To have Heart or Not to Have Heart. Who can answer that question.

There is a great truth to the fact that when you are winning there are never many issues regarding the team. However, when you arent in the winning column everything becomes magnified. The truth is that there are alot of factors that can lead to this.

In the media every mistake is discussed in great detail and fingers are pointed. Performance is always questioned when things go wrong. Not only in sports but in business as well. Why arent we meeting our quarterly goals? Why are sales slow? Why dont people buy the product? Our restaurant is empty. Why? It doesn't matter what industry you are in, someone has to be to blame. Often its the decision making at the top. What bothers me most, is when the integrity and heart of an individual is questioned. This was the case in a recent article by a colleague and former Argonaut, Sandy Annunziata.

The article was on yahoo sports on Wednesday and was a blog just as this one. It is an opinion and I am never one to say an opinion is wrong but the topic was dealing with the injury Cleo Lemon sustained during a home loss to Winnipeg. He cracked his teeth exposing a nerve, causing him to be sidelined for the rest of that game and the following game. This is understandable considering the possibility of causing further damage is great. In the blog, Sandy compares Cleo to the Winnipeg counterpart Buck Pierce. Categorizing Cleo as a person not "tough as nails" and missing an opportunity to inspire his teammates. In this day and age the notion is unsafe for youngsters.

I'm not taking away from the grittiness others have shown by playing through an injury risking not only their careers but the possibility of living a normal life because that is the choice of an athlete. However, I feel that the integrity and heart of an individual that has been sidelined dueto injury should never be questioned. If we could look into the desire and feelings of others that would make alot of our decisions in life more predictable.

Blaming a loss on a team because of their performance is fine but questioning their heart or determination is not fair. Imagine a high school athlete playing football sustains hit on the head which to many on the sideline looks as though it was a simple graze. This high school athlete has a history of concussions and in order to show his teammates he has grit he hides his concussion and makes his way back to the field only to sustain another head injury that forces his high school career and football career very short.

I have been fortunate to work around the people that decided to lay it on the line and to thm I tilt my hat. In fact, it was the decision of Matt Dunigan, Michael Clemons and Chris Gaines to play through their injuries that helped bring the cup home in 1991. But I never feel someones heart needs to be measured by their will to play injured or not. Moreso their desire to give their all out there. After all Cleo was criticized for not sliding on the scramble he got injured on.

If we were 3 and 1 I'm sure this wouldnt even be an issue.

Us against the World...even our own city!

I write this blog a little disappointed in the city of Toronto. After a few people read too deep into an ad that they interpreted to mean something that is the furthest from the truth. I say this because when a politician believed the Argonauts were sending a message of domestic violence in an ad that in its context referred to the sport of football.

Yes people are definitely entitled to their opinions. That is the beauty of freedom, however the opinions should come educated rather than judged prior to research. As a person who is very proud to ensure that youth never have to go through the bullying I endured, I know for a fact that the ad we placed was meant to demonstrate the grit this team has to defend their home field. But the home field we protect has resistance within our city. All the ad critics had to do was look into the lives we have saved while sending the bullying prevention message through our 10 year Huddle Up Bullying Prevention Program. Instead, they tried to make it appear that we condone violence towards others, off the field, in particular, in the home. The ad was removed nonetheless but I still feel very disappointed at the principal. The removal of the ad was the right thing to do to show that we respect what people think. However, I wonder if any of the people that complained know how many years we have been in the schools helping and mentoring youth. Or that the players participating in the program are required to conduct a police Vulnerable Sector Report as per our own program requirements and this is not requested by the schools we attend. These people are probably people that haven't even seen an Argonauts game and have little idea that we do over 500 community appearances annually.

To those that understood or know what we have done to help youth, I thank you. To those that complained, there might be bigger fish to fry in this city such as a football league that has just arrived exploiting women in lingerie playing the sport of football. Why can't they just play football? Why do they need to be in underwear to have it accepted, but then again I guess our ad is more controversial.

I hope anyone who reads this blog will understand my frustration and realize that all I'm trying to say is that maybe if some of the good things we have done received a little more attention in this city I wouldn't feel so disheartened when something like this happens.

Thanks for reading.