Time for your feel-good story of the week from the Great White North, this one involving two serendipitous teammates for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos…and a shovel. Wait, what does “serendipitous” mean again?

The incident occurred after a practice altercation between six-foot-four 285-pound [Xzavie] Jackson and six-foot-four, 298-pound centre Aaron Fiacconi. No one intervened in the tussle. Jackson, who got the worst of it, flung off his practice jersey and headed off the field — returning with a shovel from behind some nearby dumpsters.

Jackson’s shouts alerted head coach Richie Hall and general manager Danny Maciocia, who stopped him from entering the field at Clarke Park and talked him back down to reality before he was escorted to the dressing room by a team doctor.

“It happens. You guys saw it, that’s all,” defensive tackle Dario Romero told reporters. via.

It happens. That’s just part of the Canadian game, chasing each other around with shovels. It’s how we bond, eh. Americans took the shovel out of the game years ago. And now I’m torn on whether to go with the “universal health care” joke or the “calling a spade a spade” joke. I’ll just leave it with…hey, is that a half-eaten bag of trail mix?

Merci, Dave and Dmytrowich. I love that I’m getting CFL tips over email now.