Top 150 Moments in Argonauts History

[Will]

These 150 Moments (https://www.argonauts.ca/2023/07/06/top-150-moments-in-argonauts-history-announced/) were compiled by a committee that consisted of, among others, Paul Woods and Mike Hogan. It will be counted down throughout the course of the season, but the team released 150-125 today. The highlights among them were:

145 - Masotti's Crotch Catch
136 - Webb's Grey Cup Magic
131 - Clemons' Opening Kickoff Return
127 - Hanlon's Point Fire
126 - Chomyc's Catch

I'll mention that John Congemi deserves part of the credit for #126 as he was the holder and his "acting" job helped sell the fake.

I'm going off on a tangent here, but that game was actually interesting. It was in the midst of that 5-game stretch where the Argos scored 68, 49, 39, 70 and 60 points apiece. It was the lowest scoring game of the five, and Matt Dunigan/Rickey Foggie did not put up as many passing yards (relative to some of the other games), but it consisted of (i) a Pinball punt return TD where he seemed surrounded by Ticats, (ii) a Glenn Harper fake punt, (iii) a Mike Campbell TD reception from Matt Dunigan, (iv) moment 126 and (v) the late Harold Hallman put up 3 or 4 sacks that night.

[Will]

Mike Hogan also wrote an article outlining the process:

https://www.argonauts.ca/2023/07/06/hogan-behind-the-process-of-selecting-the-top-150-moments/

[AngeloV]

I'll mention that John Congemi deserves part of the credit for #126 as he was the holder and his "acting" job helped sell the fake.

I

I was at that game, and to be honest, it was Chomyc that did the great acting job. We was coming the bench with his arms flying all over the place yelling "where's the tee". It was a thing of beauty.

[paulwoods13]

I just posted the "tee fake" play to YouTube:

https://youtu.be/KM5mYHJSYT0

[paulwoods13]

For good reasons, my recounting of the tee-fake play had to get excised from Year of the Rocket. Here is what got sent to the cutting-room floor:

One of the most famous plays in Argonauts history came in the same game as Campbell’s surprising TD: the tee-fake play. The ruse was that kicker Lance Chomyc, lining up for a field goal, would suddenly realize he had forgotten to bring his “tee” (actually a small square on which the ball is placed before it’s kicked). Chomyc would race towards the bench, but instead of getting the tee would turn upfield and catch a pass.

Equipment assistant Jason Colero was to be part of the deception. He would stand on the sideline with a tee, as if he was responsible for tossing it to Chomyc.

Colero, a twenty-year-old Argo fanatic living his dream by working on the team’s sideline, almost lost the opportunity to be part of the deception before it could even be rehearsed.

“You do things efficiently,” Matthews told the former ballboy one day in practice. “Here’s a point we don’t need you to be efficient. They yell for the tee, you don’t throw the tee. You throw the tee and it’ll be the last thing you do here. Got it?”

“Gotcha, coach,” replied the diminutive Colero, whose nickname was Suicide, or Sooey for short.

Later in that practice, the Argos were running a kicking drill. Someone yelled, “We need the tee, we need the tee.” Colero, doing his equipment job in his usual efficient manner, grabbed a tee and threw it onto the field.

“What are you doing!” Matthews yelled.

“Is this the play?” Colero asked, his heart sinking.

“Yes! I’m warning you. We might run it in the game. Be ready!”

The anticipation was almost overwhelming for young Sooey. During the next game, quarterback John Congemi, the holder on field-goal attempts, was talking to Matthews on the sideline. “I don’t know what came over me,” Colero says, “but in the middle of their conversation, I said, ‘What about the tee fake? Let’s run the fake.’”

“How about you shut the fuck up and do what we pay you to do and hand out water?” the coach replied icily.

In the locker afterwards, Colero was in the coaches’ area picking up laundry.

“Hey, get this,” Matthews yelled to his coaching colleagues. “The new assistant coach is Suicide. This little shit wanted me to run the fake. ‘Coach, Coach, Coach, what about the fake?’”

Matthews then broke into a grin. “Sooey, I’ll tell you what. You got some cojones, pal. I love you, buddy.”

###

In order to work, the tee-fake play could be executed only in a specific situation. It had to be done at a stadium like Hamilton’s Ivor Wynne, where both teams shared the same sideline and the Argos’ bench was at one end of the field. The ball had to be in front of the Argo bench, and it had to be set down for the next play on the far hash mark, as far as possible from the team benches.

That situation unfolded exactly as required in this particular game. Facing third down and ten yards to go at Hamilton’s thirty-two-yard line, the Argos lined up for a field goal by Chomyc, who earlier in the game had become the team’s all-time leading scorer.

Chomyc started setting up for the kick, then suddenly ran laterally towards the Argo bench, waving his hands and screaming frantically, “I need the tee! I need the tee!”

The place-kick holder, Congemi, stood up with an “oh my god, he’s such an idiot” look on his face. “Do you believe this dumb-ass forgot the tee?” he said to his assembled blockers. “Man, you can’t trust kickers. Hold up, guys, we might have to take a delay-of-game penalty.”

Guard Dan Ferrone pulled out of his stance and said to the Ticats on the other side of the line of scrimmage, “Stupid-ass kicker. Give him one job to do and he can’t remember the tee.”

The Ticats relaxed and started laughing.

With both Chomyc and Congemi gesturing for the tee to be thrown in, Colero stood on the sideline holding it above his head while watching the twenty-second play clock wind down. With three seconds left, he flicked his wrist to change the angle of the tee. That was the cue Congemi was watching for. He called for the ball to be snapped by Blaine Schmidt. Chomyc broke off his run towards the bench and turned upfield, breaking from a frenetic trot into a straight-ahead sprint. Congemi lobbed a soft pass towards the wide-open kicker.

“It was the hardest throw I’ve ever had to make because no one was around him,” Congemi says. Chomyc reached down to grab the ball, cradled it “like a baby” and got hit by two Hamilton defenders who had suddenly figured out what was happening. The kicker was knocked out of bounds at the ten-yard line.

Squeals of delight erupted on the Argo bench, the loudest from Colero.

On the next play, Pinball Clemons scored a ten-yard touchdown to give the Argos an insurmountable 36-6 lead. After the game, Matthews gave Colero a high-five for his part in the ruse. “Now we’re done with her,” he told Sooey. “We’re not running her again, buddy. That’s it.”

[gilthethrill]

I predict the Kerwin Bell “Football in the Groin TD Spike” will end up in the top 78 moments.

[shayman]

What a great story - starring All Time Argo, jason colero! Thanks Paul for that and for sharing the video!

[ArgoGabe22]

I just posted the "tee fake" play to YouTube:

https://youtu.be/KM5mYHJSYT0

First thought when looking at those jerseys, how much more faster would RBs and receivers like Pinball be if they had today's more snug fit and smaller padding.

[Will]

I predict the Kerwin Bell “Football in the Groin TD Spike” will end up in the top 78 moments.

Why 78?

[Argo57]

First thought when looking at those jerseys, how much more faster would RBs and receivers like Pinball be if they had today's more snug fit and smaller padding.

The shoulder pads were huge back in the day.

[TrueBlueGuy]

What a great story - starring All Time Argo, jason colero! Thanks Paul for that and for sharing the video!

First time I met Jason C. was living in Lindsay and attended an Argos-Ticats HOCKEY GAME fundraiser in Bancroft.
Yes hockey players ON SKATES...what a hoot!