Bud Riley

[ArgoRavi]

Just thought that I would mention that former Argo assistant and head coach Bud Riley passed away on the weekend in B.C. at the age of 86. Riley was on Leo Cahill's staff during Cahill's second go-around with the Argos as head coach and replaced Cahill when Cahill was fired during the 1978 season. Riley led the Argos to a 1-6 record after Leo led them to a 3-6 mark in 1978. Riley had much more success as a head coach in Winnipeg from 1974-77 and then with Hamilton in the early 1980s before he was replaced by Al Bruno in '83. Riley finished his coaching career as interim head coach in Calgary (replacing the fired Steve Burratto) in 1985. His son, Mike, has been a successful head coach in the CFL and south of the border since 1987.

[1argoholic]

Would be nice to see Mike back in our league but he's got a great thing going down south. Always sad to hear the loss of former CFL players and staff.

[zontar]

When he was in HAM Ballard's beef was he was too nice. Any criticism comng from Harold might be a badge of honour.

[Will]

When he was in HAM Ballard's beef was he was too nice. Any criticism comng from Harold might be a badge of honour.

Your right about that thought on Ballard.
Riley was replaced halfway through the '83 season I think after the game where the Argos demolished the Ticats 50-16 at Ivor Wynne.

[ArgoRavi]

Your right about that thought on Ballard.
Riley was replaced halfway through the '83 season I think after the game where the Argos demolished the Ticats 50-16 at Ivor Wynne.

I can't recall the exact sequence of events but the biggest mid-season trade in CFL history IMO also occurred not long after that game when Tom Clements was traded to Winnipeg for Dieter Brock.

[paulwoods13]

I can't recall the exact sequence of events but the biggest mid-season trade in CFL history IMO also occurred not long after that game when Tom Clements was traded to Winnipeg for Dieter Brock.

That trade and the replacement of Riley by Bruno turned the Ticats' fortunes around. They went from being a very poor also-ran in the East to a team that almost upset the powerful Argos in the '83 EF and did upset them in '84. Brock left after '84 and was replaced for one year by Ken Hobart -- they still made the GC but got whipped by B.C. Then in 1986, Mike Kerrigan took over and the Ticats not only upset the Argos in the EF (coming back from a cumulative deficit of 25 points early in Game 2, IIRC), they destroyed Edmonton to win their only Grey Cup of the 1980s.

[AngeloV]

Your right about that thought on Ballard.
Riley was replaced halfway through the '83 season I think after the game where the Argos demolished the Ticats 50-16 at Ivor Wynne.

Maybe so on Ballard, but it was the right move at the time. Bruno definitely looked and sounded as though he was lost, but his players played hard for him.

[AngeloV]

I can't recall the exact sequence of events but the biggest mid-season trade in CFL history IMO also occurred not long after that game when Tom Clements was traded to Winnipeg for Dieter Brock.

I will say to my dying day that Clements was overrated. In fact, if the Argos hadn't choked in the '84 Eastern final, I don't think Clements would have won a cup in Winnipeg, and he had an awesome team, with great receivers and Willard Reaves during his time there.

[OV Argo]

I will say to my dying day that Clements was overrated. In fact, if the Argos hadn't choked in the '84 Eastern final, I don't think Clements would have won a cup in Winnipeg, and he had an awesome team, with great receivers and Willard Reaves during his time there.

Wow! - and interestin' coming from a QB.

Clements rates as an all-time great CFL QB IMO - poised, accurate and could run/scramble some; won the Cup with the Bombers but can't forget or deny him leading Ottawa to that great GC win with his late TD strike to Gabriel.

[ArgoRavi]

I found Clements to be a frustrating QB to cheer against which means that he was an excellent one IMO. This is one of those rare cases again where I must disagree with Angelo. OV's description of Clements is an apt one. Clements also played at a time where there were many Hall of Fame QBs in the league including Holloway, Moon, and Brock and some other decent ones including Dewalt, Watts, Barnes, and Wade so winning Grey Cups wasn't an easy task. Brock never won one and only made it to the big game in the final season of his 11 year CFL career.

