Calgary Vs Montreal Canadian Football League (CFL)
"Oh the winds of change are blowing"! It's a commonly used phrase in the football industry when changes are deemed necessary to inject new life into a football team.
"We're moving in another direction.
" This is supposed to soften the blow but in the end, it still means "You're outta here.
" You're often shown the door not even because you did something wrong, you just didn't do it right, or at least right in the eyes of those who hold your fate in their hands.
These changes can come with either players or coaches.
The real truth is those breezes blow all the time in football families.
In the coaching industry the possibility of a move or two or three over the course of your husband's career is highly likely.
You try not to dwell on it but it's always tucked away in the back of your mind.
In the early 80's, Tom spent nine football seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, each one being lead with a different head coach.
Each time he was rehired, we celebrated the prospect of another year of stability.
A coaching career is so fickle and in a blink of an eye you are gone.
It usually happens so fast, you can hardly believe it.
But sooner or later, you too become one of the victims.
As much as you think you are ready for it, it sneaks up on you and smacks you in the face.
It leaves you running for cover and to pick up the many pieces of your life that inevitably fall apart over night.
You realize that the rumors you have been trying to ignore really are true.
It causes a lot of explaining to the kids why people are saying those things about Daddy...
You know the truth of why it happened and with this knowledge you leave the team with your head held high and you attempt to start over.
A veteran coach's wife early on in Tom's career gave me some extremely good advice.
She told me after a move to a new team, to always unpack all of the boxes, set up a social network, get the kids involved in activities, join a church and set down roots like you will be with that team forever.
Her words were profound and I have lived by them for many years and offered them as advice to other women in the same shoes as I.
It works! You become an immediate part of the community, the energy and the spirit of the team and you embrace it like no other.
The best part is, you own it! So it is with many aspects of life.
Give yourself immediate roots.
It helps to ground you when the wind starts blowing.
"We're moving in another direction.
" This is supposed to soften the blow but in the end, it still means "You're outta here.
" You're often shown the door not even because you did something wrong, you just didn't do it right, or at least right in the eyes of those who hold your fate in their hands.
These changes can come with either players or coaches.
The real truth is those breezes blow all the time in football families.
In the coaching industry the possibility of a move or two or three over the course of your husband's career is highly likely.
You try not to dwell on it but it's always tucked away in the back of your mind.
In the early 80's, Tom spent nine football seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, each one being lead with a different head coach.
Each time he was rehired, we celebrated the prospect of another year of stability.
A coaching career is so fickle and in a blink of an eye you are gone.
It usually happens so fast, you can hardly believe it.
But sooner or later, you too become one of the victims.
As much as you think you are ready for it, it sneaks up on you and smacks you in the face.
It leaves you running for cover and to pick up the many pieces of your life that inevitably fall apart over night.
You realize that the rumors you have been trying to ignore really are true.
It causes a lot of explaining to the kids why people are saying those things about Daddy...
You know the truth of why it happened and with this knowledge you leave the team with your head held high and you attempt to start over.
A veteran coach's wife early on in Tom's career gave me some extremely good advice.
She told me after a move to a new team, to always unpack all of the boxes, set up a social network, get the kids involved in activities, join a church and set down roots like you will be with that team forever.
Her words were profound and I have lived by them for many years and offered them as advice to other women in the same shoes as I.
It works! You become an immediate part of the community, the energy and the spirit of the team and you embrace it like no other.
The best part is, you own it! So it is with many aspects of life.
Give yourself immediate roots.
It helps to ground you when the wind starts blowing.
