By Sean Millington,
CFL.ca
Denial. Where would we be without it? I’m not fat. I don’t snore. We’re a good team.
In the absence of denial it would be impossible to hide from the obvious. Right now, a few teams around the CFL are in serious denial.
Is there anyone outside of Hamilton who believes that they are a good team? Edmonton is not a good team. A 2–4 record is not indicative of a good club, which means despite having affection for the Argonauts, I have to group Toronto into the bad category as well.
Good teams have good records and bad teams don’t, which as simple as it sounds means that at 3–4, Calgary is not a good team. Saskatchewan earns a get out of jail free ride this week with their 3–3 record.
Montreal, B.C. and Winnipeg are good teams. Not coincidentally, these are the teams in the CFL currently sporting a winning record.
The way some teams talk, you could be forgiven for thinking that their record had nothing to do with them, that they had somehow not earned their place in the standings. Unfortunately, the exact opposite is true — they have fought tooth and nail for their place in the standings.
Now to be fair, the teams with losing records obviously don’t try to lose more games than they win, but the end result is still there in black and white. Despite the best of intentions, the fruit of their efforts speaks for itself, louder than any public relations spin. Just as a cavity reveals to a dentist poor oral hygiene (arguments of the patient notwithstanding), a losing record is the end result of what went into creating it. It is not some arbitrary outcome that has been visited upon an undeserving group.
The longer a team is in denial about this basic truth, the longer it will take for them to figure out what is wrong and do something about it. The reality is that bad teams do bad things. They take dumb penalties; they don’t make plays when they should; they lose focus and often their composure.
It’s interesting that you very rarely see a winning team instigating a fight at the end of a game. I’ve often said that if the individuals who are fighting had put that kind of passion into the game, they likely would not be in a position where they felt frustrated enough to need to fight.
Most losing teams have several selfish players among the group who are causing the entire team to suffer. Players who feel it is more important for them to get in that extra shot on the QB or get that jump at the line than to be disciplined for the sake of the team. This year there have been complaints about the number of flags being thrown. Well, I hate to break it down for people but the difference between this year and last is not significantly different in my opinion.
The bottom line is that if players weren’t committing infractions, far fewer flags would be thrown. Instead of complaining about bad officiating, poor field conditions or some other excuse de jour, take a look in the mirror and start there. Most bad teams would be good teams if all their members would take personal responsibility for their situation.
Good teams don’t lay blame outwardly or inwardly. Good teams minimize their stupid mistakes and pull together to rise above the ones that do, inevitably occur. Good teams capitalize on their opportunities when they happen, be that the first minute of the first quarter or last second of the game. Good teams give greatly in the hopes of achieving greatly.
On every great team there is a core of individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty to contribute to their team’s success. Whether it be by watching film on their own time, getting in extra workouts or studying their playbook, they do all they can to be prepared come game time.
To paraphrase a quote I once read, “A man shall be known by what he produces”. Winning record, good team. Losing record, bad team. It’s that simple.
Sean Millington played 13 years in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts and has been a panelist on the CFL on CBC since 2003.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
