A BYE WEEK BLOG

Chill Out With All The Anxiety…

By: Luc Mullinder

There’s a little bit of concern starting to creep into Rider Nation.  Some of you are loosening your seatbelts on the wagon, just in case you gotta bail out.  Hell, when I was walking my dogs yesterday, an old lady asked me, “Why are you wearing that Rider shirt? They’re awful”

#SheGone #AlreadyOff #ToughCrowd

Now, obviously it’s in the media’s best interest to foster MILD panic, in order to have an actual storyline.  The whole “can’t fumble the rock” thing is getting a little too dramatic for me, but ya gotta keep the public enthralled somehow!  After all, those guys (sports writers) don’t sit at practise, sun bathing, for nothing ya know!!!

As for the rest of us, Rod has indicated that the current amount of concern over the start to this year’s Rider journey, equates to ‘The Rock’ peeking out of his Prada shades and giving us all the Peoples Eyebrow.

True, the start of the year has been a tad bit ‘Jabroni-ish,’ but if you’re panicking over three games, then your expectations for this team AT THIS POINT are waaaaay too high.   Expect them to compete for a championship, but know that the war will be won at the expense of some lost battles.

*Just a metaphor, football pales in comparison to actual war, I know.  Salute to our CDN soldiers!

This is just my opinion, and you’re welcome to argue it, but I’ve been saying from the jump, the 2014 version of the Saskatchewan Roughriders will really need to be looked at in six game stages.  I’ll break it down for you a bit, to illustrate what I’m saying.  Keep in mind, my vision is far different from the vision that the actual players have.  The Saskatchewan Roughriders battle to go 1-0 every week.  Nobody in their right mind, within the confines of the dressing room will say, “Hey we can drop a bunch of games, its cool bro.” 

Every player in green and white, at this point, wants to finish the regular season 16-2.  As they should!

This whole idea is also based heavily on the health of the Roughriders … a couple key injuries and it’ll be tough, but every team in the CFL is exposed to this risk and it’s a variable in the business of this sport.

Stage 1 (1st set of 6 games):  Growing Pains

• This team needs a chance to feel themselves out. 3-3 is a result that this team will be able to live with. Quite honestly, they could even go 2-4.  The first stage is all about coming together, experiencing adversity and finding out who they are. 

Establishing an identity takes time, and right now, the identity is ‘talented but sloppy.’  That’s fine though guys!   If there’s a time that you want your team to go a growth and discovery stage, it’s here, in the first six games.  Let’s get all the mental errors, and fundamental mistakes. cleaned up and out of the way EARLY.  We’ll figure out the running back drama, and the vets that need to get going, will get their collective stuff together.  The guys will have to avoid reading media stories and listening to the outside noise, but by the last game of stage 1, the aforementioned identity (not to mention, how the roster will look) should be taking shape nicely.

Stage 2 (2nd set of 6 games):  Light Bulb Moment

• Here’s the fun stage.  Look for the squad to go 4-2 here (or 5-1 *if they did go 2-4 in the first phase). 

Normally, this point of the season represents the true grind of the CFL.  One feels nagging injuries and nicks a lot more than usual.  All of a sudden there are new “cold tub club” members.  Ivan and Trevor (the team athletic therapists) get crankier.  Meetings are harder to stay awake in.  Weather starts turning.  Stupid rookies are arguing about who forgot the mandatory doughnuts/ food, during the day-before-the-game meetings.  And the end of the road is still a blur. 

Players need to dig deep here, in order to play at the level necessary to win.  All of this is universal across the league, and it may play to the Riders’ advantage, hence the “light bulb moment.”  Stage 2 is where the players and staff hopefully begin realizing how they fit together, and it may start to show on the field, in a BIG way. 

While other veteran-laden squads battle through the mid-six, the newer guys across the board in SK (led by the vets) may just begin making their mark.  What Rider Nation can anticipate here, is the guys beginning to “fly around” and “just play ball” with a clear mind – as opposed to playing in order to prove one belongs.  Another notable change, and this cannot be understated, is that we should all start to see this “change” on a CONSISTENT basis. 

• Being 7-5 after 2/3 of the season, for this squad should be good.  As long they’re improving and playing with consistency every game, we’re good.  The opponents get paid too, so when the squad loses during this 2nd stage, hopefully its close, and the reasons why, are limited and fixable.

Stage 3:  The Crescendo

• The Riders play the Esks three times, the Stamps twice, and Montreal is thrown in the middle to round out the final 1/3 of 2014.  I’d love this phase to be 5-1, so we’ll have to see what Edmonton is really about, and if Calgary can keep all their horses healthy.  It’s not really about the quantity of wins during this stretch. It’s where, and when, you get the wins that matters the most.  As long as this team is playing their best football during the last three games of the year, this team will have a real shot at competing in BC for the Grey Cup. 

• This is also where media and fan scrutiny will be at its highest point, especially during a loss.  It’s on Coach Chamblin to keep the team composed through adversity, and to present the united front during microphone scrums.  The guys in the locker room will have to circle the wagons and not let any outside distractions come between them and their Championship goal.  This is where our veterans will be at their best, and why they’re here. 

Let the youth and collective talent carry the 2nd stage.  Then let the Championship pedigree of our veteran core take over, and lead the rest of the way.  This is how the Riders are built.  Doubles and his crew have focused their gaze on legendary status.  It will be the games between the end of September, into the 1st week of November, that will shape and set the tone for this teams pursuit of history.

• 4-2:  AWESOME.  Hopefully the losses are separated by a couple of games, and one of them isn’t the last game of the regular season.  (Example: Win, Loss, Win, Win, Loss, Win)

• 3-3: FINE. However, now we’re talking spurts, in which the wins MUST come at the end of the stretch.  (Example: Loss, Loss, Win, Loss, Win, Win OR 3 losses, followed by 3 wins)

So the breakdown:  7 W’s over the first 2/3’s of the season and I’ll take a very pessimistic 3 over the last stretch.  That puts the win total at 10 for the year.  I’ll go as high as 11 with absolute confidence, and anything less than 10 will put the Riders in tough if you consider playoff positioning and final records of other Western opponents. 

Remember folks, it’s a marathon, and not a Usain Bolt sprint.  As long as the Riders steadily improve, and with consistensy, this is a team that should make some real noise come that crucial last stage of the season. 

And honestly, this is what we should expect from a team that has been forced to re-shuffle here and there.  It’s not a rebuild by any means.  It’s just the reality of where the Riders sit presently. 

I personally hoped that they didn’t shoot out to an 8-1 start!  It would have set them up for a collapse at the wrong time.  Let’s let the squad trip and stumble out of the gate a little.  The most important lesson the guys are getting now, is the lesson regarding how to deal with adversity and how to focus amongst the horrible distractions of the professional game.  It’s way better to learn that now, than during week 12.

It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.  I hope this format illustrates the importance of patience, on our part, as outsiders.

Relax, have a Pilsner, and sit back.  You might even appreciate this ride more than previous years because you will be able to grow with the team, as opposed to running along the side of the bus cheering for a dominant juggernaut that doesn’t care that you’re there, and will win regardless.

Absolutely no need to search ‘kijiji’ for used panic buttons.  Besides, most of them have already been shipped off to Brazil’s soccer fans and Rob Ford supporters.  Enjoy the bye folks!

#ProPerspective