[AngeloV]

Wow! - and interestin' coming from a QB.

Clements rates as an all-time great CFL QB IMO - poised, accurate and could run/scramble some; won the Cup with the Bombers but can't forget or deny him leading Ottawa to that great GC win with his late TD strike to Gabriel.


I found Clements to be a frustrating QB to cheer against which means that he was an excellent one IMO. This is one of those rare cases again where I must disagree with Angelo. OV's description of Clements is an apt one. Clements also played at a time where there were many Hall of Fame QBs in the league including Holloway, Moon, and Brock and some other decent ones including Dewalt, Watts, Barnes, and Wade so winning Grey Cups wasn't an easy task. Brock never won one and only made it to the big game in the final season of his 11 year CFL career.

I'm sorry guys. He can only take so much credit for throwing a screen pass to James Murphy and having it turn into a huge gain so many times. As for his Grey Cup win against Ottawa, I've seen that game so many times, and he sucked for most of it. Sorry, I just never thought he was as good as the media portrayed him to be. IMO, Brock, Holloway and of course Moon were all better than he was.

[doubleblue]

I will say to my dying day that Clements was overrated. In fact, if the Argos hadn't choked in the '84 Eastern final, I don't think Clements would have won a cup in Winnipeg, and he had an awesome team, with great receivers and Willard Reaves during his time there.

Clements was pretty good in my books. Would be quite an up grade over at least four present starting QB's in the league.

[Gill The Thrill]

I'm sorry guys. He can only take so much credit for throwing a screen pass to James Murphy and having it turn into a huge gain so many times. As for his Grey Cup win against Ottawa, I've seen that game so many times, and he sucked for most of it. Sorry, I just never thought he was as good as the media portrayed him to be. IMO, Brock, Holloway and of course Moon were all better than he was.

He sure played as well, if not better than Holloway on most of their head to head encounters....Their 2 big wins vs the Argos in 1982, 37-27 at Ivor Wynne and 30-25 at CNE...I'm not going to bring up the 57-13 game at Ivor Wynne in 1981, as the Argos were 2-14 that year...If I remember well, listening to that game on the radio, the Cats had a 35-7 or 42-7 lead at halftime....Sheesh, Murphy was not on those Cat teams. Clements also QB'd the Cats in their first encounter with the Argos in '83 at CNE. It snapped the Argos 4 game winning streak to start the season that year with 31-18 Ticat win. The Argos did finally beat the Cats in that 50-16 game at IWS.

Let's put it this way, he was not your favourite, but he was an above average QB in the CFL. The Ticats were 11-4-1 in 1981, and yah they choked vs Ottawa at home in the East Final, but it's not as if Clements allowed Pat Stoqua to get what I believe was a 100 yd TD off a short screen pass. Anyways, the Ticats most impressive game in 1981 was probably the 34-34 tie game, which was at home on Labour Day vs the Edmonton Eskimos....Clements made some big plays including a long bomb TD pass to Kieth Baker. If you remember 1981, the Eskimos were at their peak and near perfect at 14-1-1. They had demolished the Cats 48-10 in the 1980 Grey Cup without Clements who spent that season with the Marv Levy coached Chiefs. He threw for over 4500 yards when came back to the CFL in '81 and then threw for over 4700 yards in '82...none of those yards were to James Murphy.

For someone who seemed to be as forgiving to QB's like Cleo Lemon, or Michael Bishop...your judgement or consistency of judgement would have to be pretty skewed to not regard Tom Clements as a great QB in the CFL...By the way, Clements was only 23 yrs old in that 1976 Grey Cup game and the weather was not that great...chilly and windy down by the lake at the CNE in late November..brrr...even the veteran Ronnie Lancaster had a slow start that day.

