Now it’s the CFL commissioner who’s has been espousing what he thinks the city of Calgary needs to support the Calgary Stampeders.
Well, if you fumble the ball at the three yard line with a minute plus left in the championship game negating the opportunity for a two score point spread and fellow players are indifferent to positioning themselves correctly on the field to defend against the possibility of a fumble – I’m not so sure that the “professionals” care enough about their team for me as a taxpayer to care about them? Seven of them had literally littered the right half of the field immobile. This is not good football. This is laziness and poor execution of backup coverage at the most critical moment of the most critical game in the season. Yes, the Argo scampered the full 107 yards for the TD. This indifference is not dissimilar to the Stampeder holding penalties at critical junctures in the game or the objectional conduct perpetrated by a player wallowing in disappointment over failed execution.
Miraculously, the Stampeders found redemption with seconds left in the game after a dropped pass when a completion left them within field goal distance of tying. When a second down field goal could have put the game into overtime under poor play conditions, the team opted for the more risky play of throwing down field setting up the ultimate sorry end via interception.
Any hard core Stampeder fan who witnessed a similar meltdown in 2016 must be questioning their season ticket purchase plan for 2018. I certainly would be. In fact, I had given up my season tickets years ago not because of poor execution and player indifference but because of the continual interference of fellow fans as they made their frequent trips to the beer stands and loos during the action. For some it’s just a beer fest and the game doesn’t matter much anyways but for a sportsman such as myself, it’s simply too tough to watch at times other than the concluding spectacle. There’s certainly good grace in losing a battle fought with furor but this morning I’m in gratitude for my severed cable TV and having not given this team my attention during the season.