Riding hamster wheel is not always good for mental health

Excusing yourself even for a short time is good for soul

Working on my Bell Let’s Talk piece in the home office.

Sometimes you just have to get off the hamster wheel.

That was analogy I didn’t know was a thing until about three months ago. It actually came to me via the sports entertainment world of pro wrestling early this past November.

During a promo on an AEW Dynamite show, CM Punk talked seriously about one-time rival Jon Moxley. Moxley, who had been that promotion’s heavyweight champion, had entered an inpatient alcohol treatment program.

Punk, whose real name is Phillip Jack Brooks, said he was proud of Moxley for realizing he had to take himself off the hamster wheel to get the help he needed and that Moxley was brave taking that step.

Moxley, whose real name is Jonathan David Good, is married to Renee Paquette, who first made a name for herself as sports broadcaster in Canada with The Score from 2009 to 2012 before shooting to a huge rise in fame in a run with WWE from 2012 to 2020. Moxley, who has been in the pro wrestling business for over 17 years, and Paquette met in WWE.

I had never linked the analogy of the hamster wheel with the mental health world until I saw that promo with Punk, who is very articulate and well thought out.

 I am starting to have what you would consider a longer run with the mental health world with my first realizations almost a decade ago.

On my own front, I have known I have battled with issues dealing with anxiety since 2012. I write about my experiences on the mental health front in hopes it will help others.

Since 2016, I’ve kept up with a tradition where I write a post regarding mental health on Bell Let’s Talk day.

A Jon Moxley AEW figure.

There is still a stigma around mental health issues, and they are unfortunately still treated as the elephant in the room in too many circles.

On my own front, I am in a way better place than I was 10 years ago. I am in a way better spot than I was six years ago.

While I believe I have gotten a tonne better over the last decade, mental health is something I continue to learn about. I will have “aha moments” come to me in the most unlikely of places.

That Punk promo was an “aha moment.”

He explained he made his own choices to get off the hamster wheel in the past. Punk said Moxley had been on a hamster wheel, because he had been going and going, thinking he had to show toughness all the time, battle through injuries like they weren’t there, be sick and show up for work, help other people and be super generous for a long stretch of time.

Punk said you get to the point you have to take yourself off the hamster wheel.

For Bell Let’s Talk day in January of 2020, I wrote that it was a mental health challenge to learn to take a break, and it was important to take breaks.

Punk’s explanation of the hamster wheel took that to a whole new level of realization.

No matter what walk of life you are in, you do get placed on a hamster wheel.

In the world of competitive sports where outcomes are undecided, elite athletes are on a hamster wheel. Whether it be hockey, football, baseball, basketball, softball, track and field, speed skating, soccer or whatever your athletic pursuit, you are training year round and being evaluated constantly to see if you are performing at a high level and continuing to reach new levels of high performance.

A picture of myself in front of photos I've shot over the years.

Sometimes that results in athletes shouldering extra pressure that their team will lose and they will let their teammates down, if they don’t perform well. That can be a hamster wheel.

Those in sports management positions can be on a hamster wheel too. They are constantly trying to ensure athletes, coaches and staffers are healthy physically and mentally, always having to ensure proper funding is coming in to allow athletes to get to events and have the best equipment possible and ensure the business administrative mechanisms are functioning well.

If you miss time as an administrator, there are always worries those jobs won’t get done. You are on a hamster wheel there too.

Those examples can be taken to any working environment be it health career, education, retail, banking, manufacturing, shipping, policing, energy production or whatever the job may be. All those environments create places where those working in them shoulder pressures that they will let everyone down if they are not there to do their roles.

Eventually, you do hit a point where the pressure becomes too much you have to totally cut yourself away from those worlds. It doesn’t have to be forever, but you might need to be away for a span of time.

In Moxley’s case, he got professional and ultimate returned to AEW after about three months.

In some cases, you might not even the assistance of professional help to come to that realization.

I realized that for myself when I attended a wedding for one of my nieces early this past September in Jasper, Alta.

I'm all dressed up out in Jasper, Alta., early last September.

My everyday world is the sports and media world, and I live those careers to a point they are a lifestyle. If I take a break from one aspect of that world, I am still busy with another aspect be it on sports writing, photography or communications.

