as the Saskatchewan Roughriders take on the BC Lions on October 29th, 2016 at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan. Brent Just/Electric Umbrella
Luc Mullinder
…Aannd just like that, one is on the outside looking in.
The CFL playoffs are exactly what a pro football player expects them to be. It’s an incredible time full of energy and happiness. Although the “one-and-done” format being unescapable, there’s also the ever-present, “you’re getting an additional game cheque” reminder that one leans on from time to time if the anxiety of the moment gets heavy.
There’s a noticeable change in the coaching staff to. Coaches will go to great lengths to keep the GREY CUP moment in perspective. When teams are this close to playing for a Championship the motivation is two-fold. One can manipulate the moment to ensure that the message gets through to the locker room.
For some players, it’s easy…Coaches can play on the fact that the squad is two (depending on where a team finished) games away from playing for a GREY CUP RING. Something that one will have with them for the rest of their lives. For many, a Championship Ring will be the pinnacle of an entire lifespan.
Championships represent the top of the mountain, and a player gets to share that journey with a band of brothers for the rest of their lives.
For other players, the motivation is even easier…MONEY.
During the Roughriders 2007 run, our Oline Coach, Mike Gibson, brought $30,000 Canadian Dollars into the locker room (I think it was in $5 bills to increase the dramatic affect) and plopped it in the middle of a table set up in the locker room.
“There it is boys. That’s what you’re playing for…”
Whichever way one chooses to look at things, LIFE IS GOOD WHEN ONE IS PLAYING BONUS BALL.
Unfortunately, there’s another side to all the playoff magic. Only the elite teams get to participate. Sarcastically, due the CFL’s 9 team structure, 66% of the league is guaranteed to make it to the first round; however, that makes NOT being invited to the dance even worse.
It’s sickening.
Seeing one’s opponents living it up, preparing for battle, enjoying their stupid lives, and doing cool things like the mannequin challenge is enough to make the uninvited go M.I.A. One wants to shut off the phone, avoid TSN, and fast forward the calendar to January when it feels like everyone is on the same playing field again.
One always wants the best for friends, and ex-teammates but there’s also a tiny (and I mean miniscule) bit of hater in everyone that wishes that somehow, some way the Grey Cup Game gets cancelled and no winner is crowned.
THANK GOD today’s 1st round of playoffs is on a Sunday. At least one can distract themselves with NFL football and pretend that nothing in the CFL is even happening.
Ultimately, if one is not a participant in the CFL playoffs, it’s as if one is being forced to observe the American Election again. It’s painful to watch because you don’t like any candidate, and when the winner is announced one feels screwed either way. #NotMyGreyCupChampion
Nothing is worse than being excluded in early November. Fortunately, the burn of not being invited makes one work that much harder in the off season.
Hopefully this is the final piece of motivational ammunition that the 2016 Saskatchewan Roughriders need. I can hear Bill Belichek saying it now, “We’re on to 2017.”
