A hero’s journey: philosopher Joseph Campbell wrote in 1949 that a hero goes through many stages in their journey, leading them through lessons and setbacks, accomplishments, and successes. Along the way, the lessons taught help them better define the path, and ultimately send them toward their lot in life, their profession, and their potential impact on others. The successes felt along the way are not nearly as important as the person we become on our journey and how we help others, especially the next generation, to find their journey. All of us are heroes of our own journey and it is up to us to figure out how we can best use our talents to make the world a better place while seeking happiness and fulfillment. Every step along our path we meet others who mentor us, and we learn how to mentor others. We build relationships with all those people we encounter on our journey, and it is heart-warming to have those people remember our shared journey and support us when the opportunity arises.
And oh, the people we get to meet on our journey.
People like Jason Riley.
Jason, a USports football champion while at UBC, a Grey Cup champion with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1986 and a CFL All-Star in 1989, is by societal standards a hero and a success story. But as with any great story, these accomplishments are not a true measure of the heroism in Riley’s journey. After retiring from football, he became a high school teacher and coach at Burlington’s Notre Dame and Assumption high schools, and for 18 years was an assistant coach at McMaster University, developing many post-secondary students into professional football players.
Riley has just released his memoir Taming Mad Dog, and the book launch was held on Thursday, September 14 at End Zone sports bar in the centre of Steeltown. The crowd assembled shows a lot about what Joseph Campbell was talking about.
There was a huge crowd, a veritable “who’s who” in the Hamilton sporting community, but it was much more than that. Looking around the room, there were CFL Hall of Famers, Riley’s former teammates and coaches, but sprinkled in the crowd were people whose lives were touched by Jason in his teaching and coaching careers. Scanning the audience, I saw Dr. David Levy, and former CFLers including Rocky DiPietro, Lee Knight, Less Browne, Dave Marler, Leo Ezerins, and Henry Waszczuk, among others. Their presence must have meant a lot to Jason, as well as the support of former colleagues at Notre Dame and Assumption, and former McMaster players and staff. The Hamilton community was also well-represented. I reckon that many were there because of a great article in the Hamilton Spectator by Steve Milton, but also because of the simple fact that word got out — if you’re a Hamilton sports fan, anything Ti-Cat is a good thing to attend.
Full disclosure, I was one of Jason’s former confreres in attendance. Last year, Jason came to my book launch of A Hero’s Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp and we rekindled a relationship that meant a lot to each of us as we head into our retirement years. I was especially proud that the editor of my book, Jennifer Sharman, edited Jason’s book as well. As I read Taming Mad Dog, I could see Jennifer’s immense skill taking Jason’s passion to a whole other level and could see the teamwork, making for a great read.
Taming Mad Dog takes the reader through Jason’s tough upbringing — that is a lesson for all of us. Jason was bullied as an elementary school student (though I still can’t picture Jason as ever being small), and he shares with brutal honesty what is needed to help others battle and eventually overcome bullying. Even in writing a memoir, Jason saw a chance to help others. He even talks about how devastating cyber-bullying must be today and how we all need to talk openly about it.
Jason’s book goes through everything in his life with the same honesty and integrity of purpose that I always admired in him as a teacher, but my favourite part of his journey was that the bullying developed in Jason an anger and aggressiveness that was part of his success on the gridiron. His dad always told him to never start a fight, but to make sure he finished it. Jason especially got angry when he saw others being bullied and fought to protect them. Ironic in that over an 11-year CFL career he did the same thing: as an offensive lineman, his job was to protect the quarterback, an attribute Jason learned through life’s challenges. Jason then made his journey richer by using those talents to help high school and university student-athletes.
A true hero’s journey, but the highlight of the night wasn’t all the CFL stardom supporting his book launch, it was the presence of his family —especially his new granddaughter Connor.
Accolades come and go, but this Mad Dog has a heart of gold.
Taming Mad Dog is available on lulu.com.
[Editor’s note: another full disclosure, Jennifer Sharman, editor of A Hero’s Journey and Taming Mad Dog, is the Editor in Chief of Local-news.ca; there is no conflict of interest, as she does not stand to profit off the sales of either book.]
Chris Dooley is a retired teacher and basketball coach with over 30 years of experience at the elementary, high school, club, and university levels. As head coach of Ontario’s provincial team for four years, Chris won two national championships and a silver medal at the 1997 Canada Games. Chris has received coaching accolades and awards at the local, provincial, and national levels throughout his career. He is the author of A Hero’s Journey: Beyond Little Norway and Olympia Sports Camp as well as Can’t Miss: The Kevin Pangos Story. Both books are available at The Different Drummer Bookstore on Locust Street in Burlington or can be found on Amazon as well as at aherosjourney.ca.
