Frankly Speaking: Heed
Zombieland Rules in Season Finale
October 29, 2009
By Greg Urbanoski
There isn’t much of a difference to
surviving in Canada West football or in the world of the movie
Zombieland. The horror-comedy has a running gag of survival
rules which easily translates into football success – cardio,
double tap, enjoy the little things – that the University of
Regina Rams should be able to apply in their season finale
(Friday, 7 p.m.) at Mosaic Stadium.
In Zombieland, cardio is important
to put distance between oneself and pursuing zombies. When it
comes to Canada West cardio, the 2009 Rams are in good shape,
and their off-season conditioning program has helped them
balance the scales against other teams.
In the movie, a double tap refers to
ensuring once a zombie is down, the zombie stays down. In Canada
West, this applies to both offence and defence making sure once
they are on top of their opponents, their opponents do not have
a chance to get back into the game. Achieving this is possible
due to the right mixture of talent, character and leadership.
The Rams started the 2009 season
looking at a massive turnover in their defensive backfield, but
Rams head coach Frank McCrystal said the Rams have placed their
athletes in a position to succeed.
"I think we have stayed strong at
defensive back because we have played consistently," said
McCrystal. "Our linebackers have been playing great and our
defensive line is getting better.
"Our offensive line is very much a
work in progress. We lost Devin Hillier at the start of the
season to injury and John Hashem has been out there on his own
because the others are new. But they have come together and are
getting that consistency they need. Our backfield is strong and
solid.
"We are improving and solid at
quarterback every game. Marc Mueller doesn’t make a lot of
errors which is something given that he has not started a game
in two years. Our receivers have been outstanding and even
though we have had new people at various positions, we have been
progressing and you can see that progress from the start of the
season."
Many observers had written off the
Rams at the start of the season, mostly because of the players
they had lost to graduation and the Canadian Football League,
among them record-setting quarterback Teale Orban. But Mueller
has come in and provided the Rams with the ability to compete
every week.
"We’re a good football team now,"
said McCrystal. "Are we a championship team? This is just a
first step. We need to go into the playoffs and get leadership
and good play from everyone.
"You look at a player like Perri
Scarcelli. He has played fantastic for us all season and has
been a great leader for us this year. I had hoped we would have
been a little further along and playing with less errors on one
hand, but on the other, we have done a lot of good things and it
becomes a situation where you challenge the players to do the
right things."
McCrystal said people who had
written the Rams off prior to the start of the season were not
seeing the whole picture. The Rams will have a change to split
and possibly claim the season series with the Huskies following
a 10-9 loss in Saskatoon earlier this season.
"I think we’ve been surprising
people with our play at quarterback and by losing Teale I think
people underestimated what we could do," said McCrystal. "On the
other hand, we need to score points.
"We’ve been a consistent program and
we’ve around the final, but other than one year, we haven’t gone
through it. We have a chance to get ahead with this game so
we’re going to go out and play and have some fun."
The Rams will be donating a portion
of ticket sales to breast cancer research.
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