Category: Uncategorized

The Man Behind the Lens; an interview with Ottawa Redblacks photographer F. Scott Grant

By: Santino Filoso

Today we interview F. Scott Grant, an award-winning photographer with over 40 years experience. Grant has covered the Rough Riders, Renegades, and will be wandering along the sidelines at TD Place once again this June shooting the Redblacks. We wanted to give you a taste of the life of a pro sports photographer and find out a little more about his experiences with Ottawa’s CFL teams.

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RR: How did you get into photography and when did you start covering the Rough Riders/Renegades?

FSG: My dad, Ted Grant, who took a lot of the older photos in my archive, is a professional photographer. In 1969 he took me to an Ottawa-Hamilton game, handed me a camera and a single roll of film and let me shoot the game. I was 13 years old and from that game I had 6 pictures published in a game day programme.

Do you only shoot sports events?

No actually, I have shot a variety of different things. I spent 11 years shooting Federal politics and was Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s personal photographer for a year. I will shoot whatever comes my way, although I don’t like doing weddings.

Why not weddings?

Just aren’t my thing. I’ve shot a few over the years; my son’s wedding last year, and before that was one of the Renegades dance team members, that was a lot of fun. She was getting married to one of the CFL officials on the same day as a ‘Gades game. We did half the wedding pictures before the game, all went to the game, and then went back to do the formal part of the wedding after.

Aside from the Redblacks, who are some of your other clients?

Some of my other clients include Swimming Canada, Canada Games Council, Canadian Paralympic Committee and Jogo Trading Cards.

How is covering a CFL game different from other shooting other sports?

Football first and foremost is my favourite game, I enjoy playing and understand everything about it. This in combination with the amount of years experience I have doing this kind of work makes it simple for me to shoot. I enjoy shooting football more than any other sport, but I approach everything I shoot the same way with one simple motto, try and capture the best images.

What are some of the challenges you face as you try to position yourself for that “perfect shot”?

To be honest a lot of it is luck, but even more is understanding the game, I will watch formations, see where players line up, and I avoid being where other photographers are, I want my images to be different.

Do you do a lot of post image processing?

The only post I do is colour correction, crop and straighten the backgrounds if they are crooked.

When you go to a stadium on game day, what kind of cameras and equipment do take with you?

I shoot football with the same equipment that I shoot everything with, typically a Canon body and a 300mm or 400mm lens.

Which stadium gives you the best sight lines when shooting?

Pretty much all stadiums are the same though some only allow you to shoot from one side. Montreal is like this, so it’s tough to get any good bench stuff.

The CFL is famous for it’s wild weather, how do you deal with the elements as a photographer?

Lots of layers to stay warm in the cold and for rain I use a cheap green garbage bag and duct tape to cover the camera, all fairly simple steps to take. Basically it boils down to three things; Stay dry, stay warm and cover the gear.

It was recently revealed that you’ll be the Redblacks photographer for their inaugural season, how did you get the job?

I guess I got the job as the Redblacks team photographer partly because I was the first guy in the door, I had a lot of experience shooting football and I’m very grateful to Randy Burgess as he gave me the opportunity.

Will you travel with the team when they go on the road or will you be based at Lansdowne and only cover home games?

I would love too, but I haven’t had a chance to sit down with Randy and discuss any of the details yet. When I was the Renegades team photographer I would go to the games in Montreal on my own.

What are some of your favourite images that you’ve captured throughout the years?

Favourite images is a tough one, I’ve shot so many in different areas of photography, but still don’t believe that I have shot my best one yet.

In your mind what makes an iconic picture and what are some images that sum up Ottawa’s football history for you?

Hmm, another difficult one to pick. There is one that my Dad shot of a Russ Jackson bootleg in the late 60s, but I don’t really have a single image in mind. I believe that in some cases it takes a lot of images to sum up the history of a team.

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Have you had the opportunity to meet and interact with some of the players and athletes you cover?

I have met many former players and consider a few of them friends. I was friends with Jim Coode, a tragic loss, from ALS. I went to school with his wife Lisa, who was a former Rough Rider cheerleader. She passed away several years ago as well. During the 60s, my Dad was the Riders team photographer when I was growing up and we have had players over to the house.

It seems like every year we see a player get knocked out of bounds into an unsuspecting and unpadded cameraman or photographer, has this every happened to you?

I’ve seen lots of guys get run over but I’ve never been crashed into despite a few close calls. I try to stay safe by always paying attention to where the ball is and where the players are coming from keep. I also don’t allow anyone to stand behind me, so that I can move if I have to.

What are your favourite CFL and NHL teams?

Every Ottawa team.

Tell me about your best Lansdowne memory

Favourite experience at Lansdowne was from the late 70’s during the late season games, when my Dad was still covering the games, we would sit under the south side stands on the field with a few of the other photographers and drink rum and coffee before the game.

