The Toronto Argonauts defeat the Saskatchewan Roughriders in league play in Regina, SK June 30, 2016. (CFL PHOTO - Matt Smith)
Luc Mullinder
It looks like there has been a general understanding of the plight that the Saskatchewan Roughriders face during the early stages of the 2016 season. As much as #Ridernation would have loved to watch their team win its first two games, fans of the organization seem to have accepted the “it’s going to take some time” narrative that many prognosticators use while speaking about this club.
At first one wants to caution supporters that the “it’s going to take some time” deal has a shelf life. Fortunately the APP and GAMING world that we all live in now has already prepared us for the evolution of the Green and White.
If the Age of the APP has taught us anything, it’s that if one is willing to invest a small amount of time in the initial stages; the benefits of that process outweigh any of the minor speed bumps that one may go through at the beginning.
Right now the world has been absolutely enthralled by the new Pokemon GO game. This newest form of entertainment allows people of all ages to fuse the virtual world and the real world as one hunts little mythical creatures and captures them with their smartphone. Chances are that right now there is an excited kid on summer vacay (or an eager adult with far too much time on their hands) walking around with their head down on the exhilarating precipice of LEVELING UP! These individuals find themselves at the same point in time in which the Saskatchewan Roughriders currently idle in.
Much like the Riders, this game isn’t just something that one starts off being good at. There is a fair amount of fumbling around to be done before one becomes an expert Pokemon collector.
First off, one can’t even get in on the hunt without downloading the actual APP and comparatively speaking, no player on the Green and White roster was going to walk into the locker room and not be given a playbook.
Once the Pokemon game is transfixed onto the user’s phone, the next step a future hunter must take is to “figure things out.” The first order of business is learning how to use the tracking device on one’s phone so that they are able to start finding the Pokemon creatures that everyone else is having fun trying to catch. Over the course of the first two games, the Saskatchewan Roughriders have had to spend some time taking some lumps in order understand what it’s going to take to WIN.
At first this may seem tedious, however just like football practice and the early stages of the 2016 seson, it takes discipline and repetition to position oneself for success. Luckily for Pokemon GO players, the time period it takes to become acclimated to their smartphone game is about a day or so. The investment a professional athlete must make is an entire lifetime.
Eventually the gamer that focuses and refuses to give in to the early adversity will morph into a Pokemon chasing-location pinpointing-smartphone hunting BEAST.
The small hardships, and lessons that one must endure allows tech geeks of all ages to go from catching the little cute Pokemon, that the games uses in its advertising, to LEVELING UP and catching the scarier more advanced Pokemon creatures. These larger creatures are harder to hunt and more difficult to battle, and only the players with the right amount of experience points are able walk that path.
In order to consider themselves as worthy hunters, the Saskatchewan Roughriders first needed to accumulate experience points. Over the course of this team’s first two games both the coaching staff and players have figured out a number of logistical requirements that were needed in order to make the next step.
This team is ready. The process of learning is far from over, and the road ahead is full of obstacles and advanced creatures. Fortunately this team has leveled up considerably since the first playbook was downloaded.
The Green and White are prepared to Catch a Lion.
