It doesn't get any easier with time.
Only once has Edmonton Eskimos veteran slotback Kamau Peterson hoisted the Grey Cup, and that was eight years ago in his rookie CFL season with the Calgary Stampeders.
Since joining the Eskimos in 2007, Peterson was named a CFLPA all-star and was coming off a 2008 season that saw him earn the league's Most Outstanding Canadian award.
But his second Grey Cup remains elusive after the Eskimos dropped Sunday's West semifinal, 24-21 to the Stampeders.
"It's disappointing because we felt like a better team than we showed," said Peterson, who finished the season with 63 catches for 788 yards and a touchdown -- his lowest totals with the Green and Gold.
In Sunday's playoff, he finished second on the team with three receptions for just 15 yards.
But those weren't the ones on his mind following the game in which he and fullback Mathieu Bertrand were both guilty of dropping momentum-sapping passes from Ricky Ray that hit them right in the hands.
"You're right, that's a missed opportunity. You can't have that at this time of year," Peterson said.
"I can't be making mistakes where I'm running without the ball. It's the playoffs, everybody's got to be at their sharpest and we weren't -- myself included."
The problems were compounded when a holding penalty by Peterson late in the game was followed up with another from offensive tackle Joe McGrath that backed the Eskimos up to second-and-40 and blew a drive that might have netted a game-tying field goal.
"When it came down to the stretch we started to get a little momentum and we started getting in trouble," Peterson said.
"I started off with a penalty and we kind of snowballed from there. I kind of put that on me. We started to self-destruct a little bit.
"It's unfortunate because we were feeling a nice little stride coming in, and we were inches away on a lot of plays that I felt could have changed things."
But there's one thing that doesn't change, the pain that comes with falling short of the goal for a championship.
"Always," Peterson said. "That's the thing. This team here will never be this team again. We'll never play with this team exactly as it is again and you never know what the future holds.
"We've got a good nucleus here and you want to capitalize when it happens. I've never been on a team this talented. You want to be able to make a run when you've got that kind of talent. It's unfortunate we had to come up short."
And not just last Sunday, either.
"It's unfortunate we dropped so many games and put ourselves in this position as well.
"We still had a shot down the stretch."
GERRY.MODDEJONGE@SUNMEDIA.CA
