Murphy's Law

If Cal Murphy had been the author of Murphy's Law ("Anything that can go wrong will go wrong") the law would have been "Play hard and you'll win."

Murphy, who died in Regina last week just shy of his eightieth birthday, played hard and often won: he had nine Grey Cup rings. 

Born in Winnipeg, but raised in Vancouver, Cal Murphy played for the Fighting Irish at Vancouver College, the UBC Thunderbirds and, briefly, the BC Lions. But it was as a coach, not a player, that he will be remembered. He was head or assistant coach for schools from the University of Hawaii to San Jose State and for teams from the Chicago Enforcers to the Frankfurt Galaxy. He coached the Lions for a time, but his greatest run--fourteen years as coach and general manager--was with the Winnipeg Bluebombers. 

Several years ago, Cal Murphy was one of a group of Vancouver College grads who had earned success in diverse fields pictured together in a school poster. The copy line read "You can get anywhere from here." Murphy did. And now, the tough coach ironically dubbed "Kindly Cal"joins Annis Stukus, Bud Grant, Jackie Parker and others from Canada's coaching fratermity at the Great Gridiron in the Sky.