Hey, how hard is this?
Return from bankruptcy. Open the SkyDome roof to a spectacular June evening.
Lay an almighty butt-kicking on the league's fashionable choice for the Grey Cup.
Score it 21-10 for the Argonauts over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL curtain-raiser.
Now with a cozy stadium on the old Varsity grounds presumably two years away, a new front office, and full coaching staff in place from the get-go, the Argos seem positively stable.
"For me, I got here a day or two before last year's opener against Saskatchewan," said quarterback Damon Allen. "This year, we had (offensive co-ordinator) Kent Austin putting a solid game plan in from the beginning and keeping me in the rhythm of the game all night. I was behind from the get-go last year. This year ..."
This year is a nice thing to ponder.
The Argos unveiled the whole enchilada last night. Riotous big plays, zippy scoreboard packages, error-free offence, a nice, family vibe outside the building prior to kickoff.
It was the club's 131st opener but you should know it marked the first under owners Howard Sokolowski and David Cynamon.
The new artificial surface added to the aesthetics of the night as well as the quality of the footing. The only eyesore was the nasty broken left leg suffered by Riders starting quarterback Nealon Greene midway through the first quarter.
Greene was hurt when an Argonaut fell on him. No fault of the footing there but the game reeled off kilter from that moment forward and, like a true CFL contest, never returned to the script.
Bashir Levingston, who ran five kicks back for touchdowns last season, tiptoed about his goal line and then raced down the sideline for a 105-yard major and the Argos season was underway on the wheels of the CFL's reigning outstanding special teams player.
Enter fourth year pro Rocky Butler for the Team Green, much to the delight of Argonaut defensive backs Orlondo Steinauer and Kenny Wheaton, who reeled in easy interceptions before Butler got straightened away.
The constant in all this silliness is Allen, the Argos' 40-year-old quarterback. With the season now in opening bloom, this is a good thing.
He found R.Jay Soward, a former first-rounder of the Jacksonville Jaguars, with a 54-yard touchdown pass and then floated a perfect pass that Robert Baker, a 28-year-old CFL rookie, easily wrestled away from Saskatchewan cornerback Omarr Morgan. After a one-yard pluge from the Riders Tony Szarka, the Argos trotted off the field up 21-7 at the half.
Allen would finish with 21 completions in 31 attempts for 304 yards.
"Damon Allen can do that because he's the smartest player on the field," running back John Avery said. "You ought to be smart when you play the game 60 years."
To be fair, only 20 seasons but Allen was indeed masterful.
"Damon was much better than the stats will show," said Argos coach Pinball Clemons. "We had a lot of drives stalled by drop balls. Robert Baker had three drops."
ANXIOUS
Baker admitted as much.
"It's such a different field and I kept on wanting to run before the ball got to me. It seemed to take so long and I got anxious."
Team those two with Avery, worked gently into the lineup with a tender knee, and you find yourself with a high-octane offence unaffected by the release of big-time receiver Mookie Mitchell.
Don't you just love that new team smell?
