Canada gonzo

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/02/2009 (6269 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It was not only Tom Canada’s mantra, but his approach to every day on the planet. In fact, the Costa Rican saying he used to sign off every e-mail and end every conversation may just be the perfect representation of his free-spirit personality:

‘Pura Vida’ — ‘pure life.’

And so when word came down Friday afternoon that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers had officially released the popular defensive end — mercifully ending speculation that dates back to the team’s attempt to trade him to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats last September — his response was brief, but predictable.

"Yea bro they released me today at 4:01 central," said Canada in an e-mail to the Free Press from his plot of land in Costa Rica. "Freaking weird but such is life. I was kind of expecting it, though, since I had a large (salary) bonus due in a couple weeks.

"Not sure what I’ll do now but I’ll let you know. But the surf is good."

That, in a nutshell was — is — Canada. It was just over five years ago when the Bombers reached the long-haired Californian on a white-water raft and offered him a contract to extend his career in the Great White North. He hopped off the plane in Winnipeg on a chilly day in May of 2004 — in shorts and flip-flops — and almost instantly became a fan favourite.

His motor didn’t stop and he brought his ‘pura vida’ approach to the Bomber defence. He wasn’t always where he was supposed to be on the field and he had a penchant for taking the odd dumb-ass penalty — or playfully yanking the flag from a ref’s back pocket as he did in one game — but he could also get after the quarterback. His 41 sacks, in fact, ties him for fourth on the Bombers’ all-time list behind Tyrone Jones, Tony Norman and Gavin Walls.

But his play did drop off dramatically last season, so much so, that after registering just three sacks through the first half of the season and looking lethargic, the Bombers attempted to trade him to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for Zeke Moreno. Canada first balked at the move, threatening to quit the game, before the deal came crashing down when it was discovered he had an enlarged spleen.

Even so, as new head coach Mike Kelly and his staff evaluated game film from the last couple of years they came to this conclusion: Canada wasn’t the same player he was in 2007 and it was time to cut him.

"We’re really excited about the front four of Gavin Walls, Doug Brown, Tyrone Williams and Kai Ellis," Kelly said last night. "And then you’ve got Shawn Mayne as a young, solid Canadian and rotational player. Put those linebackers behind our front four… that’s a good group right there and we just didn’t see where Canada and his productivity matched up with what we already have in place.

"He didn’t have quite the same burst that we had seen in past years and I can’t address that directly because I wasn’t coaching him. All I know is as a coach going against him there wasn’t the same production that we saw in the past." Kelly was very understanding of Canada’s popularity — he was unofficially right up there in jersey sales with Milt Stegall and Charles Roberts — but said the club also has to put its best 42 players on the field, not just fan favourites.

"Popularity isn’t a factor at all, it really isn’t," said Kelly. "I’ve already got an e-mail from someone who says she is a loyal Bomber fan. Hey, I understand the whole popularity thing and guys have a niche with certain demographics. But we’re not trying to win a popularity contest, we’re trying to build the strongest football team in the smartest manner we can."

Canada’s release is the third transaction of the week for the Bombers, who cut Matt Sheridan last Saturday and Stanford Samuels on Thursday. And Kelly didn’t rule out a return for Samuels, although the club will continue to scour for defensive back talent at free-agent camps in the U.S.

"We spoke with Stanford (Friday) and told him, ‘Just hang in there,’ " said Kelly. "This was a business decision, not about him as an individual. We told him to keep working on his rehab (off-season knee surgery), get ready to go and we will re-entertain thoughts of bringing him back. But we want to see how he’s progressing with his rehab first."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca