Bulldogs Insider #5 - MVD

Each week Bulldogs wide receiver and now running back Matt Gordon will be giving you an insightful look at the North Bay Bulldogs. Enjoy!

One week after their worst loss of the season, the Bulldogs (0-3) will travel to meet the winless Kingston Privateers (0-4) Saturday afternoon at 3pm. This is the Bulldogs most important game of the year so far as it will definitely be a deciding factor in whether or not they will gain a playoff position. In the NFC, the top eight teams make the playoffs leaving just the bottom two teams sitting out. If the Bulldogs win this Saturday in Kingston, it could bring them into a three-way tie for the 7th spot in the league. Last weekend’s games saw two teams get their first win of the season; both Oshawa and the Toronto Raiders now have one win and have the inside track on playoff positions. It now looks as though North Bay will need to gain at least two victories in order to secure a playoff birth.

Historically the Bulldogs have been successful when facing this franchise, losing only once (2006) in the past seven seasons. The Privateers organization however, has gained more stability by moving to Kingston this past off season. They came into the league in 2001 as the Belleville Panthers; in 2006 they changed to the Quinte-Limestone Panthers in order to take advantage of recruiting in both the Belleville and Kingston areas. Also in 2006 they were disqualified from the playoffs for not meeting all league fees and in 2007 the Panthers went winless, struggling with having enough players to compete the entire season. This year the team is looking to rebuild by establishing a good solid base of recruiting in the Kingston area. The Bulldogs will not be able to take this game lightly as both teams are young and in-experienced and will be looking to jump start their season after poor starts.

This past week the Bulldogs really got to see what happens in football when a team gets momentum early. It usually translates into a very one sided affair, especially if that team stays mistake free and keeps that momentum. The question is what can cause such a dramatic shift in momentum that it can instantly boost one team and really deflate the other? Usually it because one individual goes above and beyond what is expected of them and the players around him become motivated to do the same. An early touchdown (like last weekend) or a big hit can really light a fire under a team. However, sometimes it is just a player that will not quit no matter what is thrown his way or maybe someone who makes a play that he has not been able to accomplish to that point. No matter what the case, someone needs to really step up to shift the momentum in a football game.

In a lot of cases this person is forgotten; once the game is over and the score is 40-0 it is easy to forget the interception returned for a touchdown in the first quarter that started it all. This year the Bulldogs are trying to acknowledge the person that goes that extra inch. We have started a new practice of naming an MVD (Most Valuable Dog), and I really hope the tradition sticks. After each game one player is given a hard helmet that they wear for the rest of the night including the fifth quarter. The significance of the helmet is to show the hard working nature of that player.

Although we still show a zero in the win column, the season has not been without its great individual performances. The first ever winner of the helmet was Kevin Godin, a rookie fullback who, despite playing the position for the first time ever and taking several large hits he never quit hitting hard the entire game. Brian Samson was the winner in the second game of the season, intercepting a pass and running it back for 60 yards to score his first TD as a member of the Bulldogs. Both players were very worthy winners and wore the helmet well.

However, there is one player who never got a chance to win an award like this and I assure if he had he would have won it in almost every game he played. If it weren’t for this person no player would be able to put on the Bulldogs uniform let alone win the helmet. It is for this reason that his number is clearly adorned on the back of the helmet; 42.

There are not many players left on the Bulldogs that can say they had the pleasure of being a teammate of Richard Begin’s, but the ones who do know he was the hardest working player to every put on the uniform. Rich would show up to practice everyday in full gear and be out running sprints before most others even arrived at the field. There was no such thing as practice speed for Rich, it was full out all the time and that not only made him better, it forced the players around him to step their game and be as good as they could be.

When it came to games he only got more intense; in one game Rich ruptured his biceps tendon and still managed to finish the game using only his good arm to tackle. I was only a rookie at the time and I remember thinking, if he is willing to finish a game in that condition I need to go all out on every play. This is the kind of thing that exemplifies what the MVD helmet represents.

On top of being the hardest working player on the field Rich did more than most off the field as well. If it were not for Rich, I truly believe there would be no such thing as the North Bay Bulldogs. He was instrumental in moving the Burlington Bulldogs franchise to our city in 1991, as well as purchasing their equipment so that the team could get started with minimal costs. Without Rich’s contacts in Burlington this move would not have been possible and the team may never have formed.

Unfortunately, Rich passed away in 2003, long before his time. There are still number 42’s on some of the team helmets and t-shirts commemorating his memory. To my knowledge 42 is the only number that is officially retired from our team and deservedly so.

Rich was the true MVD, always playing as hard as he could and always doing whatever he could to be better. I hope each player that wears the helmet takes a look at the gold 42 on the back and feels the honor that I would to be compared, if only for one game, to Rich.