[Gill The Thrill]

Clements was pretty good in my books. Would be quite an up grade over at least four present starting QB's in the league.Of all qbs today only Anthony Calvillo could be considered better throughout his carear. Actually Ricky Ray's carear is similar in that he quickly picked up his reads once he started in the league and was also relieved by a good backup from time to time. Clements had Holloway in Ottawa who sometimes outplayed him when he came off the bench in much the same way that Jason Maas would do with Ray in Edmonton.

Calvillo showed a lot of raw potential as a gunslinger with the Posse, but he did have his trouble with a lousy ticat team in 1995. I guess that was similar to Clements short time with a declining and terrible Saskatchewan team in 1979. Travis Lulay can be as good and has started off his carear great, but we'll see long term if he can compare.

[AngeloV]

He sure played as well, if not better than Holloway on most of their head to head encounters....Their 2 big wins vs the Argos in 1982, 37-27 at Ivor Wynne and 30-25 at CNE...I'm not going to bring up the 57-13 game at Ivor Wynne in 1981, as the Argos were 2-14 that year...If I remember well, listening to that game on the radio, the Cats had a 35-7 or 42-7 lead at halftime....Sheesh, Murphy was not on those Cat teams. Clements also QB'd the Cats in their first encounter with the Argos in '83 at CNE. It snapped the Argos 4 game winning streak to start the season that year with 31-18 Ticat win. The Argos did finally beat the Cats in that 50-16 game at IWS.

Let's put it this way, he was not your favourite, but he was an above average QB in the CFL. The Ticats were 11-4-1 in 1981, and yah they choked vs Ottawa at home in the East Final, but it's not as if Clements allowed Pat Stoqua to get what I believe was a 100 yd TD off a short screen pass. Anyways, the Ticats most impressive game in 1981 was probably the 34-34 tie game, which was at home on Labour Day vs the Edmonton Eskimos....Clements made some big plays including a long bomb TD pass to Kieth Baker. If you remember 1981, the Eskimos were at their peak and near perfect at 14-1-1. They had demolished the Cats 48-10 in the 1980 Grey Cup without Clements who spent that season with the Marv Levy coached Chiefs. He threw for over 4500 yards when came back to the CFL in '81 and then threw for over 4700 yards in '82...none of those yards were to James Murphy.

For someone who seemed to be as forgiving to QB's like Cleo Lemon, or Michael Bishop...your judgement or consistency of judgement would have to be pretty skewed to not regard Tom Clements as a great QB in the CFL...By the way, Clements was only 23 yrs old in that 1976 Grey Cup game and the weather was not that great...chilly and windy down by the lake at the CNE in late November..brrr...even the veteran Ronnie Lancaster had a slow start that day.

I never said he wasn't a GOOD CFL QB. I just don't believe he was as good as many believe he was. I said overrated, not bad.

[gilthethrill]

He sure played as well, if not better than Holloway on most of their head to head encounters....Their 2 big wins vs the Argos in 1982, 37-27 at Ivor Wynne and 30-25 at CNE...I'm not going to bring up the 57-13 game at Ivor Wynne in 1981, as the Argos were 2-14 that year...If I remember well, listening to that game on the radio, the Cats had a 35-7 or 42-7 lead at halftime....Sheesh, Murphy was not on those Cat teams. Clements also QB'd the Cats in their first encounter with the Argos in '83 at CNE. It snapped the Argos 4 game winning streak to start the season that year with 31-18 Ticat win. The Argos did finally beat the Cats in that 50-16 game at IWS.

Gill, I listened to that 57-13 game on the radio too..all I really remember (or choose to) is a young Terry Greer returning a K.O. for a 110 yd TD in the 1st half.

[ArgoRavi]

Gill, I listened to that 57-13 game on the radio too..all I really remember (or choose to) is a young Terry Greer returning a K.O. for a 110 yd TD in the 1st half.

Greer suffered a season-ending injury either that night or the next week, didn't he?

[gilthethrill]

Greer suffered a season-ending injury either that night or the next week, didn't he?

Not sure when, but he did get injured for the year...ended up with 37 catches....ugly year....still recall rookie rb Cedric Minter plunging in for the winning TD against Calgary capping the first win of the season in week 11 or something like that..still in the playoff hunt...

