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Author |
TOPIC: Showing Up |
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| Joey J
September 17, 2008
10:22:36 AM
Entry #: 2910412
| All,
I just want to express my disappointment with the unexcused absences from the league this year. I just can't believe that EVERY SINGLE WEEK I watch people showing up at game time or not showing up at all. I really just don't get it. It seems to me that waking up for CFL just isn't a priority and that really bothers me. It especially bothers me because every single year we turn away 15- 20 guys that are dying to play.
Coaches and veterans, I urge you to put your foot down and let these players know that it is NOT OK to miss games unless your coach knows about it in advance. It's understandable if people have family functions or work, but I can't believe people would miss a game because of drinking. That is an absolute joke. Everyone gets anhiliated on Saturday night and everyone shows up to play Sunday morning. It's part of the deal. If you can't do that then you are soft and shouldn't be in the league. Guys used to leave the bar and go straight to the field so they wouldn't miss. Brian Najor used to fly in from Manhattan every weekend to play. Bruce Toma played the morning after his wedding day. There are many more examples like this, but the bottom line is that this tardiness can't and won't continue. It's not fair to the other players and it's not fair to the guys who show up year after year only to be sent away. Those guys would die to be in the league. Yet some current players don't think it's important enough to even show up at all.
For next season, I will push for a strict rule on no show/ no calls. If you don't come, you're out no matter how good you are or how it affects the team. I will encourage the coaches to consider a guy's track record and commitment before drafting him because the league shouldn't go on like this.
I love that the league is loaded with talent right now and there are great players and great games to watch every week. But in the end, the league is at it's best when we have 60 guys who are dying to play week in and week out.
Next season will be the 30th year of the CFL. The league has grown in so many positive ways and we all want to keep that going. So if you are committed to keeping this league strong, treat it like priority it should be.
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| BIG DADDY
September 17, 2008
1:50:17 PM
Entry #: 2910707
| I HAVE SEEN BOBBY COME STRAIGHT FROM A HALLOWEEN PARTY STILL DRESSED AND IN THE LIMO AND STILL GO OUT THERE AND GIVE IT HIS ALL. IT IS ALL THE YOUNG KIDS THAT HAVE NO HEART. HOPEFULLY JOEYS MESSAGE HITS HOME WITH THEM AND THEY START TO TAKE THIS LEAGUE SERIOUS
IT IS THE BEST LEAGUE I HAVE EVER SEEN
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| aacho
September 17, 2008
6:48:32 PM
Entry #: 2911159
| alright ill just quit the league and let someone who is not as good as me take my place. come on joe you know just as well as i do that i care about beeing at every game just as much if not more then anyone else. last week i wasnt there and i publically apoligized to my team. i turned 21 last week and dont even remember it. i blacked out what can you do. you only turn 21 once. i dont know if you were coming at me or someone else but im just explainging myself. i didnt show because i blacked out saturday night and dont remember a thing. its not like i planned for that to happen. i missed one week out of two seasons and it was cause of my 21st birthday. sorry im not as perfect as all the vets out there. atleast i didnt miss a week to go to a poker tournament, or white water rafting, or to go michigan adventure, or whereever else all of team red has gone. i dont see how its only the rookies that dont show up. the red team has had their full team for what 1 week and that team is full of VETERANS.
SHUCK RULES
YELLOW 08 CHAMPS
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| Anthony
September 17, 2008
7:39:10 PM
Entry #: 2911210
| Oh, HELL NO! I'll address this when I have more time. Full squad or no full squad, not one of my players has just simply no showed. There is a big difference my friend. Try going 18 years without missing a game for any reason.
You obviously missed the point. We will try a different way to get the real message across.
Thank you for your comments
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| aacho
September 17, 2008
7:42:39 PM
Entry #: 2911215
| A.T 18 years ago you were over the age of 21 so you dont knwo if you wouldve missed that game. but i do cammend the 18 years without missing a game! i wish i couldve topped it!
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| Chris Z.
September 17, 2008
7:55:12 PM
Entry #: 2911232
| Acho, remember bending over at Amoco so that bum could get in your pants?
