Grey Cup Week 2008
November 30, 2008

It was an odd set of circumstances that got me to the Grey Cup festivities this year. My nomination for Outstanding Canadian was the reason that I was able to go, mainly because the league paid for me to be there with a guest – but my wife's necessity to get away for a week is what really kept me from ditching the festivities. I never would have imagined that I would have ever gone to a Grey Cup had I not been playing, but I suppose there is a first time for everything.

I do love this league, and I really have no excuse for not wanting to attend the Cup except for the fact that it really stings too much for me to watch games like that when I was close to being in them. Credit to Dave Jameson and the Eskimo public relations staff for helping me realize that the CFL player awards nomination is kind of a big deal, and I really should go down to represent the Eskimos during Grey Cup week. In hindsight, I'm very glad that I did – not so much because I walked away with the award, but because the city of Montreal put on a great show.

From the time that I arrived on Wednesday with my wife and young son, I was ushered around the city, taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Montreal. Instantly, I noticed how strong the CFL presence was in the city as every team was represented in strong numbers throughout the city. From shopping, to restaurants and streets, and of course in the Grey Cup village, each team was represented in numbers by the great CFL fans nationwide. I haven't attended a Grey Cup since 2001 and during that time I was a rookie playing for the Stampeders. That game was also in Montreal, but as soon as we got there, Alondra Johnson (legendary linebacker for the Stamps) warned all of the rookies that if he saw you out in the city, there would be hell to pay. For me that was enough – I proceeded to order room service the whole week. My wife issued a similar threat this year. After the last six months with our son, she wanted to see as much of Montreal as she could. Needless to say, room service wasn't an option this time for me, and I'm glad it wasn't.

The CFL Player Awards was a much bigger production than I had initially suspected and unfortunately it was held in a casino and I wouldn't be able to bring my family with me. Aside from that, I had a blast. My acceptance speech was probably the worst in the events history, but then again – I may be the first winner ever to have bet against himself winning. The thought of winning never crossed my mind, and as a result I didn't have anything prepared. Acceptance speech or not, I had a good time. While I didn't attend any of the after-hours parties, I did make sure that I stopped by the Taste of Edmonton which was conveniently located in the same hotel as I was. If nothing else, I now understand now why everyone says that it's the Grey Cup's best party. I took my family down to the Taste of Edmonton, not quite knowing what type of party to expect…luckily it was a short elevator ride up for them once we realized that it was a par-tay! After kicking around there for a while, I must say that I was taken aback by all of the different fans of different cities who came out of their way to congratulate me on the award, and tell me how deserving that they felt that I was. I thoroughly enjoyed just kicking back and talking football with the fans of the teams that I've been trying to beat all year.

To finish off the trip, I made it a point to attend the Football Reporters of Canada brunch in which they inducted Tony Proudfoot and Herb Zurkowsky into the hall of fame. I felt that it was important to pay respects to those who translate our stories to the masses. Without the fans there is no CFL, and without the writers that cover us, we're just grown men playing a child's game. As for the game itself…I watched pieces from my hotel room. I thought that both teams deserved to be there, and I certainly must congratulate Calgary on a great win. That being said – I can't wait to get to work on next year. This being one game away is for the birds…and the next time I'm at the Grey Cup, I really need to be playing.

To me the production was great, and I thought that Montreal put on a great show for the CFL fans across the country. TSN's coverage throughout the weekend put a certain level of excitement into the game that may not have been present otherwise, and the additional camera views gave the game a much cleaner look. The only thing missing from the week was the 51 other Eskimos that should have been with me prepping for the big game – an oversight that we plan to rectify as soon as possible. ©

Kp8

Playoffs;
Edmonton Vs Montreal – Eastern Conference Final
November 25, 2008

Back in the Olympic Oval which I haven't played in since my Grey Cup win in 2001 with the Calgary Stampeders, and part of me felt like we were really about to get that thing done. Actually, it was more than part of me…every fiber of my being felt confident that we would win that game, which is why it hurt so bad that we didn't. Although we came out hot, we just didn't sustain well enough offensively to win the game – which hurts me especially being an offensive player. While our special teams gave up two touchdowns, they also scored two touchdowns which to me cancel each other out. Defensively, I felt like we played a great game, keeping them out of the end zone for the most part – we just seemed to be on the field too long defensively. Montreal was able to convert on second and long situations much more than we were offensively, which to me was the difference in the game itself.

Our inability to sustain drives, and keep the high powered Alouettes offence off of the field was our Achilles heel. The most telling stat at the end of the day was time of possession. It did come down to Calvillo vs Ricky Ray but not so much in their aerial assault's but more so in how long were the able to keep their respective offenses out on the field. We had poor first down execution all day, which was our strength in Winnipeg. Without such efficiency, we were forced into 2nd and long situations – which played right into Montreal's hands. They have a very athletic group defensively and they drop into deep zone coverage, forcing you to throw underneath and knife up field before they can rally to the ball and stop you short of the first down. We were able to have some success in the few times we caught them in man-to-man coverage, mostly on first down – but not nearly enough to amount to anything major. Our inability to score touchdowns instead of field goals killed us in the last game of the season much like it did in other games this year.

