Bored Lions look for chemistry in Kingston
Players celebrate Canada Day in Kingston while practising, watching film, bonding
Wally Buono can make a convincing argument in support of the B.C. Lions’ four-day hiatus along the shores of Lake Ontario.
For starters, staying in Kingston saves the Leos some 20 hours in travel time in their six-day window between playing the Argonauts in Toronto last Friday and the Alouettes in Montreal on Thursday. It also keeps the team’s collective body clock on Eastern time for the Als’ game.
Queen’s University, finally, provides a first-rate practice facility and working environment for the CFL team.
But there’s another reason Buono tolerates the inconvenience and disruption in his team’s normal scheduling. While the players are sequestered in Kingston, there isn’t a lot for them to do except practise, study game film and bond.
That might not make for the most exciting team-building exercise, but it does serve a purpose.
“The thing is I believe they’re bored here,” Buono said Monday after the Lions’ practice session at Richardson Field. “So you’re going to look at the game plan a little more and you’re going to rest up a little more. It takes a tough part of our schedule and minimizes the fatigue.”
Even if it maximizes the tedium.
The Lions and their embedded reporter have now been in the old town for three days and adapting to the new surroundings has been an interesting exercise for all concerned. Following their win over the Argonauts, a sleep-deprived group of Leos staggered on a bus in Burlington, Ont., early Saturday and were plopped down in Kingston four hours later in the midst of Canada Day celebrations.
If they didn’t understand they were headed to a different place before, they understood then.
“It was weird,” said Travis Lulay. “We show up and all of a sudden we’re in downtown Kingston and everyone is celebrating Canada Day. It’s like what just happened. We were magically placed here.”
Things have since quieted down, but the Lions, like all pro athletes, are creatures of habit and the disruption to their routine is a tad unsettling.
Solomon Elimimian, for example, follows a strict dietary regimen. As such, he brought his own blender to Kingston and bought a family-size jar of protein powder for making his own health concoctions. On Saturday, he could also be seen patiently trying to order a dish consisting of quinoa, boneless chicken breast and raw vegetables from a hotel restaurant that seemed to specialize in
deep-fried everything
“For some guys that might be the toughest thing,” Elimimian said.
Nutritional concerns aren’t the only issues faced here. It might sound trivial, but coaches and players can provide a laundry list of changes to their workday. In Vancouver, for example, practice film is ready for coaches after workouts. In Kingston, they have to wait 90 minutes for it to be processed and sent to the cloud where coaches can then retrieve it to their laptops.
In Vancouver, meetings are simply a matter of ambling down the hall to a prescribed meeting room. In Kingston, it’s reserving the room at a specific time and shepherding all the players to another floor.
In Vancouver, the Lions have a fully equipped workout facility at their training complex. In Kingston, there’s a tiny exercise room in the hotel, where the players have the unparalleled thrill of working out with said embedded journo.
“It’s the same thing,” said Buono.
“It’s just not as convenient.” Still, Buono says the benefits of this sojourn far outweigh the challenges and that’s best expressed in the solidarity the Lions experience. On Monday, the quarterbacks held an impromptu training session in the early evening, where newcomer Alex Ross got in some quality time with Lulay and Jonathon Jennings.
“We never work out at five (p.m.), but here we have the time because you’re not running home for dinner,” said Lulay, whose wife and three young daughters have decamped for Oregon while he’s on the 10-day business trip. “There are still a lot of new teammates, guys we don’t know who we’re talking to.”
Elimimian echoed those sentiments.
“You see a lot of guys hanging out with each other you wouldn’t normally see,” said the linebacker. “We’re exploring the city. We’re building chemistry and that’s very important. You’ve got to love the guys you play with.”
Mich’ael Brooks and Jeremiah Johnson, in fact, were active participants in the Canada Day celebrations in this historic city. Brooks, who’s from Durham, N.C., is also a shutterbug and brought his camera along.
“We walked all around the city and out to the pier,” Brooks said. “It was great fun.”
Did he make any new friends? “There was one guy who said his name was Splitter. I don’t know if that was his real name.”
There’s one other advantage to Kingston. As much as you can find trouble anywhere, the earthly temptations that might lead a young man astray aren’t as immediate or prevalent in this city of just over 100,000.
“They’re good guys,” said Buono. “I worry about them more in Vancouver than here.”
Besides, he only has one more day to worry about them here.