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| Eastsidetony
September 17, 2008
10:14:33 PM
Entry #: 2911414
| Schuck is 20 right now-i wonder if he will miss on his 21st B-Day. Achoo im not mad at you for not showing up-
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| Anthony
September 17, 2008
11:24:19 PM
Entry #: 2911494
| On top of the 18 years... Team Camel played another two nights a week and I didn't miss any of those games either. I've played with stitches and pulled anything and everything.
Either you got it or you don't
I started playing in 1988 when I was 22 years old. Maybe the minimum age should be 21, because at that age I understood what it meant to play in the CFL.
My idea was always to let the new young bloods have their own team, so we could whip their asses every week.
There is no future without the young guns, I love and respect you guys.
AA
I'm sure Joey was not directing anything towards you. It was a general statement.
You young fellas are welcomed into the league, it's going to be left to you. Respect it!
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| jordan
September 19, 2008
3:49:07 AM
Entry #: 2912988
| Amen.
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| Joey J
September 20, 2008
11:01:07 AM
Entry #: 2914364
| A. Acho,
I didn't single anyone out, rookies or otherwise. But everyone has to know that "No show No calls" are not OK under any circumstance. There is no need for apologies. Just don't let it happen. Period. How would I know that you want to be out there more than everyone else every week? I don't know that, and your team doesn't know that, unless you prove it. What I do know is that you are a leader and a gamer. You are one of the best players on the field week in and week out so when you miss a game it will get more attention than when someone else misses a game. It is what it is. You can fight that or you can just deal with it. You are the future of the league and in order to keep it going in the right direction, you need to lead by example.
Aside from that, let me give you a few tips on blacking out then making it to the game-
1. Before you go out, you let at least three people that you trust know that you're going out and that it may get ugly. Don't be afraid to tell your parents even. Tell them that you made a committment and you have to be there no matter what and that they can wake you up by any means necessary. I'm sure it wasn't easy for my mom to wake me up when she found me passed out on the stairs wearing nothing but a t-shirt and one sock with an empty bottle of wine in my hand. But she did because I told her to wake me up no matter what. Sure there was a little shame involved, but at least I didn't miss the game.
2. While at the bar, tell EVERY SINGLE PERSON you talk to that you have a football game in the morning, especially chicks. Over the years i've found this to be a good conversation piece as well as an extra layer of protection. It is also a good exit strategy for getting a way from a hog that you thought was hot when you were blacked out. That way they know in advance that you have to leave early and they'll actually wake you up.
3. Arrange transportation in advance. So you'd say "Nate, be at my house at 7:45 and kick my door down if I don't answer". If you should end up somewhere else besides home, make sure your friends know where you're headed. This can also be another good way to prevent leaving the bar with a hog. Sometimes your friends just won't let you go because your reputation may be at stake. Or, if they're like my friends, they'll let you go then make fun of you. But at least they know where you're going.
4. Make sure someone knows where your cleats and jersey are before you go out so they can get it to the field.
5. Most importantly, set a mental alarm. This actually works and has miraculously bailed me out of some of my most epic blackouts. You just have to train your mind that there is no possible way to miss CFL. The thought of missing is so sickening that it could never happen no matter what. Sounds crazy, but it works. One time, I woke up in someone else's car at a Krispy Kreme in Lansing at 5:45 AM after losing my friends, phone, and car. I'm not sure if it was divine intervention or what, but I woke up, hit the road, and made it to the early game.
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| Anthony
September 20, 2008
1:24:33 PM
Entry #: 2914448
| Well put Joey!
I hope your Hog statements are not taken out of context if this story gets printed in the Chaldean News.
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| Joey J
September 21, 2008
9:55:14 AM
Entry #: 2915129
| LOL. I learned my lesson. But please don't email it to 10,000 people. This is for CFL viewing only.
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| Zeerco
September 21, 2008
11:02:35 AM
Entry #: 2915193
| Yeah Aacho you can miss for Taco night at Brians house but not for drinking for your 21st birthday!!
P.S. Joey still never forgot about that post LOL
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