News » which means the earliest the fly-by was a thing

VANCOUVER - Kevin Glenns fill-in role with the B.C. Lions took on greater importance Friday as they prepared for their 2014 CFL season opener. The Lions placed starting quarterback Travis Lulay on the six-game injured reserve list in advance of Saturdays game against the Edmonton Eskimos at B.C. Place Stadium. The move means that Glenn, a 14-year veteran who has built a standout career by being a stand-in, will start for the Lions in more games than planned, barring injury. You can watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO in the second half of a doubleheader at 6pm et/3pm pt. "It takes the pressure off of (Lulay), it takes the pressure off the club. … Its just the smartest thing to do," said Lions coach Mike Benevides. Glenn, a 35-year-old Detroit native, was acquired from the expansion Ottawa RedBlacks in an off-season trade to help offset the effects of Lulays off-season shoulder injury. Benevides was even more grateful for the deal which he sincerely dubbed "the trade of the century" after he admitted the club "miscalculated" Lulays recovery period. It was already known that Glenn would start against the Eskimos, but Lulay, who was placed on the one-week injury list at the start of this week, was expected back soon. Now Lulay, who took part in a walk-through Friday, can not practise with the team for at least four weeks under rules that were revised by the new collective bargaining agreement between the league and players association. Glenn went 10-3 with the Calgary Stampeders last season while helping them post a 14-4 record that was the best in the CFL. But despite a 66.6 per cent completion rate that was the second highest of his career, he was made available in the expansion draft. The RedBlacks claimed him, but he balked at being a backup with the first-year club after it signed former Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Henry Burris. Glenn was in limbo before the Lions sent a 2014 first-round pick to Ottawa for him on May 13. He has quickly made an impression with B.C. by helping his new club go unbeaten in two exhibition games. "The guys have gravitated to him," said Benevides. "Hes a guy thats overcome a lot of obstacles. Hes a winner. He took his team to a championship game (in Calgary in 2012 and Winnipeg in 2007.)" Glenn, who will try to bring the Lions back to glory after his Stampeders beat them in the 2012 Western Final, says hes thankful for his chance with B.C. "I think its a pretty good situation," he said before the club revealed Lulays revised status. "I get an opportunity to continue to keep playing. I get an opportunity to be on the field. … Its just an opportunity to put forth an effort to help a team win in that capacity of the team." Glenns acquisition has emerged as the most important of several changes made by the Lions, who lost former backup quarterback Thomas DeMarco to Ottawa in the expansion draft and veteran signal-caller Buck Pierce to retirement. He is the only healthy Lions quarterback with CFL experience, but has felt comfortable with the schemes injected by new offensive co-ordinator Khari Jones, who was a teammate and coach while they were with Hamilton. "I think were on the right track," said Glenn. "Nobody ever won the Grey Cup in Week 1. But at the same time, you want to see progress, and Ive seen it from the time we started (training) camp until now — and I expect us to keep going up that road." Added B.C. receiver Courtney Taylor: "With (Glenn) here, its almost like we didnt miss a beat." The third-year Lion attributes Glenns success thus far in B.C. to his familiarity with Jones and his experience. "Hes familiar with the offence," said Taylor. "Thats one of the key things why we havent missed a beat. He came in. He knew where guys were supposed to be. Hell tell you where youre supposed to be." With Glenn set to guide the club for a third of the season, if not longer, the challenge now is for the Lions to start proving they can adapt to other changes as smoothly — notably on the offensive line where rookies Andre Ramsey, a 28-year-old left tackle from Ball State and T-Dre Player, a 22-year-old Winnipeg native who played at Northwestern State, will start at left tackle and left guard, respectively. Despite limited experience playing together, centre Matt Norman does not have any concerns about the new-look offensive-protection unit. "Throughout all of training camp, weve had guys rotating in and out of positions, and everybody has shown their worth and their capability to earn those spots," he said. Quarterback protection will also be a key issue with the Eskimos under new coach Chris Jones and their extensively revamped playing and