That flight home was particularly long, knowing that I had to come back in a couple of days to Montreal for the CFL Player Awards. I so wanted my team to be there, prepping for the big game so that my presence in Montreal would be justified. Now it will just be a short vacation for my family and I that will no doubt leave a bitter taste in my mouth as I watch the game from my hotel room, knowing how close we were. I can't wait to get home and get started in my preparations to help make sure that this team is playing in Calgary in the next Grey Cup.

Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. ©

Kp8

Edmonton Vs Winnipeg – Eastern Conference Semi-final
November 14, 2008

Yeah, you read that right…EASTERN Conference Semi-final. I'd be lying if I said that it didn't feel odd coming up through the East. Then again, I'll take any route or path that is offered to me en route to the Grey Cup…no shame in my game. The winter wonderland hit Winnipeg just a couple of days before we landed, and it was no doubt in full effect once we set foot off of the plane. In fact, the looks on many of our guy's faces were priceless as the wind hit them on stepping down the airplane stairs and onto the bus. We had to cancel the walk through at the stadium as did our opponents, because there was roughly a foot of snow being cleared off of the field. In hindsight, they probably should have waited until just prior to the game to clean off the field itself, because the water underneath the snow wouldn't have frozen with the snow still on top of it. Once they cleared it off the night before, it completely froze up by game time. We would have had more success wearing skates out there.

Luckily for us, we have access to the best equipment manager in the country in Dwayne Mandruziak. In his 30+ years of Eskimo experience he's seen every surface that can be played on, and has filed away which shoes will work the best in which conditions, and on which surfaces. Needless to say, he came prepared. It was no surprise when we came out in a completely different shoe than the Bombers did, and none of our guys were complaining about the grip out there.

With the conditions being what they were, and the wind gusting throughout the whole contest – it was difficult at best for us to attack aerially in the manner that we had grown accustomed. A knock on us all year has been our lack of willingness and/or ability to run the ball effectively, but one thing that we were able to do extremely well all year is to incorporate the running backs as a large part of our passing attack. Short dump passes and crossing routes to Calvin McCarty, A.J. Harris, Mathieu Bertrand, and Mike Maurer contributed greatly to our ability to sustain drives and keep their offence off of the field. The best defence against most good teams is a good offence and those dump passes end up getting 8-12 yards per which keeps us out of second and long. Often times, they serve a very similar purpose as a run play.

Coach has never made any qualms about us becoming a running team, but he has always stated that he wants to be able to run the ball effectively for 70-90yds per game. That's exactly what we were able to do in a game in which the conditions were supposed to favor the Bombers and their strong running attack. We were able to move the ball effectively, keep their offence off of the field, and our defence was able to force turnovers and score off of one as well. This is a good time of year for us to be playing well. Hopefully, it continues next week against the Alouettes – that game could be one for the ages. ©

Kp8

Edmonton Vs Montreal #2
November 3, 2008

Although many would say that this game had no meaning, when your previous two games looked like ours did – this one meant plenty. I can't stress enough the importance of confidence going into the playoffs. Players, and the players alone MUST have the utmost confidence in their ability to beat anyone at any time in order to make a significant playoff run. There is no room for surprise performances when you are a mere 60 min away from professionally breathing or asphyxiating.

Offensively, I thought that it was important that we played mistake free football. I can't think of a single game that we've played where we didn't turn the ball over and still lost. While there are other stats that correlate to us winning, to me the most telling is turnovers. We were able to play virtually mistake free on this night, and that in turn puts pressure on the opposing offence to make something happen. Our defence has capitalized on that pressure all year, and I'm confident that they will do even more next week as the playoffs get underway. We were able to establish a nice rhythm for Ricky and get him into a groove right out of the gate with a few run/pass options that both kept us out of second and long, and got him into a nice flow. Such things translate into long drives, which keep opposing team's quarterbacks off of the field and allow our defence to rest at the same time.

Say what you will about who was playing for Montreal, and who wasn't. Ricky only got a half of play, as did Kelly Campbell. They were without Watkins, we were without Stamps, yadda, yadda…The important thing to me is HOW we played – I could care less who it was up against. I was working against Chip Cox and T.J. Hill all night just like I was when we played down there, and just like I'll be should we happen to see them again down the line, so it made absolutely no difference to me. We need to understand, that WHO the opponent is, has absolutely no bearing on anything…our battle is against the game itself. If we execute, and don't turn the ball over we can beat anyone.

As we head down this playoff road, we immediately encounter a task that has not been accomplished before. No crossover team has ever one in the playoffs. Many will use this as a tool to drop our spirits, or to use the history that lay behind us as a detractor. I say that there has to be a first for everything…why not us? ©

Kp8