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Golf tourney, supper successful event

Brett Jones at Hospital Foundation fundraiser
Hospital Foundation golf

By Greg Nikkel
The major annual golf tournament and supper fundraiser for the Weyburn and District Hospital Foundation was deemed a success by organizers, with Weyburn product Brett Jones of the New York Giants NFL team as the guest celebrity for the day.
The fundraiser brought in total revenues of around $110,000, said Melanie Sorensen, executive director of the Hospital Foundation. After expenses, this will net the foundation around $60-70,000, which will go towards the equipment fund for the new acute-care hospital for Weyburn.
The event on Friday included a golf tournament during the day at the Weyburn Golf Course, with 88 golfers on 22 teams out on the course, and 190 tickets were sold for the roast beef supper held in the evening at the Weyburn Curling Rink, catered by the Young Fellows Club.
The live auction brought in about $20,000, with the silent auction and 50-50 raffle bringing in another $3,000, and the balance of the revenues came from the supper tickets and sponsorships for the event, said Sorensen.
“We had really strong support from the community and from our sponsors, and we’re happy with the outcome,” she said.
A feature for the day was a comedic duo, Graham Neal of CTV and Donovan Workun of CBC Radio, who portrayed the character, “Angus McJagger”. The pair filmed clips from various teams on the golf course, including Brett Jones, and they showed a video in the evening of their antics. In addition, Neal did a question-and-answer session with Jones on stage, including taking questions from the audience.
Jones was first asked to describe the main differences between the CFL and NFL, as he was a player with the Calgary Stampeders before getting on with the Giants in the NFL.
He said there are a few differences, including schematically on the field, and in playing style, with four downs instead of three as in Canada, and it took him some adjustments from the Canadian game.
“Overall I would say the difference is of scale. A day in the life of a player is you’re there longer (in the NFL). In the CFL you’re not there as long, and in the CFL you have a lot more fun with stuff. In the CFL, I think guys are playing for the love of the game, not that they don’t love the game in the NFL, but for a lot of guys, that’s why they play. The fans are the same. They say Packer fans are crazy or Rider fans are crazy. Rider fans are up there with everybody else,” he said, adding, “I appreciate both leagues for what they are, and I would never say anything bad about the CFL.”
He noted with his size and weight, he’s one of the smallest players on the NFL team, and said he’s “like a little box out there.”
“Being in university in Canada, I couldn’t really look at the NFL. That’s why I went to the CFL, where I could show people how I play,” said Jones. “There’s only a few Canadians in the NFL. I get asked every day what it’s like, and I get hockey questions all the time.”
On being in New York City, Jones said, “Growing up in Weyburn was great. There’s a reason I come back each and every year to visit – the city is great. The New York lifestyle is pretty cool. Everything you could think to do or want to do is there.”
He pointed out that he doesn’t live in New York City itself, but just across the river in Clifton, New Jersey, and noted both the New York Giants and the Jets play in Jersey, not in New York. His home is about 10 to 20 minutes away from the stadium he plays in.
Jones acknowledged it can be tough playing in the NFL. “It’s a ‘what have you done lately’ league. You have to go out every day and do your best each and every day. You can only do what you can. Nobody looks at where you’re from, you go out and do the best you can.”
Jones added that he loved playing in the CFL, saying, “It’s a great league, and the fans are great.”
Noting he started playing peewee football with Weyburn Minor Football, he said at the time, minor football was new in Weyburn, but he was able to learn from good coaches, and that continued through high school at the Comp and into university. He has enjoyed coming back and sharing the knowledge and experience he’s gained by playing professionally, noting he didn’t have that as a kid learning the game.
Jones was also happy to see the involvement and fundraising by the coaches and parents in minor football for the up and coming generations of players in Weyburn. He said the commitment to the next generation is “the reason we have so many successful children and successful people here.”
His football career interrupted his engineering degree studies in university, but Jones said he’s determined to finish that program, and is on track to graduate with his degree by 2018.
Asked if anyone on the Giants took him under their wing to help him in his NFL career, he said there have been key players who have helped him a lot, especially in his adjustment from playing in the CFL.
“There’s a reason why they won two Super Bowls and are going for another one this year,” said Jones.
An audience member asked him what Giants quarterback Eli Manning is like, and Jones replied, “Eli is a really good guy. He’ll joke with me and makes fun of me all the time, but Eli’s a really nice guy and he’s really funny.”
Asked how sore he gets after playing an NFL game, he said, “It’s like getting hit by a bus. You wake up and everything hurts. Sometimes you get hung up by that, but it’s all worth it. It’s been an amazing experience.”