0

 And now it is over. It's funny, if you've spent the last semester and a half counting down the days with CFL players it shouldn't hit you with the number switched from 1 to 0, but it did. There was a lovely going away soiree here in Wick yesterday, which deserves its own post so I'll revisit it soon. However, I'm feeling a terrible sense of finality and loss, which I'll talk about when I've had the change to think about it. It's definitely a bittersweet moment.

Thanks to Rolan Mulligan for loaning me his number 0 for the final Countdown installment. I'm going to have to find other ways to do fun research on the CFL (beyond going to the four CFL games in four cities this summer - which will almost certainly turn into five CFL games in five cites, how can we go to games in Ottawa, Regina, Hamilton, and Ottawa and somehow skip our hometown Alouettes?). Rolan was born in Lake Wales, Florida, and played his college ball at Reedley, UAB, and Toledo). Like many later CFL stalwarts, Mulligan kicked around the NFL for a bit, with stops along the way with the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and Indianapolis Colt. Since 2021 Mulligan has played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and has achieved a lot of success. He was on the Grey Cup winning squad from last year, and has been a two time CFL All-Star as well as winning the Most Outstanding Defensive Player Award in 2024. I've had the opportunity to see him play in person, but in July we'll see him play a home game in Saskatchewan.