It’s taken a week to actually get to the point of wanting to talk about it.

So for the final time this season, let’s talk about the 2009 edition of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. There were so many questions going into the season. How would be the defense be after losing key players like Mo Lloyd and Anton McKenzie? And not to mention what would things be like having lost Richie Hall, who was then replaced
by Gary Etchevarry?

Quarterbacking always seems to be a question mark around here in the spring and early summer, and perhaps going into this year there was more uncertainty then ever. Darian Durant answered the bell. What would the Riders be like without a General Manager to lead the team, especially one so charismatic as Eric Tillman? I mean let’s be honest… when you look at how many people doubted the Riders to begin this past season, it seemed as though we were doomed. There was no chance for the little team on the prairies. We should have packed in the season.

But… We only finished first in the Western Division for the first time in 33 years; no small feat. We had the largest average attendance in Roughrider history, sold an incredible amount on merchandise, won a Western Final and played in our second Grey Cup game in three years. The Saskatchewan Roughrider brand is the hottest sport’s
brand in this country right now.

Sure the season ended in incredibly disappointing fashion, and will haunt those players, coaches, and management of the Saskatchewan Roughriders well into the off-season. And it should. It hurts. There is a but… the fact remains that despite the penalty that will go down in CFL infamy, that was one heck of a ride. What a game!

I’ll continue to watch the game over and over again, and like a favourite movie that breaks our heart, and hope that the ending is different every time I watch it.

I’ll wonder all off-season about the many ways we could have won that game. But the second I get my head around that being in the past, I can’t help but get excited about the future of Canada’s Team.

It’s taken many great teams great heartache to achieve great success; in 1976 Grey Cup heartbreak started a very long string of bad football in Saskatchewan. In 2009 Grey Cup heartbreak could very well start a string of affluent football for many years to come.