Football, Football, Football and other pictures from November!

November featured a lot of football, but here is what happened off the gridiron first.

ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE - Canadian geese follow a golfer as he walks the 18th fairway at Lakeview Golf Course in Mississauga, November 11, 2012.

The Grey Cup

Toronto Argonauts celebrate winning the Grey Cup after the team is presented with the trophy. LUCAS OLENIUK
 

Rick Madonik, Staff Photographer, @RMadonik

There's no doubt, news photographers always want to be where the action is. Whether its sports, news or entertainment, photogs want to be in a position to capture defining moments and scenes of great emotion. It is, after all, what life is all about.

Our newest incarnation of a boss (we've had six in the last 12 years) is a former picture editor. Since he took the helm of photo - and multimedia - earlier this year, Taras Slawynch, or T as he likes to sign his emails, has shown a lot of passion. He’s brought direction to a department that needed a rudder. This is the 2nd time in the last 5 months we've assembled the vast majority of the 15 staff shooters to converge upon a single "event."

The first installment was Nik Wallenda's walk over Niagara Falls. Last Sunday, we tackled the Grey Cup.

The verdict is in, Mayor Rob Ford is......

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

.....the coach of a pretty good high school football team.

Every year or so, well every year because of Toronto FC, we go to cover a game with the priority on covering the coach.

Raptors, Toronto FC, Leafs, Argonauts, we have trained our lenses on all their coaches, but until Thursday afternoon I couldn't recall a high school game when I had kept my lens on the coach as much.

The coach, of course, is Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. The mayor was coaching his team in the TDSSAA Senior Boys Metro Bowl Qualifier against Northern Secondary School.

Mayor Ford was in court in the morning defending a libel suit against him and on the field at Birchmount Stadium in the afternoon trying to take the next step to the Metro Bowl.

 

Mayor Rob Ford talks to Chris Fickel, a special assistant in his office and football team volunteer.

Mats Sundin, 1346 NHL games - 564 goals - 785 assists - 1349 points + 1886 pictures.

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

Here is the Hall of Fame line on Mats Sundin, 

1346 NHL games, 564 goals, 785 assists, 1349 points and 1886 pictures in the Toronto Star photo archive.

Add to this 91 play-off games with 38 goals and 44 assists.

A search of the Toronto Star Archive for Mats + Sundin gives us 1886 hits, here is a selection of 47 of our favourites.

Inductee Mats Sundin shows off his Hall of Fame ring November 12, 2012. Tonight, he and three other NHL greats will be officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. -RICK MADONIK

Remembering in France and England

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

After the Olympics my wife and children flew over, we were going to hang out in London and go to France to visit my wife's ancestral hometown, Bayeux. Her family left the town in the 1600's to come to Canada.

It is hard to go to Normandy and not be a part of and see the history. 

And it hard to not be moved by it.

I was surprised, I don't really have a Second World War link to the battles that happened in the region. But I am a proud Canadian and our country's history in the region made me proud.

Both my grandfathers fought during the war. Granddad, a Brit, fought in Burma, Opa was German, he spent his war on the Russian front. Both survived the war but at a cost. My Grandad lost a brother in Dunkirk and Opa lost a large number of brothers and sisters during the war. I think of them a lot.

Normandy

Juno Beach, the house still stands where Canadians landed in Bernieres-sur-Mer.

The Toronto Raptors come up a bucket short in opener

Carlos Osorio (@carlososorio) & Steve Russell (@RussellPhotos) 

STEVE RUSSELL - Not everyone had picked up theur season credential as the Toronto Raptors open their 2012-13 season against the Indiana Pacers at Air Canada Centre.