Three-week break a time to recharge
The records remained on the shelf. Dusty, maybe even a little scratched, but unbroken.
And the Calgary Stampeders are singing an entirely new tune.
Gone is all talk of setting a single-season record after the Red & White (15-2-1) fell a half-game short. Ditto talk of setting franchise marks as quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, a half-dozen completions shy of Doug Flutie’s record, stood on the sidelines for the final game.
With all the trivial facts and figures out of the way, the Stamps are turning their focus on what has always been Goal No. 1: The playoffs.
That season-ending loss in Montreal might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
“I think it’s a good thing,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to refocus everybody.
“It doesn’t give us an out where if something happened in the playoffs to say, ‘Oh yeah, but we were the greatest regular season team ever.’
“Now we have something to truly fight for.” Eventually. Some day. Actually, that day is Nov. 20. It’s a date so far in the future that players and fans can’t really see it.
There are the obvious pros and cons to the layoff.
Three weeks off between games (four for Mitchell) will heal a lot of bumps and bruises. It will allow players who haven’t had a break since Week 4 to lay back on the couch and catch up on episodes of The Walking Dead.
As long as they don’t play like zombies when they finally get back on the field, all will be good.
“I think we need it,” Mitchell said, who dressed up as the milkman alongside his pregnant (in real life) wife for Halloween. “I think our bodies need it, I think our minds need it. It will allow the batteries to recharge.
“(The loss) is a crappy thing that happened, but you don’t worry about the records, you worry about rings.”
Mitchell is also in line for plenty of individual acknowledgments. He was named the team’s Most Outstanding Player on Wednesday and should receive the West Division nomination next week.
Same goes for defensive end Charleston Hughes, who has a twosack lead over Shawn Lemon (Toronto Argonauts) and John Chick (Hamilton Tiger-Cats) with the latter two each having one game remaining.
Hughes, selected as the club’s top defender, is also ready for a breather.
“Yeah, it’s about that time,” Hughes said.
“A week (or three) off is always good. It gives your body time to recover.
“You spend time with your family and friends and enjoy the better things in life outside of football.”
Even the young guys need a brief vacation.
Rookie linebacker Alex Singleton was ready to take his mind off football while still maintaining his peak conditioning.
“I’ll head back to Montana with my girlfriend,” Singleton said. “I’ll rest that first week and get away from it but still work out.
“I’m healthy so I’m going to train like it’s the week before training camp.
“Then I’ll get after it the week after and come back ready to go.”
Safety Josh Bell echoed similar sentiments last week, saying he was going to make his “body beautiful” in the gym but added he would be leaving Montreal “on the first thing smokin.’ ”
Offensive lineman Derek Dennis was headed to New York and then to Phoenix for some relaxation. He knows he’s setting himself up for a potential temperature shock when he reports for duty when the team gets back to work late next week.
“I know once I get back, it’s going to be real wintry,” Dennis said. “I figured I’d get me a couple days of sun, try to get a slight tan.”
The Stamps could still face any of three potential opponents — the B.C. Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers or Edmonton Eskimos.
That list will be trimmed to two teams, the West semifinalists, following this weekend’s action.