Finding path forward was a big challenge in 2021

The Hilltops raise the PFC championship trophy.

As I sit at the keyboard on the final day of 2021, I don’t know what to write.

When it comes to tackling a year-end column, my plan seemed to change as this month went along. If I typed this column up four weeks ago, it likely would have been a lot more upbeat.

Like everything during these times with the world still stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this column will likely be a roller-coaster.

Due to these crazy times, I didn’t think it was appropriate to type out a top 10 cools things post I saw during the year. If I do such a post in future years, I’m not sure what look it will take.

I will note the highlight of the year didn’t come from the sports front. The highlight was attending my niece’s wedding in Jasper, Alta., on September 4.

The weekend was a good one on the family front. I don’t want to get into too much detail there as most of my family aren’t public figures, but on the need to know front, that wedding weekend was an outstanding weekend.

For 2021, the goal was just to find a way forward. I couldn’t describe what that looked like.

Basically, you are trying to follow your gut as you navigate the world.

One thing that was always in the back of my mind was to be aware that setbacks could occur at any time even after progress was made depending on developments on the COVID-19 pandemic front.

The biggest challenge for me and one I am still mindful of is navigating the fact that everyone is out to satisfy their selfish needs. I wrote in my year end post for 2020 that I’ve become a little more jaded in general when it comes to dealing with people.

All set for my niece’s wedding in Jasper.

I wrote people are basically out trying to be their best versions of Professional Football Hall of Fame diva receiver Terrell Owens.

Basically, you see people out there saying, “Teams is spelled M, E, me. Me. I’m the greatest. Me!”

If I was more jaded in general when it can to dealing with people thinking they were selfish in 2020, I’ve pretty much accepted that is the norm in 2021. In general, people just see the world through their own personalized world view and more and more they will not change or adjust that view.

If people are in a position of power, they use and abuse that position of power to help make their own life situation better.

Unfortunately when I apply those jaded observations to how most things unfold in the world, it always makes everything line up in the big picture of why things happen the way they do.

On the sports reporting front, I think one of the big things I’ve had to adjust to was that fans went back to acting like they did before the COVID-19 pandemic really sunk its claws into the world in March of 2020. In North America, the first pauses due to the COVID-19 pandemic took place on March 11, 2020.

Living in Saskatoon, the most obvious example came from watching fans of the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders react to the fortunes of their team.

The CFL lost its entire 2020 campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was no certainty the circuit was going to return to the field. When the Roughriders hit the field at Mosaic Stadium to open their regular season schedule on August 6, the honeymoon was on.

A sellout crowd of 33,350 spectators watched the Roughriders down the visiting British Columbia Lions 33-29. As the Roughriders started out 3-0, the prevailing feeling among fans was that everyone was thankful to be able to go to a CFL game again.

By early October when the Roughriders found themselves sporting a 5-4 record, the honeymoon was definitely over. 

It seems everyone is their own best version of Terrell Owens.

It was easy to find commentary that the quarterback sucks, the coaches all suck, the general manager sucks and everyone seems to get ripped including the ball boy.

The Roughriders defence seemed to get the least criticism outside of comments of not coming through in the clutch.

Saskatchewan ultimately finished the regular season with a 9-5 record and fell in the West Division final to the eventual Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

In recent days, the fan uproar about the International Ice Hockey Federation’s world junior tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer getting cancelled after three days of games due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been all over the place.

The ragehol is real.

Rightly or wrongly, I find I have developed the ability to tune all that noise out pretty quickly.

It did surprise me how fast those normal fan reactions returned.

In the case of the Roughriders season, you wouldn’t have known a season as missed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ultimately for the fans, the fact a team wins or loses a game or an event gets cancelled doesn’t directly affect their lives unless they allow those things to affect their lives. At the end of the day, those developments don’t alter how fans pay the bills or put food on the table.

On July 11, all public health restrictions in Saskatchewan were lifted. Ultimately, mask mandates and proof of vaccination requirements would be install in the province on October 1.

People liked to beat up Cody Fajardo (#7) and the Roughriders.

