LOCKER-ROOM BLOG

CHEVRIER: It is going to be exciting

November 19, 2008

We have just completed day one of practice here in Montreal. Our ears are still ringing from the sound of the crowd noise we blared all practice. I thought we had a decent practice today with the noise and all. It was hard to execute and be perfect with the noise, but that is the purpose of it. We will need to be in that frame of mind to eliminate the mistakes that may be caused come Sunday.
A lot of guys are really excited and for the guys playing in their first Grey Cup they have the right to be. It is very rare in a guy’s career that they get to a championship game. 
Got in last night, the flight was good. We have to adjust to the time difference being in the East.
It is personally going to be special for me. Coming home and playing in my third Grey Cup. All three have been against Montreal. I lost one and won one and it remains to be seen what will transpire Sunday. To play Montreal in Montreal, gosh it is a huge honour.
I get to stay downtown for a while near my old stomping grounds while I was at McGill.
Obviously I have family here. My family and my wife’s family will be in attendance along with some of my friends. I think playing a Grey Cup in Montreal is special. The Montreal crowd is a different crowd. You have Saskatchewan crowds, which are unique and Hamilton crowds that have their own uniqueness as well. It’s a pretty neat experience for an athlete playing here in front of a packed Montreal house.
We got up at 7:30 a.m. for meetings at 8:30 a.m. and won’t get back to the hotel watch film after practice we’ll be done by 6:30 p.m. Then by the time you get a bite to eat and settle down, the guys I’ll bet will be pretty beat. I challenge someone who would not be too tired after this day. But that is the function of what we are going through. It is a big event the Grey Cup. That is why we get here five days early and that is why you prepare because there is so much going on from media to festivities.
The guys on the team need to remember to strike a balance between preparing for the game and enjoying the moment. If preparing for the game and enjoying the moment were a scale, one should put more weight on the preparation side. I believe we have the team to make sure there is a balance and Huff has been great in preparing us all year. It is the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of the game that the coaches are preparing us for and what to expect in each of these big games. We have gone in to Saskatchewan in a must-win and he prepared us for that. The B.C. game people don’t realize how hard it is to beat a team four times in a season especially a talented team like that in the playoffs. He has taught us that you can be mentally and physically prepared, but there is the emotional side in the fourth quarter or the rollercoaster ride of the game that we need to be prepared for. Those are the kinds of things they have prepared us for all season long. It will be no different come Sunday.
It is going to be exciting. I am praying we come home with that cup. I think there is a lot of people in Calgary that have been waiting for it. A lot of guys have worked their butts off to get to this point and I don’t think anything less than a Grey Cup will satisfy anybody. 

Go Stamps!

Randy Chevrier, #56

Randy Chevrier bio

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