East Coast Swing

7/27/2008 8:33:18 PM

Toronto #2

We learned some things about the vaunted Argo defence the first time that we played them in Commonwealth, so naturally we were excited to try some new things against them. While we were successful in some of the big plays that we attempted against them, ultimately we fizzled out far too many times in the red zone for me to sit here and tell you that we should have won that game. Two fumbles within the scoring zone, and multiple penalties are simply unacceptable in a hostile environment. Too many factors are already working against us at that point for us to impose self inflicted wounds. It's extremely difficult to beat a team in this league back to back, regardless of who is the better team. However, Kerry Joseph played easily the best football that I've seen him play throughout his career, and ultimately we left our defence on the field chasing him around for too long with our red zone stalls. Therefore, the result was a predictable one, with us handing the win over to them in the closing minute.

Losing Fred Perry during this game with a dislocated ankle was a tough pill to swallow to say the least. Fred is such a versatile and intense defender that he literally draws a double team every snap, and absolutely must be accounted for in opposing offences schemes. But besides all of that, Fred brings a level of tenacity that is difficult to weigh on a team. Each defence has to have a certain amount of "Dawg" present in their character to be dominant, and Fred brings our levels way up. He's one of the few players that you don't talk trash too because you can take to the bank that he'll be able to do, whatever it is that he says he'll do to you. You can tell what the man is made of by simply watching the countless replays of his gruesome injury, and then knowing that he didn't even wince when the doctor snapped it back into place. No tears, no crying out – the man called the trainer out on the field himself for crying out loud! Add his to the growing list of major injuries that have already taken place this season. I'm really not sure what is going on this year, but I'm not going to lie – it is more than somewhat unnerving.

The bottom line is that the Toronto game needs to be the last game that we give away. We simply cannot be a team that dominates the game only to let it slip through our fingers when it matters most. For what it's worth though, Toronto made the plays that they needed to make and we simply did not. I refuse to take anything away from them, as it was a good win for them at a time when they needed it badly. For us to lose both an All-star on defence and a game that we controlled throughout, made for some seriously sleepless nights leading up to the Hamilton game.

Hamilton #1

Hamilton for some reason always strikes me as a tough place to go in and get a win. For me, I found it tough to get a win even when I was on the Ticats myself! Something about the atmosphere there has teams flustered or bewildered at times throughout the game and in turn usually allows the Ticats to find some way to stay in the game long enough to incite hope in their fans. Once you get those fans going – it can be anyone's game. We sure enough fell into the same stupor of which I speak in the first half of our game, and ended up with a soccer score at halftime. The last position that I wanted to be in going into the third quarter was tied, or with only a slight lead on Hamilton in their own stadium, with Printers and Lumsden just waiting to get the crowd going. After a few consecutive series of miscues on our part offensively, I ran across the middle to rub for Jason Tucker against the cover two zone of the Ticats. Ricky threw the ball to Jason and he tried to knife up field and get some positive yards but dropped the crown of his head at the point of impact with the oncoming tacklers. Jykine Bradley; who is a friend of mine, and Jason Tucker; who is my co-position captain, road roommate, and friend lay motionless when the dust settled. Jykine was able to get up and off of the field with a shoulder burner following the play, but Tucker remained down methodically moving his hands and feet in order to reassure himself that things were mostly in working order. One thing about Jason is that he's one of the most honest people that I know. If he says that it's so…trust that, it's so. He said that he felt like something was broken in his neck, but otherwise he felt pretty good. I tried in vain to lighten the mood, by telling him to stop faking. He chuckled like always, but winced – and I knew then that it was more serious than it appeared. It seemed that they were stabilizing his head and using the stretcher just as a precaution, because he had good movement in all of his extremities. After the game, we were told that his back was seized up and that he'd be coming back to the hotel that night. I stared at his open suitcase on his bed for hours while watching the second game on TSN. Finally, around 4:00am I took it upon myself to pack up his belongings, convinced that something had gone wrong. My thoughts were confirmed when I went down to board the bus and was told that Tuck wouldn't be travelling back with us at that time.

I find it a very difficult thing to quantify what Jason Tucker's presence means on this team. Few people can say that Jason has spoken volumes to them verbally, as he is a man of very few words. However, each step he takes bears so much weight it's as if he's a giant, and the very earth itself quakes under him. In losing a Jason Tucker we lose the guy that everyone knows the ball is going too, including the other team, but they still can't stop. We lose, the humility of a bona-fide superstar in our league, that carries himself as merely one of the guys. Our quarterback loses his favorite target, our coach loses his mainstay, and our fans lose one of the truly great Eskimos to ever play slotback.

Me…I lose my left leg. Jason and I worked in a tandem, in opposing slots. I play the strong side, he plays the weak. I play right side, he plays left. Without him, we are truly unbalanced to say the least. As a receiving corps, we lose our undisputed leader, our example of what can be attained from doing things the right way, as well as our model of professionalism. And while the thought of his hall of fame career being snuffed out prematurely on such an innocent play infuriates me even now days later, I can't help but smile at the good fortune that Jason has benefitted from. Nine times out of ten, a fracture or dislocation to the C6/C7 vertebrae, result in some form of paralysis. Jason seems to have managed to get away with no nerve damage at all, and should recover fully into his everyday life functions. When I think of his four little girls running circles around him, the catches, yards, and records that he may not reach because of this injury – somehow melt away.

Jason Tucker is one man who can say that he put everything he had into the game. He always seemed to define the moment, while never letting the moment define him. When he takes the time to look back on his football days, he can do so smiling and at ease knowing that he gave the game all that he had to give…and played it the way it was meant to be played. One astounding visual that I'll take from that game is of him fumbling on that hit, but having the presence of mind, and sheer determination to recover the fumble in an instant in spite of his body's alert systems no doubt shutting down from his newly broken neck. The Ticats that dove on him were able to wrestle the ball from him, but not before he was able to regain possession enabling us to get a crucial field goal out of the possession. This man gave his very last ounce of strength in uniform to the Edmonton Eskimos. For us, his teammates to offer any less would do him a disservice.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if this season carried on for us, very much like the rest of the Hamilton game did after Jason went down – with several players rising up, and elevating their levels. To grasp what both Jason and Fred brought to this team is to truly understand what we miss without them in the lineup. Understanding this is precisely what will allow us to get the most out of each other in effort to keep the team functioning at the level in which they left it. Both for their sakes, as well as for the sake of this team…the team that they bled for. ©

Kp8