Monday, August 11, 2008

Cattlemen of Grey Bruce once again on a roll with Thanksgiving Classic in Owen Sound

I like what I am seeing from these Grey Bruce Owen Sound Cattlemen, when all of us got together 5 years ago, we never would have figured it would take on a life of its own, as the sport of football in this area was very close to dead as a doornail.

The football movement peaked in March 2005, on Friday the 3rd at 7 PM, we all met at Montana's Bar and Grill where the chair Dave Carriere, a former national senior football champion with the Sudbury Hardrocks and Spartans, held an open meeting that was attended by a dozen or so local football players. But after meeting, things started to fizzle out, with the cancelled showcase 2006 Bluewater Snow Bowl Jamboree tourney being the last event tried in the area. A new set of young turks led by a Cowboy Roy Mccoy have taken over the association we started, with the Wildcats moniker officially changing to Cattlemen, a nickname I originally thought should have stuck, hoping they can follow the former Grey Cup Champion Sarnia Imperials, as the next expansion club into the Canadian Major Football League and Northern Football Conference. All of which brings us to the Grey Bruce Canadian Turkey Bowl Thanksgiving Classic, to be held this October 13th at 9 PM between Team Owen Sound of OSCVI, WHSS and SMHS alumni and Team Grey Bruce of SDSS, GHSS and JDSS alumni, not knowing the event was part of the Cattlemen, or was the pickup 7 on 7 game I played in last year up at the Vic to a 1-0 draw for TOS over TGB, but not totally shocked or surprised either way that it was part of their package.

I am happy though now to see football is once again important, even if at its most unofficial, grassroots or pickup level, just glad to see the sport back in play and open to helping it grow from small beginnings into something bigger someday in the future.