I have been fortunate enough to hear former Toronto Argonauts coach and player Michael “Pinball” Clemons speak twice over the past four years.
At 5’6”, Clemons is the most dynamic speaker I have ever heard, and if you get the chance to hear him speak, I urge you to do so.
On both occasions, I was one of a few hundred elected officials crammed into a hall to hear Clemons speak about what it was like to be a part of a team, and how important leaders were in any organization.
I wish that I had a recording of what he had to say. I can’t recall it word for word, but I remember bits and pieces of his message.
Within seconds of starting his speech, Clemons had the entire room clapping in unison and chanting along with him: “When I say sweet, you say spot.” “Saweeeeet . . . spot.”
I don’t remember at all what it means, but I can still hear him saying it, and the crowd was sitting on the edge of their seat for the entire hour and a half that he was allotted.
The other thing I remember was him relaying a story about a dressing room speech. You can watch Clemons’s 2004 Grey Cup speech on YouTube, but what you won’t see is what the captain, starting quarterback Damon Allen, did next.
Allen stood up and walked around the entire dressing room, stopping at each player’s stall. One by one, placing his hands on their shoulder pads, he looked them in the eye and said, “I play this game for you.”
That team went out and won the championship.
Closer to home, the Flin Flon Bombers announced last week that Dean Allison will be the team captain this year.
Allison is already a leader in the dressing room, but now as captain he has one year to really leave his mark on this team.
Imagine how good a team would be if every player bought into Allen’s idea, and for an entire season forgot about the name on his back and played for the guys sitting around him in the dressing room.
That team would be great. There would be nothing stopping them.
As we get set to open the curtain on the 2014-15 season, expectations in Flin Flon are high.
There will be some growing pains with this team. They aren’t going to win every game, but they will be hard working and give themselves a chance to win, and that’s really all we can ask as fans.
Good luck, and see you at the rink!