Where can people go to buy some of your prints?

People can order high resolution downloads or prints though my web site of over 11,000 images at http://www.imagecommunications.ca/

Thank you very much for your time, Scott. Best of luck shooting the Redblacks this season, I’m sure you’ll snap some memorable ones.

@RedBlackGade

One last thought (for now) on Glenn v. Redblacks

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Much has been said on Twitter, in mainstream media and in this humble blog (entry 1, entry 2) about the Kevin Glenn affair (can it be called a saga yet?) with the Ottawa Redblacks. From the quite reasonable, to the entirely uninformed, opinions run the gamut. Here’s one more look at it.

To quickly summarize, it appears Glenn expected to be named the starter in Ottawa following his selection in the expansion draft, or at least considered himself the odds-on favourite for the job, in spite of the fact general manager Marcel Desjardins made it clear that very same day he was still looking to improve the team at the QB position. No one other than Glenn, Desjardins and probably head coach Rick Campbell know what was said behind closed doors, but it seems very unlikely promises about the starting job were made. I can’t imagine a player selected in an expansion draft would be handed the starting job right out of the shoot.

Shortly after the draft, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats decided to release 39-year-old and future CFL Hall of Fame QB Henry Burris, following their signing of former Toronto Argonauts QB Zach Collaros. Ottawa and Winnipeg went hard at Burris, with the Redblacks ultimately convincing him to sign on with expansion club. A great addition and statement that Ottawa wasn’t messing around in year one. The signing was met with near-universal praise.

At the Burris press conference, Desjardins welcomed “the new starting quarterback of the Ottawa Redblacks” to the fan base. At the time, I found it curious that Desjardins went out of his way to call Burris the starting QB. Kind of goes without saying, no?

The more I think about it now, this controversy is likely based entirely on that choice of words and little else. Glenn had to know the Redblacks were looking to make a splash and he would be facing some competition other than QBs Thomas DeMarco (also picked in the expansion draft) and Matt Faulkner (free-agent signing). But dropping that “starter” tag appears to be the kicker for Glenn. Perhaps it was simply a marketing decision for Ottawa, giving the fans a “face of the franchise” they were somewhat familiar with. Or perhaps they were just being honest about their expectations of this new reality heading into training camp. Whatever the reason, Desjardins and the Redblacks could have been a little more careful with their words, I suppose. But should they have to?

More importantly: would it make any concrete difference to Glenn?

The reality of the situation is that regardless of who was named preseason starter, Glenn would be attending training camp with the same opportunity to win the job that he had before the Burris signing. Yes, he wouldn’t get the same attention that the big free-agent acquisition will get (and let’s not discount Burris’ uncanny ability to market the team and attract attention — he seriously has a gift), but it is ultimately about the game on the field. If Glenn proved to be the better player, the job would be (or soon be) his. At the end of the day, it is still all about winning football games.

Instead of going to camp and competing, Glenn took the entire thing as a slight and immediately asked for a trade or his release. The ‘opportunity’ to compete for the starting job in Ottawa apparently no longer wanted. Desjardins has refused to release him, which makes perfect sense for an expansion team still trying to fill out a roster. A trade is the only option Ottawa can consider at this point and Desjardins apparently won’t let Glenn go cheap. With training camp still a few months out, Desjardins can be patient.

End of the day, it’s an unfortunate situation. I don’t believe there is anything the Redblacks should have done differently. They are trying to create interest, excitement and the best team possible, after all. Based on what we know, Glenn wasn’t promised anything more than a chance to compete for the starting job, and that chance remains. It is also true that Glenn has paid his dues and probably deserves a shot at starting. But with all nine of those jobs seemingly filled, and Glenn’s contract heavily weighted on number of starts, the options are limited for him. It also strikes as more than a little presumptuous for an expansion draft pick to expect anything be given to him. Ottawa might actually be Glenn’s best opportunity to start a lot this year – hard to expect a 39-year-old to stay healthy through an entire season. But it appears that’s no longer an opportunity Glenn wants.

The best option for both sides might be to have Glenn in camp and wait for an opportunity to arise elsewhere once injuries inevitably materialize. We’ll see how it plays out.

@OTTRoughRiders

Kevin Glenn (officially) wants out

By: Santino Filoso

Spoke with Kevin Glenn today and he told me he’s asked the Ottawa Redblacks to trade him. Story coming.

— Dan Ralph (@danralphcp) March 6, 2014

In a regrettable but predictable move, reporter Dan Ralph has confirmed that Kevin Glenn has indeed asked Ottawa Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins for a trade.

This isn’t going to end well for Glenn or the Redblacks. In a recent post, I discussed how I thought that the “hacking” incident had been blown out of proportion but clearly I was wrong. By publicly confirming that he has indeed asked for a trade Glenn has tied Desjardins hands.

