PLAYER #128 - RON SOUTHWICK (1979-81)

For a lot of players, football is in their blood. For some, it may just be a job, but for others, it is their existence, their "raison d'etre".

Even when the playing days are over, these types of guys miss the camaraderie, the passion, the physical nature of the game so much, that they stay in it in one form or another. It could mean coaching, or administration, or playing semi-pro or touch, because without it, they would feel something missing.

Ron Southwick is one of these types of guys, an intense linebacker when he played with the Argos in the late '70's and early '80's, and an equally intense competitor off the field.

"When I was on the field, I didn't care who you were, I knocked you down," said Southwick, who admits to being the same way when he plays touch football or basketball today. "I don't know why that is. I can't get out of it. But I look at myself now, I'm 45 years old. I can't be like this forever."

When he's not playing, Southwick is heavily involved in coaching. He is currently coaching pee-wee football, which his son Adam plays, in Oakville, and is preparing his team for the provincial championships in Scarborough on the weekend of the Eastern final. A fellow coach is ex-Argo lineman Chris Schultz, who like Southwick, is also an Oakville native.

"I'm a fanatical coach," admitted Southwick, who coached football at his alma mater high school, Oakville Trafalgar, for seven years. "I remember when someone took the time out to teach me, and I feel I owe something back to the system."

Southwick has given back much more than he has taken in, helping coach basketball and other sports as well. He and his wife Gail have four children (Adam, daughter Kimberly, and twins Daniel and Sarah) who are heavily involved in sports, and when he's not busy at his job as co-owner of Murron Cabinets, Southwick can usually be found at one sports site or another.

"I just love the game, football is like a chess match," said Southwick. "I always said to myself, I enjoyed the game a lot. Game days were so much fun, but near the end, the days in between were not."

This was especially true of his Argo years from 1979-81, a particularly tumultuous period in the team's history. "We went through hell, but you remember the people, guys like Jim Corrigal, Peter Muller, Condredge Holloway, not the records."

While Southwick closed off his eight-year career with the Argos, he had played with the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers before that. A former player rep, Southwick was vocal and said what was on his mind, which he still does today.

"Everyone was a character in their own way, and I kind of didn't go with the system," said Southwick, who remembered a particular blow-up with former Bomber head coach Ray Jauch, after Jauch cut team favourite Bob Swift. "Everybody would go through the wall for Bob Swift. I was so mad, I went out and had the game of my life. I returned an interception for a touchdown, had a fumble recovery, and was all over the field. Then (a teammate) came up to me and said, 'Well, they can't get rid of you now'."


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