It’s been fun — but stressful — to be part of Reebok’s Reediscover campaign.
I’m a competitive guy, but this is something I don’t have any control of other than encouraging the fans and my Twitter and Facebook followers to vote. It’s fun to be a part of but it certainly is a little bit stressful. You want to go home and relax after practice but then you see, “Oh, the guy I’m up against is catching up a little bit, I have to start tweeting and Facebooking about it.”
>> More info about the Reediscover campaign here
I have the two biggest of my college web forums, they both have their crews supporting me. One of them has 7,000 daily visitors, so that’s going pretty well. Then in Canada, I have a few websites like some of my friends’ forums and I have my Internet gaming buddies going as well — there are about 50 of them.
It’s tough because I was up against a Saskatchewan player and Roughriders fans have a reputation for annihilating everything when it comes to on-line contests and polls. It’s basically Jon Cornish and the Internet against the province of Saskatchewan. And I’m perfectly fine with that.
My story as part of the campaign is about the fact that when I went to high school, I was a track guy. Then the Grade 8 football coach tried to get me into football and so he convinced my parents eventually. At first, my parents didn’t want me to play football because they thought I would hurt my fingers and I wouldn’t be able to play the piano. But eventually, they let me play ball.
But I didn’t really think anything of it in terms of going to the next level until Coach Steele and Coach Orser started talking to me about it and saying, “You know, this is really a possibility.” That’s when I started seriously thinking about it.
As for the present, we’re playing the Lions this weekend. Being from B.C., it used to be, “Oh my God, I’m going home!” but now it’s just another game. I have to secure a few more tickets for my family, but they’ve actually been able to make it out for a few games here in Calgary because my little Christmas present to my family was that if they ever came out, I’d cover their accommodations. So that’s provided enough incentive for them to come and watch me play here.
It’s still fun to play in Vancouver, but it’s not a big thing like it used to be. The new thing is that with the Lions being at Empire Field this year, I get to play outside. I get to play in the same environment I played all though high school. I haven’t played an outdoor football game there in almost 10 years so it’s going to be a fun experience because I get to breathe that Vancouver air while playing football. Maybe it’ll be a little bit wet, but I’m used to that — or hopefully, I’m still used to it!
Jon Cornish, #9
>> Cornish bio