Another QB slips away
Stamps had chance to sign McManus
By ERIC FRANCIS -- Calgary Sun
If Jim Barker and/or Mark McLoughlin were still heading up the Calgary Stampeders, the CFL's hottest quarterback would likely be wearing Red and White instead of Black and Gold.
Recognizing the need to find someone to replace Marcus Crandell as starter, the former head coach and team president looked hard into snagging Hamilton Tiger-Cats veteran Danny McManus from a dire situation in Steeltown late last year.
The Ticats owners had abandoned the once-proud franchise mid-season, leaving the league to take over the club. On the tail end of a 1-17 season, the Ticat players were understandably concerned about their future and most players just wanted out of a city where football fans had made like the owners and disappeared.
Coming off the worst season of his career and unsure whether he'd be wanted back in Hamilton or anywhere else, the 39-year-old pivot looked into several possibilities, including Calgary, where he expressed interest in relocating.
With a pricey option year left on his contract, most believed he'd be waived by the Ticats, allowing the Stamps to open more official discussions with the quarterback over salary.
The idea would have been to keep Crandell on staff at $70,000 (he received no signing bonuses this year) where he'd be a backup and learn from one of the league's most prolific passers.
The cost of acquiring McManus would likely have been less than $150,000 given his limited options, age and his horrific showing last year.
However, incoming Ticats owner Bob Young made a pledge to keep McManus, who's thrown for more than 1,500 yards in four games. He sustained an apparent concussion last week in a loss to Toronto.
After Barker was fired for Matt Dunigan, and McLoughlin handed the presidency over to Ron Rooke, rumours flew that Dunigan was also looking into acquiring McManus. Instead, the club's only move to shore up its biggest deficiency came via a large trade with Ottawa that landed the club Romaro Miller, who was cut during training camp.
AROUND THE HORN: Two Sundays ago against Hamilton, the Stamps played a rare regular-season home game in inclement weather. Part of the reason the Stamps have been able to string together so many crowds of 30,000-plus stems from the fact the club has been blessed with brilliant conditions for almost every one of the team's home games since Larry Ryckman owned the franchise. That all ended July 4 when the turnstiles showed slightly more than 14,000 braved the weather at McMahon. (Ticket sales were announced at 26,884.) Illustrating just how cold and miserable it was that afternoon, hot chocolate sales eclipsed beer sales for the first time in team lore ... Although a second-line centre for $3 million is a luxury the Flames obviously couldn't afford, Craig Conroy will be missed by teammates, fans and the media, who could always count on him for a quote or 10. "You guys are going to have to find some new quote machines now," laughed Jarome Iginla. "I don't know if one guy can fill that area." The top two candidates to try will likely be Andrew Ference and Mike Commodore, who often produce gold when asked for comments ... True story illustrating just how much Conroy enjoyed talking: On deadline and in search of a quick post-game quote, I grabbed Conroy for a quick question. Giving me the kind of quote I needed immediately, I waited patiently for him to finish his thoughts before bolting. He wouldn't stop talking. Iginla walked by and saw me doodling on my notepad as I waited, prompting the captain to chime in: "Just walk away Eric -- that's what the rest of us do." ... Andy and James McCreath, designers of the wildly popular 'Hangin' in the Dome, Chillin' with Jarome' T-shirts, have donated $10,000 to charity. The brothers, who grew up playing sports against Iginla in St. Albert, sold more than 1,200 shirts during the Calgary Flames' playoff run. KidSport Calgary and Vibe Kids each received cheques for $5,000. The T-shirts, which featured a photo of a nine-year-old Iginla, were sold to people as far away as Australia and Europe. Iginla, who announced last week he will become a father in October, gave the brothers permission to use his likeness providing proceeds went to children's charities.
PARTING SHOTS: A lot has been made of Steve Fainaru's scathing series in the Washington Post fingering commissioner Bud Selig for running the Expos out of town. Truth is, the fans (or lack thereof) and the various owners of the club did a fine job of ruining the franchise long before the commissioner played any role in its demise ... Given the way cancer ravaged his body and threatened his very existence, what Lance Armstrong has accomplished for himself and for cycling the last five years is, for my money, the greatest accomplishment in sports history ... Nice work by Stampede officials to spell Matt Dunigan's name wrong on the car he was riding in during Friday's parade ... Regardless of what their current standings suggest, there's little question the Edmonton Eskimos will make the playoffs and the Hamilton Tiger Cats won't ... Given his size and skills, Vincent Lecavalier would be an excellent sub for Steve Yzerman if only the young Lightning star had a heart.
