PLAYER #130 - MIKE WADSWORTH (1966-70)

Mike Wadsworth's last game in a Toronto Argonaut uniform was not a happy one. It was November 7th, 1970, and the Montreal Alouettes came into Toronto and won an Eastern semi-final game 16-7. The Als went on to win the Grey Cup that year, defeating the Calgary Stampeders 23-10.

This year, although it took more than a quarter of a century to do it, the Argos finally got their revenge, winning the Eastern final on November 17th in convincing fashion. The final was 43-7 for the Argonauts, and the score was every bit as indicative of the difference in play.

Now its on to the Grey Cup, where the Argos will take on the Edmonton Eskimos in the 84th Grey Cup classic in Hamilton on Sunday, November 24th.

While the Argos are making football news on this side of the border, Wadsworth is also in the gridiron spotlight on the south side of the 49th parallel. As the athletic director at famed Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana, a position he has held for the past couple of years, Wadsworth was on hand to accept the recent resignation of long-time Fighting Irish head coach Lou Holtz.

"We know that the spotlight on this position can be very wearing," said Wadsworth, speaking recently on the FAN 590 radio program "Prime Time Sports". "We have to get someone who can fit the environment at Notre Dame. His successor is going to have to measure up to a lot."

According to some people, it is the toughest head coaching job in all of football. By extension, Wadsworth's position would be the toughest administrative job in football, and as the athletic director, he is also in charge of many other sports as well. But it is a job that he is very capable of handling, since he was the Canadian ambassador to Ireland in a previous incarnation, which would hold him in good stead with Irish traditionalists.

A graduate of Notre Dame in the 1960's out of Toronto's downtown De La Salle High School, Wadsworth came to the Argos in 1966, where he was the Canadian rookie-of-the-year in the Eastern Conference. An aggressive defensive tackle, he earned an all-star selection in 1968 and was a member of some great Argo teams, but they never made it to the Grey Cup game.

They did this year though, and Wadsworth tries to keep tabs on the team when his busy schedule permits.

"I understand they had a great season," said Wadsworth. "Is Doug Flutie going to win the Schenley again?"

At this time, The Toronto Sun's Jim Hunt reminded Wadsworth that is wasn't called the Schenley anymore, and the two reminisced about old times. While he didn't make it to the Grey Cup as a player, he went to a lot of "Grand National Drunks" as a broadcaster with CTV, where he lived up to the image of the event. Local scribes gleefully recall the incident when Pat Marsden challenged an equally-impaired Wadsworth to a three-point stance battle. Guess who won?

"Things aren't what they used to be," lamented Wadsworth.