Courtesy Regina Leader Post:
They could win big, lose big or take it down to the wire, but there’s one thing the Calgary Stampeders assure their fans: They will not kill themselves this time.

Unlike their last two playoff chokes, the Stamps will not stare at the face at victory, only to pull out a fork and bludgeon their own eyes.

Sunday’s West Division semifinal against the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be different. They promise.

We won’t let turnovers and penalties beat us,” slotback Jeremaine Copeland said on Friday. “We’re going to go out and control those things and let our execution take over.

“I’d rather be whupped by a team than beat ourselves. It feels a lot worse if you put up the numbers to win the game — blow them out, put up 400 yards while they put up 200 — and lose because of turnovers.”

Fresh in their memory banks is last year’s West semifinal when the Stamps had a 21-6 lead over the Roughriders, but committed seven turnovers and lost 31-21.

The year before, they went into the West semifinal on a tear –four wins in a row, including a 43-23 drubbing of the Edmonton Eskimos in their regular-season finale. The next week, Calgary drastically outplayed Edmonton, but six fumbles (two lost) and a pair of interceptions sunk them in a 33-26 decision.

Both games were at home and both were humiliating.

“We pummelled the last two playoff opponents and didn’t win the football games,” said head coach Tom Higgins. “I’d happily lose all the statistical categories if at the end of the game the scoreboard showed that you win.

“That’s all that anyone remembers … except the losers. Who else remembers all the other nuances of what happened?”

Unfortunately for the Stamps, everyone who waves their flag painfully recalls those past two meltdowns.

In back-to-back years they watched a team show so much promise only to collapse when it mattered most.

While supporters would like to have faith in their heroes, there’s massive reason for skepticism about this year being different. After all, they were the most penalized team in the Canadian Football League and had the worst turnover ratio.

“That’s going to be the story that’s written until we rewrite it,” said Higgins “And the only way we can rewrite it is doing something in the playoffs. If we don’t, it’s going to be a disaster.

“The penalties and turnovers were because they’re poorly coached and you’ve got to take full responsibility, hoping the athletes will share in the responsibility. If they don’t, you never had a chance to begin with.”

In their final tune-up for the post-season — a 25-24 road loss to the B.C. Lions last week — the Stamps were flagged 19 times.

It seriously makes one question how much focus has gone into improving the situation.

“Tom’s got after us, we’ve been yelled at, we’ve tried fines, we’ve tried running in practice, we’ve tried everything,” said offensive tackle Jeff Pilon. “Everybody’s trying their (butt) off. It has nothing to do with not caring. To me, it’s guys trying to do too much, trying too hard, caring too much. You trying to get that extra jump, you’re trying to do that extra.

“It’s about being able to channel your energy, focus and relax a little bit. Just let it happen.”

Same story for the turnovers.

It seems when they come, the come in bunches.

“We need to play loose,” said slotback Nik Lewis. “Don’t worry about turning the ball over and we won’t turn the ball over. If we go out there thinking about not turning the ball over, that’s the first thing that’s going to happen.”