Football has gotten me through a lot of situations in my life. Some have been good and memorable and some have been hard and emotionally taxing. Regardless, the thought of whatever I have to deal with football will be there for me.
To be a Saskatchewan Roughrider fan you have to be a little nutty it seems. You have to have faith and belief no matter what. A few years ago I had a health issue and found myself undergoing 2 MRI's within the same year. I remember laying in the MRI machine prior to training camp and thinking I just have to get through this and then I can see all my favourite players at camp. Darian Durant was still with the team at that time and I recall just thinking about how great it would be to see him lead the team again. The faith I carry as a Christian and the faith I have as a Rider fan helped me through that. My test results were normal and I was blessed to attend training camp that year.
This year as I'd written about early on, maybe back in April or May was that I had become a little numb to what was going on with my team this year. That certainly wasn't a good look as an admin on ABC Rider Fans or as a blogger who usually shared in the excitement or all the football events. Looking back I'm not sure why exactly I felt that way. Chris Jones had left for the NFL. We had a new GM Jeremy O'Day and a new head coach in Craig Dickenson. We still had relatively the same team and had done well in Free Agency and draft. I still felt very "meh" about the whole thing.
I was unable to attend Training Camp in Saskatoon in 2019. Not only did it coincide with my major music festival which I prepare all my close to 40 students for but there was a medical emergency in our family. My Mother in Law was at our house for a week while my Father in Law was in the hospital. Family comes before football and we didn't attend a single workout and missed the Fan Day at Gordie Howe Bowl.
Then the season started. I met Henry Burris and Matt Dunigan. Zach Collaros went down the 3rd play of the season. Cody Fajardo emerged as starter. Corndogs and Sprinkles of Jesus happened. I was right back in it. I started to feel a belief in the team that I hadn't felt in a really long time. I was always on board with the Chris Jones era but I began to realize what all those "why won't Jones wear green" people were trying to say. The Saskatchewan Roughriders regained their personality. People like Charleston Hughes had already endeared us with his surfing celebration but others like LJ McCray stood out. Manny Arceneaux with his veteran advice and presence. I can't be remiss in mentioning how many games came down to the foot of Brett Lauther. We knew their names again and we cheered and rejoiced. United in Green again.
I had gallbladder surgery at the beginning of August. I was glad to have that over with. I was fortunate because it didn't coincide with work or football games. I was able to attend the August 24th game against the Redblacks. I was still a little sore and bandaged but the promise of football made it all pain free. Kerry Joseph and Neal Hughes were inducted into the Plaza of Honour that weekend and it was phenomenal to see them both.
Lot's of fans on ABC Rider Fans and other pages as well as Twitter have said they were happy with the season the Riders had. When Collaros went down at the beginning of the season and maybe even before that the Riders were pretty much counted out. No one could have predicted a 13 win season for the first time since 1972. They were able to finish first in the west for the first time since 2009. We all know what happened that year. As I write this I can see Riders OC Paul LaPolice throwing his headset in the booth at the botched play but I also remember that the game had been lost a few plays earlier. It never comes down to just one thing but several things. The same could be set for the West Final the Riders hosted on November 17th.
I attended my very first West Final. We didn't know the week leading up if we'd be able to attend or not. Hubby has had to work lots of over time recently. I've had some health concerns pop up again. I had listed my tickets for sale but at a price I knew most wouldn't pay because I really wanted to go. Friday night while I was at work teaching my rock stars I received an email from Hubby "I hope our tickets haven't sold". I could have danced and strutted around my classroom but I didn't...I restrained myself. The weather was terrific. I didn't need my heavy duty gloves I had bought but I did make use of the mens long underwear I had bought just for the game. The Costco salesperson had joked that she hoped security didn't check because I said I didn't care they were mens * laughs * It was plus temperatures and sunny and it was all there for the Roughriders to take in their spiffy retro uniforms.
During pregame I saw Randy Ambrosie on the sidelines and I knew. I knew the Riders weren't going to win. Oh how I wanted them to win. We couldn't let those danged Bombers win in our stadium again. In my little green heart I dreaded it.
It doesn't come down to balls hitting the goal post uprights. The game was lost before that. There are several plays and while I'm certainly no offensive coordinator for the life of me I don't understand why the Riders didn't use their run game. Three times in the scoring zone and came away with field goals or fumbles or turnovers. You can't win like that. When I look back now that it's been a few days I even wonder if the Bombers were really playing full tilt or not. I don't think they really had to even if it felt the Riders controlled part of the game. We shot ourselves in the foot. We were our own worst enemy and that wasn't new either. It had happened all season long from penalties or other stupid mistakes and play calls.
We didn't stick around to see the Bombers get awarded the Western Conference Trophy. Back on the bus back to the mall where our car was parked fans seemed fine. It was often quiet on the fan buses anyway. I heard lots of well it was a good season. I even joked and said "well we really want to win it all at home next year anyway." When we returned back to Saskatoon and I went online to all the fan pages I found that people were rather complacent. In season passed there'd be outrage or drama or something. It was oddly quiet. While I had regained my mojo had others lost theirs?
What's a worse pain in the butt than enduring a Blue Bomber victory at Mosaic Stadium? The fact that because of those earlier health issues you'd have to endure yet another test Tuesday. A necessary evil. I had a sigmoidoscopy. It's a less invasive form of colonoscopy. This time I didn't have the promise of my Riders next week. This time it was my own faith that had to carry me through. My faith and support from family and friends. I can tell you that everything went fine and the test was normal.
What's next? Well I know that the future for the Roughriders looks bright. We have a starting quarterback found and locked up for the first time in what feels like years. There are a lot of free agents but a lot of players will be back and new faces will arrive in Riderville. It is the cycle of football and life in the CFL.
I've tried to be a really good CFL fan. Both the Hamilton TigerCats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers have extensive drought from Grey Cup wins. One of them will end that drought. I've said all season long that this is Winnipeg's year. We have to wait until the 107th Grey Cup in Calgary (Calgree) to find out if that prophecy comes true. What I do know is that I want my fellow CFL fans who have also had some pretty rough years finally find some sunshine in their lives and a team win would do that for them.
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