Courtesy Vancouver Sun:

Two days after figuratively throwing the book at a Saskatchewan broadcaster — “The Good Book” — Wally Buono’s pulpit was metaphorically being moved into winter storage Monday.

The coach of the Lions will be going to Toronto for the Grey Cup festival later this week, but not as a man who can command a public forum to express his religious and societal viewpoints, rather than the mere points that pertain to a football game, as others are wont to do.

Buono knows all too well that a 63-26-1 regular-season record, four straight West Division pennants, two Grey Cup appearances and a championship during his five-year tenure with the Lions have placed him at the pinnacle of his profession, a dangerous place, because reigning champions have a bullseye on their backs and Buono’s dominance in many quarters is perceived as arrogance.

A man driven to win, who excels again and again but sometimes overlooks his own transgressions in getting there, admits that others in the Canadian Football League will view the Lions’ 26-17 loss to the Roughriders in the West Division final as his welcomed comeuppance.

“Behind closed doors, I would guess that would be the case all the time,” Buono said. “Sure, there are people who want our team to fail. When you win [all the time] people don’t always want to see you win. It’s no different than with any organization that’s had success. And I’m okay with that.”

In his role as GM of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Eric Tillman facetiously referred to him as “Sir Wally,” one of a number of outspoken comments that earned Tillman a $1,000 fine for harping on the “double standards” set by the Lions coach and GM following a brawl at Mosaic Stadium.

Tillman, who didn’t make the trip to Vancouver Sunday because of a medical condition that turned out not to be cardiac-related, took the high road Monday and refused to acknowledge any satisfaction in seeing Sir Wally knocked off his white charger by the Knights of the Green Garter.

“One of the reasons we feel so good about the win is because of the respect we have for their talent and coaching acumen,” Tillman said, before joining a civic pep rally in front of Regina’s city hall. “The Lions have established such a high standard. To me, what happened [the Sept. 22 brawl] had no bearing on my respect for the organization. It’s an amazing indicator of human nature that the multiple times I’ve praised their organization are forgotten in light of that one comment.” The son of a Methodist preacher, Tillman was well aware, however, but refused to comment on a biblical reference that caused a small tempest in Buono’s pre-game press conference Saturday, during which he took Regina broadcaster Carm Carteri to task through an admonishment from the bible. “The Bible says, unless you’ve never, never, never sinned, don’t cast the first stone,” Buono said, upbraiding Carteri for casting aspersions on the tactics of B.C.’s offensive line.

Then again, Carteri could have countered by quoting from the Talmud, the Koran, the teachings of Buddha, Confucius and the Great Spirit of native North Americans, all of which caution, in much the same manner as Matthew, Chapter 7, to not judge others “lest you be judged” too.

A sometimes curious and contradictory man, professionally cold and unsentimental at times, charming, charismatic and warm at others, Buono took the unprecedented step Sunday of entering the visitors’ locker room and seeking out a selected Roughrider for congratulations.

“Actually, I went in specifically to shake one person’s hand — [veteran halfback] Eddie Davis,” Buono explained.

“Eddie played with me for a long time [in Calgary] and he’s fought through injury this year. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Eddie. He’s the kind of guy you love. And I know how much this [Grey Cup] is going to mean to him. I ended up shaking several hands. It’s something I’ve never done before.”

In the course of his making the rounds, Buono proferred his hand to Carteri in a gesture of reconciliation. It went unackowledged.