June 1, 2009

Hello Rider Nation!

We are just days away from the start to the 2009 season in pursuit of the Grey Cup Championship. I know myself and the rest of the guys are as anxious as ever to get started. As a pro athlete there are many things that you want to accomplish but nothing more than a championship. Last year, disappointingly, we fell short and I think that ever since we lost that game that’s all that has been talked about, how we could have won another Grey Cup. Well, again as disappointing as that was, that is why we play the game, and we were out played. For that I apologize and nobody is as disappointed as my teammates or I. For me and the rest of the guys we’ve kept that nasty taste in our mouths and have been preparing since that day in November, to unleash our fury on the CFL. Despite all the off-season changes and many that will be missed, I truly believe we’re as strong as, or stronger than ever. At every single position that I look at I’m very confident that we have the best players to get the job done.
As every year in pro sports, there is going to be some great competition in this year’s training camp. There is lots of fresh young talent and great overall players competing for jobs and you can bet the guys who earn their job will be ready for what the season has to offer. It’s that time of year that I live for, I’m already waking up in the early morning with anxiety of what’s to come. I’m not sure if the anxiety is in fear I slept through the alarm to get to practice, or to start clobbering somebody, but either way it means I know that I’m ready. I hope the Rider Nation is as ready as I am to get going, like I’ve said before we thrive off of you and in a competitive league like this you help give us the edge.

Personally, I’m doing great! My body is all healed and my off-season training was awesome. I kept a great routine of weight training, plyometrics and agilities, and basketball where I get to maintain my competitive edge and keep my lungs in great health. My wife and I had our third child Joshua, and survived another Saskatchewan winter. I was also able to stay busy with the Community Youth Challenge Program, with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Medtronic Diabetes, and several Roughrider activities which left never a dull moment over the winter. I want to thank you for your continued support of the riders and look forward to seeing you out there. It’s going to be an exciting year.

On another note the Telus JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes is this Sunday, June 7th. Registration begins at 9am at the Queens Building in Wascana Park. There are millions of people, adults and children who suffer from the complications of Diabetes. Please get involved in any way possible to put an end to this disease forever. The care for diabetes is better all the time and as great as the care is the only way to stop the complications of diabetes is to Cure it. This is the sole purpose of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and we can use your help. If you would like to pre-register, join a team, walk as an individual, or just make a donation you can go to www.jdrf.ca/walk and click on Register. On this website there are many other links to other events in your local area. Another way to help support JDRF is via my website, where I will be auctioning some signed roughrider memorabilia with proceeds going to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation another great way to kick off the 2009 season.

Thank You for your support! I wish you all the best; let us have a great walk, a terrific summer, and an even better football season than in 2008.

God Bless!

John Chick