That wedding marked the first time I totally cut myself off those worlds for at least a one-week period since the summer of 2014, when I relocated from Medicine Hat, Alta., to Saskatoon, Sask.

With Jasper being a resort town with no links to any part of my life, I truly made a clean break for a week. Ultimately, the wedding was awesome and the week was awesome.

On top of being cut off from the sports and media worlds, I allowed myself to be pretty much cut off from social media too.

One day after the wedding, a feeling came over me that this all felt really good. It was a good feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time.

It reminded me of a time when I took actual vacations during my 10-year run as a sportswriter with the Medicine Hat News from 2004 to 2014 and experience more periods of personal time, while still having a busy schedule. While I wasn’t jumping on a plane to go to Hawaii to lie down on a beach, I was off on social excursions with friends, or like the summer of 2007, taking a pleasure drive through the mountains in southern British Columbia.

A lot of that disappeared from 2012 to 2014 when vacations and personal time didn’t feel like those things as those were periods I where I was in my initial stages of working my way through mental health issues.

When Punk gave the promo about Moxley and the hamster wheel in early November, I realized I had gotten off my hamster wheel, when I attended my niece’s wedding. It added a sense of refreshment I hadn’t felt for some time.

Another game day is wrapped up for myself at the SaskTel Centre.

You can also get yourself on a hamster wheel with constant interaction with people you don’t know especially trolls on social media. Sometimes that happens with people you do know on social media.

During this past year with the world still stuck in the grips of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, I’ve found social media to be more toxic than ever before. Twitter is the worst social media line for this.

As for Twitter, I’ve followed an example set by Punk here in just blocking the trolls and people you need to block instead of engaging with them. For myself, it feels good every time I block a troll, especially if it is an anonymous account with less than 10 followers.

These days I try to be a bit more mindful of where I am on the hamster wheel. If anyone feels they need to get off their own hamster wheels for a bit, I hope they feel enabled to take that step, because it ultimately show a lot of courage.

Bell Let’s Talk in specter of “Bell Let’s Cut”

A Bell Let’s Talk toque.

I admit I was unsure if I was going to do my traditional mental health post on Bell Let’s Talk day this year.

In recent years, Bell Canada, which is the telecommunications company that run Bell Let’s Talk day, has had a habit of releasing employees in the months after the company’s mental health awareness and fundraising day.

Bell Canada received huge criticism bringing in job days after Bell Let’s Talk day was held last year on January 28.

Any time Bell Canada cuts jobs, the term “Bell Let’s Cut” is inevitably brought up.

The question is brought up that how can a company that supports mental health initiatives turn around and just cut people, who immediately are faced with the prospects of losing their livelihoods and identities.

Due to the Bell Canada operates in the media world, I’ve had friends that have been released from jobs with Bell Canada, and they were all hard working people that showed great initiative.

Bell Canada has been criticized for using the Bell Let’s Talk campaign as a tax write off while bringing in massive amounts of revenue to make you question why jobs are being cut.

After the layoffs Bell Canada made last year, I had to ask myself if I wanted to go through with a new post this year on Bell Let’s Talk Day.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world, I often celebrated the fact so much awareness came up regarding mental health issues on Bell Let’s Talk day.

I also celebrated the progress I’ve made in my own journey often having a nice dinner with my mom in the evening of Bell Let’s Talk day at Cactus Club Cafe in Saskatoon. The last of those dinners came on Bell Let’s Talk day in January of 2020.

I decided to do a post, because of the awareness this day brings regarding mental health issues in Canada.

Searching social media on Tuesday the day before Bell Let’s Talk day, I saw a lot of posts from people saying they had supported Bell Let’s Talk Day in the past but wouldn’t this year due to the employee cuts that have happened in the past.

Today on Bell Let’s Talk day, I’ve seen numerous great shares regarding mental health issues in Canada and people coming forward to share their own stories of challenges on the mental health front.

If people feel better to make donations directly to mental health charities as opposed to participating in Bell Canada’s Bell Let’s Talk day program, I hope people feel free to act in that direction.

If people want to still retweet #BellLetsTalk on Twitter, they should feel free to do so.

