Berry right at home in Regina

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2010 (5542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — Doug Berry sauntered up to a trio of Winnipeg reporters, looking quite comfortable all decked out in Saskatchewan Roughrider colours.

“How do you feel in green and white?” asked CJOB’s Bob (Knuckles) Irving.

“Well, how do I look?” said Berry through a large grin.

“What’s the old saying about if you look good you feel good? I’m glad to be here. It’s a great organization and they’re on the right track in the last few years and I’m just really honoured to be here.”

Berry is just one of many faces in new places as the Bombers and Riders knock helmets for the 47th Labour Day Classic. The Rider football staff, for example, features two ex-Bomber head coaches in Berry and Jim Daley, former assistant coach Bob Dyce and GM Brendan Taman.

But this will be Berry’s first game against his old club since he was fired in 2008 — despite leading the club to three playoff appearances in three years, a Grey-Cup berth in 2007 and overall record of 27-26-1.

Asked if he had any lingering bitterness, Berry was calculated in his response. Not surprising, given he finished university as a math major.

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“Not really,” he said with a shrug. “I looked at the roster today and there’s 14 names on the 46 that were there when I was last there. You know, it’s almost to the point where there’s maybe just as many former Bombers over here or in Edmonton or in Hamilton or wherever… its hard to have a personal attachment back to this football team that I left in ’08 because there’s not that many guys there any more.”

Berry said he wasn’t really told by former Bomber president Lyle Bauer why he was whacked at the end of ’08 — he assumes it was because of the 1-6 start to the season, not the 7-4 finish — but also insists that’s old news now.

What he will say is the year in Florida working on his off-season home did help rekindle his love for coaching and the three-down game.

“When I left Winnipeg I had a second home I had to move to and we had a lot of renovations to that and that kept me busy for awhile,” Berry said. “But when August showed up I was watching a lot of CFL games on the Internet or on TV — I caught probably 95 per cent of them — and I started realizing ‘Wow, I’m missing it.’ And then when the projects dried up to keep me busy it was like, ‘What am I really doing here?’ “I love the CFL and I was hoping something good would come along.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca