While standing on the field, the sense of history is palpable. The natural grass of old Varsity Stadium may have been replaced by the artificial surface of the current configuration, but the pre-season game between the Toronto Argonauts and the Montreal Alouettes will be played on the closest thing the CFL has to sacred ground. Before the brick facade of the old structure succumbed to the wreckers ball in 2002, the venerable facility hosted 30 Grey Cup games, more than any other host venue, the final one coming in 1957. Ghosts of the legends that played at the stadium simply known as Varsity may be eager to peek through the wrought iron fences on the north or west side of the facility on Thursday to see how players like Calvillo, Ray and Owens would stack up against Etcheverry, Krol and Copeland. The horseshoe stands are gone, replaced by one set of bleachers on the east side. Passersby on Bloor Street West will be able to look down to the playing field to see what all the fuss is about. Kids will try to figure a way to sneak in and join the fans who will assemble on the track surrounding the field, much as they did in the stadiums heyday. Someone standing there may try to trip a player whos running down the sideline, a feat that remains another part of Varsitys history. Technology ensures that another famous game of days gone by will not be replayed, the Mud Bowl Grey Cup final of 1950. There will, however, be one constant between that soggy battle and the pre-season game that will be played there 63 years later; Nick Volpe. Volpe was a defensive halfback and place kicker for the Argos that November day and remains with the Argos as a consultant to football operations. He also played at Varsity Stadium for four seasons as a member of the University of Toronto Blues and still scouts the OUA for the double blue. Hes thrilled about Thursdays game. "I thought it was great but I wondered where the fans would sit" Volpe joked with TSN.ca "I go and watch U of T play all the time and its a great field. The sight lines are great. The seats are high enough that you get a beautiful view." Somewhat amazingly, Volpe kicked a pair of field goals and also made a touchdown saving tackle in the Argos 13-0 win over Winnipeg in the Mud Bowl and was presented with the game ball by Head coach Frank Clair. It remains the most cherished memento of his lengthy football life. Volpe left the Argos for several seasons, but stayed close to the game as an isolation director for CTV Sports when it covered the CFL. His talent as a player and scout been rewarded handsomely over the years and after last Novembers victory over Calgary he collected his seventh Grey Cup ring; two as a player, five in personnel. Does he think he may be in for number eight this season? "I like what we have. We lost a lot of good defensive players, but boy Ill tell you the guys that theyve brought in certainly look terrific. As long as we give Ricky Ray time to throw the ball and let (Chad) Kackert run with it, the receivers look so much better this year that I have a feeling we could win it again". Ray, Owens and the ghosts of Krol and Copeland all hope that hes right. Notes: All-star cornerback Patrick Watkins rejoined the team on Wednesday. He had been in the States dealing with what has been described as "personal issues." He says the timing was right to come back. "Sometimes when you play football life gets in the way." He says that when he decided to come back the first call he made was to Defensive Coordinator Chris Jones. He said the coachs first words to him were "When are you getting up here? When? When? When? When?" Watkins says he doesnt know when hell be game ready...Trent Guy is hopeful that he can follow in a new teammates footsteps. When Chad Owens arrived in Toronto from Montreal he was looked upon as an undersized returner who had to prove himself as a receiver. We know what happened there. Can lightning strike twice for the Argos? Guy hopes so. "I have to be a well-rounded receiver as well as a good returner. Chad was looked at as one of those guys, just a returner, and hes done great things in this league. I can learn a lot from him." Guy caught four passes for 47 yards and a touchdown in the first pre-season game in Winnipeg...Andre Duries job is safe after a 71 catch, 845 yard season. The local product spent a few days with the Grey Cup at several off-season functions, but one stop was particularly special to him, a visit to his alma mater, York University. "The people there were such a help in my recovery from my knee injury, so just bringing it back to all of the doctors and therapists who helped me out through everything (felt great)"...When asked by TSN.ca how many veterans are on the bubble Scott Milanovich replied "Seven or eight." He was quick to follow up by saying that cutting a veteran is never easy. "Guys that you have relationships with and that you care about, its always hard with anybody, but when youve accomplished some of the things weve accomplished together, its tougher." Thursdays game can be heard on TSN 1050 or TSN1050.ca at 7:00pm with Mike Hogan and Sandy Annunziata. Ethan Greenidge Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Max Unger Jersey . