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Fifty years later, Peter Dalla Riva and different members of the 1974 Alouettes Gray Cup staff will maintain a reunion in Montreal.
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Fifty years later, the hairlines have receded, the stomachs have grown greater and the bones creak most mornings after they roll off the bed. Skilled soccer stays a brutal and punishing sport with Father Time nonetheless undefeated.
“After I take into consideration my life, the factor that all the time amazes me is how briskly 50 years has gone,” stated Larry Smith, a former CFL commissioner and Alouettes president. “It looks as if a flash. I’m positive connecting with a few of the guys coming again … goes to be a visit down reminiscence lane.
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“The reality is, for many people, it’ll be the final time we see one another.”
Fifty years have handed because the Alouettes’ 1974 Gray Cup victory in opposition to Edmonton, a convincing, if not essentially dominant, 20-7 win. A slick and moist subject at Vancouver’s Empire Stadium ensured there could be fumbles and dropped passes.
After the franchise previously often known as the Eskimos took a 7-0 first-quarter lead, the Als managed the sport. Following a single within the second quarter, Montreal’s Larry Sherrer scored the one landing on a five-yard run. Don Candy accomplished the scoring with 4 subject objectives. Alouettes quarterback Sonny Wade and defensive-lineman Junior Ah You had been named probably the most priceless gamers, whereas Candy was chosen the excellent Canadian.
About 15 members of that staff will collect Saturday night time at a Montreal lodge for cocktails earlier than being honoured at halftime throughout Sunday night time’s sport between the Alouettes and Edmonton Elks.
“To have the ability to see a few of the guys and recount the reminiscences goes to be numerous enjoyable,” stated Smith, now a member of the Canadian Senate.
Highway to the Cup
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Montreal’s 1970 Cup victory in opposition to Calgary was an upset, and the squad subsequently struggled however added key items in 1972, when it went 4-10.
A core group of gamers, together with Smith, Dickie Harris, Wally Buono and Ah You, made their debuts throughout that dropping marketing campaign. Teamed with veterans like Wade, tight-end Peter Dalla Riva and offensive-tackle Ed George, plus the addition of tailback and return-specialist Johnny Rodgers in ’73, the combination gave the membership the impetus to take the subsequent step.
Expectations had been excessive in 1974, Smith remembered. The Alouettes jumped out to a 3-0 begin, then went on a four-game profitable streak later within the season to complete first within the East Division at 9-5-2. Montreal defeated Ottawa 14-4 within the division closing earlier than the Cup and held its opponents to 11 factors in these post-season matches.
“We had a heck of a staff … a veteran ball membership,” Dalla Riva stated. “Sonny was the massive man on a regular basis and we all the time had a reasonably good defence. We knew one another and had been taking part in collectively for some time. All people did their job. We had been shut off the sector, too.”
Wade, the offensive chief, might need produced pedestrian statistics through the common season, however was a big-time participant who rose to the event when cash was on the road. He was clever, knew the sport and had command of the huddle, his teammates recounted.
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“All these nice gamers you had a chance to play with,” stated Buono, the previous head coach and basic supervisor with Calgary and B.C., nearly in awe. “You share a championship with them. That’s a really particular time of your life. I’m undecided, once you’re younger, you actually recognize all the pieces. Typically you’re oblivious as to what it means.”
Buono, an Italian native who moved to Montreal at age 3, was the staff’s punter and situational linebacker who was utilized by defensive co-ordinator Rod Rust when the Alouettes went with three down linemen. As a non-import, Buono stated he was blessed merely to make the roster, realizing his CFL notoriety was gained after his taking part in profession.
“To play within the Gray Cup, even in a package deal, was a really particular dream,” stated Buono, who holds the league document (282) for many regular-season victories by a head coach, together with 5 Cup victories in that capability.
Nice gamers apart, none of this is able to have been completed with out strong possession from Sam Berger, together with the work of basic supervisor Bob Geary. The glue that held all the pieces collectively was head coach Marv Levy, who arrived in 1973, starting a five-year run that included two Gray Cups and three championship-game appearances in all. He subsequently returned to the NFL — first as Kansas Metropolis’s head coach earlier than an unimaginable 12-year stint with the Buffalo Payments, which included 4 consecutive Tremendous Bowl defeats.
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“It was an exquisite expertise and exhilarating for me. I keep in mind these days fondly,” Levy, now 99, informed The Gazette from his Chicago house. “The Gray Cup was terrific to win, very akin to profitable a Tremendous Bowl or World Sequence.”
Levy received’t attend the reunion, however stated his message to his former gamers would have been easy had the circumstances been completely different.
“As a coach, they anticipated me to encourage them,” he stated. “However being there as I used to be with that group, they impressed me.”
As a substitute, will probably be left to his former gamers to congregate, have some drinks and laughs, undoubtedly inform some lies and relive a second that may by no means be taken away; the bond of a championship eternally their legacy.
“I’m positive we’re all banged up,” Dalla Riva stated. “I hope everybody’s OK, doing all proper and residing life the most effective they will. What else are you able to say? What we did. What we had. That’s one thing no one can take away from us.”
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
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