Tuesday, June 03, 2008

A story that never gets old


The story of Andre Durie, the best CIS running back of his generation (which, if you know your CIS football, is a very strong statement), just keeps getting better.

Had the 26-year-old recovered enough to gain a single CFL rushing yard it would have been made-for-TV movie stuff. That he's shed his knee brace and is preparing to do battle for the Argos starting tailback position--not typically a place one finds non-imports in the CFL--is summer-blockbuster-staring-Cuba Gooding Jr. stuff.


3 comments:

sager said...

Has anyone ever noticed that Jesse Lumsden and the guy who played Billingsley in the movie verson of Friday Night Lights are dead ringers for each other? (And neither won the championship -- sorry, still bitter over that 2002 Yates Cup.)

Dennis Prouse said...

Great story. I am not an Argo guy in any way, shape or form, but I will be quietly rooting for Durie. Conventional wisdom says that even after a garden variety blown ACL, most running backs never get their mojo back. For this guy to recover from his injury, which sounded rather Willis McGahee-esque, is remarkable.

I loved Stubler's line about not wanting a guy who gains 100 yards one week, then tweaks a hamstring the next. Nothing drives coaches more crazy than those thoroughbred type running backs who run beautifully when they are healthy, save for the fact that they are rarely truly healthy. It's a bit of a tough rap in that running back is a position where you are absorbing a hellacious beating every week, but nonetheless you definitely want and need a guy with some durability back there. (Sean Millington was, to me, the perfect CFL back - he could get the tough yards, block, and play special teams, all with a Canadian passport.)

sager said...

he could get the tough yards, block, and play special teams, all with a Canadian passport.

You're gonna love Mike Giffin!