By Jack Bedell,
MontrealAlouettes.com
Hammond, LA – kar⋅ma [kahr-muh]–noun
1. Hinduism, Buddhism. action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation
2. Theosophy. the cosmic principle according to which each person is rewarded or punished in one incarnation according to that person’s deeds in the previous incarnation
3. fate; destiny
There aren’t very many occupational hazards to being an English professor – paper cuts would probably be the worst. But a very close second would be the nails-on-chalkboard reaction I get whenever I see a word repeatedly misused in print.
Since the Alouettes’ controversial loss out in BC a couple of weeks ago, sportswriters and CFL pundits coast to coast have had a field day throwing the word karma around in reference to the Als’ chances in the rematch this past weekend.
Holding to the standard Western misinterpretation of the principle of karma, these theorists seemed to believe the BC Lions were headed toward a beating in Montreal simply because they received an undue advantage in the way play was managed in the last minute of the game in their house.
In its simplest sense, however, the principle of karma states that a person’s fate is determined by his own actions, beliefs, and decisions both in the past and in the present.
Since the Lions had absolutely nothing to do with the decisions that affected the outcome of the game in Week 10, to say that their karma was in any way jeopardized and/or compromised by taking the win they earned is just blatantly inaccurate.
It would be reasonable to assume fate had been kind to the Lions, but to say they cheated fate just wouldn’t be fair.
And to assume the Alouettes were somehow guaranteed a win in Week 11 because of the Lions’ actions, beliefs, and decisions would be way outside of the true principles of karma.
All that said, however, I have no trouble at all believing the Alouettes’ hard-earned win this past Sunday was the result of their own karma. Just not in the way it was reported this past week.
Those two points earned in the standings last Sunday were, without a doubt in my mind, the direct result of the team’s actions, particularly Anthony Calvillo’s phenomenal play, Kerry Watkins’ and Jamel Richardson’s clutch receiving, and the defence’s discipline in gap maintenance and overall effort.
The team’s belief in its coaching and abilities and its decision to put all the controversy behind to prepare for the game at hand had a ton to do with the win as well.
The Montreal Alouettes secured their own destiny this past Sunday, putting up a much-deserved W, simply because of the hard work they put into every minute leading up to the game.
And that’s real karma in action…