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. http://www.customsaintsjersey.com/custom-renaldo-turnbull-jersey-large-1392e.html . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice. Dwayne Washington Jersey . -- Anaheim Ducks captain and leading scorer Ryan Getzlaf has been scratched from Sunday nights game against the Vancouver Canucks because of an upper-body injury. Sam Mills Jersey . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Mudassar Nazar The first entrant to the 199 club came after 995 Tests in a rather uninteresting match: the Test ended with Pakistan yet to finish their first innings. In reply to Indias 500 all out, the hosts piled on 674 for 6. Nazar, who opened the innings, was caught behind off Shivlal Yadav; his team-mate Qasim Umar scored 210.Mohammad Azharuddin Another drawn Test in which the side batting second did not complete its first innings. This time India put on 676 for 7, after bowling out Sri Lanka for 420, the only Test innings in which three batsmen scored 150-plus scores without getting a double-century. Sunil Gavaskar got his final Test hundred, his 34th - Sachin Tendulkar broke that mark nearly 19 years later - while Kapil Dev and Azharuddin got their Test bests. Unfortunately for Azharuddin, he never got past 199 - he scored a 192 too - in his 22 Test hundreds, making him the batsman with most Test hundreds without scoring a double.Matthew Elliott The next 199 took a while, and it was the turn of Australian top-order batsman Elliott. Like Azharuddin, the 199 remained the highest of his career. Its the only 199 in an Ashes Test.Sanath Jayasuriya Wonder if Jayasuriya would have been too disappointed to be dismissed on 199: he came into the Test having already smashed 340 in the previous one. His 199 came off 226 balls - he was in contention to break the then record for the fastest double, off 220 balls by Ian Botham - and he is the only batsman to be dismissed on that score in a teams second innings.Steve WaughA Test more famous for Brian Laras heroics also had Steve Waugh scoring a 199 against an attack that had Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh. Waughs only double-century - an even 200 - came against the same opposition in 1995, in a famous win that ended the era of West Indies dominance.Andy Flower The first batsman to be unbeaten on 199 in a Test innings. Andy Flower had already made a 142 as Zimbabwe slumped to 286 all out in reply to South Africas 600 for 3 declared, and he outdid it in the follow-on. He was able to make South Africa bat again, but he did not get enough support to put up a competitive total, and to get his double-hundred. Flower had one double in his Test carreer, which came before his 199 not out.ddddddddddddYounis KhanYounis Khans first double-century had come in his previous Test against India the previous year, and he looked set to get his second in succession. On a flat track, there was not much hope for the bowlers - there were six hundreds in the Test, and four in Pakistans innings - but Younis managed to get run out on 199, the only one to do so. When Younis went past 199 again, in 2009, he scored 313.Ian BellWhile Younis was the only to be run out, Bell remains the only one to be out caught and bowled. Coincidentally, his and Younis 199 required the same number of deliveries. Bell was dismissed trying to play a booming drive off left-arm spinner Paul Harris, only to end up caught by the bowler. Bell got his maiden Test double three years later.Kumar SangakkaraSangakkara ended up stranded on 199 like Flower. During the innings, Sangakkara thought he had got to his double-hundred with a six: he celebrated before it was pointed out that the scoreboard on the ground was showing an extra run. That run was not to be, and his partner at the other end was dismissed in the next over. Sangakkara had the most double-centuries (eight) before getting a 199, and like Younis he got a triple ton the next time he went past 199.Steven Smith Smith missed out on a maiden first-class double-century after being beaten by a superb inswinging yorker by West Indies Jerome Taylor. But he got there a month later, with a 215 against England, becoming the first Australian in 77 years to score a double at Lords.KL Rahul On a flat pitch in Chennai, Rahul got into the 190s with a six off Moeen Ali. Minutes later his innings ended in heartbreak, with an innocuous delivery from Adil Rashid lobbed straight to point. Going by Rahuls track record - out of his five 50-plus scores, four have been hundreds, with two being 150-plus - theres a good chance he will join the 200-club, instead of giving Azharuddin and Elliott company in the list of players with a Test best of 199.Article updated on Decemb