The soreness has slowly been setting in since this afternoon.  What some fans may not know is that there are two kinds of soreness: the winning kind and the losing kind.  The difference between the two is that you don’t mind being sore after a win because you feel accomplished and that soreness is a part of that winning satisfaction.  The game in Toronto was tough but it went pretty well…you could say that the wind was in our sail during that 2nd quarter.  Once again our defense played great and provided us with some great stops and turnovers and our special teams played hard and fast all afternoon long.  The offense started off a little slow in the 1st quarter but capitalized on great turnovers and field position the rest of the game.  Upfront, we knew we would have our hands full with their defense line who had a great performance the previous week against Hamilton.  I spent a lot of time during the week watching game tape on their d-line, especially their defensive tackles.  One of them I paid particular attention to because he is (in my opinion) one of the best d-lineman in this league (a bit short-tempered though) and had shown it the previous week earning one of the weekly CFL award.  My first game against him 3 years ago didn’t go so well but I wasn’t about to let history repeat itself.  My strategy was simple: be as physical and aggressive as I could be with him from the very first snap which I thought might result in him focusing more on me than the game after a while.  The game started off with him being his usual sarcastic self but quickly changed to anger after the 1st quarter…plan accomplished!  During the TV timeout between quarters, he came up to me and told me he was going to “embarrass me in a way I’ve never been embarrassed before.”  Usually I’d give it right back to someone who would say that to me but I decided to use some reverse psychology that game and played it off so I asked him “Why are you so angry tonight?” and from that point on, every time I got him on the ground, chopped blocked him or kneed him in the head (by accident of course) I’d ask him if he was alright…sarcastically obviously.  In the end, he won some battles but I won the majority and that resulted in him getting a little frustrated and getting some penalties that helped us out on some drives.  With everything that happened during the game, both of us are still professionals and as usual we met on the field post game to shake hands, make small talk and wish each other good luck for the next week.  I’ll play him again later this year and I fully expect another all out battle with him. We’re 2-0 and on top of the Western Conference but we still have long ways to go and next week will be another tough challenge against a Montreal team that has played great football in their first two games.  But we’re going to have a 13th man in our corner that’s going to make a difference come Saturday afternoon.

I was very happy to have some family drive all the way in from Quebec to see me play last weekend.  My mom, aunt and brother all carpooled and came to cheer me on… almost as many as the 1739 family members and friends that came for Andy Fantuz!  I had not seen my family since Christmas so it was great to catch up with some face time both Friday and Saturday night.  Later Saturday night, my brother and I met up with some other teammates to watch the UFC fights and I thought it was a great show.  A big kudos goes to our young Nick Hutchins for being a great rookie for us this year, both on and off the field.  Away games are always a great way to gel as a group and develop extra chemistry which is so crucial along the o-line. 

It’s starting to get a little late now and my Sunday is almost over.  That means only a few more hours to enjoy this win and tomorrow we shift our attention to Montreal.  Tomorrow is a day to get all the soreness out of the body (or as much as possible) so we can get back to work on Tuesday.  Let’s keep this train rolling and build up some more steam…no one says it’s going to be easy but then again, it wouldn’t be fun if it was…and I tell you my friends, I’m not making this stuff up…

Marc Parenteau #57