Football friends are foes on Sunday Grey Cup 2009

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/11/2009 (6151 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Huclack family would sit down for Sunday supper in Charleswood, there were usually two things they’d feast on: food and football.

The father, Dan, would sometimes get into healthy debates with his two boys, Jason and Cory. Everybody had an opinion, often different.

 

But father always knew best — at least according to him. In fact, every argument ended thusly:

"Let me know when you’ve got two rings and you’ve played nine years," the former Blue Bombers fullback would announce to his sons.

Every time.

For the record, Huclack earned one of those rings with the Blue Bombers in 1984. The other was with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in ’86.

Then one Sunday, another debate. The old man played his ring card. Again.

"And Cory piped up and said, ‘Dad, I’ll play 10 years and get three rings," Dan recalled.

The gauntlet had been thrown, this time from son to father.

But it’s not like Cory Huclack had no game. On the contrary, the kid didn’t really understand the concept of losing at football. In fact, since joining the Charleswood Broncos at the tender age of 11, all the way to his rookie year with the University of Manitoba Bisons, guess how many games Huclack’s teams lost?

Answer: One.

That’s right, one game in seven years. In that time, he helped win five Pop Warner titles and had two undefeated seasons with city champion Oak Park Raiders in high school.

The kid was a rabbit’s foot wearing shoulder pads.

Go figure that Huclack, now a 25-year-old special teams ace and backup linebacker, ended up with the Montreal Alouettes, a perennial CFL power. Now in his third CFL season, Huclack will be making his second Grey Cup appearance this Sunday, having lost last year’s championship to the Calgary Stampeders.

"I’ve been blessed in having good teams around me throughout my career," he said from Calgary, where his heavily favoured Als are preparing to face the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday.

Here’s were it gets kinda weird, though. You see, there’s been another constant throughout Huclack’s football days apart from winning, and it dates all the way back to his pre-teen years.

And that constant is called Donovan Alexander.

The same Alexander who will line up Sunday as a defensive back for the Roughriders. Turns out, Alexander and Huclack first shared the field when they both played for the Charleswood Broncos. Huclack was 12. Alexander was 11.

Time passed, both continued to excel at football, and by the time they were teenagers, Alexander was a star DB with the St. Paul’s Crusaders while Huclack was a fullback/linebacker/punter for the aforementioned Raiders championship teams. Indeed, it was Huclack’s Raiders who beat Alexander’s Crusaders in both city finals.

The two parted ways after high school — Alexander off to the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux while Huclack stayed close to home with the Bisons. But that separation didn’t last. Both were drafted by the Als, who last year advanced to the 2008 Grey Cup final versus Calgary.

"We were joking about it last year," Alexander said in an interview earlier this week. "He (Huclack) was telling me last year that I needed him on my team to win a championship."

So what are the odds that this Sunday, Huclack and Alexander, who was traded to Saskatchewan last off-season, will relive their high school days on the national stage after sharing the same football field so often all these years?

"It seems everywhere I turn in football, I end up seeing his face again," Huclack chuckled. "It’s crazy how things work out. It’s like after I saw Saskatchewan win (the West Final last weekend), I thought I’ll be playing Mr. Alexander for a championship for the third time."

Added Alexander: "They try to keep us (the teams) apart during the week, but I’ll be sending him (Huclack) some text messages. You know, friendly banter. I’ll tell him he’s won his championships in the past. This one’s got to be mine."

We’ll find out Sunday after the Alouettes and Roughriders finish their debate. This time, it’s not a Pop Warner title at stake, nor a high school championship. It’s the 97th annual Grey Cup, witnessed by millions.

Yet it’s not just about CFL bragging rights, at least not for Cory Huclack.

Because there will be more Sunday suppers in the future for the young Alouette, who still lives in Winnipeg during the off-season. There will be more debates at the family table.

In fact, given Huclack’s nose for championship games, his father is already contemplating the day when his son will be able to "let him know."

"I would have to keep quiet, yeah," the elder Huclack acknowledged, on the possibility Cory might end up with a ring or two of his own. "But I’d sure like to see him get the first one this year."

It’s just that who knew a familiar friend and foe would be standing in the way?

Yet again.

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca