Rob Vanstone: “Fuddle Duddle” and the huddle — photographic memories from 1972
Am I even remotely capable of wringing an entire column out of the “Fuddle Duddle” photo? Just watch me.
This challenge was presented by the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Director of Communications, Arielle Zerr, who delights in sifting through our archives, sending me random photos, asking for the stories behind them.
That bring us to the first “Fuddle Duddle” theme of my career. Landmarks, you see, can come out of nowhere.
The accompanying image dates back to Oct. 29, 1972 — the 18th birthday of future Roughriders great Joey Walters — when the Montreal Alouettes fell 29-3 on the frozen tundra of Taylor Field.
One look at the crowd elicits two immediate reactions: (1) Virtually everyone is wearing a parka; (2) Hardly anyone is wearing green.
There is, however, green spray paint, which was used to make a sign that is draped over the east side’s front-row railing.
Stop the FUDDLE DUDDLE
BiLL BAKER for P.M.
“Fuddle Duddle” became part of the national lexicon in February of 1971, when Pierre Trudeau allegedly uttered or mouthed a word that was rather, shall we say, unparliamentary.
When facing questions about what was actually said, the Prime Minister coyly and memorably responded with “Fuddle Duddle.”
Then-Edmonton General Manager Norm Kimball must have been tempted to utter a comparable phrase after his team’s quarterbacking ranks were decimated by Baker over the course of two games.
Aug. 16, 1972: Baker, a Roughriders defensive lineman, flattened Bruce Lemmerman, who emerged with a broken collarbone and was sidelined for a month. Baker, nicknamed The Undertaker, also knocked Edmonton running back Gene Foster out of the game.
Sept. 17, 1972: When Saskatchewan and Edmonton next collided — again at Taylor Field — Baker flattened Edmonton quarterbacks Tom Wilkinson (concussion) and Dave Syme (broken nose).
“That’s the third quarterback of ours he’s put out of a game,” Kimball snorted during a fiery post-game yak session with reporters.
“We try to run a professional football league and we’ve got an animal running around and trying to take it away from us. You keep letting that bull(bleep) go on and you’re going to have a riot.
“He’s got to be controlled. Who’s got to control him? The officials! We’ve got hundreds of thousands of dollars invested and we let a cheap-shot (bleep) like him take it away. If they’re going to let that happen, it’s going to be open season.”
Quarterbacks, regardless of the affiliation, were endangered on that autumn day in 1972.
Bob Hughes of the Regina Leader-Post wrote that the Roughriders’ Ron Lancaster “came out of the game with a black eye, an aching body, and little chunks of skin missing from around his eye. Somebody was scratching him on the last play of the game.”
But any discipline that resulted was not meted out during the game. Baker, who played the game aggressively but cleanly, went unpenalized.
Afterwards, though, the CFL fined him $100 for “excessive roughness.” Before too long, the league had also banned one of his trademarks, the clothesline.
“It was probably my major achievement in football,” Baker told me in 2008. “All the quarterbacks from that time forward should be thankful to me for getting the clothesline outlawed.”
All of this was part of the conversation when the Roughriders and Alouettes met in in sub-zero conditions on the final Sunday of October.
On a playing field that is dusted with snow, you can see Roughriders running back Bobby Thompson just after he hit the ground.
Another Roughrider is shown between Alouettes linebackers Steve Smear (No. 50) and Mike Widger (41). It is difficult to determine whether the Saskatchewan player is Bob Pearce (12) or Tom Campana (17).
Much more conspicuous is Alouettes defensive back Gene Gaines (22), who was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1994 — a decade after Baker was enshrined.
On the right side of the image, Alouettes defensive back Merl Code (17) is shown after hitting the turf. Linebacker Carl Crennel (53), who would spend the 1981 season with Saskatchewan, is clearly visible.
Who is that jumping in the air? The first jersey number is 6. The second number? Good question.
My best guess is that the airborne individual is defensive end Junior Ah You, who was then concluding his first of 10 CFL seasons. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1997.
On the Alouettes’ sideline, I spy defensive lineman Mike Maloney (60).
Standing beside Maloney is a player whose second jersey number is 3. It might be Tony Proudfoot (23), Brad Upshaw (33) or Ron Perowne (73). Any guesses?
There wasn’t any uncertainty as to the better team on Oct. 29, 1972.
Lancaster threw touchdown passes to Thompson and Pearce. The Alouettes’ quarterbacking wasn’t nearly as effective. George Mira threw four of the five interceptions that were served up by the visiting side.
Mira left the game in the third quarter and was soon taken to hospital to have his back x-rayed, according to the game report filed by Doug Gilbert of the Montreal Gazette.
Bob Strumm, then the Saskatoon StarPhoenix’s sports columnist, noted that “Mira was carried from the field by stretcher.”
Mira’s misfortunate could not be blamed on Baker. The trip to the hospital, which turned out to be precautionary, resulted from a meeting with Roughriders defensive linemen Tim Roth and Rock Perdoni.
Over the course of the game, though, Baker and fellow defensive lineman Don Bahnuik also applied consistent pressure. That was the assessment of Hughes, an L-P legend.
The other day, Baker reflected on that game — and that eventful season — after I emailed him a copy of the fabulous “Fuddle Duddle” picture.
“Once I saw the photo, I did remember it,” he recalled. “That was after all the clotheslining stuff.
“I had no penalties. The commissioner (Jake Gaudaur) wrote me a letter after the game and put out a press release after I was fined $100 for ‘excessive roughness.’
“After that, the referee would come up to me before the game and warn me. He’d instruct me, ‘Bill, we’re going to watch you. If you do anything out of sorts, we’re going to penalize you and disqualify you from the game.’ ”
This was done rather dutifully in the case of long-time CFL official Abe Kovnats.
“He was from Winnipeg and he used to come to Regina on business during the off-season,” Baker said. “When he was in town, he would call me and we’d go for lunch.”
Baker, one should note, never did take the advice of the sign-maker.
Although there were overtures from representatives of political parties, The Undertaker never sought to be elected. So much for the “BiLL BAKER for P.M.” movement.
Kovnats, as it turned out, was much more interested in entering public life.
After officiating in the CFL for a decade, he spent 11 years as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
In 2013, Abe Kovnats was posthumously inducted into the Football Manitoba Hall of Fame.
“He was a great guy and a real character,” Baker concluded. “We had a lot of fun back then.”