It is always a good thing when you can keep the mental health conversation going.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com. My Bell Let’s Talk post from last year called “COVID-19 pandemic forces world to face mental health” can be found by clicking right here. A piece from 2020 called “A big mental health challenge is learning to take a break” can be found right here. A piece from 2019 called “Those facing mental health challenges can still be great in all parts of life” can be found right here. A piece from 2018 called “Being content can become a mental health challenge” can be round right here. A piece from 2017 called “Recognizing and respecting triggers is key for mental health” can be found right here. A piece from 2016 called “Feeling connected calms the mental health seas” can be found right here. A piece called “My Mental Health Story” can be found right here. Another post I like that I wrote in February of 2015 about my mental health journey call “Huskies hockey was good for me” can be found right here.

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It’s rock ’n’ roll time

Bumps still expected in transitional sports season

Colin Plain sets to fire a pitch for the Saskatoon Cubs on Saturday.

It is easy to get romantic with sports.

Most of Canada likely had that feeling on Monday, when Canada’s Senior National Women’s Soccer team downed the United States 1-0 in a semifinal contest at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Jessie Fleming scored on a penalty kick in the 74^th minute for Canada to account for the lone goal in the contest.

The win felt like redemption from when these two sides met in a semifinal in the 2012 Olympics in London, England, where the United States came away with a 4-3 overtime victory. That contest went to extra time after the United States evened the game late in regulation at 3-3 on a controversially awarded penalty kick.

Captain and all-time great Christine Sinclair and midfielder Desiree Scott are the holdovers from the 2012 squad that are still on Canada’s current roster.

Canada will now face Sweden in the gold medal final at 6 a.m. Saskatchewan time on Friday.

To get romantic about sports, you don’t even have to look overseas to do that. Sometimes, the romanticism is in your own backyard.

On Saturday at Cairns Field here in Saskatoon, the Saskatoon Cubs downed the Saskatoon Giants 4-3 in a really well played Saskatchewan Premier Baseball League contest. The two under-18 AAA sides showed how good that level of ball can be played in front of a gathering of about 100 spectators.

During the game, you could play in your head what each team could do to get runners on base, and then bunt and steal to get them home. The pitching and defence on both sides made the offences work to earn everything they got.

The Tigers team photo after winning the 2007 WHL title.

The sides met again on Sunday at Cairns, and the Cubs pulled out a 5-2 victory in that contest. Following that game, the Cubs sported a 26-6 record, and the Giants were a solid 18-13.

With that said, the romanticism in sport is only a small part of the game. It could even be as small as two per cent.

No one sees the hours of preparation and training the athletes put in at practice or the hours administrators invest in fundraising to keep teams going. At the professional level like the NHL and CFL, the whole business aspect that exists to make those clubs go is quite massive.

While the romanticism can give you those warm fuzzy feelings, sports is ultimately a business. In Canada, sports is not really that big of a business in the grand scheme of things unless you are the NHL.

From what I have been told, the sports industry in Canada is worth $2.6-billion. If anyone disputes that figure, I hope they feel free to pass on the source of what the correct figure might me.

On August 25, 2020, Forbes ran a column that said the sports industry in the United States is worth US$750-billion. The piece said the sports industry is the 11^th biggest industry in the United States.

Of course, one will argue the United States has 11-times greater the population that Canada has. If you do the comparative math to make Canada’s population close to equal to that of the United States, Canada’s sports industry would be worth $29.7-billion in Canadian funds in that scenario.

Outside of the NHL, CFL or Toronto’s MLB and NBA teams, the success of sports in Canada depends on volunteers. Those that make a wage in the sports industry usually have to live with a partner, who has a career that makes $70,000 to $80,000 a year.

Let’s just say most won’t get rich working in the sports industry in Canada and will scrap to get by financially. The same goes for those that are left covering sports in the media industry.

The Raiders raise the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL champs in 2019.

Any of the last big salaried persons left covering sports in Canada’s media industry are being pretty much swerved into retirement.

To be realistic, you can be involved in sports in Canada, if you have some other way to make a healthy income to handle life’s financial worries.

In my family, there are a number of people who have been linked and involved in sports for a lengthy period of time. With that said, the vast majority of people in my family make their livings outside of the sports industry, and they don’t really know all the ins and outs of Canada’s sports world.

During the first seven days of September, I will be tied up with a big family wedding, and I will be humbled.