coaching ranks as they try to improve on a disappointing 4-14 record last year. The Eskimos will also start two rookie offensive linemen in left guard Tony Washington, a 28-year-old Abilene Christian product and Andrew Jones, a 21-year-old out of McMaster. Mike Reilly, who was sacked more than any other CFL quarterback last season and put on about 20 pounds of muscle in the off-season to help him withstand hits better, looks forward to seeing how Edmontons offensive and defensive schematic changes, and such personnel additions as free agent cornerback Pat Watkins from Toronto, play out against the Lions. "Theyve been good changes," said Reilly. "Theyve been changes to help us become a championship football team." Notes: Earlier Friday, the Lions announced they had re-signed receiver Courtney Taylor and defensive tackle Eric Taylor to contract extensions. Both were entering the option year of their previous contracts. ... B.C. wide receiver Marco Iannuzzi is out with an undisclosed in injury. … Linebacker Jamall Johnson, who signed on for a second stint with the Lions in the off-season, was elected as a team captain by his teammates. … Rennie Curran is slated to start at middle linebacker in place of the injured J.C. Sherritt (lower body) while rookie Dexter McCoil will start at an outside linebacker spot as a result of the moves. Authentic Jerseys Cheap . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games. Wholesale Jerseys For Sale . With the suspension, Nigeria is unable to take part in any kind of international fixtures. FIFA had issued a warning to the NFF last week after the federation was served with court proceedings from the government that prevented the NFFs president from running the NFFs day-to-day affairs. http://www.authenticwholesalejerseys.net/ . -- Dane Fox scored his 61st and 62nd goals of the season and Brendan Gaunce had a goal and three assists as the Erie Otters downed the Kitchener Rangers 7-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. NFL Jerseys Outlet . Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. Cheap Jerseys From China . Saltalamacchia has agreed to a $21 million, three-year deal with the Miami Marlins, two people familiar with the negotiations said Tuesday.The fly-by. Five guys skating by the bench for high fives after a goal. Ubiquitous in NHL arenas. When did it begin? I wanted to find out, so I called Darcy Tucker. Wed heard that Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay has said he thinks the three-time Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers – his former team – may have started the trend in the early 90s. Tucker remembers doing the fly-by, but not starting it. Ryan Huska, a former Blazer teammate and current Kelowna Rockets head coach, said the same. Drew Bannister played for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the 92 Memorial Cup final against Kamloops. He says the Hounds were already doing the fly-by themselves, as were other OHL teams. Square one. I turned to my colleagues. Ray Ferraro figured it was a thing by 2000, but not a thing he warmly embraced. "I hated it," he wrote in an email. I watched old tapes. The fly-by was definitely happening by 2000. I found examples as early as the 95/96 season, like this one: Saku Koivu in his rookie year. Young players were more likely to do it than old, which is consistent with the widely held belief that junior hockey players were doing the fly-by before NHLers. It trickled up. "It was totally a junior thing. I think it started close to my first year – 95," said Jeff ONeill, who shares Ferraros distaste for the fly-by. "I hate it." But he did give me my first solid lead. "I may be wrong, but I think the Peterborough Petes may have started it." I called Jeff Twohey. Twohey is the GM of the Oshawa Generals, but was with the Petes for 30 years. He started as a scout in 1980, and was general manager for 17 seasons. "I think we were the first team to ever do it," says Twohey. "My gut was that we started it. We had such a tight-knit group back in the early 80s." Definitely smoke. But fire? I asked around. "It was not done when I was in junior from 81-84," wrote Dave Reid in an email. "Late 80s is probably close." Andrew MacVicar played from 86-89 with the Petes. He remembers doing the fly-by, but only on big goals or in the playoffs. "It was supposed to be something really special," says MacVicar. MacVicars specific memory that teammate Billy Huard began doing the fly-by more often and earlier in games as a way to get under the skin of Petes opponents was a dead end, too. Huard has no recollection of doing it at all, let alone having a hand in its evolution. MacVicar thought Jamie Hicks (86-90) would remember. He doesnt. He