At the time of July 11, it felt like numerous people rushed to declare the COVID-19 pandemic as being over. Actually, there are a number of people that still believe it is over.

During July when things were progressing more like normal, opportunities started to come up to get back into covering the sports scene.

I actually admit I was hesitant to get back on that track. It was always in the back of my mind that you could start covering various local teams and leagues and things could still change suddenly and fall off track.

I took a lengthy break from writing on this blog this year, because I felt like I got mentally unhealthy always writing about cancellations and dealing with constant rage people had regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

To be honest, I’ve lost a few friendships and associations over differing views with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, where that factor was the only deal breaker. There are times I’ve allowed myself to feel sad over that development.

In getting back in the swing of things on the sports reporting front, I took a measured approach about what I was going to do. I haven’t jumped back into covering all the teams and circuits I once did.

Part of that came due to the fact I’ve become more present in the home and with family during the pandemic.

On the sports front, I decided to get back covering the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops and the WHL as a league. On the WHL front, the focus has been on covering the Prince Albert Raiders and Saskatoon Blades.

I decided to keep a smaller focus, so I don’t get dragged down with all the waves every league deals with in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mason Ochs (#73) and the Hilltops had big moments in 2021.

For me, it was extremely good to get back to covering the Hilltops, Raiders, Blades and the WHL. Working games involving those teams felt so good for me mentally.

I always feel like I am in a good place when I am in the building or stadium covering those games.

After missing the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was fun to see the Hilltops win the PFC final for a seventh consecutive season. The Hilltops downed the Thunder in Regina for the PFC title 29-9 on November 14 at Mosaic Stadium.

The Hilltops weren’t able to win a seventh consecutive CJFL title as they fell in a CJFL semifinal contest 17-14 to the host Rams at McLeod Stadium in Langley, B.C., on November 20. The Rams advanced on to with the Canadian Bowl as CJFL champions.

The Hilltops made history as linebacker Emmarae Dale became the first female to play games in a CJFL season. Unfortunately, she aged out after one campaign.

Hilltops all-time great left tackle Mason Ochs, right tackle Jonathan Chisholm and boundary cornerback Jared Giddings all returned for a fifth and final season with the team. They were integral in keeping the Hilltops vibe and culture intact coming off a missed season.

I did start to branch into going to a handful of University of Saskatchewan Huskies football and hockey games as U Sports got going.

It was a thrill to be at Griffiths Stadium on November 20, when the Huskies football team downed the University of Manitoba Bisons 45-17 to capture the Hardy Cup as Canada West Conference champions.

The Huskies advanced to the U Sports title game – the Vanier Cup – for the first time since 2006. They fell 27-21 to the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in that championship clash on December 4 at Stade Telus – Universite Laval in Quebec City, Quebec.

It has been great being back on the WHL circuit again.

The Huskies had a number of good guys return after their 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic including quarterback Mason Nyhus, running back Adam Machart, utility player Colton Klassen, receiver Yol Piok, right tackle Nick Summach, defensive end Riley Pickett and defensive back Charlie Ringland.

It was great to see those players take the Huskies program back to heights that hadn’t been seen in 15 years.

With the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 playing a major factor on the world stage in recent weeks, it feels just uncertain what is going to happen in 2022. Most provinces in Canada have added a number of public health orders in recent weeks.

On the overall COVID-19 front, I decided to check Worldometer to figure out how many people in the world died from it in 2021. In 2020, Worldometer total deaths from COVID-19 to be just over 1.82-million for that year.

At the time this post went life, I calculated from Worldometer’s information that 3.63-million people died of COVID-19 in 2021. Knowing people, they are going to spin those facts in any direction they like.

I post that number to show the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, even though most of the United States seemingly acts that way, while most of the rest of the world has some sort of restrictions to deal with COVID-19.

Like the past 22 months, the challenge seems to be the same. You try to adjust the best you can to the changes that are out of your control that COVID-19 has an effect on.

You ultimately have to follow your gut to find the best path forward.

The Huskies raise the Hardy Cup as Canada West champions.

As love or hate him and always winning NFL head coach Bill Belichick says, “It is on to Cincinnati.”

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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