Jan. 31 - NW: O'Mahony to Stamps, Johnson new SFU boss

[Jim Mullin]

Well, after a year of reflecting on if he enjoyed the game enough to return, Duncan O'Mahony will return to the CFL with the team that he started with, the Calgary Stampeders.

Many will remember the disaster of a campaign in 2004 here in BC, which launched the former UBC product into free agency.

What many folks won't remember is his trip to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers camp in 2005, where he disappeared en route. Before his face could turn up on the side of milk cartons across Manitoba, O'Mahony resurfaced and gave his $3,000 signing bonus back to the Bombers as a sign of good faith. However, Bombers GM Brendan Taman wanted no part of Duncan and his troubles. He took the money back, but was unwilling to offer him a second chance.

In Calgary, O'Mahony will focus on punting only, which is wise since he only showed flashes as a place kicker, mostly in the Canada West with UBC where he nailed a career best 52-yard field goal.

Anyway, there is next to zero chance that he could unseat Sandro DeAngelis, who was the leading place kicker in the CFL in 2006. Instead he is earmarked to replace the inconsistent Burke Dales.

JOHNSON RETURNS TO BC

Former UBC Head coach Dave Johnson has paid his penance for a brawl in campus pizza parlour with one of his assistants in 1998. Johnson lost his job in the incident, and was replaced by Jay Prepchuk on the Point.

Johnson has been asked today by the SFU braintrust take over the stumbling football programme which has become the biggest embarrassment in Canadian university football this side of the U of Toronto Varsity Blues.

Johnson has been a coaching vagabond since his ouster from the T-Birds, stopping at the University of Calgary as an assistant, the Abbotsford Air Force as a head coach and in Phoenix in the high school system while operating a financial firm in Arizona.

SFU is working on a 17-game winless streak that dates back to 2004.

Edmonton native Frank Boehres stepped down from the job after only one year and an 0-8-0-1 record.

[KnowItAll]

I must say this confuses me. Why wouldnt it be good enough to just put this in CFL forum, or CFL NEWS forum??

[TheLionKing]

Should be an interesting show down when SFU plays UBC. It's going to take a few years to re-establish SFU football.

[Jim Mullin]

I must say this confuses me. Why wouldnt it be good enough to just put this in CFL forum, or CFL NEWS forum??

So people complain when I post stories we break in those forums, then others complain when I post it in blog because it wasn't in those forums.

I can stop if you want to.

[KnowItAll]

I must say this confuses me. Why wouldnt it be good enough to just put this in CFL forum, or CFL NEWS forum??

So people complain when I post stories we break in those forums, then others complain when I post it in blog because it wasn't in those forums.

I can stop if you want to.

no, I am not complaining. No skin off my nose. I just dont get it. Why would people complain about you putting CFL news in CFL forums. Isnt that the core reason for sites like this??

I thought Blog was like a Diary, simply for peoples experiences, opinons, and\or thoughts, etc, not news??

I am just having a hard time getting a handle on this Blog thingy.

[KnowItAll]

BTW - how did you "break" the story when I saw the same info on other sites just as soon???

Maybe I dont get BREAK either

[nelson95]

Should have been Terry Bailey

Hope he's in for the long term seeing SFU will take years to rebuild.

[TheLionKing]

I appreciate Jim for taking the time to post the information on this forum. I don't get to listen to NW all day.

[Jim Mullin]

Okay...

1.) There will plenty of navel gazing, personal scribbling, etc. within this blog. But I'm also using it for breaking news when it rolls through our newsroom. It's dual purpose. My next story may be about "Taser Cribbage" in Tokyo.

2.) If you want to know who broke the O'Mahony story, check out the first paragraph of the TSN story. As for the SFU story, the TEAM wasn't close, Rob Fai at WX was working hard to find it and put pressure on me, Howard Tsumura of the Province was one person away from having it confirmed, and I found the right person to have it confirmed and we had it at 3:25 yesterday. The TEAM didn't report it until Howard had a chance to run it in the Province today.

We don't break all the stories in this market, but, without play-by-play it makes us work that much harder to be the best news bureau in the city.

[Rammer]

Okay...

1.) There will plenty of navel gazing, personal scribbling, etc. within this blog. But I'm also using it for breaking news when it rolls through our newsroom. It's dual purpose. My next story may be about "Taser Cribbage" in Tokyo.

2.) If you want to know who broke the O'Mahony story, check out the first paragraph of the TSN story. As for the SFU story, the TEAM wasn't close, Rob Fai at WX was working hard to find it and put pressure on me, Howard Tsumura of the Province was one person away from having it confirmed, and I found the right person to have it confirmed and we had it at 3:25 yesterday. The TEAM didn't report it until Howard had a chance to run it in the Province today.

We don't break all the stories in this market, but, without play-by-play it makes us work that much harder to be the best news bureau in the city.

Also of note is that TSN knows the story is credible and jumped on it right away.

I am in your corner Jim, kep them coming, and I like the idea that this forum is going to have your service here.

[KnowItAll]

ok, here is another dumb question, which number is cknw. I dont listen to radio much and when I do, its Cisl for good music, 1130 (I think) for news, and 7something for traffic. Used to listen to CFUN all the time 30-40 yrs ago, but cant remember their number either. What does cknw do when not doing sports?? or is it all sports all the time?

BTW - Jim, do you by any chance know Don Percy and First Lady Lorraine?

[Jim Mullin]

ok, here is another dumb question, which number is cknw. I dont listen to radio much and when I do, its Cisl for good music, 1130 (I think) for news, and 7something for traffic. Used to listen to CFUN all the time 30-40 yrs ago, but cant remember their number either. What does cknw do when not doing sports?? or is it all sports all the time?

BTW - Jim, do you by any chance know Don Percy and First Lady Lorraine?

No, I remember Don Percy but never met him.

CKNW is at 980 AM... KOMO is at 1000, so you can get tripped up on that from time-to-time.

A good radio guide is http://www.nwbroadcasters.com .

[Toppy Vann]

Interesting choice for SFU coach. Don't know the guy but wasn't it he and the Moj now of radio fame that got in that dust up when they were coaching UBC?

Good report Jim. Why does someone need to complain where it is posted??!! Too much time on your hands or what?

[nelson95]

You rock Jim Mullin. Keep the info coming. Are you doing UBC/SFU games this season?

[Lionut]

Interesting choice for SFU coach. Don't know the guy but wasn't it he and the Moj now of radio fame that got in that dust up when they were coaching UBC?

It was then Defensive Coordinator and current Alouettes DB coach Noel Thorpe whom Johnson hit. It wasn't like a shove either -- Thorpe ended up with two broken ribs and a broken nose, but IIRC he refused to press charges. Now, I gather that Dave was just one of many people who would have liked to do those honours, as Thorpe wasn't the most well loved guy. (He's a woodpecker, truth be told.) The fact is, though, that it wouldn't have happened had Dave been drinking Pepsi that night instead, if you know what I mean.

I always felt badly for Dave, as he paid a high price for his mistake, but he is lucky to still be coaching at all. He is a hell of a coach and a very knowledgeable football guy, though, and everyone deserves a second chance. I'll tell you one thing -- his teams will not be out-hit or out-hustled. It may take some time, but he'll get things turned around up there eventually.