Perry Lefko

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.

A football game between the Toronto Argonauts and the B.C. Lions would normally not mean very much except for the fact that the two will make history this Friday night.

This will be the first time the two teams will play under the same ownership banner of recently-appointed Senator David Braley, hence the game has already been dubbed the Braley Bowl, although this corner personally likes to say it’s the Braley Bunch playing in the Braley Bowl.

"I’m wearing a neutral shirt so I cannot be tied to either side," Braley said on Tuesday with a laugh. "If I had a white golf shirt I’d probably wear it because then I could wave the flag or something to the other party that loses."

The Lions are third in the West with a 1-2 record, while the Argos are tied for first in the East with a 2-1 record.

As for how he assesses both teams so far, Braley’s demeanour becomes more serious, saying he doesn’t think he should discuss that.

"That’s the coach’s job. I don’t think it would be fair (to say anything personally)," he said.

The Argos are already getting into the spirit of the unusual happening with some funny radio commercials featuring Argo head coach Jim Barker, who to this point in the season has become the face and the voice of the franchise’s marketing campaign. Braley is hoping the fact he owns both teams will stir up some interest in ticket sales.

"I’m going to have the Argonaut box and right next to it is going to be another box," he said. "If you’re an Argonaut fan you go in (the first one) and if you’re a Lions fan you go in that one. I’ll walk back and forth."

One can picture a camera following Braley as he goes to and from each of the boxes, celebrating and commiserating the representatives of both. Perhaps in a perfect world the game will end in a tie.

Braley had been the owner of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1989-92, dropping out because he didn’t like the direction of the league, but he threw the Lions a lifeline in 1996 when he bought them. Nobody was willing to step forward, so it took a one-time CFL owner out of Burlington to bail out B.C. Now 14 years later, the Lions are doing relatively well from a business point of view. They have also won Grey Cups under Braley in 2000 and 2006. In the latter occasion, the Cup broke in half during his team’s celebration, but we digress.

He has repeatedly shot down suggestions/rumours that he will sell the Lions.

It would take a serious offer – and let’s just throw out the number $10 million – for Braley to part with his Lions. They will play host to the Cup in 2011 and there is money to be made from that. In 2012, the Argos will play host to the 100th Grey Cup game and, to be sure, there will be a celebration unlike any other to highlight it. (NOTE: Edit has been made to correct dates.)

The link that Braley has played in the history of the CFL has been one of both a bully and a benefactor. At times he has been portrayed as someone who has used his clout to curtail the process or business of the league if he deemed it to be wrong or not in its best interests.

His nickname is Elbows from his days playing basketball, and he has often elbowed his way into the due process. He worked for a spell as the CFL commissioner in 2003 when the one in charge was forced out, and Braley stepped into that seat temporarily as the head of the board of directors. Then there is the portrait of the guy who will quietly or publicly use his wealth to help causes, one of which is the health and welfare of the CFL.

In wrestling parlance, he has vacillated between being the heel and the babyface, which would probably make him angry or amused to be described as either. He is a paradox as a person.

But his love for the CFL cannot be questioned.

Never before has the CFL needed his help more than earlier this year when the Argos were in danger of having to operate without an owner.

It had already happened midway through the 2003 season, shortly before the Hamilton franchise also fell into league’s lap. Braley had a hand in resurrecting the Argos ownership with David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski and, even more directly in Hamilton with Bob Young, the software maker and multi-billionaire with deep roots to Steeltown.

Were it not for Young, Braley might have had to step forward to own the team again.

He has been there time and again, and it’s been said nothing happens in the CFL without Braley being apprised of it.

But he draws the line when it comes to both of his teams, which he insists are run separately with no information about one is passed to the other.

"We certainly have put in place the necessary optics as far as transparency with the league and what has to be done with any football-related matters between the two teams," he said.

The CFL had its knuckles rapped last year when it became known Braley was a silent partner with Cynamon and Sokolowski, after which commissioner Mark Cohon said all deals would have to be approved by him going forward. That became even more paramount months later when Braley bought the Argos.

Cohon issued a release and later did several interviews, including one on the CFL’s website to say there was nothing wrong or untoward about one person owning two teams. He spoke glowingly and eloquently of Braley and his generous passion and love for the CFL.

But Cohon also reaffirmed that anything happening under his watch would have to pass his personal sniff test, lest anyone cast negative aspersions on potential dealings between the Argos and Lions.

Clearly he knew that the optics didn’t look good, but he defended it.

Even if you find it a little weird that Braley owns two teams, it could also be viewed that he has helped to strengthen two franchises in the biggest markets in Canada.

In the case of Toronto, it has been owned by numerous individuals and companies thinking they had the magical solution to fixing all that ails the Argos. Even when the Argos are doing well (i.e. winning back-to-back Grey Cups in 1996 and ’97) it doesn’t necessarily translate into a profit. If anything, this is a franchise that continually loses money. All manners and ways have been exercised to make the Argos a money-making franchise or, at the very least, a break-even proposition.

But Braley for one, is of the belief he can turn around the team’s fortunes on and off the field just as he did with the Lions.

Call him stubborn or smart.

Either he knows what he’s doing – and he’s shown that ability in the past – or he’s tackled something that will test his business acumen unlike anything else.

Come Friday, in the first installment of the Braley Bowl, the owner of both teams will be a big part of the game, perhaps even bigger than anything happening on the field. You can imagine him being exuberant and disappointed on the same play, knowing one of his teams has succeeded and the other has failed.

"I love the game of football," he said. "When we see a good play, I’ll look at it as a great play and great execution. At the same time, I’ll say, ‘So and so was out of position.’ It’ll go both ways all game."

So get ready for the Braley Bowl Part I starring the Braley Bunch.