Aug
Border man stands on guard for B.C. Lions
Courtesy Vancouver Sun:
CFL players are classified either as non-imports (Canadian) or imports (American). But B.C. Lions left tackle Daren Heerspink argues that he should be placed in a separate category (Cascadian).
Heerspink is the only Lions player on a first-name basis with U.S. and Canadian border agents. Indeed, his daily commute for practice and games from his home in Lynden, Wash., which practically hugs the 49th parallel, is a constant juggle to see which crossing — Sumas, Aldergrove or Peace Arch — has the least amount of idling time for his gas-guzzling GMC pick-up.
“Coming up is never a problem,” Heerspink says. “The longest I’ve waited is five minutes. It’s different going back. I’ve had to wait an hour several times. Mondays are bad. And Thursdays and Fridays when there’s a long weekend in B.C. Then, it’s a real wait.”
Lions quarterbacks coach Steff Kruck, whose family’s background is German, also makes the daily commute from Lynden, a farming/dairying community of 9,000 where you fit right in if you’re wearing wooden shoes. The community’s Dutch heritage is symbolized by the windmill plunked in the middle of the main drag and a flip through the white pages of the phone book. Vanmeersbergen, Boersma, Lankhaar and Honcoop are among the most requested names when calling information.
Daren, 25, is the youngest in a family of seven Heerspinks, not including nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles.
He regrets he didn’t include a “ticket clause” when he signed a two-year contract with the Lions in July. The graduate of Lynden Christian high school is, after all, the highest profile player from Whatcom County in the CFL. Last Friday’s 35-20 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders at BC Place was covered by the Bellingham Herald, the “source for news and information in Whatcom County.”
“That can’t be bad for the B.C. Lions,” Heerspink says. “There are already tons of people who come up to watch me play and help attendance and help the buzz. In my family alone there is a ton of people. Plus, the friends I grew up with. I should have asked for more tickets when I signed with the Lions. The standard issue is two [for home and away games]. Some of the savvier vets have worked out deals for more.”
He could be on to something. The Lions’ attendance for last Friday’s game was 30,117, nearly 3,000 more than the previous home game, July 24, when the Calgary Stampeders humbled the Lions 48-10. Heerspink had a nightmare game in only his second CFL start, against the Stamps, playing unfamiliar rules against guys he’s never heard of before. His CFL debut, July 16 in Edmonton, was his first game participation since his senior year at Portland State, in 2007.
Against the Roughriders, however, the Lions allowed just two sacks, one a cover sack after quarterback Buck Pierce was chased out of the pocket and tracked down by defensive end Stevie Baggs. Baggs is the same player who led a nine-sack assault on Pierce July 3 in Regina, one of the reasons the Lions jettisoned their starting left tackle, Walter Stith, and replaced him with Heerspink, following his release by the St. Louis Rams. The team had a huge hole to fill at the left tackle spot after all-star Rob Murphy signed with the Toronto Argos in the off-season.
“Daren hasn’t played in two years and he’s coming from the American style of football, where you play basically a foot-and-a-half off the ball,” says Lions right tackle Jason Jimenez. “The CFL game is designed for smaller, more nimble athletes. I went through the same [adjustment] myself [in 2006]. When you haven’t played these rules or seen these players before you tend to feel a guy out before you get their MO. Other than that one sack, [Baggs] was really a non-factor Friday.”
“The tragedy is Daren wasn’t with us in training camp,” adds Lions head
coach Wally Buono. “He’d have a much better foundation. The Calgary game was a step back for him. The Saskatchewan game was a step forward. We need for him to be rock-solid. The better he is, the better our left side is and the better our team will be. Right now, he’s a work in progress.”
That may be true. But Heerspink feels confident enough in his progress to go ahead and apply for a Nexus pass, a joint Canada-U.S. program that allows low security risk travellers a fast lane for border crossings. Kruck, the coach who has been with the Lions for five seasons, has never bothered to get one.
“My travel window is a little different than Daren’s,” admits his fellow Lynden resident. “I’m at work at 4 a.m. Believe me, there’s not a lot of border traffic at 3 in the morning.”
