one last blog

I have tried to write this final blog 4 times already. Once I almost finished it but then my wife took her laptop to Saskatoon. I think I am having such a hard time writing it is because after I’m done it and I submit it I don’t have any more football obligations…the 2008 season will be OVER for me. 

There is a saying in football that says “you can’t turn IT on like a switch on game day,” where IT refers to effort, enthusiasm …and the  IT factor. During the season we are trained hunters, we are the gladiators of our times (seriously we are; if this was 2000 years ago we would surely be fighting to the death at Mosaic Stadium).  We embrace this roll but it is not easy to “turn off the switch” after practice or after a game or after a season; just ask our wives what August through to the end of the playoffs are like.            

Once the season ends the out of town guys usually scatter pretty quickly. Guys with families are out of here on the first thing smokin,’ back to their “real lives,” and the guys who stay in town are quick to go in to hibernation. Marc Parenteau, who is self-proclaimed best blogger on the 08 Riders, calls this period “decomposing month.” During this period the couch gets to ‘earn its money’ as it gets sat on A LOT to make up for how much it was neglected during the season. Some guys play video games but not me, I’m strictly about watching soccer, movies and catching up on Seinfeld reruns… that is when I’m not playing Princess Castle, reading Cinderella 50,000 times or dressing up like Tinker Bell..remember folks: I have a 2 year old daughter…but essentially during this period you do NOTHING and eat copious amounts of cereal. It is a transitional stage kind of like what a caterpillar must go through to become a beautiful butterfly, except we must change ourselves from gladiators to butterfly, really big butterflies, and to do this we need pizza, soda, ice cream and lots of Doritos…and time. 

Just as everyone calls their “bunker” something different and everyone’s time spent in their “hole” varies but the reason we come out is always the same: we are sick of being at home doing nothing, not working out, eating too much grease and feeling gross.  Don’t get me wrong, I love doing nothing more than anyone out there but there can be too much of a good thing.  The cocoon should begin to tear a couple of weeks after the Grey Cup and I will be able to slowly reintegrate  into society without the risk of run blocking the 14 year old manager at Tim Horton’s because there isn’t enough custard in my Boston cream.  As for the Grey Cup itself, I find myself rooting for my friends on the other teams. I don’t really care who wins, but I would like to see Rob Lazeo and Wes Lysak experience the feelings we got to feel last season. 

When decomposition week/month(s) is over there is a period that serves as a trial off season. I start to think about making better nutrition decisions and hitting the gym on a not-so-regular basis. It is crucial to rehab any lingering injuries that didn’t go away with simple rest so that in the New Year there are no physical obstacles to training.  By this time we are fairly normal members of society; members of society who go back home for Christmas. 

The real off season will begin when we get back from Toronto. It will be a busy time as I will be taking courses with Investor’s Group to become a certified financial planner, a career I have been putting off for far too long. By the time February rolls around the CFL free agency will be heating up. Being a free agent always seems like a good position to be in when you are looking in from the outside and only see dollar signs and potentially new opportunities but when you are going through it it is an extremely stressful time filled with uncertainty. Thankfully this period only comes around every 2-3 years but when it does you have to be prepared for all possibilities. In this line of work this is the only time that it is ok to be a little selfish and put ourselves and our family in the right position. 2years ago, if you had told me that I would not only be signed and playing in Saskatchewan but I would have the time of my life here I would have thought you were crazy but we took the chance and moved across country and everything has worked out- now Mr Tillman just needs to resign me so that we don’t have to move AGAIN because if you didn’t know – I HATE MOVING. 

Also, around February preparing for the 2009 season begins for real. Going to the gym is now a fulltime job and guys start getting together to help each other train. With age comes perspective, while most of the younger guys are getting in shape for training camp the more veteran player trains in the offseason to prepare for the end of November. That is why this season I am going to change my workout routine to include yoga, lighter weights and higher reps with more full body exercises. I am able to do this because I have not felt so healthy since I hurt my back in 2002, thanks to Lyle Little who taught me a new level of pain and stripped a bunch of scar tissue and crap off my vertebrae and hip area that was preventing me from doing some movements. Once all the training is done(and sometimes it feels like it’s never going to be done) the season finally comes and the circle begins all over again; if everything goes as planned the circle turns to gold and fits snugly on my finger and becomes encrusted with diamonds  and has 2009 Grey Cup Champions on it. That why we lift all those weights and make all those sacrifices- to be called “Champ.” 

I was going to write my last blog summing up the season that we had but what can be said that hasn’t been said before. We probably had a better TEAM than we did last season and defiantly had all the horses in the stable to make another run at Earl’s Cup but in the end turned up lame. Winning championships are not about winning the last game; it’s about the journey and the people that go with you on that journey. If Tinker Bell could wave her magic wand and !POOF! without us doing anything we could have Grey Cup rings I don’t think there is one player alive that would be proud to wear it. All we want, as players, is an opportunity to make a play, an opportunity to win the big game, because once you get that opportunity, that one chance, that one moment in time, you had better be ready because you have worked so hard and waited so long for it that you have be prepared- mentally, physically and emotionally because who knows if or when you will get another shot. 

Before my season officially ends I’ve got to thank everyone for making this season one of the funnest seasons that I’ve ever had. Hopefully through this blog you guys have come to know me a little better, and kind of see what goes on in the head of a 10 year vet during the season.  We’ve only been part of Rider Nation for 2 years but it feels like we belong and I thank you for that. Also, I’d like to thank everyone for making our breast cancer fundraiser even bigger than we dreamed, $35,000 and counting, and hopefully we can blow that number out of the water next season…if you don’t know; now you know!