've been pretty much in charge of coaching the football team. It has worked successfully."
Johnson to officiate Grey Cup
Head referee Glen Johnson will be joined on Sunday by Ben Major, head linesman Don Cousens, line judge Michel Pinsonneault, side judge Tom Vallesi, back judge Don Ellis and field judge Bryan Taylor on the all-Eastern Canada field crew, which was notified of their game-day assignments on Sunday night via phone calls from Tom Higgins, the CFL's director of officiating. It'll be the first Grey Cup assignments for Major, Pinsonneault and Vallesi.
"It's really exciting, every time," said Johnson. "People say, oh, it's your ninth one, it must be old hat. But absolutely not. Every year, we start the season just like the players, hoping that we have a great season and that we qualify for the Cup. And to get the call, you're just ecstatic. It's hard to find words for it, because it's what we spend six and a half months of the year doing, and another two or three months of the year getting ready to do it. And all the time away from your families – it all kind of comes rushing together when you get the call."
Grey Cup trumps Vanier Cup for Als' Steenbergen
There were no guarantees that Dylan Steenbergen was going to stick around for his entire rookie season with the Montreal Alouettes.
And here he is, practising with the Alouettes at McMahon Stadium in advance of Sunday's Grey Cup game. He won't play Sunday because he's on the injured list, but he'd be in line for a Grey Cup ring just like his teammates.
But if Steenbergen, the seventh-overall selection in last spring's Canadian college draft, had not cracked the Montreal roster, he would have been off to Quebec City with the University of Calgary Dinos for Saturday's Vanier Cup against the Queen's Golden Gaels.
"I'm happy where I'm at. This is a great opportunity for me," said Steenbergen. "I'm having a great transition year, learning from the best, and I'm happy to be here. There aren't any mixed feelings. It would be great to play for the Vanier Cup, but at the same time, I'm happy here. Montreal is my home, and there's nothing to look back upon."
Riders' Best never leaves home without a lighter
Saskatchewan Roughriders left guard Chris Best keeps both a calculator and a lighter on hand in his locker at Mosaic Stadium.
The calculator?
"I'm an engineer, and you never know when you might have to crunch some numbers," said Best, who graduated from Duke University with a degree in mechanical engineering. "And I have a formula conversion chart in my bag, just in case. You never know. Things come up. As an engineer, you have to be prepared. And I just do it for fun sometimes."
The lighter?
"I kind of grew up a little bit of a pyromaniac, I guess, and I got the chance to do a degree in it (Best is about to earn his master's degree in fire safety engineering from the University of Waterloo), so that's about the most official way you can be involved in fire," said Best. "When I was a kid? None of my G.I. Joes, Transformers, Ghostbusters – none of them survived my childhood, through fire, explosives, general abuse. I definitely felt it from an early age."
The mayors Regina and Montreal will square off in a friendly Grey Cup wager.
Regina mayor Pat Fiacco and Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay agreed Wednesday that the civic leader in the losing team's city will purchase two pairs of season tickets for the winning team's 2010 campaign. The tickets will then be donated by the winning mayor to charities of his choosing.
As well, the losing mayor will have to wear the jersey of the victors at a city council meeting and fly the team's flag at City Hall.
