6/27/2007 11:41:11 PM
Hope Springs Eternal

Some may argue on behalf of Christmas, but I’m sure this time of year must rank right up there near the top with CFL fans as one of the best times of the year. We’re talking about the day before the new CFL season kicks off, and it’s now finally official…put up or shut up. All of the moving and shaking that was done in the off-season will be justified or rebuked starting tomorrow. All of the office field generals and armchair quarterbacks that hated “this” trade, and would have cut “that” guy, and kept “so-and-so” because he has more upside are going to either be proven right, or terribly wrong starting in a few hours. The questions that are on everyone’s mind will be put into the first light and scrutinized heavily as for the first time in over 6 months, football is back in the CFL and it’s for real.
As a fan of the league myself I can see why this is such a special time, especially for those die-hard fans that are with the club through thick and thin. Now is the time for optimism! Everybody is undefeated at this point, nobody is the clear cut winner and your team has just as good a chance of running the table as anybody right? Why not us? Why not now? Right?!?! Well…it’s a nice theory anyway, and I can dig it. In the next few hours, we’ll begin to get an idea if that guy your team traded for can regain his form from a couple of years ago, or if he’ll bust. Or if that other guy has actually lost a step and age finally caught up with him, and if that young hungry defender that caught your eye at training camp will materialize into the next (insert name here…) instead of just arguing about it with no end in sight with your buddies. Ah yes, it’s indeed a great time of the year.
As a player in the league, this is like the calm before the storm or the gasp before the great plunge into uncharted waters. No matter how long our tenure in the league we as players never truly know what the outcome is going to be of the season no matter in what esteem we hold our own squads. There is simply too much parity within this league for things to be set in stone like that. Especially since Ottawa bowed out and the players from that team were dispersed throughout the remaining teams, it truly is anybody’s game on any given day. For us we’ve really got to trust in our own personal preparation, the team scheme, and buy into the system that we’re playing in if we are to have a chance at maybe getting a fast start and jumping on some of the other teams before they can realize what hit them. In this regard, I think some teams like B.C, Montreal and Toronto may have an edge on others, simply because there is less turnover at key positions it seems. They’ve been able to keep their nucleus intact for some time so that any new players would fall in line with the flock so to speak. Others like Edmonton, Hamilton, and Saskatchewan may have a harder road from that particular standpoint, but have that “Young and Hungry” factor working for us. It’ll be interesting to see which holds more weight this year. If I had to guess, I’d say it would be a combination of buying in, and being hungry enough to sacrifice for the greater good of your teammates that will end up prevailing ultimately, but again…we shall see.
You’ve gotta love this time of year really, for now is when the “experts “come out to say it’s all just a formality really, having taken the liberty of deciding the seasons outcome. From the final game itself to the basement dwellers, and even those who will walk away with the awards at the end of it all. I often wonder how they get around to monitoring all of our off-season regiments to see how our skills are progressing, what shape we’re getting into and to all of our training camps to see who’s making strides from the previous years. I know if I had that type of clairvoyance I’d be in Vegas right now no doubt!
Ah, but truth be told nobody has a clue. We’re all in the dark and just going on a combination of past success /failure combined with hope and a touch of narcissism to try to formulate our own ideology for what will occur in this 2007 CFL season. Now that it’s upon us, I’m tickled pink because I’m not much on gambling, I go more for sure things. And for me the only things that are certain are that Tomorrow I’ll be wearing #8, at some point tomorrow, I’ll be hit…hard! God willing, I’ll get up. And if I do get up it is certain that I’ll hit somebody back just as hard as I was hit. Other than that, we’ll just have to see how it shakes out because nobody has any idea how this season is going to end up once that 1st whistle blows.
That’s why they PLAY the games!
Good luck in 2007 Everybody…stay healthy. ©

KP8