[Will]

Terry Greer was injured in a loss to Ottawa, which was Ralph Sazio's first game as team president. It was two weeks after the Hamilton loss.

[Gill The Thrill]

Not sure when, but he did get injured for the year...ended up with 37 catches....ugly year....still recall rookie rb Cedric Minter plunging in for the winning TD against Calgary capping the first win of the season in week 11 or something like that..still in the playoff hunt...

They were 0-11 and had just fired former Green Bay Packer legend Willie Wood as Head Coach after falling to 0-10. Tommy Hudspeth took over the head coaching reigns for the remainder of the season as an interim.

I remember that they were 0-11 because had the Argos lost to Calgary at the CNE, they would have tied a record dating back to the 40's, when the Hamilton Wildcats were 0-12. The Wildcats would eventually merge with the Hamilton Tigers to become what they are today, the Tiger-Cats. The Argos previous meeting with the Stamps in 1981 was on Labour Day where they only managed 5 points and lost 23-5. I remember being a boy and listening to this information in the car. (Being a boy who had not hit my teens yet, I was not driving...lol) We used to have this tradition of going to the CNE on the Labour Day afternoon, which therefore saved me from the torture of watching the Argos lose a 23-5 in Calgary that year...For all you know, that may have saved me from giving up on the Argos back then...lol. Unfortunately they've given us more than a few dog seasons at the Dome, I'm glad they at least got to 6 wins last season and did not provide another 4 or 3 win season...could of been worse though...could've have grown up in Ottawa which had one 7 win season and one .500 season after 1983 with a lot 4, 3 and sadly 2 win seasons until they folded in '96.

The funny, but actually pretty pathetic thing was that the Argos were in the playoff hunt after going 2-3 in their last 5 games in 1981. That season had a lot of pre-season hype surrounding the Argos and the Alouettes because of the signing of Condredge Holloway in Toronto and the Montreal signings of NFL MVP Vince Ferragamo, along with David Overstreet. Both teams forgot a small detail, building up a team around them that could compete. For most of the year, both teams beat nobody and the Als were always one game ahead of the Argos based on a week 2 or 3 win at Olympic Stadium that year which saw the Argos blew a 21-1 lead...I could still hear Pat Marsden on the broadcast saying "hold on to your hats, the Argos are up by 20."..lol. Anyways the Argos lost that game 23-22, but would beat the Als for their 2nd win of the season 20-14 at CNE stadium.

That Argo win at home vs the Als meant that the Argos had won the season series based on total points from both meetings since they split their 2 games and also meant that the Argos were in the driver seat going into the final week of the season with both teams having identical 2-13 records. (Now you know why the crossover was wanted by the Western teams since they had 5 teams in their division) Even after the Argos lost thier final game of 1981 at home to Hamilton 21-11, they still could've backed in with a Montreal loss to Ottawa at Olympic Stadium on the following Sunday afternoon. The Alouettes, of course, beat Ottawa who had nothing to play for and had clinched 2nd in the East already with an unimpressive 5 wins, by a score of 35-15 or something like that...thus the Argos were finally eliminated on the last day of the season despite a 2-14 season, while Montreal would make the playoffs with a 3-13 season and would lose in Ottawa the following week in the East Semi Final 20-14. Ottawa with their 5 wins would upset the 11 win Ticats as previously mentioned in the East Final of '81 and were within a whisker of upsetting the Eskimos in the Grey Cup which would have been hilarious.

All this while the Saskatchewan Roughriders missed the playoffs in the west finishing in 4th place with a 9-7 record..lol

[Gill The Thrill]

Terry Greer was injured in a loss to Ottawa, which was Ralph Sazio's first game as team president. It was two weeks after the Hamilton loss.I believe that was a Friday night game at Lansdowne Park, a 38-7 loss putting them at 0-6.

[Will]

I believe that was a Friday night game at Lansdowne Park, a 38-7 loss putting them at 0-6.

