A 45-year-old grandfather who happens to be the leading passer in CFL history is ready to return to the league.
Sources have told Metro that Damon Allen, who retired before this season, expects to resurface as a backup quarterback with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats or Toronto Argonauts within 10 days.
For more on this story, as well as some new information concerning Ottawa’s increasingly questionable return to the league, check out my newest CFL Report.
• Here’s the latest from those pursuing an NFL franchise for Toronto:
The Buffalo Bills, despite their agreement to play games at the Rogers Centre during the next five seasons, will not – I repeat, will not — permanently move to Toronto.
There’s a new plan in place, and it calls for Ted Rogers et al to acquire another NFL club, possibly the New Orleans Saints or San Diego Chargers, in time for the 2010 season.
• The so-called NFL experience in Toronto earlier this month, incidentally, turned out to be less-than-enjoyable for many fans, some of whom complained to Rogers customer-service executive Will Hill.
The game between the Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers was tolerable, for preseason play, but everything surrounding it – including the ticket prices – were largely loathed.
A notable complaint came from a football fanatic who owns season-ticket subscriptions with the Bills, Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys. Gus Lambrinakos, co-operator of the Ultimate Touch Football League in Toronto, also owns Argos’ season-tickets.
Part of what Lambrinakos wrote to Hill:
"As a season-ticket holder to nine NFL teams (yup – that many), I was truly disappointed with the experience. There (was) no tailgate atmosphere and an awful game-day experience within the stadium. I’d rank it as the worst. . . I’ve been to and I have gone to hundreds of NFL games. We should let Buffalo host these games as we have no right to ruin this for fans who came all the way here to pay ridiculous ticket prices and get little in return. Seeing tickets with a $500 face value being re-sold (before kickoff) for $50 was a shame.”
Hill replied, but Lambrinakos remains upset and dissatisfied.
• The NFL’s regular season kicks off soon, but their telecasts will no longer include commercials featuring moms peddling Campbell Soup.
The company has, er, canned the moms after six years. The reason: Campbell’s research shows its target consumers — men in their 30s – have finally achieved soup independence.
Marty York is Metro’s national sports columnist as well as an
instructor at the College of Sports Media in Toronto.
He
can be heard each Wednesday night on Vancouver radio station CKNW with
Sportstalk host Dan Russell.
Contact Marty at marty.york@metronews.ca
