"Rocket" Richard's new skates
In 1991, Wayne Gretzky and comedian, John Candy, and LA Kings owner, Bruce McNall bought the CFL Toronto Argonaut franchise. Their first order of business was to sign the Heisman Trophy runner-up, Raghib Ismail to a contract. The Montreal Alouettes' had their "ordinary superstar" in Johnny Rogers but Toronto's Ismail was expected to re-write the record book in Canadian football. His nick-name was "Rocket" Ismail. We already had a legendary "Rocket" who had no equal so I wondered if this football guy knew what he was in for. When he arrived in Toronto in November of that year, I invited him to attend our Sports Celebrities Festival and asked him if he'd ever heard of the other Rocket, "Rocket" Richard. He told me that he was "well schooled in Richard's career ... I know everything there is to know about the great hockey player". Perfect. The reason I asked ... I wanted to do a portrait of the "T