TRURO - As a coach at St. Francis Xavier University, Scott Annand suffered through plenty of headaches on account of James Macpherson.
That's precisely why Annand selected Macpherson as the namesake for the newly revamped football stadium at Cobequid Educational Centre.
"He sure did," Annand said with a laugh. "You really had to game plan for him and I remember it as if it were today."
James Macpherson Stadium, a $250,000 project initiated by Annand which saw new aluminum bleachers to seat 1,000 fans, a new scoreboard, locker room, player's lounge, press box and offices built at the Truro high school, will be officially opened prior to Sunday's 1 p.m. tilt between Annand's Cobequid Cougars and the Sir John A. Macdonald Flames.
Annand said nobody was more deserving to have their name on the stadium than Macpherson, a former Cougar and Saint Mary's Huskies standout who lost his life in a plane crash 12 years ago at age 27.
"I've had the utmost respect for James since I've known him," Annand said. "His accomplishments in sports, in football particularly, and his character... he was such a professional with a bright career as a pilot, it just feels right."
Even though Macpherson still brings some personal grief Annand's way.
"Coach (Blake) Nill still gives me a ribbing every now and then that I never got James to St. F.X.," Annand laughed. "He was the one recruit I didn't get out of CEC."
sports@trurodaily.com