I’ve covered the WHL major junior hockey circuit in some form in each of the past 22 seasons. In some circles, that is a big thing, but I will run into lots of people at that wedding who won’t view it that way.

Actually, I worked for a few different places in recent years that aren’t linked to the sports world and often the vast majority of the staffers at those places don’t understand why you would go out to cover the Saskatoon Blades, Prince Albert Raiders, the CJFL’s Saskatoon Hilltops, the WWCFL’s Saskatoon Valkyries or the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football and Men’s and Women’s hockey teams in U Sports.

Most staffers I encounter at non-sports workplaces view sports as a kids’ endeavor playing games and it is a waste of time to be involved in those worlds unless it is the NHL.

My two most memorable romantic moments in sports came from two WHL title wins separated by 12 years. The first was covering the Medicine Hat Tigers downing the Vancouver Giants 3-2 in double overtime in a series deciding Game 7 of the 2007 WHL Championship Series at The Arena in Medicine Hat. I covered that event for the Medicine Hat News.

The Hilltops celebrate winning the CJFL title in 2018.

The second came from covering the Prince Albert Raiders downing the Giants 3-2 in overtime in another series deciding Game 7 this time in the 2019 WHL Championship Series at the Art Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. I covered that event for this blog and The Canadian Press.

Only two WHL Championships series were decided in overtime in Game 7, and I was in the building for both of those.

Those two victories were life highlights. I have run into many outside of sports who don’t understand that.

In those times, it does put things in perspective that your role in sports doesn’t actually define you as a person, and your role in sports is something you do.

The long drawn out point is that to be involved in sports in Canada you have to want to be there.

As the world transitions to what is hopefully the end part of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, I believe I am at the point I am ready to get back in gear with this blog.

I am going to approach things cautiously. Due to the fact that exploits of sports in Canada aren’t covered anywhere near like they were in the past, I have felt at times I’ve accidentally tried to be all things to all people.

I plan to start out attempting to focus on the Hilltops and the WHL. I believe I might have the opportunity to cover both of those things outside of this blog too.

For myself, I believe those are two good starting points. 

Alex Eyolfson throw a pass for the Valkyries this past July.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I have found for myself I’ve become a lot more jaded when it comes to dealing with people in general in all forms of life believing everyone is out for themselves.

I have tonnes of great experiences covering the Hilltops and the WHL, and I think that will help me be not as jaded.

I still will likely touch on U Sports, the Valkyries, the Saskatchewan Female Under-18 AAA Hockey League and the CFL. I am going to feel my way through.

For example, I am expecting  Zoom will still be a tool used in covering the happenings in the WHL and U Sports on the interview front. 

At the moment, most of the staffers at the University of Saskatchewan haven’t returned to work at the offices on campus.

I don’t want to overstretch myself, which has happened in the past. Often, I have found I’ve tried to have my blog make up for what is now no longer covered in the mainstream media on the sports front.

During the pandemic, it was also good for me to pick up another interest in following the theatrical sports entertainment happenings of professional wrestling in WWE and AEW. The escapism has been enjoyable for me.

On Saturday, the WWE released one of my favourites in Bray Wyatt, who also goes by a persona known as “The Fiend.”

Again, even that world has a big business aspect to it dealing with issues of contract sizes, character creative control and usage of performers. Wyatt was one of the WWE’s top merchandise sellers, but a departure after 12 years with that company still happened.

A collectables display of recently released WWE superstar Bray Wyatt.

The WWE has released a lot of talent since April, and it appears no one is safe there in a company that has billions in revenue. My figures are crossed that Alexa Bliss doesn’t get released, because I know I will get tuned out and disinterested at that point.

Overall, it is time to be back in business with this blog again.

As I do that, I will try to navigate this crazy world the best I can.

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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Athletes should try to expand their identity

Ultimately competitive sports comes to an end for all

Tim Vanstone salutes Prince Albert Raiders fans after his last game.

Competitive sports will come to an end for all athletes.

Whether that end comes today, tomorrow or more than 20 years from now, all athletes eventually leave competitive sports. The end can come via injury, a health matter that pops up, a decision by a coach or manager or you ultimately get brought down physically by Father Time.

Father Time is undefeated, even though NFL greatest of all-time quarterback Tom Brady is trying to do his best to change that record.