38-11, but it did make them 0-6.

[ArgoRavi]

Gill, do you remember how the Argos beat Montreal in that late season '81 game? That was the kind of game that we were used to seeing the Argos lose for many years. They were able to force an Overstreet fumble IIRC at about the Toronto two or three yard line in the final minute or so with the Als leading 14-13. I always remember Marsden yapping just prior to that play about how bad the Argos were, how they were about to be elminated yet again from the playoffs, etc. and then that fumble occurred. At that point, there still wasn't much reason to hope for a victory but Holloway was able to take them up the field and with just seconds left threw a 50 yard pass to Martin Cox. Most of that 50 yards was Cox running with the ball after cornerback David Dumars of the Als went for the interception and missed it. Cox caught the ball behind Dumars and raced down the field for the game-winning TD. Jay Teitel has a great description of this play in his Argo Bounce book. Even though the Argos didn't make the playoffs that year, that play may have signalled a bit of a turning point in their luck nonetheless.

[Gill The Thrill]

Gill, do you remember how the Argos beat Montreal in that late season '81 game? That was the kind of game that we were used to seeing the Argos lose for many years. They were able to force an Overstreet fumble IIRC at about the Toronto two or three yard line in the final minute or so with the Als leading 14-13. I always remember Marsden yapping just prior to that play about how bad the Argos were, how they were about to be elminated yet again from the playoffs, etc. and then that fumble occurred. At that point, there still wasn't much reason to hope for a victory but Holloway was able to take them up the field and with just seconds left threw a 50 yard pass to Martin Cox. Most of that 50 yards was Cox running with the ball after cornerback David Dumars of the Als went for the interception and missed it. Cox caught the ball behind Dumars and raced down the field for the game-winning TD. Jay Teitel has a great description of this play in his Argo Bounce book. Even though the Argos didn't make the playoffs that year, that play may have signalled a bit of a turning point in their luck nonetheless.

I vaguely remember reading the game summary in the paper as I was was not at the game, and could not watch it on TV thanks to the blackout restrictions. If I remember well, the game was oddly played on a Thursday night which was rare for the Argos to not have a weekend afternoon game in late October. It may have been a Friday night, but I'm pretty sure it was not a weekend afternoon game which was pretty common for the Argos in those days, especially later in the season.

I just remember watching highlights of the Argos jumping around as if they'd won the Grey Cup after winning their first game vs Calgary. I think the cheerleaders lined up on the field and gave each player a cheer as they triumphantly went in the dressing room with the crowd giving them an ovation. Fun times, especially for a tough season. I do remember the Argos played the Alouettes at the CNE early in 1982, I believe it was the 3rd game of the season and they had a record of 0-1-1. That also was a low scoring game that looked like the Argos would lose as they were trailing 13-6 late in the game. Holloway woke up as the Argos had scored 10 pts late in the 4th quarter to win the game 16-13. From that point on, that 1982 season was magical imo and I've followed the team since.

I really enjoyed following the league when I was a kid between 1981 and especially in '82 and '83 as you could probably tell. I thought the broadcast teams and the exposure was top notch by both CBC and CTV. I still remember that Saturday morning highlight show that CTV had called, 'This week in CFL' hosted by Peter Young. It showed extensive highlights and profiled the Rothmans or was it Carlsberg Players of the week. I think they should resurrect a magazine style show like that for a half hour every week on TSN or TSN 2. Half the time TSN barely have a pre-game show and their post-game is garbage...no interviews, no coaches press conferences, just right to Sportscentre where they quickly show the highlights and then talk about the latest NHL rumour, or worse what the Blue Jays, and Raptors are doing....Sportscasting blows today despite having all these channels as their is no where near as much critical analysis as their used to be. It's all young bimbos, female and male who try to make jokes when showing highlights...so dummied down to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

[ArgoRavi]

I vaguely remember reading the game summary in the paper as I was was not at the game, and could not watch it on TV thanks to the blackout restrictions. If I remember well, the game was oddly played on a Thursday night which was rare for the Argos to not have a weekend afternoon game in late October. It may have been a Friday night, but I'm pretty sure it was not a weekend afternoon game which was pretty common for the Argos in those days, especially later in the season.

