Santa is coming to town this weekend and, in anticipation of his arrival, we asked REDBLACKS players, staff and media what their favourite Christmas gift was growing up. Here’s what they said…:
- Paul LaPolice, Head Coach: I’d have to say my best gift was the Atari 2600.
- Praise Martin-Oguike, DL: My best present as a kid was when I got my first cell phone
- Andrew Pickett, OL: The best Christmas present i got as a kid was a PlayStation 2! I remember being so excited when we got it for video games and now the whole family could watch DVDs. My dad and I played NHL on it non-stop and took breaks to watch movies with my sister and dad.
- Caleb Evans, QB: I’d say the best present I got for Christmas was either a Nintendo or an XBOX 360
- Avery Williams, LB: My best Christmas memory was when we gave all our toys to toys for tots
- Don Unamba, LB: Best present would have to be the first PlayStation when it came out, the grey one. Never got off that thing for like a week!
- Jakub Szott, OL: The best present was being able to go on vacation somewhere. Best trip was when we went to St. Lucia!
- Drew McCormick, Equipment Manager: My sister and I got an air hockey table one Christmas. That was definitely up there for me.
- Nolan MacMillan, OL: Road hockey goalie gear.
- Duck Hodges, QB: Probably my first shotgun. A Browning gold 20-gauge.
- Brendan Gillanders, RB: GT Snow Racer
- Timothy Flanders, RB: Man that’s a hard one…probably one of the gaming systems.
- Avery Ellis, DL: Either the PlayStation 1 with Crash Bandicoot…and I used to I’ve for the Hess Trucks.
- Bob Dyce, Special Teams Coordinator: Rock’Em, Sock’Em Robots!
- Martin Comtois, REDBLACKS beat reporter for Le Droit: The Tecmo Super Bowl video game in the early 1990s
- Tim Baines, REDBLACKS beat reporter for Postmedia: A pool table, but not one of those big expensive ones
- Sherrod Baltimore, DB: Probably my mom getting me the Jordan 11s when I was five.
- Micah Awe, LB: One of the best gifts I got for Christmas was our second PlayStation 3. Our first one was stolen from our house, so my parents bought us another one for Christmas. We still have it!
- Antoine Pruneau, DB: A table-top soccer game.
- RJ Harris, WR: Definitely my first dog. His name was Ranger, a miniature schnauzer! He was 100% my best friend growing up.
- Brad Sinopoli, former REDBLACKS WR: Top Corner Hockey! First time you could raise a puck, are you kidding me?!
- Richie Leone, punter: I got a dirt bike in 2005, that was the coolest Christmas ever!
- DeVonte Dedmon, WR/returner: The Big Wheel I got one year, or the Fisher Price basketball goal.
- Lewis Ward, kicker: I think it was my first real snowboard. Picked it out in Switzerland and Santa gave it to me for my first Christmas in Canada.
- AJ Jakubec, voice of the REDBLACKS on TSN 1200: When I was 10, got the Sports Action Canadian Pro Football board game.
