Nov
Burris tries to break playoff jinx
Courtesy Calgary Herald:
There’s more than enough subjects on the pre-game menu as the Calgary Stampeders and B.C. Lions prepare to battle for the West Division title Saturday afternoon at McMahon Stadium.
The main course, more than likely, will feature the fact the Stamps have defeated the Lions in all three regular- season affairs this season. Right behind that will be the knowledge that Wally Buono-coached teams are 3-0 on the road in West title games.
A little dessert? How about Calgary quarterback Henry Burris and his losing track record in playoff games.
So, John Hufnagel, do we just throw the numbers out the window?
“Obviously, the game itself is its own entity,” smiled the Stamps rookie head coach and general manager. “You have to come out of this locker-room and make the plays that you need to make to win the football game and the only advantage, if it is an advantage, is we know that we made those plays three times already this year.
“(B.C.) is a very good football team, an excellent football team. It was a very emotional win for them last week and they’ll be coming in here at the top of their game. We’ve been very fortunate in some ways to have a 3-0 record on them and it’s going to take a great effort on our part, be at our best to accomplish it on Saturday.”
The Stamps are coming off a bye week as regular-season pennant winners while they waited for the Lions, as it turned out, to off the homestanding Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West semifinal this past Saturday.
They staged three high-tempo, albeit short, practices last week and stepped it up another notch Tuesday in their first workout this week.
“The difference with the team this year is we’re more on the same page and that’s why you see better timing,” said Burris, who is looking for his first division title as the starter. “Nothing really has changed with me outside of just going through the experience with the team, stuff like that.
“There haven’t been too many ups, more downs as far as past years, but right now our team has amnesia as to what happened in the past. We’re a much different team. We don’t even remember what that team did last year
. . . now our goal is just to go out and do exactly what we’ve been doing since Day 1 and that’s taking care of the ball, executing the way we’re supposed to and playing disciplined football.”
Will there be additional pressure on Burris to shake that playoff monkey?
“There’s nothing more on Henry’s shoulders this week than in any other week of this football season, so we don’t plan on doing anything differently,” said Hufnagel.
Burris only played a half of the regular-season finale when the Stamps put away the visiting Lions 41-30. It was a meaningless game for Calgary inasmuch as it had already clinched first place, while the Lions needed victory to have home field for the semifinal.
All water under the bridge, now, but did the Stamps want to send a message just in case this scenario developed?
“We wanted to make a statement for ourselves and our fans,” said Burris. “Every time we step on the field, it means something. We want to make sure we’re doing the things that we need to make us a successful and it’ll be no difference in this game.
