Tuesday, September 04, 2007

TOUGH SLEDDING FOR CANUCK TAILBACKS

Here's something to indulge the nostalgia of you Ottawa CFL fans: The Vancouver Sun caught up a few weeks back with former Riders running back Orville Lee, which was germane since he's the last Canadian to win the league rushing title and there was talk that Jesse Lumsden could do this season.

Lee, at 43, still looks like he could suit up tomorrow if he was asked to, but saying that would probably trivialize the work he and his spouse, Ruth, do with a non-profit youth charity. His insights into the hard road Canadian running backs face in winning over the American player-personnel guys are definitely worth a read.

Stat geek moment: It's hard to believe there was an age when someone could lead the CFL with 1,075 yards in an 18-game season as Lee did in '88. B.C.'s Joe Smith and Winnipeg's Charles Roberts could each hit that in just 11 games. Unless either one gets hurt, the shoulder injury that kept Lumsden out of yesterday's Hamilton Ticats' folderoo vs. the Argos (saw that coming from about a four-hour drive away) and his team constantly having to play catch-up in the second half is going to squelch that talk. (That said, Lumsden is still frigging amazing -- eight yards per carry this deep into the season?)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dude is a LEGEND up at SFU, that much I can tell you. Great story!

P.S. Dave Johnson is a great coach who has paid a heavy price for one mistake from nine years ago. He'll turn things around at SFU if given time.