6/29/2007 8:17:43 AM
Winnipeg VS Edmonton #1; A Tie!??!?!

I can’t think of a less satisfying way to end a football game then the tie score that showed when the gun went off yesterday night. To a player a tie is pretty close to a loss in terms of the lingering, unsettled feeling that’s left as a result post-game. It just makes you feel as if there’s unfinished business or something. I would have rather lined up our fastest guy and raced there’s for the win at the end or a game of chess, or a swordfight or something…anything but a tie! I understand what everyone is talking about when they say that it’s an optimistic start, and there were good things and promising points that can be brought out from the game and all, but it still leaves a bad taste to me. To me, it just means that we didn’t do enough at some point in the game to put them away. We never trailed throughout; we led from the front and simply never put our foot on the gas during the home stretch. I wouldn’t say that we dominated that team but I felt that it was a strong enough performance to get the win ultimately, so in that regard it’s disappointing.
On the flip side, the game was a blast to play in. I haven’t been involved in a back and forth game like that in a long time, and it really gets your competitive juices flowing. Once we stop killing ourselves with penalties I think we may be an alright team for the most part. Milt Stegall is still smooth as ever which doesn’t really make sense to most people at 37 yrs old, but if you knew him…it would make perfect sense. He’s the only person I’ve ever met that puts as much care into his body as I do. No alcohol or drugs of any kind at any time, just good healthy food, vigorous exercise and rest. You’d be surprised what your body can do for you if you don’t poison it. It was nice to be able to congratulate him on tying the record after the game.
It’s funny, I’ve noticed that there are players in the league on other teams that I tend to identify with for whatever reason and pull for when they aren’t playing against me. Kevin Glenn is one of them partly because he grew up a stone’s throw from me in Detroit, and partly because he’s been counted out his entire time as a starter, by everybody it seems. It’s good to see him play well, but I still wish he could have thrown an interception or two.
On a side note, I thought Sideeq Shabazz, T.J. Acree and Ricky Ray played terrific games for us, Tony Tompkins as well just to name a few.
I’m not one to linger over wins or losses for very long, so I’m certainly not going to dwell on a tie. Time to start prepping for B.C. as that will be a big test for this team, and I plan to be ready. ©

KP8