By Sean Hatchard
Published in the Times-Transcript on June 6, 2009
Appeared on Page C1

Jan Carinci can appreciate better than most the significance of the Grey Cup.

Carinci, who now resides in Moncton, grew up in Toronto and watched first-hand much of the Toronto Argonauts' 31-year drought without winning the Canadian Football League championship trophy.

Then, on a late November day in Vancouver in 1983, Carinci was a key player and scored a touchdown in an 18-17 Argos win over the B.C. Lions in the Grey Cup game to give Toronto its first championship since 1952.

In all, Carinci played in three Grey Cup games -- the victory in 1983 and losses with the Argos in 1982 and Lions in 1988 -- during his 10-year career as a CFL slotback.

Carinci, a volunteer with the Moncton Football Association, is thrilled with the news announced yesterday that the Grey Cup -- donated by Canadian Governor General Earl Grey in 1909 -- is coming to Moncton as part of the MFA's 50th anniversary dinner next Saturday at Legends Lounge in the Moncton Coliseum complex.

Carinci, who moved to Moncton with his family in 2001 following a stint in Rhode Island, remembers the 1983 Grey Cup celebrations like they were yesterday.

"Winning the Grey Cup meant everything to me after growing up in Toronto and going 31 years without one. It was like we were on top of the world. You can never duplicate that locker room or that feeling of camaraderie within that group of players," said Carinci, who along with fellow Argos Canadian captain Dan Ferrone, accepted the championship trophy for his team.

"I just remember screaming, 'We did it, we did it.' The rest was just a mob scene. There was 10,000 people to greet us at the airport when we got home and the next day 100,000 people lined Bay Street to see us. Those are moments I'll never forget."

The Grey Cup will be showcased Saturday, June 13 from noon to 1 p.m. at Rocky Stone Memorial Field at the end of MFA's annual spring camp. Photo opportunities will be available.

Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback Matt Dunigan, a two-time winner of the Grey Cup who will be the keynote speaker at the anniversary dinner, Carinci, and MFA products Stewart Fraser and Eugene Belliveau, who went on to play in the CFL, will also be on hand. The former CFL players will work with minor football players on their technique during drills prior to the arrival of the Grey Cup.

"I think it will be pretty amazing for the kids to have an opportunity to see the Grey Cup. It's one of the oldest professional sports trophies in existence," said Carinci, 50, who played with both the Argos and Lions during his CFL career.

"The Grey Cup is the pinnacle for every football player in Canada and it will be a pretty special day for all of us."

Attendees of the anniversary dinner will also have the opportunity to get a picture with the Grey Cup.

Net proceeds from the dinner will go toward the establishment of a permanent clubhouse for the MFA, to be built adjacent to Rocky Stone.

The MFA started in 1959 with 22 local businessmen investing $100 each to arrange coaching and player clinics in the Moncton area and set up and administer a four-team midget football league.

Today, the MFA continues its tradition of providing player development programs and leagues for children ages 6-15 and has developed players that have gone on to play at the university level and in the CFL.