Ken Miller wakes up in the middle of the night and it's the first thing that comes to mind.
"That game ending, it's going to be with me always," the head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders said during a conference call on Thursday.
"It's something you have to deal with. One of the things we emphasize is overcoming distraction. It's a situation where we lost the Grey Cup with no time left. We could look at it as a stumbling block but we have to put it behind us."
BAD PENALTY
Few Grey Cups have concluded for the losing side as painfully as the 2009 Cup did for the Roughriders in Calgary. The Montreal Alouettes beat the 'Riders 28-27 in Calgary, but only because Als kicker Damon Duval got a second shot at a field goal with no time remaining. Duval missed on his first try, but teed off again because Saskatchewan was penalized for having too many men on the field.
The Roughriders, who plan to honour former players through the duration of the 2010 season as the club celebrates its 100th year, didn't lose any face with their diehard fans. Season tickets are hovering around 24,600, president Jim Hopson said, and will be capped at 25,000, a number that is the envy of the rest of the league.
Talk of a domed stadium is at the point where the next step is determining whether there will be appropriate funding for such an endeavour.
"By late spring we should have a better sense of it," Hopson said. "There seems to be lots of excitement. It really would be an urban renewal project."
The Roughriders will have several holes to fill thanks to integral players finding work in the National Football League. It's Saskatchewan's defence that has suffered, as defensive end John Chick, the CFL's most outstanding defensive player in 2009, signed with the Indianapolis Colts, while linebacker Stevie Baggs departed for the Arizona Cardinals and linebacker Renauld Williams found employment with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Shomari Williams, the first pick overall in the draft on Sunday, will play on special teams but also will be rotated in at defensive end.
"We have to have depth behind our starters and have guys who can come in because of injuries and not miss a beat," general manager Brendan Taman said. "We've done that well in the past."
Look for Willie Evans and Brent Hawkins to push for starting jobs on the defensive line.
The Roughriders like their depth on offence, though Tamanis going to sign another quarterback to provide relief for Darian Durant, who will go into camp as the No. 1 guy.
But 'Riders fans shouldn't hold their breath on Kerry Joseph, who helped the club win the 2007 Grey Cup. Joseph was released by the Argonauts a few months ago after two horrible years in Toronto. And there is no interest in running back Jesse Lumsden, who was released by the Edmonton Eskimos on Wednesday.
"I talked to Kerry about 10 days ago and told him that if we get into camp and judge that we have a need for another experienced quarterback, we will make a decision at that time," Miller said.
TERRY.KOSHAN@SUNMEDIA.CA
