Nov
Pressure is all on the Als
Courtesy Montreal Gazette:
Ten times during his 12-year career, centre Bryan Chiu has made it to the division final. That speaks volumes about the successful franchise built by the Alouettes.
“It’s a different feeling every time,” he said.
Especially this season. Should Montreal defeat the Edmonton Eskimos today in the Eastern final at Olympic Stadium, Chiu and his teammates will play in the Grey Cup before potentially more than 68,000 Big O fans – the majority of whom will be supporting the home team.
It should be elementary. The Als had the better record. They scored nearly 100 more points than the Eskimos, while allowing 83 fewer. And, by virtue of finishing first, Montreal enjoyed a first-week playoff bye. Edmonton, in turn, is playing on the road for the second straight week, had only two full days of practice and spent most of Thursday travelling.
But this is the Canadian Football League, where nothing generally follows the script.
“I don’t know if it’s the pressure the players put on themselves, or it’s the media pressure,” Chiu said. “Some teams in the past thought ahead. We haven’t thought about the Grey Cup, because we’re not there yet. Coach (Marc) Trestman has talked about the 18-game journey. If we perform and do what we do, then we can worry about the Grey Cup.” History hasn’t been kind to teams hosting the Cup. In the past 55 years, only eight have advanced to the championship game, and none since the Eskimos in 2002. The last host to capture the title was British Columbia in 1994.
In a league that has fluctuated between eight and nine teams, this statistic defies logic. But this is the CFL, where strange things happen. In 2001, the last time Montreal staged the game, the Als lost their final seven games to finish third and then dropped their opening-round playoff.
“There’s pressure because we’re the host,” said slotback Ben Cahoon, a member of the Als since 1998. “But that doesn’t make us want to get there more than last year, and no one (in upper management) has said anything to us. There’s pressure to get to the Grey Cup every year. Every team sets that as its objective.
Losing in the playoffs, it hurts.” Last season when the Cup was held in Toronto, the Argonauts won nine of their last 10 games and finished first with an 11-7 record. Somehow, the Argos lost the division final at home to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who were missing starting quarterback Kevin Glenn.
How can these things happen? “We thought we were invincible,” said Als defensive-back Khalil Carter, a member of that Toronto club. “This year, we’re not looking past Edmonton. We feel good at home and confident at home. We have so many players who have been there. We’ll let the guys with experience lead us. The rest will follow and we’ll win a football game.
“This year was different. We made steady progress to greatness and perfection, taking something from each game.” From one player to the next, the Als swear there hasn’t been talk about the championship game. So much so, according to guard Scott Flory, he doesn’t even know whether players will be forced to check into a hotel, or stay in their homes, next week if they advance. The Eskimos, conversely, have brought their heavy suitcases and will remain in Montreal if they win.
