Buono's record-tying win evokes memories

Wait for it.
Here it comes.
The statement that defines B.C. Lions general manager and coach Wally Buono as he prepares to put his stamp, er, mark on the Canadian Football League’s coaching record . . .
Wally Buono is the anti-Kuharich.
That kernel of keen insight came to me Friday night while watching Buono’s B.C. Lions beat the Montreal Alouettes 19-12. Buono tied Don Matthews’ all-time record of 231 career wins as a head coach.
Lary Kuharich, his predecessor and former boss with the Calgary Stampeders when he was an assistant, used to chew out reporters and almost everybody else on a regular basis. Kuharich was not particularly fond of his own team’s PR guy, either, once grabbing him by the throat and pinning him to a wall.
On the other hand, Buono once refused to let anyone else sit in a former Calgary Herald football writer’s chair in the coach’s office when he was sick. (Buono also supported the scribe emotionally during the Calgary Herald strike circa 1999-2000, but I digress).
When things got tough for Kuharich in Calgary some 19 years ago, he emptied his office in the dark of night and fled to Vancouver in the dark of night to become coach of the Lions. Buono, on the other hand, was all but booted out by former Stamps owner Michael Feterik following the 2003 season.
Feterik bought the team in a bid to help his son Kevin become a starting quarterback, and his right-hand man, Fred Fateri, wanted to be the boss, despite the fact that both had virtually no football experience. Buono had no intention of making Kevin Feteri a starter, although he did make an earnest effort to help him develop his skills.
Fateri, who used to march from one end of the Calgary sideline to the other and berate officials, said they would have no problem if Buono wanted to seek employment with other teams. No compensation to the Stamps would be necessary.
As late Lions president Bob Ackles revealed in his book The Water Boy, Fateri later backtracked, after Stampeders fans and media voiced their displeasure. Ackles finally got Buono for nothing after not-so-subtly suggesting that he would reveal info gleaned on Fateri from a U.S. law-enforcement type.
“I’m a fairly black-and-white guy,” said Buono said after Friday’s win, recalling his final days with the Stampeders. “I had a contract. I honoured my contract. I wanted my contract to be honoured and respected, and they chose not to do that. It gave me an opportunity to come to a place where I was going to be respected and I was going to be supported. At the end of the day, that’s all you want in this business. It’s tough enough beating the other team. It’s a lot tougher when you’ve gotta fight among yourselves.”
With Lions owner David Braley standing and waiting to congratulate him, Buono said what you might have expected him to say about having great ownership in B.C., but you also suspect he would have said the same if Braley were in his hometown of Hamilton instead of standing next to him.
“Calgary was a different time,” said Buono. “Sometimes you need to move on. I came to an organization that had tremendous ownership and had tremendous leadership. It made my job easier. My job has been easy since I’ve come here. I’ve been supported 100 per cent. I’ve always been given (anything) I’ve ever asked for.
“Finances have never been an issue, ownership has never been an issue, support’s never been an issue,” said Buono. “I can’t always say that about my years in Calgary. We went through a lot of different struggles. We had a lot of great years, but here it’s been easier for me as far as just focussing on football and trying to get this organization to be as good as it can be.”
In addition to Michael Feterik and Fateri, Buono had to deal with previous owner Larry Ryckman and some of his financial dilemmas, which included difficulties paying star quarterback Doug Flutie. But the Lions franchise also had struggles of its own – on and off the field before Buono arrived.
“It was in disarray,” said Reid, adding Ackles and Buono turned the organization around.
And now?
“I’d challenge anyone that says we’re not the best organization in the league.”
True to form, Buono said little about the record in the week leading up to Friday’s game as he tried to right the Lions’ listing ship. Reid, basking in a victory over the club with the best record in the CFL, said it was inevitable that Buono would tie the record.
“It was going to happen one of these days,” said Reid. “It just proves once again that greatness happens over time.”
“It’s amazing,” said receiver Geroy Simon, who could have easily left the Lions long ago as a free agent but chose to remain after Buono was hired. “I’m just happy I could be a part of it. To be a part of history, that’s awesome. Wally’s a great coach. That’s why I chose to stay here and play for him. I’m just proud that I was just able to play the game when he tied the record.”
Buono is looking forward to an opportunity to break the record next weekend in his hometown of Montreal, where he won as a player with the Als in 1977 and with an unheralded 2001 Calgary squad. But, he admitted that the record does not mean much to him, and in the long run, he probably won’t be remembered for it or the Grey Cups he has won with the Lions and Stamps.
Instead, he’ll be remembered for the lasting influence he has had on the league, developing outstanding quarterbacks like Dickenson and Jeff Garcia. serving as a role model for coaches like Edmonton’s Richie Hall and countless others, supporting non-profit organizations like the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
“He’s the one I think anyone coming into this league would want to emulate for how to run things properly,” said Reid. “You can never be a champion every year, but you can run a good football organization every year, and that’s what he’s done everywhere he’s been. I believe he’s the poster boy for how to run a good, class act, first-quality CFL organization.”
The Stampeders have recovered from Buono’s departure, but it took them years, and only after a Buono protégé, John Hufnagel, took over as general manager and coach. But you could not have helped but wondered what would have become of the Stamps if he had stayed – and the Lions if he had never arrived.
These were just some of the random thoughts that came to mind Friday.
The others?

His conversion of journeyman quarterback Marcus Crandell into the second coming of Sam (the Rifleman) Etcheverry in 2001 as the Stamps won the Grey Cup in Montreal after an 8-10 regular season . . .

A goal that Buono scored, probably the first and only one ever, on yours truly in a charity hockey game against a media squad during a charity game in Calgary . . .

Buono’s graciousness in answering questions for my article in Business Edge on Ackles . . .

His decision to cut Dave Dickenson from the Lions when it became clear that his health was in jeopardy because of too many concussions . . .


Buono’s explanation to reporters on why he defers to the B.C. medical staff when it comes to deciding whether injured players can suit up . . .

His willingness to answer questions after tough losses this season . . .

His refusal to bring in “recycled” NFL rejects just for the sake of change that would have no long-term meaning . . .

And, last but not least, his published comments that he would rather be remembered for the way he treats people rather than records.
Although times are much better now, Calgary fans wished other members of Stampeders’ management took the same attitude around 2004.
Don't get me wrong, he can be a miserable cuss at times, mainly after a loss. But, unlike countless other coaches and athletes in numerous sports, he understands that you have to take the good with the bad -- a simple premise but difficult for many primadonnas -- and be accountable when things go wrong.
That's why he gets a lot of things right.