If it wasn’t already, any trade that Desjardins pulls off now will give the Redblacks an extremely diminished return. Teams know he wants out and will bank on the fact that the Redblacks won’t want to keep a disgruntled player in the locker room.

That being said, going public could backfire on Glenn because in the end the Redblacks don’t have to trade him. And even if Glenn is traded, it’s not a lock that he’ll start anywhere else. Pretty well every team has an established starter, so in all likelihood Glenn will remain a back-up wherever he goes.

It’s also being reported that when Burris was signed Glenn immediately asked for his release, the Redblacks denied. Here’s what GM Marcel Desjardins had to say:

“Put it this way, we are not going to release him,” Desjardins said. “We have to be smart and put ourselves in the best position depth-wise at the quarterback position and that’s what we’ve done.”

If the Redblacks gamble and feel like the other veterans can keep Glenn’s discontent from dividing the locker room, they could choose to do nothing and wait. Glenn’s contract is very cap-friendly and based on playing time, so even though Burris is getting big money, the Redblacks won’t have a problem carrying the two of them into the season. If last season was any indication, a team’s starter will go down to injury and Desjardins could chose to move Glenn at that time, for a better return.

The biggest irony of this whole situation?

BINGO!

Could it be?

Miss Cleo’s on the loose!

It’ll be very interesting to see how Desjardins and the Redblacks play this, but one thing’s for sure: the Redblacks don’t need this kind of distraction going into their inaugural season. The Redblacks have done pretty much everything right since they’ve entered the league and this is exactly the kind of bad publicity that the new ownership group has taken pains to avoid.

More from Desjardins:

“I need to do what’s in the best interest of our football team,” Desjardins said, “We’ve reached out to a few teams but at this point it’s certainly premature to say anything would actually happen.”

Would you trade Glenn now for the best offer or force him to report to training camp? If I’m Desjardins, I wait. Glenn created this mess all on his own. If I don’t get a good offer, I sit on my asset until I get a proper return.

@RedBlackGade

Redblacks QB NON-troversy

By: Santino Filoso

Talk about the kind of press the Redblacks didn’t need. On Feb. 11th, just hours into CFL Free Agency, a couple of angry messages came from Ottawa QB Kevin Glenn’s Twitter account:

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Shortly after the tweets went out, Glenn claimed his account was hacked. The offending tweets were also eventually deleted.

Believe what you like, but it appears Glenn simply committed a social media faux pas and accidentally tweeted something that was meant to be a direct message (DM).

Not exactly the kind of news Ottawa wanted to make on opening day of free agency. The Redblacks subsequently took a lot of (unwarranted) heat for how they have treated Glenn to date, warranted or not. There is definitely more than one school of thought, but let’s take a look at the facts (as I see them, anyway):

1. In Glenn, the Redblacks took the best QB available in the expansion draft.

2. Had Henry Burris been released before the expansion draft things would’ve played out much differently.

3. You cannot fault Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins for trying to improve the team in adding a QB like Burris, a sure-fire Hall of Famer coming off a Grey Cup appearance. That’s his job.

4. Desjardins probably shouldn’t have anointed Burris the starter at his introductory presser. Some things are best left implied.

5. Glenn woke up the morning the Redblacks signed Burris to find out he’d gone from being a starter to a backup and trade bait.

6. With that said, Glenn was not told he wouldn’t be challenged, ever. Glenn has been around the block long enough to know better.

7. You can’t blame Glenn for being sour; Pro football is a cut-throat business, but these guys are human beings too.

8. While it’s easy to understand why Glenn is upset, for him to let it slip in public is unacceptable, especially on the opening day of Free Agency.

As mentioned, Glenn quickly denied any wrong-doing with the “I’ve been hacked” defense, as below.

On an unrelated note, Glenn’s dog also ate his homework… and playbook.

Some local reporters gave Glenn the benefit of the doubt, but Twitter wasn’t buying it.

I suppose the biggest unknown in all of this is what Glenn may or may not have been promised by Redblacks brass. Seems really unlikely that assurances of a starting job were given. The following comes from the Globe and Mail report on the Expansion Draft:

Although he now has Glenn and DeMarco in tow, Desjardins said he’ll be active in free agency to land other quarterbacks. Toronto’s Zach Collaros, Saskatchewan’s Drew Willy, Hamilton’s Henry Burris and Edmonton’s Matt Nichols are all slated to become free agents in February.

“There’s a couple of good options out there and we’re certainly going to pursue those,” he said. “There’s no reason why we can’t be aggressive in that area.

“We’ve got a veteran, (that) doesn’t mean we can’t add another one. We have a young guy, (that) doesn’t mean we can’t add another. There’s three or four obvious guys out there and we’ll certainly reach out to all of them when the time comes.”

