Thursday, September 6, 2007 – 03:00PM
By Jack Bedell,
MontrealAlouettes.com
nem•e•sis [nem-UH-sis]—noun
1. something that a person cannot conquer, achieve, etc.
2. an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
Like the character Brick Top in Guy Ritchie’s film “Snatch,” the B.C.
Lions and their home stadium would seem to be the epitome of nemesis
for the Alouettes, and they have been since the 2000 season.
For whatever reason, and believe me I could easily fill this space with
suitable excuses, the Als have had a tough time of it in B.C. Place.
Regardless of what quality of ball the team is playing, or what kind of
winning streak, or what kind of momentum the Als are enjoying, it all
seems to unravel in Vancouver.
As much as I’d like a blowout loss like the one the Als suffered last
weekend to be a classroom, full of lessons to cure correctable errors,
the fact is that game is over and done, and when the Alouettes host the
Lions this weekend in the rematch, the strategies, emotions, and game
pressures will have changed completely.
One thing you’ll notice about the definition above is there’s nothing
about education or edification mentioned in it. There’s nothing in the
job description of a nemesis about teaching lessons. It’s up to the Als
to learn from their own experiences what they have to do to overcome
their opponent.
I have watched the game twice now, and there’s not much sunshine to be
found there, but as Defensive Coordinator Chris Jones stated earlier
this week, no matter how it looked on TV, it’s never as good or as bad
as it would seem.
There were some rays of hope post-game, though, in comments like
Anthony Calvillo’s when he said he was “sick and tired of losing to
those guys.” If a few more Alouettes share that attitude, it’ll be more
than enough to tilt the field.
Like old Brick Top, no opponent is invincible, and sometimes one’s
demise is a simple matter of ticking off the wrong person. We’ll see if
that’s the case this weekend.