also thought Mark Freer (85-88) might remember. Freer does, vaguely, but he named Kris King as the possible creator of the fly-by, and King has no memory of it. King then suggested that Twohey might have something to say on the matter. This is about the time I got dizzy. I called Corey Foster, who played in Peterborough from 86-89. He says the Petes were definitely doing the fly-by in his final year with the team, when they went to the Memorial Cup. I went back to the tape library. No Petes games. But we do have the final, and I found a fly-by. Scott Scissons, playing for the Saskatoon Blades. Its a beta version of the fly-by – instead of flying past the bench, the players sort of turn around and just stand there – but it counts. Thats the earliest video evidence we have. It seemed unlikely that the Scissons goal was the fly-bys big bang. I was getting nowhere, so we put the question to twitter. Curious theories poured in. One suggestion had it that the fly-by grew out of Brian Propps unique and unusual guffaw goal celebration. Propp says no. Others blamed Hollywood. I knew the Top Gun hypothesis was a joke, but I watched all of D2: Mighty Ducks and Slap Shot before I realized those were probably tongue-in-cheek suggestions, and references to the Flying V and Steve Hanson.dddddddddddd "Bring the kids. We got entertainment for the whole family." Plenty of people figure the fly-by started at the World Juniors, but we cant find any examples of it before 1991. In Red Deer in 1995, Team Canada was doing the fly-by in its current form: all five players skating by the bench. Before that, the video evidence is less compelling. There are solid signs of it at the 94 and 93 tournaments. In 92 and 91, we know that the goal-scorer on at least a few occasions did the fly-by, though in most cases we cant tell if his teammates joined in, and in some cases we know they did not. (As in this goal by Paul Kariya, for example). Did it start with the Montreal Canadiens? For a brief time, the Habs bench would empty for every goal: everyone celebrating on the ice together. When a rule was implemented to end that practice, the theory goes, the team began the fly-by. Mark Napier, a Canadien from 1978-84, said no. Did it start with the Edmonton Oilers in the mid-80s? Napier (84-86 with the Oilers) said no again. As did Paul Coffey, adamantly. "Why do (the fly-by)? Whats the point? Just celebrate with the guys on the ice, and go line up." That sounds suspiciously like Jester talking to Maverick: "Get your butts above the hard deck and return to base immediately." Maybe I should revisit the Top Gun theory. At this point, I got a tip that the fly-by started in Moose Jaw in the mid-to-late 80s. Lorne Molleken – an assistant coach in his first season with Moose Jaw in 89 – remembers it. He thinks. "What sticks out in my mind is moreso the players high-fiving the fans," said Molleken. The Moose Jaw Civic Centre – or the Crushed Can – had unusually low glass beside the benches, says Molleken, and at some point players got the fans involved in goal celebrations. "We came out of our end and there were piles of kids hanging over the glass," recalled Scott Reid, who played in Moose Jaw from 88-90. "No one else was doing it at the time that I can remember." "Wed do our whole bench and fans from the bench to the hash mark," said Jerome Bechard, a Warrior from 85-90. "We probably skated 20 or 25 feet." But not everyone shares that memory. "I dont remember that," said Theo Fleury, who played four seasons in Moose Jaw. "You just didnt do that," said Fleury, laughing. "If you wanted to start a brawl, you did it." Fleurys last season with the Warriors was 87/88, which means the earliest the fly-by was a thing in Moose Jaw is the following season, 88/89: the same time it was probably happening in Peterborough, and the same time it definitely sort-of happened by seasons end in the Memorial Cup final. Clear as mud. Which brings us to the oddest and most intriguing theory of all: the fly-by was born on a French Canadian television drama about a fictional Quebec City hockey team. Lance et Compte (which roughly translates as He shoots, he scores) aired from 1986 to 1989 in its first incarnation, and, sure enough, theres the fly-by in Season 1, Episode 5, albeit with just the one skater and not the full team. "I remember that the director at the time wanted that shot because it was easy to shoot," says Rejean Tremblay, who wrote on the show. "One camera, five guys skating in front of the beach, you could make it in less than ten minutes." Is it possible that the origin of the fly-by was the brainchild of a cost-conscious French Canadian director? It seems unlikely, but really, its about as likely as anything else. ' ' '