PLAYER #101 - DON "SHANTY" MCKENZIE (1940-41, 50-53)

Gord Walker was one of the legendary sportswriters in Canada, writing about Canadian football for the Globe and Mail for many years. His excellent work was acknowledged by his selection to the CFL Hall-of-Fame in the Football Reporters of Canada category in 1982.

But outside of his neutral role as an objective journalist, Walker was an unabashed Argo fan, and particularly took interest in the wealth of personalities that have worn the Double Blue uniform over the years. Before he passed away in the 1980's, Walker was working on a book of Argo characters titled "...And That's Why I Love The Argos: A Lifelong Passion", which was completed by his son Terry in 1988, but has never been published.

Over the next two weeks, Ancient Mariners will take a look at the book, taking out excerpts about some of the personalities that have exemplified the Argonauts over the years. Some of the key characters in the book, from the likes of Ab Box, Joe Krol, Bobby Taylor and Bill Symons, have already been profiled on Ancient Mariners, but a score of others have not been mentioned.

This week, with the help of Walker, we will take a look at Don "Shanty" McKenzie, Bill Zock, Royal Copeland, Fred Black and Bobby Kuntz.

Let's start with McKenzie, a tough but unassuming lineman who played both ways for the Argos in the years (1940-41) before he served in World War II in Conn Smythe's 30th Battery, and in the years following the war (1950-53). Right after the war, "Shanty" played with Ted Reeve's Balmy Beach squad until 1949 out of a sense of duty to Reeve, who served with McKenzie in Europe. This sense of comaraderie also existed with Smythe, who offered McKenzie a job at Maple Leaf Gardens after the war, where he worked for 40 years before retiring as the building's superintendent.

McKenzie's sense of loyalty to his ex-service mates prevented him from playing on a couple of Argo Grey Cup teams in 1946 and '47, but he was still able to play on two championship squads in 1950 and '52 when he finally rejoined the Double Blue. In fact, he was welcomed back with open arms by new coach Frank Clair and new president Bob Moran, who appointed McKenzie captain of the team. His excellent play warranted the selection, and after the 1952 Grey Cup win over Edmonton, here is what Walker had to say about McKenzie's performance in his Globe and Mail story the next day:

"Shanty McKenzie's downfield tackling was several degrees better than sensational and he explained why: 'As a guard, I usually stay on the line blocking on kick formation and Jack Carpenter, at tackle, goes downfield. But Jack and I switched on punt formations this time'. It wasn't the best game he ever played, Shanty thought, but his downfield tackling was better than it ever had been. His short, powerful arms bore bruises that testified to the important work they had done."

First joining the Argos in 1940 straight out of Toronto's Western Tech High School, McKenzie retired at age 33 after the 1953 season.