Indulgent Jones endures columnist’s questions

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2011 (5249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WHEN you have played in the CFL for as long as I have, the storylines for an upcoming game just jump off the page at you.

This Friday in Hamilton, the 2011 version of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will kick off the regular season against the Tiger-Cats, but it won’t just be about the first game of the year for two East Division rivals. It will also be the first time former Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterbacking icon Khari Jones is completely in charge of an offensive system in the CFL for the regular season.

As a first-year offensive co-ordinator for the Ticats, Jones will be calling the plays on Friday night and those plays will be selected from his own offensive system. So, merely three days away from this much-anticipated contest, I decided to call Khari to question him about his first kick at the can as a co-ordinator and try and rattle him about facing the team that made him the CFL legend that he is today.

No. 97: I was going to ask you if it’s weird to be calling plays and designing offences to defeat players you used to play with, but then I remembered, there aren’t too many of us left.

KJ: (laughter) You are correct, but yes it is weird. It’s even more weird calling plays for a QB that I used to be on the same team as (Kevin Glenn), a receiver I used to throw passes to (Arland Bruce), and a centre I have taken snaps from (Marwan Hage) . But it feels good all the same.

No. 97: Are you nervous going into this game, as it is your first time as an offensive co-ordinator?

KJ: No, not yet, the nerves always hit me like they did when I was a player, around kickoff time.

No. 97: This is your third year as a coach in Hamilton, and you had one year there as a player. You had five all-star seasons in Winnipeg as a player who rewrote the offensive record book, got a three-year, one-million-dollar deal and had his picture on the side of a bus. It must be hard to coach against the team that made you a quarterbacking legend and put you on the map in the CFL?

KJ: Well, when you put it like that, I guess maybe it is hard, but I never really thought about it up until now. Thanks a lot, Doug.

No. 97: Paul Lapolice was your offensive co-ordinator when you played with the Bombers in 2002. Has he influenced your play calling and how many plays have you stolen from him?

KJ: I steal everything from Paul. I usually show Blue Bomber offensive film during our meetings and tell my guys to just do what they are doing.

No. 97: What is your analysis of our defence from what you have seen on film so far?

KJ: Truthfully, I can’t see anything on you guys because you are too tall for me to get a good look at the film.

No. 97: We both know you must respect your elders and treat them with a degree of reverence. Does this mean I am not going to face any double-teams on Friday?

KJ: You can count on it. I would never do that to you, Doug.

No. 97: You realize if you guys beat us, Im going to pull out footage of you performing in the Nutcracker in Winnipeg and post it on Youtube. And I’m going to repost all of your wife’s marginal columns she used to write about you dancing in spandex in the Free Press on my Facebook wall.

KJ: That’s not good. In that case, there might be a lot of kneeldowns called by me during this game.

No. 97: You must be jealous of the formidable offensive line Kevin Glenn has in Hamilton. No more chucking and ducking like you had to do at the end of your career here in Winnipeg?

KJ: Oh jeeez, you didn’t just go there. Let me think about this. No, that was my style, I enjoyed taking hits after every ball I threw. Is that wrong?

No. 97: Good luck in every game you coach this year, except of course, against us.

KJ: Thanks Doug.

Doug Brown, a hard-hitting defensive tackle with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and even harder-hitting columnist, appears in the Winnipeg Free Press on Tuesdays.