Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas can discuss different sports for hours and hours without getting tired. Not without bringing to mind the late Gerry Rochon or Paul Houde, he rocks in his memories by listing certain records and other statistics at a frantic pace.
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The absence of the Alouettes from this Gray Cup final will have at least been a good thing. Naturally more outgoing than in front of a pack of journalists in the week of an important match, Maas showed a little-known side of his personality on Wednesday during a long interview with Le Journal. Therefore, by making known his admiration for the basketball player Michael Jordan, we better understand why he is recognized as a passionate and ultra-competitive coach.
Jason Maas, head coach of the Montreal Alouettes, met on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, in Vancouver.
Photo Benoît Rioux
What was your favorite club, regardless of sport, when you were a child?
“I was born in Wisconsin, but grew up in Arizona, where baseball, football and basketball are the major sports. I always loved the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, but I especially grew up during the heyday of the Chicago Bulls in the NBA. In baseball, I cheered for the Dodgers when Orel Hershiser was my favorite pitcher.”
Have you also followed the National Hockey League a bit?
“I was an Edmonton Oilers fan at one point because of Wayne Gretzky. When he was traded to the Kings [en 1988]I was able to go see him play a few matches in Los Angeles when I was still young.
PHOTO THE ARCHIVES / LE JOURNAL DE MONTREAL
You seem to have always preferred winning clubs rather than lining up behind the various Arizona teams, right?
“I guess you could say that, but when I was in high school, I was fortunate enough to have good seasons with the Phoenix Suns with Charles Barkley and Dan Majerle. I also really liked pitcher Randy Johnson during his time with the Diamondbacks.”
Across all sports, is there an athlete you particularly admired?
“Michael Jordan was my favorite player, he was so intense during games. He saw everything and paid attention to every detail. His eyes never left the court and that’s why I loved watching him so much. I always tried to be like him, intense from the start to the end of a match, whether as a player or a coach. Unfortunately, I have already brought bad luck to Jordan myself.”
Why do you say you already brought bad luck to Michael Jordan?
“Jordan was playing with the Wizards when I was able to go see a game against the Indiana Pacers with my dad [le 27 décembre 2001]. The more the game went on, the more I realized that he probably wasn’t going to finish the game with 10 or more points. Throughout his career, I followed this extraordinary streak of more than 800 consecutive games with 10 or more points. At the end of the game, I noticed that his streak had ended at 866 during the match I had attended.
Editor’s note: Maas identifies his mother’s partner as his dad, since he grew up with him. His father. biological, Gary Maas, who was a police officer, is however tragically died in an arrest gone wrong in 1986 when he was just 10 years old.
