One More Sleep

Pressure is a relative term.
Some feel it.
Some don’t.
Depending on the person or the team, it could affect everything, or it might not even play a role at all.
When Sunday’s West final kicks off at McMahon Stadium, the Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders will be dividing up the pressure evenly and attempting to go about their business as if it’s just another game.
It isn’t.
The Stampeders are coming off a 14-4 regular season that never saw them lose two games in a row, and down the stretch, no one really argued that they were positioned as the Grey Cup favourites.
With only one championship during GM/head coach John Hufnagel’s six-year tenure and more disappointing playoff losses than memorable wins, it’s been Grey Cup or bust all season long.
There’s no doubt there’s pressure both from the fanbase, as well as from within the organization, to get the job done on the heels of the best regular-season campaign of the Hufnagel era.
One and done — especially with the Red & White faithful witnessing it first-hand — simply won’t cut it.
“Fourteen wins is a damn good season, and it’d be a shame not to be the ones standing in the end to kind of put the cherry on top of this season,” said Stamps receiver Maurice Price, who dealt with the disappointment of losing last year’s Grey Cup to the host Toronto Argonauts over the off-season.
On the other side, however, pressure on the Green & White has been mounting ever since it was announced the 101st Grey Cup extravaganza would be held in Regina.
There’s no way the Riders could sidestep the fever with Earl Grey’s Cup on the way, and we’re not talking about a relaxing cup of tea.
With many high-profile off-season additions in tow — defensive back Dwight Anderson and slotback Geroy Simon among them — Rider Nation has been banking on its team taking the Mosaic Stadium field on Nov. 24 since the day the CFL season kicked off way back in June.
There have been bumps in the road on both sides, though.
The Stampeders, as they’ve done for what seems like an eternity now, dealt with injuries at almost every spot on the field.
The Riders dealt with injuries of their own, as well as off-field shenanigans in the form of the August arrests of Anderson and receivers Taj Smith and Eron Riley on aggravated assault charges.
Both teams have overcome to get to this point.
“You have to relish these type of moments because they don’t come often,” said Stampeders’ 13-year veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn, who has dealt with his share of big-game misfortune over the years. “You gotta have fun with it. We’ve got enough pressure on us as it is to win, so we gotta make sure we have fun while we’re doing it.”
Riders quarterback Darian Durant doesn’t believe there can be any extra pressure at this point in the season.
“It’s about going to the Grey Cup, so the pressure’s on both sides,” Durant said.
“Regardless of where the Grey Cup is, it’s tough getting there. I’ve seen that throughout my career. Not only is it tough getting there, it’s tough to win it. You have to focus on each and every week, each and every game leading up to that point and deal with the Grey Cup situations when they get there. It just adds more to it that it’s in Regina, but at the same time, it’s tough to get there for both sides.”
Durant had fun back in 2009, shelving the Stampeders hopes of making an appearance in their own homefield Grey Cup by handling business at Mosaic Stadium in the West final in what amounts to almost an exact role reversal four years later.
“I’m pretty sure when the Grey Cup was here in ‘09, I mean, it was the talk of the town,” Durant said. “It’s just all about being able to play at home, having that homefield advantage during the Grey Cup. That’s what we’re looking forward to, and they’re trying to stop us from doing that. It just adds more to the game.”
That fact isn’t lost within the Stampeders locker room, either.
“They are hosting the Grey Cup game, so it’d be a shame if they’re not there to be in their own stadium,” a confident Price grinned.
When you add it all up, one team is going to walk off the McMahon Stadium turf Sunday evening with some explaining to do.

(Calgary Sun)