Ceremonial grip and grin Stumbling into spotlight

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This article was published 24/11/2011 (5415 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — There may actually be two prizes up for grabs here at BC Place on Sunday.

The first trophy, of course, is that Grey Cup thing you’ve been reading so much about.

But you have to wonder if there’s not also a secondary prize that will be determined when the Winnipeg Blue Bombers face the B.C. Lions in the 99th renewal of the Grand National Drunk. That one is called the Annis Stukus Trophy, but you probably know it better as the CFL Coach of the Year Award.

The two leading contenders for that prize — B.C. Lions head coach Wally Buono and Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Paul LaPolice — took the stage here at a downtown hotel Wednesday morning, kicking off Grey Cup Week with the annual coaches news conference.

The contrast between the two men couldn’t have been more striking.

In one chair you had Buono, with his unique mix of charm and grizzle and the easy-going manner of a man who was doing his ninth Grey Cup coaches news conference.

And in the other chair, well, that’s a story all by itself. LaPolice mounted the Grey Cup stage in front of dozens of national media for the first time as a head coach. He took three steps along the raised podium toward his seat behind a Bombers helmet, and promptly slammed into the backdrop and almost fell off the back of the stage, tripping on the end of the riser and catching himself only at the last moment.

It was impossible not to feel bad for the guy. And you felt even worse moments later when the Bombers boss was asked to make an opening statement. Ignoring the microphone directly in front of him, LaPolice rose and headed towards a podium at the side of the stage, only to be directed by the MC to please sit back down.

It was a shaky start, to be sure. But LaPolice settled nicely after that and showed himself to be thoughtful and amusing through an hour’s worth of questions from what passes for the sports media intelligentsia in this country.

LaPolice also paid tribute to the man sitting next to him — and rightly so. Buono is the winningest coach in the history of the CFL with 254 wins in 22 seasons.

But to his credit, LaPolice also wasn’t cowed by Buono. When the B.C. boss said he was mulling whether he wanted to remain as both head coach and general manager in B.C. beyond this year, LaPolice joked: “If you do go, we may have a job for you, in a lesser role.”

Which is kind of bold, when you think about it — a second-year head coach offering an assistant’s job to Buono.

Buono kind of had it coming though. Earlier in the news conference, he went on at length, unsolicited, about how he thinks curfews are counterproductive and suggested that LaPolice — who’s a big believer in curfews — might want to lighten up on his players this week.

LaPolice doesn’t need to take lessons from anyone right now, having taken a 4-14 team in 2010 and moulded it this season into a club that is one win away from Winnipeg’s first Grey Cup title in 21 years.

Of course, Buono has presided over quite a turnaround of his own — only his took place within the same season. After opening at 0-5, there’s a lot of folks who think Buono did his best coaching job ever in turning the ship around so dramatically this year.

That’s the debate as voters consider this week who they will vote for as coach of the year. That voting takes place after the Grey Cup and the crux of the matter is who did a better job turning around his team — LaPolice from last year to this year or Buono from August to now? And if you prefer Buono, well then don’t you have to also take into account that the 0-5 Lions were a club entirely of Buono’s own making in his dual role as GM and head coach?

Buono has been named coach of the year three times over his career; LaPolice hasn’t been around long enough to have won much of anything at this point.

But you have to think a Bombers win on Sunday could very well also tip the balance in a tight coach of the year race to LaPolice, suddenly giving him two prestigious prizes on a head coaching resumé that right now is still very bare.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Tale of the Tape

Wally Buono Paul LaPolice

— Number of CFL wins 254 15

— Post-season record 17-12 1-0

— Number of Grey Cup appearances 9 1

— Number of Grey Cups 4 0

— Number of Coach of the Year awards 3 0