Peter Dyakowski
CFL.ca
I must begin with an apology for the increasing infrequency of my posts. I regret that I have allowed so many little things, and a few big ones, to deprive the CFL.ca readership of my once weekly blogs. The sheer volume of emails from irate readers has prompted me into action and put me back in my typing chair (a leather upholstered high-backed Victorian piece).
Though there are still many games left to play, the schedule has already taken a bit of a toll on myself, as it has on most every other player in the league. Fortunately for me it is only my attempts at journalism which have suffered, but the effects of the long season can be seen piling up around the locker room.
Discipline has waned in certain areas and rookies have been getting away with ever more serious infractions without seeing consequences. I can’t even remember the last time the lights went out in the bathroom and a tub of freezing Gatorade went over the door of a stall onto an unsuspecting rookie as fitting punishment for his crimes. Back-talk, sass, talking out of turn, daring to look a vet in the eye and getting treatment from the trainers are but a few examples of the rampant misconduct being engaged in by rookies and going unpunished.
Making matters worse, this problem is not unique to our locker room here in Hamilton. I’ve heard reports from around the league that rookies on every team have been taking advantage of the mid-season malaise afflicting the veterans to engage in scandalous breaches of accepted codes of rookie conduct.
Dreadful tales have reached me from locker rooms in B.C. and Alberta of rookies forgetting to bring in breakfast, coffee, and doughnuts on the appointed days. Fortunately, the situation here in Hamilton has not sunk to such a low but with complacency and a lack of vigilance, it may only be a matter of time.
There are even stories circulating that the rookies in Toronto have been asking for (and receiving!) water during practice. I won’t even mention what I’ve heard of the rookies in Montreal, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg, but suffice to say that they are enough to turn one’s stomach. How could things have come to this point? It was not always so.
I fondly remember my rookie year, not really that long ago, and the great pains that the vets went to in order to make me feel welcome. The abuse I received for sitting in the wrong chair during meetings told me that they noticed me and the $250 in sass fines I accumulated over the course of the season told me that they were listening to me. Are we to deny today’s rookies the same affirmations?
This blog came to me by accident, but it is a tool with which I can do great good. With that in mind, I ask whatever veterans that may be reading this to show a rookie that you care about him. I suggest that some Flex-All, Icy-Hot, Atomic Balm, Red Hot, or (preferably) a mix of all four would be very helpful in this effort.
