Chris O'Leary

Toronto

Assistant Sports Editor at The Globe and Mail

Assistant sports editor, The Globe and Mail.

Articles

The making of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s most valuable player

1 month ago | theglobeandmail.com | Chris O'Leary
O'Leary: 5 dream free agency pairings

Dec 9, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

We have a long way to go before Free Agency 2025 officially gets underway on Feb. 11 at noon ET. That’s not a bad thing. Part of the fun of free agency is letting your mind wander and seeing where players could end up. Maybe there’s a receiver that you’ve always liked, who has felt like he’s on the verge of a breakout season in the right circumstances. Maybe it’s a quarterback whose style of play meshes in an offence you’ve long admired.
O'Leary: Each team's top pending free agent

Nov 28, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

With the CFL’s list of pending free agents now live, we can all begin to scour it and form some opinions. While fans and media take in this information and start to envision how they can see this year’s free agency period playing out, the general managers of the CFL’s nine teams are already hard at work. They’re trying to extend players’ contracts ahead of the market opening on Feb.
O'Leary: Vernon Adams Jr. a great reset for Stamps

Nov 26, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

We’re just under a month away from the holidays, but they’ve arrived early for the Calgary Stampeders. The Stamps’ trade for Vernon Adams Jr. cannot be understated: it’s a game changing move for a franchise that sorely needed it. Much in the way that path to the Grey Cup has run through Winnipeg in this decade, the Stamps spent the previous one being the team waiting near the top of the mountain, taking on any challenger that came close to them.
O'Leary: 6 off-season storylines to follow

Nov 26, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

If last week was any indication, be prepared: this list may have items crossed off of it quickly. The Edmonton Elks and BC Lions got the off-season ball rolling last week, with the Elks hiring Ed Hervey as their general manager and VP of football operations, while the Lions let co-GM and head coach Rick Campbell go, bumping Ryan Rigmaiden up to the GM role and elevating Neil McEvoy to VP of football operations.
O'Leary: Lions, Elks create a possible wave of change

Nov 22, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

On Wednesday, we had press conferences taking place in Edmonton and in Vancouver, as the Elks announced the hiring of Ed Hervey as their GM and vice president of football operations and the BC Lions said goodbye to Rick Campbell, while making some front office moves. Those two moves stand to create a ripple effect across the league. The Lions’ revamped front office of VP of football operations Neil McEvoy and GM Ryan Rigmaiden need to hire a head coach to replace Campbell.
O'Leary: Elks dig into their past to move forward

Nov 21, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

We don’t know exactly when the Edmonton Elks’ home opener will be yet in 2025, but I can tell you the first thing that should happen when the team sets foot on the turf at Commonwealth Stadium. The Elks need to add Ed Hervey’s name to their Wall of Honour. Hervey was a key piece on a pair of Grey Cup-winning squads as a player. He retired and went directly into the team’s scouting department in 2007, climbing the ladder at a firefighter’s pace, to be named the team’s general manager in 2013.
O'Leary: Argos' win bonds Arbuckle, Dinwiddie

Nov 18, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

Nick Arbuckle stood on the confetti-filled turf at BC Place wearing every facet of his suddenly very public life. His sweat-soaked uniform jumped out first, with the lights of TV cameras bouncing off of his face. At his feet was a baby bag, his young daughters, Aaliyah and Ariyah almost at his heels, with his wife Zakiyyah nearby. There was joy, pride, tears.
In My Words | Nick Arbuckle: Thanks, Dad

Nov 16, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

Nick Arbuckle‘s story on being the Toronto Argonauts’ starting quarterback at the 111th Grey Cup, as told to CFL.ca senior writer Chris O’Leary. “My dad will be home watching, but I’ll feel him with me. My mom, too. We lost her when I was young. Before every game I say prayers for my mom to be with me, and I’ll feel the presence of both of them.”— Nick ArbuckleThe core of my football being, I guess you could say, comes from my dad, Steve.
3 ways Makai Polk will impact the 111th Grey Cup

Nov 15, 2024 | cfl.ca | Chris O'Leary

It’s easy to say now when you look back on the entire body of work, but Makai Polk spent the first two-thirds of his rookie season getting a feel for what the CFL is like for a receiver playing in Canada for the first time. There’s the concept of the waggle, then learning its cadence. There’s dealing with an extra defender on this longer, wider field.