Corey Grant
CFL.ca
This has to be a season of mixed emotions for the fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Their beloved Riders are first place in the West Division and have the best record in the CFL, but this has all come at a hefty price of losing key players to injuries.
Now at the beginning of the year if anyone had said that we would be 7-2 at the half-way-point in the season, we would have said the only thing better is to be 8-1 or 9-0. But where we find ourselves right now at 7-2 is a good record and as they say, “things could always be worse”…and worse looks to be knocking on our door.
News Flash: The Saskatchewan Roughriders Football Club has lost another wide receiver to injury for an extended portion of the season and here we go again (knock, knock, knock).
Yes, it’s true another starting receiver has been injured for the Riders. Is this a surprise or was it just a question of when? These issues have plagued Riderville each week this season and they don’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. Can we get a break?
Is another player going to go down this week? When are the injured guys coming back? These questions are asked every week by the fans and only time will reveal the answers.
Now don’t get me wrong, we aren’t the only team in the CFL with injuries to key players in the line-up. Injuries occur in football and each team goes through their own battle with the “Injury Bug” and some deal with it better than others.
It’s not the injuries, which are the problem; it’s how each team handles their own injury situation. Does the replacement player step up and make plays when given the opportunity? Does the play of the entire team become affected negatively by the loss of an all-star player? Who steps up and becomes a leader? Do players look around for someone else to make plays or do they look in the mirror? Only the individual and team can answer these questions.
The one thing I know is that there are no excuses in football. Even during times when we believe we might be given some leeway because of injuries, that’s never the case.
We are in a performance-based business where we are measured by wins and losses and the players on the field are responsible to execute when called upon. Nobody wants to hear why you didn’t do it; they just want to hear that it’s done. We are all professionals and as a professional it’s our job to maintain or exceed the level of play left behind by the injured player(s).
Now going into this week we have every excuse to lose. We’re taking a 6-hour bus ride to Winnipeg. We find ourselves with more injuries. It’s the “Banjo Bowl”, a game we have found ourselves on the losing end more often than the winning end. It’s the second game of a back-to-back and it’s always more difficult to win the second after winning the first. We’re on the road in a hostile environment. Winnipeg has made a major move to try and infuse a sense of urgency into their football team. They are last in their division and have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
All the ingredients to justify a less than stellar performance are laid out before us and I’m sure each team can always find excuses when the deck is stacked against them. But excuses are not instilled in the make-up of an athlete because it is our responsibility to prepare and compete at the highest level at all times.
“You have every excuse to lose, but the thing is – do you want to take the easy way out? It is easier to use the excuses than it is to prove them wrong. So, play hard and do your best, cause trying just doesn’t cut it.” – Unknown
Anything worthwhile comes with a price and is never easy to achieve. Leave your EXCUSES at home and bring your “A” game to the field because nobody wants to hear EXCUSES!
Corey Grant is a 10 year CFL veteran who has played with the Ti-Cats, Alouettes and, for the last 7 seasons, the Roughriders. A Stoney Creek, Ont. native, Corey has won Grey Cups in 1999 and 2007. He was named the East Division Outstanding Rookie in 1999.
