Argos fans, if you have not heard of them already, the following article is written by an Argos Admiral. Throughout the season, members of our Admirals team (read more here) will be writing stories and producing content that will appear on their blog and social media channels. In some cases, they will also be writing original content for argonauts.ca. Coming up with unique story ideas, doing the research and getting to interview Argo players, these articles will be 100% original and will provide the information fans desire, written from the perspective of our most hardcore fans, your Admirals. You can follow them on Twitter and also “Like” them on Facebook to stay posted on all Argos and Admirals news. Here is our first piece by Admiral Aaron Rabinovits…
AARON RABINOVITS – Argos Admiral
TORONTO – Ricky Ray’s departure from Edmonton affected the entire city. The mayor was saddened, the residents were depressed, and the team was shocked. On the East end of the of the country, the opposite reaction was present as Torontonians all over were excited to see the number 15 in a Double Blue jersey. To make life better, come this Saturday, pending Ricky Ray throwing for 120 yards, he will pass Argos legend Doug Flutie for seventh on the list of all-time CFL passing yards.
| Ricky Ray’s Milestone |
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With 41,236 passing yards, Ray sits in 8th overall. Just 120 yards away from passing Doug Flutie (41,355-yards) who sits in 7th in CFL histroy. |
Ray didn’t even know that he was going to pass Flutie on the list.
“I knew I was in the top 10 somewhere, but that’s pretty awesome,” Ray said. “To be able to pass Doug Flutie, a guy I grew up watching, it’s unbelievable.”
Sports fans get worried when things like this come up. The question arises whether or not this milestone will pressure him come game time, causing him to get nervous. Ray, though, is a veteran who knows how to put the game before anything else.
“No, it won’t affect my game at all. Those are things that just kind of happen. There is nothing I can really do to think about anything other then just running the plays we have and trying to execute them, and trying to get those yards. It’s not to get the [milestone] but to help the team win.”
Ray has the chance to get this record while playing against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and participating in one of the biggest rivalries in sports history. Coming from Edmonton and having played many games against Calgary, he knows what it is like to be the ‘villain’, but it does not seem to faze him at all, even if this rivalry is a little more intense.
Ray’s life is also being made easy. Emotionally, for him, it was difficult to start again after having a great time in Edmonton and playing there for 8 seasons, but so far so good for Ricky.
“We’ve got some good teammates, some good players, the coaches are doing a great job teaching us the different systems they are installing. I can feel us coming together a little bit. It’s a process with a lot of new guys really getting comfortable with each other, but I think we are moving in the right direction.”
Getting the victory and the record would be like Christmas come early for Ray, but it would do the same for the fans. Any win against Hamilton is double the pleasure, but seeing our new quarterback pass one of the best quarterbacks to ever play for the Boatmen would only build on the excitement in the city even more.
Ray may be the key for the Argos in terms of bringing in a new audience and increasing the awareness of the Argos across the city. He’s only 32 years old and he could still be the key to helping the Argos win another Grey Cup and, ultimately, be the new “Boatmen Hero”.