Not sure how much clearer that could be…

Though he might still be upset, Glenn’s best bet is to bide his time. If he ends up staying with Ottawa at some point he’ll get playing time. It’s almost unheard of for a single QB to play an entire season. Or maybe another team loses their starter to a significant injury and the Redblacks feel comfortable enough with DeMarco’s growth to trade Glenn.

As it currently stands, the Redblacks are blessed to have two great QBs in their inaugural season, a luxury the Renegades were denied. They’ve arguably got the strongest depth at QB of any team in the CFL with Burris, Glenn and DeMarco. Good QBs in the CFL are what good goalies are to NHL teams; you can never have too many of them.

In my opinion, this whole episode is a whole lot of fuss about nothing. It’s not as if a player never mis-used social media before. And it certainly isn’t the first time a starter was supplanted by a free agent signing. Glenn should be enough of a pro not to let this kind of thing happen again, and besides, he’s only a play away from being “the guy”.

@RedBlackGade

#RNation National Anthem Idea

Over the last few years (at least), fan bases have taken it upon themselves to ‘personalize’ the singing of the national anthem in their buildings. A couple of my favourites are the Winnipeg Jets (“True North!”) and the Dallas Stars (“Stars!”). Have a look/listen:

Winnipeg: http://youtu.be/zFvOzjq3QhY

Dallas: http://youtu.be/lQ_y3Xo-XYE

With these in mind, here’s an idea for how Ottawa Redblacks fans could put our own unique spin on the singing of the national anthem:

“O Canada!
R! home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep R! land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.”

What do you think, #RNation? Too much? 🙂

More Redblacks jersey concepts & a concept update

Finally let the cat out of the bag on Twitter about this blog. Thanks to all of you that have checked it out in the last couple of days. We’ll see what this can grow into in the coming months.

On to the topic at hand – and one of my favourite topics at that – jersey concepts. We’re always on the lookout for these and came across a couple more. FYI – couldn’t locate the sources of today’s new concepts. If you can, please share with us.

Have a look:

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Well, I think it’s safe to assume someone was having a bit of fun with the plaid concept. Don’t think that could ever seriously work. Perhaps as a one-time-use promotional jersey. The black-jersey-red-pant concept, however, has some interesting elements, including the much more subtle plaid trim and the fact that white is almost completely left out of the colour palette. Redblacks logo on the front is definitely a wee bit big.

Here’s another concept that’s a little out there:

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Just a little too much going on with this set. That said, the more contemporary jersey template they’re built on is interesting. Maybe with fewer colours in the mix this could turn into something that works.

The last one for today is an update on a great concept by Dan Ruggiero originally featured in this post. Have a look at these:

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Pretty slick stuff. As Dan mentioned in his Tweet on Sunday, jerseys/pants/socks could be very easily interchanged with these sets. I do not doubt it. And that red helmet could really work, couldn’t it? I personally wouldn’t want it as the primary helmet, for historical reasons, but definitely a solid alternate.

Looking at some of Ottawa’s uniforms of the past, the all-red set is a call-back to Ottawa Rough Rider uniforms worn in the 1940s, while the all-white set with red accents is along the lines of what was worn in the early 1960s, as below:

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Not sure that was exactly the intention, but a happy coincidence for sure.

Again, if you’ve come across (or designed, for that matter) any Redblacks jersey concepts, please let us know about them and we’ll be sure to feature in a future post.

Redblacks jersey numbers?

On the day of the Redblacks Expansion Draft, an astute CFL fan noted that the Redblacks official site was using this number template on its player pages:

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An interesting find. Definitely matches the cut-out style on the Redblacks R logo, as below:

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If this is indeed the number template they’re going with, it certainly points to a non-traditional jersey style. Not necessarily a bad thing. Certainly an ambitious choice. High risk, high reward, I suppose.

Interesting to note that the team has since removed the player number references from all player pages. Simply because numbers haven’t officially been assigned to players yet? Or cleaning up an unintended mini-leak? Pure speculation at this point. Pretty enjoyable speculation, actually 🙂

#RNation

Welcome to ‘Defend the R’

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Thanks for stumbling upon Defend the R, a blog dedicated to coverage of Ottawa’s CFL franchises past and present. I plan to share thoughts & ideas about the Redblacks, as time ticks down to kick-off in their inaugural season, as well as take a look back at franchises from the past – the Ottawa Rough Riders and the Ottawa Renegades. (SIDE NOTE: How perfect is this WordPress theme for an Ottawa CFL blog!!)

I will do my best to keep this blog up-to-date. If it happens to get a little stale, you can be sure there will be some action on Twitter at @OTTRoughRiders.

Looking forward to interacting with you in this format, #RNation.

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