That game was on a Saturday night in October, Gill. There were 31k in attendance at that game which was considered to be quite a small crowd back at that time.


I just remember watching highlights of the Argos jumping around as if they'd won the Grey Cup after winning their first game vs Calgary. I think the cheerleaders lined up on the field and gave each player a cheer as they triumphantly went in the dressing room with the crowd giving them an ovation. Fun times, especially for a tough season. I do remember the Argos played the Alouettes at the CNE early in 1982, I believe it was the 3rd game of the season and they had a record of 0-1-1. That also was a low scoring game that looked like the Argos would lose as they were trailing 13-6 late in the game. Holloway woke up as the Argos had scored 10 pts late in the 4th quarter to win the game 16-13. From that point on, that 1982 season was magical imo and I've followed the team since.

Yeah, I remember that Calgary game from '81 and that Montreal game from '82 that you are speaking of, Gill. The Concordes were wretched that season and a 16-13 come-from-behind win against them would not ordinarily be something that a team would be proud of but the Argos usually lost those kinds of close games since 1975. The fact that they were able to come from behind and win late at home like that after not playing well for much of the game was indeed a great sign. IIRC, Holloway was even pulled in that game for a bit and replaced by June Jones III as Barnes had that buttocks injury that you wrote about before. I don't know if Jones ever took another snap for the Argos as I think that he was injured at some point (maybe in that same game?) and the Argos had to scramble to get Mike Williams in to backup Holloway for the memorable Edmonton game in August of 1982.


I really enjoyed following the league when I was a kid between 1981 and especially in '82 and '83 as you could probably tell. I thought the broadcast teams and the exposure was top notch by both CBC and CTV. I still remember that Saturday morning highlight show that CTV had called, 'This week in CFL' hosted by Peter Young. It showed extensive highlights and profiled the Rothmans or was it Carlsberg Players of the week. I think they should resurrect a magazine style show like that for a half hour every week on TSN or TSN 2. Half the time TSN barely have a pre-game show and their post-game is garbage...no interviews, no coaches press conferences, just right to Sportscentre where they quickly show the highlights and then talk about the latest NHL rumour, or worse what the Blue Jays, and Raptors are doing....Sportscasting blows today despite having all these channels as their is no where near as much critical analysis as their used to be. It's all young bimbos, female and male who try to make jokes when showing highlights...so dummied down to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I couldn't agree with this last paragraph more. I know that Onrait and O'Toole are popular on TSN but I cannot stand those two and immediately turn the channel when they come on. If I want to watch comedians, I will turn it to the Comedy Network where I can actually see some skilled ones rather than watch those two fools. When I think back to that 1982-85 era especially, there were some solid commentators on both CBC and CTV. The Wittman/Cahill/Lancaster trio was the best ever to call CFL games IMO and John Wells would come in occasionally to work with one or both of Cahill and Lancaster and wouldn't miss a beat. Wells' last work for CBC was the '84 Summer Olympics before he left for the brand new TSN. Brian Williams would anchor the coverage from CBC studios in Toronto. On CTV, there was Pat Marsden, Leif Pettersen and Bill Stevenson in the east and Dale Isaac, Frank Rigney and Al McCann in the west. That weekly CFL show with Peter Young was top notch as well. BTW, it was the Rothmans Player of the Week awards back then and winners would get stars to wear on their helmets. That was certainly a great era to be a CFL fan but by '85 there were storm clouds on the horizon.

BTW, here is a clip of Bud Riley coaching his final CFL game in 1985 for Calgary against Hamilton at Ivor Wynne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2preb9dlbg

[gilthethrill]

I listened to that Montreal improbable victory on the am radio as well...recall lots of pics in the Star the following day...

[Will]

We should probably split this off into a 1980's Argo thread at this point :)