Derek Mortensen/Electric Umbrella
I got nothin!
I’ve been sitting here for the better part of an hour now and despite the overabundance of content that I want to put on screen, I am completely devoid of creativity and ingenuity.
So far this process has been a continual cycle of writing a paragraph, reading it, and then deleting it immediately.
At first I was going to write about where this Calgary/Saskatchewan rivalry stemmed from. I feel like I was fortunate enough to be playing for the Green and White during the time period where this match-up really morphed into something special.
That got deleted because nobody wants to read a former pro’s first hand tales about why we refer to them as the WHAAAA-mpeders…OR DO THEY?!?! #Delete
My second angle of attack was going to be to poke fun at the fact that none of the buildings (that we drove by to on the way to the hotel) were ever completed during my 9-year career!
It was ridiculous! Without fail, every time we arrived downtown, the same old buildings were just sitting there dripping with scaffolding, wooden slabs, and blue tarps like someone had just decided to take a NINE YEAR CIGARETTE break.
That segment also got trashed because it’s way too easy to make fun of Alberta’s infrastructure, and as annoying as those unfinished buildings were to me, they really didn’t have anything to do with football. #SeeYaBuildings
I really felt like I was onto something special when I came up with my next idea!
The plan was to talk about what a great honour it was to play against the likes of Joffrey Reynolds, Henry Burris (who was also a teammate) and tough guys like Jeff Pilon.
After that I was going to contrast the thrill of competing against those types of players to also having to put up with hearing the incessant jabbering and sh*t talking from the other incredible talents the Stamps always had, like Dwight Anderson and Nik Lewis.
My goal was to convey the fact that playing Calgary was always like fighting the Ultimate Warrior (from WWE); we always knew that we were in for the fight of our lives, but we also knew that there would be a fair amount of yelling, screaming, face paint and arm tassels!
Honestly folks, the list of things that I wanted to write about playing the Calgary Stampeders is endless. There’s enough to write a trilogy comparable to that of The Lord of the Rings series, and I’ll never get things done unless I FOCUS.
Wait a minute…there it is…FOCUS. That’s it!
With the Saskatchewan Roughriders kicking off tonight, we can find the key to success against the Red and White in a simple 5 letter word that plays a lot bigger than it sounds.
There is ALWAYS a lot of external noise that is involved when it comes to a battle between Calgary and the Green and White. To a player, it may seem like there are a million things that one can get distracted by.
Whether it’s media creating narratives that have nothing to do with the on-field proceedings, to players sounding off in the press; the Saskatchewan Roughrider players MUST understand that none of the external noise has anything to do with bringing home a ‘W’.
A professional athlete’s ability to filter out all of the unnecessary clamouring and be able to zero in on what’s happening at that exact moment between the snap of the ball and the opponent across from him is the difference between success and failure. That ability can define careers; and we are beginning to see the potential for it to define this team.
All of the factors that have contributed to the ‘Loss Column’ for this team can be attributed to focus issues. Whether it be an untimely penalty, a crucial assignment bust, or a missed play, the Riders absolutely have to emphasize the need to concentrate and execute.
This is easier said than done unfortunately. When a team is in that “need a win” state of mind, players may start pushing too hard to make a play that turns their fortunes around. More often than not, this leads to a negative result versus a positive outcome.
That’s what focus is all about. One needs to understand that one doesn’t need to DO MORE. One just needs to DO WHAT’S BEING ASKED at that moment.
Focus is being able to carry out a task and then wipe the slate clean and get ready for the next play, regardless of the outcome of the rep that just happened.
Today another chapter gets written in this storied rivalry. At the end of the day, the outcome will be determined on the field. The physical ability is all there. The majority of that battle will take place in the minds of the players that strap on a green lid.
FOCUS.
#GetTheDub
