11/4/2007 8:15:34 PM

Coming up Short

When I get home on Wednesday and begin to re-circulate through my neighborhood and community, the one question that I’ll get repeatedly is, “How’d you guys do this year?” I already know unequivocally what my response will be – “We came up short this year.” Countless, countless times we came up short this season starting with the first game, and certainly carrying into the last. The areas in which we were insufficient this year are plentiful, which means simply that we have plenty of blame to pass around this year. Offence, defence and special teams each had its hand in our demise this season and no one unit can fault the others, for none have been consistent throughout the year.
I have a feeling that some of the seasons that I’ve had in previous years may be easier to digest for the 6 months that I have off, than this one will be. Most may think that a losing season is a losing season, and they all probably feel the same… but such is not the case with me. Every single season that I’ve ever had at any level of football has been below .500 – every single one. From my senior year in high school, through this 2007 season I’ve never been on a team that won more regular season games than it lost. In 2001 even though we won the cup in Calgary, our record was still a losing one. But since then, up until this year the losing seasons I’ve been a part of have been catastrophic losses mostly – we weren’t really in most of the games. This year was different though, we were in every single game except for one that I can recall. We had so many opportunities to grab this season by the reigns and come out successful on our end, but we simply weren’t able to find a way to do it.
I’ve heard a ton of theories as to what’s wrong with this team this year; lack of killer instinct, lack of discipline, lack of conditioning, lack of talent, lack of coaching, lack of maturity, lack of structure etc. You name it and I think I’ve heard it regarding us this season. I’ve even tried to assess for my part what has ailed us, offensively mostly as it pertains to me more directly. In spite of all of that, I don’t know that any have figured it out. And even if anyone’s got a bead on it, it’s too late now to do anything to correct it for this season. 2007 is over for the Eskimos, and we can’t get any of those chances back. We’ve had games this season that were full of errors, others that seemed like the fates just weren’t on our side, and some others that felt like we were playing against more opponents than those in contrasting uniforms. In spite of all of that, compounded with the newness of each other and the systems implemented, and the rash of injuries that we’ve sustained throughout the year – we’ve battled. Ultimately, one would think that all that you can ask from the man next to you is to fight the good fight. In actuality however, all that I can ask from the man next to me is to be as prepared and willing to do whatever is necessary for our cause as I am myself. These are not entirely the same principles. While not everyone is cut out to fight when things don’t go their way, it is much easier to bring yourself to fight, even blindly, than it is to have the discipline and will to prepare yourself fully game in and out for 18+ games of football.
Ending the season on a 6 game losing streak is certainly not the way that any of us wanted to be remembered going into the off-season. If we are to improve our standing next year and get back into contention in this league we must take this time to re-evaluate ourselves as players and pieces to this puzzle. When you have a season like this, in a city of winning like this is – change is inevitable. Regardless of these changes, we must as players understand that we’re as much a part of the reasoning behind them as anyone. We all claim to want continuity – less roster turnover, continuity in our schemes, our coaching staff or what have you. We need to understand that in order to attain such continuity, we as players must do everything in our power in the coming months to make sure that in 2008…we don’t come up short. ©

KP8