When the end comes, the biggest hurdle athletes deal with is loss of identity. For athletes that compete at the highest level their sport has to offer, they have usually been life consumed by their sport to the point that they don’t have any other way to identify themselves besides being an athlete.

With sport specialization taking place at younger ages in Canada, that only adds to streamlining a person into seeing themselves as an athlete. Outside of school, the only people school aged athletes deal with are usually other athletes and coaches.

It gets to the point that the idea of going to a function like a school dance is laughable.

You are a hockey player, a football player, a baseball player, a softball player, a gymnast, a lacrosse player, a swimmer, a hurdler in track and field or a competitor in whatever sport discipline you pursue.

The Saskatoon Blades enjoy a win in December of 2020.

Back on June 8, 2015, Claire Hanna likely wrote the gold standard piece regarding athlete transition and identity on her personal blog, where she went through what it was like to be cut from Canada’s senior national women’s volleyball team. If you want to check that piece out, you can do so by clicking right here. It is well worth your time to read Hanna’s piece.

Now in 2021, it is crazy to think there are people out there that don’t even think of Hanna as a star volleyball player or know of her ties to the sport. They see her as a sports media personality for CTV Regina.

Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has clamped down the world since March of 2020, athletes have had to deal with the loss of identity issue in one form or another earlier than they had to.

In Canada, most athletes that are under the age of 18 have seen their lives in sports ground to a halt. The lucky ones have been able to train on a regular basis.

The extremely lucky ones have participated in a handful of competitions.

The unlucky ones have had to keep motivated training at home as they aren’t able to get into any sports facilities due to restrictions brought in via public health orders.

Athletes have had to deal with how these changes have impacted their mental health. It would not be an exaggeration to say some have taken the halt of sports a lot harder than others.

U of Saskatchewan Huskies football players enjoy a TD in 2019.

For a lot of athletes, it seems like they have lost the purpose for their very existence.

What seems to be forgotten is the root problem is that sports have become the thing that defines these athletes as a person. Sports become who you are versus what you do.

To think this can happen to a person under the age of 18 or like someone who is 11 or 12-years-old is crazy. They are only just starting out on the grand marathon of life.

For the athletes that have hit the point where sports defines them as a person, they got conditioned to think that way, because there is such an emphasis in sports specialization to pursue a chosen sport at all costs with tunnel focus.

This is often instilled in athletes even as young as age 11 or 12.

For these athletes, it is lost that they are also a son, a daughter, a grandson, a granddaughter or a student at the school they attend. These identifiers are not as sexy as being an athlete, but those identifications are there.

To be fair, even those in the adult working world can fall into that trap. If anyone is doing anything that consumes them, they can fall into that trap.

For athletes, the best way to manage the funk where sport becomes the thing that defines who you are is to find another interest. If an athlete is out of action due to restrictions that were put in place to combat COVID-19, now might be the opportune time to find another interest.

The Saskatoon Stars enjoy a win in 2020.

Finding another interest doesn’t have to mean finding a career, but you can do things like taking first aid training to maybe lean towards maybe working as a paramedic one day.

Interests could mean being a fan of a musical artist or band. You might even take up playing an instrument like a guitar or drums or you might become a singer.

You might get into things like following science fiction and get to know all the ins and outs of a franchise like Star Wars. You might take an interest in comic book heroes put out by D.C. or Marvel.

You might even get into following the sports entertainment spectacle of professional wrestling in the WWE or AEW. After I started following WWE and AEW a little more closely back in January, I found out talent like Alexa Bliss, Sasha Banks, Britt Baker, Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre have interacted with youngsters that are training to be just like them.

It should be noted this training does not include trying moves you see in WWE and AEW programming outside of a supervised training environment.

Besides those suggestions, you could also take up a hobby of making your own clothes or perfecting your cooking skills in the kitchen.

Come to think of it, high level athletes that come from farm or ranching families might have the advantage of being a bit more rounded, because they have been likely helping out with activities on the family farm or ranching operation at a very young age.

The U of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey season end in 2020.

Overall, it will be beneficial for competitive and high level athletes if they can find ways to expand their identity even in a small way.

Even after the COVID-19 pandemic passes, the day will still come when competitive sports come to an end for all athletes.

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.